Abstract:
A clip for removably retaining a canning screw band during use having two oppositely disposed arms for holding an outer surface of the canning screw band. An arcuate shaped bridge portion connects the arms and retains decorative inserts within the canning screw band to provide a canning screw band charm. Each arm has a receiving slot for receiving a connecting ring that may be used to connect multiple canning screw band charms together in linked relation.

Description:
PRIOR HISTORY  
       [0001]     This is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 10/754,198, filed Jan. 9, 2004. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates generally to apparel belts and more particularly to fashion belts utilizing multiple parts for decorative customization.  
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART  
       [0003]     Belt attachment structures allowing attachment of functional elements to belts have been known for quite some time. Many of the prior art belts conceived require functional elements that are specially made to fit the attachment means employed by the belt. Some of these functional attachment belts are disclosed here.  
         [0004]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,013 issued to Johnson discloses a stabilizing belt comprising a pliable belt, means for securing the band about the waist of the forward person of a tandem pair, and at least two discrete hand grip assemblies for the rearward person of the pair. The hand grip assembly utilizes an anchor member adjustably mounted to the belt to carry a loop of material for hand gripping by the reward person.  
         [0005]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,935 issued to Chambonnet discloses a belt structure particularly suited for carrying diving equipment having structure for securing a rigid element that further secures equipment such as a compressed air tank.  
         [0006]     Apparel belts allowing customization to express beliefs or allegiance to a particular organization such as a sports team have also been previously conceived. These prior art belts also require pieces that are specially made to fit the connecting means employed by the belt. Some of these belts are disclosed here.  
         [0007]     U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,685 issued to Grandis discloses an ornamental elasticized fabric belt having a number of ornamental discs or medallions arranged in seriatim about the band. The medallions overlap each other giving a unique and expensive appearance to the belt. As the belt is caused to expand, the medallions are caused to move with respect to each other, thus changing the appearance of the ornamentation.  
         [0008]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,829 issued to Relaford discloses an apparel belt with decorative strips which are attachable to the outer side of the belt by a pair of socket elements which engage stud elements located along the length of the belt. The decorative strips are interchangeable and may include different letters or words thereon allowing the wearer to communicate a message.  
         [0009]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,680 issued to Abbondandolo discloses action figures having female connections formed on the back and a belt having a plurality of male connectors so that the action figures may be attached to the belt.  
         [0010]     Although the belts previously discussed provide means for attaching elements to a belt for functional or aesthetic purposes, the prior art still lacks an attachment structure for belts that accept items that are not specially made for attachment to another item such as a belt. To fulfill this need, the claimed invention provides a clip for retaining preexisting items that may be used to create decorative items such as a fashion belt.  
         [0011]     As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the customizable fashion belt of the claimed invention differs from the previously proposed inventions and employs a number of novel features that render it highly advantageous over the aforementioned prior art.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     It is a primary object of the claimed invention to provide a clip for holding a frame, such as the canning screw band of a two-piece canning lid used with canning jars, that may be used in the construction of various arts and crafts.  
         [0013]     It is another object of the claimed invention to provide a clip for holding a frame that may be linked with other clips to form a chain of frames.  
         [0014]     It is further object of the claimed invention to provide a customizable fashion belt having a plurality of frames displaying decorative artwork.  
         [0015]     It is an even further object of the claimed invention to provide a canning screw band charm clip and assembly for displaying decorative artwork through the canning screw band.  
         [0016]     To achieve these objects as well as others that will become evident after a reading of this specification and viewing the appended drawings, a customizable fashion belt is provided. The customizable fashion belt generally comprises a belt, a plurality of clips, a plurality of connector pieces and a plurality of frames framing various types of decorative inserts.  
         [0017]     The clips comprise a pair of arms, a pair of shoulders, a pair of receiving slots, a bridge portion and a clasp portion. The arms each have a cutaway portion to facilitate easy removal of the frames and have base portions that coact with the shoulders to retain the frame within the clip. The clamp portions of the arms provide a secondary means for retaining the frame within the clip in the event that the frame is unseated from the shoulders. The shoulders are generally shaped to engage the inner walls of the frame and are spaced by the bridge portion such that the frame seats over the shoulders with a snap fit. The clasp portion forms a second clip that may be used to clip a single clip to another object such as a typical apparel belt. The clip may be used to create other decorative objects such as wall hangings and refrigerator magnets.  
