SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A DETACHABLE BUTTON
A detachable button system has a fixed base component permanently attached to a garment and a detachable button component. The base and the detachable button components each have cooperating attachment elements that allow the components when assembled to function as a button. The button component may be easily detached by the user, and replaced with a different button component. The attachment elements may be a mateable combination of a slotted abutment cylinder and cooperating pin catch, a mateable combination of a threaded cylinder and threaded pin, or the like. The base component may have a disc or shank which can be sewn or otherwise attached to the garment.
This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of provisional application No. 61/904,136, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELDThis invention relates generally to button fasteners on articles of clothing which may be easily attached and detached from the article.
BACKGROUNDThis invention relates generally to button fasteners on articles of clothing which may be easily attached and detached from the article.
Some articles of clothing may require a significant investment of resources, for example, a blazer or jacket. Often, an owner of a blazer or jacket may enjoy wearing it with a type of button for some occasions or venues that is not desirable for other occasions or venues. For example, gold or silver buttons on the blazer might be preferred at some times, while wood or bone buttons might be preferred at other times.
It is well known that buttons are conventionally sewn to articles of clothing using thread or something similar. This type of attachment tends to be permanent, however, and at the very least, does not allow the buttons to be easily changeable. Some garment owners may lack the sewing skill needed to change conventionally sewn buttons. Even if the owner has sewing skills, the task of removing and replacing buttons is time-consuming, and repeated sewing at the site of the button may damage the fabric. Inability to change buttons at will can thus limit the versatility and use of an article of clothing.
Thus, there is a need in the prior art for a system and method for providing a button that can easily be attached and detached from an article of clothing.
SUMMARYAccording to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a detachable button system having a fixed or permanent component permanently or semi-permanently attached or fastened to a garment or other article, and at least one detachable component that is normally securely attached to the fixed component. The fixed component has a first attachment element. The detachable component has a second attachment element adapted to cooperate or mate with the first attachment element to allow any of the detachable components to be easily detached from, or attached to, the fixed component, without additional sewing or other permanent attachment steps. The detachable components may have the general shape of the outer-facing part of conventional buttons, including ornamentation. Thus, a detachable component having a first ornamental appearance, can be detached from the fixed component, and another detachable component having a different ornamental appearance, attached to the fixed component, providing the effect of changing buttons, without the need for sewing or another permanent attachment step.
According to an aspect of the invention, the fixed component is realized as a base plate fastened to an article of clothing; the detachable component is realized as a button; the first attachment element is realized as an abutment cylinder extending from the base plate; the second attachment element is realized as a pin extending from the button and adapted to receive the abutment cylinder. Arms extend radially from the pin to form a pin catch; an opposed pair of J-shaped slots in the abutment cylinder receive the pin catch. In operation, to install the button, the pin is inserted into the abutment cylinder to stop points at the short end of the J-shaped slots. A spring in the abutment cylinder opposes insertion of the pin therein. Islands formed by the curves of the J-shaped slots cooperate with the spring pressure to form a detent which keeps the pin catch secured against the stop points. To remove the button, the button is pushed down toward the base plate and twisted slightly to push the pin catch past the islands into the long part of the J-shaped slots, whereby the button can be raised and the pin and pin catch is released from the abutment cylinder.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the fixed component is realized as a shank portion to which an abutment cylinder, as previously described, is attached and from which it extends. The shank portion is fastened to an article of clothing, e.g. by sewing.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the abutment cylinder is threaded, and the pin is correspondingly threaded so that it may be screwed into the abutment cylinder.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the first attachment element is be realized either as one of an abutment cylinder or a pin with a pin-catch, and the second attachment element is realized as the other one of the abutment cylinder or pin with the pin catch.
Features of example implementations of the invention will become apparent from the description, the claims, and the accompanying drawings in which:
The fixed component 120 has a base element 122 and a first attachment element 124 extending therefrom. The base element 122 is permanently or semi-permanently attached or fastened to a garment or other article 160 (hereafter, “garment” is intended to refer to a garment, cloth, or other flat article with which a button may be used) by any appropriate attachment or fastening means, such as thread 128 sewn through holes or slots 126 or around appropriate tabs or shanks of the base element 122. The base element 122 could also or instead be attached or fastened to garment 160 using staples, crimped claws or other parts of the base element, or using an adhesive, glue, weld, or similar bond 130, or any other appropriate fastening.
