Magnetic key holder assembly and method

Abstract

A magnetic key holder assembly for securing a key holder within a receptacle such as a purse or bag, the magnetic key holder assembly having a first magnet internally positioned on a wall of the receptacle and a second magnet externally positioned on the wall of the receptacle and magnetically attached to the first magnet, wherein the key holder is detachably connected to the first magnet within the receptacle.

Description

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Claims

1. A magnetic key holder assembly for securing keys within a receptacle, the assembly comprising:

a first magnet removably attachable to an internal portion of a wall of a receptacle;

a second magnet removably attachable to an external portion of the wall of the receptacle; and

a key holder constructed of a material which is magnetically attachable to and selectively detachable from the first magnet; and wherein

the first magnet and second magnet are positioned on opposite sides of the wall of the receptacle and each is magnetically adhered to the other to form a magnetic assembly and wherein the key holder is magnetically attachable to and detachable from the first magnet of the magnetic assembly by pulling the key holder away from the first magnet.

2. The magnetic key holder assembly of claim 1 wherein the second magnet is characterized as having a decorative appearance on at least an outer side thereof.

3. The magnetic key holder assembly of claim 1 further comprising a decorative item for providing the second magnet with a decorative appearance when the second magnet is attached to the external portion of the wall of the receptacle.

4. The magnetic key holder assembly of claim 1 wherein the receptacle is selected from the group consisting of purses, bags, hand bags, carry on bags, suitcases, cases, backpacks, shoulder bags, fanny packs, hip packs, kits, valises, carpetbags, grips, grip sacks, wallets, pocketbooks, day bags, drawstring bags, tote bags, briefcases, beach bags, diaper bags, coats, shirts and clothing.

5. A method of securing a key holder within a receptacle, comprising the steps of:

providing a receptacle having a wall;

providing a first magnet;

providing a second magnet;

positioning the first magnet on an internal portion of the wall of the receptacle and positioning the second magnet on external portion or the wall of the receptacle in a position opposite the first magnet whereby the first magnet and second magnet magnetically adhere to each other and thereby form a magnetic assembly which is detachably secured upon the wall of the receptacle so the magnet assembly can be readily repositioned relative to the receptacle;

providing a key holder having a magnetically attractive portion; and

magnetically attaching the magnetically attractive portion of the key holder to the first magnet of the magnetic assembly which is internally disposed within the receptacle thereby detachably connecting the key holder within the confines of the receptacle.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising providing a decorative item for the second magnet such that the second magnet is provided with a decorative appearance when the second magnet is attached to the external portion of the wall of the receptacle.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein in the step of providing the second magnet, the second magnet has a decorative appearance which is different from an appearance of the first magnet.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein in the step of providing the receptacle, the receptacle is selected from the group consisting of purses, bags, hand bags, carry on bags, suitcases, cases, backpacks, shoulder bags, fanny packs, hip packs, kits, valises, carpetbags, grips, grip sacks, wallets pocketbooks, day bags, drawstring bags, tote bags, briefcases, beach bags, diaper bags, coats, shirts and other pieces of clothing.