US3604232A

US3604232A - Elastic keyring

Info

Publication number: US3604232A
Authority: US
Inventors: Sylvia J Mosher
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1968-11-21
Filing date: 1968-11-21
Publication date: 1971-09-14
Anticipated expiration: 1988-09-14

Abstract

A keyring having a body in the form of a wide, flat, continuous loop of cloth-covered elastic material which is circumferentially stretchable, with individual elastic key attachment loops on the outside of the body loop which are adapted to circumferentially stretch along with the body. The keyring is generally soft and flexible for easy and comfortable carrying in purse or pocket, and is circumferentially stretchable for engagement over the hand and attachment about the wrist for convenient and comfortable carrying of the keyring while shopping, while carrying groceries or other packages, or while engaged in sporting activities.

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventor Sylvia J. Mosher 6633 Berquist, Canoga Park, Calif. 91304 [21] Appl. No. 777,703 [22] Filed Nov. 21, 1968 [45] Patented Sept. 14,1971

[54] ELASTIC KEYRING 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 70/457 [51] Int. Cl A441 15/00 [50] Field of Search 2/67, 311, 3 12; 24/3; 40/21, 21 A, 21 B, 21 C; 63/1 1, 14; 70/456 A, 456 B, 457, 458, 459; 150/40; 224/25, 26, 28

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 1,298,621 3/1919 Wrigley 40/21 2,463,309 3/1949 Prince 2/67 2,473,113 6/1949 Steere 2/312 2,779,026 1/1957 Rosecrans,Sr.

Primary Examiner-James A. Leppink Assistant Examiner-Robert L. Wolfe At torney-Albert L. Gabriel ABSTRACT: A keyring having a body in the form of a wide, flat, continuous loop of cloth-covered elastic material which is circumferentially stretchable, with individual elastic key attachment loops on the outside of the body loop which are adapted to circumferentially stretch along with the body. The keyring is generally soft and flexible for easy and comfortable carrying in purse or pocket, and is circumferentially stretchable for engagement over the hand and attachment about the wrist for convenient and comfortable carrying of the keyring while shopping, while carrying groceries or other packages, or while engaged in sporting activities.

PATENTEDSEPI 419?: $604,232

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5Y1. v/n J. Mos se MMM/ ELASTIC KEYRING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Keys are conventionally carried on either a rigid ring or a beaded flexible ring, or in a holder such as a leather folder within which the keys are suspended. Typically, two or more keyswill be carried together. Such conventional keyrings or folders haveseveral disadvantages which are overcome by the present invention. Thus, because of the awkwardness of placing'car keys in a purse and then finding them again out of the purse, women frequently hold car keys in their hands when walking from car to house, or while shopping, and this often results in the keys being dropped and lost.

Conventional keyrings or folders present a particularly difficult problem for persons who are engaged in sporting activities in which they are wearing clothing which does not have pockets for receiving the keys, or wherein it is difficult to keep a purse or other carrying means handy. Thus, while it is desirable and sometimes essential to carry car keys while at the beach, or while swimming, boating or engaged in other sporting activities, nevertheless there is usually no satisfactory means forsafely holding the keys under such circumstances.

Another problem in connection with conventional keyrings or folders is that most ofthem contain generally rigid portions, or hold the keys in a generally fixed or rigid positioning, whereby the keys tend to poke and be uncomfortable when carried in the pocket, and occupy an undesirably large amount of space in pocket or purse.

While there have been several prior art attempts to provide a keyring which is essentially engageable over the wrist, such devices have been generally unsatisfactory and have not come into general use because they have all constituted attempts to add a key-carrying capacity to bracelet devices which are generallyconventional in the jewelry art, and have thereby become quite complicated and expensive, have involved undesirable rigid-parts, and have resulted, in general, in a poor compromise between an item of jewelry and a key-holding device, not being really satisfactory for either purpose. A principal fault of such prior art attempts to provide a key-holding bracelet was that such devices were designed to at all times be worn on the wrist, and were not generally suitable for being carried in the purse or in a pocket.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of these and other problems in the art, it is an object of the present invention to provide an elastic keyring which is adapted normally to be carried as a conventional keyring in the pocket or purse, but which is also adapted to be stretchably engaged over the hand and about the wrist at times when it is desirable to have the keys handy, or when it is inconvenient or impossible to carry them in a pocket or purse.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an elastiekeyring of the character described which is made principally of cloth-covered elastic material, and is free of any major rigid portions, whereby the keyring is comfortable when worn on the wrist, and has an overall flexibility which allows the keyring to fold and flex into a relatively small space when in the P9Ckt or purse, for comfortable and convenient carrying.

Another object of the invention is to provide a flexible keyring of the character described which is particularly simple in construction and economical to produce, is easy to operate, with minimum trouble attaching keys thereto or removing 'keys therefrom, and which is attractive in appearance and can be worn on the wrist by a man or a woman without embarrassment.

