FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
Not Applicable.
Sequence Listing or Program
Not Applicable.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to Kits for Buttons Fastening to Garment Cloths.
PRIOR ART
Traditionally buttons are attached to garments by sewing threads. However, sewing buttons is quite slow and laborious. Furthermore, threaded buttons tend to detach and fall frequently. Most garment owners don't know how to refasten and sew fallen buttons. Hence, a Kit for simpler, faster and more robust button re-attachment could be quite useful and can yield a notable improvement. In our search we have found several inventions of button assemblies that were configured for fast button attachment but all of them are not designed for button reattachment. In addition, they are dissimilar to our invention both in their structures and in their principles of operation. Most, if not all of these attachment assemblies rely on some sort of metallic pedestal crimping in order to attach the button to the garment doth. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,012 (Jul. 5, 1977) to Kramer et al. teaches a metallic button held by a metallic pedestal that is stapled to the garment doth by a four legged metallic staple that is crimped to hold the pedestal. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,522,404 (Sept. 3, 2013) Matei teaches a button which can be tilted because it is attached to an elongated metallic shaft with ball attached at one end. The ball is housed in a ball bearing cavity included in the mounting base attached to the garment. In US 2005/0188510 (Sept. 01, 2005) Retamal teaches a button attached to an elongated serrated metal shaft which fits into a serrated metal nut attached to the garment. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,780 (Feb. 25, 1986) Fukuroi teaches a metal button which is attached to a mounting base by a crimped metal nail. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,063 (Apr. 23, 1985) Fukuroi teaches a metal button attachment to a base by a metal rivet. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,043 (Nov. 19, 1996) Candotti also teaches a metal button attachment to a base by a metal rivet. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,362 (May 29, 1990) Collas proposes to mount a metallic button on a metallic shank which is connected to a disk beneath the garment doth. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,940 (Aug. 24, 1999) Tanikoshi teaches a button mounting by crimping a metal tubular rivet. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,398 (Nov. 02, 1999) Evans proposed attaching buttons to clothing by H shaped plastic studs which are inserted through the button holes into the clothing. In U.S. Pat. No. 9,820,520 (Nov. 21, 2017) Bolen teaches an attachment system with two parts one part attaches to the clothing side and the other part attaches to the button side and both parts are then coupled by a magnetic twist-lock mechanism. In U.S. Pat. No. 10,004,299 (Jun. 26, 2018) Maussen Teaches a tapered trapezoidal shape buttons which are connected to fabrics using sewing. IN U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,013 (Jul. 1 1975) Gould teaches a button attachment using a rivet with long serrated shaft that protrudes from the clothing and is attached to a button with fitting aperture. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,938,861 (Jan. 27, 2015) McLendon teaches a removably attachable button using a pair of U-shaped flexible pins with small hooks at their ends, which are inserted through the clothing and through the buttonholes. All the above inventions are entirely dissimilar to our invention.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
I have several goals in inventing and developing the Button Assembly kit of which some feasible embodiments are illustrated in FIGS. 1-9. The goals are:
- 1. To develop a Button Assembly Kit which facilitates easy manual permanent and robust attachment of the button to a garment doth without any need for sewing, threads or metal crimping.
- 2. To design components of a Button assembly kit which facilitate fast easy manual Button fastening without needing additional tools or machines.
- 3. To configure a fastening structure which can be attached swiftly, firmly and permanently to cloths.
- 4. To design an anchoring structure (i.e. a structure which anchors the button to the doth) which fastens the button to the doth by trapping the fastening structure that is tied to the button.
- 5. To include manually operated trapping mechanisms which reside in the anchoring structure and are configured to trap and robustly hold the fastening structure.
- 6. To design trapping mechanisms which can withstand without detachment strong pulling forces when applied to the button.
- 7. To design a button assembly which could be manufactured inexpensively with mass production from common elastic materials such as plastics.
- 8. To configure an anchoring structure that includes a trapping mechanism which exploits the resiliency of gates made of materials such as plastics to trap a terminal element which is attached to the fastening structure. Thereby, robustly tying the button to the garment doth.
