AN ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE WITH IMPROVED RING AND STRAP FASTENING SYSTEM

Abstract: An article of manufacture comprising a fastening system comprising a ring (13-14) and a strap (17-19) intended to be pulled through said ring (13-14), wherein an improvement comprises a loop of material (32) positioned on said strap in such a way as to prevent said strap once pulled through said ring from slipping back through said ring and thereby disengaging from said ring. In a preferred embodiment, the article of manufacture is a wrist support (10), and the rings of the so-called "reversing" variety, i.e. the strap is intended to be pulled through the rings, and then the direction of the strap is "reversed", i.e., the strap is then pulled around the ring and secured back upon itself.

Description: AN ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE WITH IMPROVED RING AND STRAP FASTENING SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improved fastening system, and to articles of manufacture incorporating the improved fastening system, especially to improved wrist supports incorporating to the improved fastening system. 2. Description of Related Art Articles of manufacture containing rings and straps intended to secured about the rings are well known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Patent No. 4,869,267, which relates to an ankle brace. In some cases, use has been made of so-called "reversing rings," i.e., the strap is intended to be pulled through the rings in one direction, and then the direction of the strap is "reversed," i.e., the strap is then pulled around the ring in the opposite and secured back upon itself. Advantageously, the strap has been secured to itself by use of a two-part fastener system. For example, the strap has been made of a material that comprises a first part of the two-part fastener system, and the a second part of the two-part fastener system has been placed on the free end of the strap such that both parts of the two-part fastener system can be made to contact each other when the strap is pulled around the ring, thereby securing the strap to itself. A problem, which is particularly evident when the article of manufacture is a joint support, is that during the process of applying the support to the joint, it can be difficult to keep the strap in the proper orientation relative to the rings to enable the strap to be pulled around the rings and secured back upon itself. Particularly, the strap has the tendency once pulled through the ring to slide back through the ring before it can be pulled around the ring and secured back upon itself. This is especially true where the joint support is a wrist support intended to placed on one hand, the wrist support has multiple such rings and cooperating straps, and the user has only one hand free. It can be extremely difficult and frustrating in such cases to get the straps secured properly. Accordingly, it was an object of the present invention to provide an improved fastening system that would avoid this problem, and, thus, make easier the securing of such straps about such rings. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These an other objects were met with the present invention, which relates to an article of manufacture comprising a fastening system comprising a ring and a strap intended to be pulled through said ring, wherein the improvement comprises a loop of material positioned on said strap in such a way as to prevent said strap once pulled through said ring from slipping back through said ring and thereby disengaging from said ring. The invention further relates to a method of securing the straps of the inventive article of manufacture, said method comprising: a) providing the inventive article of manufacture; b) pulling the free end of the strap thereof through the ring thereof, and then around said ring; and c) securing the free end of said strap to another portion of said strap. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a combined top and side view of a wrist support according to the present invention. Figure 2 is a combined bottom and side view of a wrist support according to the present invention. Figure 3 is a combined top and side view of a wrist support according to the present invention showing the center strap unsecured. Figure 4 is a view of the wrist support shown in Figure 3 taken along line 4-4. Figure 5 is a top view of a wrist support according to the present invention with all straps unsecured. Figure 6 is a side view of a wrist support according to the present invention. Figure 7 is a top view of a splint to be used in a wrist support according to the present invention. Figure 8 is a side view of a splint to be used in a wrist support according to the present invention. Figure 9 is a top view of a flexible stay to be used in a wrist support according to the present invention. Figure 10 is a side view of a flexible stay to be used in a wrist support according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION . In a preferred embodiment, the ring is of the so-called "reversing" variety, as explained above. In this embodiment, the strap is pulled through the ring, and around the ring, and then back upon itself and secured to itself. In order to secure the strap to itself, preferably use is made of a two-part fastener system, for example, NELCRO (hook-and-loop fastening system). In an especially preferred embodiment, the strap comprises a first part of said two-part fastener system, the loop of material is positioned on the free end of the strap, and the loop of material comprises a second part of said two-part fastener system, and the strap is secured to itself by fastening said second part of said two-part fastener system to said first part of said two-part fastener system. In an especially preferred embodiment, the article of manufacture is a wrist support comprising: a) a first sheet of material; b) a second sheet of material formed with said first sheet of material to form a tubular sleeve; c) at least one ring secured to said first sheet of material; d) at least one strap secured on one end to said first sheet of material, and adapted to be pulled by a free end thereof through said ring to aid in securing said wrist support about the wrist of a user; and e) a loop of material on the free end of said strap to prevent said strap once pulled through said ring from slipping back through said ring and thereby disengaging from said ring. Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates the most preferred embodiment of the invention, wherein the article of manufacture is a wrist support 10. The wrist support comprises a first sheet of material 11 and a second sheet of material 12, which are integrated to form a sleeve, which can be pulled over the hand and positioned about the wrist to provide support to the wrist. The first sheet of material can be of any type, but is preferably an inelastic material, in order to provide support to the wrist. The first sheet of material can be, for example, the one-eighth inch thick double needle bar spacer fabric (100% polyester), which is available from Gehring Textiles, Inc., New York, New York. The second sheet of material also can be of any type, but is preferably an elastic material, in order to provide flexibility and to facilitate the pulling of the wrist support over the hand. The second sheet of material can be, for example, the stretchable micro fleece (68% nylon, 19% polyester, 13% spandex), which is available from Maiden Mills Industries, Inc., Lawrence, Massachusetts. The wrist support is secured about the wrist and made tight about the wrist by a series of rings and straps. Thus, the wrist support shown in Figure 1 has reversing rings 13, 14, which are secured to first sheet 11 by fabric loops 15, 16, respectively, and cooperate with straps 17, 18, respectively. A third strap 19 is centrally positioned between straps 17, 18, and cooperates with itself without the benefit of reversing rings. As shown in Figure 2, the wrist support is further provided with'a pocket 21, which receives splint 22, which is shown in greater detail in Figures 7 and 8. Preferably, the pocket is open on an end thereof so that the splint can be inserted into the pocket or removed therefrom as desired. The pocket can be formed of any desired material. The splint is preferably made of rigid material, for example, a metal such as aluminum or titanium or an alloy thereof, and, as shown in Figure 8 has a curved configuration to approximate the curvature of the palm of the hand. As shown more clearly in Figure 6, the wrist support is provided on both ends of first sheet 11 with a further pocket 91, which receives flexible stay 92, which is depicted in greater detail in Figures 9 and 10. Flexible stay 92 provides further support to the top of the hand and wrist, and are preferably made of 100% polypropylene or other non-rigid plastic and/or metal variation. A preferred mode of using the inventive wrist support and the advantages thereof are clearly seen from Figures 3-5. Figure 5 shows the wrist support prior to use, i.e., with all of the straps unsecured. Straps 17, 18 are provided on the free end thereof with loops of material 31, 32, respectively. The user inserts his or her hand into the sleeve formed by first sheet 11 and second sheet 12. Loop of material 31 is then fed through reversing ring 13 and loop of material 32 is fed through reversing ring 14. As seen more clearly in Figures 3, once the loops of material are fed through the respectively reversing rings, the loops of material prevent the straps to which they are adhered from sliding back through the reversing rings and disengaging therefrom. It is thus now easily possible to grasp the loops of material on an end thereof, pull the straps through the reversing rings and then pull the straps back over the reversing rings and secure the straps to themselves. Center strap 19 is then wrapped about the wrist support and secured to itself. In order to make the straps easily securable to themselves, each of straps 17-19 are preferably made of a material which comprises a first part of a two- part fastener system, for example, NELCRO (hook-and-loop fastening system), and, as shown in Figure 4, the free end of each comprises a second part 41 of said two-part fastener system on the side of the free end intended to contact with said first part. In this way, when the straps are pulled tight, the first part of said two-part fastener system will cooperate with said second part to form a firm bond to thereby secure said wrist support about the user's wrist. Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to a wrist support, the advantages of the present invention are clearly applicable to any article of manufacture which comprises a fastening system comprising rings and straps intended to be fastened through said rings. For example, reversing rings and straps are also used to fasten shoes about a user's foot, in knee braces and in ankle braces, and the use of the inventive fastening system would also be expected to provide similar advantages in those contexts as well. It will be appreciated that the instant specification and claims are set forth by way of illustration and not limitation, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. In an article of manufacture comprising a fastening system comprising a ring and a strap intended to be pulled through said ring, wherein the improvement comprises a loop of material positioned on said strap in such a way as to prevent said strap once pulled through said ring from slipping back through said ring and thereby disengaging from said ring. 2. The article of manufacture according to claim 1, wherein the ring is a reversing ring and the strap is intended to be pulled through said ring, around said ring and then back upon itself and secured to itself. 3. The article of manufacture according to claim 2, wherein the strap comprises a first part of a two-part fastener system, the loop of material is positioned on a free end of the strap, and the loop of material comprises a second part of said two-part fastener system, and the strap is secured to itself by fastening said second part of said two- part fastener system to said first part of said two-part fastener system. 4. The article of manufacture according to claim 3, which is a wrist support. 5. The article of manufacture according to claim 4, wherein the wrist support comprises: a) a first sheet of material; b) a second sheet of material formed with said first sheet of material to form a tubular sleeve; c) at least one ring secured to said first sheet of material; d) at least one strap secured on one end to said first sheet of material, and adapted to be pulled by a free end thereof through said ring to aid in securing said wrist support about the wrist of a user; and e) a loop of material on the free end of said strap to prevent said strap once pulled through said ring from slipping back through said ring and thereby disengaging from said ring. 6. A method of securing a wrist support about a user's wrist, said method comprising: a) providing a wrist support according to claim 5; b) pulling the free end of said strap through said ring, and around said ring; and c) securing the free end of said strap to another portion of said strap.

Inventors: DOMANSKI EDWARD M, HINDS SHERRY A, TAYLOR RICHARD G, DOMANSKI, EDWARD, M., HINDS, SHERRY, A., TAYLOR, RICHARD, G.
Applicants: BEIERSDORF AG, DOMANSKI EDWARD M, HINDS SHERRY A, TAYLOR RICHARD G, DOMANSKI, EDWARD, M., HINDS, SHERRY, A., TAYLOR, RICHARD, G.
Application year: 2001
Main classification: A61F5
IPC codes: A61F5