US2643430A

US2643430A - Covered buckle and parts thereof

Info

Publication number: US2643430A
Application number: US169192A
Authority: US
Inventors: Koehl Herman; Hans A Prym
Original assignee: C E M Co
Current assignee: C E M Co
Priority date: 1950-06-20
Filing date: 1950-06-20
Publication date: 1953-06-30
Anticipated expiration: 1970-06-30

Description

June 30, 1953 H, KOEHL ETAL COVERED BUCKLE AND PARTS THEREOF 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 20, 1950 INVENTORS' HERMAN KOEHL HANS .PRYM

b i THEiR ATTORNEY 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 H. KOEHL ET AL COVERED BUCKLE AND PARTS THEREOF June 30, 1953 Filed June 20, 1950 INVENTORS HANS PRYM L H E O K N A M R E H vvvvvvvvvhfilvvvvvvvB THEIR AT ORNEYS AAAAAAQQAA/AAAAAAAA June 30, 1953 KOEHL ETAL 2,643,430

COVERED BUCKLE AND PARTS THEREOF Filed June 20, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 fivvvvvvvvvvvvvvv v m\ 4 F 4 I D 1 1 r 1' |0 4 q 4/0 10 1 D 4 4 b 4 b Q bbAflAAAAkAbfabAAAAy INVENTORS' HERMAN KOEHL HANS PRYM THEIR ATTORNEYJS Patented June 30, 1953 COVERED BUCKLE AND PARTS THEREOF Herman Koch], Danielson, and Hans A. Prym,

Woodstock, Conn, assignors to C. E. M. Company, Killingly, Conn.

Application June 20, 1950, Serial No. 169,192

3 Claims. 1

Our invention relates to parts for assembling covered buckles. More particularly, it concerns means whereby such parts can readily be assembled and covered with covering material without the use of tools and without requiring special skill. The present application is a continuationin-part of our copending application Serial No. 103,400, filed July 7, 1949 (now U. S. Patent No. 2,513,182, dated June 27, 1950). It is directed specifically to covered buckle assemblies and includes some further developments and improvements on the common subject matter contained in said parent case.

The covering of buckles with various covering materials, such as fabrics and leather, in order to make such buckles match or complement the appearance of the clothing with which they are worn, has generally been entrusted to specialty shops. This is because special tools and some degree of skill and experience was required to assemble such covered buckles, when employing the parts heretofore available. Buckle parts were also known that could be covered with fabrics by means of adhesives, but such adhesives are difficult to work with and most of them are not fast to water, so that the fabric covering is likely to become loose in the presence of moisture.

The principal object of our present invention is to provide parts for buckles that can readily be covered and assembled without the need for special tools, experience or skill. A further object is to provide means whereby the covering material is firmly held under all normal conditions, but can easily be replaced, if desired. The foregoing objects and others that will become apparent as the particular description proceeds, are accomplished primarily by the provision of a suitably shaped hollow form piece having integral means for holding the covering material thereon. These form pieces are preferably stamped out of sheet metal and include an opening at the back, which is lined with bent-in teeth for holding the covering material and permitting it to be stretched over the outer surface of the form piece. In our parent application Serial No. 103,400 (now U. S. Patent No. 2,513,182), we have shown several such form pieces having bent-in rims on which inwardly pointed teeth are based. Experience has shown that it is preferable to omit such bentin rim and to base the bent-in teeth directly on the outer edges of the form piece; This affords the maximum sized back opening and does not require the teeth to be turned in as far, thus facilitating the covering of the form piece.

As described in our parent case, we provide a closure member for the back of the form piece, which serves to secure the covering material on the latter and gives the assembled buckle a finished appearance. While the usual crossbar may be attached to the form piece as shown in our parent case, we find it simpler to attach such cross piece to the closure member, so that it cannot interfere with the covering of the form piece.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention and showing how the various parts can be assembled. Obviously our invention is not limited to the details shown therein. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a back view of a hollow sheet metal form piece according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a section of the form piece along the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a back View of a suitable closure memher for the form piece of Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a section of such closure member along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Figs. 5 to 12, inclusive, show progressively in back views and sections various stages in the covering and assembling of a finished buckle using the form piece and closure member shown in the preceding figures. The sections shown in Figs. 6 8, 10 and 12 are indicated by the correspondingly numbered lines of Figs. 5, 7, 9 and 11, respectively.

Referring now in more detail to these drawings, the back edges l and 3 of the rectangular, hollow sheet metal form piece are provided with bent-in

teeth

2 and 4, respectively. When referring to bent-in teeth 2 on the inner edge I, we mean that such teeth are bent towards the teeth 4 linin the outer edge 3, i. e., they are bent into the back opening of the hollow space enclosed by the form p1ece.

As may best be seen in Fig. 2, the inner edge I does not protrude quite as far as the outer edge 3, thus further enlarging the opening, although both edges may protrude equally or the inner edge may protrude further than the outer edge, if desired. The bent-in

teeth

2 and 4 are shown directed substantially toward each other. They may, if desired, be turned more or less sharply inward, although the position shown seems to be the most practical and effective. It should be noted that the teeth 2 on the inner edge I have been omitted at the corners. This facilitates the covering as will be explained hereafter.

