US1631104A - Belt buckle - Google Patents

Description

May 31,1927.

- F. R. MATTESON BELT BUCKLE Filed Jan. 20, 1925 w w m g Patented May 31, 1927.

PATENT orrics.

FREDERICK RAY MATTESON, OF TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB T0 FRANK V PACKARD DAUGHADAY, OF

CHARTLEY, MASSACHUSETTS.

1mm? BUCKLE,

Application filed January This invention relates to belt buckles, and

more particularly to the so-called lever type of belt buckle in which a belt-gripping lever is fulcrumed in the frame or body member of the buckle so as to pinch the interposed free end of a belt against the front plate, thereby holding it firmly in its various positions of adjustment.

This type of buckle, while quite eflicient when applied to a belt or strap of just the proper thickness for the lever adjustment, has given trouble by reason of the fact that in commercial belts quite considerable variations in thickness of the lever or strap is experienced, with the consequence that a lever buckle that is adapted to a comparatively thin belt does not function properly and satisfactorily when applied'to a comparatively thick belt, and vice versa.

The present invention overcomes this difficulty by providing a variable fulcral point for support of the gripping lever, and in general it comprises, in combination with a flanged body member, a gripping lever mounted to have fulcral support against inturned lips or ledges projecting from the re spective edges of the body flanges and having guiding centers for positioning the lever, arranged to shift to different distances from the front plate when the lever is adjusted to grip belts of different thickness.

A further feature of this invention, in connection with the lever having the variable fulcral or bearing points, consists in the properassociation of a belt-attaching bail or member which allows the buckle body to take a proper set or adjustment in relation to the anchored end of the beltwhenapplied to different thicknesses of straps.

These andother features of the invention will be particularly described in the following specification and will be defined in the claims hereto annexed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a central section on an enlarged scale through the belt body, showing the lever in side elevation.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan iew of the same with one of the inwardly turned lips broken away to show the thrust-receiving portion of the lever.

20, 1926. Serial No. 82,487.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross section on the plane indicated by broken line :0, Figure 1.

Figure l is a diagrammatic view illust-rating the shifting bearing or thrust engagement of the lever.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of the buckle body showing a modified form of the lever in side elevation.

Figure 6 is a vertical cross section on the plane 2 of Figure 5.

In the practice of this invention, according to the illustration of the drawings, I provide a body member comprising a front or body plate 1, having rearwardly projecting side flanges 2', whose rear edgesare inwardly turned to provide inwardly projecting lips forming supporting ledges for the lever, as well as guides for the inserted belt.

The side flanges, intermediate of their ends, are provided with small vertical slots l, properly positioned to permit the lever to move bodily nearer to or farther from the front plate, and forming guides for position ing the lever and retaining it at all times in the buckle body.

The lever, in the form illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, comprises a strong metal plate 5, whose inner end edge is bent at an angle to the main portion to form a gripping arm 6, projecting toward the front plate in order to pinch or grip the interposed free end of the belt 0.

Instead of fulcruming this lever in the ordinary bearings formed in the side flanges, as heretofore, the end portions, instead of following the line of the main arm 5 and the short gripping arm 6, are partly severed from these portions and bent or carried toward the rear to form furcral tongues or projections 7 which, in the belt-gripping position of the lever, engage and bear against the adjacent portion of the lips 3 which, therefore, form supporting ledges to receive the thrust portion of the lever when the lever is forced into position to grippingly pinch the interposed belt against the front plate.

Preferably these fulcral tongues or portions of the lever are formed with their gripping portions to have a cam-like action so that, having reference to Figure 1, as the lever is turned or swung in a counter-clockwise direction to accommodate a thicker belt, the distance between the bearing points engaging the ledges 3 and the gripping edge 6 of the buckle becomes shorter, thereby allowing the lever to move bodily nearer to the supporting ledges and farther from the front plate of the body.

l/Vhen disposed in. position to grip the thinnest end of the belt the lever, from its gripping edge or arm 6, to the bearing point on heel of tongue 7, is only slightly inclined from perpendicular relation to the front plate, just enough in fact to prevent any possibility of the gripping arm from passing by what might be termed the dead center. Obviously, the greater the obliquity of the lever to the plane of the front plate the greater will be the distance between the gripping edge of arm 6 and the front plate. If, however, we were to depend merely upon the change in the angular relationship of the lever to the front plate to acco1nmodate a thicker strap, the outer or anchoring end of the lever would, in the case of a very thick strap, project too far to the rearward of the buckle to give it a good set on the person. If, however, the lever, as a whole, is allowed to recede bodily from the front plate at the same time that its obliquity to the front plate increases, it will not be necessary to swing or turn the lever through as large an arc of movement as would be necessary if the lever was mounted to turn about a fixed fulcral point in the side flanges.

