US3902197A

US3902197A - Cuff link

Info

Publication number: US3902197A
Application number: US482863A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward Ferretti
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1974-06-25
Filing date: 1974-06-25
Publication date: 1975-09-02
Anticipated expiration: 1992-09-02

Abstract

For especial use in a barrel type cuff of a shirt, a drum encloses the customary cuff button sewed on one margin of the cuff. A pin mounted eccentrically on the inside of the drum extends inwardly through one of the thread holes in the button enclosed within the drum, penetrates the underlying fabric and passes through the registering button hole in the other margin of the cuff for clamping engagement with a conventional pin gripping device of the kind used in tie tacks. The resulting structure simulates the appearance of a cuff link on a French cuff.

Description

United States Patent [191 Ferretti [4 1 Sept. 2, 1975 CUFF LINK 21 App]. No.: 482,863

[52] US. Cl. 2/123; 2/128; 24/102 FC;

24/103; 24/108; 24/113 MP [51] Int. Cl. A41B 7/02; A44B 5/02 [58] Field of Search 24/41, 47, 48, 102 PC,

24/113 MP, 90.5, 49 CP, 49 P, 90 P, 90 W, 103, 108; 2/123, 128

3,831,398 8/1974 Davis 24/90 A Primary ExaminerPaul R. Gilliam Assistant Examiner-Kenneth J. Dorner Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Lothrop & West [5 7] ABSTRACT For especial use in a barrel type cuff of a shirt, a drum encloses the customary cuff button sewed on one margin of the cuff. A pin mounted eccentrically on the inside of the drum extends inwardly through one of the thread holes in the button enclosed within the drum, penetrates the underlying fabric and passes through the registering button hole in the other margin of the cuff for clamping engagement with a conventional pin gripping device of the kind used in tie tacks. The resulting structure simulates the appearance of a cuff link on a French cuff.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTED SEP' 2% 3,902,197

CUFF LINK While the patent literature and the market place are replete with examples of cuff links of the type ordinarily encountered on French cuffs, relatively few cuff links, if any, appear to have been used on barrel cuffs provided with the usual button and registering button hole. Despite the foregoing, it often becomes desirable to provide the conventional barrel cuff with links which afford the wearer an opportunity to convert the barrel type cuff to a French type cuff, at least in appearance. and thereby add a measure of distinction.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a cuff link which readily enables the wearer to cover the customary button found on a shirt cuff and display, instead, a personalized cuff ornament, if desired.

It is another object of the invention to provide a cuff link which converts a barrel type cuff into a shirt cuff which resembles the appearance of a French type of cuff.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a cuff link which is relatively inexpensive yet is reliable and long-lived and has but few moving parts to get out of order.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a cuff link which is versatile in that it can be used in connection with cuffs on a wide variety of articles of clothing such as shirts, blouses, jumpers and numerous other types of wearing apparel.

It is another object of the invention to provide a generally improved cuff link.

Other objects, together with the foregoing, are attained in the embodiment described in the following description and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which,

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view, to an enlarged scale, of the decorative drum and pin structure and a pin gripping device in the nature of a tie tack clamp;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the inside of the drum shown in FIG. 1, illustrating the eccentric location of the pin mounting on the drum disc; and,

FIG. 3 is a median sectional view, of the cuff link installed on a conventional barrel cuff.

While the cuff link of the invention is susceptible of numerous physical embodiments, depending upon the environment and requirements of use, substantial numbers of the herein shown and described embodiment have been made, tested and used, and all have performed in an entirely satisfactory way.

The cuff link of the invention, generally designated by the reference numeral 12, is preferably utilized in combination with the barrel cuff 13 of a shirt sleeve.

In conventional manner, one of the cuff margins 16 is provided with a button 17 secured to the underlying cuff margin 16 by threads 18 passing through openings 19 (usually four in number) and extending through the fabric material of the cuff margin.

The other cuff margin 21 includes a button hole 22 in register with the button 17.

Customarily, when used as a barrel cuff, the cuff margin 21 is overlapped over the margin 16 and the button maneuvered through the button hole 22 to form a eylindrical shape, or barrel, from which shape the designation barrel cuff is derived.

In the present device, however, the

cuff margins

16 and 21 are clamped in face to face relation, thereby resembling the arrangement customarily encountered in the well known French cuff.

The appearance is further enhanced by covering the usual button 17 by a drum 26 including a closure disc 27 covering one end of an annular ring 28, or collar, and defining therewith a chamber 29 encompassing the button 17.

The drum is secured in place by a pin 31 having a diameter sufficiently small in size so that the pin can pass through one of the thread holes in the button. By placing the pin 31 in an eccentric, or off-center, location as appears most clearly in FIG. 2, the pin is aligned with one of the underlying off-center thread holes 19 when the button 17 is centered in the chamber 29. Further, by placing the pin 31 in an eccentric location, any tendency of the cuff link to rotate about its geometric axis is minimized.

The pin 31 penetrates the underlying fabric material of the cuff margin, passes through the narrow registering slot forming the buttonhole 22 in the adjacent cuff margin 21 and is snugly clamped in a pin gripping device 33 of the kind used in conventional tie tacks.

The outer surface 41 of the drum 26 can be provided with ornamentation such as that encountered on the types of cuff links ordinarily used on French cuffs, and the drum preferably includes a peripheral flange 43 to afford a greater surface area of engagement with the underlying cuff fabric so that even though the gripper element 33 is pushed with considerable force toward the drum as the pin is engaged, no distortion or wrinkling of the cuff fabric takes place.

To remove the link, the gripping device 33, and particularly the milled disc portion 44 is engaged by the thumb and index finger in customary fashion and urged in a direction away from the drum. When the device is clear of the pointed end 46 of the pin 31 the drum and pin are withdrawn from the shirt cuff for use on another shirt.

It can therefore be seen that I have provided a cuff link which can readily be installed on a barrel type cuff to simulate the attractive and distinctive appearance of a French cuff with attendant link.

What is claimed is:

l. A cuff link in combination with a pin gripping device and a shirt cuff having a circular button with thread openings on a first margin of the cuff and a registering button hole on an adjacent second margin of the cuff, said cuff link comprising:

a. a drum including a circular disc and an annular collar mounted on said disc to define a circularly walled chamber capable of symmetrically enclosing said circular button; and,

b. a pin eccentrically mounted on said disc, the degree of eccentricity of said pin being such as to align said pin with an underlying one of the offcenter thread openings when said button is centered in said chamber, said pin having a diameter small enough to allow said pin to penetrate said one of said thread openings, said pin having a length sufficient to penetrate successively said one of said thread openings, the underlying fabric of said first margin and said registering button hole for engagement with said pin gripping device.

2. A cuff link as in claim 1 including a flange mounted on said collar for engagement with the shirt fabric adjacent the margin of said button.

l l l l

Claims

1. A cuff link in combination with a pin gripping device and a shirt cuff having a circular button with thread openings on a first margin of the cuff and a registering button hole on an adjacent second margin of the cuff, said cuff link comprising: a. a drum including a circular disc and an annular collar mounted on said disc to define a circularly walled chamber capable of symmetrically enclosing said circular button; and, b. a pin eccentrically mounted on said disc, the degree of eccentricity of said pin being such as to align said pin with an underlying one of the off-center thread openings when said button is centered in said chamber, said pin having a diameter small enough to allow said pin to penetrate said one of said thread openings, said pin having a length sufficient to penetrate successively said one of said thread openings, the underlying fabric of said first margin and said registering button hole for engagement with said pin gripping device.