Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6393678
-
Patent Number
6,393,678
-
Date Filed
Thursday, April 5, 200123 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, May 28, 200222 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 024 406
- 024 1144
- 024 104
- 024 662
- 024 630
- 024 6971
- 024 693
- 024 689
- 024 1146
- 024 DIG 16
- 024 DIG 40
- 024 DIG 50
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A flexible fastener for the backstrap of lingerie or the like garments and especially swimsuits can have soft polyurethane carrier tapes which can be transparent or translucent and have eyelets or press buttons fitted into and ultrasonically welded in holes of the tape. The holes are surrounded by rings engaged by the flanges of the eyelets and press buttons to prevent slipping of the tape around the eyelets or press buttons.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a flexible fastener for garments and especially bathing suits and lingerie, particularly for use as a back strap fastener. More particularly, the invention relates to a press button type fastener for such garments.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Garment fasteners for securing the backstrap of a garment, for example, a brassiere, some other undergarments or articles of lingerie, a swimsuit or the like can have various configurations to facilitate connection of the backstrap and separation thereof and must, in addition, be capable of withstanding substantial tension thereon. It is advantageous, moreover, that the fastener be flexible for comfort. Esthetic considerations are also significant.
The most typical fasteners for this purpose are hook and eye fasteners in which usually a plurality of eyes are provided on one part of the backstrap and can be engaged by a lesser number of hooks on another part of the backstrap. The hooks are usually composed of metal. While this type of fastener is widely used, it has the disadvantage that the hooks can damage the garment or other garments in use and may not be comfortable for the wearer. In laundering the hooks likewise pose a problem.
Pushbutton fasteners have been developed in which a press button is releasably engageable in an eyelet and, while such fasteners have eliminated drawbacks of the conventional hook and eye type fastener and may even be used in a manner similar to that of the hook and eye fastener, the system may not be practical or desirable for all purposes. For example, in swimsuits and the like, a high degree of flexibility may be required and previous systems for mounting plastic or stud type fasteners may be inadequate.
Furthermore, there is increasing interest in see-through garments or garments with see-through portions which cannot accommodate conventional fasteners.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, the principal object of the invention to provide a garment fastener which is free from the drawbacks of earlier fasteners as described above.
Another object of this invention is to provide a garment fastener, particularly suitable for brassieres, lingerie and swimsuits and especially as a backstrap fastener thereof, which can be easily mounted and easily operated.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved garment fastener having esthetic characteristics distinguishing it from earlier garment fasteners.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of making a garment fastener for swimsuits, brassieres, lingerie and the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
We have found that it is possible to provide a garment fastener, especially for the backstrap of a swimsuit or other garment which has male and female fastener parts, each of which has a carrier tape which can be composed of flexible polyurethane and can be transparent or translucent and onto which the respective cooling members can be fitted and secured in place by engagement of male and female portions of each coupling member through holes formed in the carrier tape. In addition, the engaging elements of each coupling member can be ultrasonically welded together through the respective hole.
To prevent shifting of the injection-molded coupling members, each consisting of two elements joined together through the hole, the carrier tape may be formed with rings around the holes and over which the flanges of the elements can extend. Preferably these flanges have ridges engageable behind the rings and preferably in grooves around the rings.
The holding ring prevents the carrier tape from slipping out of the two elements or two parts of the stud.
From an esthetic point of view, the fastener is advantageous in that the carrier tape can be transparent or translucent, in keeping with the interest in see-through garments, or of a color which can be the same as or different from the colors of the studs which are applied to the carrier tape. Since the two elements forming a stud and applied to different sides of the tape can be molded to be of different colors or the same color, the number of color schemes provided by the studs and tapes is further enhanced.
On the male fastener part, the studs form press buttons which engage in the eyelets formed by the studs on the female fastener part.
According to the invention, therefore, a flexible fastener for a garment can comprise:
a female fastener member including a first flexible carrier tape composed of a synthetic resin and having at least one hole, a ring molded from the first flexible tape and surrounding the hole, and an eyelet fitting into the hole and composed of ring-shaped elements pressed one into another through the hole and having respective flanges on opposite sides of the first flexible carrier tape overlying the ring of the first flexible tape; and
a male fastener member including a second flexible carrier tape composed of a synthetic resin and having at least one hole, a ring molded from the second flexible tape and surrounding the hole of the second flexible tape, and a press button fitting into the hole of the second flexible tape and composed of ring-shaped elements pressed one into another through the hole of the second flexible tape and having respective flanges on opposite sides of the second flexible tape overlying the ring of the second flexible tape.
