US2874433A - Detachable fastener - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 24, 1959 E. 5. LA RUE ET AL DETACHABLE FASTENER Filed Aug. 27, 1954 INVENTOR. [Iii/V04 5, 1.420:

IITOP/Vi) Un d sw sfllem O DETACHABLE FASTENER Eleanor S. La Rue and Frederick Gene La Rue, San

Francisco, Calif.; said Frederick Gene La Rue assignor to said Eleanor S. La Rue Application August 27, 1954, Serial No. 452,492 2 Claims. (Cl. 24-103) The invention relates to the form and construction of detachable fastener elements and particularly to those embodying a pin arranged for passing through and attaching togetherone or more layers of fabric or the like,-orfor n detachablysecuring to the fabric a button or similar rt -4 m An object of the present invention isto providc a detachable fastener of the character described which is adaptable to a wide number and types of application and maybe made from various materials to afford both ornamentation and function and in various sizes to work with different types and thicknesses of material gto be secured. For example, the fastener may be applied to garments and the like in a manner similar to the common straight or safety pin, may be used for applying buttons to garments, and may be adapted for a wide variety of other functions and applications such as clasps, buckles or .the like, whereverdetachable fastener sections may be employed. Another object of the present invention is to provide a fastener of the character above whichmay be quickly and easily applied to and removed from a garment without injury to the cloth of the garment, thereby facilitating and encouraging the frequent interchange of buttons and other ornaments, as, for example, on womens dresses, .coats and suits so as to obtain desired ornamental effects. A further object of the present invention is to provide a fastener of the character described which will be compact in form and will provide an improved support for and presentation of a button or the like. Still another object of the invention is to provide a detachable fastener of the character described which may be economically manufactured in mass production and will be designed to provide a long and useful life.

Yet a further object ofthe present invention is to provide a detachable fastener of the characier described which may be adapted for u's e in a coveredbutton construction wherein the several parts, including a :button form, maybe quickly and easily assembled with adesired fabric covering for the buttonand applied to a garment. a

1 The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following descriptions of. the preferred form of the invention which isillustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification. ;It is to be understood, howeventhat variations in the showing made by the said drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims. Referring to 'said drawing; v a Figure 1 is a perspective viewof the detachable fastener constructed in accordance with the present invention,

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the fastener and is taken substantially on the plane of line 2-2 ofFigurel'. l .1 .1 Figure 3 rasrq s: es i rel risw19f. e fa T 2,874,433 Patented Feb. 24, 1959 fastener sectionwith the other fastener part shown in including a pair of spaced resilient wire legs 13 and 14,

and the section 12 being formed with bores 16 and 17 opening to a side 18 thereof and dimensioned to slidably receive the legs 13 and 14, and as a special feature of the fastener, bores are divergently tapered from the side 18 so as to resiliently deflect the legs 13 and 14 upon sliding of the lcgsinto the bores on attachment of the sections. Preferably,-the free end portions 19 and of the legs 13 and 14 are angularly extended from the legs was to place a torsional strain on the legs upon in} sertion of the ends into the divergent bores 16' and '17 and, for most applications at least, the end portions 19-aiid 21'should 'be bent to extend substantially perpendicular to the legs, as generally illustrated throughout thevarious forms inthe drawings, 7 4 Y In the forms of the invention illustrated iii Figures'l to 4 and 6 and 7 of the drawing, the section 11 is formed of a substantially U-shaped wire providing the legs 13 and 14 in substantially parallel relation and terminating at one end' in a transverse connection portion 22. In this arrangement the opposite free ends 19 and 21- of the legs are bent to extend substantially perpendicular to the legs 13 and 14 and into parallel relation to each other. Also, to facilitate the insertion of'the wire fastener section through material to be fastened, the ends 23 anci '24 of the portions 19 and 21 are desirably pointed. i f The fastener section 12 may be composed, as here shown, of a disk-like body having a substantially flat side 18 which in the operative positioning of the device,'as illustrated in Figure 3, will be positioned flatly against one side 26 of a fabric layer 27 secured by the fastener. The side 18 of the body 12 is formed with an opening 28 which is dimensioned to receive the free end portions 19, and 21 of the fastener section 11, and the bores 16 and- 17 formed internally in the body 12 have their ends terminated at and in communication with the opening 28. In keeping with the perpendicular offsetting of the wire ends 19 and 21, the bores 16 and 17 are preferably arranged ina plane substantially perpendicular to the opening 28-that is, substantially parallel to theflat side 18. To facilitate manufacture, the section 12 may: be laminated out of two pieces Bland-32. In this arrange; mentthe piece 31 may have, the opening 28 cut through it and the bores 16 and 17 milled in its inside face lamimated to the piece 32. I

