BUCKLE

This application claims priority of Taiwanese Utility Model Patent Application No. 108204712, filed on Apr. 17, 2019.

The disclosure relates to buckle, more particularly to a buckle for connecting two straps.

A backpack often has at least one buckle for connecting two straps. The mechanism of the buckle allows a user to secure the backpack to himself or to open and close the backpack with ease.

A conventional buckle includes a male connector and a female connector. In order for the male and female connectors to couple with each other, the female connector may have a groove, and the male connector may have an elastic hook engaged separably to the groove. The conventional buckle may be separated by pressing the elastic hook directly to disengage the elastic hook from the groove, or may have an unlocked button formed on the female connector for disengaging the elastic hook.

Since the male and female connectors of the conventional buckle has different structures, they must be manufactured separately, which results in a relative high production cost.

Therefore, the object of the disclosure is to provide a buckle that can alleviate the drawback of the abovementioned prior art.

According to the disclosure, a buckle includes two coupling modules coupled separably to each other. Each of the coupling modules includes a main unit, an operating member, and a resilient member that is connected between the main unit and the operating member.

For each of the coupling modules, the main unit includes a base seat being elongated in a length direction and having a seat portion, a hook member connected to the seat portion of the base seat, and a coupling member connected to the seat portion of the base seat and having a coupling groove and a retaining portion. The hook member and the coupling member are spaced apart in the length direction. The hook member of each of the coupling modules extends into the coupling groove of the other one of the coupling modules and is engaged with the retaining portion of the other one of the coupling modules.

For each of the coupling modules, the operating member is connected removably to the main unit, and has an operating portion that is adjacent to the coupling member of the main unit, and a pushing portion that is adjacent to the retaining portion of the coupling member.

The operating portions of the operating members of the coupling modules are movable substantially parallel to the length direction toward each other relative to the main units of the coupling modules against resilient forces of the resilient members of the coupling modules from a standby state to an unlocked state, during which the pushing portion of the operating member of each of the coupling modules pushes the hook member of the main unit of the other one of the coupling modules to disengage the hook member from the retaining portion of the coupling member of the main unit of the coupling module, thereby permitting separation of the coupling modules from each other.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, an embodiment of a buckle 100 is for interconnecting two straps 20 and includes two coupling modules 10 having identical features, which allows production cost of the buckle 100 to be reduced. In the following description, only one of the coupling modules 10 is referred to for the sake of brevity.

The coupling module 10 includes a main unit 1, an operating member 2 connected removably to the main unit 1, and a resilient member 3 connected between the main unit 1 and the operating member 2.

The main unit 1 includes a base seat 11 being elongated in a length direction (L), a hook member 12 connected to the base seat 11, and a coupling member 13 connected to the base seat 11 and spaced apart from the hook member 12 in the length direction (L).

The base seat 11 has a seat portion 111 and a strap-connecting portion 112 connected to the seat portion 111. The seat portion 111 has first and second short surfaces 113, 114 opposite in the length direction (L), two opposite long surfaces 115 (see FIG. 4) extending in the length direction (L) and interconnecting the first and second short surfaces 113, 114. Each of the long surfaces 115 is formed with a limiting groove 116 extending in the length direction (L). The base seat 11 further has a positioning rib 117 protruding from the seat portion 111. The first and second short surfaces 113, 114 are respectively proximal to the hook member 12 and the coupling member 13. The positioning rib 117 is disposed at a side of the hook member 12 which is opposite to the coupling member 13 in the length direction (L).

The strap-connecting portion 112 has two side walls 112a spaced apart from each other in the length direction (L), and two spaced-apart rods 112b interconnecting the side walls 112a. Each of the side walls 112a has a contact surface 112c connected to a respective one of the first and second short surfaces 113, 114 of the seat portion 111. A distance in the length direction (L) between outer ends of the contact surfaces 112c of the side walls 112a is larger than that between the first and second short surfaces 113, 114. The contact surface 112c of the one of the side walls 112a which is connected to the first short surface 113 of the seat portion 111 of the base seat 11 has a smaller area than that of the contact surface 112c of the other one of the side walls 112a. The rods 112b are for a corresponding one of the straps 20 to wrap around and be secured to.

