U.S. patent number 3,719,974 [Application Number 05/121,109] was granted by the patent office on 1973-03-13 for integral one-piece key ring or locking ring.
Invention is credited to Ralph Abrams, Harry W. Cary, Jr..
United States Patent |
3,719,974 |
Abrams , et al. |
March 13, 1973 |
INTEGRAL ONE-PIECE KEY RING OR LOCKING RING
Abstract
The invention comprises a locking ring molded of plastic
material. The ring is molded in a single piece which provides a
free arm on which the articles, such as keys, can be hung. The body
is provided with a groove or passageway into which the free arm can
be slipped. A projection on the body enters a notch on the arm to
releasably lock the arm in position to hold the keys on the ring.
By lifting the arm away from the projection, the arm is released
and can be swung into open position. The ring is molded so that the
completed item comes from the mold and requires no further assembly
operation.
Inventors: |
Abrams; Ralph (Warwick, RI),
Cary, Jr.; Harry W. (East Providence, RI) |
Family
ID: |
22394612 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/121,109 |
Filed: |
March 4, 1971 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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710516 |
Mar 5, 1968 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
24/598.4;
24/601.1; 24/907; 24/601.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A44B
15/00 (20130101); Y10T 24/45414 (20150115); Y10T
24/45419 (20150115); Y10S 24/907 (20130101); Y10T
24/45288 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
A44B
15/00 (20060101); A44b 013/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;292/320 ;70/458,459
;24/3K,237,23SL,23B,16FB,2TT |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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1,505,571 |
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Nov 1967 |
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FR |
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1,573,303 |
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Jul 1969 |
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FR |
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1,557,496 |
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Apr 1970 |
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DT |
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50,025 |
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Nov 1968 |
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DL |
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Primary Examiner: Griffin; Donald A.
Parent Case Text
The present application constitutes a refiling of our application
Ser. No. 710,516, filed Mar. 5, 1968 and abandoned.
Claims
I claim:
1. An integral one-piece locking ring formed from resilient plastic
material adapted to be employed as a key ring, said ring having a
substantially flat base, an elongated arm extending integrally from
one end of said base and lying in the plane of said base, said arm
having an elongated portion terminating after a sharp bend in a
short free end extending toward said base and adapted to releasably
engage a projection extending integrally from said base, said
projection being engageable with a notch formed adjacent said free
end, said projection lying in the plane of said base, a ledge
extending integrally from one side edge of said base away from said
base and lying in a plane parallel to the plane of said base so as
to underlie said first-mentioned projection, integral means secured
to the opposite side edge of said base and positioned opposite said
last-mentioned projection and extending in a plane parallel to the
plane of said base and having a portion thereof extending
perpendicular to the plane of said base and there-across so as to
provide means for guiding said free end of said elongated arm so
that said notch may be engaged in said first mentioned projection
so as to retain said free end of said arm in locked position.
Description
Our present invention relates to locking rings, and more
particularly to a novel construction of an integral one-piece
locking ring.
The principal object of the present invention is to provide a
locking ring which can be molded in a single piece requiring no
additional parts or assembly operations.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a locking
ring made in a single integral piece of plastic material and which
can readily be locked and released without injuring the lock
ring.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a locking
ring which is extremely economical to manufacture, requiring no
further operations after it is removed from its mold.
With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view,
our invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts, more fully
disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction
with the accompanying drawings, and more particularly defined in
the appended claims.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a locking ring embodying our present
invention in open position.
FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the rear of the
ring.
FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the ring in closed or locked
position.
FIG. 4 is a section taken on line 4--4 on FIG. 3.
FIG. 5 is a front elevation of a modified form of our
invention.