The opening 28 may be of generally U-shape, having A spaced substantially parallel sidewalls 36 and 37 adapted to receive and slidably confine therebetween the offset ends 19 and 21 of the wire section. The forward'end of the opening 28 is preferably divided into a pair of spaced slots 38 and 39 which receive the ends 23 and 24 of the wire and guide them into the bores 16 and 17. The slots may be formed by a rearwardly projecting front wall portion 41 which extends towards the rear wall 42 of the opening inspaced relation to the 'op-' posite sides 36 and 37, the rear wall 42 being spaced- I fromthe forward ends of the slots 33 and 39 by a distance .Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view on'an enlarged scale I permitting the- offset ends 19 and 21 to be moved into and out of the opening perpendicularly to the side 18 without restriction, as illustrated in Figure l. To-fasten the sections together, the offset- ends 19 and 21 are in'- serted into the opening and against the bottom side 43 thereof, as illustrated in Figure 2, and then they sections aredisplaced relative to "each other so as to slide the ends 19 and 21 into the bores 16 and 17, as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. The sections may be separated with equal facility by merely displacing them in an opposite bores 16 and 17.

The basic elements of the fastener, as above described, may be used in a wide variety of forms for accomplishing a wide variety of purposes. In its simplest form, the U-shaped wire section .11 and the fastener body section 12 combine to provide a simple form of pin similar to a safety pin. In this arrangement, the wire legs 13 and 14 may be inserted through one or more layers of .fabric, as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, with the connecting port'ion 22 of the section 11 disposed on one side of the fabric and the section 12 disposed on the opposite side so as to secure the fastener in place and the one or more desirably detachably fastened on the outside of a garment or other supporting media through which the metal pin may be inserted. On the otherhand, the metal pin itself may be used as a fastener for other objects. For .example, it may be used as a corsage pin for receiving one or more stems of flowers or the like through the loop provided by the U-shaped form of the section, orthe loop of the wire section may be passed through the loop or eyelet 44 of a conventional button 46,, as illustrated in Figure 6, to provide an excellent button and fastener combination. In the latter case the connecting portion 22a of the wire is preferably rounded as shown in Figure 7so as to center the 'button thereon.

.A modified form of the fastener is illustrated in Figure.5 of the drawing, wherein the wire legs 13a and .1411 are carried by and project substantially perpendicularly from the'normally back side 47 of a bodysection :48. The latter combines with the body section 12 in the ,manner above described to provide solid sections 48 and 12 on the opposite sides of a supporting media 27, suchas one or more fabric layers. In this form of the invention, either the section 48 or the section 12 may be fashioned as a functional or ornamental button, jewelry piece or the like, with the other section functioning .to properly support and present it at the opposite side of the garment. Also, this form of the invention makes possible the quick detachable mounting of an ornamental piece or the like to a companionsection whichis otherwise supported. For example, by attaching the section 12 to the outer side ,of a garment ;or the ,like, ;a;plurality of interchangeable elements .in the form 1of -section 4.8 may be 'detachably ,applied :to the section 12 as .desired. In such case the legs13a and 14a ,willbe ,foreshortened so .thatthe sections 12 and 48 \Wlll lbeassembled in faceto-face relation.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figure 7, thespaced wire legs 13and 14 are extended from-the backside 49 of a button- 46, as-for. exampleinthernanner illustrated in Figure .6, and a washer like member-51 .is mounted on the legs 13 and Hand positionedagainst the backside 49 of the buttonto provide ameans for locking up the assembly. Forthistpurpose the member ,51 is formed with spaced openings 52 and 53 and themember is desirably formed with tongues 56 and57 atthe openings positioned to engage and grip thelegs vtosecurethe member against movement away ,from the [back side .of the button. This. form. of.the invention .is particularly useful in retaining on the button 46a.cloth brother covering 58 which may be extended over the facelof the button and to'the back side 49 thereofforengagement thereatby the member 51. .Forthis purpose the. member 51 is preferably of dish shape andis mounted on thejlegs 13 and 14 with thenormally concave side of the member toward the rear side 49. of the buttonso as topresent the. rim 59 of the member 51 against .the covering .58 at the backside of the button, and to better secure theg'covei'ing in place,,the rim 59"may beserrate'd as illustrate'd inFigure 7.

