BUCKLE

Abstract: A buckle (10) for connecting the ends of a belt used in clothes and the like. The buckle (10) consists of a socket (11), which has a hollow socket-body (13) and a locking-device (1), and a plug (12), which has a pair of engaging members (42, 42). The locking device (1) has a locking-plate (14) and a pressuring projection (33). A resilient engaging member (24) is provided in the socket-body (13) so as to engage with and disengage from the engaging members (42) of the plug (12). According to this buckle (10), when the pressuring projection (33) is located at the bottom shell-side, even if the locking-plate (14) is pressured, the locking-plate (14) and the resilient engaging member (24) are provided so as not to be brought into contact with each other and hence the engagement of the plug and the socket is ensured. On the other hand, when the locking device (1) is slid to the plug-side, if the locking-plate (14) is pressured, since the pressuring projection (33) can be brought into contact with the resilient engaging member (24), said member (24) is deformed resiliently, so that the engaging members (42, 42) disengage from the resilient engaging member (24) so that the plug is removed from the socket in an easy operation.

Description: This invention relates to a buckle molded from a synthetic resin material for connecting the ends of a belt used in clothes, a bag, a flask and the like, and more particularly relates to a buckle provided with a locking device. A buckle provided with a locking device has been disclosed in JP-Y-57-13305. This buckle comprises a hollow socket, and a plug which is inserted into and engages with the socket. A, pair of resilient legs are provided in the plug so as to be parallel to each other. Furthermore, a sliding locking device is provided in the socket in order to prevent the pair of resilient legs from being deformed resiliently. However, according to this conventional buckle, in order to remove the plug from the socket, the pair of resilient legs must be deformed resiliently so as to be pinched towards each other, while the locking device must be pushed towards the socket. That is to say, this removing operation has to be performed using both hands, which can be inconvenient. Furthermore, the locking device has no mechanism for locating the locking device either at a locked position or at an unlocked position, for locking the plug to the socket or for removing the plug from the socket. respectively. Therefore, when the plug engages with the socket and connects the belts with this buckle, this locking device is apt to be open. Additionally, since this locking device is formed within the socket, the socket is required to be of a large size. EP-A-0 309 943, on which the preamble of claim 1 is based, discloses a buckle comprising:- a hollow socket-body which comprises an inlet, a front shell, a rear shell, a bottom shell and side shells, said socket body having a resilient pressuring member formed along a peripheral portion of said front shell of said hollow socket-body so as to form a U-shaped slit and said socket body also having a resilient first engaging member projecting from the inlet-side of said rear shell towards said bottom shell, said first engaging member extending within a hollow chamber in said socket-body, a respective fore end portion of said first engaging member being provided with a respective engaging portion; and a plug which, in use, can be resiliently engaged with, and disengaged so as to be removed from, said socket-body, said plug comprising a plug-body and a pair of second engaging members, extended from said plug-body toward said socket-body, respective fore end portions of said second engaging members being provided with respective engaging portions, said buckle including a device which comprises a plate and a thick pressuring projection projecting from a centre of a bottom shell-side end portion of a rear face of said plate, said device being attached to said resilient pressuring member. However, in the buckle of EP-A-0 309 943 the said device is not a locking device and, correspondingly, the plate is not a locking plate. It is an object of the invention to provide a buckle which can be made small and cheaply, with a locking device, and operable with one hand only. The invention provides a buckle as claimed in claim 1, to which reference is directed. Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, in which reference is made to the accompanying drawing wherein preferred embodiments of the present invention are clearly shown. Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a buckle according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a locking device viewed from its rear side; Fig. 3 is an elevational view of a buckle; Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is an elevational view of a socket-body; Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken on line VI-VI of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is an expanded sectional view of a locking device engaging with a socket-body; Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken on line VIII-VIII of Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of a plug; Figs. 10 and 11 are cross sectional views of a socket showing operation with a locking device; Fig. 12 is an elevational view showing disengaging operation of a buckle; Fig. 13 is an elevational view of a socket base showing another embodiment; Fig. 14 is an elevational view of a locking device of another embodiment viewed from its rear side; Fig. 15 is a side view from left side of Fig. 14; Fig. 16 is a perspective view of a locking device viewed from its rear side showing still another embodiment; Figs. 17 and 18 are cross sectional views of a socket showing different operations of a locking device in the embodiment of Fig. 16 respectively. The present invention will be described by way of example referring to the figures illustrating the first embodiment. Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 show a buckle 10 embodying the present invention. The buckle 10 is molded from a synthetic resin material and comprises the socket 11 and the plug 12 which can engage with and be removed from the socket 11. The socket 11 comprises a socket-body 13 and a locking device 1 which is attached to the socket-body 13. This socket-body 13 has a hollow-shape and is built up from an inlet 35, a front shell 15, a rear shell 23, a bottom shell 20 and side shells 36, 36. Further, the socket-body 13 has a tongue-shaped resilient biasing or pressuring member 17 fromed along the peripheral portion of the front shell 15 so as to form a U-shaped slit 16. A hollow chamber 18 is formed in the socket-body 13. This resilient pressuring member 17 has a thin deforming portion 19, which is deformed resiliently towards the chamber 18. The bottom shell 20 is disposed so as to be slightly lower than the resilient pressuring member-side face of the front shell 15. Numeral 21 is a bar for attaching a belt. An opening 22 in which the belt is inserted is formed between the bar 21 and the bottom shell 20. A resilient engaging member 24 projects integrally from the inlet-side of the rear shell 23 towards the bottom shell 20 to be extended in the hollow chamber 18. A bevelled engaging portion 25 is formed at the fore end portion of the resilient engaging member 24. Then, a groove 26 is formed transverse at the plug-side end portion of the resilient engaging member 24 so that said resilient engaging member 24 is thin there. The centre portion of the above mentioned resilient pressuring member 17 is formed to be a thin guide-plate 28. A pair of opposed long guide-holes 29, 29 are provided, one at each side of the guide-plate 28. Although, in this figure, there is a pair of guide-holes 29, 29, a single guide-hole 29 can be provided at one side or the other. As shown in Fig. 2, the locking device 1 comprises a locking-plate 14, a pair of engaging guide-hooks 32, 32 and a pressuring projection 33. The pair of engaging guide-hooks 32, 32 are provided one at each side on the rear face of the locking-plate 14 so that the engaging guide-hooks 32, 32 correspond to the pair of guide-holes 29, 29 of the socket-body 13. If just a single guide-hole 29 is provided, just one engaging guide-hook 32 is enough. Since this locking device 1 is molded out of the synthetic resin, when the engaging guide-hooks 32, 32 are pushed into the guide-holes 29, 29 respectively, the engaging guide-hooks 32, 32 are deformed resiliently so as to fit and engage in the guide-holes 29, 29 respectively. That is to say, as shown in Fig. 7, the locking device 1 can be attached to the guide-plate 28 of the resilient pressuring member 17 by this simple movement. As shown in Fig. 8, the attached locking device 1 can be slid along the guide-holes 29, 29. The thick pressuring projection 33 projects from the centre of the bottom shell-side end portion of the rear face of this locking-plate 14 towards the socket-body 13 for pressuring the resilient engaged member 24 of the socket-body 13. The pressuring projection 33 of the locking device 1 has opposed side faces 34, 34 which are tapered towards the engaging guide-hooks 32, 32 respectively. Furthermore, a pair of U-shaped resilient legs 30, 30 are formed at the centre of the guide-plate 28 of the socket-body 13 so as to be opposed to each other and to form a space with an opening at the bottom shell-side. At the fore ends of the resilient legs 30, 30, a pair of resilient claws 30a, 30a are formed, respectively. Then, the pressuring projection 33 is pushed into and stays in the space between the pair of resilient legs 30, 30, while the pair of resilient claws 30a, 30a are brought into contact with the side faces 34, 34 respectively and the resilient legs 30, 30 are deformed resiliently. That is to say, a spring mechanism 27 is provided by the co-operation of the pair of resilient legs 30, 30 and the side faces 34, 34 of the pressuring projection 33. As a result, the locking device 1 can be always pressured towards the bottom shell 