WO2018100439A1

WO2018100439A1 - A child proof buckle device usable for securing cabinets, drawers, and appliance

Info

Publication number: WO2018100439A1
Application number: PCT/IB2017/051032
Authority: WO
Inventors: Azfar NAIM
Original assignee: Sure Basics Inc
Priority date: 2016-12-01
Filing date: 2017-02-23
Publication date: 2018-06-07

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a buckle device. The buckle device may comprise a male fastening member having a base plate with a plurality of prongs raising from one planar surface of the base plate; a female recipient member comprising a housing bearing a plurality of openings for correspondingly receiving insertion of the prongs; a locking mechanism including a spring residing within the housing capable of detachably retaining the prongs inserted into the housing through the openings thus securing the female recipient member to the male fastening member, and a primary button and a pair of secondary buttons located on the housing to operably engage with the locking mechanism. The primary and secondary buttons are made moveable towards and away in relation to the housing to respectively adapt an unlocking position and a locking position. Preferably, the primary button constantly compresses the spring thus subjecting to a consistent force from the spring to push the primary button away from the housing. The locking mechanism is configured to release the retained prongs from the housing by way of simultaneously pushing the primary button and the pair of secondary buttons substantially against the housing.

Description

A CHILD PROOF BUCKLE DEVICE USABLE FOR SECURING CABINETS, DRAWERS, AND APPLIANCE Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/428,963 filed December 01, 2016, entitled "Safety device to secure cabinets, drawers, appliances and make them child proof, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to buckle device or system. More particularly, the disclosed buckle device is being designed such that the action of unfastening the secured or locked buckle device requires performance of sequential maneuvers, which are adequately complicated to prohibit unintentional access to the items kept in the storage being safeguarded by the disclosed device.

Background

Taking care of young children has never been an easy task especially when safety comes into consideration. One of such common concerns is always been the undesired accessibility of the household chemicals and/or sharp objects such as knifes stored in the cabinets or drawers by the children. Without knowledge about proper usage of these chemicals and/or sharp objects, the children having access to these items are likely ending up injuring themselves or others around. Further, unsupervised access to the food in the electronic appliances like refrigerator is preferably avoided. Out of their curiosity, children prone to take out then drop foods on the kitchen floor. Not only the dropped foods are wasted but slippery floor smearing with the food can cause the children to easily trip over knocking their head accidentally. Therefore, various efforts have been devoted into developing child -proof locks, in the form of latches or buckles, which are preferably convenient to install to the storage cabinets as an addition means to impede unauthorized access of the stored items. For example, United States patent no. 5387018 describes a child-proof latch for refrigerator that the latch comprises two adhesive-back mounting plates each with front facing loop to be separately attached on the surface of the refrigerator doors, and a lanyard having one end fixed to one of the plates and another end carrying a spring clasp for detachably anchor to the loop of the separated plate. Nevertheless, the latch equipped with the simple spring claps may not possess the needed complexity to prevent it from being unlocked by the children.

Gustafson offers another child-proof locking system in United States patent no. 7537250 in which the system includes a standoff base fabricated with notch to hold a bar rotatable on its front fagade. The bar adapt a position substantially perpendicular to the standoff base on the same plane to prohibit the drawers or door of the cabinets from pulling out, thus securing the content stocked therein. Another child-proof locking article can be found in United States patent application no. 2011/0042974 that the articles are manufactured in the form of an adjustable band to be tightly tied around knobs or handles of two adjacently closed doors of a cabinet such that the tied doors cannot be yanked open. Both designs of US7537250 and US 2011/0042794 share a similar limitation that the article or system cannot be folded for mounting onto two different planar surfaces greatly restricting their application towards cabinets of specific designs. Therefore, a child proof locking means capable of addressing at least some of the shortcomings in the aforesaid systems will be greatly appreciated.

Summary

The present disclosure is directed to a buckle device usable as a child proof fastening means for safeguarding items or objects stocked in a drawer or cabinet. Particularly, the buckle device can be mounted or installed on the external surface of the drawer or cabinet to effectuate the desired function.

