Abstract:
Disclosed is a buckle comprising a first section including an engagement portion for engagement with a belt-like, flexible, adjustable fastening member and a latch portion, and a second section which is structured to detachably mate with said latch portion of said first section, said engagement portion being capable of pivotally moving to said latch portion. 
     According to the present invention, irrespective of the direction of a pulling force applied to one end of the adjustable fastening belt engaged with the buckle, no such condition can be produced that the adjustable fastening belt is gradually loosened so that it is finally dropped off the buckle.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a buckle for engagement with fastening belts or bands for a various types of bags such as a mountain-climbing bag, a sports bag and the like. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     A widely used conventional buckle of this type is illustrated in FIG. 12, by way of an example. Referring to this figure, the conventional buckle consists of a male section  10  and a female section  20  that are detachably mated to each other. In such conventional buckle it is common that the male section  10  and the female section  20  are each integrally molded of any suitable materials such as plastic. The male section  10  includes a resilient latch portion  11  at the front end thereof for detachably mating with the female section  20 . The male section  10  further includes an engagement portion  12  at the rear end thereof for adjustably engagement with a fastening belt or band for a bag. On the other hand, the female section  20  includes a mating recess  21  at the front end thereof for detachably receiving the resilient latch portion  11  of the male section  10 . The female section  20  further includes an engagement portion  22  at the rear end thereof for fixedly engagement with a fastening belt or band for the bag. In more detail, the engagement portion  12  of the male section  10  includes an engagement rod  12 A, a base rod  12 B, and through-holes  12 C,  12 D formed at forward and back sides of the engagement rod  12 A. The engagement portion  22  of the female section  20  includes an engagement rod  22 A and a through-hole  22 B formed at forward side of the engagement rod  22 A. In actual the base rod  12 B is provided with a tapered top surface  12 B′ downwardly extending toward the engagement rod  12 A, and a corrugated bottom surface for preventing any slippage of the belt. 
     The conventional buckle described above is illustrated in FIG. 13, as being used for one type of a bag, for example, a sports bag. Such bag has an adjustable fastening belt  32  secured at one end to a bag body  31 , and a fixed fastening belt  34  secured at one end to a cover  33  of the bag. The fastening belts  32  and  34  are engaged with the conventional buckle in the following manner. A free end of the adjustable fastening belt  32  is passed through the through-hole  12 C from back to front side, and then it is passed through the through-hole  12 D from front to back side. As the result the belt  32  is wound around the engagement rod  12 A. Now the adjustable fastening belt  32  becomes adjustably engaged with the male section  10  of the buckle. Similarly, an end of the fixed fastening belt  34  is passed through the through-hole  22 B from front to back side so that the belt  34  is wound around the engagement rod  22 A. Thereafter, both ends of the belt  34  are secured to the cover  33  by a sewing process, for example. Now the fixed fastening belt  34  becomes fixedly engaged with the female section  20  of the buckle. 
     In this manner the bag body  31  is provided with the adjustable fastening belt  32  having the male section  10  of the buckle adjustably engaged therewith, and the cover  33  is provided with the fixed fastening belt  34  having the female section  20  fixedly engaged therewith. Then an active length of the adjustable fastening belt  32  ranging from one end portion thereof secured on the bag body  31  to a point where the belt  32  is wound around the engagement rod  12 A is adjusted to suit to the thickness of the bag body  31  or the amount of goods within the bag at that moment. Thereafter the resilient latch arms  11  of the male section  10  are snapped into the mating recess  21  of the female section  20  to connect the both fastening belts  32  and  34  to each other. As the result the cover  33  is reliably fastened to the bag body  31  to close the bag. 
     When it is desired to open the bag or to separate the cover  33  from the bag body  31 , the resilient latch arms  11  of the male section  10  are resiliently biased toward each other. Then, they are pulled out from the mating recess  21  of the female section  20  to disconnect the adjustable fastening belt  32  and the fixed fastening belt  34  from each other. 
     The conventional buckle having the components as described above is sufficiently effective in that fastening or separating of the bag body to or from the cover can be made simply by connection or disconnection of both fastening belts. Furthermore, adjustment of said active length of the adjustable fastening belt is facilitated to suit to the amount of goods within the bag. The conventional buckle functions satisfactorily without any problem in the normal condition wherein when the male and female sections are mated together some pulling or tensile force is exerted between the adjustable fastening belt on the male section and the fixed fastening belt on the female section. 