         [0018]     The frames have at least one side member that frame inserts displayed within the display aperture of the frames. The frames may take the form of canning screw bands used with canning jars giving the fashion belt a unique appearance and provides the additional feature of using a preexisting uniform utilitarian item that 29 million homes already have. A customized fashion belt assembled with canning screw bands provides a fashion accessory with a novel appearance that has not been previously seen.  
         [0019]     When the clips and frames are used to create a customized fashion belt, the belt is placed through the apertures of the connector pieces and the arms of the clips are then placed through the apertures adjacent the belt. Decorative inserts are then assembled within the frames and the frames are then clipped into place within the clips connected to the belt.  
         [0020]     Another embodiment of the claimed invention is a clip for removably retaining a canning screw band comprising first and second arms, each having a base portion and a clamp portion spaced at a distance apart for receiving a canning screw band during use. A connector ring receiving slot is positioned between the base portion and the clamp portion of each arm for receiving a connector ring. An arcuate shaped bridge portion connects the base portions of the arms and retains an insert within the canning screw band during use.  
         [0021]     A further embodiment of the claimed invention is a multiple clip assembly for retaining a plurality of canning screw bands. A first clip has an arm with a base portion and a clamp portion spaced at a distance apart for receiving a canning screw band during use and a first receiving slot positioned between the base portion and clamp portion. A second clip has a second arm with a second base portion and a second clamp portion spaced at a distance apart for receiving a canning screw band during use and a second receiving slot position between the second base portion and the second clamp portion. A connector ring connects the first clip and second clip in linked relation. The connector ring has an openable closure for opening the ring to receive the first receiving slot of the first clip and the second receiving slot of the second clip.  
         [0022]     An even further embodiment of the claimed invention is a clip for removably retaining a canning screw band during use having two oppositely disposed arms for holding an outer surface of the canning screw band and an arcuate shaped bridge portion connecting the arms. The arcuate shape of the bridge portion retains an insert within a canning screw band during use.  
         [0023]     A still further embodiment of the claimed invention is a canning screw band charm assembly comprising a clip having two oppositely disposed arms for holding an outer surface of a canning screw band with an arcuate shaped bridge portion connecting the arms. A receiving slot is positioned between the base portion and clamp portion of each arm. A canning screw band is retained by the clip and an insert is retained within the canning screw band by the arcuate shaped bridge portion of the clip. A connector ring in linked relation with the clip having an openable closure for opening the ring to receive the receiving slot of the clip.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0024]      FIG. 1 . A perspective view of a fully assembled customized fashion belt.  
         [0025]      FIG. 2 . A perspective view of a clip of the claimed invention.  
         [0026]      FIG. 3 . A perspective view of a clip assembled with belt slides.  
         [0027]      FIG. 4 . A side view illustrating assembly of the customizable fashion belt.  
         [0028]      FIG. 5 . An exploded perspective view of a canning screw band and inserts.  
         [0029]      FIG. 6 . An enlarged perspective view of a canning screw band being assembled in a clip of the customized fashion belt.  
         [0030]      FIG. 7 . An enlarged perspective view of a section of an assembled customizable fashion belt.  
         [0031]      FIG. 8 . A partial cross sectional view of a canning screw band and inserts engaged with a clip.  
         [0032]      FIG. 9 . A perspective view of a fully assembled customized fashion belt worn by a user.  
         [0033]      FIG. 10 . A perspective view of an alternate use for the clip and canning screw band assembly.  
         [0034]      FIG. 11 . A perspective view of another embodiment of the claimed invention in the form of a canning screw band charm assembly.  
         [0035]      FIG. 12 . A perspective view of the back of the canning screw band charm assembly of  FIG. 11 .  
         [0036]      FIG. 13 . A perspective view of a pair of clips according to another embodiment of the claimed invention.  
         [0037]      FIG. 14 . A perspective view illustrating assembly of a clip and a canning screw band.  
         [0038]      FIG. 15 . A perspective view illustrating disassembly of a clip from a canning screw band.  
         [0039]      FIG. 16 . A perspective view of a plurality of canning screw band charm assemblies in linked relation.  
