Abstract:
A body towel clip for releasably preventing separation of overlapping portions of a towel wrapped around the torso of a user, includes a pair of pivotally interconnected clamp members having barbed jaw portions interengaging in a clamped position to securely fasten overlapping towel end, the jaw portions including interengaging barbs which resist gravitational separation and activity separation of the towel ends and distribute reactive forces along the jaw to prevent damage to the pivotal connection.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to clips for holding towels, and, in particular, to a towel clip for holding overlapping towel ends in place on the body of a user during normal activities. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Bathers and swimmers oftentimes prefer to wrap themselves in a beach or bath towel for periods after swimming or bathing. During such time, they carry on related activities which have a tendency to loosen the towel resulting in slipping and/or separation. Conventional practice is to wrap the free ends of the towel in an overlapping fashion. However, inasmuch as such towels are generally larger than regular towels, the extra towel weight from the absorbed moisture tends to loosen the connection such that the same must be retightened from time to time. Moreover, normal activity creates horizontal separation forces on the folded towel also requiring requiring retightening. At the present time there are not commercially available clips for maintaining beach and bath towels securely about the wearer. 
     Many approaches have been taken for freely hanging smaller towels of differing shapes and sizes from various articles such as chairs, cabinets, golf bags and a variety of outdoor sporting and recreational equipment. In such applications, the clips are useful for holding the towel for their intended cleaning purposes. Generally, the towel clip need only support the towel weight during storage inasmuch as the towel is released from the clip for utilitarian use. Where greater permanence of position is desired, eyelets and other permanent fasteners have been used thereby requiring a dedicated clip and towel assembly. 
     For example, U.S. Pat. No. D315,675 discloses a one piece clip for holding a hanging towel when mounted on a surface. No provisions are made for clamping overlapping towel ends about the user with sufficient strength to resist separation. A similar light-weight one piece construction is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. D298,711. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,581 to Dala et al. discloses a ring shaped clip for retaining a towel on a beach chair or the like. The clip uses interengaging balls to resist sliding of the freely hanging towel. 
     In the foregoing approaches, the unique and particular needs for securing a beach or bath towel in place on a user after bathing or swimming are not adequately addressed. Therein the towels are substantially greater in size and weight posing a weight separation problems, which is accentuated when the towels have absorbed substantial moisture. Further, normal body movements by the wearer generate substantial horizontal separation forces. Accordingly, the prior proposed clips and assemblies are not well adapted for resisting separation of the wrapped towel during normal movements. Further, separation forces are transmitted directly to a hinge connection which is oftentimes a lightweight plastic construction, that is prone to separation and breakage. Therefor, a need continues to exist for a towel clip that can be used secure in place overlapping towel ends in wrapped configuration on the body of the user and resists, during normal movement and activities, separation of the towel from the clop due to towel weight and body motion. Moreover, such a towel clip should accommodate towel sizes, designs, and fabrics selected by the wearer, present a clip design and configuration artistically harmonious with the setting, and resist degradation over long periods of use. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a body towel clip for securely maintaining on the torso of the user overlapping towel ends. Therein, the body towel clip comprises pivotally connected upper and lower clamp members having barbed jaws that penetrate the overlapping towel plies in the clamped position to secure the plies against vertical and horizontal separation. The barbs of the jaws additionally interengage such that towel weight and activity movements are borne directly at the clamping interface and not transmitted to the pivotal connection. The individual barbs are also configured to permit easy release of the clip from the towel after use. The towel clip construction is amenable to many artistic treatments suitable for the public or private usage thereof. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a towel clip for securely wrapping a body towel about a torso. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a towel clip that resists towel weight and body movement forces in maintaining a wrapped towel in desired conformance with the user. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide a body towel clip that is decorative in appearance, lightweight and rugged while resisting separation in use. 
     A still further object of the invention is to provide towel body clip having a clamping interface that securely captures overlapping towel plies and resists separation and damage to the clip hinge while being easily disengaged after use. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a body towel clip in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the body towel clip shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of the body towel clip shown in FIG. 1 holding a towel in position on a user; 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view taken along line  4 — 4  in FIG. 1 showing the towel gripping barbs on the lower clamp member; 
     FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken along line  5 — 5  in FIG. 3 showing the towel grabbing barbs resisting towel separating movements; 
     FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken along line  6 — 6  in FIG. 3 showing the towel grabbing barbs resisting towel weight movement; 
     FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken along line  7 — 7  in FIG. 4 showing a side elevation view of a towel grabbing barb; and 
     FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken along line  8 — 8  in FIG. 4 showing a plane view of the towel-grabbing barb. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the figures for the purposes on illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention and not for limiting same, FIG. 1 illustrates a body towel clip  10  for securing in the manner hereinafter described in detail, overlapping towel ends to enable a user to wrap a beach or bath towel securely about their torso and thereafter undertake normal activities without a fear of inadvertent unwrapping. As such, the present invention finds particular application for large heavy towels associated with such use and does not require modification for or dedication to a particular design. 
