Clasp for garments, in particular furs

Clasp for garments, in particular furs, which includes an eye element and a hook element having a base plate to be fixed to the garment, a positioning web and a locking web. The hook element is made in a single piece. Also the hook element is provided with a hold-down arm which holds the hooked-in eye down against the positioning web or the locking web (depending on the load applied or the direction of force) and which is elastically movable in a direction normal to the base plate for hooking the eye in or out.

BACKGROUND OF THIS INVENTION 
1. Field Of This Invention 
This invention relates to a clasp suited for garments, in particular for 
furs. 
2. Prior Art 
The clasp involved in the prior art consists of an eye element and a hook 
element which is provided with a base plate to be fixed to the garment, a 
positioning web and a locking web. To close the two matching parts of the 
garment, the eye is hooked or engaged in the hook element. 
In their simplest form the known hook-eye clasps consist of open U-shaped 
hooks into which the respective eye is inserted. Such open hooks are, 
however, not secured against unintentional opening. 
Besides, hooks with elastic legs are known whose open U-ends are closed by 
an elastic or rigid bar, so that the eyes have to be engaged against the 
resistance of the elastic part of the hook. 
The clasps most commonly used today are hook-eye clasps provided with a 
tilting bow. This tilting bow is guided in a pin support and kept in open 
or closed position by means of incorporated spring elements; it thus has 
two stable positions. 
Finally, a clasp is known whose hook element consists of a rigid L-shaped 
bow fixed on a base plate and a rigid locking bar arranged on the push-in 
side of the eye and which has in the leg of the L-shaped hook parallel to 
the base plate a spring partly recessed in the leg. The spring closes the 
push-in slit between this leg and the locking bar and can be pushed back 
for hooking the eye in (German Patent Specification No. 11 18 714). The 
main purpose of avoiding a tilting bow in this type of clasp is to achieve 
gentle handling of the fur. 
The hook elements of all known hook-eye clasps--except the primitive hook 
which does not provide any safety against unintentional opening--consist 
of several elements, which makes their production cost rather high. In 
addition, these clasps are awkward to use and require too much time for 
opening and closing. Besides, tilting bows damage the valuable fur around 
the clasps, because in each closing process hairs are caught between the 
eye and the engaging tilting bow. 
BROAD DESCRIPTION OF THIS INVENTION 
The main object of this invention therefore is to create a clasp that is 
easy and inexpensive to produce as well as easy and convenient to handle 
while at the same time provides a high degree of safety against 
unintentional opening. Other objects and advantages of this invention are 
set out herein or are obvious herefrom to one ordinarily skilled in the 
art. 
The objects and advantages of this invention are achieved by the clasp 
according to this invention in a surprising simple way. 
This invention involves a clasp for garments, in particular furs. The clasp 
consists of an eye element and a hook element having a base plate to be 
fixed to the garment, a positioning web and a locking web. The hook 
element is made in a single piece and is provided with a hold-down arm or 
segment which holds the hooked-in eye down against the positioning web or 
the locking web, depending on the load applied or the direction of force, 
and which is elastically movable in a direction normal to the base plate 
for hooking the eye in or out. 
The following is a description of advantageous embodiments of this 
invention preferably the clasp has an entrance slit located between the 
hold-down arm and the locking web and such slit has a width corresponding 
to approximately 0.3 to 0.5 times the thickness of the eye ring of the 
matching eye element. Preferably the clasp has an inclined slide face or 
slide edge facing toward the entrance slit on the outward facing side of 
the hook element both at the locking web and the hold-down. Also 
preferably the positioning web of the clasp is provided with a recess 
immediately at the hold-down--such recess serves as the eye bearing and 
its size roughly corresponding to the thickness of the eye ring. 
Preferably all of the parts of the hook element, which engage the eye 
lement, are connected to the base plate by means of an elongated narrow 
ridge. 
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THIS INVENTION 
Further structural features, advantages and potential applications of this 
invention result from the following description of a specific embodiment 
of this invention and from the attached drawings.

As can be seen from FIG. 1 and by comparison with FIG. 2, the hook element 
of the clasp according to this invention consists essentially of base 
plate 4, positioning web 1, locking web 5 and hold-down arm 2. Base plate 
4 has at least three holes 13 for fastening, i.e., for sewing the hook 
element on to the garment. The matching eye element, of which FIG. 1 shows 
only ring-shaped eye 10 (this ring being shown in sectional view), is sewn 
on to the matching second part of the garment. 
Hold-down arm 2 can be elastically bent. For closing, i.e., for hooking the 
eye into the hook element, eye 10 can therefore be engaged by pushing it 
through slit 12 between hold-down 2 and locking web 5. In this embodiment 
of this invention the width of entrance slit 12 corresponds to about 1/3 
of the ring diameter of eye 10. The tensile force to be applied for 
engaging eye 10 in the hook element is determined by the distance between 
hold-down 2 and locking web 5 as well as by the elasticity of hold-down 2. 
Insertion of eye 10 into the hook element is facilitated by two slide 
faces 8 and 9 provided at locking web 5 and hold-down arm 2, respectively, 
which together form a beak-shaped inlet for eye 10. 
The base plate 4 has narrow integral ridge 11 in vertical axial direction 
(see FIG. 2) which carries the remaining parts of the hook element. When 
the garment is being worn, i.e., when the clasp is hooked in and is 
subject to continuous tensile load, eye 10 normally is in notch 3, which 
serves as the bearing for this eye and can absorb even relatively high 
tensile loads. When the load on eye 10 is reduced while the garment is 
being worn or if eye 10 is moved toward entrance slit 12 against the 
normal direction of load application, hold-down 2 causes the motion of eye 
10 to be stopped at the face of locking web 5, this face being vertical in 
this embodiment. Hold-down arm 2 is not bent in this process. The two 
clasp elements remain hooked. Therefore, there is no danger that the clasp 
will be opened accidentally. 
Inclined slide face 7 extends from the lowest point of recess 6 between 
positioning web 1 and locking web 5; when the clasp is loaded in the 
direction of pull, slide face 7 guides eye 10 into notch 3 which serves as 
an eye bearing. In this embodiment of this invention the ring even engages 
in notch 3. 
Head 14 at hold-down arm 2, which is provided with slide face 9, is easy to 
identify by touch so that eye 10 can be "blindly", i.e., without looking, 
inserted and engaged in the hook element. 
Opening a garment equipped with the clasp according to this invention is 
very easy. It is sufficient to slip the hand between the two overlapping 
part of the garment, whereby eye 10 is removed from its bearing 3 and 
exerts a tensile force on hold-down arm 2 in a direction normal to the 
base plate, thus causing hold-down arm 2 to be elastically moved to such 
an extent that eye 10 can slide out of the hook element along the lower 
face of hold-down arm 2. 
Both the hook element and the eye element of the clasp according to this 
invention can be produced easiest by injection molding from an elastic 
plastic material. As the elements are made in integral pieces, no 
subsequent treatment or assembly is necessary. By using injection molding 
compounds in different colors, it is possible to match the clasp of this 
invention according to the appearance and color of the garment, the fur or 
the lining; when the garment is worn open, the clasp elements are thus 
hardly visible or at least inconspicuous. It is also possible, however, to 
make the clasps of a metal; in such case their production in two integral 
parts is also economical. 
As the base plate of the hook element can be sewn on the reverse side of 
the garment between the fabric or fur and the lining, only the elevated 
webs and the hold-down arm remain visible. In the embodiment of this 
invention described here, the visible parts of the hook element are no 
larger than about 0.5 cm.sup.2.