According tothe invention, the keyring is based on a body intheform of a wide, flat, continuous loop of cloth-covered elastic material which is circumferentially stretchable to be engaged over the hand and onto the wrist. Individual elastic key attachment loops are provided on the outside of the body, and these attachment loops are also circumferentially stretchable along with the body so as to not interfere with the easy engagement of the ring over the hand and onto the wrist.

According to one form of the invention a series of discrete key attachment loops are provided along the outside of the body by means of an elongated, elastic attachment band which extends through a series of spaced transverse loops on the body. According to another form of the inventionaseries of discrete key attachment loops is provided circumferentially along the outside of the body by the permanent connection of an elastic key attachment band at spaced intervals about the body, as by means of stitching.

with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating one form of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary elevational view taken on the line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, but illustrating a second form of the invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view similar to FIGS. 1 and 3, but illustrating a third form of the invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 6-6 in FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring at first to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the keyring which is there illustrated is generally designated 10, and includes a body 12 which is in the form of a wide, flat, continuous loop of cloth-covered elastic material. The material of which body 12 is made is preferably, but notnecessarily, a garter-type material which is longitudinally, or in this case circumferentially, stretchable, and which comprises an interwoven mesh of elastic strands and cloth wherein the surface or covering portion is cloth. The cloth may be provided in various colors, with bright colors employed in keyrings designed for women, and more subdued colors employed in keyrings designed for men.

The body 12 has an inner cylindrical surface 14 which is generally continuous and uninterrupted for comfortable wearing about the wrist in any circumferential position. Body 12 also has an outer cylindrical surface 16, and parallel, continuous side edges 18.

A plurality of transverse retainer loops 20 are regularly spaced along the outer cylindrical surface 16 of body 12, being attached by any convenient means, as for example by rows 22 of stitching adjacent the respective side, edges 18. These transverse retainer loops 20 need not be stretchable, although if they are broad as illustrated, it is preferred that they be stretchable in the direction of the circumference of the body 12, in which case the stitching 22 is also preferably expansible in the circumferential direction of body 12. Alternatively, the transverse retainer loops may be relatively narrow, in which case they need not be stretchable circumferentially of the body.

Four of the transverse retainer loops 20 are shown on the keyring 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, and these are regularly spaced along less than half the circumference of the body 12. Alternatively, any number, of these transverse retainer loops 20 may be employed, and they may be disposed around any extent of the periphery of body 12 that is desired, within the scope of the invention.

A key attachment band 24 extends circumferentially along the outer cylindrical surface 16 of body 12 and is engaged through all of the transverse retainer loops 20 as best illustrated in FIG. 1. One end 26 of the attachment band 24 is anchored to the body 12, as by means of stitching, while the other end 28 is a free end to which a T-type fastener 30.' in the form of a rigid crossbar, is secured. This T-type fastener 30 may be easily passed through the transverse retainer loops 20 by bending the T 30 to a position generally alongside and parallel to the attachment band 24, and when the T 30 is released, it will normally be disposed at right angles to the attachment band 24 as illustrated in FIG. 2 to secure the free end 28 of the attachment band 24 from withdrawal through the transverse loops 20.

It will be seen from FIG. 1 that with the attachment band 24 extending through all four of the transverse retainer loops 20, the attachment band 24 forms three discrete key attachment loops 31, to each of which one or more keys 32 may be attached. For illustrative purposes, a single key 32 is shown in FIG. 1 as being attached to the intermediate of the three key attachment loops 31. The key 32 is attached in this position by bending the T-fastener 30 alongside key attachment band 24, and in this position sliding the free end 28 of band 24 to the left in FIGS. 1 and 2 through the two right-hand retainer loops 20.

Then, the free end 28 of the band, with the T alongside the band, is passed through the hole in the head of the key and reinstalled through the two right-hand retainer loops 20, and the T 30 is then released to secure the band in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The key attachment band 24 may be round in cross section if desired, or may be generally flat, but preferably narrower than the body loop 12. The attachment band 24 is longitudinally stretchable so as to be expansible along with the body 12 when the ring 10 is engaged over the hand onto the wrist. The attachment band 24 is preferably, but not necessarily, of an interwoven cloth and elastic material similar to the body 12, with similar or contrasting coloring.

Although it is presently preferred to use a garter-type cloth and elastic band material for the body 12, transverse retainer loops 20 and key attachment band 24, it will be apparent that these portions of the key ring 10 may be made of an elastomeric plastic material, with the attachments of the retainer loops 20 and anchored end 26 of band 24 to the body 12 being made by thermal welding.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a second form of the invention which is very similar to the first form shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, but employs an attachment band that extends around the entire periphery of the body and attaches to itself. Thus, the key ring 10a illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 includes a continuous loop body 12a similar to the body 12, with a plurality of transverse retainer loops 20a regularly spaced around the entire periphery of body 12a. The key attachment band 24a is sufficiently long to extend around the entire periphery of body 12a, and is engaged through all of the transverse retainer loops 200. Both ends 260 and 28a of attachment band 24a may be considered as free ends, since neither is anchored to the body 120. The band ends 26a and 28a are provided with mating portions of a jewelers snap fastener 30a, the fastener 30a being coupled as shown in FIG. 3 during the operative condition of keyring 10a, and being uncoupled for sliding one or both of the free ends 260 and 28a out through one or more of the transverse retainer loops 20a for engagement of one or more keys 32a on any of the key attachment loops 310 formed by the portions of attachment band 24a located intermediate adjacent transverse retainer loops 20a. One or both of the mating portions of the jewelers snap fastener 30a are sufficiently small in the transverse direction to be easily passed through the hole in the key. It will be apparent that any number of keys can be conveniently supported on the key ring 1011 in any of a variety of different positions about the circumference of the ring 10a.

