Abstract:
A modified structure of a telescopic belt buckle includes a spring compartment in the belt buckle body, and a latch located at the end of the spring to link the head of the belt, which is allowed to slide along the compartment and reach the belt fastening the human body with specific length for extension. As both the thickness of the belt equals the space taken by the spring, the compartment is thus provided with enough space for telescopic movement of the most slim and simple buckle.

Description:
RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a telescopic belt buckles. More particularly, the present invention relates to a telescopic belt buckle in which a compartment in the belt buckle conceals a small piece of a tip of the belt so as to receive a spring that allows the belt to telescope within this compartment. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Conventional belts come in a fixed length. After the belt is positioned around the waist of the user, this fixed length tends to be unexpandable with the flexible movements of the human body. The waist size of any given person can vary slightly over the course of a single day. The difference in waist size before and after a meal can be noticed. Some persons will feel slightly uncomfortable with a tightly fastened belt. As a result, adjustment of the belt is necessary. 
     In the past, a large number of telescopic belt buckles have been developed. Virtually all of these telescopic belt buckles have the belt buckle fixed at one end of the belt while a spring, along with other elements, are also included in the belt so as to allow the belt to be expandable. In particular, there is a sliding and hooking block used to latch the hole at the end of the belt. The entire assembly of the hook slides and allows the belt to move freely. Those prior art telescopic belt buckle that are available in the marketplace are mostly of a very complicated structured and are positioned at the end of the belt. As a result, the telescopic belt buckle is not compact, nor is it elegant. 
     The telescopic belt buckle of the present invention has a moving tip positioned at the beginning of the belt and not at the end of the belt. A small piece of the tip is concealed in the compartment of the belt buckle. This piece of the tip is joined to a spring so as to allow the space of the compartment to be fully used. The other elements, such as the latch and the fastening ring of the belt, remain fixed as used in conventional belts. Since the space in the compartment of the belt buckle is optimally used, the assembly of the present invention is simplified and lightweight. As a result, the buckle is more compact. This compact belt buckle will be satisfactory to most users&#39; preferences. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a belt for men. The end of the belt is concealed within the buckle. The present invention also relates to a modified telescopic belt buckle that has the front end of the belt buckle attached with a ring. On the top of the ring, there is a latch or a pin in the center thereof that allows the hole at the end of the belt to be latched through the notch in the center of the ring prior to winding up above the belt buckle. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an upper perspective view of the telescopic belt buckle structure of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is an interior perspective view with the cover removed showing the interior of the telescopic belt buckle of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the telescopic belt buckle of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4A is a plan view of the telescopic belt buckle of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4B is a cross-section view taken across lines  4 B— 4 B of FIG. 4A showing the cross section of the telescopic belt buckle of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view of the telescopic belt buckle of the present invention showing the belt buckle in an unlatched configuration. 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the telescopic belt buckle of the present invention. 
     FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the telescopic belt buckle of the alternative embodiment of FIG.  5 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIG. 1, the belt of the present invention includes a buckle unit  1 . The buckle unit  1  includes a belt ring  14  at the one end thereof. A cover  2  is placed across an inside surface of the buckle unit  1 . The cover  2  has a protruding latch  24 . The belt  4  has a belt head  41  which passes through the belt ring  14  at one end of the buckle unit  1  while the other end  42  of the belt  4  winds up onto the opposite end of the buckle unit  1 . As a result, a circular belt  4  is formed. 
     FIG. 2 shows the interior construction of the buckle unit  1 . The buckle unit  1  has a hollowed compartment  11  in an interior thereof. The belt ring  14  defines the exit of the hollowed compartment  11 . The opposite end of the compartment  11  includes a spring unit  3  in the form of plate winding springs  31  and  32 . The plate winding springs  3  land  32  are secured to the buckle unit  1 . A cradle  33  extends from the spring unit  3  and is positioned against a bottom of the compartment  11 . The belt head  41  is received within the compartment  11 . The end of belt head  41  is engaged with the cradle  33  so as to allow free horizontal movement within the compartment  11 . The cover  2  is placed over the spring unit  3  and across the compartment  11 . The cover  2  divides the end of the belt ring  14  so as to allow the formation of the exit of the belt head  41  and an entry for the tip end  42  of the belt  4 . FIG. 3 shows these elements in greater detail. 
