WO1999027814A1

WO1999027814A1 - Release fastening for bags and the like

Info

Publication number: WO1999027814A1
Application number: PCT/EP1998/006947
Authority: WO
Inventors: Fausto Crestanello
Original assignee: Mcm Crestanello S.R.L.
Priority date: 1997-11-28
Filing date: 1998-11-03
Publication date: 1999-06-10
Also published as: ITVI970210A0; AU1337699A; ITVI970210A1; IT1296379B1

Abstract

The invention realizes a release fastening for bags including: a supporting flat surface (10) provided with a through half ring (11), said supporting surface (12) being fixed on the bag; a closing element (20) having a stiff body (21) formed by a first past (210) suitable for being fixed to the edge of the flap and a second part having a hollow (212) housing a movable element (23) balancing and projecting from the outline by means of a first spring (25). Said flat surface (10) has at least one slit (13) with a tooth (14) projecting wherefrom, said tooth (14) belonging to a sliding support (15) which is pushed against the slit (13) end by means of a second spring (18), the projecting part of said tooth being able to slide on a corresponding notch (26) which is present on the surface (213) of the closing element sliding in contact with the supporting flat surface.

Description

RELEASE FASTENING FOR BAGS AND THE LIKE

The invention concerns a release fastening of an improved type for bags and the like including a supporting flat surface provided with a through half ring and fixed to a part of the bag to be closed, and a release closing element sliding between the supporting flat surface and its through half ring which is fixed to the flap of the bag.

More precisely the invention concerns an improvement of said release closing element in order to make the unhooking easier during the opening of said fastening. The release fastenings of the above-mentioned type are known since several years and are used both for women's and men's bags, as for example office bags and the like. When the bags are relatively empty or the leather or the material the bag is made with tends to become flabby, it happens that the opening of the release fastening, that takes place pressing a movable element and dragging it toward the half ring unhooking, is difficult because the pressure that is practised on the movable element is unloaded on a supporting flat surface that will yield. Therefore sometimes the opening operation is difficult and it must be repeated either pressing very strongly the movable element of the release fastening, or finding out some devices in order to avoid the yielding of the fastening supporting surface. The aim of the present invention is that of realizing such opening easiness keeping unchanged the locking mechanism that is characteristic of the release fastening which is known and commonly named "TIC-TUC". The release closing of the invention is also wanted to be realized in a simple and economical way and therefore fitting for reaslizing inexpensive release fastenings.

All the above mentioned aims and others which will be better underlined later on are achieved by the release fastening for bags and the like of the invention that, according to the content of the first claim includes:

- a supporting flat surface provided with a through half ring overhanging said surface and spaced out from it in such a way that it allows the insertion of the closing element, said suporting surface being fixed on the part of the bag which is called "face";

- a closing element having a stiff body formed by a first part suitable for being fixed to the flap of said bag and a second part having a hollow suitable for housing a movable element balancing in said hollow and projecting from the outline of said second part by means of a first spring placed between said movable element and the bottom of the hollow of said second part, said release fastening being characterized in that said supporting flat surface of the fastening has at least one slit, placed longitudinally according to the axis of symmetry of said fastening, with a tooth projecting wherefrom and belonging to a support sliding according to the direction of said slit, said tooth being pushed against the slit (131 ) end by means of a second spring working on the support bearing said tooth, the projecting part of said tooth being able to slide on a corresponding notch present on the surface (213) of the closing element sliding in contact with the supporting flat surface, said notch having such a lenght that its end drags the tooth during the closing of said closing element (20) and loads said second spring.

Further features and peculiarities of the invention will be better underlined in the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention that will be given approximately but not restrictively and that is illustrated in the enclosed drawings where:

- fig. 1 shows an exploded view of the release fastening of the invention in its components;

- fig. 2 is a view of a component of the release fastening seen from below ; - fig. 3 shows a perspective view of the fastening of the invention in the locking position;

- fig. 4 is a section of the fig. 3 according to the longitudinal symmetry line;

- fig. 5 shows a perspective view of the fastening of the invention in the open position; - fig. 6 is a section of the fig. 5 according to the symmetry longitudinal line.

