Patent Publication Number: US-9408440-B2

Title: Belt buckle with removable wallet

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to belt buckles, and more particularly, relating to a new belt buckle with a removable wallet. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Belt buckles having compartments that are usable for storing valuables, such as, for example, money, driver&#39;s license, and credit cards are known. While existing belt buckles fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for an improved belt buckle with a removable wallet that can be removed without unbuckling the belt buckle. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of belt buckles including compartments now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new belt buckle construction having a removable wallet container, which can be removed without decoupling the belt buckle from the waist belt. 
     In general, in one aspect, a belt buckle with removable wallet is provided. The belt buckle includes a buckle plate having a front side, a back side, a belt tongue, a belt pin extending outwardly from the back side, a pair of confronting dog ears extending outwardly from the front side, and a pair of spring tabs. The belt buckle further includes a wallet container having a pair of slots extending through a side end and a pair of apertures formed through a back of the wallet container. The wallet container is removably attached to the front side of the buckle plate with the spring tabs cooperatively engaged with the slots and the dog ears cooperatively engaged with the apertures. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. 
     Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting. 
     As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated embodiments of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The following drawings illustrate by way of example and are included to provide further understanding of the invention for the purpose of illustrative discussion of the embodiments of the invention. No attempt is made to show structural details of the embodiments in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice. Identical reference numerals do not necessarily indicate an identical structure. Rather, the same reference numeral may be used to indicate a similar feature of a feature with similar functionality. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a belt buckle with removable wallet that is constructed accordance with the principles of an embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the belt buckle in-use with a conventional waist belt and with a wallet container attached to the belt buckle; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a belt buckle with removable wallet that is constructed accordance with the principles of an embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the belt buckle in-use with a conventional waist belt and with the wallet container removed so as to show a buckle plate; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the belt buckle, illustrating the wallet container attached to the buckle plate and without the waist belt; 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of the belt buckle, illustrating the wallet container attached to the buckle plate and without the waist belt; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the belt buckle taken along line  5 - 5  in  FIG. 4 , showing a cooperative engagement between the wallet container and the buckle plate; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the belt buckle taken along line  6 - 6  in  FIG. 4 , showing a cooperative engagement between the wallet container and the buckle plate; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the buckle plate, shown with the wallet container detached; 
         FIG. 8  is a top view of the buckle plate; 
         FIG. 9  is front view of the buckle plate; and 
         FIG. 10  is a side view of the buckle plate. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular  FIGS. 1 through 10  thereof, a new belt buckle with removable wallet constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention and generally designated by the reference number  10  will be described. 
     The belt buckle  10  includes a buckle plate  12  and a wallet container  14  that is removably attached to and supported by the buckle plate. The buckle plate  12  is comprised of substantially rigid plate having front and back sides  15  and  16 , respectively. And, while the buckle plate  12  is shown flat, it could be slightly curved. The buckle plate can also be made of any suitable material, such as, for example, metal or plastic. 
     The buckle plate  12  Further includes a waist belt attachment tongue  18  and a belt pin  20  extending outwardly from the back side  16  thereof. As best seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the buckle plate  12  is connected, for use, to a waist belt  22  in a conventional manner by looping one end of the waist belt over and through the tongue  18 . The opposite end of the waist belt  22  is conventionally secured by extending belt pin  20  through anyone of the corresponding pin holes that extend along the waist belt. 
     Additionally, the buckle plate  12  includes a pair of spring tabs  24  at the end opposite of the tongue  18 , and a pair of confronting dog ears  26  that extend outwardly from the front side  15  and approximate the tongue. 
     Wallet container  14  is configured to be cooperatively connected to the front side  15  of the buckle plate  12 . Although the wallet container  14  is shown here as being relatively plain for the purpose of clarity, the wall container can include any desired ornamental design or shape as desired. Additionally, the wallet container  14  includes slots  28  extending through side end  30  and apertures  32  extending through the back of the wallet container. Slots  28  are arranged to cooperatively engage with spring tabs  24  and apertures  32  are arranged to cooperatively engage with dog ears  26  when the wallet container  12  is positioned on the front side of the buckle plate  12 . 
     More specifically, the wallet container  14  is removably attached to the front side  15  of the buckle plate  12  by inserting the spring tabs  24  into corresponding slots  28  formed through side end  30  of the wallet container. And aligning and inserting dog ears  26  into corresponding apertures  32  extending through the back of the wallet container  14 . Each dog ear  26  is retained in its respective aperture  32  by a catch  34  that is spring biased, and pressing inwardly on the catch  34  releases the dog ear  26  and permits withdrawing the dog ear from its respective aperture. To this end, an important aspect of the present invention is the ability to detach or remove the wallet container  14  from the buckle plate  12  without decoupling the buckle plate from the waist belt  22 . 
     A number of embodiments of the present invention have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.