US3782150A

US3782150A - Fob-key-ring assembly

Info

Publication number: US3782150A
Application number: US00236944A
Authority: US
Inventors: K Wolpin
Original assignee: Hit Sales Corp
Current assignee: Hit Sales Corp
Priority date: 1972-03-22
Filing date: 1972-03-22
Publication date: 1974-01-01
Anticipated expiration: 1991-01-01

Abstract

A fob-key-ring assembly and method of joining same in which the fob is provided with an attaching bar extending linearly along one edge of the fob at a spaced distance therefrom, and the keyring is formed with a base and a key engaging bail portion. A securing sleeve extends from the ring base to encircle and journal the fob attaching bar to provide the fob-key-ring assembly with the fob subject to pivoting with respect to the key ring about the attaching bar axis. Assembly is accomplished by forming the securing sleeve as a longitudinally split cylinder in which the attaching bar is positioned when the sleeve is separated along the split line, and which is closed by passing the assembly beneath a pressure roll.

Description

[ Fan. 1,1974

[ FOB-KEY-RHNG ASSEMBLY [75] Inventor: Kermit Woipin, Atlantic Beach,

[73] Assignee: Hit Sales Corporation, New York,

[22] Filed: Mar. 22, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 236,944

[52] US. Cl. 70/459 [51] Int. Cl A47g 29/10 [58] Field of lljiifILJJJLLLLLLLQLlQEL 2 24/3 K, 3 M; 59/85, 93; 63/] R, 2, 20, 22

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 736,606 8/1903 Lamb 24/3 M FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 278,702 ll/l964 Netherlands 70/456 R France 24/3 K France 63/23 Primary Examiner-Robert L. Wolfe Attorney-Robert W. Fiddler [57] ABSTRACT A fob-key-ring assembly and method of joining same in which the fob is provided with an attaching bar extending linearly along one edge of the fob at a spaced distance therefrom, and the key-ring is formed with a base and a key engaging bail portion. A securing sleeve extends from the ring base to encircle and journal the fob attaching bar to provide the fob-key-ring assembly with the fob subject to pivoting with respect to the key ring about the attaching bar axis. Assembly is accomplished by forming the securing sleeve as a longitudinally split cylinder in which the attaching bar is positioned when the sleeve is separated along the split line, and which is closed by passing the assembly beneath a pressure roll.

9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 1 FOB-KEY-RING ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the art of key-rings and more particularly to an improved key-ring and fob assembly in which the fob is'pivotally secured to the keyring by means of a sleeve member which is adapted for positioning by means of a simple pressure roll facilitating assembly.

Fobs have long been associated with key-rings to facilitate marking of the key-ring, to provide decorative attachments for the key-ring, or to provide a handle member to implement manipulation of the key-ring.

To this end, a variety of key-ring and fob shapes have been evolved. The simplest fob attachment involved the formation of the fob with an aperture so that the fob may be threaded onto the key-ring. This of course reduces the available key carrying capacity of the keyring, and where the fob is small, results in the fob being confused with the keys.

Where the fob is secured to a non-key-carryingportion of the key-ring, the key-ring often becomes undesirably bulky, and the structure becomes relatively expensive to produce and assemble. Thus, if the fob is welded or otherwise rigidly joined to the rim of the ring, the ring size is increased and manufacture and use become unwieldly.

Where the fob is hingedly secured to this ring to produce a relatively collapsible structure, the hinging structures such as links or chains, increase production cost of both material and assembly time. Relatively expensive assembly equipment or relatively skilled assembly workers must be employed, thus raising. production costs to a point often making the normally inexpensive key-ring un'economical of production.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION It is with the above considerations in mind that thepresent fob-key-ring assembly has been evolved providing a relatively inexpensive structure, subject to simple assembly by unskilled workers and providing a fob attached to a key-ring in a secure fashion facilitating handling of the ring by means of the fob and manipulation of the keys on the ring, with the fob subject to being folded over on the ring to minimize the volume occupied by the assembly when in use.

It is accordingly among the primary objects of this invention to provide a fob-key-ring assembly subject to rapid and inexpensive assembly by relatively unskilled workers.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fobkey-ring assembly in which the components may readily be oriented to occupy a relatively minimal volume in the pocket or purse of a user.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fobkey-ring assembly subject to ready contouring of a desired decorative shape.

These and other objects of the invention which will become hereafter apparent are achieved by forming a fob with an attaching bar extending linearly along one edge of the fob at a spaced distance from the fob edge. A key-ring is formed with a linearly extending base portion and a key engaging bail portion. An elongated sleeve-extends from the base portion of the key ring to encircle the attaching portion of the fob. The sleeve is split along a longitudinal side thereof. Assembly is accomplished by forming the sleeve open along the split.

' veyor belt, assembly of the fob and key-ring may readily be accomplished.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fob-key-ring assembly made in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing the key ring in open position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, exploded perspective view of a detail showing the key ring base, sleeve, and fob attaching bar, before asembly;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an apparatus used for attaching the fob to the key ring;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view taken along the line 66 of FIG. 5 illustrating the pressure roll closing the sleeves to join the fob to the key-ring; and FIG. 7 is a partial transverse sectional view through the open securing sleeve before assembly illustrating the preferred relative sizes of the sleeve components.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, where like numerals in the various FIGURES are employed to designate like parts, a fob-key-ring assembly 10 embodying the teaching of the invention is illustratively shown in FIG. 1. The assembly 10 comprises a key-ring portion generally designated 11 to which is attached a fob generally designated 12.

The key-ring portion 11 comprises a base 14 with a key engaging bail 16 secured thereto by a pivot pin 18 so that the bail 16 may be moved from the position shown in FIG. 1 to that shown in FIG. 3. In the illustrated embodiment the base portion is shown as formed of a hollow elongate configuration.

