Patent Application
20170284001
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to an attachment apparatus for buttons and to processes for using same. Specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate a pin attachment apparatus that can be used with a button to allow for attachment of the button to a garment or other piece of fabric or material when sewing or otherwise attaching the button to the garment is impossible, difficult or inconvenient.
Various types of buttons have been developed and used throughout history. In their most common application, buttons are used as small fasteners that secure two pieces of fabric together. In a rather simplistic form, buttons are sewn to one piece of fabric and secure a second piece of fabric by passing through a small buttonhole therein. The button is typically shaped and sized so that a user may slide the button through a corresponding buttonhole, but so that the button does not readily pass through the buttonhole alone. For example, the button may be the same size or slightly smaller than the buttonhole.
Although ubiquitously used, buttons frequently fall off. Extensive use of a garment can weaken the thread that attaches the button to the piece of fabric. Excessive force can tear a button from the fabric to which it has been attached. Regardless of the method of removal, a loose or lost button may render a garment unwearable. A lost button on pants, for example, may prevent the wearer from closing the pants. A lost button on a shirt, while not rendering the shirt unwearable, may render the shirt unpresentable and unprofessional. It is therefore important to be able to replace a loose or lost button.
With the most common varieties, a button can be replaced by simply sewing the button back onto the fabric. But sewing may not always be possible, practical or convenient. If a button falls off while a garment is being worn, it may be difficult to quickly obtain the necessary materials to sew the button back on. Also, replacement of a button by sewing may require the use of a sewing needle, a needle threading device, thread, scissors, tweezers, a thimble, and possibly a new button. These materials may not be readily available. Furthermore, some people may be inexperienced with sewing. Those who do not know how to sew or who otherwise lack the necessary experience to do so effectively may not be able to readily mend garments with loose or lost buttons.
Some methods have been developed to attach buttons to fabric. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,538,396 discloses a button that attaches to fabric with a knob that is inserted into a peg, with the fabric being caught between the two. U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,696 discloses a button with a hole and a shank adapted to fit forcibly in the hole of the button. U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,033 discloses a button with a tack that pierces through fabric and rests in an anchoring socket.
Each of these products provides a means for attaching a button to fabric without the use of sewing, but requires the use of multiple parts. For any of these, loss of one part renders the entire device unusable.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for a device that allows for attaching a button to fabric without sewing and that comprises a single body. Embodiments of the invention address this need and other needs by providing an attachment apparatus for a button and a process for using the same.
According to some embodiments, a device is provided. The device comprises a button. The button includes a female component including a front side and a back side. The back side includes a receptacle. The button further includes a male component positioned inside the receptacle of the female component. The device further comprises an attachment apparatus affixed to the male component. The attachment apparatus includes a first portion and a second portion. The first portion includes a clasp. The second portion includes a portion. The clasp is configured to receive the second portion.
According to some embodiments, a method is provided. The method comprises providing a device. The device comprises a button. The button includes a female component including a front side and a back side. The back side includes a receptacle. The button further includes a male component positioned inside the receptacle of the female component. The device further comprises an attachment apparatus affixed to the male component. The attachment apparatus includes a first portion and a second portion. The first portion includes a clasp. The second portion includes a portion. The clasp is configured to receive the second portion. The method further comprises inserting the point of the second portion into a first side of a material. The method further comprises passing the point of the second portion through the material. The method further comprises tilting the point of the second portion and inserting the point into a second side of the material. The second side is opposite to the first side. The method further comprises passing the point of the second portion through the material. The method further comprises forcing the second portion of the attachment apparatus upward and positioning the second portion into the clasp to fasten the device to the material
This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of this patent, any or all drawings, and each claim.
The foregoing, together with other features and embodiments, will become more apparent upon referring to the following specification, claims, and accompanying drawings.
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention are described in the following detailed description of the specific embodiments and are illustrated in the following figures in which:
I. Introduction
Certain aspects and embodiments of this disclosure are provided below. Some of these aspects and embodiments may be applied independently and some of them may be applied in combination as would be apparent to those of skill in the art. In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. However, it will be apparent that various embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. The figures and description are not intended to be restrictive.
The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details.
Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed, but could have additional steps not included in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination can correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.
Buttons are ubiquitously used as fasteners for clothing garments, and a lost button can render a garment unwearable. Typically, a button can be replaced by sewing it onto a garment with a needle and thread. But sewing a button onto fabric effectively using conventional methods and/or products is not always feasible due to either lack of materials or lack of sewing experience.
A button with a single body pin attachment apparatus is disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the button used in conjunction with the attachment apparatus appears as a regular button when viewed from the front, i.e., the button resembles typical buttons, e.g., in shape, size, color, and design. Some embodiments may include holes in the button onto which thread is sewn. This thread, however, may be simply for appearances, in some embodiments.
The button may comprise a female component, which may comprise a disc with a front side and a back side. The back side and/or the front side may comprise a receptacle. The attachment apparatus comprises a male component, which comprises an insert. In use, the insert fits into the receptacle of the female component. The attachment apparatus may further comprise a first portion and a second portion. The first portion may form a clasp and the second portion may form a point. The attachment apparatus may be affixed within the male component and arranged such that the second portion (i.e., with the point) can be fastened by the clasp.
The back of the button may include the attachment, which is similar to a standard safety pin in function and may be used to pin the button onto the fabric. The attachment apparatus is particularly useful for users with little or no sewing experience, who might not be able to sew on a replacement button. When employing the aforementioned attachment apparatus, the user may simply replace a button by pinning the button onto the garment using the attachment apparatus where the original button had been. In some embodiments, the button device may be, advantageously, entirely self-contained, in that no additional tools or materials are needed to replace the lost button. The attachment apparatus alone can be used to replace a lost button. Beneficially, there is no need for additional tools, such as needles, thread, scissors, or tweezers. The attachment apparatus may be particularly useful for instances when a button falls off at a time or place that sewing is inconvenient.
The following detailed description provides further specifications of the device and refers to the accompanying drawings. As used herein, the terms “front,” “forward,” etc. refer to the direction from the button outward (i.e., away from the fabric during normal usage), and the terms “back,” “backward,” etc. refer to the direction from the button device inward (i.e., toward the fabric during normal usage).
II. Button Device with Pin Attachment Apparatus
As shown in
In some embodiments, neither the holes 110 nor the thread 115 are present. In some embodiments, the female component 105 may be smooth or planar on its front side. This may be desirable to resemble shank buttons, which typically have a hollow protrusion on the back through which thread is sewn to attach the button. Thread is not visible when shank buttons are attached to fabric or a garment. Thus, some embodiments of the device 100 may not have holes 110 or thread 115 at the front of the female component 105, so that the device 100 can be used to replace a loose or lost shank button.
As shown in
When the device 300 is properly used, the female component 305 may be the only portion of the device 300 apparent on the fabric or garment. In some embodiments, the female component 305 may be substantially circular. Most buttons used for clothing garments are circular in shape, and it is desirable for the button device to be similar in shape to the button which it replaces. Nevertheless, the shape of the female component is not particularly limited and may include any shape or design, such as oval, square, rectangular, polygonal, star, and/or the like. The size of the female component 305 may be similarly variable. In some embodiments, the diameter of the female component 305 may be less than 2 cm, e.g., less than 1.5 cm, less than 1 cm, less than 0.75 cm, and/or the like. Larger sizes are also possible. Different sizes may be preferred for different types of garments. For example, the female component 305 of a device 300 intended to replace a button on a shirt may have a diameter of approximately 1 cm, while that of a button device intended to replace a button on a coat may have a much larger diameter of 4 cm.
The thickness of the female component 305, i.e., the length of the button from the front to the back, is not particularly limited. The female component 305 is preferably substantially thick enough to facilitate gripping of the device 300, but not so thick as to hinder passing the device 300 through a buttonhole in a garment. In some embodiments, the thickness of the female component 305 may be less than 6 mm, e.g., less than 5 mm, less than 3 mm, less than 2 mm, and/or the like. The thickness, in some embodiments, may be similar to that of standard buttons or the buttons on a particular garment, so that the device 300 may be used to inconspicuously replace a loose or lost button.
The material of the makeup of the female component 305 is not particularly limited. In some embodiments, the female component 305 may comprise a synthetic material, e.g., plastic, acrylic resin, celluloid, casein, amino resin, and the like, and/or combinations thereof. These materials may be preferable for economic reasons. In some embodiments, the device 300 may be formed of plastic. This allows for the device 300 to inconspicuously replace a loose or lost button that may have also been made of plastic. In alternative embodiments of the device 300, the female component 305 may comprise a metal, e.g., aluminum, brass, sterling silver, steel, the like, and/or combinations thereof. Certain garments tend to use metal buttons. For example, men's blazers may use metal buttons. Embodiments of the device 300 wherein the female component 305 comprise a metallic combination are contemplated. In some embodiments, the female component 305 (and/or the male component 310) may be comprised of a combination of synthetic and metallic components, e.g., a plastic with a metal casing or plating. This may be desirable for reducing cost of manufacture.
Because the female component 305 may be the only portion of the button device visible while the device is in use, in some embodiments, the female component 305 may have the appearance of a typical button. Even so, the design of the female component 305 is not particularly limited. In some embodiments, the female embodiment 305 may be substantially flat. Some embodiments of the device 300 may also include a raised rim about the outer perimeter of the front of the female component 305. The female component 305 may also include a number of ridges that run along the side of the female component 305, i.e., running from the front to the back. These features may be intended to make the device 300 appear similar to standard buttons while in use.
The female component 305 may be of any color, e.g., white, black, gray, red, orange, yellow, etc. The female component 305 may be a singular, solid color, or it may be several colors in design, e.g., stripes or dots. The female component 305 may also be decorated by any number of decorative techniques, e.g., electroplating, embroidery, lacquerware, metallizing, etc. These are only a few methods of applied aesthetics in decorating buttons. Any method of decoration may be used to decorate the device 300. This decoration may be desirable to ensure that various embodiments of the device 300 exist that resemble buttons used for clothing, so that the device 300 can be used to inconspicuously replace a loose or lost button from a garment.
While the front of the female component 305 is designed to resemble a standard button, the back of the female component 305 comprises a receptacle, into which the male component 310 is inserted. As shown in
In some embodiments of the device 300, the male component 310 is completely inserted into the female component 305. As such, the male component 310 may be small enough to fit within the female component 305. The male component 310 may take the form of a flat disc, but the male component can be formed into any shape, e.g., circle, oval, square, triangle, hexagon, etc. The male component 310 may be of the same shape as the female component 305 in some embodiments, so that the male component 310 may be easily inserted into the receptacle of the female component 305 and affixed therein. The size of the male component 310 may be similarly variable. In some embodiments of the device 300, the diameter of the male component 310 may be less than 2 cm, e.g. less than 1.5 cm, less than 1 cm, less than 0.75 cm, etc. Again, the size of the male component 310 may depend on the size of the female component 305. The male component 310 is smaller than the female component in some embodiments, so that that male component may be easily inserted into the receptacle of the female component. However, the male component 310 is preferably large enough that the prong of the female component 305 holds the male component 310 within the receptacle.
In some embodiments of the device 300, the edge of the male component 310 may be sloped, so as to facilitate inserting the male component into the receptacle. As shown in
As shown in
The material of the male component 310 is not particularly limited. In some embodiments, the male component 310 may comprise a synthetic material, e.g., plastic, acrylic resin, celluloid, casein, amino resin, combinations thereof, and/or the like. These materials may be relatively inexpensive. In some embodiments of the device 300, the male component 310 may comprise a metal, e.g., aluminum, brass, sterling silver, steel, combinations thereof, and/or the like. In some embodiments, the male component 310 may be comprised of a combination of synthetic and metallic components, e.g., a plastic with a metal casing or plating. This may be desirable for reducing cost of manufacture.
The male component 310 and the female component 305 may be made of the same material or of different materials. In some embodiments, both the female component 305 and the male component 310 may be made of the same synthetic material. For example, both the female component 305 and the male component 310 may be made of an amino resin. In some embodiments, the male component 310 may be made of a synthetic material, while the female component 305 is made of a metallic component. For example, the male component 310 may be made of an amino resin, while the female component 305 may be made of brass. Such a combination may reduce production cost for devices that resemble metal buttons.
The attachment apparatus 315 may be used to affix the button.
In use, the area(s) of attachment apparatus 400 that are perpendicular to the male component (i.e., perpendicular to the elongated body of the attachment apparatus 400) may traverse holes within the male component, leaving the first portion 405 of the attachment apparatus 400 interior to the receptacle of the female component (except for the clasp 415), and a second portion 410 of the attachment apparatus 400 exterior to the receptacle of the female component (plus the clasp 415) to allow pinning to a material. The area(s) of attachment apparatus 400 that are perpendicular to the male component and/or the elongated body of the attachment apparatus 400 include at least one of: (A) an end of the attachment apparatus 400 that connects the first portion to the second portion, and/or (B) an area of the first portion that extends toward the back side of the device to form the clasp 415.
The size of the attachment apparatus 400 is not particularly limited. The elongated body of the attachment apparatus 400 may be short enough that it can be integrated within a male component (e.g., male component 310), but long enough that it can be bent back and come to a point with enough length to be handled during use. The gauge, i.e., the diameter at midshaft, of the elongated body of the attachment apparatus 400 may vary. The gauge of the second portion 410 is preferably small enough to allow the point 420 and the second portion 410 to pass through fabric without unnecessarily damaging the fabric, but also large enough to ensure that the device (e.g., device 100, 200, and/or 300) is securely attached to the fabric when in use. As shown in
As above described, the clasp 415 may be formed from the attachment apparatus 400 at on the first portion 405. As shown in
As above described, the second portion 410 of the attachment apparatus 400 may bend back toward the first portion 405. This may be arranged so that the second portion 410 can be forced into the clasp 415. As shown in
The material of the attachment apparatus 400 is not particularly limited. In some embodiments, the attachment apparatus 400 is made of a metal, e.g., stainless steel, spring steel, brass, nickel, zinc, combinations thereof, and/or the like. For example, the attachment apparatus 400 may be comprised of nickel-plated stainless steel. In some embodiments, the attachment apparatus 400 may be made of plastic or other non-metallic components, possibly in combination with metallic components. Examples of plastics that may be used include polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyamides (PA), polycarbonate (PC), combinations thereof, and/or the like. The attachment apparatus 400 may be made of a same or different material than the female component and/or the male component. In some embodiments, the attachment apparatus 400 may be continuous, integral, and/or made of a single component, e.g., by shaping a single piece of metal into the desired shape shown in
As above described, the attachment apparatus 400 may be arranged about the male component so that the second portion of the attachment apparatus 400 can be forced into the clasp 415 when in use. To ensure the device (e.g., device 100, 200, and/or 300) does not fall off while in use, the second portion 410 may be held in the clasp 415. Some embodiments of the attachment apparatus 400 may be formed from materials that are rigid. The second portion 410 may be held within the clasp 415 by the resistive tension of the second portion 410 being forced into the clasp 415.
III. Process for Using Attachment Apparatus with Button
According to some embodiments, a process is provided for using the above-described attachment apparatus with a button (e.g., a male component and a female component as described above).
At step 505, a user may grip the device. The process disclosed in the flow of
At step 510, the point of the attachment apparatus may be inserted into the desired fabric, garment or material. If the device is being used to replace a loose or lost button, the point may be inserted at the location where the loose or lost button had been attached. Otherwise, the point may be inserted at any desired location on the fabric, garment or material. The fabric, garment or material with which the button device is not limited. The device may be used with any fabric, garment or material.
At step 515, the user may pass the attachment apparatus through the material, e.g. by pushing or pulling, until the entirety of the point has passed through the material. The attachment apparatus may be tilted, at step 520, so as to reinsert the point into the opposite side of the material. At step 525, the user may again pass the attachment apparatus through the material, e.g., by pushing or pulling, until the second portion of the pin has passed through the material at the original point of insertion.
At step 530, the user may force, e.g., by pushing, pulling, or compressing, the second portion of the attachment apparatus forward so as to position the second portion of the attachment apparatus into the clasp. Because the attachment apparatus is preferably made of a substance that is substantially rigid, forcing the second portion into the clasp may require an application of pressure. Thus, the resistive tension created by forcing the second portion of the attachment apparatus into the clasp can hold the attachment apparatus closed and prevent the device from falling from the fabric or garment.
In the foregoing description, aspects of the application are described with reference to specific embodiments thereof, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited thereto. Thus, while illustrative embodiments of the application have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed, and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations, except as limited by the prior art. Various features and aspects of the above-described invention may be used individually or jointly. Further, embodiments can be utilized in any number of environments and applications beyond those described herein without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the specification. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. For the purposes of illustration, methods were described in a particular order. It should be appreciated that in alternate embodiments, the methods may be performed in a different order than that described.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/314,880, filed on Mar. 29, 2016. The entirety of the application is incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62314880 | Mar 2016 | US |