     It has been found, however, that the conventional buckle may cause some problems in the following cases. Reference is made to FIG. 14 that is a side view partially representing the relation between the bag body  31  and the cover  33 , as illustrated in the perspective view of FIG.  13 . As is apparent in FIG. 14, when the male section  10  having the adjustable fastening belt  32  engaged therewith (with the active length adjusted) is mated to the female section  20  having the fixed fastening belt  34  engaged therewith to fasten the bag body  31  to the cover  33 , then it may happen that the engagement portion  12  of the male section  10  slightly projects beyond the bottom surface of the bag body  31  due to the thickness of the bag body  31  or the amount of the goods within the bag at that moment. In this condition, even if any pulling force indicated by an arrow “F” is applied to one end of the adjustable fastening belt  32 , such pulling force “F” may not act to oppose the pulling force on the fixed fastening belt  34 . Because of such pulling force “F” substantially perpendicular to the direction of the engagement portion  12  of the male section  10 , it may act to gradually unwind the adjustable fastening belt  32  from the engagement rod  12 A of the engagement portion  12 . Even in such condition there is no possibility that the resilient latch portion  11  of the male section  10  completely disengages from the mating recess  21  of the female section  20 . However, it may possible that the active length of the adjustable fastening belt  32  ranging from the end portion thereof secured to the bag body  31  to a point where the belt is wound around the engagement portion  12  of the male section  10  becomes gradually increased. This gradually decreases the fastening force of the cover  33  relative to the bag body  31  to such degree that there is no effective fastening force exerted. If the entire length of the adjustable fastening belt  32  is relatively short then the free end of the adjustable fastening belt  32  may completely disengage from the engagement portion  12  of the male section  10  so that the male section  10  may drop off, in the worst case. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the above one object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved buckle in order to solve the problems in the prior art. 
     To attain such object the present invention provides a buckle comprising a first section including an engagement portion for engagement with a belt-like, flexible, adjustable fastening member and a latch portion, and a second section which is structured to detachably mate with said latch portion of said first section, said engagement portion being capable of pivotally moving to said latch portion. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention said first section is a male type and said second section is a female type. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention said first section is a female type and said second section is a male type. 
     According to further embodiment of the present invention said latch portion includes pivot shafts at the opposite sides of a base portion thereof; and said engagement portion includes pivot holes for receiving said pivot shafts, whereby said pivotal movement of said engagement portion is effected about said pivot shafts and pivot holes mated to each other. 
     According to yet further embodiment of the present invention said latch portion includes pivot holes at the opposite sides of a base portion thereof; and said engagement portion includes pivot shafts for mating to said pivot holes, whereby said pivotal movement of said engagement portion is effected about said pivot shafts and pivot holes mated to each other. 
     According to yet further embodiment of the present invention said engagement portion and said latch portion are connected through a flexible thin member, whereby said pivotal movement of said engagement portion is effected about said flexible this member. 
     According to yet further embodiment of the present invention said engagement portion includes an engagement rod and a base rod; said base rod includes a tapered top surface downwardly extending toward said engagement rod; a first through-hole is formed between said base portion of the latch portion and said engagement rod; a second through-hole is formed between said engagement rod and said base rod; whereby an end portion of said adjustable fastening member is passed through said first through-hole from the back to front side, and then it is passed through said second through-hole from front to back side, so that said adjustable fastening member is wound around said engagement rod; and said adjustable fastening member is kept wound between an end portion of said tapered surface of said base portion and said engagement rod. 