Advantageously, the elements which, when pressed together through the hole form the eyelet stud or the press button stud, can be molded on a trunk which can be folded so that these elements straddle the tape and are pressed together through the holes.
When the elements are to be pressed into a soft plastic rather than a foil, the upper male part of the press button and the lower female part for the press button can each be provided with teeth spaced around the respective flange and adapted to bite into the soft plastic foil.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The above and other objects, features, and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:
FIG. 1
is a cross sectional view illustrating an eyelet forming one coupling element of a fastener according to the invention;
FIG. 2
is a cross sectional view of the press button;
FIG. 3
is an elevational view of the female fastener for a swimsuit or brassiere;
FIG. 4
is a plan view of the male fastener, seen from below;
FIGS. 5
,
6
and
7
are plan views of other fastener arrangements in which a single press button is used;
FIGS. 8
,
9
and
10
are views similar to
FIGS. 5
to
7
in which rows of coupling members are provided;
FIG. 11
is a cross sectional view through one element of the male coupling member;
FIG. 12
is an elevational view taken in the direction of arrow XII thereof;
FIG. 13
is a cross sectional view through the male part of an eyelet in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 14
is a view in the direction XIV—XIV of
FIG. 13
;
FIG. 15
is a diagram showing assemblies of the press button;
FIG. 16
is an assembly diagram for the eyelet;
FIG. 17
is a plan view of an injection molded unit facilitating mounting of the eyelets;
FIG. 18
is an elevational view of the tape of the female member prior to application of the eyelets;
FIG. 19
is a cross sectional view taken along the line XIX—XIX of
FIG. 18
;
FIG. 20
is a cross sectional detailed view through one of the holes;
FIG. 21
is a view similar to
FIG. 18
but showing the tape of the male fastener;
FIG. 22
is a cross sectional view taken along the line XXII—XXII of
FIG. 21
;
FIG. 23
is an elevational view showing the interconnected coupling member partly in section and without the carrying tapes; and
FIG. 24
is a cross sectional view of an upper male part for a press button which is intended to be used for attachment to a soft plastic foil;
FIG. 25
is a bottom view thereof;
FIG. 26
is a cross sectional view of the lower part of the female member of the press button; and
FIG. 27
is a plan view of this female part of the press button.
SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION
From
FIGS. 3 and 4
it will be apparent that the fastener according to the invention can comprise a female fastener member
10
and a male fastener member
11
, adapted to be mounted on the separable parts of a swimsuit back or a brassiere back and to be connected together. The female fastener member includes a flexible carrier tape
12
which may be composed of a synthetic resin, especially transparent polyurethane which can be stitched or ultrasonically welded to the respective part of the backstrap by a flange
13
. The carrier tape
12
is formed with three rows of eyelets
14
, each row consisting of two eyelets positioned to be engaged by the press buttons
15
carried by a similar transparent carrier tape
16
of the male fastener member
11
.
As will be apparent from
FIG. 1
, each eyelet
14
can be composed of a ring-shaped male member
17
and a female member
18
which are pressed together through a hole in the tape
12
and are ultrasonically welded together.
The male ring-shaped element
17
has been shown in greater detail in
FIGS. 13 and 14
and comprises a flange
19
which is formed with a cylindrical stud
20
fitting into the stud
21
of the female member
18
which has a corresponding flange
22
(see FIG.
1
).
The outer surface
23
of the stud
20
and the inner surface of the stud
21
are tapered as shown in
FIG. 13
so that the two parts can be pressed together with a snug fit.
The flange
19
, like the flange
22
, can be formed with a ridge
24
engageable in a respective groove
25
surrounding the hole
26
in the carrier tape
12
(see FIGS.
18
through
20
). Such grooves
25
are provided on both sides of the tape
12
around the hole. Similarly, holes
27
and annular grooves
28
are provided on the tape
16
of the male fastener member (see FIGS.
21
and
22
).
As will be apparent from
FIGS. 11 and 12
, the press button
15
also can comprise ring-shaped elements
30
and
31
, the ring-shaped element
30
having a projection
32
which is split at
33
and is formed with bulges
34
engageable in and behind a construction
35
formed in the eyelet in which the press button is fitted.
A large diameter boss
36
of element
30
has a tapered surface
38
of the element
31
so that the male and female elements
31
can be pressed together so that their flanges
39
and
40
, respectively, have their ridges
41
and
42
engaged in the grooves
28
of the tape
16
.
