Multi-directional closure

Abstract

A multi-directional closure for securing two pieces together includes a male part and a female part. The male part has a central, main protuberance and a plurality of outer protuberances. The female part has a seat cavity including a plurality of inwardly depending catch faces. The female part further includes a plurality of outwardly depending catch faces. In embodiments, the male part and the female part may each be provided with a magnet to align the main protuberance with the seat cavity. The closure is capable of withstanding high levels of radial forces in all radial directions without being disconnected. This allows for easier use of the closure and also greatly facilitates manufacture of items using the closure.

Claims

1. A multi-directional closure for securing two pieces together, the multi-directional closure comprising: a female part configured to be mounted on one of the pieces and a male part configured to be mounted on the other of the pieces; the female part comprising a seat cavity having an entrance which opens upwardly, the seat cavity having an internal diameter that increases from the entrance towards a base of the seat cavity; the male part comprising a main protuberance which projects downwardly, the main protuberance having a diameter that increases from a base of the main protuberance towards a head of the main protuberance; the female part further comprising four inwardly depending catch faces and four outwardly depending catch faces, the four inwardly depending catch faces being located at the entrance of the seat cavity, circumferentially spaced around the entrance of the seat cavity with respect to each other, and configured for releasable engagement of a side wall of the main protuberance of the male part, the four outwardly depending catch faces extending radially outwardly from the entrance of the seat cavity and being circumferentially spaced around the entrance of the seat cavity with respect to each other; and the male part further comprising four outer protuberances which project downwardly and are substantially evenly spaced apart from each other around the main protuberance, each of the outer protuberances having a catch face shaped complementary to and configured for releasable engagement with one of the outwardly depending catch faces of the female part.

2. The multi-directional closure of claim 1, wherein the female part has a female magnet adjacent the base of the seat cavity, and the male part has a male magnet adjacent the head of the main protuberance and configured for releasable engagement of the female magnet.

3. The multi-directional closure of claim 2, wherein the male magnet and the female magnets are sealed inside the male part and the female part, respectively.

4. A garment including the multi-directional closure of claim 2.

5. The multi-directional closure of claim 1, wherein the main protuberance is frustoconical in shape.

6. The multi-directional closure of claim 1, wherein the four inwardly depending catch faces of the female part are offset by about 45 with respect to the outwardly depending catch faces.

7. The multi-directional closure of claim 1, wherein the inwardly depending catch faces of the female part each extend between 55 and 65 around a circumference of the entrance of the seat cavity.

8. The multi-directional closure of claim 7, wherein the inwardly depending catch faces of the female part each extend 60 around the circumference of the entrance of the seat cavity.

9. The multi-directional closure of claim 1, wherein the diameter at the head of the main protuberance is greater than the internal diameter of the seat cavity at the entrance.

10. The multi-directional closure of claim 9, wherein the diameter at the head of the main protuberance is at least 0.00025 m (0.25 mm) greater than the internal diameter of the seat cavity at the entrance.

11. The multi-directional closure of claim 10, wherein the diameter at the head of the main protuberance is at least 0.0003 m (0.3 mm) greater than the internal diameter of the seat cavity at the entrance.

12. The multi-directional closure of claim 1, wherein the male part and the female part each have an outer diameter of between 0.014 m (14 mm) and 0.02 m (20 mm).

13. The multi-directional closure of claim 1, wherein the male part and the female part each include a backing plate.

14. The multi-directional closure of claim 1, further including a plurality of female parts.

15. The multi-directional closure of claim 1, further including a plurality of male parts.

16. A garment including the multi-directional closure of claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the multi-directional closure are described with reference to the following figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified.