- 9. To facilitate easy buttoning by configuring a fastening structure which includes Spacing Double Rings which introduce a buttoning gap between the button and the clothing.
- 10. To configure piercing cones which are attached to the bottom of the fastening structure and facilitate piercing of the garment doth during manual attachment of the fastening structure to the garment doth.
- 11. To configure an anchoring structure which houses trapping mechanisms which efficiently trap the fastening structure using resilient gates which lock into cavities constructed in the fastening structure.
- 12. Configuring a limiting strip which is installed inside the anchoring structure and limit sideway motions of the terminal elements of the fastening structure and prevents unwanted release of the captured fastening structure from the trapping mechanisms.
- 13. Attaching to the bottom of the anchoring structure a preventive arch which protects the user from the sharp ends of the piercing cones which protrude from the bottom of the anchoring structure. At final stage it is recommended to cut off the protective arch from the anchoring structure along with the sharp ends.
In order to achieve the objectives listed above, our method for button fastening to the garment doth is to tie the button to a fastening structure which includes at least two poles which are anchored to the doth by an anchoring structure. In our approach, the bottom ends of the poles of the fastening structure are attached to terminal elements. The fastening of the button to the doth is facilitated by trapping the fastening structure's terminal elements using trapping mechanisms housed in the anchoring structure which is placed beneath the doth. The trapping mechanisms use resilient gating technique where the action of trapping is activated by a forceful intrusion of each of the terminal elements into a separate trapping mechanism. Each trapping mechanism includes a pair of resilient gates which are attached diagonally to the walls of the anchoring apertures beneath their top openings. The intrusion of a terminal element bends the diagonal resilient gates which reside inside the two anchoring apertures which are housed in the anchoring structure. The anchoring structure is placed beneath the doth with its anchoring apertures residing opposite to the terminal elements. After piercing the doth, when a terminal element is inserted into its trapping mechanism and reaches its trapping spot, the bent resilient gates are configured to unbend and be released into a hook like cavities which are engraved into the terminal element. The released and unbent resilient gates which are stuck into the hook like cavities trap the terminal elements of the fastening structure and prevent them from retreating upwards. The trapping mechanisms are designed to act in Unisom. The cavities engraved at the terminal elements are configured to move in parallel such that all the cavities reach at the same instant their trapping spots i.e. arriving below the tips of the maximally bent gates. As an upshot, all the resilient gates unbend and are released into their corresponding cavities at the same instant. The released gates unbend due to their elasticity and turn inwards into their corresponding cavities thereby trapping the terminal elements which are tied to the button via the fastening structure.
In other words, when the terminal elements which are attached to the ends of the poles of the fastening structure are pushed downwards into the anchoring structure apertures which house the trapping mechanisms, all the terminal elements attached to the poles of the fastening structure are simultaneously trapped. Since the anchoring structure resides beneath the doth, the button which is fastened to the anchoring structure is fastened to the doth as well.
The fastening of the button to the garment doth is performed as follows: The button assembly is configured to be used for fast attachment of the button to the garment doth by placing the anchoring structure below the garment doth such that the two anchoring structure's anchoring apertures are facing a lower side of the garment doth while placing the fastening structure at an upper side of the garment doth such that its two terminal elements are situated opposite to the two corresponding anchoring structure's apertures. Next, pushing downwards the fastening structure from the upper side of the garment doth is configured to pierce the garment doth by the two pointed cones which are attached to the lower sides of the terminal elements. Further pushing downwards the fastening structure inserts the two terminal elements into the two trapping mechanisms housed at the two anchoring structure's anchoring apertures which are situated beneath the lower side of the garment doth. Inserting the two terminal elements further downwards through the two anchoring apertures of the anchoring structure is configured to bend the two pairs of resilient gates of the two trapping mechanisms and to trap the two terminal elements with the two trapping mechanisms which reside inside the two anchoring apertures of the anchoring structure. The two terminal elements are trapped when they reach the trapping spots in which the resilient gates can unbend and their tips are released into cavities which are engraved in the terminal elements. The two cavities have kind of slanted parallelogram cross sections which facilitate trapping of the two pairs of resilient gates after they unbend and enter the cavities. Each cavity is supported by an inner vertical wall at the cavity's center. The support is needed to prevent collapsing of the terminal element when it is vertically pressured during doth piercing. The inner vertical support walls divide each cavity into two compartments which are configured to trap a pair of resilient gates. The two pairs of released, resilient trapping gates trap the two terminal elements and prevent them from moving upwards. Downwards motion of the captured terminal elements is also restricted by the protecting arch which is installed beneath the two apertures and blocks the terminal elements' any further downwards motion. At that point, the two trapped terminal elements which are attached to the fastening structure are configured to prevent detachment and separation of the fastening structure from the anchoring structure and from the garment doth. Since the fastening structure is engaging the button's top, it also prevents detachment of the button from the doth. Thereby, completing the attachment of the button to the garment doth by permanently attaching the fastening structure to the garment doth.