Referring to the quoted figures it can be observed that the release fastening of the invention has a supporting flat surface marked with 10 which is fixed to the fixed part of the bag 1 trhough known means and a closing element, marked with 20 as a whole, which is fixed to the movable part or flap of the bag, marked with 2. The supporting flat surface 10 has a through half ring 11 overhanging the surface 12 housing the closing element 20 and locking it after the insertion. Such flat surface 10 has a slit 13 which is placed longitudinally according to the symmetry axis of the flat surface. Along said slit 13 a tooth 14 slides. Said tooth 14 belongs to a plaque 15 -shaped support which slides inside a shaped sheet 16 fixed on the opposite surface with respect to the surface 12 belonging to said surface. The plaque 15 has also a pin 17 supporting a cylindrical spring 18 which is housed in the notch 19 belonging to the sheet 16. AS regards the closing element, marked with 20 as a whole, it has a stiff body 21 where there are a first part 210 suitable for being fixed to the movable part, or flap, of the bag through a slit 211 for example housing the edge of the flap which in turn is fastened to said stiff body through some screws 22, as it can be observed in the fig. 2 showing the reverse part of the stiff body. The stiff body 21 has also a second part formed by a hollow 212 suitable for housing the movable element 23. Said movable element is hinged, in the example, through a gudgeon 24 on the edges of the hollow 212 by means of a spring 25 housed on a hollow 230 obtained inside the movable element 23.

The closing element 20, and more particularly the stiff body 21 , has in correspondence with the surface 213, which is opposite to the hollow 212 bottom, a longitudinal slit 26 of such a length that the end 260, when the closing of the element 20 on the support flat surface 10 is carried out, leans against the tooth 14 and drags it as long as said tooth leans on the wall 131 belonging to the hollow 13. In such a way the spring 18 is loaded, being the flap 15 integral with the tooth 14. It is evident that, as it can be observed in figg. 5 and 6, when the opening of the release closing is started, a pressure on the movable element 23 is practised so that said movable element 23 goes under the through ring 11. Therefore the spring 18, which has already been compressed, can unload its own elastic energy pushing the tooth 14 against the wall 132 of the slit 13, so dragging also the closing element 20 toward the outside, as it can be observed in fig.6. It is evident that in such a way as soon as the movable element 23 is lowered, the spring 18 and the tooth 14 work directly on the closing element 20 making it come out from the through ring 11 and therefore substantially opening the release fastening. It can be understood that everything happens much more easily than the time when no return force worked making the unhooking of the movable element easier from the supporting flat surface of the release fastening. According to a variant of the invention the release fastening has several slits parallel one to the other of the 13 type instead of only one slit with a tooth, where on each slit there is a tooth 14 and therefore one or more spring/s of the 18 type. In that case also the closing element 20 has corresponding notches 26 housing said projecting teeth.

According to this variant it will always be possible to emphasize the unhooking effect Another way of adjusting the unhooking power is of course that of adjusting the spring 18 force.

Claims

1 ) Release fastening for bags and the like including:

- a supporting flat surface (10) provided with a through half ring (11 ) overhanging said surface and spaced out from it in such a way that it allows the insertion of the closing element (20), said suporting surface (12) being fixed on the bag;

- a closing element (20) having a stiff body (21 ) formed by a first part (210) suitable for being fixed to the edge of the flap and a second part having a hollow (212) suitable for housing a movable element (23) balancing on said hollow and projecting from the outline of said second part by means of a first spring (25) placed between said movable element and the bottom of the hollow of said second part, characterized in that said supporting flat surface (10) of the fastening has at least one slit (13) with a tooth (14) projecting wherefrom and belonging to a support (15) sliding according to the direction of said slit, said tooth (14) being pushed against the slit (131 ) end by means of a second spring (18) working on the plaque bearing said tooth, the projecting part of said tooth being able to slide on a corresponding notch (26) present on the surface (213) of the closing element sliding in contact with the supporting flat surface, said notch having such a lenght that its end (260) drags the tooth (14) during the closing of said closing element (20) and loads said second spring.

2) Release fastening according to claim 1 ) characterized in that said support is a plaque (15) bearing the tooth and sliding inside a shaped sheet (16), said sheet having a housing (19) for said second spring and being fixed to said supporting flat surface opposite the closing element.