US2580296A - Loss-preventing device for purses - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 25, 1951 E. c. HENDERSON 2,580,296

LOSS-PREVENTING DEVICE FOR PURSES Fi led Nov. 12, 1948 INVENTOR.

ELDON C. HENDERSON H/S ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 25, 1951 UNITED YST'ATESQR PATENT OFFICE" r Y 2 ,580,296 V LOSS-VPREYENTINVG DEVICE FOR PURSES 'Eldon-C'Henderson, Paso Robles, Calif. 1 I Aipplieatidn November 12, 1948, Serial No. 59,549

- Claims. (01.150 47) Thiscinvention relates toprotec tive' devices for lpreventing loss of, pursesfrom pockets of articles of clothing, such as trouser pockets, and is particularly concerned with a simple,pra'ctical and inexpensive device which may be 'rernovably en- 'gaged with a purse. As used in the present specification and claims, the term purse includes billfolds, pocketbooks, wallets and the like.

, Various mechanical safety attachments for billf olds, pocketbooks and the like have been proposed heretofore, but have for various reasons not gainedwide acceptance, Devices having wire frames orpivoted rigid arms mounted, on the purse toswing outwardly from. thelside edges ,,of the purse after it has been inserted" into the pocket for engaging the pocket lining and thereby preventing extraction through. the pocket openingare often complicated, or tend tolwear Loutthe pocket lining atthe point of contact, or

distend the pocket tothe extent of deforming the :clothing and detractingfrom' the neat appearance theref, or cause discomfort to the wearer,

or are apt toget out of order,,or suffer from more 'than one'of ,these drawbacks. ,Someof n the known safety devices of the above ,mentioned types, aswell as othertypes employing clampsor grips which engage the clothing are time con ,s'uming, in that the purse cannot be rapidly .in-

sorted into or extracted fromthe pocket;

,,It is, therefore, an object' of this invention to provide an improved loss-preventing, device for securing a purse Withinthe'pocket of an article 'of' clothingwhich deviceis structurally simple and has as few mechanical elements as'possible, and: causes no personal discomfort in its use.

It is a further object toprovide security against accidental lossand unauthorizedremoval of a purse from a pocket by means of a guard tab which"issecu'redto the purse by hinge means, 'the guardtabbeing extremely simple in operation and installation and being so constructed as 'to' avoid the danger of wearing out or distending the pocket lining or the tendency'to distnd the clothing to the extent of being noticeable to" the article of clothing,

Briefly, according to the present invention, the purse is provided with a guard tab made of thin, stilf sheet material and supported at the side edge of the purse, i. e., at the edge which is perpendicular to the pocket opening when the purse is in its normal position within the pocket. In the usual case. the pocket opening is substantially horizontal and the said side edge of the purse is vertical. The hinge'is constructed to operate on a hinge line which is parallel to said side edge of the purse and is fixed to the guard tab, i. e., immovably connected thereto, either permanently or detachably. The hinge is, furthenfixed to a stiff, purse-engaging tab which may be engaged in any suitable manner to the purse. The guard tab is of such width (measured in a direction perpendicular to the hinge line, i'. e., horizontall in the usual case) that when it is in its operative, unfolded position (extending away from the purse) the aggregate width ofthe guard tab, of thestiffstructure se- 5 Another object is to provide a loss-preventing Other objects areto provide means for securing a purse against lossfrom a pocket which adds but little bulk to thepurse; wherein the added guard tab may be utilized forindicia, suchas identification and/ or advertising? and which can be manufacturedatanextremely low cost.

cured to the hinge, and of the hinge itself exceed slightly the width of the mouth or opening of the pocket, thereby preventing extraction thereof through said mouth or opening. By folding the guard tab about the hinge such aggregate width maybe reduced, thereby permitting passage of the purse and guard tab through the pocket opening. a

i In the preferred embodiment of the invention the hinge is made of flexible material, such as fabric, imitation leather (Leatherette), leather, oilcloth, flexible plastic sheet material, etc., and is so secured to the guard tabas to maintain it in spaced relation to the stifi structure to which the hinge is fixed to facilitate folding of the guard tab over theouter face of the'purse and substantially parallel to such face when the guard 'tab is moved to its inoperate position to permit passage of th purse through the pocket opening. The size'of theihterval between the stiff guard taband the stiff structure on the other side of the hinge will, of course, depend upon the'thickness of th'e purse. The hinge of flexible mate- 'rial is preferably, but not necessarily, constructed so as to have a natural tendency to unfold 'theguard tab to its operative position, thereby facilitating use and making it possible to secure the purse within the pocket withoutthe need to grasp theguard tab at'its edge when folded falongside of the purse and then fold it outwards with the end of the fingeralways an awkward and time-consuming operation. With this pre ferred construction the guard tab, when released,

#15 tends to unfold, but is usually prevented from moving fully to its operative position 'by engagement thereof with the pocket lining; it is merely necessary to distend the lining momentarily, permitting the guard tab to complete its movement to operative position.

The width of the guard tab is, in the preferred form, somewhat less than the width of the purseengaging tab, thereby facilitating movement of the guard tab about its hinge while within the Pocket.- 7

The invention will be'betterunderstood by ref erence to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and showing one preferred embodiment of the inventionloy. way.. of i1- lustration. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view ofa' loss-preventing device of the independent type, shown in its unfolded or operative position;-

Fig. 2 is an elevational view, on a reducedscale; of a purse to which theedevice of Fig. 1 has been vappliedand which is secured within a pocket, the pocket lining being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view corresponding. to. Fig. 3 but showing the guard .tab in its inoperative position, folded back against the outside of the purse for permitting passage through the pocket opening.

Referringto Fig. l, the loss-preventing, device comprises a guard tab I0, a-purse-engaging tab I I, and a connecting hinge I2. The two tabs are made 1 of any thin, relatively stiff sheet mate rial, such as pressed fiber board, celluloid, plastic sheeting, metal, or heavy and surface-coated cardboard. The hinge. may be made of any construction permittingrepeated fiexure, and preferably such asto urge the two tabs into relatively extended positions, as shown. The preferred construction. shown comprises imitation leather stitched both to the guardtab and to the purseengaging tab. Either or both of the, tabs may be covered for protection against wear, to present a richer appearance, and to reduce wear of the pocket lining at the point of contact. these purposes is particularly applicable to the guard tab, and in the embodiment shown the hinge and cover are made of one piece of material. Thus, the guard tab is built upof a thin sheet of stiiT material I3-completely enclosed in the imitation leather'cover I4 which is folded over the'upper, straight edge and stitched alongthe outer and lower-edges I5 and I6, the stitches being indicated at IT. Two parallel portions of the cover extend beyond the left edge of the sheet I3, and the. tab I I is secured between them by stitching I8. It will benoted that the near edges of the tab I I and the stiff sheet 13 are spaced apart by. the hinge, leaving an interval the purpose of which will become apparent hereafter. By using two parallel sheets of flexible material spaced apart slightly, the hinge has a tendency tov urge the guard tab toits operative, unfolded, position.

The width of. the loss-preventing device, from the outer edge I5 to the edge I9 of the tab II, which edge is remote from the hinge I2, is slightly greater than the width of the mouth or opening of the pocket of the clothing within which the purse is to be secured, e. g., ,a hip trouserpocket. The width ofthe purse-engaging tab II is approximately equal to or slightly less than the width of thepurse, while the width of the guard tab is somewhat less than that of the purse-engaging tab.- Moreover, it is preferred to cut away the lower, outer corner of the guard tab and to round it as. shown at 20, to merge. smoothly with the The. last of lower edge I6, which is shorter than the upper edge 2 I. Making the lower edge shorter than the upper edge obviates the tendency of the lower outer corner of the guard tab to bind against the pocket lining, while the rounded shape prevents wear of the lining at the point of contact with the guard tab. When used to secure a purse in the rear hip pocket the device is positioned with the guardltab toward .tlie centers of; the :body and the hinge vertical; the rounded construction shown then assists in avoiding discomfort to the wearer and in preventing deformation or disarrangementof the clothing which would detract from the neat appearance thereof. The lower corner ofithe ta'b II may be similarly clipped, as shown at 22. To insure positive engaging action with the "topof the pocket lining at the pocket opening for preventing accidental or unauthorized extraction the upper edge 2! of the guard tab is preferably made straight.

In usingthe devicethe purse-engaging tab II is inserted into a purse of any suitable type into any engaging part thereof, e. g;, into a compartment which opens to one of its side. edges, or into loops, especially provided for the purpose, etc. In the exampleillustrated in Figs..2'-4, the'purse is shown asa billfold 23' of the type. that'is'folded along a transverse axis. The loss-preventingdevice is attached by placing the tab I I between the opposed sections with thefolded edge 24 of the billfold at the bottom. To:insert the billfold into the rear left hip trousenpocket shown, the guard tab is folded. over the outer face of' the billfold, as shown in Fig. 4', such foldingbeingpossible because of theinterval between.the edges of the stiff sheets I I'and I3.- The assembled purse and loss-preventing device are then grasped in folded position and lowered through the opening 25' of the pocket, withthe hinge vertical. The guard tab is then released and'tlie lining 26' is moved away from the purse for a small distance, permitting the guard tab'to rotate outwardly and to the operative position shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The billfold usually assumes a position at the center of the. pocket, causing the tab I I'to project out towardthe left as shown, although this will not occur with purses which are notopen at both side edges. In the billfold shown, wherein the side edges 2'land 28 of-the billfoldare. o en, the outer edges. oithe tabsIO and II are free. to engage the lining26;.but-.since the lining is usually tailored with .sufficient width, .both edges-do not normally engage the lining- Because theloss=preventing device is.of.' fixed width. and does. not resiliently, bearv against the pocket lining, thetendency to. wear thelining is minimized... Various changes may be made inthe form of the invention herein shown .and described without departing from the spirit of the.invention and .the scopeof the. following claims.

I claimasmy. invention:

1. A loss-preventing device for securing apurse within a; pocket-of an article of clothing comprising a purse-engaging tab and a guard tab, both tabs being of. thin, stiff sheet material, a flexible wear-resistant cover permanently fixed onleach face of theguard tab and extending as two parallel sheets beyond one edge of the guard tab and fixed to opposite faces of .the purse-engaging tab'to form .a -hinge between said tabs, there being a small interval between the tabs, the combined widths of said tabs and of, said interval in adirection perpendicular to the hinge: being slightly greater than'the width of 'the. opening of said pocket to preventextraction thereof through said opening when the tabs are unfolded within 7 the pocket with the hinge substantially perpendicular to the opening, said interval being great enough to permit the guard tab to be folded over the outside face of the purse when the purse-engaging tab is inserted into said purse to permit passage of the purse and loss-preventing device through said opening.

2. A loss-preventing device for securing a purse within a pocket of an article of clothing comprising a purse-engaging tab and a guard tab spaced apart to provide an interval, both tabs being of thin, stiff sheet material, and a hinge of flexible sheet material spanning said interval and fixed to each of said tabs to allow the guard tab to be folded over the outer face of the purse when the purse-engaging tab is inserted into said purse, the aggregate width of the device in a direction perpendicular to the hinge between remote edges being slightly greater than the width of the opening of said pocket to prevent extraction thereof through said opening when the tabs are unfolded within the pocket with the hinge substantially perpendicular to said opening and both tabs having widths less than the width of said opening, whereby the device can be extracted through said opening when the guard tab is folded over the side of the purse.

3. The loss-preventing device according to claim 2 wherein the hinge comprises two sheets of flexible sheet material fixed to opposite faces of the guard tab and to opposite faces of said purse-engaging tab.

4. In combination with a purse adapted to be placed in the pocket of an article of clothing with the side edges of said purse substantially perpendicular to the opening of said pocket; a guard I Numb er tab of thin, stiff sheet material extending beyond one of said side edges and having a margin substantially parallel to said edge and spaced there from to provide an interval, the Width of said guard tab from said margin to the edge remote therefrom being less than the width of the purse; a hinge made of flexible sheet material operable on a hinge line that is substantially parallel to said edge spanning said interval and attached directly to said guard tab and extending beyond said margin thereof; and a purse-engaging tab detachably engaged with said purse and permanently fixed to the flexible material of the hinge adaptedto position said hinge line immediately beyond said' side edge of the purse to permit the guard tab to be folded over the outer face of the purse by flexing the hinge, the distance from said edge of the guard tab which is remote from the said margin to the part of the purse and.engaging tab combination farthest from said edge being slightly greater than the width of the said opening of the pocket to prevent extraction of the purse and the extended guard tab through said opening.

ELDON C. HENDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED -The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date 1,055,516 Carter Mar. 11, 1913 2,176,387 Blakey Oct. 17, 1939 2,369,597 Miller Feb. 13, 1945 2,430,042 Bisbing Nov. 4, 1947 2,448,398 Schwartz Aug. 31, 1948

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