Further object of the present disclosure is to provide a child proof buckle device which can be additionally set up exteriorly of a drawer or cabinet through a non-destructive fashion. Preferably, the disclosed device can be assembly onto the furniture without the need of drilling or nailing to the surface of the relevant furniture. Another object of the present disclosure aims to offer a buckle device featuring a child proof property. The disclosed buckle device can be easily fastened, but unlocking of which requires intelligence and strength greater than a five year old child can muster. To unlock the disclosed buckle device, three or more different buttons on the device have to be pressed or pushed in a predetermined sequential manner.

Still, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a child proof buckle device manufactured from child-safe and non-toxic material yet sturdy enough to cater substantially long-lasting service life. The buckle device can be produced from synthetic plastic materials such as fire retarding polycarbonate.

At least one of the preceding objects is met, in whole or in part, by the disclosed device, in which one of the embodiments relates to a buckle device. The buckle device may comprise a male fastening member having a base plate with a plurality of prongs raising from one planar surface of the base plate; a female recipient member comprising a housing bearing a plurality of openings for correspondingly receiving insertion of the prongs; a locking mechanism including a spring residing within the housing capable of detachably retaining the prongs inserted into the housing through the openings thus securing the female recipient member to the male fastening member, and a primary button and a pair of secondary buttons located on the housing to operably engage with the locking mechanism, the primary and secondary buttons being moveable towards and away in relation to the housing to respectively adapt an unlocking position and a locking position, the primary button compressing the spring and being constantly pushed away from the housing by the compressed spring. Preferably, the locking mechanism is configured to release the retained prongs from the housing by way of simultaneously pushing the primary button and the pair of secondary buttons substantially against the housing.

The female recipient member is secured to the male fastening member by loading the female recipient member atop of the base plate in a plurality of the disclosed embodiments. The 'top- loading' manner of the female recipient member facilitates fastening of the members through a single-handed operation and expands widely implementation of the disclosed buckle device to variants of cabinet and/or drawer designs. To function as a child-proof fastening means, the described buckle may further comprises a strap extending out from the female recipient member with the distal tip of the strap away from the female recipient member being attachable to a surface in a number of the preferred embodiments. For non-destructive installation, the disclosed buckle device of several embodiments includes an adhesive material disposed on the planar surface of the base plate facing away from the prongs and/or the tip of the strap.

In several embodiments, the locking mechanism is configured to release the retained prongs from the housing by sequentially pushing the primary button against the housing followed by pressing the pair of secondary buttons towards the housing without releasing the pushed primary button.

For some embodiments, the housing further comprises one or more interiorly positioned risers to control moveable distance of the arms inside the housing. Still, in other embodiments, the housing carries interiorly positioned sliding guides to guide the movement of the secondary buttons in relation to the housing.

In more embodiments, the locking mechanism further comprises a construct having a resilient core and a plurality of barbed structures projecting out from the resilient core, each of the prongs is fabricated with a recess to be hooked onto a corresponding barbed structure of the construct upon insertion of the prongs into the housing through the openings, the core is pliably deformable by the secondary buttons to space apart and unhook the barbed structures from the prongs permitting dissociation of the female recipient member from the male fastening member thereof when the secondary buttons are pressed towards the housing to adapt the unlocking position.

For few embodiments, the primary button is fashioned to impede the secondary button switching from the locking position to the unlocking position when the primary button is in the locking position. According to a number embodiments of the disclosed buckle device, the primary button further comprises a slab extending out and away from the bottom side of the primary button with at least one groove fabricated across the underside of the slab towards the construct, each of the secondary buttons has at least one protruding arm directed and sized to adequately pass through the groove and deform the resilient core for unhooking the prongs upon adapting the unlocking position by the secondary button. In more embodiments, the groove on the slab is aligned towards the arm allowing the arm to advance and press against the construct to pliably deform the resilient core when the primary button is in the unlocking position, and the slab groove on the slab is misaligned with the arm impeding the arm from compressing the construct when the primary button is in the locking position.

In accordance with other embodiments, the slab is fabricated with one or more knobs stretching towards the secondary button such that the knob abuts onto the arm of the secondary button blocking the primary button from resuming the locking position under the force exerted by the compressed spring. Accordingly, the secondary buttons are switched to the locking position upon insertion of the prongs and the knob is free from abutting onto the arm of the switched secondary buttons permitting the primary button to adapt the locking position under the force exerted by the compressed spring for several further embodiments.

Brief Description of Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiments of the disclosed buckle device shown in use; Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating one possible ways to operate the disclosed buckle device using a single hand;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the locking article;

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of one embodiment of disclosed buckle device with a flexible strap;

Fig. 5 is a top view illustrating the embodiment shown in Fig. 3 being in use and folded to secure the buckle devices onto two perpendicular planar surfaces to secure a door of a cabinet;

Fig. 6 is a side view of the mode of use depicted in Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a top view illustrating the embodiment shown in Fig. 5 with one end of the female recipient member dissociated from the male fastening member for opening the door of the cabinet;

Fig. 8 is a front view of the buckle device without the top casing of the housing; and

Fig. 9 shows a section view of the embodiment of taken from 9-9.

Detailed Description

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of the presently exemplified embodiments of a buckle device 100 and/or a locking article 200 carrying one or more of the buckle device 100 in accordance with the present disclosure and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present disclosure may be constructed or utilized. The description set forth the features, the steps for installing and/or using the locking article 200 or buckle device 100 of the present disclosure in connection with the illustrated embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that the same or equivalent functions and structures may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Also, as denoted elsewhere herein, like element numbers are intended to be indicate like or similar elements or features.

As shown in Fig. 3, one aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a locking article 200. The locking article 200 generally comprises a pair of buckle devices 100 and a flexible strap 28 having two ends with each of the paired buckle devices 100 joined to one of the ends individually. The buckle device 100 preferably includes a male fastening member 60 and female recipient member 70 capable to detachably secure to the male fastening member 60 for effectuating the child-proof locking action. The flexible strap 28 is bendable or foldable such that the buckle devices 100 can be mounted on two planar surfaces. The two planar surfaces can be of the different or same plane to each other. For application in which the locking article 200 has to be fold for attaching to two angled planar surfaces, an acute, right or obtuse angle may form between the two planar surfaces. For instance, in Fig. 1, one embodiment of the locking article 200 has one of the buckle devices 100 mounted to the sidewall 52 of a cabinet while another buckle device 100 is fixed to the front door 50 of the cabinet. The strap 28 is folded to wrap across the corner between the sidewall 52 and the front door 50 prohibiting the front door from being pulled open as further illustrated in Fig. 5 and 6. It is important to note that the buckle devices 100 can be sized to facilitate a single- handed operation for fastening and detachment of the male fastening member 60 and female recipient member 70 as depicted in Fig. 2. It is possible to unfasten one of the buckle devices 100 by the user using one hand 54 to restore unhindered movement of the cabinet door as presented in Fig. 7.

According to several embodiments, the locking article 200 generally has a pair of buckle devices 100 and a flexible strap 28 having two ends each carrying one of the paired buckle devices 100 as mentioned in the foregoing description. Particularly, each buckle device 100 comprises a male fastening member 60 having a base plate with a plurality of prongs 34 raising from a front planar surface of the base plate, the base plate having a back planar surface mountable to a surface of an object; a female recipient member 70 comprising a housing bearing a plurality of openings 24 for correspondingly receiving insertion of the prongs 34; a locking mechanism including a spring 14 residing within the housing capable of detachably retaining the prongs 34 inserted into the housing through the openings 24 thus securing the female recipient member 70 to the male fastening member 60, and a primary button 16 and a pair of secondary buttons 20 located on the housing to operably engage with the locking mechanism, the primary 16 and secondary buttons 20 being moveable towards and away in relation to the housing to respectively adapt an unlocking position and a locking position, the primary button 16 compressing the spring 14 and being constantly pushed away from the housing by the compressed spring 14. Further, the flexible strap 28 is interposed between and connecting the female recipient members 70 of the paired buckle device 100, the flexible strap 28 being configured to restrict or impede relative movement between the male fastening member 60s upon securing of the corresponding female recipient members 70. Preferably, the locking mechanism is configured to release the retained prongs 34 from the housing by way of simultaneously pushing the primary button 16 and the pair of secondary buttons 20 substantially against the housing. As mentioned above, the base plate of the male fastening member 60 has a plurality of prongs 34 rising from the front planar surface of the base plate. The shape, the dimension and the number of prongs 34 prepared on the base plate preferably correspond to the number of prong-receiving openings 24 on the housing and the size of the opening 24 as well. In the embodiments presented in Fig. 4, there are two opposite facing prongs 34 each located around and along one of the long edges of the base plate. The prongs 34 are elongate block erected from the front planer surface of the base plate. The blocks have their tip chamfered at the side opposing each other to ease the alignment towards the opening 24 and engagement with the locking mechanism within the housing. Preferably, the prongs 34 are fabricated with one or more recesses 31 to be hooked onto a corresponding barbed structure 21 in the locking mechanism for immobilization of the female recipient member 70 to male fastening member 60. The base plate has a back planar surface mountable to a surface of an object by way of adhesive materials 38 in some of the embodiments.

In more details, the housing may be assembled from a top 10 and bottom casings 22. The top casing 10 has sidewalls extending downward from the top segment. The sidewalls at the elongate edges of the top casing 10 preferably carry a pair of mirroring openings 11 for positioning and insertion of the secondary buttons 20 thereto. A planar hollow 12 can be found at one short edge of the top casing 10 while the sidewall opposing to the hollow 12 is carved with a slot. The primary button 16 become engaged and form part of the locking mechanism through the hollow 12. The bottom casing 22 is a planar piece with a substantially flat back and a front bearing raised elements or ribs composing part of the locking mechanism. The bottom casing 22 possesses the plurality of openings 24 too for insertion of the prongs 34 of the male fastening member 60. Covering the bottom casing 22 to the bottom of the top casing 10 around the edges of the sidewalls give rise to the housing in which a space is encompassed for keeping the locking mechanism and engagement of the buttons with the locking mechanism. In some embodiments, the primary and/or secondary buttons 20 can form part of the locking mechanism to deliver the desired locking and unlocking actions.

According to several embodiments, the locking mechanism further comprises a construct 18 having a resilient core 19 and a plurality of barbed structures 21 projecting out from the resilient core 19. The resilient core 19 may be preferably made of plastic or rubber materials to acquire the needed pliability and flexibility for the lodging and dislodging of the barbed structures 21 to the prongs 34 inserted. In the embodiment illustrated by Fig. 4, the resilient core 19 is substantially oblong in shape with each elongate side having a cross-like barbed structures 21 protruding outwardly. The resilient core 19 encloses a void in the center giving sufficient space for it to be pliably deformed upon subjecting to external pressure or compressing force. The relative distance between the barbed structures 21 becomes shortened as a result of the compressing force exercised to the core 19. The barbed structures 21 generally are cross-like member. The barbed structure 21 includes an elongate shaft placed lengthwise to the elongated side of the core 19 while a pair of tongues, a fixed tongue and a chamfered tongue, project divergently from the midsection of the shaft. The fixed tongue attaches the whole barbed structure 21 to the core 19 spacing the elongate shaft apart from the core 19 and the chamfered tongue reaches towards long edge of the bottom casing 22. The distal end of the chamfered tongue is slanted downward to the bottom casing 22. The construct 18 is sized and placed inside the housing such that at least part of the distal end of the chamfered tongue coincide or overhang atop of the corresponding opening 24 on the bottom casing 22. Like in the aforesaid, each of the prongs 34 is fabricated with a recess 31 to be hooked onto a corresponding barbed structure 21 of the construct 18 upon insertion of the prongs 34 into the housing through the openings 24. Particularly, the recesses 31 are located on the blocks at the side opposing to one another right below the chamfered tip. When the prongs 34 are thrusted into the housing via the openings 24, the chamfered tongue progressively eases against the chamfered tip of the prong 34 with the resilient core 19 being depressed along. The resilient core 19 resumes its original shape once the chamfered tongue reaches and expands into the recess 31. The chamfered tongue prodded into the recess 31 inevitable hooks the prong 34 to the barbed structure 21. The chamfered tongue abuts onto the underside of the chamfered tip of the prongs 34 in response to any effort to pull the female recipient member 70 away thus impeding dissociation or detachment of the female recipient member 70 from the male fastening member 60.

In order to unhook or dislodge the hooked barbed structure 21 and prong 34, the resilient core 19 has to be depressed or compressed once again to inwardly retract the chamfered tongue away from the recess 31 of the prong 34. For a number of the disclosed embodiments, the core 19 is pliably deformable by the secondary buttons 20 to space apart and unhook the barbed structures 21 from the prongs 34 permitting dissociation of the female recipient member 70 from the male fastening member 60 thereof when the secondary buttons 20 are pressed towards the housing to adapt the unlocking position. Specifically, the secondary button 20 comprises an elongate chunk and a pair of arms 46 extending transversely from each extreme of the elongate chunk. The elongate chunk is the portion of the secondary button 20 being located exterior to the housing and is the part which can be pressed or pushed by the user to trigger the unlocking action. The buckle device 100 has the transverse arms 46 kept inside the housing. Each of the arms 46 is fabricated to be on a planar level slightly lower than the chunk. A sliding groove 44 is fabricated on and along the underside of the arm 46 that the sliding groove 44 is fashioned to accommodate a corresponding sliding guide 42 arranged on the bottom casing 22. The sliding guide 42 restricts movement of the secondary button 20 only to sliding toward and/or away from the construct 18. The distal end of the arm 46 includes protrusions raised upward and sideway to catch on other elements in the housing stopping the secondary button 20 from falling out of the housing. Preferably, the arms 46 of the secondary button 20 make contact with and press against the elongate shaft to consequently deform the resilient core 19. By positioning the openings 24 at the bottom or bottom casing 22 of the housing in the illustrated embodiments, the female recipient member 70 is secured to the male fastening member 60 by loading it atop of the base plate. The relative location of the prongs 34 and the opening 24 as well as the housed locking mechanism facilitates engagement of the male and female members through a top-loading fashion which is significantly different from the conventional buckle device 100 used as child proof locking system involves side loading of the prongs 34 into the recipient housing through the side opening. The disclosed embodiments result in swift and smooth locking action via a single-handed operation.

Like described in the foregoing, the locking mechanism is configured to release the retained prongs 34 from the housing by sequentially pushing the primary button 16 against the housing followed by pressing the pair of secondary buttons 20 towards the housing without releasing the pushed primary button 16. To materialize the sequential pressing steps, the disclosed buckle device 100 and the locking article 200 resort to the primary button 16 presence of which by default regulates unlocking action to be activated by the secondary button 20. In more particular, the primary button 16 is set to impede the secondary button 20 switching from the locking position to the unlocking position or advancing towards the construct 18 without firstly activating the primary button 16 in the locking position. For a number of embodiments as shown in Fig. 4, the primary button 16 comprises a tab 15 and a slab 17 extending out and away from the bottom side of the tab 15 with at least one groove fabricated across the underside of the slab 17 towards the construct 18. The disclosed buckle device 100 and/or the locking article 200 has the primary button 16 slotted into the hollow 12 of the top casing 10 such that the tab 15 is exposed on the housing to be pressed and/or pushed by the user to initiate the unlocking action, while the slab 17 is located underneath of the top casing 10 to substantially shield off the space enclosed within the housing. The slab 17 preferably features sufficient thickness that assembling the primary button 16 to the housing will unavoidably have the sides of the slab 17 intercepted with the path, which the arms 46 slide against the barbed structure 21, when the primary button 16 is in the locking position. Referring to Fig. 9, the construct 18 is assembled underneath of the primary button 16. Nonetheless, by switching the primary button 16 from the locking position to the unlocking position, the groove on the slab 17 is then aligned with the arm 46 allowing the arm 46 to advance further and press against the construct 18 to pliably deform the resilient core 19 when the primary button 16. As long the slab 17 groove on the slab 17 is misaligned with the arm 46 when the primary button 16 is in the locking position or improperly adjusted to the unlocking position, the slab 17 continues to impede the arm 46 from compressing the construct 18. However, it is crucial to note that the number of arms 46 and corresponding grooves can be varied from one embodiment to another not limited solely to the examples set forth herein. Particularly, each of the secondary buttons 20 has at least one protruding arm 46 directed and sized to adequately pass through the groove and deform the resilient core 19 for unhooking the prongs 34 upon adapting the unlocking position by the secondary button 20. Preferably, the resilient core 19 is capable of progressively pushing the arms 46 of the secondary button 20 completely out of the grooves upon withdrawal of the user pressing force to the secondary buttons 20.

According to more embodiments, the portion of the slab 17 facing away from the tab 15 has carved with a depression 13 in which a resilient member or spring 14 is placed in a way to constantly generate a pushing force to act against the primary button 16 from switching the locking position to the unlocking position. The constant compression force exerted by the spring 14 spontaneously maintains the primary button 16 in the locking position. Referring to Fig. 3 and Fig. 8, the disclosed embodiments employ and place a sear spring 14 within the depression 13. The sear spring 14 has a circular coiled head from which two different wire strands splayed out. The coiled head preferably hinges to an anchorage on the depression 13. Assembly of the primary button 16 together with the sear spring 14 to the housing has one of the wire strands abutted onto the sidewall of the housing and another strand compressing on the slab 17 thrusting the tab 15 away from the house as mentioned. Knobs 48 is transversely projecting out from the side of the slab 17 to grip on the sidewall of the housing around the hollow 12 to stop the assembled primary button 16 from completely driven out of the housing adopting the locking position in the meantime, while the sear spring 14 is perpetually compressed or strained to against any attempt to further compress it, i.e. switching the primary button 16 to the unlocking position. The compression force drives the proximal end of the tab 15 slightly away from the housing creating a gap 33 thereby. Following any unlocking action, the tab 15 and thee housing are brought closer to one another closing off the created gap 33. With reference to Fig. 8 illustrating an embodiment of the buckle device 100 in the unlocking position with the top casing 10 being made invisible, both primary 16 and secondary buttons 20 are closing into the housing. Furthermore, the slab 17 is fabricated with one or more knobs 48 stretching towards the secondary button 20 such that the knob 48 abuts onto the arm 46 of the secondary button 20 blocking the primary button 16 from resuming the locking position even under the force exerted by the compressed spring 14. Specifically, a first and a second pairs of knobs 48 respectively stick out form the long sides of the slab 17. As shown in Fig.8, the first pair of knobs 48 is located around the proximal end of the slab 17 and the depression 13. The second pair of knobs 48 is around the midsection of the slab 17. Both pairs of the knobs 48 are approximating to the groove and fabricated on the boundary of the grooves closer to the proximal end of the slab 17. The relative positions and configuration of the first and second pair of knobs 48 allows them to knock or anchor on the arms 46 of the secondary button 20 when the arms 46 of the secondary buttons 20 have been fully pushed out of the grooves. Once the knobs 48 grip on the arms 46, the primary button 16 will not be ejected into the locking position. Nevertheless, easing in of the prongs 34 through the openings 24 of the housing may nudge the secondary button 20 further out of the housing dissociating the engagement between the knobs 48 and the arms 46 permitting the primary button 16 in resuming the locking position as asserted by the spring 14 or resilient member. In short, the secondary buttons 20 can be switched to the locking position upon insertion of the prongs 34 and the knob 48 is free from abutting onto the arm 46 of the switched secondary buttons 20 permitting the primary button 16 to adapt the locking position under the force exerted by the compressed spring 14.

Pursuant to some preferred embodiments, the locking article 200 further comprises the strap 28 interconnecting the buckle devices 100 as setting forth above. Preferably, the strap 28 has both tips secured to individual female recipient members 70 of the buckle device 100. Again, referring to Fig. 4 and Fig. 8, the tip of the strap 28 carries extra thickness to reinforce its mechanical property thereto. A pair of through holes 30 is fabricated on the reinforced tip. The strap 28 is being secured to the female recipient member 70 by way of hooking the through holes 30 onto a pair of corresponding pins 26 erected on the bottom casing 22, but not limited to, of the housing. Joining of the top 10 and bottom casings 22 impedes the strap 28 from sliding out of the hooked pins 26. A slot 23 is devoted on the housing for running the strap 28 out of the housing. The disclosed locking article 200 favors fully detachment of the strap 28 and the female recipient members 70 from the make fastening member as a substantial integral piece. The detached strap 28 and female recipient members 70 can be kept away when the locking article 200 is temporarily not in use leaving only the male fastening member 60 on the surface of the cabinet or drawers. Some embodiments of the present disclosure may have the strap 28 adjustable to vary a stretchable length between the female recipient members 70. For instance, a strap 28 adjuster can be looped with the strap 28 facilitating the user to modify the relative stretchable length or distance between the female recipient members 70. Such latitude for adjusting freely the stretchable length and distance of the strap 28 significantly enhances daily usability of the present disclosure.

To mount the male fastening member 60 on to a surface without any destructing the cabinet or drawer, the disclosed locking article 200 preferably has an adhesive material 38 or tape disposed on the back planar surface of the base plate. The adhesive material 38 and/or tape 36 can be a double-sided pressure sensitive tape rendering easy installation and removal of the disclosed locking article 200. A protective cover 40 overlays the adhesive tape 36 and/or material 38 before its use. The protective cover 40 can be peel off to unveil the adhesive materials 38. The protective cover 40 protects the adhesive materials 38 from contamination or oxidation from the surrounding environment.

It is another major aspect of the present disclosure with respect to the buckle device 100 set forth in the foregoing disclosure. As mentioned, the buckle device 100 preferably comprises a male fastening member 60 having a base plate with a plurality of prongs 34 rising from one planar surface of the base plate; a female recipient member 70 comprising a housing bearing a plurality of openings 24 for correspondingly receiving insertion of the prongs 34; a locking mechanism including a spring 14 residing within the housing capable of detachably retaining the prongs 34 inserted into the housing through the openings 24 thus securing the female recipient member 70 to the male fastening member 60, and a primary button 16 and a pair of secondary buttons 20 located on the housing to operably engage with the locking mechanism, the primary and secondary buttons 20 being moveable towards and away in relation to the housing to respectively adapt an unlocking position and a locking position, the primary button 16 compressing the spring 14 and being constantly pushed away from the housing by the compressed spring 14. The locking mechanism is configured to release the retained prongs 34 from the housing by way of simultaneously pushing the primary button 16 and the pair of secondary buttons 20 substantially against the housing. Despite the child-proof properties, it is possible to utilize the aforesaid buckle device 100 as a fastening means for other applications such as backpacks or pouches featuring enhanced security. Likewise, the locking mechanism in several embodiments is configured to release the retained prongs 34 from the housing by sequentially pushing the primary button 16 against the housing followed by pressing the pair of secondary buttons 20 towards the housing without releasing the pushed primary button 16.

In one or more embodiments, a single buckle device 100 as mentioned above may include a strap 28 extending out from the female recipient member 70 with the distal tip of the strap 28 away from the female recipient member 70 being attachable to a surface. Both distal tip of the strap 28 and buckle device 100 are securable to the surface of the cabinet or drawers through any adhesive materials or tapes in the art to function as a child-proof locking system despite the female recipient member 70 and the strap 28 cannot be fully dissociated from the surface of the cabinet or drawers unless the whole locking system is uninstalled thereof. Aspects of particular embodiments of the present disclosure address at least one aspect, problem, limitation, and/or disadvantage associated with existing motorcycle side cover structures. While features, aspects, and/or advantages associated with certain embodiments have been described in the disclosure, other embodiments may also exhibit such features, aspects, and/or advantages, and not all embodiments need necessarily exhibit such features, aspects, and/or advantages to fall within the scope of the disclosure. It will be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art that several of the above-disclosed structures, components, or alternatives thereof, can be desirably combined into alternative structures, components, and/or applications. In addition, various modifications, alterations, and/or improvements may be made to various embodiments that are disclosed by a person of ordinary skill in the art within the scope of the present disclosure, which is limited only by the following claims.