20 by the spring mechanism 27. The plug 12 is built up from a ring-shaped plug-body 40 and a pair of engaging members 42, 42. The plug-body 40 is provided with a bar 41 between its sides for attaching the belt. The pair of engaging members 42, 42 extend integrally from the fore end portion of the plug-body 40 towards the socket-body 13 so that between the engaging members 42, 42 there is a space wider than the greatest width of the pressuring projection 33 of the locking device 1. Further, between the engaging members 42, 42, a centre portion is disposed so as to form a Y-shaped slit. Bevelled engaging portions 43, 43 are formed on the rear faces of the fore end portions of the engaging members 42, 42 respectively, so as to engage with the above mentioned bevelled engaging portion 25 of the resilient engaging member 24 of the socket-body 13. When the pressuring projection 33 is located at the bottom shell-side, the locking device 1 is located at a locked position. On the other hand, when the locking-plate 14 is slid to the inlet-side, the locking device 1 is located at an unlocked position. In this buckle 10, by inserting the engaging members 42, 42 of the plug 12 into the inlet 35 of the socket 11, the engaging portions 43, 43 of said engaging members 42, 42 engage with the engaging portion 25 of the resilient engaging member 24. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 4, the plug 12 engages with the socket 11 so as to be set at a predetermined position in the socket-body 13. The locking device 1 is always pressured towards the bottom shell 20 by the above mentioned spring mechanism 27. Then, even if the locking-plate 14 is pressured by hands and the like towards the resilient engaging member 24 of the socket-body 13, said resilient engaging member 24 can not be deformed resiliently towards the rear shell 23 of the socket-body 13, because the pressuring projection 33 of the locking device 1 and the resilient engaged member 24 of the socket-body 13 are provided so as not to be brought into contact with each other. Therefore, the engaging members 42, 42 do not disengage from the resilient engaging member 24, so that the plug 12 is kept in the socket-body 13 while the plug 12 is engaged with the socket 11 (this situation of the socket 11 is shown in Fig. 10). As explained above, by only inserting the plug 12 into the socket 11 until the engaging portions 43, 43 engage with the engaging portion 25, the engagement of the plug 12 and the socket 11 can be performed automatically. Therefore, this buckle 10 is very convenient in its operation. Next, to remove the plug 12 from the socket 11, as shown in Figs. 11 and 12 the locking-plate 14 is slid to the inlet-side, and the pressuring projection 33 of the locking device 1 moves towards the inlet 35 through the space formed between the engaging members 42, 42. Then, the pressuring projection 33 of the locking device 1 can be brought into contact with the resilient engaging member 24. The locking-plate 14 is pressured toward the resilient engaging member 24 of the socket-body 13, and thereby, the resilient pressuring member 17 is deformed resiliently towards the resilient engaging member 24 of the socket-body 13. Therefore, said resilient engaging member 24 is deformed resiliently towards the rear shell 23 of the socket-body 13 so that the engaging portions 43, 43 of the engaging members 42, 42 of the plug 12 disengage from the engaging portion 25 of the resilient engaging member 24 of the socket-body 13. As a result, the plug 12 can be removed from the socket 11. Fig. 13 shows another embodiment of the spring mechanism 27 of a socket 11B. A V-shaped notch 50 is formed at the centre of a socket-body 13B and its inner side faces 51, 51 are tapered towards the inlet 35 of the socket-body 13B. As shown in Figs. 14 and 15, in order to correspond to them, a pair of resilient legs 52, 52 are formed in a thick pressuring projection 33B provided on the rear face of the locking-plate 14B of a locking device 1B so as to diverge towards the engaging guide-hooks 32, 32 respectively. The spring mechanism 27 is provided by the co-operation of the pair of resilient legs 52, 52 and the inner side faces 51, 51. Then, the pair of resilient legs 52, 52 are pushed into the space formed between the inner side faces 51, 51 and stay there, while the fore end portions of the resilient legs 52, 52 are brought into contact with the inner side faces 51, 51 respectively and the pair of resilient legs 52, 52 are deformed resiliently. As a result, the locking device 1B is always pressured towards the bottom shell 20 by the spring mechanism 27. Next, another embodiment of the socket 11A related to the present invention, which permits more convenient operation, will be explained referring to Figs. 16, 17 and 18. In the socket-body 13, 13B of the above mentioned embodiments, the resilient pressuring member 17 can be deformed resiliently towards the resilient engaging member 24 of the socket-body 13, 13B regardless of the position of the locking device 