Button replacement device

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6615457
  • Patent Number
    6,615,457
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, January 22, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, September 9, 2003
    20 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Sandy; Robert J.
    Agents
    • Blodgett & Blodgett, P.C.
Abstract
An apparatus for temporarily holding a button on a garment to replace a button which has been detached or lost from the garment. The apparatus includes a spring-like U-shaped clip that has an upper planar portion and a lower planar portion. The upper and lower planar portions are connected at their rear ends so that the front ends of the planar portions are resiliently moveable between a normal closed position in which the front ends of the planar members abut to an open position in which the front ends are separated. The front ends of the upper and lower planar members are biased toward each other in the closed position. The upper surface of the upper planar member is provided with a retainer for being connected to a button. More specifically, the upper the retainer with a retaining element having a receptive socket receiving a second retaining element. The second retaining element retainer having a one way connector which is either permanently attached to a button or is provided with a second one way connector insertion into one of the apertures of a conventional button.
Description




STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT




This invention has been created without the sponsorship or funding of any federally sponsored research or development program.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates generally to a device for replacing a button that has become detached from a garment such as a shirt or a blouse.




When a button becomes detached from a garment, it usually occurs in circumstances where it is inconvenient, awkward, or impossible to replace it. In most cases, the button is lost before the person who is wearing the garment becomes aware that it has become detached from the garment.




A kit for replacing buttons has been developed and marketed. The kit includes a hand held tool which attaches a replacement button to a garment by means of a plastic fastener. The use of this tool is essentially a substitution for sewing the button on the garment. It is not practical to keep the kit on one's person to meet all emergency situations.




These and other difficulties experienced with the loss of a button from a garment have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.




It is a principal object of the invention to provide an apparatus for temporarily replacing a button which has become detached or lost from a garment.




A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for replacing a button, which apparatus can be carried easily and conveniently by a person at all times.




Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for temporarily replacing a button which is easy and convenient to use in essentially all circumstances.




A still further object of the invention is the provision of an apparatus for temporary reattachment of the button which has become detached from a garment or for attachment of a standard substitute button in the event that the original button has been lost.




still another object of the invention is the provision of a modified button and associated holding apparatus for temporary replacement of a button which has become detached or last from a garment.




With these and other objects in view, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.




BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention consists of an apparatus for temporarily holding a button on a garment to replace a button which has been detached or lost from the garment. The apparatus includes a spring-like U-shaped clip that has an upper planar portion and a lower planar portion. The upper and lower planar portions are connected at their rear ends so that the front ends of the planar portions are resiliently moveable between a normal closed position in which the front ends of the planar members abut to an open position in which the front ends of the planar members are separated. The front ends of the upper and lower planar members are biased toward each other in the closed position. The upper surface of the upper planar member is provided with a retainer for being connected to a button. More specifically, the upper planar member has a first retaining element having a receptive socket receiving a second retaining element. The second retaining element retainer has a one way connector which is either permanently attached to a button or is provided with a second one way connector for insertion into one of the apertures of a conventional button.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The character of the invention, however, may be best understood by reference to one of its structural forms, as illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which:





FIG. 1

is a front elevational view of a button holder embodying the principles of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a top plan view of the button holder;





FIG. 3

is a side elevational view of the button holder, looking in the direction of arrow


3


of

FIG. 2

, showing the holder in its normal closed position;





FIG. 4

is a view similar to

FIG. 3

showing the holder in its open position;





FIG. 5

is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale of the holder taken along line


5





5


of

FIG. 2

;





FIG. 6

is an elevation view of a modified button retainer for use with the button holder of the present invention;





FIG. 7

is a side elevational view of a first modified button holder;





FIG. 8

is an isometric view of a second modified button holder for use with a removable button;





FIG. 9

is a top plan view of the second modified button holder;





FIG. 10

is a front elevational view of the second modified button holder;





FIG. 11

is a second elevational view of the second modified button holder, looking in the direction of arrow


11


in

FIG. 10

;





FIG. 12

is a top plan view of a removable button adapted for use with the second modified button holder;





FIG. 13

is a view similar to

FIG. 11

showing the removable button of

FIG. 12

applied to the second modified button holder; and





FIG. 14

is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along line


14





14


of FIG.


12


and looking in the direction of the arrows.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




Referring to

FIGS. 1-5

, the button holder of the present invention is generally indicated by the reference numeral


10


and includes a generally U-shaped spring clip having an upper planar member


12


and a lower planar member


14


which are connected at their rearward ends by a curved end portion


16


.