The preferred closure member is shown separately in Figs. 3 and 4. It is likewise made of sheet metal and includes an arched front or frame 5 with outwardly turned edges 6 and I. The crossbar 8 is formed. by rolling a portion of the sheet metal into cylindrical form. The corners 9 of the inner turned out edge 6 are widened, as shown, and serve to cover the corresponding corners of the form .piece where the teeth 2 have been omitted. A further advantage of thus widening the inner corners 9 of the closure member is that they narrow'the openings in the buckle frame and thus help to rip thebelt passing therethrough more firmly. .The turned out edges 6 and I of the closure member are so dimensioned as to fit beneath the bent-in

teeth

2 and 4 of the form piece, while permitting the widened inner corners 9 to rest upon the corresponding corners of the form piece.

The preferred method of covering and assembling our buckle parts will now be described with reference to Figs. 5 to l2, inclusive. The first step is to hook one end of a suitably shaped piece of covering material it on the bent-in teeth 4 at the corresponding portion of the outer edge 3 of the form piece. The covering material I is then stretched tightly over the entire form piece and is hooked into the remaining teeth 4 of the outer edge 3, thusforming the assembly shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

The next step is to cut a hole in the center of the covering material, preferably by making diagonal incisions I2 as shown in Fig. 7. The triangular flaps thus produced are trimmed by cutting off their points to form the tabs H. The results of this step are shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

The inner tabs II are now drawn firmly over the inner edges l of the form piece and hooked over the bent-in teeth 2 based thereon. It will be noted that the corners of the inner edge are not wholly covered. Thus the covering material is firmly, but releasably, held over the frame of the form piece as shown in Figs. 9 and 10.

The final step in the assembly of the covered buckle is to insert the closure member into the back opening of the covered form piece. This is done by forcing the outwardly turned edges 6 and l of the closure member past the exposed points of the bent-in

teeth

2 and 4 .of the form piece. This can readily be accomplished due to the resiliency of the bent-in teeth and of the outwardly turned edges, which is'increased by the arched cross section of both the form piece and the closure member. Once the outwardly turned edges of the closure member have been forced past the bent-in teeth of the form piece, these parts are firmly held in the fully assembled relationship shown in Figs. 11 and 12. The widened inner corners 9 of the closure member not only serve to cover the bare inner corners of the form piece, but they also serve to limit the depth to which the closure member may be inserted into the back opening of the covered form piece. The same limiting function is also performed by the crossbar 8 0n the closure member.

Obviously, the covering material is firmly looked over the form piece in the fully assembled buckle of Figs. 11 and 12. There is no danger that it can slip off the bent-in teeth of the form piece and thus become loose. However, if it is desired to replace the covering material the buckle can readily be disassembled by inserting a pointed tool between the covered form piece and the closure member, and prying them apart. Again the resilience of the cooperating portions of the form piece and closure member makes this possible.

The buckle parts described above thus make it possible for the housewife or seamstress to apply any desired covering material and to produce fully assembled, covered buckles having an attractive finished appearance in the home without the use of any special tools. No particular skill or experience is required to carry out the method of assembly herein described. This constitutes a great convenience and. a substantial 4 saving, particularly in localities where specialty shops with the necessary equipment for assembling the prior art buckle parts are not available.

Our invention is by no means limited to the foregoing details. Many possible modifications will immediately be apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus the shape of the finished buckle may be varied almost at will. The buckle may be circular as in one of the embodiments shown in our aforesaid parent application. Considerable variation in the form and structure of the closure member is possible. It may be formed of a simple washer-like piece of compressible material, as suggested in the parent application, although in that case it is preferable to have the crossbar an integral part of the form piece. The novel principles of our invention may be applied to brooches and buckle-like buttons, as well as other equivalent devices, that one may wish to cover partly or wholly with a suitable covering material.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope hereof, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the specific embodiments hereof except as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A form piece for a buckle, said form piece having a hollow frame portion with rearwardly extending inner and outer edges on which are based pointed teeth that are bent in substantially towards each other at the back opening of the hollow frame and wherein one of the edges extends rearwardly somewhat further than the other.

2. A buckle assembly comprising a form piece having a hollow frame portion with rearwardly extending inner and outer edges on which are based pointed teeth that are bent in substantially toward each other at the back opening of the hollow frame, and a correspondingly shaped closure member including an integral crossbar and an arched frame portion with outwardly turned edges that are caught behind the points of the bent-in teeth of the form piece.

3. A buckle assembly comprising a form piece having a substantially rectangular, hollow frame portion with rearwardly extending inner and outer edges on which are based pointed teeth that are bent-in substantially towards each other at the back opening of the hollow frame, the inner edge being devoid of teeth at its corners, and a correspondingly shaped closure member including an integral crossbar and an arched frame portion with outwardly turned edges that are caught behind the points of the bent-in teeth of the form piece, except for widened portions at the inner corners which abut the toothless inner edge corner portions of the form piece.

HERMAN KOEHL. HANS A. PRYM.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS