WO2000007478A1

WO2000007478A1 - Buckle for belts

Info

Publication number: WO2000007478A1
Application number: PCT/KR1998/000336
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hee-Chang Park
Original assignee: Park Hee Chang
Priority date: 1998-08-06
Filing date: 1998-10-27
Publication date: 2000-02-17
Also published as: KR200208185Y1; KR20000004419U

Abstract

A buckle for belts, which is capable of precisely adjusting a fastening position of the leather belt and prevents a portion of the leather belt on which a fastening function of the buckle concentrically occurs from being damaged, while being designed to have a simple structure. A buckle body attached to one end of a leather belt includes a horseshoe-shaped frame. A tongue element is pivotally coupled to a fixed prop formed at one side of the frame and has a rachet-shaped hook. A toothed member is arranged on the other end of the leather belt such that it faces the buckle body and has a plurality of teeth formed over a predetermined distance. Each of the teeth has an inclined surface which is engaged with the rachet-shaped hook of the tongue element.

Description

BUCKLE FOR BELTS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a buckle for belts and more particularly, the present invention relates to a buckle for leather belts which is attached to one end of a leather belt for fastening the other end thereof, the buckle being capable of precisely adjusting a fastening position of the leather belt and preventing a portion of the leather belt on which the fastening function of the buckle concentrically occurs from being damaged or disfigured, while being designed to_%have a simple structure.

Description of the Prior Art Generally, a leather belt is typically used when wearing clothes such as trousers, etc. to securely hold them around the waist of a wearer. A great number of leather belts having various fastening functions relying upon a construction of a buckle, are well-known in the art.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view schematically illustrating a buckle for a leather belt of the prior art. A leather belt 1 includes a cinch-type buckle 2 attached to one end thereof, and the cinch-type buckle 2 includes a horseshoe-shaped frame 3 and a tongue element 4 which performs an engaging function as will be described in detail hereinbelow.. At the other end of the leather belt 1, which faces the cinch-type buckle 2, there are formed a plurality of fastening holes 5 which are spaced apart from each other by a constant distance such that the buckle fastening position is adjustable to fit diverse waist measurements of belt wearers .

The leather belt 1 is fastened to the cinch-type buckle 2 by passing the other end of the leather belt 1 from bottom to top to the outside through a space defined by the horseshoe-shaped frame 3 and inserting the tongue element 4 of the buckle into one of the plurality of fastening holes 5, which fits on a wearer. However, the leather belt constructed as mentioned above suffers from defects in that as it is used over a long period of time, the tongue element of the buckle repeatedly is concentrically inserted into one of the plurality of fastening holes, which corresponds to a waist measurement of the wearer, and thereby continuously applies a tension force to a certain portion of the leather belt, which delimits one certain fastening hole. Accordingly, the one fastening hole may be markedly broadened as compared with other fastening holes, and the portion of the leather belt to which the continuous tension force is applied may be wrinkled, whereby it may be damaged or disfigured.

Further, since the plurality of fastening holes are spaced apart from each other by about 1 inch distance, when the position of a fastening hole is not in accord with a waist measurement of a wearer, or, in other words, the fastening hole is not positioned at a point which affords an optimal wear feeling upon wearing the leather belt, the leather belt cannot help but be fastened at a position of another fastening hole adjacent to the optimal fastening point. Therefore, when the leather belt is fastened at a fastening hole farther toward the free end of the belt and away from the optimal fastening point, the leather belt is worn in a loosened state whereby the trousers may fall down or the buckle, weighing much by itself, may sag down. On the contrary, when the leather belt is fastened at a fastening hole farther away from the free end and beyond the optimal fastening point, the leather belt worn around the waist of a wearer can press the abdomen of the wearer which may cause dyspepsia, etc. On the other hand, another leather belt has also been disclosed in the art. The other leather belt includes a so-called automatic buckle (not shown) attached to one end thereof. The automatic buckle has a rachet-shaped hook which functions such that a tension force of a spring and an artificial rotating force are dampened by each other. At the other end of the leather belt, which faces the automatic buckle, there are formed a plurality of longitudinal toothed members over a predetermined distance. The longitudinal toothed members are engaged with the rachet-shaped hook and have an inclined surface for allowing insertion and withholding release. The leather belt is fastened to the buckle by cooperation between the automatic buckle and the longitudinal toothed members .

However, in this type of leather belt, since the - automatic buckle includes a multitude of parts and is manufactured through numerous assembling procedures, manufacturing operations are very involved, and since the automatic buckle weighs much in itself, there is inconvenience upon wearing the leather belt. Although yet another buckles other than the buckles described above have been disclosed in the art, most of them have a construction which commonly still suffer from the problems mentioned above, thus there is an increasing demand among consumers for a leather belt and a buckle which is conveniently used. It is also necessary for manufacturers to more easily produce such buckles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the problems occurring in the prior art, and a primary object of the present invention is to provide to a buckle .for belts, which has a fastening function of an automatic buckle and is designed to have a simple structure. Another object of the present invention is to provide a buckle for belts, which can fasten or unfasten the leather belt by the same method as in the conventional cinch-type buckle and is capable of performing a fastening function such that optimal wear feeling is afforded over diverse waist measurements of belt wearers.

According to the present invention, a buckle body attached to one end of a leather belt includes a horseshoe-shaped frame. A tongue element is pivotally coupled to a fixed prop formed at one side of the frame and has a rachet-shaped hook. A longitudinal toothed member is arranged on the inside surface at the other end of the leather belt and has a plurality of teeth formed over a predetermined distance. Each of the teeth has an inclined surface which is engaged with the rachet-shaped hook of the tongue element.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objects, and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent after a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a cinch-type buckle of the prior art, which is ^■ in an unfastened state; FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a buckle for a leather belt in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGs . 3A and 3B are cross-sectional views illustrating fastened and unfastened states of the leather belt into and from the buckle of FIG. 2, respectively;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a buckle for a leather belt in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGs. 5A and 5B are cross-sectional views illustrating fastened and unfastened states of the leather belt into and from the buckle of FIG. 4, respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in greater detail to a preferred embodiment of the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same ^■ reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. Referring to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a perspective view illustrating a buckle for a leather belt in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The leather belt 10 according to the present invention includes a buckle body 20 attached to one end thereof. The buckle body 20 has a rectangular or horseshoe-shaped frame 21. The frame 21 has a fixed prop 22 formed at one side thereof. A tongue element 30 is pivotally coupled to the fixed prop 22. The tongue element 30 has a rachet-shaped hook 31 formed at its distal end. The rachet-shaped hook 31 performs a locking function when fastening the leather belt 10, as will be described in detail hereinbelow.

At least one supporting bar 40 is disposed adjacent to the fixed prop 22 in a space defined by the frame 21 for supporting substantially a middle portion of the tongue element 30. The supporting bar 40 guides insertion of the leather belt 10 into the space when fastening the leather belt 10.

A longitudinal toothed member 50 is arranged on the other end of the leather belt 10 such that it faces the buckle body 20. The longitudinal toothed member 50 has a plurality of teeth 51 which are regularly formed over a predetermined distance. Each of the teeth 51 has an inclined surface which ensures easy insertion and prevents accidental release when the longitudinal toothed member 50 is engaged with the rachet-shaped hook 31 of the tongue element 30. Referring to FIGs. 3A and 3B, there are shown cross-sectional views illustrating fastened and unfastened states of the leather belt into and from the buckle, respectively. By inserting the other end of the leather belt 10 from bottom to top through the space defined by the frame 21 of the buckle body 20 attached to the one end of the leather belt 10, a leading end 11 of the leather belt 10 is passed through the space while being guided by the supporting bar 40 which is integrally formed with the frame 21, whereby the leather belt 10 is ready to be fastened to the buckle body 20.

In the ready state, by continuously passing the leather belt 10 through the space until it fits a waist measurement of a wearer, the plurality of teeth 51 formed on the longitudinal toothed member 50 arranged on an inner surface of the leather belt 10 are slid over the hook 31 of the tongue element 30 pivotally coupled to the fixed prop 40 in a state that they are in close contact with the hook 31. After this sliding movement of the teeth 51, the rachet-shaped hook 31 is engaged into a wedge-shaped groove defined between the two teeth 51 thereby to provide a fastening force to fasten the leather belt 10 to the buckle body 20. In this state, unless the tongue element 30 is artificially disengaged from the wedge-shaped groove, the fastening force is continuously maintained. Accordingly, it is to be readily understood that the buckle of the present invention is operated in the same manner with the cinch-type buckle of the prior art in which a tongue element is inserted into one of a plurality of fastening holes. In addition, since it is possible to precisely adjust a fastening position of the leather belt 10 such that it fits the waist measurement of the wearer, optimal wear feeling can be afforded. In the fastened state, the other end of the leather belt 10 fully covers the buckle body 20. On the other hand, when the leather belt 10 is unfastened from the buckle body 20, the leading end 11 of the leather belt 10, which is inserted into a belt loop 12, is released from the belt loop 12. Thereafter, by turning over the other end of the leather belt 10 in a state that the longitudinal toothed member 50 formed on the inner surface of the leather belt 10 is supported by the one side of the frame 21, as shown in FIG. 3B, the hook 31 is disengaged from the wedge-shaped groove between the two teeth 51 of the longitudinal toothed member 50, and thereby the other end of leather belt 10 can be unfastened from the buckle body 20.

Therefore, according to the present invention, fastening or unfastening operations can be conveniently carried out due to the fact that functional advantages of an automatic buckle are additionally provided while a habit of using the cinch-type buckle of the prior art is maintained. Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a perspective view illustrating a buckle for a leather belt in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. While it is explained in the first embodiment that the tongue element 30, which mates with the longitudinal toothed member 50 formed on the inner surface of the leather belt 10 to provide the fastening force, is pivotally coupled to the fixed prop of the frame 21 constituting the buckle body 20, in this embodiment, an engaging protrusion 60 performing the same function as the tongue element 30 is integrally formed onto the supporting bar 40 disposed in the space defined by the frame 21.

It is to be readily understood that fastening or unfastening operations for the engaging protrusion 60 can be carried out in the same manner as in the first embodiment and the same effect can be obtained, as best shown in FIGs . 5A and 5B.

As a result, by the present invention, advantages are provided in that since a fastening position of a leather belt can be precisely and accurately adjusted when the leather belt is fastened to a buckle body as compared to the cinch-type buckle of the prior art, the leather belt can optimally fit diverse waist measurements and tastes of wearers, and sagging/falling down of the trousers due to loose wearing and pressing of the abdomen due to over-tight wearing can be prevented. Also, damage of the leather belt caused in the prior art due to the fact that a tongue element of the buckle repeatedly is concentrically inserted into a certain one of a plurality of fastening holes, can be prevented.

Also, according to the present invention, fastening or unfastening operations can be conveniently carried out due to the fact that functional advantages of an automatic buckle are additionally provided while a habit of using the cinch-type buckle which is generally preferred by consumers is maintained. Further, since the number of parts needed to form the buckle is decreased as compared to an automatic buckle of the prior art, manufacturing cost and weight can be remarkably reduced.

In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed typical preferred embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A buckle for belts, including a buckle body attached to one end of a belt and having a rectangular or horseshoe-shaped frame, comprising: a tongue element pivotally coupled to a fixed prop formed at one side of the frame, the tongue element having a rachet-shaped hook which is formed at its distal end to perform a locking function when fastening the belt; at least one supporting bar disposed adjacent to the fixed prop in a space defined by the frame for supporting substantially a middle portion of the tongue element and for guiding insertion of the belt into the space when fastening the belt; and a toothed member arranged on the other end of the belt such that it faces the buckle body and having a plurality of teeth formed over a predetermined distance, each of the teeth having an inclined surface which is engaged with the rachet-shaped hook of the tongue element.

2. The buckle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rachet-shaped hook is integrally formed into the supporting bar disposed in the space defined by the frame, for cooperating with the toothed member arranged onto a surface of the belt thereby to provide a fastening force.