         [0040]      FIG. 17 . A perspective view of the back of the assemblies of  FIG. 16 .  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0041]     Turning now to the drawings,  FIG. 1  shows a preferred embodiment of the customizable fashion belt  10  generally comprising a belt  20 , a plurality of clips  30 , a plurality of connector pieces  40  or belt slides and a plurality of frames  50  shown in the form of canning screw bands framing various types of decorative artwork  60 . The decorative artwork  60  is preferably protected by a transparent cover insert  62 , and backed by a backing insert  64  shown in  FIG. 5  as a canning lid. The customizable fashion belt  10  allows users to assemble a unique fashion item that displays items of particular interest to the user.  
         [0042]     The belt  20  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 9  is a shoe string type belt made of woven fabric. However, it is contemplated that belts of various size, shape and composition may be used to accomplish the objects of the claimed invention. A buckle such as the string lock  66  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 9  may be used to fasten the belt  10  about the waist of a wearer.  FIG. 10  shows an alternate use for the clip  30  where the clip is attached to a typical apparel belt  70 .  
         [0043]     The clip  30  shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3  generally comprises a pair of arms  80 , a pair of shoulders  90 , a pair of receiving slots  100 , a bridge portion  110  and a clasp portion  120 . In a preferred embodiment of the clip  30  where the clip  30  is designed to retain a typical canning screw band  50  that is sized to fit a standard canning jar mouth of about 2⅜ inches, the overall length of the clip  30  is about 3.818 inches and the overall width is about 0.625 inches with an overall height of about 0.907 inches. The typical cross sectional thickness of the clip  30  is about 0.125 inches.  
         [0044]     The arms  80  each have a cutaway portion  130  to facilitate easy removal of the frames or canning screw bands  50  and have base portions  140  that coact with the shoulders  90  to retain the canning screw band  50  within the clip  30 . The base portions  140  of the arms  80  shown in the drawings are spaced about 0.125 inches from the shoulder portions  90  to engage the outer diameter of the canning screw band  50  that is typically about 2.813 inches. The clamp portions  150  of the arms  80  extend over the top face  160  of the canning screw band  50  providing a secondary means for retaining the canning screw band  50  within the clip  30  in the event that the canning screw band  50  is unseated from the shoulders  90 . The clamp portions  150  are spaced at about 0.030 inches above the top face  160  of the canning screw band  50  to allow room for removal of the canning screw band  50  from the clip  30 .  
         [0045]     The shoulders  90  are generally shaped to engage the inner threaded walls  170  of the canning screw band  50  and are spaced by the bridge portion  110  such that the canning screw bands  50  seat over the shoulders  90  with a snap fit. The shoulder portions  90  of the clip  30  shown in the drawings are spaced at about 2.656 inches apart to engage the inner walls  170  of the canning screw band  50  with a typical inner diameter of about 2.75 inches.  
         [0046]     The receiving slots  100  are sized and shaped to receive portions  175  of the belt slides  40  that link two or more clips  30  together. The receiving slots  100  shown in the drawings are about 0.813 inches wide.  
         [0047]     The clasp portion  120  extends generally parallel with the bridge portion  110  forming a second clip that may be used to clip a single clip  30  to another object such as a typical apparel belt  70  as shown in  FIG. 10 . The clasp arm  180  shown in the drawings is about 1.781 inches long creating an opening  190  of about 0.625 inches.  
         [0048]     The connector pieces or belt slides  40  are used to link two or more of the clips  30  together when a plurality of clips  30  are used to create different items such as the customizable fashion belt  10  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 9 . The overall width of the belt slide  40  is about 0.938 inches. Each belt slide  40  has a pair of apertures  200  that are each sized and shaped to receive the belt  20  and an arm  80  of the clip  30 . The apertures  200  shown in the drawings are about 0.625 inches by 0.25 inches. A portion of the belt slides  175  fit within the receiving slots  100  of the clip  30  as shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0049]     The frames  50  have at least one side member that frame inserts  60 ,  62  and  64  displayed within the display aperture  210  of the frames  50 . The frames  50  shown in  FIG. 1  are in the form of canning screw bands  50  designed to fit a canning jar with a 2⅜ inch open mouth. However, it is contemplated that frames of various size, shape and composition may be used to accomplish the objects of the claimed invention. The canning screw bands  50  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 5 - 10  have a generally circular sidewall  220  with a right angled cross section  230  as shown in  FIG. 8 .  