     In another aspect the present invention provides a buckle comprising a first section including an engagement portion for engagement with a belt-like, flexible, fixed fastening member and a latch portion, and a second section which is structured to detachably mate with said latch portion of said first section and including an engagement portion for engagement with an adjustable fastening member, said engagement portion of said first section being capable of pivotally moving to said latch portion. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS: 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view representing a buckle according to one embodiment of the present invention when it is in mated condition; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view representing the buckle of FIG. 1 when it is in unmated condition; 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view representing a male section of the buckle of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view representing one example case where the buckle of FIG. 1 is used for a mountain-climbing bag; 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged view representing a portion encircled by a circle “A” in FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view representing another example case where the buckle of FIG. 1 is used for a sports bag; 
     FIG. 7 is an enlarged view representing a portion encircled by a circle “B” in FIG. 6; 
     FIG. 8 is a view representing the relation between an engagement portion of a male section of the buckle and an adjustable fastening belt in the condition as described with reference to FIGS. 4 to  7 ; 
     FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but representing a male section of a buckle according to another embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view representing a buckle according to further embodiment of the present invention when it is in mated condition; 
     FIG. 11 is a perspective view representing the buckle of FIG. 10 when it is in unmated condition; 
     FIG. 12 is a schematic perspective view representing a conventional buckle, by way of an example; 
     FIG. 13 is a perspective view partly representing one example case where the conventional buckle of FIG. 12 is used for a bag; and 
     FIG. 14 is a side view partially representing the relation between a bag body and a cover of the bag of FIG.  13 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Now the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to  11  of the accompanying drawings. 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view representing a buckle according to one embodiment of the present invention when it is in mated condition. FIG. 2 is a perspective view representing the buckle of FIG. 1 when it is in unmated condition. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view representing a female section of the buckle of FIG.  1 . As can be seen in FIGS. 1 to  3 , the buckle  40  in this embodiment comprises a male section  50  and a female section  60 . As is clearly shown in FIG. 2, the male section  50  includes resilient latch portion  51  at the front end thereof for detachably mating with the female section  60 . The male section  50  further includes an engagement portion  52  at the rear end thereof for adjustably engagement with a fastening belt or band for a bag. On the other hand, the female section  60  includes a mating recess  61  at the front end thereof for detachably receiving the resilient latch portion  51  of the male section  50 . The female section  60  further includes an engagement portion  62  at the rear end thereof for fixedly engagement with a fastening belt or band for the bag. 
     Referring more particularly to FIG. 3, the resilient latching portion  51  and the engagement portion  52  of the mating section  50  are formed as the separate components according to the present invention. Each of the resilient latch portion  51  and the engagement portion  52  may be integrally molded from any suitable material, such as plastic. In more detail, the resilient latch portion  51  is provided with latch arms  51 A at the opposite sides and at the front end thereof. These latch arms  51 A are arranged so that they are inwardly biased toward each other. In addition, pivot shafts  51 B are provided at the opposite sides of a base of the resilient latch portion  51 . On the other hand, the engagement portion  52  is provided with forwardly extending side arms  52 A at the opposite sides thereof. In addition, an engagement rod  52 B and a base rod  52 C are formed to connect between the side arms  52 A. The base rod  52 C is provided with a tapered top surface  52 C′ downwardly extending toward the engagement rod  52 B, and a corrugated bottom surface (not shown in the figure) for preventing any slippage of the belt. Furthermore, pivot holes  52 D are formed in the side arms  52 A at the positions near the front end thereof These pivot holes  52 D are arranged to mate with the pivot shafts  51 B on the opposite sides of the base of the resilient latch portion  51 . The side arms  52 A of the engagement portion  52  can be resiliently biased outwardly to some degree at the front ends thereof. Therefore, the engagement portion  52  can be assembled with the resilient latch portion  51  by inserting the pivot shafts  51 B into the pivot holes  52 D while biasing the front ends of the side arms  52 A slightly outwardly. 
     FIG. 2 represents the condition where the engagement portion  52  has been assembled with the resilient latch portion  51 . In this condition the engagement portion  52  can pivotally be moved freely relative to the resilient latch portion  51  about the pivot axis  51 B. Also in this condition a through-hole  52 E is produced between the base of the resilient latch portion  51  and the engagement rod  52 B. In addition a through-hole  52 F is present between the engagement rod  52 B and the base rod  52 C. 
     The female section  60  may be integrally molded from any suitable material such as plastic. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the engagement portion  62  of the female section  60  includes an engagement rod  62 A, and a through-hole  62 B present in front of the engagement rod  62 A. The engagement portion  62  further includes latch windows  61 A formed at the both sides of the mating recess  61 . Referring again to FIG. 1, in order to connect the male section  50  with the female section  60 , the resilient latch portion  51  of the male section  50  is inserted into the mating recess  61  of the female section  60  while resiliently biasing the latch arms  51 A inwardly. Then the outwardly curved portions of the latch arms  51 A become snapped into the latch windows  61 A. As the result the male section  50  and the female section  60  are securely locked and kept in place to each other. The female section  60  in this embodiment may have the same construction as that already described with reference to the prior art, and therefore, there is no need for further description of the female section  60 . 