The detachable component 140, which may be considered the “button”, has an button head element 142 facing away or outward from garment 160 and a second attachment element 144 adapted to cooperate or mate with the first attachment element 124 to allow any of the detachable components 140 to be easily detached from, or attached to, the fixed component 120, without additional sewing or other permanent attachment steps.
The detachable components 140 may have the general shape of the outer-facing part of conventional buttons, including ornamentation. Where the button system 100 is to be used as a closure, the button head element 142 preferably has a diameter larger than that of the attachment elements 124 and 144 so that the button head element 142 may interfere or capture the portion of a garment (not shown) surrounding a button hole or slot therein.
Thus, a detachable component 140 having a first ornamental appearance, can be detached from the fixed component 120, and another detachable component having a different ornamental appearance, attached to the fixed component 120, providing the effect of changing buttons, without the need for sewing or another permanent attachment step.
An embodiment 200 of a detachable button system as generally described in connection with
The detachable button system 200 includes two portions, one 210 that is permanently attached to an article of clothing, and another 410 that may be attached and detached as desired. The permanent portion 210 is best seen in
Base plate 212 includes a number of holes 216 through which thread or similar material can pass for the purposes of attaching base plate 212 to the underside or topside of fabric or other material 610 (See
Element 214 is an abutment cylinder. The abutment cylinder 214 has a set of J-shaped slots 218. One slot 218 is shown in
The detachable or button portion of the embodiment 200 the detachable button system is best seen in
Button portion 410 may be used with the permanent portion 210 of
The underside of a button part of the detachable portion 410 is indicated at 422. Pin 414 extends perpendicularly from the underside of the button and includes a pin catch 416 on either side of pin 414. The pin catches 416 extend slightly further out from the width of abutment cylinder 214 (
In this view, detachable button portion 410 having pin 414 is pushed downward into abutment cylinder 214. Surplus portion 420 of pin 414 extends below the slots in abutment cylinder 214, thereby compressing spring 222 and causing pin catches 416 to press against the top of stop points 220 element 15 of
There is shown in
There is shown in
As best seen in
Comparing the features of the detachable button system 100 of
The base plate 1122 is preferably attached to a garment or other article 1198 (
Attachment pin 1144 of the detachable button component 1140 comprises a trunk or body portion 1152 having an end at 1154. The abutment cylinder 1124 of the permanent or fixed portion 1120 forms an opening 1180 (
In operation, when the detachable button component 1140 is installed on the permanent or fixed portion 1120, the pin catch arms 1156 are received in the pin capture slots 1170 and travel longitudinally therealong, until the arms 1156 reach the bottom of the “J” shaped slots. The detachable button component 1140 is rotated or twisted to cause the arms 1156 to travel along slots at the base of the “J” to reach the truncated longitudinal sections thereof, and then allowed to travel longitudinally upward therealong, away from the base plate 1122, to rest at the stop locations 1172. Pressure from the spring 1194 keeps the arms 1156 at the stop locations 1172, and the shape of the material of abutment cylinder 1124 forms an interfering ridge that prevents the arms from rotating away from the stop locations 1172 absent pressure to overcome the spring 1194.
In order to release or detach the detachable button component 1140, the user may depress the button to overcome pressure from the spring 1194 to push the pin catch arms 1156 to the base of the “J”-shaped slots, and then rotate the arms 1156 to reach the open portions of slots 1170, whereby the detachable button component 1140 may be released.
Spring 1194 may be realized using any appropriate spring or other resilient component, such as a coil spring, leaf spring, resilient foam, or other resilient material. Spring 1194 could also be a torsion spring; the end 1154 of pin 1144 could be modified to engage spring 1194 such that it resists the rotation of the pin catch arms 1156 necessary to release the arms from the abutment cylinder pin capture slots 1170.
Although embodiment 1100 is described herein as comprising two abutment cylinder pin capture slots 1170 and two pin catch arms 1156, some other number of slots and arms could also be used. Other shapes could also be used for the pin capture slots 1170, and arms 1156 and slots 1170 could be modified in complementary ways so that the detachable button component 1140 may accept and detachably retain the permanent or fixed portion 1120 in an assembled configuration.
There is shown in
Embodiments of the detachable button systems disclosed herein could be constructed of any appropriate materials, including metals, plastics, resins, wood, bone, and the like. Components may be manufactured using any appropriate manufacturing methods, including stamping, molding, machining, 3-D printing, and the like.