Claims

1. A buckle device comprising:

a male fastening member having a base plate with a plurality of prongs raising from one planar surface of the base plate;

a female recipient member comprising a housing bearing a plurality of openings for correspondingly receiving insertion of the prongs;

a locking mechanism including a spring residing within the housing capable of detachably retaining the prongs inserted into the housing through the openings thus securing the female recipient member to the male fastening member, and

a primary button and a pair of secondary buttons located on the housing to operably engage with the locking mechanism, the primary and secondary buttons being moveable towards and away in relation to the housing to respectively adapt an unlocking position and a locking position, the primary button compressing the spring and being constantly pushed away from the housing by the compressed spring,

wherein the locking mechanism is configured to release the retained prongs from the housing by way of simultaneously pushing the primary button and the pair of secondary buttons substantially against the housing.

2. The buckle device of claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism is configured to release the retained prongs from the housing by sequentially pushing the primary button against the housing followed by pressing the pair of secondary buttons towards the housing without releasing the pushed primary button.

3. The locking system of claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism further comprises a construct having a resilient core and a plurality of barbed structures projecting out from the resilient core, each of the prongs is fabricated with a recess to be hooked onto a corresponding barbed structure of the construct upon insertion of the prongs into the housing through the openings, the core is pliably deformable by the secondary buttons to space apart and unhook the barbed structures from the prongs permitting dissociation of the female recipient member from the male fastening member thereof when the secondary buttons are pressed towards the housing to adapt the unlocking position.

4. The buckle device of claim 3, wherein the primary button is fashioned to impede the secondary button switching from the locking position to the unlocking position when the primary button is in the locking position.

The buckle device of claim 1, wherein the primary button further comprises a slab extending out and away from the bottom side of the primary button with at least one groove fabricated across the underside of the slab towards the construct, each of the secondary buttons has at least one protruding arm directed and sized to adequately pass through the groove and deform the resilient core for unhooking the prongs upon adapting the unlocking position by the secondary button.

The buckle device of claim 5, wherein the groove on the slab is aligned towards the arm allowing the arm to advance and press against the construct to pliably deform the resilient core when the primary button is in the unlocking position, and the slab groove on the slab is misaligned with the arm impeding the arm from compressing the construct when the primary button is in the locking position.

The buckle device of claim 6, wherein the slab is fabricated with one or more knobs stretching towards the secondary button such that the knob abuts onto the arm of the secondary button blocking the primary button from resuming the locking position under the force exerted by the compressed spring.

The buckle device of claim 9, wherein the secondary buttons are switched to the locking position upon insertion of the prongs and the knob is free from abutting onto the arm of the switched secondary buttons permitting the primary button to adapt the locking position under the force exerted by the compressed spring.

9. The buckle device of claim 1 further comprising a strap extending out from the female recipient member with the distal tip of the strap away from the female recipient member being attachable to a surface.

10. The buckle device of claim 10 further comprising an adhesive material disposed on the planar surface of the base plate facing away from the prongs and/or the tip of the strap.

11. The buckle device of claim 11, wherein the strap is adjustable to vary a stretchable length between the housing and the distal tip.

12. The buckle device of claim 1, wherein the female recipient member is secured to the male fastening member by loading the female recipient member atop of the base plate.

13. A locking article comprising:

a pair of buckle devices, each buckle device comprising

a male fastening member having a base plate with a plurality of prongs raising from a front planar surface of the base plate, the base plate having a back planar surface mountable to a surface of an object;

a primary button and a pair of secondary buttons located on the housing to operably engage with the locking mechanism, the primary and secondary buttons being moveable towards and away in relation to the housing to respectively adapt an unlocking position and a locking position, the primary button compressing the spring and being constantly pushed away from the housing by the compressed spring, a flexible strap interposing between and connecting the female recipient members of the paired buckle device, the flexible strap being configured to restrict or impede relative movement between the male fastening members upon securing of the corresponding female recipient members,

14. The locking article of claim 13 further comprising an adhesive material disposed on the back planar surface of the base plate.

15. The locking article of claim 13, wherein the locking mechanism is configured to release the retained prongs from the housing by sequentially pushing the primary button against the housing followed by pressing the pair of secondary buttons towards the housing without releasing the pushed primary button.

16. The locking article of claim 13, wherein the flexible strap and the connecting female recipient members are detachable from the male fastening members as a substantial integral piece.