Referring now to FIGS. and 6, these figures illustrate 142 fiat 143 against 145 body a third form of key ring generally designated b which has a body 12b similar to the

bodies

12 and 12a of the first two forms of the invention. However, the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 differs from the other two forms by having key attachment band 24b which is permanently, fixedly secured about the periphery of body 12b,

as by means of transverse stitching 34. The transverse stitching 34 is applied in regularly spaced intervals about the periphery of body 12b so that the attachment band 24b'is arranged in a series of alternating key attachment loops'3Ib which project radially outwardly from the body 12b and intermediate webs 36 which lie flat against the body 12b. Since the attachment band 24b is permanent and the loops 3l'barc closed, a link ring 38, which may be any type of; plastic or metal split ring, is employed to connect a key 32b to a key at= tachment loop 31b.

It will be noted that in all three forms of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings and described in detail herein, the portion of the keyring which is in contact with the wristis continuous, and soft, and is therefore quite comfortable, while the keys are on the outside of this continuous band which engages the wrist, and are separated from the wrist by the band.

While the instant invention has been shown and described herein in what are conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is therefore not to be limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims.

Iclaim:

1. An elastic keyring which comprises a body in the form of a continuous loop of soft, flexible material that is elastic in the circumferential direction, said body being generally wrist size in its relaxed condition and being circumferentially stretchable for engagement over the hand onto the wrist, and a plurality of flexible key attachment loops connected to the outside of said body in circumferentially spaced relationship, said attachment loops being provided by elongated, flexible band means the longitudinal axis of which is arranged generally circumferentially of said body, said band means being elastic in the longitudinal direction so as to be stretchable with said body and comprising an elongated band member that is connected to said body at spaced intervals along the periphery of the body, said key attachment loops being formed by respective portions of said band intermediate adjacent connections of the band to the body.

2. An elastic keyring as defined in claim 1, wherein said body is a generally flat, continuous ribbon of material, and said band member is substantially narrower than said body ribbon and generally centered between the edges of the body ribbon.

3. An elastic keyring as defined in claim I, wherein said elongated band member is connectedto said body at least in part by means of a plurality of transverse retainer loops mounted on the outside of the body in circumferentially spaced relationship, said band member being engaged through said retainer loops.

4. An elastic keyring as defined in claim 3, wherein one end of said elongated band member is anchored to said body, and the other end thereof has fastener means thereon which is releasably engageable with one of said transverse retainer loops.

5. An elastic keyring as defined in claim 4, wherein said fastener means comprises a T-type fastener normally arranged generally at right angles to said band member so as to secure said other end of the band means against passage through said transverse retainer loops but bendable to a position generally in line with said band member for passage thereof through said transverse retainer loops.

6. An elastic keyring as defined in claim 3, wherein said elongated band member substantially completely circumscribes said body, and the ends of said band member have mounted thereon mating portions of a releasable fastener.

7. An elastic keyring as defined in claim I, wherein said band member is permanently connected to said body at circumferentially spaced intervals, alternating sections of said band member being bent radially outwardly from said body to form said key attachment loops and being disposed flat against the outer surface of said body intermediate said attachment loops.

Claims

2. An elastic keyring as defined in claim 1, wherein said body is a generally flat, continuous ribbon of material, and said band member is substantially narrower than said body ribbon and generally centered between the edges of the body ribbon.
3. An elastiC keyring as defined in claim 1, wherein said elongated band member is connected to said body at least in part by means of a plurality of transverse retainer loops mounted on the outside of the body in circumferentially spaced relationship, said band member being engaged through said retainer loops.
4. An elastic keyring as defined in claim 3, wherein one end of said elongated band member is anchored to said body, and the other end thereof has fastener means thereon which is releasably engageable with one of said transverse retainer loops.
5. An elastic keyring as defined in claim 4, wherein said fastener means comprises a T-type fastener normally arranged generally at right angles to said band member so as to secure said other end of the band means against passage through said transverse retainer loops but bendable to a position generally in line with said band member for passage thereof through said transverse retainer loops.
6. An elastic keyring as defined in claim 3, wherein said elongated band member substantially completely circumscribes said body, and the ends of said band member have mounted thereon mating portions of a releasable fastener.
7. An elastic keyring as defined in claim 1, wherein said band member is permanently connected to said body at circumferentially spaced intervals, alternating sections of said band member being bent radially outwardly from said body to form said key attachment loops and being disposed flat against the outer surface of said body intermediate said attachment loops.