     Now the description will be made in terms of the operation and the application of the buckle according to the embodiment as described above. 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view representing one application of the buckle  40  wherein it is used for a mountain-climbing bag. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view representing a portion encircled by a circle “A” in FIG.  4 . As is apparent in FIGS. 4 and 5, the buckle  40  is used for the mountain-climbing bag  70  having an adjustable fastening belt  72  secured at one end to a bag body  71  and a fixed fastening belt  74  secured at one end to a cover  73 . The cover  73  functions to open and close an opening of the bag body  71 . The adjustable fastening belt  72  is engaged with the buckle  40  in the following manner. The free end of the adjustable fastening belt  72  is passed through the through-hole  52 E from back to front side, and then it is passed through the through-hole  52 F from front to back side. As the result the belt  72  is wound around the engagement rod  52 B. This makes the adjustable fastening belt  72  adjustably engaged with the male section  50  of the buckle  40 . In this connection, it is important to note that, as far as some pulling force is applied to one end of the adjustable fastening belt  72  in the backward direction relative to the engagement portion  52  and in a plane substantially same as that where the engagement portion  52  exists, the adjustable fastening belt  72  can be kept wound around the engagement rod  52 B, due to the interaction produced between the engagement rod  52 B and the end portion of the downwardly extending tapered top surface  52 C′ and the corrugated bottom surface (if present) of the base rod  52 C. Therefore there is no such condition occurred that the adjustable fastening belt  72  is gradually moved and finally the free end thereof becomes dropped off the engagement portion  52 , as in the case of the prior art buckle. On the other hand, the fixed fastening belt  74  is engaged with the buckle  40  in the following manner. One end of the fixed fastening belt  74  is passed through the through-hole  62 B from front to back side so that the belt  74  is wound around the engagement rod  62 A. Thereafter, both ends of the belt  74  are secured to the cover  73  by a sewing process, for example. Then the fixed fastening belt  74  becomes fixedly engaged with the female section  60  of the buckle  40 . 
     In this manner the bag body  71  is provided with the adjustable fastening belt  72  having the male section  50  of the buckle  40  adjustably engaged therewith, and the cover  73  is provided with the fixed fastening belt  74  having the female section  60  fixedly engaged therewith. Then the active length of the adjustable fastening belt  72  ranging from one end portion thereof secured on the bag body  71  to a point where the belt  72  is wound around the engagement rod  52 B of the engagement portion  52  of the male section  50  is adjusted to suit to the thickness of the bag body  71  or the amount of goods within the bag at that time. Thereafter the latch arms  51 A of the resilient latch portion  51  of the male section  50  are snapped into the mating recess  61  of the female section  60  to connect the both fastening belts  72  and  74  to each other. As the result the cover  73  is reliably fastened to the bag body  71  to close the bag. 
     When it is desired to open the bag or to separate the cover  73  from the bag body  71 , the latch arms  51 A of the resilient latch portion  51  of the male section  50  are resiliently inwardly biased toward each other. Then, they are disengaged from the latch windows  61 A and pulled out from the mating recess  61  of the female section  60  to disconnect the adjustable fastening belt  72  and the fixed fastening belt  74  from each other. 
     FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view representing another application of the buckle  40  wherein it is used for a sports bag. FIG. 7 is an enlarged view representing a portion encircled by a circle “B” in FIG.  6 . As is apparent in FIGS. 6 and 7, the buckle  40  is used for the sports bag  30  having an adjustable fastening belt  32  secured at one end to a bag body  31  and a fixed fastening belt  34  secured at one end to a cover  33 . The cover  33  functions to open and close an opening of the bag body  31 . The fastening belt  32  and  34  are engaged with the buckle  40  in the following manner. The free end of the adjustable fastening belt  32  is passed through the through-hole  52 E from back to front side, and then it is passed through the through-hole  52 F from front to back side. As the result the belt  32  is wound around the engagement rod  52 B. This makes the adjustable fastening belt  32  adjustably engaged with the male section  50  of the buckle  40 . On the other hand, one end of the fixed fastening belt  34  is passed through the through-hole  62 B from front to back side so that the belt  34  is wound around the engagement rod  62 A. Thereafter, both ends of the belt  34  are secured to the cover  33  by a sewing process, for example. Then the fixed fastening belt  34  becomes fixedly engaged with the female section  60  of the buckle  40 . 