Each of the embodiments of detachable button systems disclosed herein provide user-operable attachment and detachment of a button component from a component fixed or permanently attached to a garment or article. The button component can be attached or detached without damaging the the fixed or permanent component and without damaging the garment or article. Moreover, the button component can be detached and replaced with a different button component to vary the appearance or function of the garment or article.
The drawings herein are intended to depict the general arrangement and operation of components. Modifications to the shapes and relative sizes may be appropriate for commercial embodiments, and in particular, it may be desirable to reduce the relative dimension of commercial embodiments along the longitudinal axes thereof, or in the direction normal to the plane of the garments or articles with which the detachable button systems are used.
Although example implementations of the invention have been depicted and described in detail herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art that various modifications, additions, substitutions, and the like can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and these are therefore considered to be within the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
Claims
1. A detachable button system comprising:
- a first portion adapted for permanent attachment to an article of clothing;
- a second button-shaped portion;
- said first portion having a cylindrical member;
- said second portion having a pin;
- said cylindrical member having an open end, said open end adapted to receive said pin therein to effect attachment of said first portion to said second portion;
- said first and second attachment elements being adapted to permit detachment of said second portion from said first portion.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
- said cylindrical member has at least one slot;
- said pin has at least one arm extending therefrom; and
- said at least one slot is adapted to receive said at least one arm to effect said attachment of said first portion to said second portion.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said at least one slot is a J-shaped slot extending along said cylindrical member.
4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said at least one slot is a J-shaped slot having a first section extending along said cylindrical member from said open end;
- said slot having a second curved section connected to said first section;
- said slot having a third section connected to said second section opposite the first section and extending along said cylindrical member;
- said slot and said arm being adapted to allow said arm to travel through said first section and said second section into the third section;
- and further comprising a spring adapted to oppose movement of said pin when said arm is located in said third section.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said cylindrical member has threads, and said pin has threads for engaging said threads of said cylindrical member.
6. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said cylindrical member has two slots and said pin has two arms, each of said slots being adapted to receive one of said arms to effect said attachment of said first portion to said second portion.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first portion has a disc shaped base, and said cylindrical member extends perpendicular to said base.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first portion has a disc shaped base having a plurality of apertures;
- and said base is adapted for attachment to an article of clothing by sewing through said apertures.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first portion has a shank having at least one aperture;
- said shank being adapted for attachment to an article of clothing by sewing through said at least one aperture.
10. A detachable button system comprising:
- a first portion adapted for permanent attachment to an article of clothing;
- a second button-shaped portion;
- said first portion having a first attachment element;
- said second portion having a second attachment element;
- said first and second attachment elements adapted to effect attachment of said first portion to said second portion;
- said first and second attachment elements adapted to permit detachment of said second portion from said first portion.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said first attachment element is an abutment cylinder extending from said first portion.
12. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said second attachment element is a pin extending from said second portion.
13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said second attachment element is a pin; and said abutment cylinder has an open end adapted to receive said pin.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein:
- said abutment cylinder further comprises at least one slot extending from said open end;
- said pin further comprises at least one arm extending from the pin;
- and said slot is adapted to receive said arm as said pin is received in the open end of said abutment cylinder.
15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein:
- said abutment cylinder further comprises threads on a surface thereof;
- said pin further comprises threads on a surface thereof;
- and threads of said abutment cylinder are adapted to engage said threads of said pin to effect attachment of said first portion and said second portion.
16. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said first attachment element is a a pin extending from said first portion.
17. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said second attachment element is an abutment cylinder extending from said second portion.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said first attachment element is a pin extending from said first portion; and said abutment cylinder has an open end adapted to receive said pin.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein:
- said abutment cylinder further comprises at least one slot extending from said open end;
- said pin further comprises at least one arm extending from the pin;
- and said slot is adapted to receive said arm as said pin is received in the open end of said abutment cylinder.
20. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein:
- said abutment cylinder further comprises threads on a surface thereof;
- said pin further comprises threads on a surface thereof;
- and threads of said abutment cylinder are adapted to engage said threads of said pin to effect attachment of said first portion and said second portion.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 13, 2014
Publication Date: May 14, 2015
Inventor: Timothy J. Ryan (Chicago, IL)
Application Number: 14/540,850
International Classification: A44B 1/14 (20060101); A44B 1/20 (20060101);