fit

A further modified form of the invention is illustrated in Figure 8 wherein there is provided in the opening 28:: a pair of notches 61 and v62 which cooperate with the resilient strain placed upon the legs 13a and 14a to provide an automatic interlocking action upon sliding of the offset ends 19a and 21a into the divergent bores 16a and 1711. ,As willbe noted from Figure 8, the notches 6'1 and 62 are provided at the joindcr of the opposite sidewalls 36a and 37a with the front wall 41a of the opening-that is, at the forward extremities of the spaced slots 38a and 3911. Also, as will be noted, the bores 16a and 17a are tapered from the inner wall 41a so that the portion of the bores at the wall 41a is somewhat wider than at the inner ends of the bores. In this manner, the points 23a and 24a of the wire will initially strike the adjacent inside diverging surfaces 63 and 64 and ride these surfaces as the pin is pushed to attached position, thus , crowdingthe legs 13a and 14a against the sidewalls 36a and 37a. Accordingly, the legs will resiliently snap into "the-notches '61 and 62 upon attachment of the sections so as to thereby'retain the sections against accidental separation. Preferably, the form of the notch is rounded or beveled sufficiently to permit displacement of the legs 13a and 14a out of the notches and onto the smooth sidewalls 36a and 37a when sufiicient separating force is manually applied to the sections.

"We claim:

'1. A fastener comprising, detachable sections, one of said sections including :apair of spaced resilient wire legs secured at their ends against rotation about their axes and'having opposite free ends offset in a common plane, and a {second section formedwith opposed side and end walls defining an opening dimensioned to receive said free ends andbeing'further formed with a pair of internal bores inthe plane of said opening and divergently extending from said end wall at said side walls so as to cons'titute angular continuations of said side walls, said bores 1 being dimensioned to slidablyreceive and to rotatively displace said free ends upon insertion of the latter into said bores so as -to;resilient1y urge said legs against said side walls, said sidewalls being formed with lateral notches dimensioned to receive and interlock with said legs whereby the resilientstressing of said legs on said insertion will cause said legs to resiliently snap into said notches to'detachably hold said sections together.

'2. A fastener comprising, -a substantially U-shaped wire df resilientmaterial having spaced legs terminating in iangularly extended substantially parallel free ends, and a 'fastener"bodyformed with opposed side and end walls defining an opening dimensioned to receive said free-ends an'd ,beingjfurther formed with -a pair of internal bores in the plane of-said opening and divergently extendingfrom said end wall at said side walls so as to constitute angular 'continuations of said side walls, said bores being dimensioned-to 'slidably receive and to rotativelyjc'lispl'ace sai'd free ends-upon insertion of the latter intosaidboresso as to -resiliently-urge said legs against said side'walls,said side walls being-formed with lateral notches dimensioned to receive andinterlock with said legswherebytheresilient stressing of said legs on said insertion-"will cause said legsto-resiliently snap into said notches to' 'detachably hold said-wire and body together.

References Cited in the file of this patent "UNITED ATES PATENTS 595,286 Candel Dec. 14,1897 687,028 Homing Nov. 19, 1901 1,141,090 Winn May 25, 1915 1,221,009 Abel Apr. 3, 19 17 .1,5 19,487 .Cooney Dec. 16, 1924 1,644,475 Herman Oct. 4, '1927 EFOREIG-N ,PATENTS 16,401 ,GreatEBritain of 1-9 12 51215 Germany Mar. 15,1890

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