Patent Application
20170007056
Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates to button coupling assisting devices and more particularly pertains to a new button coupling assisting device for assisting a person in buttoning a shirt.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a shirt including a button and a buttonhole wherein the button and the buttonhole define a mated coupler. A clamp engages the button and a tether is attached to the clamp. The clamp is extended through the buttonhole and the button is engaged with the clamp while the tether extends through the buttonhole. The clamp and the button are pulled through the buttonhole and the button is released from the clamp.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A clamp 18 is provided which is configured for engaging the button 14. The clamp 18 includes a base 20 and a pair of jaws 22 wherein each of the jaws 22 has a first end 24 and a second end 26. Each of the first ends 24 is pivotally coupled to the base 20 and each of the second ends 26 is movable towards or away from each other. The jaws 22 each have an arcuate shape extending from the first end 24 to the second end 26 such that the jaws 22 form a closed loop when the second ends 26 are abutted against each other as is shown in
A tether 40 is attached to the clamp 18. The tether 40 has a distal end 42 with respect to the clamp 18. The tether 40 may comprise a linked chain or other bendable tether. A handle 44 is attached to the distal end 42. The handle 44 may be elongated to prevent its ability to easily go through the buttonhole 16. A length of the tether 40 from the clamp 18 to the distal end 42 may be less than 6.0 inches. An actuator 46 is mechanically coupled to the clamp 18. The actuator 46 is actuated to open the clamp 18 to release or receive the button 14. The actuator 46 may include a cable 48 attached to the jaws 22 and attached to a lever 50. The lever 50 is pivotally coupled to the handle 44. The cable 48 is pulled toward the handle 44 when the lever 50 is pivoted with respect to the handle 44 to pull the jaws 22 open as shown in
In use the clamp 18 is extended through the buttonhole 16 and the button 14 is engaged with the clamp 18 while the tether 40 extends through the buttonhole 16. The tether 40 is then pulled, along with the clamp 18 and the button 14, through the buttonhole 16 so that the button 14 engages the shirt 12 adjacent to the buttonhole 16. The button 14 is then released from the clamp 18. It should be understood that the buttons 14 and buttonholes 16 may be found on the front of a shirt 12 or on the sleeves and cuffs.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
