Abstract:
A clasp, including a first magnet, a second magnet, and a third magnet wherein the clasp is closed by coupling the three magnet in an aligned configuration and is opened by uncoupling at least two of the three magnets.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    A. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a closure suited for fastening portions of clothing article such as a tie, the closure includes several magnetic elements aligned in operation and attracting each other to define one or more press nips grasping the portions of the clothing article. 
         [0003]    B. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    A traditional tie pin or clip prevents the tie of the wearer of the tie pin from slipping to awkward angles while allowing the tie a degree of mobility. In addition, the traditional alligator/clasp tie clip embellishes the visual appeal of the tie. However, one traditional tie pin includes a pin that pierces through the tie leaving a hole each time that it is used, damaging the tie and adversely impacting its appearance. A traditional alligator/clasp tie clip does not damage a tie; however, it suffers from the disadvantages of being bulky, rendering the tie completely immobile at the point of attachment of the tie clip, and being less attractive in the opinion of many tie wearers. It would therefore be desirable to provide a tie pin that did not damage a tie. 
         [0005]    In my U.S. Pat. No. 7,992,264 I have improved on the traditional tie pin somewhat; however, there was still room for improvement. In the present invention, I have overcome some of the disadvantages of the prior art closure devices as discussed in more detail below. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    A clasp, including a first magnet, a second magnet and a third magnet cooperating to form two or more magnetic fields wherein the clasp is closed and opened by coupling or uncoupling the magnets. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a first prior art magnetic closure; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a second prior art magnetic closure; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  shows a first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0010]      FIGS. 4 and 4A  show another embodiment; 
           [0011]      FIGS. 5-5C  show another embodiment; 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  shows another embodiment; 
           [0013]      FIGS. 7 ,  7 A and  7 B show another embodiment; and 
           [0014]      FIGS. 8 ,  8 A and  8 B show another embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0015]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a tie pin  100  disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,992,264 includes outer magnet  102 , inner magnet  104 , piercing pin  106 , pin base  108 , chain  110 , and T-shaped end  112 . Piercing pin  106  is attached to pin base  108 , which is constructed of the same material as piercing pin  106  and can form a “T” shape in combination with piercing pin  106 . Chain  110  can be a metal chain constructed of brass, aluminum, stainless steel, precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, etc.), or can be constructed of other materials and is attached to both pin base  108  and T-shaped end  112 . T-shaped end  112  can be constructed of brass, aluminum, or stainless steel, precious metals, or can be constructed of other materials. Also illustrated in  FIG. 1  is tie  120  comprised of front end  122  and rear end  124  and shirt  130 . Tie  120  can be any available necktie, whether made of silk, wool, synthetic, or other materials, or a combination of materials. Shirt  130  can be any shirt, such as a men&#39;s dress shirt, whether made of silk, cotton, synthetic, or other materials, or a combination of materials. Shirt  130  can, but need not, be a button down shirt. 
         [0016]    In one embodiment, T-shaped end  112  is placed with the cross-piece of the “T” inside a wearer&#39;s shirt button hole with the end of the “T” protruding, together with chain  110 , which is attached to T-shaped end  112 . Piercing pin  106 , attached to pin base  108 , attached in turn to chain  110 , is placed through tie rear end  124  and attached to inner magnet  104 , such as by screwing piercing pin  106  into inner magnet  104 , sliding piercing pin  106  into a groove in inner magnet  104 , or by other means. Tie front end  122  is then placed in front of inner magnet  104  and finally outer magnet  102  is placed in front of tie front end  122  so as to couple outer magnet  102  with inner magnet  104 . 
         [0017]    Outer magnet  102  and inner magnet  104  when coupled together hold tie front end  122  in place without creating any unsightly holes in tie front end  122 . Outer magnet  104 , piercing pin  106 , and pin base  108  together hold tie rear end  124 ; although a hole is created in tie rear end  124  by piercing pin  106 , such hole is not visible when the tie is worn because tie rear end  124  is concealed behind tie front end  122 . Pin base  108 , chain  110 , and T-shaped end  112  together form a connection to the wearer&#39;s shirt. 
         [0018]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , in another embodiment disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,992,264, tie pin  200  includes outer magnet  202 , inner magnet  204 , chain  206 , and T-shaped end  208 . 
         [0019]    In the present invention, shown in  FIG. 3  a tie pin  300  is provided that has been modified to include an intermediate magnet  203 . Outer magnet  202 , intermediate magnet  203  and inner magnet  204  are preferably strong magnets made of rare earths and similar materials in order to allow the outer magnet  202 , intermediate magnet  203  and inner magnet  204  to be of sufficiently small size. 