         [0050]     The inserts shown in  FIGS. 5 and 8  preferably comprise a protective transparent cover insert  62 , a decorative insert  60  such as a picture of a popular celebrity and a backing insert  64 . The backing insert  64  shown in  FIGS. 5 and 8  is a canning lid. However, it is contemplated that backing inserts of various size, shape and composition may be used to accomplish the objects of the invention, particularly when other types of frames  50  are utilized.  
         [0051]     The customizable fashion belt  10  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 9  is assembled by first inserting the belt  20  through the apertures  200  of the slides  40  and then inserting the arms  80  of the clips  30  within the apertures  200  of the slides  40  adjacent the belt  20  as shown in  FIG. 4 . The inserts  60 ,  62  and  64  are then placed in the canning screw band  50  as shown in  FIG. 5  with the protective transparent cover insert  62  first, the decorative insert  60  second and the canning lid backing insert  64  last. The assembled frame  240  is then placed in the clip  30  as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7  so that the shoulders  90  of the clip  30  hold the inserts  60 ,  62  and  64  against the inner surfaces  170  of the canning screw band  50  as shown in  FIG. 8 . This process is repeated with each frame  240  until all of the clips  30  have been filled. The resulting customized fashion belt  10  can then be worn around the waist as shown in  FIG. 9 .  
         [0052]     The clip  30  of the claimed invention can also be used in many other applications such as a single decorative charm holder  250  that may be attached to an ordinary apparel belt  70  shown in  FIG. 10 , or may be used as a refrigerator magnet or wall hanging.  
         [0053]      FIGS. 11-17  disclose another embodiment of the claimed invention as a charm holder assembly  300  generally comprising a clip  310 , a canning screw band  320 , a connecting ring  330 , and inserts  340  within the canning screw band  320 .  
         [0054]     The clips  310  shown in  FIG. 13  are preferably made of 0.032 inches thick zinc dichromate plated annealed spring steel and generally comprise a pair of oppositely opposed arms  350  connected by an arcuately shaped bridge portion  360 . Each arm has a clamp portion  370 , a base portion  380  and a retaining ring slot portion  390  positioned between each clamp portion  370  and base portion  380 . The clamp portion  370  is preferably positioned at a 60 angle from the retaining ring slot that is formed by another 60 angle. The base portion is formed by a 90 angle from the arm  350  of the clip  310 . The arcuate shape of the base portion  380  shown throughout the drawings preferably has a 1.75 inch radius arc. When used with a canning screw band  320  intended for use with a canning jar having a mouth 2⅜ inch wide, the overall length of the clip is preferably about 5.05 inches and has a width of about 0.375 inches.  
         [0055]     The connecting ring  330  shown in  FIGS. 11-12  and  16 - 17  has an openable closure  400  that is opened during assembly so that a portion of the ring  330  may be inserted in the retaining ring slot  390 , and then closed to provide a linked relation between the clip  310  and the connecting ring  330 .  
         [0056]     The clip  310  is assembled to the canning screw band  320  as shown in  FIG. 14  and disassembled as shown in  FIG. 15 . During assembly of the charm holder assembly  300 , the canning screw band  320  is preferably oriented face down with the inserts  340  position within band  320 . The clip  310  is correspondingly oriented with the arms  350  facing downwardly and slid about the side wall  410  of the band  320  so that the lip  420  of the band  320  seats against the base portions  380  of the clip  310  and the clamp portions  370  clamp the front face  430  of the band  320  as shown in  FIG. 11 . When assembled, the arcuately shaped bridge portion  360  holds the inserts  340  against the inner face  440  of the band  320  as shown in  FIG. 12 . Optionally, a plurality of charm holder assemblies may be linked together by a connecting ring  330  as shown in  FIGS. 16-17  to form a number of different types of trinket novelties.  
         [0057]     Although the invention has been described by reference to some embodiments it is not intended that the novel device be limited thereby, but that modifications thereof are intended to be included as falling within the broad scope and spirit of the foregoing disclosure, the following claims and the appended drawings.