The current invention also introduces two important improvements. The first improvement is the introduction of a separating strip and the second improvement is the introduction of a protective arch.
The separating strip is installed as a separator between the left anchoring aperture and the right anchoring aperture in the anchoring structure. The main function of the separating strip is to severely restrict sideways motions of the left terminal element and the right terminal element after they were trapped in the left anchoring aperture and the right anchoring aperture respectively. Unrestricted sideways motions often result in unwanted release of the captured left terminal element or the captured right terminal element.
The protective arch is attached to the bottom side of the anchoring structure with the goal to protect the user from the pointed left end of the left cone and from the pointed right end of the right cone. These pointed ends protrude after capturing from the bottom side of the anchoring structure. The protective arch also has another function which is to block further downwards motion of the captured terminal elements after their capture. finally, in order to reduce the total size of the anchoring structure and also as a safety precaution it is recommended to cut off the protective arch along with the pointed left end of the left cone and the pointed right end of the right cone which protrude from the bottom side of the anchoring structure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 displays a side view of an embodiment of the fastening structure in 3D isometric drawing.
FIG. 2 Depicts in 3D isometric drawing an upside down frontal view of an embodiment of the anchoring structure which includes two trapping mechanisms inside two anchoring apertures. In order to better desctibe the inner structure of the anchoring apertures a half and two quarters cross sections of the anchoring structure are also displayed.
FIG. 3 Illustrates in 3D isometric drawing a frontal view of an embodiment of a double ring which is composed of a linked pair of spacing rings.
FIG. 4 Illustrates in 3D isometric drawing a top-side view of an embodiment of all the components used in a button fastening to a doth. This includes the fastening structure, the anchoring structure, the button, the spacing double rings and a piece of doth used for demonstration of garment doth attachment.
FIG. 5 illustrates in 3D isometric side view of the components required for the first step of button fastening demonstration in which the fastening structure is installed into the button's apertures and also into the spacing double rings apertures. The collection also includes the anchoring structure and the garment doth.
FIG. 6 depicts in 3D isometric side view of the components required for the second step of button fastening demonstration in which the fastening structure penetrates the doth after it was already installed into the button's apertures and into the spacing double rings apertures. The collection also includes the anchoring structure which is not used yet.
FIG. 7 shows in 3D isometric side view of the components required for the third step of button fastening demonstration in which the fastening structure penetrates the anchoring structure after it already pierced the doth and already was installed into the button's apertures and into the spacing double rings apertures.
FIG. 8 shows in 3D isometric side view of the components required for the fourth and final step of button fastening demonstration in which the fastening structure already penetrated the anchoring structure after it already pierced the doth and already was installed into the button's apertures and into the spacing double rings apertures. The fourth step also includes cutting off the sharp ends of the terminal elements which were protruding from the bottom of the anchoring structure along with the protecting arch.