The upper planar member


12


has an upper surface


18


, a pair of laterally extending protuberances


20


and a pair of first retaining elements


22


extending upwardly from the upper surface


18


. Each first retaining element


22


has a socket


24


and an annular ridge


26


within the socket


24


at a midpoint of the socket. A layer of elastomeric material


28


is fixed to the lower surface of the upper planar member


12


at the front end of the planar member. The layer


28


has a lower surface


30


which has alternating grooves and ridges. The grooves and ridges mate with similar grooves and ridges at the upper surface


31


of a layer of elastomeric material


36


fixed to the upper surface of the lower planar member


14


at the forward end of the planar member


14


. The forward end of the lower planar member


14


has a forward portion


32


which extends forwardly beyond the forward end of the upper planar member


12


.




Socket


24


is adapted to receive a second retaining element or one way connector, generally indicated by the reference numeral


40


. Second retaining element


40


includes a shank portion


42


fixed at one end to a replacement button


38


and fixed at its other end to a pair of resiliently flexible barbs


46


. An enlargement


44


is located between the button


38


and the barbs


46


. The barbs


46


extend outwardly at an acute angle towards the enlargement


44


. The second retaining element


40


is connected to one of the first retaining elements


22


by inserting the prong end of the second retaining element into the appropriate socket


24


so that the barbs


46


extend beyond the annular ridge


26


. The prongs


46


bend inwardly toward each other when they are forced against the ridge


26


which allows the prongs to pass below the ridge


26


. At this point, the barbs


46


return to their outwardly extending position and prevent the second retaining element from being withdrawn from the socket


24


. The enlargement


44


is larger than the gap at the ridge


26


and prevents the second retaining element


22


from being pushed downwardly any further than is necessary and maintains the button


38


spaced above the first retaining elements


22


.




The button holder


10


of the present invention is utilized for replacing a lost or detached button from a garment by first selecting a button


38


from a kit which contains a plurality of buttons of different sizes and/or colors. All of the buttons in the kit have a second retaining element or one way connector


40


attached thereto. The appropriate button


38


is selected and a pronged end of the second retaining element


40


is inserted into the socket


24


of one of the first retaining elements


22


. If the buttons on a garment are located near the edge of the garment, the rearmost retaining element


22


is used. If the buttons are located further from the edge of the garment, the forwardmost first retaining element


22


is utilized. After the button


38


has been fixed to one of the first retaining elements


22


, the upper and lower planar members


12


and


14


, respectively, are separated as shown in

FIG. 4

, by grasping the protuberances


20


between the index finger and the thumb. The forward end


32


of the lower panel


14


is positioned under the front panel of the garment containing the buttons at the point where the replacement button


38


is to be positioned. The upper planar member


12


is pulled upwardly by means of the protuberances


20


relative to the lower planar member


14


while applying downward pressure to the forward end


32


of the lower planar member with the user's other hand. With the button holder


10


open in the open position, as shown in

FIG. 4

, the forward end of the holder is moved inwardly from the edge of the garment panel until the button holder is fully inserted on the panel. At this point, the button


38


will be positioned at the same point on the garment panel as was occupied by the original button of the garment. The garment can be rebuttoned using the replacement button. All that will be seen from the outside is the replacement button


38


, since the button holder will be located beneath the garment panel which contains the button holes. The button


38


can be a conventional button having the usual apertures


39


. The shank portion


42


of the second retaining element


40


is fixed to the button. The button


38


can also be integrally formed with second retaining element


40


.




Referring to

FIG. 6

, there is shown a modified second retaining element, generally indicated by the reference numeral


62


, which is attachable to the button


38


and to one of the second retaining elements


22


. Second retaining element


62


is a one way connector having a shank portion


68


and barbs


64


at one end of the shank portion and barbs


66


at the opposite end of the shank portion. Each of the barbs


64


and


66


are resiliently flexible and function in the same manner as the barbs


46


of the second retaining element


40


. An enlargement


70


is located between the pair of barbs


64


and the pair of barbs


66


. The one way connector


62


is attached to the button


38


by inserting the barbs


66


into one of the apertures


39


of the button, as shown in FIG.


6


. The second retaining element


62


is then attached to one of the first retaining elements


22


in the same manner as the second retaining element


40


. This modification enables the kit to contain a plurality of conventional buttons of different sizes and colors and also enables the original button of the garment to be used if that button had become detached from the garment but not lost.




Referring to

FIG. 7

, there is shown a first modified button holder, generally indicated by the reference numeral


48


, which is similar to the button holder


10


. All portions of the button holder


48


which are identical to those of button holder


10


are identified with the same reference numerals, with the addition of a prime. The button holder


48


differs from the button holder


10


primarily in the fact that it does not have the first retaining elements


22


. A pair of retaining elements or one way connectors, generally indicated by the reference numeral


54


, are fixed to the upper surface of the upper planar member


12


′, as shown in FIG.