     In this manner the bag body  31  is provided with the adjustable fastening belt  32  having the male section  50  of the buckle  40  adjustably engaged therewith, and the cover  33  is provided with the fixed fastening belt  34  having the female section  60  fixedly engaged therewith. Then the active length of the adjustable fastening belt  32  ranging from one end portion thereof secured on the bag body  31  to a point where the belt  72  is wound around the engagement rod  52 B of the engagement portion  52  of the male section  50  is adjusted to suit to the thickness of the bag body  31  or the amount of goods within the bag at that time. Thereafter the latch arms  51 A of the resilient latch portion  51  of the male section  50  are snapped into the mating recess  61  of the female section  60  to connect the both fastening belts  32  and  34  to each other. As the result the cover  33  is reliably fastened to the bag body  31  to close the bag. 
     When it is desired to open the bag or to separate the cover  33  from the bag body  31 , the latch arms  51 A of the resilient latch portion  51  of the male section  50  are resiliently inwardly biased toward each other. Then, they are disengaged from the latch windows  61 A and pulled out from the mating recess  61  of the female section  60  to disconnect the adjustable fastening belt  32  and the fixed fastening belt  34  from each other. 
     In the embodiment as shown FIGS. 4 and 5, when the male section  50  having the adjustable fastening belt  72  engaged therewith (with the active length adjusted) is mated to the female section  60  having the fixed fastening belt  74  engaged therewith to fasten the bag body  71  to the cover  73 , then it may happen that the engagement portion  52  of the male section  50  slightly projects beyond the side surface of the bag body  71  due to the thickness of the bag body  71  or the amount of the goods within the bag body  71 . In similar manner, in the embodiment as shown FIGS. 6 and 7, when the male section  50  having the adjustable fastening belt  32  engaged therewith (with the active length adjusted) is mated to the female section  60  having the fixed fastening belt  74  engaged therewith to fasten the bag body  31  to the cover  33 , then it may also possible that the engagement portion  52  of the male section  50  slightly projects beyond the bottom surface of the bag body  31  due to the thickness of the bag body  31  or the amount of the goods within the bag body  31 . In such condition, however, the buckle  40  of the present invention does not produce any problems at all due to the construction of the buckle as described above. 
     The reason for which will be described hereunder. FIG. 8 is a schematic view representing the relation between the engagement portion  52  of the male section  50  of the buckle  40  and the adjustable fastening belt  72  or  32  under the condition as described above with reference to FIGS. 4,  5  and FIGS. 6,  7 . In such condition, even if any pulling force indicated by an arrow “F” is applied to one end of the adjustable fastening belt  72  or  32 , such pulling force “F” may not act to oppose the pulling force on the fixed fastening belt  74  or  34 . However, such pulling force “F” is substantially perpendicular to the direction of the engagement portion  52  of the male section  50 . Therefore, the engagement portion  52  is subjected to this pulling force “F” through a portion of the adjustable fastening belt  32  that is wound around the engagement rod  52 B. As the result the engagement portion  52  is pivotally moved in clockwise about the pivot axis  51 B, as shown in FIG.  8 . Such pivotal movement of the engagement portion  52  can put the force “F” in a plane substantially same as that where the engagement portion  52  is present. Accordingly the adjustable fastening belt  72  or  32  can be kept firmly wound around the engagement rod  52 B of the engagement portion  52 , thereby preventing the belt  72  or  32  from gradually unwinding. 
     FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but representing a male section of a buckle according to another embodiment of the present invention. The male section of the buckle in this embodiment has substantially same construction as that of FIG. 1, and therefore, the components corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are indicated by the same reference numerals, and only difference therebetween will be described hereunder. The male section  50  in the embodiment in FIG. 1 includes the pivot shafts  51 B at the opposite sides of the base of the resilient latch portion  51  and the pivot holes  52 D in the side arms  52 A of the engagement portion  52 , as described above. In contrast thereto, the male section  50  in the embodiment in FIG. 9 includes pivot holes  51 C at the opposite sides of the base of the resilient latch portion  51  and pivot shafts  52 H on the side arms  52 A of the engagement portion  52 . The pivot shafts  52 H on the engagement portion  52  are mated to the pivot holes  51 C in the base of the resilient latch portion  51  to couple the engagement portion  52  to the resilient latch portion  51 . Therefore the engagement portion  52  is made freely pivotally moved to the resilient latch portion  51 , thereby providing the same effect as described above. In this embodiment the pivot shafts  52 H are each provided on inner surfaces of both side arms  52 A, but the present invention is not limited to such construction. Alternatively the pivot shafts  52 H may be replaced with only one pin spanned across the both side arms  52 A. 
     In the embodiments as described above the pivotally moved engagement portion is provided on the male section of the buckle. However, the present invention is not limited to such construction and such pivotally moved engagement portion may be provided on the female section of the buckle. In addition, means for pivotally moving the engagement portion relative to the resilient latch portion is not limited to the combination of pivot shaft and pivot hole as described above, but it may include a hinge or other well known means. Furthermore, in the embodiment as described above, the resilient latch portion and the engagement portion pivotally moved thereto are each molded independently as the discrete components. However, the present invention can also cover such construction that the resilient latch portion and the engagement portion are integrally molded as one unit in which they are connected through a flexible thin bride portion about which the resilient latch portion is pivotally moved relative to the engagement portion. 
     FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view representing a buckle according to further embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a view representing the buckle of FIG. 10, but in such condition that male and female sections are separated. The buckle  80  in this embodiment comprises a male section  90  and a female section  100 . In this embodiment the male section  90  includes an engagement portion  92  for an adjustable fastening belt and an resilient latch portion  91  having latch arms  91 A, both of which portions are integrally molded. Therefore the engagement portion  92  is fixedly connected with the resilient latch portion  91  so that they are not pivotally moved to each other  91 . The male section  90  is substantially identical in construction to that of the conventional buckle, as described with reference to FIG.  12 . Accordingly no further description for the male section  90  will be made here. On the other hand, the female section  100  includes an engagement portion  102  for a fixed fastening belt that can be pivotally moved relative to a mating portion  103  having a recess  101  for receiving the resilient latch portion  91  of the male section  80 . The mating portion  103  includes latch windows  101 A at the opposite sides thereof, both of which windows communicating with the recess  101 . When mating the male section  90  to the female section  100 , the latch arms  91 A of the male section  90  are snapped into the latch windows  101 A so that the male and female sections can be keep connected. The way of pivotally moving the engagement portion  102  to the mating portion  103  may be same as that already described with reference to FIGS. 1 to  3  and  9 , and therefore, no further description will be made here. 
     As compared to the buckle  40 , as already described with reference to FIGS. 1 to  9 , the buckle  80  in this embodiment has different construction in that the engagement portion  92  of the male section  90  is not pivotally moved. But, instead, the engagement portion  102  of the female section  100  is pivotally moved. However, such construction of the buckle  80  can still provide the same advantages as those for the buckle  40  in FIGS. 1 to  9 . 
     In addition, in the buckle  80 , the engagement portion  92  of the male section  90  is used for engagement with the adjustable fastening belt and the engagement portion  102  of the female section  100  is for engagement with the fixed fastening belt. However the buckle  80  may have the inverse arrangement in which the engagement portion  92  of the male section  90  is used for engagement with the fixed fastening belt and the engagement portion  102  of the female section  100  is for engagement with the adjustable fastening belt. In this case the engagement portion  92  of the male section  90  may be pivotally moved. 
     It is apparent from the foregoing that the present invention provides a new and improved buckle in which, irrespective of the direction of a pulling force applied to one end of an adjustable fastening belt engaged with the buckle, no such condition can be produced that the adjustable fastening belt is gradually loosened so that it is finally dropped off the buckle. Accordingly the buckle of the present invention can always maintain better fastened condition for a bag, irrespective of the thickness of the bag that is fastened by use of the buckle.