FIG. 9 Depicts an instruction page which includes all the steps required in a button installation. The page demonstrates the button installation by 3D isometric drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 displays a side view of an embodiment of the fastening structure 1 in 3D isometric drawing. The two vertical poles 4 have cylindrical shape except for two flat patches that are needed for the molding process. The vertical poles are attached at their top ends to a horizontal bar 17 which after installation engages the upper surface of the button 11. At their bottom ends the poles 4 are attached to the upper ends of cylinders 7. Each cylinder has an engraved cavity 3. Each cavity 3 has a central vertical wall 2 which is configured to support its cavity 3 and the cylinder 7 against collapsing when pressurized. The left cylinder has an engraved cavity 3 with an opening facing leftwards whereas the right cylinder 7 has an engraved cavity 3 with an opening facing towards the right. The bottom ends of the cylinders 7 are attached to the upper sides of the terminal cylinders 6 which are attached at their bottom ends to upper obtuse ends of two cones 5 which have their pointed ends pointing downwards. The two flat engravings patches at the upper surfaces of the poles 4 were introduced in order to facilitate ejection of the poles 4 from the mold and do not have any functional role. The left terminal element comprises of the left cylinder 7, the left terminal cylinder 6 and the left cone 5. The right terminal element comprises of the right cylinder 7 the right terminal cylinder 6 and the right cone 5.
FIG. 2 Depicts in 3D isometric drawing an upside-down frontal view of an embodiment of the anchoring structure 8 which includes two trapping mechanisms inside two anchoring apertures. A cross section 8A of the anchoring structure and 2 cross sections 8B and 8C of the cross section 8A are also displayed for improved illustration of the inner structure. Each of the anchoring apertures 16 has an upper opening 16. Below each of the upper openings 16 a pair of resilient gates 15 is diagonally attached to the walls of the anchoring apertures 16. The lower side of each gate is unattached. The left pair of gates is attached with a rightward diagonal orientation whereas the right pair of gates is attached with a leftward diagonal orientation. A horizontal separating strip 14 is installed as a separator between the left anchoring aperture 16 and the right anchoring aperture 16. The main function of the separating strip 14 is to severely restrict sideways motions of the left terminal element and the right terminal element after they were trapped in the left anchoring aperture and the right anchoring aperture respectively. Unrestricted sideways motions often result in unwanted release of the left terminal element or the right terminal element.
The protective arch 13 is attached to a bottom side of the anchoring structure 8 with the goal to protect the user from the pointed left end of the left cone 5 and from the pointed right end of the right cone 5, which protrude after capturing from the bottom side of the anchoring structure 8. The protective arch 13 also blocks further downward mot ion of the terminal elements after they were trapped.
FIG. 3 Illustrates in 3D isometric drawing a front view of an embodiment of a double ring which includes a linked pair of spacing rings 10A, 10B plus a link which is denoted by 18. The spacing double rings are installed on the fastening structure 1 poles 4 beneath the button 11 and provide buttoning spacing between the button 11 and the doth 12.
FIG. 4 Illustrates in 3D isometric drawing a side-top view of an embodiment which includes all the components used in a button fastening to a doth. This includes the fastening structure 1, the anchoring structure 8, the button 11, the double ring which includes two spacing rings 10 and a piece of doth 12. In FIG. 4 the fastening structure's left and right poles 4 have a horizontal orientation. The anchoring structure 8 is depicted at the right hand side of the fastening structure 1. The button 11 is lies vertically on the right hand side of the fastening structure. As shown in FIG. 4 the button 11 has four apertures 19. The double ring which includes two linked spacing rings 10 are displayed on the right-hand side of the button 11 and the piece of doth 12 is displayed on the right hand side of the button as well.
FIG. 5 illustrates in 3D isometric top view of a collection of components required for demonstration of a first step of a button fastening. The collection includes the fastening structure 1, the anchoring structure 8, the button 11, the double ring which includes two linked spacing rings 10 and the garment doth 12. In this depiction the fastening structure's left and right poles 4 have a horizontal orientation and are connected by their top ends to the horizontal bar 17. The anchoring structure 8 is depicted on the right-hand side of the fastening structure cones 5 which are attached to the front sides of the terminal cylinders 6. The upper sides of the terminal cylinders 6 are attached to the lower sides of the left and right cylinders 7 which are attached to the bottom sides of the poles 4. The button 11 is mounted on the poles 4 of the fastening structure 1. As shown in FIG. 4 the button 11 has four apertures 19. The double ring which includes two linked spacing rings 10 are also mounted on the poles 4 on the right-hand side of the button 11. The piece of doth 12 which is not penetrated yet by the cones 5, is displayed on the right hand side of the fastening structure 1. The anchoring structure 8 also is depicted at the right-hand side of the fastening structure 1.