7


. Each retaining element


54


has a shank portion


56


and a pair of resiliently flexible barbs


58


at the upper end of the shank portion


56


. The barbs


58


extend downwardly and outwardly at an acute angle to the shank portion


56


. The retaining elements


54


are connected to a convention button


50


having apertures


52


. The barbs


58


of both connectors


54


are inserted into two of the apertures


52


of the button on one side of the button until they extend beyond the opposite side of the button. At this point, the barbs


58


which were forced inwardly as they were pushed past the apertures to return to their normal outwardly extending state and, thereby, engage the opposite or upper surface of the button as shown in FIG.


7


and prevents the button


50


from being withdrawn from the one way connectors


54


. In this embodiment of the invention, any button in a kit of diverse buttons or the original button of the garment which had become detached from the garment can be utilized. Once the button


50


has been attached to the button holder


48


, the button holder


48


can be applied to the garment in the same manner as that which was described for the button holder


10


.




Referring to

FIGS. 8-11

, a second modified button holder is generally indicated by the reference numeral


72


and includes a generally U-shaped spring clip having an upper planar member


74


and a lower planar member


76


which are connected at their rearward ends by a curved end portion


78


. The button holder


72


is made of a resiliently flexible thermoplastic material.




The upper planar member has an upper surface


80


, a pair of laterally extending protuberances


82


and a first retainer in the form of a cylindrical post extending upwardly from the upper surface


80


. The upper free end of the post


84


has an annular groove


86


. A first gripping protuberance


88


extends downwardly from the lower surface of the upper planar member


74


. A second gripping protuberance


90


extends upwardly from the upper surface of the lower planar member


76


. The protuberance


88


has a lower surface


89


which has alternating grooves and ridges. The grooves and ridges of surface


89


mate with similar grooves and ridges at the upper surface


91


of the protuberances


90


. The forward end of the lower planar member


76


has a forward portion


92


which extends forwardly beyond the forward end of the upper planar member


74


. The planar members


74


and


76


are biased toward each other in a closed position and are shown slightly open in

FIGS. 11 and 13

. The extending portion


92


and the protuberances


82


are used to separate the members


74


and


76


in the same manner as described for embodiment


10


.




Referring to

FIGS. 12 and 14

, there is illustrated a replaceable button, generally indicated by the reference numeral


94


which is adapted to be used with the holder


92


. Button


94


has a conventional disc shaped main body portion


96


which contains a central aperture


98


. A plurality of evenly spaced tabs


100


extend into the aperture


98


. the button


94


is made of a resiliently flexible material such as plastic so that the tabs


100


are resiliently flexible. The main body portion


96


has a cross-sectional dimension of each which is at least twice that of the cross-sectional dimension of the tabs


100


. Preferably, the cross-sectional dimension of each tab


100


is substantially ⅓ that of the cross-sectional dimension of the main body portion


96


. This enables the tabs


100


to be more flexible relative to the main body portion.




The button


94


is removably attached to the post


84


by inserting the upper free end of the post


84


into the aperture


98


and forcing the button downwardly to the upper surface


80


. This causes the tabs


100


to deflect upwardly and then snap into the groove


86


and enables the button to be held firmly in place. The button


94


is removed from the post


84


by pulling the button upwardly relative to the holder


72


. This causes the tabs


100


to deflect downwardly and out of the groove


86


.




One of the advantages of having a removable button for the holder


72


is that the holder can be part of a button replacement kit that includes a plurality of removable buttons of different sizes and colors to suit most situations in which a button has been lost from a garment.




Clearly, minor changes may be made in the form of the invention without departing from the materials, thereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described, but is desired to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.




The invention having been thus described, what is claimed new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:



