Patent Application
20060059668
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fasteners, and particularly to a safety pin with an arcuate pin bar.
2. Description of the Related Art
The safety pin was first developed in the 1840's to solve the problem of pins becoming dislodged from the fabrics that they were supposed to secure. Referring to
In order to fasten the pin 10, the pin bar 16 must be inserted into the shield 18 through a channel on one or the other side of the retainer 22, which acts as a guide for the pin bar 16, until the pin bar 16 becomes lodged in the center of the shield 18 directly opposed to the retainer 22. Similarly, to unfasten the pin 10, the pin bar 16 must be moved into a channel on either side of the retainer 22.
While the safety pin solved the problem of pins slipping out of the materials they joined together, the conventional safety pin does have some drawbacks. For example, when fastening together relatively thick materials, such as the folds of a diaper, it can be difficult to extend the pointed end far enough from the edge of the material to secure the layers together without incurring the risk of the pin tearing through the edge. The thin stationary bar can be difficult to grip firmly, having a tendency to roll or rotate between the fingers while trying to manipulate the pointed end through the material. In addition, once the pin bar has been inserted through the material, the material may be so thick that a considerable amount of finger strength is required to bend the pin bar far enough to insert the pointed end into the shield, and in some cases, it may not be possible to secure the pin bar to the shield without withdrawing the pin from the material and re-inserting the pin through a thinner portion of the materials.
Although many modifications to the safety pin have been developed for various purposes, and although there are various fasteners with arcuate pin bars for various other purposes but which lack the essential features of the safety pin, there remains a need for fasteners with the reliability, safety, and versatility of the conventional safety pin, but which also are easier to insert through bulky materials, are easier to grasp, and/or have a larger fastening capacity than a conventional safety pin of comparable size. Thus, a safety pin with an arcuate pin bar solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The safety pin with an arcuate pin bar is formed from pin wire bent in the middle to form a coil having a stationary bar extending from one end of the coil and a pin bar with a pointed end extending from the opposite end of the coil. The pin bar is arcuate, or formed with an arch. The stationary bar has a shield attached thereto, the end of the stationary bar being bent backward or the shield being attached to the end of the stationary bar so that the shield extends at an angle complementary to the curvature of the pin bar. The stationary bar may have a textured or roughened fin formed thereon, and may have linear inner and outer edges, a straight inner edge and convex outer edge, or a concave inner edge and convex outer edge.
In use, the arcuate pin bar allows for easier insertion of the pointed end through thickened material by rotation of the pin bar to a convenient angle for insertion through the material. The fin may be made from metal or plastic, as may the shield. The fin may be thick, or may be thin for savings in material costs. The fin is textured, serrated, roughened, or coated with spray weld to render the fin easier to grasp and less prone to slip through the fingers. The stationary bar and fin may be formed in various arcuate shapes, both to increase the gripping area and to allow for fastening thick material together.
These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
The present invention is a safety pin with an arcuate pin bar. Referring to
The safety pin 30 has a retainer 42 extending from the stationary bar 38 into the groove 44 formed by the shield 40. In order to fasten the pin 30, the pin bar 34 must be compressed towards the stationary bar 38 and inserted into the shield 40 through a channel on one or the other side of the retainer 42, which acts as a guide for the pin bar 34, until the pin bar 34 becomes lodged in the center of the groove 44 defined by the shield 40 directly opposing the retainer 42. Similarly, to unfasten the pin 30, the pin bar 34 must be moved into a channel on either side of the retainer 42.
The radius of curvature of the pin bar 34 may vary, depending upon the length of the pin bar 34. An exemplary dimension may be a radius of curvature of about two inches for a pin bar 34 having a length of about 1¾″. The angle of the shield 40 is complementary to the curvature of the pin bar 34 to increase the segment of the pin bar 34 that bears against the shield 40 due to the torsion applied by the coil 32. The safety pin 30 may be made entirely from metal, such as steel, or a portion of the safety pin 30, such as the shield 40 and/or the stationary bar 38 may be made from, or coated with, a plastic material, such as nylon. The safety pin 30 may be made from stainless steel so that the pin may be used for surgical purposes. or in other applications where a corrosion-resistant pin is desirable.
The fin 52 may be made from metal or plastic, and has a textured or roughened surface to improve gripping of the fin 52. The textured surface may be formed in any conventional manner, e.g., by milling or grinding, by applying a coating such as spray weld, by molding, calendaring, extrusion, or other manufacturing processes in the case of plastics, etc. The shield 54 is attached to the end of the fin 52 at an angle, similar to that described for attaching the shield 54 to stationary bar 38 above. The outer surface of the shield 54 may also be textured or roughened to make the shield 54 easy to grasp. A retainer 56 extends into the groove formed by shield 54 in the manner described above.
As shown in the drawings, the fin 52 has a substantially linear inner edge 58 and a substantially linear outer edge 60.
In either the second, third or fourth embodiments, the fin 52, 72 or 82 may be further modified by having either a magnet or a strip of hook and loop fastening material adhered thereto. This would enable such items as badges, nametags, corsages, jewelry, etc., to be releasably and interchangeably attached to the fin after the safety pin has been fastened to an article of clothing by providing the badge, nametag, corsage, jewelry, or other such item with a mating magnet or strip of hook and loop fastening material attached thereto.
The foregoing specification has described several objects, advantages, and features that are independent of each other, i.e., each of the following claims is commensurate with at least one such object, advantage or feature, but not necessarily with all such objects, advantages, and features.
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/610,525, filed Sep. 17, 2004.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60610525 | Sep 2004 | US |
