US3519177A - Key ring carrier - Google Patents

Description

M 7, 1979 V s,vo1Novx 3,519,177

KEY RING CARRIER Filed July 9, 1968 INVENTOB. Sweeny Voinovlcfi.

' BY M, (QM M Attorneys.

United States Patent 3,519,177 KEY RING CARRIER Sweeny Voinovich, Minerva, Ohio, assignor of one-half to Enno A. Knoche, Carnegie, Pa. Filed July 9, 1968, Ser. No. 743,494 Int. Cl. A44b 15/00; A41d 9/00 US. Cl. 22426 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE There is disclosed a key ring carrier comprised of a single strip of metal folded to form an elongated flat loop through which a belt may be passed. An integral tongue struck from one end of the strip passes through an opening in the overlapping other end and provides a key ring holding clip.

This invention is for a novel key carrier designed to be worn on a persons belt with a clip element so arranged that a key ring may be easily snapped into it or removed by a twist of the ring, but which retains the key ring against accidental removal.

Many persons carry one or more keys on a key ring, and like to have them readily accessible on their persons, but dislike having them in their pockets, and the present invention provides a novel convenient carrier to be worn on a belt about the waist. The device is so constructed as to prevent accidental loss of the key and key ring when engaged on the holder, but from which the key ring may be readily removed when the wearer so requires.

According to the invention a flat metal strip of a somevxhat resilient character, as for example stainless steel, is folded over in such a manner as to form an elongated narrow loop through which the wearers belt may be passed. One end of the strip in this configuration overlaps the other for a distance almost coextensive with the long dimension of the loop. The inner or underlying end fold portion has a thin elongated tongue punched out from the metal and this is passed through an opening in the overlying fold. This tongue is curved upwardly, with its free end terminating in a downwardly-turned pointed hook, the tip of which bears against the outer fold of the strip. Preferably the tongue is slanted sideways at a slight angle from a perpendicular direction to facilitate the engagement and disengagement of a key ring therewith. There is thus provided a key ring carrier, and to mount a key ring in the carrier, the ring is pressed against the side of the pointed hook, camming it outwardly, and when the ring is released after it has passed under the pointed end, the tongue will pass through the ring and its point will snap back into position. The ring cannot then come off accidentally, but if the wearer wishes to remove the ring, he raises it against the pointed hook while simultaneously twisting the ring toward a plane perpendicular to the outer fold of flat metal, easily prying the ring past the pointed hook and freeing it from the clip.

The invention may be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of my invention, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustrative front view showing the key carrier on a belt with the key ring with its keys engaged in the carrier;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the clip itself;

FIG. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through the carrier substantially in the plane of line III-III of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the blank from which the carrier is formed, the FIG. 4 being on a scale smaller than the other figures.

In the drawing, and referring first to FIG. 4, the key carrier of this invention is formed from a fiat strip of 3,519,177 Patented July 7, 1970 metal designated generally as 2. It has an end portion 3 in which is punched a tongue 4 with a pointed free end 5 and attached to the body of the strip at 6. The other end portion 7 of the strip has an elongated opening 8 therethrough. The key carrier itself is formed by folding the srtip -4 over into a flat elongated loop with the end portion 7 overlapping the end fold portion 3, the overlap of the two end folds extending through the greater portion of the length of the loop, and the outer fold 7 may also desirably incline downwardly and outwardly from the inner fold. The tongue portion 4 is bent outwardly to pass through the opening 8 in the overlying end portion 7, and then extends upwardly in spaced relation to the surface of the portion 7. The free end of the tongue has a reversely or inwardly-curved hook portion 9 with the tip of the pointed hook 5 bearing against the surface of the outer fold 7. The upwardly-extending portion of the tongue 4 may have a slight reverse curve at 10 to add resilience to the tongue and improve the appearance of the device. Preferably as best seen in FIG. 4, the tongue 4 and the loop 8 are offset to one side of the longitudinal axis of the strip, and as best shown in FIG. 1, the tongue 10 extends upwardly on a slant so that it is slightly inclined to the vertical axis of the loop.

