US20040134044A1

US20040134044A1 - Buckle for hair binder

Info

Publication number: US20040134044A1
Application number: US10/338,862
Authority: US
Inventors: Kai-Mou Tsai
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-01-09
Filing date: 2003-01-09
Publication date: 2004-07-15

Abstract

A buckle formed of a male buckle member and a female buckle member for joining the ends of a cord member to form a hair binder is disclosed. Each buckle member has an internally threaded rear stub tube and a mounting ring suspended in the rear stub tube for the mounting of any of a variety of cord members.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a hair binder for arranging the hair and, more specifically, to a buckle for hair binder.

2. Description of the Related Art

U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 09/033,952 discloses a hair binder invented by the present inventor. This structure of hair binder is comprised of a cord member, and a quick-release hook for joining the ends of the cord member. The quick-release hook is comprised of a male member and a female member. The male member is comprised of a first hook block and a second hook block respectively injection-molded from plastics. The first hook block and the second hook block each have a springy hook at one end, plug rods and plug holes at an inner side. The first hook block and the second hook block are fastened together by plugging the plug rods of one hook block into the plug holes on the other hook block. The female member is comprised of a first receptacle block and a second receptacle block respectively injection-molded from plastics. The first receptacle block and the second receptacle block each have a coupling portion at one end for engagement with the springy hooks of the male member, a release control press portion behind the coupling portion for pressing by hand to disengage the coupling portion from the springy hooks of the male member, plug rods and plug holes at an inner side. The first receptacle block and the second receptacle block are fastened together by plugging the plug rods of one receptacle block into the plug holes on the other receptacle block. This structure of hair binder still has small drawbacks. Because the male member is comprised of a first hook block and a second hook block and the female member is comprised of two receptacle blocks, the fabrication of the quick-release hook is complicated, resulting in high manufacturing cost. Further, the male and female members cannot be directly fastened to a cord member having a ring at each end for mounting.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention to provide a buckle for making a hair binder, which is inexpensive to manufacture. It is another object of the present invention to provide a buckle for making a hair binder, which can be used with any of a variety of cord members to form a hair binder. According to one aspect of the present invention, the buckle comprises a male buckle member and a female buckle member for fastening to the ends of a cord member. The male buckle member comprises two spring hooks forwardly extended from a front side thereof and arranged in parallel, and a mounting stub tube backwardly extended from a rear side thereof and fastened to the first end of the cord member, The female buckle member comprises two engagement portions bilaterally disposed at a front for securing the spring hooks of the male buckle member upon insertion of the male buckle member into the female buckle member, two springy press portions disposed at two opposite lateral sides for pressing by hand to disengage the spring hooks of the male buckle member from the engagement portions, and a mounting stub tube backwardly extended from a rear side thereof and fastened to the second end of the cord member. According to another aspect of the present invention, the buckle member and said female buckle member each further comprise a mounting ring fixedly located on the respective rear side and suspended in the respective mounting stub tube. According to still another aspect of the present invention, the mounting stub tubes of the male buckle member and the female buckle member each have an inner thread. According to still another aspect of the present invention, the buckle further comprises two eyebolts adapted to secure the mounting rings of the male buckle member and the female buckle member to a respective bolt ring at the ends of a cord member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a buckle used with a cord member according to the present invention. [0006]
FIG. 2 is a sectional assembly view of the buckle shown in FIG. 1. [0007]
FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing showing the press portions depressed, the spring hooks squeezed away from the engagement portions of the female buckle member toward each other. [0008]
FIG. 4 is an elevational view of a hair binder constructed according to the present invention. [0009]
FIG. 5 shows an application example of the hair binder shown in FIG. 4. [0010]
FIG. 6 shows the male and female buckle members of the buckle fastened to the bolt rings of a string of beads according to the present invention. [0011]
FIG. 7 is an exploded view of an alternate form of the present invention. [0012]
FIG. 8 is a sectional assembly view of FIG. 7. [0013]
FIG. 9 illustrates the use of the buckle with two eyebolts and a string of beads according to the present invention. [0014]
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another alternate form of the present invention. [0015]
FIG. 1I is a perspective view of still another alternate form of the present invention.[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. from [0017] 1 through 3, a buckle 1 is shown comprised of a male buckle member 11 and a female buckle member 12 adapted to receive the male buckle member 11. The male buckle member 11 comprises two spring hooks 114 forwardly extended from the front side and substantially arranged in parallel, a mounting stub tube 111 backwardly extended from the rear side and defining an axial hole 112, and a mounting ring 113 fixedly located on the rear side and suspended in the screw hole 112 of the mounting stub tube 111. The spring hooks 114 are reversed, i.e., the hooked front (free) ends of the spring hooks 14 curve in revered directions. The female buckle member 12 comprises two engagement portions 125 bilaterally disposed at the front for engagement with the spring hooks 114 of the male buckle member 11, two springy press portions 124 bilaterally disposed behind the engagement portions 125 for pressing by hand to disengage the spring hooks 14 from the engagement portions 125, a mounting stub tube 121 backwardly extended from the rear side and defining an axial hole 122, and a mounting ring 123 fixedly located on the rear side and suspended in the screw hole 122 of the mounting stub tube 121.
Referring to FIG. 1 again, the [0018] mounting stub tubes 111 and 121 each have two radially extended through holes 1131 or 1231 aligned at two sides for the mounting of a cord member or the like.
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 and FIGS. from [0019] 1 through 3 again, the buckle 1 is installed in the ends of an elastic cord member 2, forming a hair binder for binding the hair 4. The two ends of the elastic cord member 2 are respectively inserted into the axial holes 112 and 122 of the mounting stub tubes 111 and 121 and fixedly secured thereto by glue. When the spring hooks 114 inserted into the female buckle member 12, they are forced into engagement with the engagement portions 125 and prohibited from backward movement relative to the female buckle member 12, and therefore the buckle 1 is fastened up (see FIG. 2). When pressing the press portions 124 with the fingers, the spring hooks 114 arc forced toward each other and disengaged from the engagement portions 125, for enabling the male buckle member 11 to be separated from the female buckle member 12 (see FIGS. 3 and 4).
Referring to FIG. 6, the [0020] buckle 1 can be used with a string 3 of beads 31. The string 3 of beads 31 has a bolt ring 32 disposed at each of the two distal ends and respectively fastened to the mounting rings 113 and 123 of the buckle 1.
Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8 and FIG. 1 again, the [0021] mounting stub tube 111 or 121 of the buckle member 11 or 12 can be made having an inner thread 1121 or 1221 in the axial hole 112 or 122.
Referring to FIG. 9, two [0022] eyebolts 33 may be used to connect the bolt rings 32 of the string 3 of beads 31 to the mounting stub tubes 11 and 121 of the buckle members 11 and 12 of the buckle 1. Each eyebolt 33 has a threaded shank 332 at one end for threading into the inner thread 1121 or 1221 of the mounting stub tube 111 or 121, and an eyelet 331 at the other end for fastening to the bolt ring 32 at one end of the string 3 of beads 31.
FIG. 10 shows an alternate form of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the [0023] male buckle member 11 and the female buckle member 12 each have a mounting hole 115 or 126 in the respective rear side for fastening to the ends of a cord member 2.
FIG. 11 shows another alternate form of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the [0024] male buckle member 11 and the female buckle member 12 each have a mounting ring 111 or 127 in the respective rear side for fastening to the bolt rings 32 of a string 3 of beads 31.
It is to be understood that the drawings are designed for purposes of illustration only, and are not intended as a definition of the limits and scope of the invention disclosed. [0025]