The hook member 12 has an elastic arm 121 extending from the seat portion 111 of the base seat 11, a hook portion 122 connected to an end portion of the elastic arm 121 which is distal from the seat portion 111 of the base seat 11, and an abutting block 123 connected to the elastic arm 121. The elastic arm 121 has a flat shape and has opposite first and second arm surfaces 121a, 121b. The hook portion 122 and the abutting block 123 both protrude from the first arm surface 121a.

The coupling member 13 has an inner wall 131, an outer wall 132 formed with a passage 132a, a connecting wall 133 interconnecting the inner wall 131 and the outer wall 132, a limiting wall 136 interconnecting the inner wall 131 and the outer wall 132, a guiding rib 137 and a guiding groove 138 proximate to the hook member 12, an positioning groove 139 formed in the outer wall 132 and having a shape that corresponds to the positioning rib 117 of the base seat 11, and a receiving portion 1310 connected to the seat portion 111 of the base seat 11 and the outer wall 132.

The inner and outer walls 131, 132 extend from the seat portion 111 of the base seat 11, are transverse to the length direction (L), and are respectively proximal to and distal from the hook member 12. The receiving portion 1310 cooperates with the outer wall 132 to define a receiving space 1311 that receives the resilient member 3.

The connecting wall 133 is spaced apart from the seat portion 111 of the base seat 11, is disposed between the limiting wall 136 and the seat portion 111 of the base seat 11, and cooperates with the inner and outer walls 131, 132 to define a coupling groove 134. The coupling member 13 further has a retaining portion 135. In this embodiment, the connecting wall 133 has an end that faces the seat portion 111 of the base seat 11 and that serves as the retaining portion 135. Referring to FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the thickness of the connecting wall 133 decreases in a direction away from the seat portion 111 of the base seat 11 and the retaining portion 135 has an acute-angled corner.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 5, the guiding rib 137 and the guiding groove 138 are respectively proximal to and distal from the seat portion 111 of the base seat 11. The guiding rib 137 protrudes from a side surface of the inner wall 131 which faces the hock member 12, and the guiding groove 138 is formed in the side surface of the inner wall 131, is collinear with the guiding rib 137, and extends through an end surface of the inner wall 131 which is opposite to the seat portion 111. Specifically, the guiding rib 137 has an end connected to the seat portion 111 of the base seat 11, and an opposite end being adjacent to the guiding groove 138. In this embodiment, the guiding rib 137 and the guiding groove 138 have substantially equal lengths which are about half of a length of the inner wall 131.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 5, 6, and 7, the operating member 2 has a surrounding portion 21 surrounding the seat portion 111 of the base seat 11, an operating portion 22 connected to the surrounding portion 21, a pushing portion 23, and two limiting blocks 24.

The surrounding portion 21 has an end portion slidably abutting against the contact surfaces 112c of the side walls 112a of the strap-connecting portion 112. The operating portion 22 is adjacent to the coupling member 13 of the main unit 1, and has a press wall 221 aligned with the outer wall 132 of the coupling member 13 in the length direction (L), two extending walls 222 respectively extending from two opposite edges of the press wall 221, and a plurality of anti-slip ribs 223. The two extending walls 222 cover the inner wall 131, the connecting wall 133 and the coupling groove 134 of the coupling member 13. The anti-slip ribs 223 are formed on outer surfaces of the press wall 221 and the extending walls 222 to improve grip of the operating portion 22.

A length of the surrounding portion 21 of the operating member 2 in the length direction (L) is larger than that of the operating portion 22. The surrounding portion 21 has an end surrounding surface surrounding the seat portion 111 of the base seat 11 and having two U-shaped half surface parts. One of the half surface parts is connected to the operating portion 22, and the other one of the half surface parts is indented. Each of the extending walls 222 of the operating portion 22 of the operating member 2 has an end surface 222a that is opposite to the surrounding portion 21.

The pushing portion 23 protrudes from an inner surface of the operating portion 22, is adjacent to the retaining portion 135 of the coupling member 13, and movably extends into the passage 132a. The limiting blocks 24 extend from an inner surface of the surrounding portion 21 and engage respectively and slidably the limiting grooves 116 of the base seat 11.

