Abstract:
A money clip includes a pair of jaws joined together by means of a throat with a pair housings at least partially enveloping the jaws. A pair of operating levers are slidably mounted, respectively, in the housings with an elongated slot formed on the interior of each operating lever. A locking arm is attached to each jaw disposed and positioned to form an interlocking relationship between the jaw and respective operating lever.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Devices to hold items such as paper currency, credit cards, drivers licenses etc. have been employed in many variations such as basic enlarged paper clips and standard binder clips which have foldable arms, all of which are well known. Advances in the art include money clips with retractable operating levers which are described in McGarity U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,946,778 and 6,988,296. Money clips with operating levers were a major advancement in that they allowed the clip to be easily and conveniently opened by squeezing the extended operating levers together and then retracting the levers to positions so that they are out of the way when not in use. 
     Since money clips with extendable and retractable levers include multiple slidable parts, they require precise manufacturing of the individual parts of the money clip and also require detailed and time-consuming assembly in order to produce an attractive and reliable clip. At times, excessive force is applied by a user when withdrawing the levers which can cause the levers to separate from the body of the clip. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     By this invention, a money clip includes extendable operating levers which extend outwardly for the purpose of opening the money clip and retract inwardly in a compact fashion when not in use. The money clip embodies a spring clip having a pair of jaws for biasing the money clip in the closed position and with a pair of housings enveloping the jaws. The operating levers are slidably interconnected to the housings and a locking arm is struck from and attached to each jaw with the free end thereof disposed in an interlocking relationship with a slot formed on the interior of each operating lever. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a money clip, according to this invention, with the operating levers in the extended positions; 
         FIG. 2  is a side elevational view taken along the line II-II in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the money clip with the operating levers in a retracted condition; 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view taken along the IV-IV in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a plan view of the spring clip disposed in a flat condition; 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the spring clip disposed in the folded condition; 
         FIG. 8  is a plan view of the underside of the money clip operating lever; and 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the money clip housing. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In the drawings and with particular reference to  FIGS. 1-3 , the money clip, according to this invention, is shown and includes a spring clip having upper and lower jaws  1  and  2  which are joined together by throat  3 . As known in the art, throat  3  is spring-loaded so as to urge jaws  1  and  2  together and thereby provide the biasing force to hold the user&#39;s currency, credit cards and the like in a secure stored manner. 
     The money clip includes a pair of operating lever housings  4  and  5  which partially envelope, respectively, jaws  1  and  2 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , each of the housings  4  and  5  has spaced elongated slots  6  and  7  with a pair of spaced elongated shoulders  8  and  9  disposed generally above and coextensive with slots  6  and  7 . In addition, notch  10  is formed on the interior surface of each housing  4  and  5 . 
     To complete the basic elements of the money clip, according to this invention, operating levers  11  and  12  are slidably receivable in housings  4  and  5 , respectively. If desired, a radio frequency identification device (RFID)  13  may be embedded in one of the operating levers  11  or  12  and as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3 . Also, in order to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the clip, decorative additions can be affixed to the operating levers such as precious stones, leather, plastic, rubber, wood and other like items. 
     The details of operating levers  11  and  12  are shown in  FIG. 8  wherein each includes base plate  14  having spaced flanges  15  and  16  extending along the side edges thereof. On the interior surface of base plate  14 , elongated slot  17  is formed therein for the purpose of facilitating the frictional sliding movement of operating levers  11  and  12  and providing a stop mechanism when the levers are maneuvered to their operating positions. 
     The spring bias for the money clip is provided by means of the spring clip shown in the flat condition in  FIG. 5 . The spring clip includes bend lines  18  and  19  associated with upper jaw  1  and, likewise, bend lines  20  and  21  associated with lower jaw  2 . In addition, each of the upper and lower jaws  1  and  2 , includes locking tab  22  and locking arm  23  formed by any suitable cutting means such as laser, stamping and the like. Each locking arm  23  further includes locking tip  24  disposed on the free end of locking arm  23  and bendable along bearing line  25 . Finally, locking arm  23  is bendable upwardly along bend line  26 . 
     In order to form the money clip, according to this invention, initially it is necessary to fold the spring clip, shown in  FIG. 5 , such that the free ends of upper and lower jaws  1  and  2  are brought together to appear as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7  and then the spring clip is heat treated so that it is maintained in a permanent folded condition. Of course, heat-treating would be unnecessary if the clip is made of plastic or another nonmetal material. Thereafter, locking tabs  22  are folded inwardly and locking arms  23  are folded outwardly with respect to upper and lower jaws  1  and  2 . Simultaneously with this operation, throat  3  of the spring clip is folded to a slight degree along fold lines  18 - 21  and following this, locking tips  24  of each locking arm  23  are folded inwardly of the clip toward the respective jaw along bearing lines  25 . 
     Then, upper and lower jaws  1  and  2  are separated a sufficient distance to allow upper and lower jaws  1  and  2  to be inserted into housings  4  and  5 . This is accomplished by inserting jaws  1  and  2  into the respective housing  4  and  5  such that the jaw is inserted into the respective slot  6  of housings  4  and  5 . As this occurs, locking tabs  22  are caused to drop into notches  10  of each housing  4  and  5  which, in effect, locks the housings onto the spring clip. 
     The final stage in assembling the money clip includes the insertion of operating levers  11  and  12  into the respective housings  4  and  5  so that flanges  15  and  16  slide under shoulders  8  and  9 , respectively, and into slot  7  of each housing. Concurrently with this operation, locking arms  23 , which are in the position shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , are forced to spring into slot  17  of each operating lever  11  and  12 . The fully completed money clip then appears as shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3 . 
     According to a feature of this invention, operating levers  11  and  12  are slidable within housings  4  and  5 , respectively, and are completely prevented from inadvertent withdrawal from the housings when the levers are maneuvered outwardly into their operating positions. As operating levers  11  and  12  are moved outwardly of the money clip, bearing line  25  slides along the surface of slot  17  until the locking end  27  of slot  17  comes into abutting contact with locking tip  24 . By this means, further withdrawal of operating levers  11  and  12  is not permitted no matter the amount of reasonable manual force applied to the operating levers. In addition, bearing line  25 , being relatively thin, provides a minimum amount of metal-to-metal contact between locking arm  23  and slot  17  thereby creating minimal sliding resistance which is desirable as operating levers  11  and  12  are moved inwardly or outwardly of the money clip. Also, bend lines  18 - 21  provide added leverage for operating levers  11  and  12  when the money clip is opened. 
     Therefore, by this invention, a money clip is provided which has the advantage of retractable operating levers with a minimum of parts. Further, the money clip is economical to manufacture and can be assembled with efficiency and minimal complexity. Also, this invention is described in connection with money clips, it is equally adaptable for use in connection with other products such as surgical clamps, hand tools and various other types of clamping devices. This invention simplifies the manufacturing process, reduces overall costs and resolves the problem of operating levers being inadvertently pulled out of the clip.