         [0020]    Outer magnet  202 , intermediate magnet  203  and inner magnet  204  may be surrounded by housings constructed of metal, plastic, or other materials, which can be decorative in nature. However in some embodiments, no housing is provided, as described more fully below. One or more of such housings can include one or more decorative surfaces. Alternatively, or in addition, one or more of such housings can be shaped into a decorative form. Chain  206  can be a metal chain constructed of brass, aluminum, or stainless steel, precious metals, or can be constructed of other materials and is attached to both inner magnet  204  and T-shaped end  208 . T-shaped end  208  can be constructed of brass, aluminum, stainless steel, precious metals or can be constructed of other materials. Also illustrated in  FIG. 3  is tie  120 , comprised of front end  122  and rear end  124  and shirt  130 . Tie  120  can be any available necktie, whether made of silk, wool, synthetic, or other materials, or a combination of materials. Shirt  130  can be any shirt, such as a men&#39;s dress shirt, whether made of silk, cotton, synthetic, or other materials, or a combination of materials. Shirt  130  can, but need not, be a button down shirt. 
         [0021]    The tie pin  300  is used by inserting pin  208  through a button hole in shirt  130  and then positioning the three magnets so they are generally coaxial with the rear end  124  disposed between a press nip formed between the inner magnet  204  and intermediate magnet  203  and the front end  122  being disposed between a second press nip formed between intermediate magnet  203  and front magnet  202 . In the previous embodiments shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,992,264 and reproduced in  FIG. 1 , a hole has to be made in the rear end  124 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 2 , both ends of the tie must be secured between the rear and front magnets. That means that either the magnets have to be made very thick and large to generate the necessary magnetic force, or the tie pin can be used only for very thin tie, since as is well known, the force generated between two magnets falls exponentially with distance. In the present invention, the need for puncturing the rear tie end and the need for extra magnets or the requirement for a thin tie is eliminated by using the intermediate magnet  203 . 
         [0022]    Importantly, in the embodiment of  FIG. 3 , the magnets have to be aligned with opposite polls being matched in the sequence N-S, N-S, N-S otherwise they would repel each other and would not work. 
         [0023]      FIGS. 4 and 4A  show another embodiment similar to the embodiment of  FIG. 3 , but with outer magnet  402  having a toroidal shape with an internal hole  410 . The outer magnet  402  is disposed in outer housing  404  and is sized and shaped to receive a diamond or other precious or semiprecious stone having a tip that extends into the internal hole  410 . 
         [0024]      FIGS. 5 and 5A  show another embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, a tie pin is presented that includes a pin  208 , chain  206 , an inner main magnet  204 , an intermediate magnet  203  and an outer magnet  202 . In addition, a separate another intermediate element is provided, that as best seen in  FIG. 5A , includes a second chain  502  connected to two thin, disk shaped magnets, inner auxiliary magnet  1204  and outer auxiliary magnet  1202 . In use, the chain,  502  (shown somewhat diagrammatically) is long enough so that it laterally wraps around the tie ends  122 ,  124 . The auxiliary magnets  1204 ,  1202  are optionally attached to the respective magnets  204 ,  203 . The chain  502  in this configuration can be decorative and it may be provided in different shapes and colors, and can be constructed of brass, aluminum, stainless steel, precious metals, or can be constructed of other materials. The user has the option of using the chain (for extra security or aesthetic reasons) or not, according to the user&#39;s preference. 
         [0025]      FIGS. 5B and 5C  show a variation  503  of the embodiment of  FIGS. 5 ,  5 A. In this embodiment chain  512  includes two ends  514 ,  516 . End  514  is attached to the chain  206  (or, alternatively to element  204 A) and end  516  is attached to the outer magnet  202 A. The ends  514 ,  516  include conventional locking mechanisms, well known in the jewelry field, for being removable while being able to attach either two chains together end-to-end, or to attach the end of a chain to another article. As in the embodiment of  FIGS. 5 ,  5 A, the user has the option of using the chain  512  or not by attaching and detaching its ends  514 ,  516  to chain  206  (or element  204 ) and magnet  202 A, respectively. In either variations of the invention, but especially in the second variation just described, the chains  502 ,  512  further ensure the security of magnet  202 A which has a design, of which it may have an integral or semiprecious stone, as described above in conjunction with  FIG. 4 . 