In this embodiment, the resilient member 3 is a coil compression spring that is connected between the receiving portion 1310 of the coupling member 13 and the press wall 221 of the operating member 2. In variations of this embodiment, the configuration of the resilient member 3 may vary, and the resilient member 3 and one of the main unit 1 and the operating member 2 may be molded as one piece.

Referring to FIGS. 7 to 9, the coupling modules 10 are coupled separably to each other. The hook member 12 of each of the coupling modules 10 is coupled with the coupling member 13 of the other one of the coupling modules 10. Specifically, the hook member 12 of each of the coupling modules 10 is disposed removably between the connecting wall 133 and the limiting wall 136 of the other one of the coupling modules 10, extends into the coupling groove 134 of the other one of the coupling modules 10, with the hook portion 122 being engaged with the retaining portion 135 of the other one of the coupling modules 10. The hook portion 122 and the abutting block 123 of the hook member 12 of each of the coupling modules 10 cooperatively define a hook space that corresponds in shape to and receives therein the retaining portion 135 of the coupling member 13 of the other one of the coupling modules 10. The inner walls 131 of the coupling members 13 of the coupling modules 10 abut against each other, with the guiding groove 138 of each of the coupling modules 10 engaged separably with the guiding rib 137 of the other one of the coupling modules 10 to position the coupling modules 10 relative to each other such that the hook members 12 of the coupling modules 10 can couple respectively with the coupling members 13 of the coupling modules 10. The positioning rib 117 of each of the coupling modules 10 is engaged separably with the positioning groove 139 of the other one of the coupling modules 10 to ensure that the coupling modules 10 do not rotate relative to each other about an axis which is transverse to the length direction (L). The end surfaces 222a of the extending walls 222 of the operating portion 22 of the operating member 2 of each of the coupling modules 10 are in contact with the other one of the half surface parts of the end surrounding surface of the surrounding portion 21 of the operating member 2 of the other one of the coupling modules 10.

The operating portions 22 of the operating members 2 of the coupling modules 10 are movable substantially parallel to the length direction (L) toward each other relative to the main units 1 of the coupling modules 10 against resilient forces of the resilient members 3 of the coupling modules 10 from a standby state (see FIG. 7) to an unlocked state (see FIG. 10), during which the pushing portion 23 of the operating member 2 of each of the coupling modules 10 pushes the hook member 12 of the main unit 1 of the other one of the coupling modules 10 to disengage the hook member 12 from the retaining portion 135 of the coupling member 13 of the main unit 1 of the coupling module 10, thereby permitting separation of the coupling modules 10 from each other. To operate the operating portions 22 of the operating members 2 to separate the coupling modules 10 from each other, a user may, for example, place a thumb and an index finger of the same hand on the press walls 221 of the operating members 2, respectively, and squeeze to bring the operating members 2 toward each other.

For each of the coupling modules 10, the surrounding portion 21 abuts against the first short surface 113 and the long surfaces 115 and is spaced apart from the second short surface 114 when the operating portions 22 of the operating members 2 are in the standby state, and abuts against the second short surface 114 and is spaced apart from the first short surface 113 when the operating portions 22 of the operating members 2 are in the unlocked state. Referring back to FIG. 2, each of the limiting blocks 24 has a length in the length direction (L) that is shorter than that of each of the limiting grooves 116 so as to be movable along the limiting groove 116 during the movement of the operating portions 22 of the operating members 2 between the standby state and the unlocked state.

The end surfaces 222a of the extending walls 222 of the operating portion 22 of the operating member 2 of each of the coupling modules 10 slides along the other one of the half surface parts of the end surrounding surface of the surrounding portion 21 of the operating member 2 of the other one of the coupling modules 10 during the movement of the operating portions 22 of the operating members 2 between the standby state and the unlocked state. In this embodiment, the end surfaces 222a and the other ones of the half surface parts of the surrounding portion 21 of the operating members 2 are inclined relative to the length direction (L) such that, during movement of the operating portions 22 of the operating members 2 from the standby state to the unlocked state, the operating members 2 moves slightly and respectively in opposite directions transverse to the length direction (L) away from each other. This allows easier separation of the coupling modules 10 when the operating portions 22 of the operating members 2 are in the unlocked state.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects, and that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.