This recession of the lever bodily from the front plate, as it is apparently opened to receive a thicker belt, is effected by giving the face of the thrust-receiving tongues 7, immediately adjacent to the heel thereof, a direction that causes that face to recede sharply from the supporting ledge 3 so that the point of thrust Or fulcral bearing advances along the fulcral tongues nearer to the gripping edge 6, as the lever is turned toward open position, thereby giving a cam like action which actually shortens the effec-' tive length of the lever by reason of the shifting of the bearing point or thrust point nearer to the gipping edge of the arm 6, as illustrated in Figure 4.

lVith this construction of lever fulcrumed against the inside surface of the supporting lips or ledges 3, means must be provided for retaining or positioning the lever in the belt body. This is effected by forming the partly severed side edge portions of the lever into eyes or hooks 8 for the reception of a transverse guide pin 9, which passes through said eyes and out through the slotted apertures or openings 4 in the side flanges 2. These slots have their long axes extending transversely to the front plate so as to allow the guide pin to play up and down in the side flanges to enable 1,631,10&

the lever to tightly grip either a thin or a thick belt. As. previously explained, the wire rod or guide pin 9 will be inserted through these slots and through the eyes 8 after the lever has been inserted in the buckle body proper, and the ends of the wire may be headed down in the usual manner to keep it from displacement.

At its outer end the arm is formed with loops or eyes 11 to receive a pivotal bail loop 12, through which is looped the anchored end of the belt 0.

In the form shown in Figures 5 and 6 the gripping lever is not provided with any angular belt-attaching extension, like that shown at 5 in Figure l, butcomprises a plate 20 arranged to bridge across the.

space between the inserted belt 0 and the supporting ledges 3 of the body. At its upper end this plate 20 forms a gripping edge for engaging the belt, while its lower or rearward end, when applied to the body, is curled at its side edge portions to form eyes 21 whose exterior surface has a cam-like engagement with the adjacent por tions of the ledges 3 and whose interior openings are adapted to receive a connecting pin 24 around whose middle portion is curled an elongated eye 26, of the loop or bail 27, which receives the anchored end of the belt.

Since the connecting pin 24 is located on that portion .of the level 20 adjacent to the thrust-supporting 0r fulcral ledges 3 of the body, and the trunnion members 22, which have play in the slots 4, are nearer to the gripping edge 25 of the lever, any pull outwardly on the bail 27 by the anchored end of the strap acts to wedge the lever firmly between the inserted belt end of the fulcral ledges. As in the form illustrated in Figure 1, the more the lever is inclined to the front plate the more the fulcral or thrust point advances around the exterior surface of the fuloral or thrust-sustaining tongues or members 21, thus allowing the lever to recede bodily away from the front plate at the same time its gripping edge swings away from it, owing to its pivotal movement.

In this form of the buckle it will be seen that as the bail takes the place of the angle arm 5, in the other form, and'is loosely or pivotally connected with the lever, a wider range of adjustment is permitted without producing any. rojection of the lever beyond the back of the buckle body. In both forms, however, the cam-like shape of the thrust-supporting portions of the lever in effect result in shortening the effective length of the lever with each increase of obliquity in relation to the front plate.

