Patent Document

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
     CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     Not applicable.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to magnetic key holding assemblies and more particularly to, but not limited to, magnetic key holding assemblies for attaching to a wall of a receptacle such as a purse or bag.  
         [0003]     A well known problem of users of receptacles such as purses, hand bags, and the like is the tendency of key chains or key rings to become lost or hidden amongst the various contents carried within such receptacles. The keys and key holder often work their way down to the bottom of the receptacle where they become difficult to locate, particularly in the dark or when the user is in the most hurry or need thereof.  
         [0004]     Various attempts have been made in the past to make a key holding assembly which attaches the key holder to a portion of the bag thus making it easy to locate within a bag, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,978,902 and 4,940,250. However, both assemblies suffer from the fact that they must attach the key holder to a specific, non-movable object or location within the bag or purse and thus the user cannot easily adjust the position where the key holder is secured within the bag or purse. Moreover, the prior methods use components which must be physically secured or permanently attached to an inner portion of the bag such as by stitching or an adhesive.  
         [0005]     Accordingly, previous approaches to providing convenient and flexible assemblies of methods for locating key holders within bags or purses have significant shortcomings and disadvantages. It is the objective of the present invention to overcome these shortcomings and disadvantages and provide a versatile key holding assembly for various types of receptacles. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]      FIG. 1  is a partially cutaway, rear perspective view illustrating an interior wall of a hand bag having a magnetic assembly and a key holder supported thereon constructed in accordance with of the present invention.  
         [0007]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating an outer wall of the hand bag of  FIG. 1  having the magnetic assembly of the present invention supported thereon and magnetic assembly of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0008]      FIG. 3  is a fragmental cross-sectional view of a hand bag showing the magnetic assembly and key holder of the present invention in an exploded view.  
         [0009]      FIG. 4  is a fragmental cross-sectional view of a hand bag having the magnetic assembly of the present invention attached to a wall of the hand bag.  
         [0010]      FIG. 5  is a fragmental cross-sectional view of the magnetic assembly of the present invention showing an alternate embodiment of a key holder for use with the magnetic assembly of the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 6  is a fragmental cross-sectional view of the magnetic assembly of the present invention showing yet another embodiment of a key holder for use with the magnetic assembly of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 7  is fragmental a cross-sectional view of the magnetic assembly of the present invention having a decorative item externally attached to a portion of the magnetic assembly disposed on an outside of a wall of the hand bag. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0013]     Referring now to the drawing, and more particularly to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , shown therein as a receptacle  10  having a magnetic assembly  12  attached to a wall  14  of the receptacle  10 . The receptacle  10  may be any device used to manually carry objects including, but not limited to, purses, bags, hand bags, carry on bags, suitcases, cases, backpacks, shoulder bags, fanny packs, hip packs, kits, valises, carpetbags, grips, gripsacks, wallets, pocketbooks, day bags, drawstring bags, tote bags, briefcases, beach bags, diaper bags, coats, shirts, and other pieces of clothing. The wall  14  is generally constructed of a material such as leather, fabric, polymer, or any other material known in the art which may be used in the construction of a receptacle.  
         [0014]     The magnetic assembly  12  includes an internal magnet  16  (also referred to herein as a first magnet) and an external magnet  18  (also referred to herein as a second magnet), each of which is magnetically attractive to the other. The internal magnet  16  has a front side  20  and a back side  22  and the external magnet  18  has a front side  24  and a back side  26  ( FIG. 3 ). In use the internal magnet  16  is placed inside the receptacle  10  and the back side  22  of the internal magnet  16  is placed against an inner surface  28  of the wall  14 . The external magnet  18  is then placed adjacent an outer surface  30  of the wall  14  opposite the internal magnet  16  such that the external magnet  18  magnetically engages the internal magnet  16  whereby the internal magnet  16  and external magnet  18  each engage a portion of the wall  14  therebetween and press against and secure each other to the wall  14  of the receptacle  10 , thereby forming the magnetic assembly  12  as shown in  FIGS. 1, 2  and  4 . More than one magnetic assembly  12  may be used with a single receptacle  10 , for example as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  wherein two magnetic assemblies  12  are shown with the receptacle  10 . The magnetic assembly  12  can be moved anywhere upon the wall  14  of the receptacle  10  of any other wall of the receptacle  10  simply by separating the internal magnet  16  or the external magnet  18  from the wall  14 , repositioning the internal magnet  16  and external magnet  18  on another portion of the wall  14  or any other wall of the receptacle  10 , and magnetically reconnecting the magnets  16  and  18  as before. Preferably the magnetic assembly  12  is positioned near an upper end  32  of the receptacle  10  as indicated in  FIGS. 1 and 2  but it will be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art that the magnetic assembly  12  can be positioned anywhere on or in the receptacle  10  desired by the user as long as the magnetic assembly  12  is capable of operating in the manner described herein. For example, the magnetic assembly  12  may be located upon an inner wall (not shown) within the receptacle  10 .  
