Band buckle

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6539592
  • Patent Number
    6,539,592
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, January 29, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, April 1, 2003
    21 years ago
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)
Number Name Date Kind
477056 Kirkpatrick Jun 1892 A
1697833 Lane Jan 1929 A
2853757 Rave Sep 1958 A
4299014 Wood Nov 1981 A
5915535 Henrekin-Jordan Jun 1999 A