1, 1B. Therefore, when the locking-plate 14, 14B is manually slid to the inlet-side for unlocking, if the locking-plate 14, 14B were pressured too much, the locking device 1, 1B would be displaced towards the resilient engaging member 24 of the socket-body 13, 13B before the locking-plate 14, 14B had finished sliding, so that while the locking device 1, 1B is displaced, the locking-plate 14, 14B might be slid. In this case, the pressuring projection 33, 33B of the locking device 1, 1B will stop at the fore end portion of the resilient engaging member 24. Accordingly, the locking-plate 14, 14B can not be slid to the predetermined unlocked position, where the locking-plate 14, 14B can pressure the resilient engaging member 24 and effect unlocking. In order to solve this problem, a user must adjust the power he applies to the locking-plate 14, 14B with a suitable balance between the pressuring power and the sliding power so that, while the locking device 1, 1B is not displaced, the locking-plate 14, 14B can be slid to the predetermined unlocked position. Then, the pressuring power applied to the locking-plate 14, 14B is increased. This operation requires some degree of skill and is inconvenient. In view of the above, the modified embodiment of Figs. 16, 17 and 18 is proposed. According to this embodiment, even if a high pressuring power is applied to the locking-plate 14A of a locking device 1A, the locking-plate 14A is not substantially deformed resiliently towards the resilient engaging member 24 of a socket-body 13A until the locking-plate 14A is slid to almost the predetermined unlocked position. In the modified embodiment, a bevelled pressuring step 33a is provided on the bar-side end of the rear face of the pressuring projection 33A so as to project towards the resilient engaging member 24 of the socket-body 13A. Then, in order to complement said pressuring projection 33A having said pressuring step 33a, a receiving step 20a projects from the chamber-side face of a bottom shell 20A of the socket-body 13A with a predetermined length being determined so as to satisfy the following condition; When the pressuring projection 33A is located at the bottom shell-side, even if the locking-plate 14A is pressured towards the resilient engaging member 24 of the socket-body 13A, the pressuring step 33a is brought to a stop by the receiving step 20a and the pressuring projection 33A can not be moved towards the rear shell 23 of the socket-body 13A. On the other hand, when the locking-plate 14A is slid to the inlet-side and it is pressured towards the resilient pressuring member 17, the pressuring step 33a of the pressuring projection 33A has been the inlet-side beyond the receiving step 20a of the bottom shell 20A and the pressuring projection 33A can be brought into contact with the resilient engaging member 24 of the socket-body 13A. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 17, for socket body 13A of this embodiment, when the locking-plate 14A is not placed at the predetermined unlocked position, even if the locking-plate 14A is pressured with a high pressuring power, the locking-plate 14A can not be deformed resiliently beyond the receiving step 20a towards the rear shell 23 of the socket-body 13A, because the pressuring step 33a of the pressuring projection 33A is brought to a stop at the receiving step 20a of the bottom shell 20A. Then, the locking-plate 14A is slid to the inlet-side 35 of the socket-body 13. In this case, as shown in Fig. 18, the pressuring step 33a of the pressuring projection 33A is also slid to the inlet-side beyond the receiving step 20a. The pressuring projection 33A moves towards the inlet 35 so as to slide along the resilient engaging member 24 until the predetermined unlocked position. Then, at this unlocked position, the pressuring projection 33A pressures the resilient engaging member 24 towards the rear shell 23 of the socket-body 13A so that the plug 12 is unlocked and may be removed from the socket 11A. As a result, according to the socket 11A of this embodiment, the user is not required to pay attention to his pressuring power during the unlocking process. That is to say, this buckle is convenient in operation. This combination of the pressuring step 33a of the pressuring projection 33A and the receiving step 20a of the bottom shell 20A can be applied to the above mentioned socket 11B, which has the spring mechanism 27. On the other hand, instead of the spring mechanism 27, locating means might be provided by forming projections or notches on the guide-holes 29, 29 of the socket-body 13, 13A, 13B and the engaging guide-hooks 32, 32 of the locking-plate 14, 14A, 14B so that the pressuring projection 33, 33A, 33B of the locking device 1, 1A, 1B can be held at either the locked position or the unlocked position. In this case, the object of the present invention can also be attained sufficiently. While the preferred embodiments have been described, it is apparent that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments thereof.