(2) FIG. 1 is a top view of a first embodiment of a closure, in which the closure is in a neutral position;

(3) FIG. 2 is a top view of the closure, in which the female part has been moved in the direction of arrow A of FIG. 4;

(4) FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the closure of FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the closure of FIG. 2;

(6) FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view along the lines E-E of FIG. 2;

(7) FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view along the lines F-F of FIG. 2;

(8) FIG. 7 is a reduced bottom view of a portion of a female part of the closure;

(9) FIG. 8 is a reduced top view of a portion of the female part;

(10) FIG. 9 is a reduced bottom view of a male part of the closure;

(11) FIG. 10 is a reduced top view of the male part;

(12) FIG. 11A is an enlarged view of FIG. 5 showing the male and female parts separated, and FIG. 11B is an enlarged view of FIG. 5;

(13) FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of FIG. 6;

(14) FIG. 13 is a top view of a second embodiment of the closure, in which the closure is in a neutral position;

(15) FIG. 14 is a top view of the second embodiment of the closure, in which the female part has been moved in the direction of arrow A of FIG. 16;

(16) FIG. 15 is a bottom view of the closure of FIG. 13;

(17) FIG. 16 is a bottom view of the closure of FIG. 14;

(18) FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view along the lines E-E of FIG. 14;

(19) FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view along the lines F-F of FIG. 14;

(20) FIG. 19 is a reduced bottom view of a portion of the female part of the second embodiment of the closure;

(21) FIG. 20 is a reduced top view of a portion of the female part of the second embodiment;

(22) FIG. 21 is a reduced bottom view of the male part of the second embodiment of the closure;

(23) FIG. 22 is a reduced top view of the male part of the second embodiment;

(24) FIG. 23 is an enlarged view of FIG. 17; and

(25) FIG. 24 is an enlarged view of FIG. 18.

(26) Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of various embodiments. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(27) Referring to FIGS. 1-12 inclusive, there is shown a multi-directional closure, indicated generally by the reference numeral 1, comprising a male part 3 and a female part 5. The male part 3 comprises a downwardly depending main protuberance 7 having a side wall 9 and terminating in a head 11. The male part further comprises a plurality of downwardly depending outer protuberances 13(a)-13(d) spaced apart from each other and surrounding the main protuberance 7. A backing plate 15 is mounted on the rear of the male part and a magnet 17 may be contained inside the main protuberance 7.

(28) The female part 5 comprises a body defining an upwardly open seat cavity 19 having a side wall 21 and a base 23. The side wall 21 is configured so that the internal diameter of the cavity increases from an open entrance 25 of the cavity inwardly towards the base 23. The female part comprises four inwardly depending catch faces 27(a)-27(d) and four outwardly depending catch faces 29(a)-29(d). The inwardly depending catch faces 27(a)27(d) are spaced apart circumferentially around the entrance 25 to the seat cavity 19 with respect to each other, and are configured to engage with the side wall 9 of the male part 3 when the main protuberance 7 of the male part is inserted into the cavity of the female part and a radial force is applied to one of the male and female parts. The four outwardly depending catch faces 29(a)-29(d) extend radially outwardly from the entrance 25 to the seat cavity 19 and are circumferentially spaced around the entrance to the seat cavity with respect to each other. The inwardly depending catch faces 27(a)-27(d) and the outwardly depending catch faces 29(a)-29(d) are offset with respect to each other by about 45 around the entrance 25 to the seat cavity 19. A magnet 31 may be mounted under the base of the seat cavity and a backing sheet 33 may be provided, thereby encapsulating the magnet 31.

(29) In use, the male part 3 and the female part 5 are brought into engagement with each other by inserting the main protuberance 7 of the male part 3 into the open seat cavity 19 of the female part 5. In this position, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the closure 1 is said to be in a neutral position in that the only forces holding the male part 3 and the female part 5 together are the attractive forces of the optional magnets 17, 31. It will be appreciated also that the magnets 17, 31 have a self-centering effect that will facilitate the insertion of the main protuberance 7 of the male part 3 into the seat cavity 19 of the female part 5. If a radial force is exerted on one of the male part 3 and the female part 5, e.g. in one of directions A-D of FIG. 4, the side wall 9 of the main protuberance 7 of the male part will come into contact with at least one of the inwardly depending catch faces 27(a)-27(d) of the female part 5, and at least one of the catch faces of the outer protuberances 13(a)-(d) of the male part 3 will engage with the at least one of the outwardly depending catch faces 29(a)-29(d) of the female part 5.