The diagrammatic View in Figure 4 illustrates the manner in which the floating movement of the lever,,as its grippingedge is turned away from the front plate, serves to largely increasethe space or gap between the belt-gripping points of the lever and. the fulcral points of support or thrust against the supporting ledges of the buckle bod Lit us suppose that the belt lever is disposed, as shown in Figure 1, to grip a thin belt against the front plate. In that case the effective axial length of the lever will be indicated by a straight line connecting the arrow point 3O with the belt-gripping point 30, the lines s and 3' indicating the planes, respectively, of the belt and of the fulcral ledges. To avoid confusion of lines we have assumed, in this'diagram, that the buckle is swung about the lever instead of the lever being swung in relation to the buckle body; hence, the parallel lines If, t indicate the planes of the belt-contacting point 31 and of the fulcral point 31*. The line 8 is drawn at the same distance from the line If that separates the lines 8, and s so that the space between the lines t and 8 represents the actual increase in the gap between the ledges and the belt-gripping point of the lever when the lever is turned through the angles 8, 31, t. It will, therefore, be seen that there is a substantial shortening of the lever represented by the difference in the axial distances 31, 31 and from 30 to 30 the remainder of the distance'being due to the fore-shortening of the lever due to its increased obliquity.

Obviously, no such increase in the gap would be effected if the lever, instead of being a floating lever by reason of its pin and slot connection with the buckle body, were pivoted to swing about a fixed fulcrum. Therefore, by reason of this construction a very small change in angular adjustment will take care of a very substantial variation in the thickness of the strap.

It will also be understood that the bearing ledges relieve the bearing openings and the positioning pin from the heavy thrust exerted by the pull of the belt upon the lever, thus largely eliminating wear while the slotted connection allows the lever 'to recede a considerable distance from the front plate to leave a very wide space for the insertion of the free end of the belt when the lever is swung back to open position.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In a belt buckle, the combination with a body member embracing a front plate and side flanges having inwardly turned lips, a belt-gripping lever interposed between the front plate and said lips and having rolling fulcral support on said lips to support the rearward thrust of the lever as it is forced into gripping position to pinch the free end of the belt against the back of the front plate, a lever guiding and positioning means forming a loose connecto form supporting ledges to receive the.

thrust of a belt-gripping member, said flanges being provided with slotsto receive the ends of a positioning pin, a gripping lever mounted on said pin to permit its gripping edge to pinch the adjustable end of an interposed belt against the front plate while its opposite edge ortion bears against the inturned lips, andlielt-attaehing means for connecting the anchored end of the belt with the gripping lever.

3. In a belt buckle the combination with a body member embracing a flanged front plate having inturned lips adapted to form fulcral supports for a lever, a belt-gripping lever having floating pivot-a1 connection, with the body flanges and having a fulcral portion arranged to bear against said lips for support and having a belt-grippin por tion arranged to pinch the inserte free end of a belt against the front plate, said lever being also connected to the anchored end of the inserted belt.

4. In a belt buckle the combination of a body member having rearwardly disposed inwardly turned lips forming fulcral ledges supporting the thrust of a belt-gripping member, a lever having connection with the anchored end of a belt and having floating connection with the body member, said lever being formed at its sides with cam-like portions providing shifting points of contact with the fulcral ledges, as the cam portions roll upon said ledges, to shorten the eifective length of the gripping lever to increase the gap between the belt-gripping portion of the lever and the front late as the lever is turned away from the ront plate to accommodate a thicker belt.

5. In a belt buckle the combination with a body member having rearwardly disposed ledges, of a belt-gripping lever loosely mounted in the buckle body by a pin and slot guiding connection, said lever having a belt-gripping edge on one side of the pin and slot connection to pinch the free end of a belt against the front portion of the body and having on the opposite side there of fulcral bearing portions adapted to bear against and roll upon said ledges, and a belt-attaching bail pivotally connected with said lever adjacent to said bearing portions in order to connect the anchored end of the belt to the lever.

6. In a belt buckle the combination with a body member, of a belt-gripping lever mounted therein by a pin and slot connection to pinchthe free end of a belt against the body, said lever having camportions :adapted to have rolling bearing contact with a belt-attaching bail forming means for connecting the anchored end of the belt with the lever.

7 In a belt'buckle the combination with a body member having slotted side flanges ver also having cam-like bearing members adapted to form a rolling bearing contact with said lips, and a belt-attaching bail pivotally connected Wlth'SiLlCl lever.

In Witness whereof, I have subscribed the above specification.

FRED RAY MATTESON;

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