Claims

What the invention claimed is:

1. A buckle fastened to first and second ends of a cord member and adapted to join the first and second ends of the cord member, comprising:

a male buckle member, said male buckle member comprising two spring hooks forwardly extended from a front side thereof and arranged in parallel, and a mounting stub tube backwardly extended from a rear side thereof and fastened to the first end of the cord member; and

a female buckle member, said female buckle member comprising two engagement portions bilaterally disposed at a front for securing the spring hooks of said male buckle member upon insertion of said male buckle member into said female buckle member, two springy press portions disposed at two opposite lateral sides for pressing by band to disengage said spring hooks of said male buckle member from said engagement portions, and a mounting stub tube backwardly extended from a rear side thereof and fastened to the second end of the cord member.

2. The buckle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said male buckle member and said female buckle member each further comprise a mounting ring fixedly located on the respective rear side and suspended in the respective mounting stub tube.

3. The buckle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mounting stub tubes of said male buckle member and said female buckle member each have an inner thread.

4. The buckle as claimed in claim 3, further comprising two eyebolts adapted to secure the mounting rings of said male buckle member and said female buckle member to a respective bolt ring at the first and second ends of the cord member.

5. A buckle fastened to first and second ends of a cord member and adapted to join the first and second ends of the cord member, comprising:

a male buckle member, said male buckle member comprising two spring hooks forwardly extended from a front side thereof and arranged in parallel, and a mounting ring fixedly provided at a rear side thereof and fastened to the first end of the cord member; and

a female buckle member, said female buckle member comprising two engagement portions bilaterally disposed at a front for securing the spring hooks of said male buckle member upon insertion of said male buckle member into said female buckle member, two springy press portions disposed at two opposite lateral sides for pressing by hand to disengage said spring hooks of said male buckle member from said engagement portions, and a mounting ring fixedly provided at a rear side thereof and fastened to the second end of the cord member.

6. A buckle comprising;

a male buckle member, said male buckle member comprising two spring hooks forwardly extended from a front side thereof and arranged in parallel, a stub tube backwardly extended from a rear side thereof, and a mounting ring suspended inside the stub tube of said male buckle member for mounting; and

a female buckle member, said female buckle member comprising two engagement portions bilaterally disposed at a front for securing the spring hooks of said male buckle member upon insertion of said male buckle member into said female buckle member, two springy press portions disposed at two opposite lateral sides for pressing by hand to disengage said spring hooks of said male buckle member from said engagement portions, a stub tube backwardly extended from a rear side thereof, and a mounting ring suspended inside the stub tube of said female buckle member for mounting.

7. The buckle as claimed in claim 6, wherein the stub tubes of said male buckle member and said female buckle member each have an inner thread.

8. The buckle as claimed in claim 7 further comprising two eyebolts for threading into the inner threads of the stub tubes of said male buckle member and said female buckle member for securing said male buckle member and said female buckle member to a respective bolt ring at first and second ends of a cord member.

9. A buckle comprising:

a male buckle member, said male buckle member comprising two spring hooks forwardly extended from a front side thereof and arranged in parallel, and an internally threaded stub tube backwardly extended from a rear side thereof;

a female buckle member, said female buckle member comprising two engagement portions bilaterally disposed at a front for securing the spring hooks of said male buckle member upon insertion of said male buckle member into said female buckle member, two springy press portions disposed at two opposite lateral sides for pressing by hand to disengage said spring hooks of said male buckle member from said engagement portions, and an internally threaded stub tube backwardly extended from a rear side thereof; and

two eyebolts for threading into the internally threaded stub tubes of said male buckle member and said female buckle member for securing said male buckle member and said female buckle member to a respective bolt ring at first and second ends of a cord member.