REMOVABLY MOUNTED FASTENING COMPONENTS
The invention is directed to fastening components that may be adjusted or removed. In particular, the invention is directed to an apparatus including a head and an elongated member coupled to the head, the elongated member being configured to be removably received by a fastener.
Button and hook fasteners have long been used to secure materials such as fabrics, for example, denim, cotton, nylon, canvas, etc., in various configurations. They are used, for example, with pants, skirts, coats, shirts, and many other items of clothing. Often, a button can be used to secure one section of fabric together with another section of fabric. Such a configuration is used often to secure, for example, the waist portion of a skirt or pair of pants, or the front center portion of a coat or dress shirt.
An individual may find an article of clothing to be too tight or too loose at a buttoned or hooked section of the article of clothing. It is often the case that if the button or hook were moved a short distance, the individual would find the article of clothing to be of a better fit. The process of altering the position of a button or hook fastener conventionally entails the disassembly of the fastening configuration, followed by re-assembly at a different position on the fabric. This is usually a time-consuming process for an individual, whether the individual chooses to perform the process directly, or find a professional tailor to make the alteration. In addition, as an individual potentially decreases or increases in size (e.g., by losing or gaining weight) after the initial alteration, this conventional method becomes even more burdensome. Furthermore, certain fastening configurations are not conducive to the conventional method of altering fasteners. For example, denim clothing commonly uses attaching machines to attach buttons to the denim, resulting in permanent attachments that are difficult and impractical to remove.
Another conventional method for coping with a slightly misfitted pant or skirt is the usage of a belt around the waist portion of the pant or skirt. This method, however, has the limitation of being of use only when the pant or skirt is fitted too loosely on an individual. A belt is made only to further tighten a fit, and is incapable of loosening a fit. Further, a belt may not be stylistically desirable with certain outfits, or for certain individuals in general.
Hence, it is desirable to have a solution without the above-described disadvantages.
The invention is directed to fastening components that may be adjusted or removed. In particular, the invention is directed to an apparatus including a head and an elongated member coupled to the head, the elongated member being configured to be removably received by a fastener.
Referring to
Referring to
Another embodiment of a first fastening component 200B is illustrated in
Another embodiment of a first fastening component 500 is shown in
Although the above embodiments are described and illustrated in the context of fashion, the scope of the invention extends to other applications where such functions are useful. Furthermore, while the foregoing description has been put forth with reference to particular embodiments of the invention, it will be appreciated that these are only illustrative of the invention and that changes may be made to those embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Claims
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a head;
- an elongated member coupled to the head, the elongated member being configured to be removably received by a fastener.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the elongated member is configured to be manually attachable to the fastener.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the elongated member includes an indentation disposed between opposing ends of the elongated member.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the elongated member is configured to manually puncture fabric.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the elongated member includes a sharp tip.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the elongated member is configured to be received by fabric including at least one pre-manufactured opening.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the elongated member comprises at least one thread.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an offset disposed between the head and the elongated member.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the offset comprises a flange disposed at an end of the offset.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
- a fastener configured to removably hold the elongated member.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the fastener comprises a clasp.
12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the fastener comprises a clutch.
13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the fastener comprises at least one groove to receive a thread of the elongated member.
14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the head comprises a button.
15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the head comprises decorative features.
16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the head resembles a sewn button.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 21, 2007
Publication Date: Jun 25, 2009
Inventor: Hanh Contey (San Jose, CA)
Application Number: 11/963,556
International Classification: A44B 9/12 (20060101); A44B 9/10 (20060101);