     More particularly, the towel clip  10  comprises an upper clamp member  12  and a lower clamp member  14  that are pivotally interconnected by a transverse pivot pin  16  for movement between an open position, not shown, wherein overlapping towel ends may be inserted and a closed position as shown in FIGS. 2,  3  and  5  wherein towel ends are clamped therebetween. The clamp members  12  and  14  may be formed by any suitable process such as plastic molding. Additionally, the exposed faces of the clamp member  12  and  14  may bear a design motif such as the illustrated seashell configuration. Any such design motif may be directly molded into the part or may be attached thereto as a separate piece. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lower surface of the upper clamp  12  is provided with a pair of generally triangularly shaped, downwardly depending, laterally spaced legs  20  located midway along the length thereof. The upper surface of the lower clamp  14  is provided with a pair of generally triangularly shaped, laterally spaced legs  22  located inwardly of the legs  20  and in closely spaced relationship thereto. The legs  20  and  22  are apertured to receive the pivot pin  16 , the arrangement being such that the clamp members  12  and  14  are pivotally connected about a transverse axis  24  for movement between the aforementioned positions. It will be appreciated that many other forms or pivotal connections may be utilized while providing the relative motion for clamping and releasing the towel. 
     A U-shaped torsion spring  30  is compressively retained in the cavity between the upper clamp member  12  and the lower clamp member  14  and retained therein by suitable means such as heat staking, adhesives or mechanical means. The spring  30  serves to bias the jaws  32 ,  34  of the clamp members  12 ,  14 , respectively, to the closed position with sufficient force such that the barbed jaws penetrate the towel plies as hereinafter described in detail while being sufficiently flexible to allow easy release to the open position for removing the towel. It will be appreciated that other biasing means fulfilling the above objectives maybe used. 
     The jaws  32 ,  34  of the clamp members  12  and  14  abut in the closed position as illustrated in FIGS.  1 , 2 , at the lower distal ends of the body towel clip  10 . The jaws  32 ,  34  in transverse profile have an undulating contour composed of alternating nested peaks and valleys and present a serpentine transverse path for assisting in retaining the towel. Referring to FIG. 4, the upper surface of the jaw of the lower clamp member  14  is provided with transverse rows  40 ,  42 , and  44  of laterally spaced barbs  50 . The barbs  50  in adjacent rows are staggered by lateral offset, although the same may be aligned in longitudinal columns. The barbs  50  in the upper jaw  34  of the upper clamp member  12  are complementarily formed to register in the closed position within the spaces between the barbs in the lower jaw  34  in closely spaced relation thereto. 
     Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, each barb  50  has a generally triangular planar shape in cross section, having a vertically extending rectangular rear face  70  transverse to the jaw and planar, laterally spaced triangular side faces  72  converging at the apexes with the base surface  73  of the jaw. The lower front surface  74  is inclined toward and converges at the base surface. 
     Referring to FIGS. 3,  5  and  6 , a user will wrap the ends  80 ,  82  of a towel  84  in overlapping relation about the torso  86  and downwardly insert the towel clip  10  in the open position over the upper portions thereof. Generally when the towel edges engage the legs  20 ,  22  the clip is released and the spring  30  biases the clamp members  12 ,  14  to the closed position about the pivot pin. In the clamped position, the barbs  50  penetrate and deform the abutted towel ply and penetrate and/or deform the other towel ply in the serpentine path prescribed by the abutting jaw surfaces. In the clamped position, the weight of the towel  84  is borne by the plurality of the rear faces of the barbs and securely resists the gravitational forces of the towel&#39;s weight as indicated by the arrows. Accordingly, relative vertical movement of the towel ends is resisted. 
     In the clamped position, relative horizontal movement of the towel ends  80 ,  82  is resisted by the side faces  72  of the barbs  50 , which have penetrated and deformed the towel plies and accordingly resist unwrapping movement of the towel during normal movements and activities of the towel wearer. Moreover, the above interengagement of the barbs in the closed position is such that the horizontal forces are transmitted in shear across the barbs, thus limiting any torsional forces at the pin  16  which could cause breakage or separation. 
     The barbs  50  also facilitate easy removal of the clip  10  and release of the towel  84  after use. By pivoting the towel body clip  10  to the open position upwardly moving the towel ends relative to the jaws  32 , 34 , the inclined barb surfaces  74  slide upwardly and out of engagement with the towel material whereby the clip may be removed and stored for subsequent use. 
     From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that the body towel clip of the present invention provides penetrating and interengaging clamping surfaces that resist vertical weight forces and horizontal activity forces causing separation of a slippage between the overlapping towel ends whereby secure position on the wearer is ensured. 
     While the present invention has been described above with reference to the preferred embodiment, various modifications thereof will be apparent and according the invention is to be interpreted solely in accordance with the following claims.