         [0026]      FIG. 5D  shows another variation. In this variation, the tie pin  500  includes a chain  520  having one end  522  with a conventional lock (as described above) and a second end  524  formed of a flat, generally circular magnet. The user can have the option of attaching chain  520  in a manner similar to  5 A or  5 C to the rest of the tie pin, or can leave the chain  520  off. 
         [0027]      FIG. 6  shows another embodiment. In this embodiment, inner magnet  204 A is convex with an axial protrusion  601  directed outwardly as shown and intermediate magnet  603  is concave to accept the protrusion  601 . 
         [0028]      FIGS. 7 ,  7 A and  7 B show another  700  embodiment of the invention. In the previous embodiments, it was contemplated that each or some of the magnets are enclosed in a housing that surround the magnet(s) all around, or at least along one of the major surfaces. A possible problem with this approach is that magnets are visually identical and therefore during assembly it is difficult to ensure that each magnet&#39;s pole orientation is properly inserted. However if the magnets are not oriented properly within the housing, but one of them is reversed, then the closure would not work because the magnets could not be aligned in a N-S/N-S/N-S (or S-N/S-N/S-N) pattern. In order to solve this problem, in  FIGS. 7 ,  7 A,  7 B one or more of the magnets are provided with a through hole  209 . Then instead of a housing, a rod  204 C is pushed through the magnet (e.g. magnet  204 B) and one end of the rod  204 C is secured to some other member for securing the magnet, such as chain  206 A. Rod  204 C can be attached to magnet  204 B using a glue or other adhesive, or by sizing it and/or the hole  209  to create an interference fit between the rod  204 C and magnet  204 B. In yet another variation, a ring can be provided that fits around the circumferential diameter of the magnet  204 B to strengthen the same. The rod  204 C is then attached to the ring. In yet another variation, hole  209  and rod  204 C extend only partially into the magnet. In yet another embodiment of the invention, a ring (not shown) is provided around the magnet and attached to the chain in a manner that allows the magnet to free rotate with respect to the chain to present either one face, or the other toward the other magnet. 
         [0029]    These configurations allow the user to reverse the orientation of the magnet  204 B so that it will engage with, and form an interference/attraction fit with the next magnet (e.g.  703 ). 
         [0030]    The closure  800  of  FIGS. 8A ,  8 B,  8 C show an embodiment used to connect the cuffs of a dress shirt  410 . More particularly, the closure  800  is used to attach the cuffs of a regular shirt to make it look like a french cuff. Shirt  410  has two layers  416 A,  416 B overlapping to form a common edge. Layer  416 A has a slit or opening  440  and layer  416 B has a standard button  446  attached to the layer  416 B by a thread  414  formed into loops (or other similar means). 
         [0031]    Normally, the layers  416 A,  416 B overlap in the opposite direction so that button  446  can pass through a conventional button hole or slit  440 . However, in the presented configuration the user wishes to use his conventional shirt (this may be due for financial reasons, or other reasons) and give it the look of a french cufflink shirt, for this reason closure  800  is provided to join the two layers in a decorative manner. The closure  800  includes an outer element  402  that may or may not be magnetic and a magnet  412  is linked with a chain  442  to element  402 , the chain  442  passes through the conventional button hole  440 . The closure  800  further includes an inner magnet  404  disposed between the layer  416 B and button  446  in a manner that allows the magnet  412  to be inserted into the position shown in  FIG. 8  or removed at will. For example, the inner magnet  404  may be circular with a slit  450  receiving thread  414  as shown. 
         [0032]    When the two magnets  412 ,  404  are placed as shown in  FIG. 8 . The magnet  412  is attracted/links to the inner magnet  404  thereby securing and holding the layers  416 A,  416 B together. 
         [0033]    In the alternative embodiment of  FIG. 8B , a larger magnet  430  is used, said magnet  430  having an inner cavity for housing and hiding button  446  on the inside of a magnet  430 . 
         [0034]    In the description above, closures are presented using at least two or more permanent magnets. It should be understood that one of these permanent magnets can be replaced by an object of similar shape but made of a magnetizable material instead. The object made of magnetizable material will behave like a magnet when placed adjacent to the other magnet as well known in the art. 
         [0035]    The present invention provides a closure that can be used for securing ties or cuff links. However, it could be used for fastening or securing other types of clothing or to replace other decorative or functional accessories, such as lapel pins. 
         [0036]    The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes of the invention. Accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than the foregoing specification, as indicating the scope of the invention.