US2551063A

US2551063A - Safety pin

Info

Publication number: US2551063A
Application number: US59299A
Authority: US
Inventors: William H Sneirson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1948-11-10
Filing date: 1948-11-10
Publication date: 1951-05-01
Anticipated expiration: 1968-05-01

Description

May l, 1951 5 wfH.v sNElRsoN 2,551,063

SAFETY PIN Filed Nov.l l0, 1948 Patented May l, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT Q OFFICE SAFETY PIN I William H. Sneirson, Brookline, Mass. Application November 10, 1948, Serial No. 59,299

My*` present invention relates to safety pins and'particularly to safety pins for use inthe case of babies.

y In taking care of babies, safety pins'are Widely used, with the most common example of their use being that of holding diapers in place. For that purpose, 'it is essential that a safety pin be adapted to hold securely, through several layers of cloth, against the pulls exerted by a healthy and lively baby and at the same time be capable ofbeing easily opened and closed. `While the standard safety pin has given acceptable service, wherever employed, it has notl been entirely satisfactory for use in connection with'the care of babies, in that it does not fully meet such requirements in that its accidental opening is an altogether too frequent occurrence.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a safety pin in whichany possibility of its accidental opening is virtually eliminated. My pin has a plastic head in which one end ofthe back leg is embeddedv and Vwhich has a recess in its face that is disposed towards the connected ends of the legs. The recess is of such cross sectional shape as to establish a pocket spaced from the back leg in a plane normal to the legs, a channel, preferably sinuous, opening upwardly and outwardly through one side of the head to receive the pointed end of the front leg and located wholly on that side of the plane, and a second channel extending upwardly from that pocket and establishing a surface intersecting that plane and inclined upwardly towards the other side of the head. Preferably, the head includes a projecting ledge intermediate the channels to enable the user of the safety pin to tell at a glance which channel the pointed end of the front leg occupies.

The usual practice is to form both legs from suitable resilient stock with an intermediate coil yieldably maintaining the free ends of the legs normally spaced a predetermined distance apart. Where that practice is followed, I provide a guard for the coil which has the useful function, regardless of the head structure, of preventing cloth `from becoming caught in the coil and lending to the attractive appearance ofthe safety pin. In practice, however, the guard has a slot Athrough which the front leg freely extends and which defines a shoulder against which the front leg bears when pressed a predetermined'distance towards the back leg so that further movement of the frontfleg towards its headjentering position can be effected only by bendingit'.; j

By this construction, I am able to provide a 2 Claims'. (Cl. 24-156) v safety pin that is both attractive in appearance andcombines maximum. ease in opening f and closing the'rsafety pin andv ensures against its being accidentally opened.

In the accompanyingv drawings, I have shown an illustrativel embodiment of my invention from lwhic'hthese and other of 1 its` novel f eaturesand advantages will be readily apparent.

In the drawings: e i 1 Fig. 1 is a side View of a safety pin in accordance with my invention. l y

Fig. 2 is an edge view of the safety pin of Fig. l.

Figs. 3 and 4 are sections, on an enlarged scale, along the lines 3--3 and lle-4 respectively of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View of thepin of Fig. 1 partly sectioned to show the ledge.

I have indicated at Ill and Il front and back safety pin legs formed from resilient stockwith an intermediate coil portion I2 yieldably'maintaining the free ends of the legs normally a predetermined distance apart to establish the open position of the safety pin.

The free end of the leg I0 is embedded in a head I3 which is ,preferably molded from any suitable plastic, and to ensure that the leg I 0 is securely anchored therein, its extremity is bent as at 14.

I form the .head with a recess, generally indicated at I5, opening towards the coil portion I2 and of such cross sectional shape that it establishes a pocket I6 spaced vfrom the embedded end of the leg I u and in a plane, indicated at I'I, normal to the legs, and a sinuous channel I8 extending upwardly and outwardly through one side of the head I3 and located wholly on that side of the plane Il' to establish an entrance for the pointed end of the leg II virtually abutting the embedded leg. In order that the entrance be as small as possible, its upper edge is shown in Fig. l as substantially parallel to the leg I0 while its lower edge is inclined downwardly towards the mouth of the, recess to facilitate the entrance of the pointed end of the leg I I therein.

Preferably, I provide the head I3 with a lip I9 adjacent that entrance so that, to close the safety pin, it is only necessary to press the leg I I towards the leg Ill along the side of the head I3 until the lip I9 is passed. When the manual pressure cn the leg II is released, the spring tension thereon forces it downwardly through that' entrance and into the Apocket IE. The recess Idealso includes a second'channel 2D disposedto establish a surface'ZLthat intersects the plane I'I and isinclined upwardly relative 'ky thereto towards the side of the head I3 opposite to the entrance for the leg II thereby preventing the opening of the safety pin unless the leg I I is positively guided into and through the channel I8.

To facilitate the use of a safety pin in accordance with my invention, I form the head I3 with a ledge 22 which constitutes a part of the web 23 separating the channels I8 and 29. The ledge 22 enables the. user to: easily determine when the leg I I has entered the channel I8 when the closed pin is to be opened.

I have shown my safety pin as having a guard, generally indicated at 24, enclosing its coil I2. The guard 2li consists of

sections

25 and 26 as shown in Fig.l 4 which enclose the coilportion I2 when assembled and one of, them. has a coil entering stud 2l. The leg I0 extends through the periphery of the section 25 while the section 26 has a recess which establishes, in the assembled gua-rija, "slotv 28 through which the leg tI.' freely extendswhen the safety pin is open. -Thesslot' 28 is dimensioned to provide a shoulder engageable by the leg; II as; it; is moved a predetermined distance from its open towards its closed position :soz that the further movement of the leg lil required to enable it to enter the head entrance results in the leg Il being bent thereby increasing the locking pressure thereon.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that safety pins, in accordance with. my invention, arev easily manufactured and are attractive in appearance. Not only do my safety pins minimize the. chance of cloth being caught therein, but also are adapted to be easily opened and closed While being securely held in their closed position against accidental openings thereby making; them well suited for use in the care of babies'.

What I therefore claim and desire to. secure by'Letters. Patent is:

1=., A. safety pin. comprising front and back' legs connected together at adjacent ends so thatl they are maintained normally in a plane and so that their free ends are urged apart, and a rigid head adjacent to the back of which the free end of said back leg is rigidly connected, said head having therein adjacent to its front edge a pocket to accommodate the free end of the front leg when the pin is closed, said pocket lying in the normal plane of said legs, said head having therein a recess including two branches extending from said pocket'l toward the back` edge of said head and dening therebetween a Web, one of said branches being closed at its end nearer the back edge of said head and the other opening diagonally outwardly through one side of said head near the back edge of said head, the closed end of saidrst branch lying to one side of the normal plane of said legs, said second branch lying entirely to the other side of said plane,

the. free end portion of said web being disposed at the same side of said plane as the open branch of said recess and having its free edge spaced fromV the free end of the front leg when the latter is seated in said pocket.

iront leg through the; open branch of the recess.

WILLIAM H. SN-EIRSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS