Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6539592
-
Patent Number
6,539,592
-
Date Filed
Tuesday, January 29, 200222 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, April 1, 200321 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
- Sudol; R. Neil
- Coleman; Henry D.
- Sapone; William J.
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 024 197
- 024 196
- 024 194
- 024 182
- 024 265 AL
- 024 265 CD
- 002 1952
- 002 1953
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
The present invention relates to a band buckle which is capable of fabricating a buckle based on a set formed of an upper ring and a lower ring, quickly releasing a bound force of an adjusting band by easily lifting only the upper ring when the adjusting band is inserted, and implementing an easier fabrication of a buckle and decreasing the fabrication cost of the same by forming a support portion in a rear end inner side surface of the lowering without forming the support portion in the upper ring. In the band buckle includes, the upper ring includes a handle protruded from both side surfaces of the front end potion of the same by more than the width, and the lower ring includes a support portion which is formed in such a manner that an extended portion is formed in an inner side of the through hole of the inner end portion and is bent upwardly in the band buckle which includes an upper ring and a lower ring each having a through hole and a fixing stripe which binds the rear ends of the upper ring and the lower ring.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a band buckle, and in particular to a band buckle which is capable of implementing a simple construction of an upper ring and lower ring of a buckle for binding an adjusting band, so that it is possible to obtain an easier and stable engagement.
2. Description of the Background Art
Generally, as shown in
FIG. 1
, a band buckle is used for binding two thin and wide bands and unbinding the same.
FIG. 1
is a view illustrating a conventional binding band for a helmet. As shown therein, the helmet is generally used when a user rides a two-wheeled vehicle or for a construction site. In addition, the helmet is used when a user enjoys a dynamic leisure activity such as an inline skate, skate board, etc. for thereby protecting a user's head. When a user wears the above helmet, in order to prevent the movement of the helmet, as shown in
FIG. 2
, a fixing band
10
and an adjusting band
20
are bound each other and are unbound. At this time, a band buckle is used.
As shown in
FIG. 2
, the conventional buckle
30
includes an upper ring
31
and a lower ring
32
each having a through hole
33
, a fixing stripe
11
for binding the rear ends of the same, and a fixing band
10
in which the fixing stripe
11
is connected by a sewing method. The above conventional buckle
20
is disclosed in the Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0190125.
In detail, as shown in
FIG. 3
, an inverted L-shaped support portion
34
is formed in a rear end portion of the upper ring
31
in such a manner that the widths of the same are same, and the length of the lower ring
32
is slightly longer than the length of the upper ring
31
, so that the inverted L-shaped support portion
34
covers the rear end corner portion of the lower ring
32
, and the end surface does not cover beyond the inner surface of the through hole of the lower ring
32
.
Therefore, the adjusting stripe
21
of the adjusting band
20
is inserted through the lower ring
32
and the upper ring
31
, and the end portion of the same is wound on the end portion of the upper ring
31
and then is inserted into the through hole
33
of the lower ring
32
and is tightened in a longitudinal direction for thereby binding the adjusting stripe
21
of the adjusting band. As the adjusting stripe
21
is more strongly tightened, since the upper ring
31
more strongly presses the adjusting stripe
21
which passes between the upper ring
31
and the lower ring
32
, so that the buckle is not easily unlocked. At this time, even when the user moves the hands from the buckle, since the friction force between the adjusting stripe
21
, the upper ring
31
and the lower ring
32
is larger than the unbinding force, the bound state is stably maintained.
The conventional buckle has the following disadvantages.
Namely, when unlocking the buckle
30
which is stably locked and then drawing the adjusting stripe
21
of the adjusting band
20
, it is needed to slightly release the tightened state of the adjusting band
20
, and the protrusion
35
of the lower ring
32
is upwardly lifted, and the upper ring
31
decreases the force which presses the adjusting stripe
21
between the lower ring
32
.
In a state that the adjusting band
20
is stably engaged using the buckle
30
, it is not easy to release the tension force of the adjusting band
20
. In addition, when quickly unlocking the buckle, when the lower ring
32
is lifted, the upper ring
31
is lifted together with the lower ring
32
. Therefore, the bound state with respect to the adjusting stripe
21
of the adjusting band
20
is not unbound, but is maintained.
