Patent Application
20080222852
The present invention relates to button fasteners for clothing.
An aging population with joint afflictions such as arthritis finds the mundane act of buttoning a garment difficult. This has been the case since antiquity, and prior art for button hooks to ease this task can be found. The pivoted button hook of O'Connor in U.S. Pat. No. 686,325 is designed with a long handle and wire loop to aid in buttoning shoes. Several patents relate to combination tools including a button hook. The button hook end on Papernik's U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,401 is an open wire design similar to a needle threader. Taylor et al. in their Design Patent Des. 401,389 use a wire loop for the button hook. Ricci in Design Patent D445,959 shows a small button hook on the distal end of a nail file. Low's combination implement of patent 419,268 shows a flat implement with a hook at its distal end. The US Patent documents of Ross (U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,688), Tempkins (Appl. Num. US 2005/0067846), Taylor (Des. 401,389) and Teaman (Des.384,186) are entirely formed of bent wire with button hooks at distal ends. The prior art does not teach the ergonomic features of the present invention.
It is an object of the present invention to make the fastening of a button easier, especially for persons with arthritis and other limited manual dexterity afflictions.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an easily graspable button hook fastener.
Other objects which become apparent from the following description of the present invention.
A typical shaft and head of the button fastener is a longitudinally extending solid plate, sized to fit a clothing button hole of one half inch or less.
To enable persons with limited gripping ability or limited dexterity, the proximal end of the button fastener includes a three dimensional finger engaging stop portion, preferable spherical. This enables the user to hold the plate within two fingers, but the three dimensional stop prevents the plate from slipping through the two fingers of the user.
The button hook includes an elongated member having a distal end cut at a bias having a narrowed tip and forming a ramp edge A hook shaped portion extends from the narrowed tip of the elongated member, wherein the hook shaped portion is “U-shaped”, with a free end facing and spaced apart from the oblique slanting ramp edge. An enlarged grasping portion, such as the spherical ball, is mounted on a proximate end of the elongated member and is sufficiently large and ergonomically shaped so as to permit grasping by arthritic fingers.
Preferably the elongated member of the button hook is flat, with first and second side edges extending from the proximate end to the distal end of the elongated member. The free end of the hook is shaped to be aligned with the first side edge and an opposite side of the hook shaped portion is aligned with the second side edge. The oblique, slanted ramp edge extends from the first side edge to the opposite side of the hook shaped portion at the distal end of the button hook.
The elongated member is of a size allowing it to move in a first direction to pass through a button hole, wherein the enlarged, preferably spherical, portion is sufficiently large as to not pass through the button hole. The hook portion, after passing through the button hole, is able to grab a thread or group of threads holding the button on the garment and is able to pull the button through the button hole, when the enlarged member is pulled in an opposite direction out of the button hole.
Therefore, the button is pulled by the button fastener through the button hole via the hooked end of the plate, until the button is secure within the hole.
Thereafter the button fastener is released from the threading, and the button fastener is withdrawn from the button hole, while the button is secure in place within the button hole.
The user pulls the button fastener from the enlarged, three dimensional proximal end, so that the user does not have to use manual dexterity by pushing the button fastener.
Movement of the enlarged member in a first direction away from the thread or threads causes the oblique, slanted ramp edge to release the hook shaped member from the thread, thereby leaving the button in the button hole.
Therefore, to reiterate in summary, in order to capture a button, an open hook at the distal end of the elongated plate member is wrapped around the threading holding the button to a shirt. To maintain stability, the forward end of the hook has a slight taper, so that it can be easily inserted within a typical shirt button hole of one half inch or less. Additionally, there is an angled guide leading from a recess to the longitudinally extending inner confines of the arcuate hook, to guide the thread holding the button to within the confines of the arcuate hook.
In use, the button fastener is inserted within the button hole to the region of the clothing where the button is attached by the threading. After the user reaches around the threading, the threading is guided into the hook confines by the angled guide portion of the distal end of the button fastener.
The present invention can best be understood in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the invention is not limited to the precise embodiments show in drawings, in which:
The button hook or puller 1 of this invention is shown in
The ergonomic features can be appreciated in
In
As shown in
In the foregoing description, certain terms and visual depictions are used to illustrate the preferred embodiment. However, no unnecessary limitations are to be construed by the terms used or illustrations depicted, beyond what is shown in the prior art, since the terms and illustrations are exemplary only, and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention.
It is further known that other modifications may be made to the present invention, without departing the scope of the invention, as noted in the appended claims.