Claims: A buckle (10) comprising:- a hollow socket-body (13, 13A, 13B) which comprises an inlet (35), a front shell (15), a rear shell (23), a bottom shell (20, 20A) and side shells (36, 36), said socket body (13, 13A, 13B) having a resilient pressuring member (17) formed along a peripheral portion of said front shell (15) of said hollow socket-body (13, 13A, 13B) so as to form a U-shaped slit (16) and said socket body (13, 13A, 13B) also having a resilient first engaging member (24) projecting from the inlet-side of said rear shell (23) towards said bottom shell (20, 20A), said first engaging member (24) extending within a hollow chamber in said socket-body (13, 13A, 13B), a respective fore end portion of said first engaging member (24) being provided with a respective engaging portion (25); and a plug (12), which, in use, can be resiliently engaged with, and disengaged so as to be removed from, said socket-body (13, 13A, 13B), said plug (12) comprising a plug-body (40) and a pair of second engaging members (42, 42) extended from said plug-body (40) toward said socket-body (13, 13A, 13B), respective fore end portions of said second engaging members (42, 42) being provided with respective engaging portions (42, 43), said buckle (10) including a device (1, 1A, 1B), which comprises a plate (14, 14A, 14B) and a thick pressuring projection (33, 33A, 33B) projecting from a centre of a bottom shell-side end portion of a rear face of said plate (14, 14A, 14B), said device (1) being attached to said resilient pressuring member (17); said buckle (10) being characterised in that said device is a locking device (1, 1A, 1B) which is slidably attached to said resilient pressuring member (17) and which is constantly urged towards the bottom shell side of the socket; in that said plate is a locking-plate (14, 14A, 14B); and in that said socket-body (13, 13A, 13B) in combination with said locking device (1) forms a socket (11) such that, when said pressuring projection (33, 33A, 33B) is located at the bottom shell-side, even if said locking-plate (14, 14A, 14B) is pressured towards said resilient engaging member (24), said pressuring projection (33, 33A, 33B) can not be brought into contact with said first engaging member (24), but only when said locking-plate (14, 14A, 14B) is slid to the inlet-side and is then pressured towards said resilient pressuring member (17), can said pressuring projection (33, 33A, 33B) be brought into contact with said first engaging member (24) to deform resiliently said first engaging member (24) toward said rear shell (23) for removing said plug (12) from said socket (11). A buckle (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a spring mechanism (27) is provided by the co-operation of said locking device (1, 1A, 1B) and said socket-body (13, 13A, 13B) so that said locking device (1, 1A, 1B) can be always pressured resiliently towards said bottom shell (20, 20A). A buckle (10) as claimed in claim 2, wherein said spring mechanism (27) is provided by the co-operation of a pair of resilient legs (30, 30) formed in said socket-body (13) and the side faces (34, 34) of said pressuring projection (33) of said locking device (1), so that the fore end portions (30a, 30a) of said pair of resilient legs (30, 30) can be brought into contact with said side faces (34, 34) of said pressuring projection (33) while said pair of resilient legs (30, 30) are deformed resiliently. A buckle (10) as claimed in claim 2, wherein said spring mechanism (27) is provided by the co-operation of a pair of resilient legs (52, 52) formed in said pressuring projection of said locking device (1B) and a notch (50) having tapered and opposed inner side faces (51, 51), said notch (50) being formed in said socket-body (13B) so that the fore end portions of said pair of resilient legs (52, 52) can be brought into contact with said inner side faces (51, 51) of said notch (50) while said pair of resilient legs (52, 52) are deformed resiliently. A buckle (10) as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said pressuring projection (33A) of said locking device (1A) is provided with a bevelled pressuring step (33a) at the bar-side end of the rear face of said pressuring projection (33A) so as to project towards said resilient engaging member (24) of said socket-body (13A), while said pressuring step (33a) is complemented by a receiving step (20a) provided at the chamber-side face of said bottom shell (20A) and which projects to a length such that, when said pressuring projection (33A) is located at the bottom shell-side, even if said locking-plate (14A) is pressured towards said resilient engaged member (24), said pressuring step (33a) is brought to stop by said receiving step (20a) and said pressuring projection (33A) can not be moved towards the rear shell (23) of said socket-body (13A), but only when said locking-plate (14A) is slid to the inlet-side and is pressured towards said resilient pressuring member (17), can said pressuring step (33a) of said locking device (1A) be slid to the inlet-side beyond said receiving step (20a) of said bottom shell (20A) so that said pressuring projection (33A) can be brought into contact with said resilient engaging member (24) of said socket-body (13A).

Inventors: ENDO, MASAAKI, MURAI, RYUKICHI
Applicants: YOSHIDA KOGYO K.K.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: A44B11
IPC codes: D07B1, A44B11