Therefore, in order to quickly unlock the buckle
30
, only the upper ring
31
is lifted for thereby widening the distance between the upper ring
31
and the lower ring
32
without lifting the lower ring
32
.
As described above, in order to easily unlock the buckle
30
, it is effective to lift the upper ring
31
. Since the conventional buckle
30
has the same width as the widths of the upper ring
31
and the lower ring
32
, it is inconvenient to lift the upper ring
31
which has a relatively thin thickness.
When the buckle
30
is bound using the fixing stripe
11
, when the front surface of the lower ring
32
and the back surface of the upper ring
31
are too closely contacted, since the buckle
11
is bound by the fixing stripe
11
having a double thickness, it is impossible to insert the adjusting stripe
21
into the holes. In addition, since the end portion of the lower ring
32
and the end portion of the upper ring
31
is distanced more, in a state that the adjusting stripe
21
is passed, it is impossible to shrink the same, so that there is a certain obstruction for enhancing the engaging force.
Therefore, as shown in
FIG. 3
, the inner end portion of the upper ring
31
is bent in an inverted L-shape. The inner end portion of the upper ring
31
has the same thickness as the inner end portion of the lower ring
32
for thereby being bound with the fixing stripe.
However, in the above structure, it is very difficult to insert the set of the upper ring
31
and the lower ring
32
into the fixing stripe
11
for thereby finishing the buckle
30
. In particular, since the entire rear end portions of the upper ring
31
are bent, in the case the thickness is thick, it is impossible to fabricate the same.
Namely, in the case that the entire widths are bent in the rear end portion of the upper ring
31
, a large force is required for bending the same. In addition, the end corners of the lower ring
32
must contact with the bent corner portions. For the above reason, it is needed to form a 90° corner. In this case, it is impossible to form the above 90° corner based on only the bending operation.
In addition, since the length of the upper ring
31
is previously set by the length which will be bent, the consumption of the material is increased.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a band buckle which overcomes the problems encountered in the conventional art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a band buckle which is capable of fabricating a buckle based on a set formed of an upper ring and a lower ring.
It is further another object of the present invention to provide a band buckle which is capable of quickly releasing a bound force of an adjusting band by easily lifting only the upper ring when the adjusting band is inserted.
It is still further another object of the present invention to provide a band buckle which is capable of implementing an easier fabrication of a buckle and decreasing the fabrication cost of the same by forming a support portion in a rear end inner side surface of the lowering without forming the support portion in the upper ring.
To achieve the above objects, there is provided a band buckle in which the upper ring includes a handle protruded from both side surfaces of the front end potion of the same by more than the width, and the lower ring includes a support portion which is formed in such a manner that an extended portion is formed in an inner side of the through hole of the inner end portion and is bent upwardly in the band buckle which includes an upper ring and a lower ring each having a through hole and a fixing stripe which binds the rear ends of the upper ring and the lower ring.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will become better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings which are given only by way of illustration and thus are not limitative of the present invention, wherein;
FIG. 1
is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional band buckle for a helmet;
FIG. 2
is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional buckle;
FIG. 3
is a perspective view illustrating a conventional upper ring and lower ring;
FIG. 4
is a perspective view illustrating a band buckle according to the present invention;
FIG. 5
is a cross-sectional view illustrating a band buckle according to the present invention;
FIG. 6
is a detailed perspective view illustrating an upper ring and lower ring according to the present invention; and
FIG. 7
is a view illustrating a state of use of a band buckle according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 4
is a perspective view illustrating the buckle according to the present invention, and
FIG. 5
is a cross-sectional view illustrating the buckle according to the present invention.
As shown therein, the construction of the buckle
40
which is formed of an upper ring and a lower ring
41
each having a through hole
43
, and a fixing stripe
60
which binds the both ends of the same is the same as the conventional art.
However, in the present invention, the upper ring
41
includes a handle
46
which is protruded from the both side surfaces of the front end portion of the same and has a protruded height larger than the width. The lower ring
42
includes an extended portion in an inner portion of the through hole
43
of the inner end for thereby forming a support portion
44
by upwardly bending the extended portion.
The handle
46
is preferably formed in a circular protrusion as shown in the drawings, and the protruded height is similar with the thickness of the upper ring
41
.
The support portion
44
of the lower ring
42
includes a hole
45
for thereby being easily upwardly bent. The height of the support portion
44
is the same as the thickness of the upper ring
41
.
As shown in
FIG. 4
, the buckle according to the present invention includes one set formed of the upper ring
41
and the lower ring
42
. In a state that the inner surface of the through hole
43
of the upper ring
41
is closely contacted with the side surface of the support portion
44
of the lower ring
42
, the rear end portions of the same are bound using the fixing stripe
60
for thereby fabricating the buckle
40
.
When engaging the adjusting stripe
50
to the buckle
40
, in a state that the upper ring
41
and the lower ring
42
are overlaid, the adjusting stripe
50
is inserted into the through hole
43
and the through hole
43
of the lower ring
42
in a sequence and then is tightened in the longitudinal direction for thereby binding the adjusting stripe
50
.
At this time, as the adjusting stripe
50
is more tightly extended, the front end portion of the upper ring
41
more strongly presses the adjusting stripe
50
which passes between the upper ring
41
and the lower ring
42
, the bound state is not easily unbound. In this state, even when the user's hand does not hold the same, since the friction force between the adjusting stripe
50
, the upper ring
41
and the lower ring
42
is larger than the unbinding force, the bound state is continuously maintained.
When unbinding the bound state, the adjusting stripe
50
is held and lifted and then is released using one hand, and then the handle
46
of the upper ring
41
is held by the other hand, and the front end portion is lifted.
When the adjusting stripe
50
is held and upwardly lifted and then is released, the bound force between the fixing stripe
60
and the adjusting stripe
50
is decreased. In this state, the upper ring
41
is lifted, and the intermediate portion of the adjusting stripe
50
which is wound through the upper ring
41
and the lower ring
42
is loosened for thereby quickly unbinding the bound state.
In addition, in the buckle
40
according to the present invention, the support potion
44
is formed in the lower ring
42
, not in the upper ring
41
. Since a certain portion corresponding to the through hole
43
of the center of the upper ring
41
is to blanked during the pressing process, an extended portion is formed in the above portion, and then the extended portion is upwardly bent for thereby forming the support portion
44
.
In the above construction according to the present invention, it is not needed to extend the length of the upper ring
41
for bending and forming the support portion. In addition, a hole
45
is formed in the center portion of the upper portion
44
. Therefore, it is easy for bending the support portion at a 90°.
In addition, since the support portion
44
formed in the lower ring
42
is formed in an inner side of the through hole
43
, it is easy to wind the fixing stripe
60
. Namely, in a state that the upper ring
41
and the lower ring
42
are overlaid, when winding the fixing stripe
60
with holding the surrounding portion of the same, it is possible to easily to hold a certain portion thereof.
As described above, in the buckle according to the present invention, since the handle is protruded from left and right side surfaces of the upper ring, when unbinding the adjusting band, it is possible to easily lift the upper ring using the handle, so that it is possible to quickly release the bound force of the adjusting band. The support portion is formed in the lower ring in the through hole portion, so that it is possible to easily fabricate the buckle, and the consumption of the material is decreased.
As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the meets and bounds of the claims, or equivalences of such meets and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.
Claims
- 1. In a band buckle which includes an upper ring and a lower ring each having a through hole and a fixing stripe which binds the rear ends of the upper ring and the lower ring, a band buckle in which the upper ring includes a handle protruded from both side surfaces of the front end potion of the same by more than the width, and the lower ring includes a support portion which is formed in such a manner that an extended portion is formed in an inner side of the through hole of the inner end portion and is bent upwardly.
- 2. The buckle of claim 1, wherein said support portion of the lower ring includes a hole for thereby implementing an easier bending in an upward direction.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
01-0078779 |
Dec 2001 |
KR |
|
US Referenced Citations (5)