FIG. 6 illustrates in 3D isometric top view of a collection of components required for demonstration of a second step of a button fastening. The collection includes the fastening structure 1, the anchoring structure 8, the button 11, the double ring which includes two linked spacing rings 10 and the garment doth 12. In this depiction the fastening structure's left and right poles 4 have a horizontal orientation and are connected by their top ends to the horizontal bar 17. The anchoring structure 8 is depicted on the right-hand side of the fastening structure cones 5 which are attached to the bottom sides of the terminal cylinders 6. The upper sides of the terminal cylinders 6 are attached to the lower sides of the left and right cylinders 7 which are attached to the left and right bottom sides of the poles 4. The button 11 is mounted on the poles 4 of the fastening structure 1. As shown in FIG. 4 the button 11 has four apertures 19. The double ring which includes two linked spacing rings 10 are also mounted on the poles 4 on the right-hand side of the button 11. The piece of doth 12 which is already penetrated by the cones 5, is displayed on the right-hand side of the spacing double rings 10. The anchoring structure 8 is depicted at the right-hand side of the fastening structure 1.
FIG. 7 illustrates in 3D isometric top view of a collection of components required for demonstration of a third step of a button fastening. The collection includes the fastening structure 1, the anchoring structure 8, the button 11, the double ring which includes two linked spacing rings 10 and the garment doth 12. In this depiction the fastening structure's left and right poles 4 have a horizontal orientation and are connected by their top ends to the horizontal bar 17. The anchoring structure 8 is depicted on the right-hand side of the fastening structure cones 5 which are attached to the bottom sides of the terminal cylinders 6. The upper sides of the terminal cylinders 6 are attached to the lower sides of the left and right cylinders 7 which are attached to the left and right bottom sides of the poles 4. The button 11 is mounted on the poles 4 of the fastening structure 1. As shown in FIG. 4 the button 11 has four apertures 19. The double ring which includes two linked spacing rings 10 are also mounted on the poles 4 on the right-hand side of the button 11. The piece of doth 12 which is already penetrated by the cones 5, is displayed on the right-hand side of the double ring which includes two spacing rings 10. The anchoring structure 8 also is penetrated by the cones 5 and is depicted at the right-hand side of the fastening structure 1.
FIG. 8 illustrates in 3D isometric top view of a collection of components required for demonstration of a fourth step of a button fastening. The collection includes the fastening structure 1, the anchoring structure 8, the button 11, the double ring which includes two linked spacing rings 10 and the garment doth 12. In this depiction the fastening structure's left and right poles 4 have a horizontal orientation and are connected by their top ends to the horizontal bar 17. The anchoring structure 8 is depicted on the right-hand side of the fastening structure cones 5 which are attached to the bottom sides of the terminal cylinders 6. The upper sides of the terminal cylinders 6 are attached to the lower sides of the left and right cylinders 7 which are attached to the left and right bottom sides of the poles 4. The button 11 is mounted on the poles 4 of the fastening structure 1. As shown in FIG. 4 the button 11 has four apertures 19. The double ring which includes two linked spacing rings 10 are also mounted on the poles 4 on the right-hand side of the button 11. The piece of doth 12 which is already penetrated by the cones 5, is displayed on the right-hand side of the double ring which includes two spacing rings 10. The anchoring structure 8 also is penetrated by the cones 5 and is depicted at the right-hand side of the fastening structure 1. At this fourth and final step of a button fastening the user cuts off the protecting arch 13 along with the sharp ends of the cones 5.
FIG. 9 illustrates an instruction page which includes all the steps required in a button installation. The page demonstrates the button installation in 3D isometric drawings.