(30) Referring specifically to FIGS. 2, 4-6, 11A-B, and 12, the female part 5 is shown moved relative to the male part in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 4. The outwardly depending catch face 29(b) engages the interior face of the downwardly depending outer protuberance 13(b) and the side wall 9 of the main protuberance 7 engages with the inwardly depending catch faces 27(c) and 27(d). Further radial movement of the female part in the direction of arrow A will cause the two parts to become even more securely engaged. Due to the fact that the male part engages the female part towards the leading edge (i.e. the side wall) and the rear edge (the interior face of the outer protuberance) of the male part, the male part will not have a tendency to pivot about the leading edge resulting in inadvertent release. Instead, the male part will be held in position under greater forces than was heretofore the case. It will be understood that irrespective of the direction of radial force, at least one inwardly depending catch face and at least one outwardly depending catch face of the female part will engage with the male part.

(31) Referring now to FIGS. 13-24, there is shown a second embodiment of a closure, indicated generally by the reference numeral 41, where like parts have been given the same reference numeral as before. The closure 41 comprises a male part 43 and a female part 45. The embodiment of FIGS. 13 to 24 differs from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 12 in that the diameter of the head 12 of the male part 43 of the closure 41 is greater than the diameter of the head 11 of the male part 3 the closure 1. Furthermore, the diameter of the head 12 of the male part 43 is greater than the diameter of the entrance 25 to the seat cavity 19 of the female part 45. This is perhaps best illustrated in FIGS. 17 and 23, wherein D1 indicates the diameter of entrance 25 to the seat cavity 19. In addition to the foregoing, the angle formed between the side wall 21 of the seat cavity and the base 23 of the seat cavity of the female part 45 of the closure 41 is more acute than the angle formed between the side wall 21 of the cavity and the base 23 of the seat cavity of the female part 5 of the closure 1.

(32) In this way, the closure 41 will effectively lock into position once the main protuberance 7 of the male part 43 is inserted into the seat cavity 19 of the female part 45. The inwardly depending catch faces 27(a)-27(d) will be deflected outwardly to allow insertion of the head 11 of the main protuberance 7 into the seat cavity 19. Once the head 12 of the main protuberance is inside the seat cavity 19, the head 12 (more specifically the side wall 9 adjacent the head 12) and the inwardly depending catch faces 27(a)-27(d) will act to prevent inadvertent dislodgement of the male part 43 from the female part 45 in addition to the force of the magnets 17, 31.

(33) Referring specifically to FIGS. 11A-B, 12, 23, and 24, the male part 3, 43 and the female part 5, 45 are each shown connected to a piece 51, 53, respectively. This may be a garment such as a jacket or a bag or other article. The male part 3, 43 and the female part 5, 45 may be stitched, welded, glued or attached in any known manner to the pieces 51, 53 respectively.

(34) In the embodiments shown, the closures are shown with magnets in the male and female parts. However, this is preferred but not essential and it is envisaged that there is merit in a closure with the same construction as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 24 inclusive but without the magnets. A closure with magnets is seen as particularly useful for sportswear, whereas a closure without magnets is more suited to application in medical, fire department or working clothing. It will be understood that without the magnets, the closing position will have to be found by hand and therefore magnets may also be preferable when the closure is used for garments intended for the young, elderly, when the closure is in a difficult to reach position (such as behind the wearer's back) or for those persons with reduced manual dexterity.

(35) In this specification the terms comprise, comprises, comprised and comprising and the terms include, includes, included and including are all deemed interchangeable and should be afforded the widest possible interpretation. As used in this application, the terms about or approximately refer to a range of values within plus or minus 10% of the specified number.

(36) Further provided is a garment having a closure according to any of the aforementioned embodiments.

(37) The embodiments of the multi-directional closure described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, combinations, variations, and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve an equivalent result, all of which are intended to be embraced within the scope of the appended claims. Further, nothing in the above-provided discussions of the closure should be construed as limiting the invention to a particular embodiment or combination of embodiments. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.