         [0015]     As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the magnetic assembly  12  is used to hold a key holder  40  at a specified position within the receptacle  10 , so that the key holder  40  can be relatively easily located and removed from the receptacle  10  by observing the location of the external magnet  18  on the wall  14  of the receptacle  10 . In fact, this is a particular advantage of the present invention since unlike prior art key attaching devices, the external magnet  18  of the present invention enables a user to quickly find the key holder  40 , even in dark conditions by feeling the location of the external magnet  18  on the outer surface  30  of the wall  14  of the receptacle  10 .  
         [0016]     In a preferred embodiment, the key holder  40  as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  includes a key ring  42 , one or more keys  44 , and a tab  46  constructed of steel, or any material having ferrous particles or magnetic properties, such as a flexible magnetic tape with adhesive backing. The key ring  42  is preferably constructed of a metal containing iron, such as steel, or any other material used by those of ordinary skill in the art to construct key rings. The key holder  40  may optionally have a chain, fob, charm, or other decorative or functional device disposed thereon. The key ring  42  may also be a chain, wherein the key ring  42  is a key chain. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the tab  46  of the key holder  40  is magnetically attached to the internal magnet  16  of the magnetic assembly  12  when in use.  
         [0017]     Preferably, the outer surface  30  of the external magnet  18  has a decorative appearance which may include, but is not limited to, a decorative color, logo, trademark, engraving, shape, form, pattern, attachment or cover.  
         [0018]     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5 , a key holder  48  is constructed of a key ring  50 , similar to key rings described previously herein, which is connected, such as by sodering, welding and the like, welded to a steel tab  52 . Further, the key ring  50  is depicted as having at least one key  54  disposed thereon.  
         [0019]     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 6 , a key holder  56  which includes a key ring  58  as described elsewhere herein, and preferably constructed of steel, is illustrated as having a key  60  disposed thereon. The key ring  58  is magnetically connected to the internal magnet  16  without using a tab as herein before described with reference to the key holder  40  ( FIG. 4 ) and the key holder  48  ( FIG. 5 ).  
         [0020]     In the embodiment of the magnetic assembly  12  shown in  FIG. 7 , the magnetic assembly  12  includes the internal magnet  16 , and the external magnet  18  magnetically adhered to the wall  14  of the receptacle  10 . A key holder  62  is attached to the internal magnet  16 . Further, a decorative item  64  is attached to the external magnet  18  for providing a decorative appearance to the external magnet  18 . The decorative item  64  may be adhesively attached, clipped or snapped on, pulled over, magnetically attached to, painted on or attached to the external magnet  18  in any other manner known in the art. The decorative item  64  may be, for example, a plate or medallion made from a magnetically attractive material such as steel. The decorative item  64  may simply be a piece of fabric adhesively attached to the external magnet  18 . Preferably, the decorative item  64  is removable so that the appearance of the external magnet  18  can be changed when desired, for example, to match the decorative aspect of the receptacle  10  with which the magnetic assembly  12  is used.  
         [0021]     While the invention has been described herein in connection with certain embodiments so that aspects thereof may be more fully understood and appreciated, it is not intended to limit the invention to these particular embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Thus, the examples described herein, which include preferred embodiments, will serve to illustrate the practice of this invention, it being understood that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of preferred embodiments of the present invention only and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of procedures as well as of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention.  
         [0022]     Changes may be made in the construction and the operation of the various components, elements and assemblies described herein or in the steps or the sequence of steps of the methods described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Technology Category: 4