Claims
  • 1. A button holder comprising:(a) an upper planar member having an upper surface, a lower surface, a rearward end and a free forward end, said upper planar member having a first retainer at the upper surface of said upper planar member; (b) a lower planar member vertically aligned with said upper member and having an upper surface, a lower surface, a free forward end and a rearward end connected to the rearward end of said upper planar member, the connection between the rearward ends of said upper and lower planar members resiliently bendable for biasing said free forward ends into an abutting closed position, said forward ends being separable against said biasing to an open position; and (c) a button having an aperture and a second retainer at said aperture, said second retainer being complementary to said first retainer for enabling said button to be removably connected to said first retainer.
  • 2. A button holder as recited in claim 1, wherein said button holder is made of thermoplastic material.
  • 3. A button holder as recited in claim 1, wherein said first retaining element, is a cylindrical post that extends upwardly from the upper surface of said upper planar member, said post having an upper free end and an annular groove adjacent said upper free end.
  • 4. A button holder as recited in claim 3, wherein said second retainer is at least one resiliently flexible tab extending into said aperture.
  • 5. A button holder as recited in claim 4, wherein said second retainer is at least two diametrically opposed resiliently flexible tabs extending into said aperture.
  • 6. A button holder as recited in claim 4, wherein said second retainer is four evenly spaced resiliently flexible tabs extending into said aperture.
  • 7. A button holder as recited in claim 4, wherein said button has a main body portion containing said aperture and said main body portion has a cross-sectional dimension which is at least twice the cross-sectional dimension of said tab.
  • 8. A button holder as recited in claim 1, wherein said upper planar member has a first horizontally extending protuberance and said lower planar member has a second horizontally extending protuberance out of vertical alignment with said first horizontally extending protuberance.
  • 9. A button holder as recited in claim 8, wherein said first horizontally extending protuberance extends laterally from said upper planar member and said second horizontally extending protuberance extends forwardly of the forward free end of said upper planar member.
  • 10. A button holder as recited in claim 1, wherein said upper planar member has a pair of oppositely extending lateral protuberances and the forward free end of said lower planar member extends forwardly of the forward free end of said lower planar member.
  • 11. A button holder as recited in claim 1, wherein each of said forward free ends has an abutting surface and wherein one of said abutting surfaces has at least one convex portion and the other of said abutting surfaces has at least one concave portion which is vertically aligned with said convex portion.
  • 12. A button holder as recited in claim 1, wherein the lower surface at the forward free end of said upper planar member and the upper surface at the forward free end of said lower planar member each has a plurality of ridges and a plurality of grooves which alternate with said ridges, the ridges of each of said planar members being vertically aligned with the grooves of the other of said planar members.
  • 13. A button holder comprising:(a) an upper planar member having an upper surface, a lower surface, a rearward end and a free forward end; (b) a lower planar member vertically aligned with said upper member and having an upper surface, a lower surface, a free forward end and a rearward end connected to the rearward end of said upper planar member, the connection between the rearward ends of said upper and lower planar members resiliently bendable for biasing said free forward ends toward each other in a closed position, so that the lower surface of said upper planar member and upper surface of said lower planer member at said forward free ends abut, said forward ends being separable against said biasing to an open position at which said abutting surfaces are spaced; and (c) a first retainer connected to the upper surface of said upper planer member for being removably connected to a button that has a complementary second retainer.
  • 14. A button holder as recited in claim 13, wherein said first retaining element is a cylindrical post that extends upwardly from the upper surface of said upper planar member, said post having an upper free end and an annular groove adjacent said upper free end.
  • 15. A button holder as recited in claim 13, wherein said upper planar member has a first horizontally extending protuberance and said lower planar member has a second horizontally extending protuberance out of vertical alignment with said first horizontally extending protuberance.
  • 16. A button holder as recited in claim 15, wherein said first horizontally extending protuberance extends laterally from said upper planar member and said second horizontally extending protuberance extends forwardly of the forward free end of said upper planar member.
  • 17. A button holder as recited in claim 13, wherein said upper planar member has a pair of oppositely extending lateral protuberances and the forward free end of said lower planar member extends forwardly of the forward free end of said lower planar member.
  • 18. A button holder as recited in claim 13, wherein each of said forward free ends has an abutting surface and wherein one of said abutting surfaces has at least one convex portion and the other of said abutting surfaces has at least one concave portion which is vertically aligned with said convex portion.
  • 19. A button holder as recited in claim 13, wherein the lower surface at the forward free end of said upper planar member and the upper surface at the forward free end of said lower planar member each has a plurality of ridges and a plurality of grooves which alternate with said ridges, the ridges of each of said planar members being vertically aligned with the grooves of the other of said planar members.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part (and claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC §120) of application of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/627,120 filed Jul. 27, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,669 B1. The disclosure of the prior application is considered part of (and is incorporated by reference in) the disclosure of this application.

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1410728 Arcate et al. Mar 1922 A
1419696 Smith Jun 1922 A
1981813 Schuster Nov 1934 A
2061385 Nadler Nov 1936 A
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3440692 Pomerantz Apr 1969 A
3793681 Casstevens, Jr. et al. Feb 1974 A
3892013 Gould Jul 1975 A
3958307 Ishizaki May 1976 A
5940942 Fong Aug 1999 A
6393669 Kalinowski May 2002 B1
Continuation in Parts (1)
Number Date Country
Parent 09/627120 Jul 2000 US
Child 10/054338 US