In addition, the engaging surfaces of the element
17
and
31
of the eyelet
14
and the press button
15
(
FIG. 23
) may be complementarily contoured at
43
so that the overall height of the engaged members is as small as possible.
The ring-shaped elements of each fastener member may be of the same or different colors and can be composed of polyoxymethylene.
As can be seen from
FIGS. 5
to
7
, the female fastener members
10
.
1
,
10
.
2
and
10
.
3
may have 1, 2 or 3 eyelets
14
.
1
,
14
.
2
or
14
.
3
which can be selectively engaged by the single eyelet
15
of the male fastener member
11
.
1
to allow adjustment of the strap.
Alternatively, the number of rows of eyelets
14
.
3
of the female member
10
.
3
or
10
.
4
may vary as can be seen by a comparison of
FIGS. 8
to
10
, using a single pair of eyelets
15
.
3
on the tape of the male fastener member
11
.
3
.
FIGS. 15
to
17
show in principle the way in which the fasteners can be formed. The elements of the coupling members to be disposed on opposite sides of a tape
12
.
5
, for example, are injection molded on a common trunk
50
with break away locations or thin points
51
. The trunk
50
is then bent at
52
to lie on opposite sides of the tape
12
.
5
and the male and female elements of the press button (
FIG. 15
) or the eyelet (
FIG. 16
) can be braced together and ultrasonically welded together in the preformed holes of the tape
12
.
5
. Using the handles
53
, the trunk
50
is then torn away at the weakened points
51
, leaving the eyelets or press buttons in place.
As can be seen from
FIGS. 24
,
25
,
26
and
27
, the flanges
139
of the male member
115
and
117
of the female member
114
can be provided with teeth
100
adapted to bite into a soft plastic film when the latter is used as a carrier.
Claims
- 1. A flexible fastener for garments comprising:a female fastener member including a first flexible carrier tape composed of a synthetic resin and having at least one hole, a ring molded from said first flexible tape and surrounding said hole, and an eyelet fitting into said hole and composed of ring-shaped elements pressed one into another through said hole and having respective flanges on opposite sides of the first flexible carrier tape overlying said ring of said first flexible tape; and a male fastener member including a second flexible carrier tape composed of a synthetic resin and having at least one hole, a ring molded from said second flexible tape and surrounding said hole of said second flexible tape, and a press button fitting into said hole of said second flexible tape and composed of ring-shaped elements pressed one into another through said hole of said second flexible tape and having respective flanges on opposite sides of said second flexible tape overlying said ring of said second flexible tape.
- 2. The flexible fastener defined in claim 1 wherein each of said flanges has a ridge engaging behind the respective ring.
- 3. The flexible fastener defined in claim 2 wherein each of said rings is surrounded by an annular groove receiving the respective ridge.
- 4. The flexible fastener defined in claim 1 wherein said carrier tapes are composed of soft polyurethane.
- 5. The flexible fastener defined in claim 1 wherein at least one of said carrier tapes is transparent or translucent.
- 6. The flexible fastener defined in claim 1 wherein said one of the elements of at least one of said members is of a different color from the other element of the respective member.
- 7. The flexible fastener defined in claim 1 wherein at least one of the elements of at least one of said members is of a different color from the flexible carrier tape thereof.
- 8. The flexible fastener defined in claim 1 wherein said first flexible carrier tape has a plurality of said holes, respective rings surrounding said holes and respective eyelets fitted into said holes.
- 9. The flexible fastener defined in claim 8 wherein said first flexible carrier tape is formed with a row of pairs of said holes, rings surrounding said holes and said eyelets of said female fastener member and said male fastener member has a pair of said press buttons each adapted to fit into an eyelet of a respective row of said female fastener.
- 10. The flexible fastener defined in claim 1 wherein the elements of each member are ultrasonically welded together through the respective hole.
- 11. The flexible fastener defined in claim 1 wherein one of the elements of said male fastener member abuts one of the elements of said female fastener when said press button is engaged in said eyelet, the abutting elements having complementary contours with mutually engaging convex and concave configurations respectively.
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Kind |
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A |
3553786 |
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A |
3685105 |
Carlile et al. |
Aug 1972 |
A |
5758589 |
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Jun 1998 |
A |
6199248 |
Akashi et al. |
Mar 2001 |
B1 |
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DE |
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DE |
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EP |
04 624 |
Jul 1980 |
FR |
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