The strip of metal 2 is desirably formed of a slightly resilient strip of metal, as for example stainless steel, so that the tongue will be resiliently urged to retain the tip of the point 5 against the outer surface of the end fold 7.

In use, the wearer slips the belt through the elongated loop, and the shape of the loop is such that the device will remain fiat against the belt, and the belt is passed through the loop in such manner that the tongue 7 has its free end pointing upwardly, and the terms up and down, or top and bottom refer to these directions in the manner in which the key carrier is worn on the belt.

In FIG. 1 a conventional key ring is indicated at 11 with keys illustrated as hanging therefrom. In use the key ring 11 is engaged under the tongue 10 which forms a clip for hanging the key ring hanging from the key carrier. The reversely-turned hook portion 9 at the top of the tongue prevents the key ring from coming off the clip, even though the wearer should be in a position other than an upright position. To remove the key ring when it is desired to use the keys, one raises the ring toward the top of the tongue, and at the same time twists the ring from the plane shown in FIG. 1 toward a portion normal to this plane. The ring pressing against the pointed end of the tongue earns the tongue outwardly or the fold 7 inwardly, or both, allowing the ring to pass under the tip of the tongue, and thus be free of the key ring carrier. To engage the ring in the clip, a somewhat reverse procedure is followed, in which the wearer presses the ring against the side of the pointed end of the tongue, again springing or camrning it outwardly until the ring has passed under the point of the tongue, and then the ring is released and the parts are restored to the position shown in FIG. 1. With the outer end fold 7 of the strip being angled outwardly and downwardly from the inner fold 3 as clearly shown in FIG. 3, this fold also is resilient, tending to maintain the point 5 of the tongue in contact with its surface, and this fold will desirably press inwardly at the same time that the tongue is springing outwardly for engaging or disengaging the key ring from the clip. The removal of the key ring or its application to the clip is facilitated by reason of the sideways slant of the tongue, but this does not reduce any likelihood of the key ring becoming accidentally disengaged, because without actually lifting the key ring and at the same time twisting it in the manner described, the key ring will simply fall into the reversely-turned hook 9.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodi- 3 ment of my invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made, particularly with regard to the exact shape to which the tongue is bent and the terminal portion 5 of the tongue to provide camming surfaces, since a rounded point would serve equally as well as an angular point.

I claim:

1. A key ring carrier comprising an elongated or flat strip metal of a size and shape for a persons belt to pass therethrough with the loop flat against the belt, the strip having end fold portions which are in overlapping relation for the major portion of the length of the loop, the outer end fold portion having an opening therethrough elongated in the direction of the length of the end portion, the inner end fold portion having an integral tongue thereon which is attached at its lower end to the body of the strip and which projects through the opening in the outer end fold portion and extends upwardly over said outer end fold portion, said tongue having a reverselyturned hook portion at its free end, the terminal of the hook being of decreasing width with its tip contacting the outer end fold portion of the strip, the tongue throughout the greater portion of its length being spaced outwardly from the outer end fold portion.

2. A key ring carrier as defined in claim 1 wherein the outer end fold portion is sprung outwardly and downwardly at a slight angle to the inner end fold portion.

3. A key ring carrier as defined in claim 1 wherein the tongue is slanted sidewise with respect to the longitudinal axis of the strip.

4. A key ring carrier as defined in claim 2 wherein the metal is of a resilient character to yieldably urge the tip of the tongue into contact with the outer end fold portion and resiliently urge the outer end fold into engagement with the tip of the tongue so that the fold may be sprung inwardly and the tongue sprung outwardly when a key ring is engaged against the tip of the tongue for releasing or inserting the key ring into or out of engagement with the tongue.

5. A key ring carrier as defined in claim 1 in which the tongue has its free end portion in the form of a point.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,539,220 5/ 1925 Taylor. 1,609,347 12/1926 Dee 224-5 X 3,357,615 12/1967 Hill 2245 GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner R. J. SPAR, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 243; 224-5

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