     The buckle unit  1  is in the form of an elongated block with a back surface defining an interior portion of the compartment  11 . Studs  12  and  13  protrude from back surface of the compartment  11 . Each of the studs  12  and  13  include screw holes which allow screws to be secured thereto. The end of the buckle unit  1 , defining the exit of the compartment  11 , is in the form of an inverted block “U” configuration that extends outwardly so as to form the belt ring  14 . A pair of pin holes  15  are formed on the opposite sides of the belt ring  14 . The spring unit  3  includes a pair of winding springs  31  and  32 . The centers of each of the winding springs  31  and  32  are fitted onto the studs  12  and  13  such that the studs  12  and  13  act as an axle cam for the pair of winding springs  31  and  32 . One end of the pair of winding springs  31  and  32  is connected to the L-shaped cradle  33 . One surface of the cradle  33  is positioned against the inside surface of the compartment  11 . The cradle  33  has pins  331  and  332  protruding therefrom. The holes  411  and  412  on one end of the belt  41  are secured to the pins  331  and  332 . The cover  2  is an elongated plate that has a latch  24  protruding from an outer surface thereof. Screw holes  22  and  23  are formed adjacent to the latch  24  so as to align with the studs  12  and  13 . Pin holes  21  are formed at the outer edges of the cover  2 . A pair of straight pins  5  engage the pin holes  15  of the plate and engage the pin holes  21  of the cover  2 . Screws  6  pass through the screw holes  22  and  23  so as to secure the cover  2  onto the buckle unit  1  and into the studs  12  and  13 . 
     FIGS. 4A-C show the assembled structure. The compartment  11  of the buckle unit  1  has springs  31  and  32 , along with the cradle  33 , engaged with the end of the belt  4 . The cradle  33  has pins  331  and  332  engaged with the holes  411  and  412  in the head  41  of belt  4 .The belt is inserted through the right exit at the belt ring  14  of the compartment  11 . The cover  2  closes the hollowed out compartment buckle unit  1 . The right end of the cover  2  is secured into the pin hole  15  by straight pins  5 . This allows the belt ring  14  to form a guide for the end  42  of the belt  4 . The belt end  42  can include a plurality of latch holes  43  so as to allow for the free setting onto the latch  24  on cover  2  by the user. As can be seen in FIG. 4B, the assembled belt  4  is withheld by the springs  31  and  32  from the belt end  41  for rightward extension and restoration (as shown in FIG. 4C) within a limited range. This allows the belt to have elasticity when latched. 
     FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of the outboard form of the present invention. A buckle unit  1 A is attached with a latch  7 A. The latch  7 A has a retaining latch  74 A. The latch  7 A also has security pin  8 A that is engaged into the latch hole  43 A at the end of the belt  4 A. This allows the belt end  42 A to pass through the latch  7 A before being positioned against the buckle unit  1 A. 
     FIG. 6 shows an exploded view with the various elements of the belt buckle of the alternative embodiment of the present invention. Latch  7 A, along a security pins  8 A, are particularly illustrated in FIG.  6 . The buckle unit  1 A has a spring unit  3  and a cover  2 A under the spring unit  3 . The latch  7 A is of a generally block U-shape which includes two side arms  71 A and a cross pin  73 A. An axle hole  72 A is formed on each of the side arms  71 A. A retaining latch  74 A is located between the side arms  71 A and extends below the cross pin  73 A. The security pin  8 A is a cantilever unit having one end with a transverse axle hole  81 A. The buckle unit  1 A has a compartment  11 A on a bottom thereof. There are two protruding studs  12 A and  3 A at one end of the compartment  11 A. There are also a pair of pin holes  15 A on the bottom of the compartment  11 A. The pin holes  15 A pass through the two sides. An axle hole  16 A and central axle hole  17 A pass through both sides. The spring unit  3 , as described earlier, is affixed onto the studs  12 A and  13 A in the buckle unit  1 A. The head  41 A has a pair of corresponding holes  41 A and  412 A for engagement onto the pins  331  and  332  of the spring cradle  33  in the manner of the preceding embodiment. One end of the cover  2 A is secured with straight pin  5  onto the pin hole  15 A of the buckle unit  1 A. The opposite end of the cover  2 A is secured onto the bottom of the buckle unit  1 A by securing with screws  6  onto the studs a  12 A and  13 A. This allows the compartment  11 A of buckle unit  1 A to have only a right exit for the belt head  41 A. The buckle unit  1 A with in the compartment  11 A will move horizontally along with the movement of the spring unit  3 . The left end of the buckle unit  1 A has an axle  9 A secured within the axle hole  16 A. The axle  9 A secures a securing pin  8 A onto the axle hole  17 A in the middle of the left side of the unit. This allows the securing pin  8 A to be secured into the buckle unit  1 A against the retaining pin  7 A. The latch  74 A on the retaining ring  7 A allows a pairing with the security pin  8 A. In this alternative embodiment, the assembled belt buckle, as shown in FIG. 5, has a telescopic movement which can be conducted in the manner of the prior form of the present invention, specifically, by means of the spring unit  3  in the buckle unit  1 A which guides the belt head for automatic adjustment within a specific length. 
     The present invention has the free end of the belt as a part of the belt head without void spaces. The free end is fully concealed into the belt buckle unit. During telescopic movement, the elements remain free from movement along with the user&#39;s body or clothing. The simple construction provides convenient manufacture, low cost and a desirable appearance. 
     The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof. Various changes in the details of the illustrated construction can be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the true spirit of the invention. The present invention should only be limited by the following claims and their legal equivalents.