Key rings are usually provided with free arms which permit the
insertion of keys, and some method of locking the free arm to lock
the key to the ring. Most key rings are made of metal and require a
plurality of parts to produce the intended results. The present
invention is designed to provide a key ring which can be molded in
a single operation requiring no further assembly. The ring of the
present invention can also be used as a luggage tag, a clothing
tag, identification tag, or any other use where a locking tag is
desirable. FIGS. 1 to 4 illustrate a key ring. Referring more in
detail to the drawings embodying our invention, the key ring 10 is
molded of any suitable plastic material having strength and a stiff
resiliency. Nylon, urethane or any other suitable plastic can be
used. The key ring is molded with a triangular base portion 11
having an opening 12 for attachment to a key chain. The base 11 is
molded with an arcuate strip 13 forming a ledge extending
integrally from the bottom edge as shown in FIG. 1. The body of the
base portion is provided with a downwardly extending triangular
detent 14 protruding integrally over the ledge 13 and slightly to
the left of center in the view shown in FIG. 1. Towards the right
in FIG. 1, an integral strap member 15 extends upwardly away from
the ledge 13 and across to the base to form a loop. As can be seen
in FIG. 2, the rear portion of the ledge 13 at this point is
provided with an opening 16 which permits the insertion of an
insert in the mold to form the strap 15.
The arm portion, which is molded integrally with the base comprises
an elongated arcuate arm 17 extending from the left side edge of
the base as shown in FIG. 1. The arm is provided with a sharp
angled bend 18 and then continues integrally with a short slightly
arcuate portion 19. The arcuate portion 19 has the same curvature
as the bottom edge of the base 11. Adjacent its outer end, the
arcuate portion 19 is provided with an opening 20 and the outer tip
is provided with a tapered end 21.
The above described key ring is molded as illustrated in FIGS. 1
and 2 and requires no further assembly. In use, the keys are
slipped through the gap between the end 21 of the short arm portion
19 and the left end of the ledge 13 as shown in FIG. 1. After one
or more keys have been slipped over the arms 19 and 17, the arm 19
is pushed inwardly at the bend 18 so that it slides across the
ledge 13 and under the loop 15. This action is continued until the
opening 20 snaps over the protuberance 14 with a snap action, the
inherent resiliency of the material and the pressure of the loop 15
tending to keep the arm on the ledge and in engagement with the
lock member 14. To remove a key, it is merely necessary to engage
the tapered corner end 21 with the finger nail and pull downwardly
against the resilient action of the arm 19. This will pull the
opening 20 away from the protuberance 14 and allow the arm 19 to be
pulled to the right in FIG. 3 to slip it from beneath the loop 15
and out of the ledge portion 13.
Thus the manipulation of the arm portion 19 to open and close the
key ring is very simple. Yet the locking action provided by the
resiliency of the material is firm and positive. Note that when the
arm portion 19 is in locked position, the arm portion 17 forms a
regular even loop. The general shape of the arm 17 can of course be
varied to form a circle or any other desired configuration. The use
of a suitable plastic material also ensures no sharp corners which
may tear a pocket, reduces the jingling of the keys, and provides a
key ring which is normally lighter than the metallic rings now in
use. Of course, with the single molding operation being all that is
required, the cost of the key ring is reduced to an absolute
minimum. Of course the ring can also be used as a locking ring for
other purposes.
It is occasionally desirable, instead of attaching the base 11 to a
key chain, to provide the ring with a tab which can be grasped for
easy use or provided advertising space. In such cases the form
shown in FIG. 5 can also be readily molded. In this form, the ring
is provided with a solid rectangular tab portion 22 which forms the
base of the ring. The tab is formed at one end and a ledge 23
similar to the ledge 13 in the form shown in FIG. 1 and the loop or
strap portion 24 for holding the arm in position. In this form the
arm 25 is molded similarly to the arm 17, together with a sharp
bent portion 26 and the arcuate arm portion 27 which slides beneath
the loop and across the ledge 23. In this form also, the base is
provided with a small triangular protuberance 28 which locks into
an opening 29 in the arm 27. The end of the arm 27 may be arcuately
bent to form a gap 30 between the end of the arm and the bottom of
the base portion 22. This permits a finger nail to be inserted to
snap the arm away from the protuberance 28 to open the key
ring.
We have thus provided a novel locking ring which can be readily
molded in a single integral construction of a plastic material. The
ring is simple and easy to operate and requires no further
assembly, coming completely finished from the mold. Other
advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to a
person skilled in the art.
* * * * *