A sleeve 20 as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5 is provided of a longitudinally split cylindrical configuration. In the illustrated embodiment sleeve 20 is formed integral with key-ring base 14, the sleeve and base being bent from a single piece of sheet material into the shape as best seen in FIG. 4.

Fob 12 is illustratively shown as of a keystone shape, rounded at its broader end. Along one edge of the fob extending linearly at a spaced distance from said fob edge is an attaching rod 24 which is preferably circular incross-section. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 4 the attaching bar is maintained at a spaced distance from the fob edge between ears 25.

Turning now to more detail of construction, the fob base 14 is illustratively shown as in the form of a hollow closed

channel having sides

26, 28, top 30 and bottom 32. The base 14 may be made from a single piece of sheet metal which is formed into a closed loop (as viewed in cross-section) with the abuting edges 34 disposed at the bottom of the base 14.

In the illustrated embodiment, the sleeve 20 is formed integrally with key-ring base 14 by shaping the sleeve from an extension of the sheet material used in forming the base 15. As seen in FIGS. 4 and 7, the sleeve is initially formed into an open loop section 36 which is ultimately formed into the aforementioned closed loop by bringing the loop edge 38 against loop edge 39 to form the longitudinally split closed cylinder as seen in FIG. 1. The sleeve 20 may be formed from the same piece of sheet material which makes up the hollow channel defining the base 14 by extending a longitudinally intermediate portion of sheet material from the aforementioned edge 32 of the base 14, which as shown in FIG. 4 is bent at right angles to the base bottom 32.

The top 30 of the base 14 has a portion cut away at one longitudinal end to provide an opening 40 in the top 30 to receive the pivot end of the leg 42 of the keyring bail 16. The end portion of pivot leg 42 is pivotally supported in the aforesaid opening 40 by the pivot pin 18 which extends through the

sides

26, 28 of the base 14. The top 30 of the base has another portion cut away defining a latch opening 44 which receives the free end of latch leg 46 of U-shaped bail 16. Thus, it will be seen that the ring 16 may be pivoted about pin 18 between a closed position (FIG. 1) and an open position (FIG. 3). In order to lock the bail 16 in a key retaining position, a detent notch 50 will engage the outer edge 52 of the opening 44 with a spring bias which is provided by selecting the distance between the ends of the two

legs

42, 46 of the bail 16 so that it is necessary to flex the bail 16 by urging the two

legs

42, 46 towards one another when opening and closing the ring. The springing of the

bail legs

46 and 42 to bring them together is attained by forming an entry tip 51 beneath detent notch 50 with the entry tip tapered downwardly toward the leg 42 so that the lower end of leg 46 is forced toward leg 42, as entry tip 51 rides over edge 52 of latch opening 50 as best seen in FIG. Thus when the free end of the leg 46 of bail l6 beyond the notch 50 passes below the outer edge 52 of opening 44, the leg 46 of ring 10 will spring out and the detent notch 50 will lockingly engage the outer edge 52 of the latch opening 44. The notch 50 in the ring 10 may be generally V-shaped with the juncture of the V located closest to the terminating end of the leg 46 of the ring 16 as best shown in FIG. 2. This arrangement presents a barb-like projection beneath the edge 52 to prevent inadvertant disengagement between the latch edge 52 and the detent notch 50.

In order to close the ring 16, it is only necessary to pivot the latter about pin 18 into closed position (FIG. 1) whereby the entry tip 51 ofleg 46 will initially be received in the opening 44, and upon continued pivotal movement, will be urged toward the other leg 42 by engagement with the outer edge 52 of opening 44 until the leg 46 snaps into closed position as the notch 50 receives the outer edge 52 of opening 44.

To open the ring 10 it is only necessary to grasp the two

legs

42, 46 of the ring and squeeze them together to release the notch 50 from the outer edge 52 of opening 44 and then pivot the ring 10 about pin 18 to its open position as seen in FIG. 3.

Assembly of the fob 12 to the key-ring 11 is accomplished by positioning the attaching bar 24 of fob 12 in the open sleeve secured to the key-ring base 14. Thereafter by bringing the

sleeve edges

38 and 39 against each other to close the sleeve 20, assembly is effected.

In accordance with the invention, desired assembly for commercial production is most readily attained by the utilization of a relatively simple conveyor fed pressure roll mechanism permitting a relatively unskilled operator to effect production. Thus after the fobs are positioned with their attaching bars 24 in the open sleeves 20 the fob and key-ring are passed beneath a pressure roll to effect sleeve closure.

This may be most expeditiously accomplished by means of a press 54 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The press 54 comprises a pair of

rolls

56, 58 mounted for rotation in bearings carried on support stands 60, 62. The lower roller 56 is driven by a motor 64.

An endless conveyor belt 66 is trained over the driven roll 58 and idler 68 such that the upper run of the conveyor belt 66 passes between the two

rolls

56 and 58. The conveyor idler roll 68 is mounted for rotation in suitable bearing means 70, 72 carried on a frame 74 on which the support stands 60, 62 are also mounted. The motor 64 which drives the roller 58 also drives the conveyor 66 inasmuch as the conveyor belt 66 passes around the roller 58.

In order to assemble the fobs 12 on to the rings 10, an operator need only place the rod 24 of fob 12 into the open sleeve 20 (FIG. 4) and place the partial assembly onto the conveyor 66. The conveyor 66 will carry the assembly to a position between the

rolls

56, 58 whereby the latter will engage and compress the open sleeve 20 to close the latter as best seen in FIG. 6.

It should be noted that the width of the sleeve as viewed in lateral cross-section while in open condition (see FIG. 4) and in closed condition (FIG. 2) is greater than the thickness of the base 14 and the ring 10 so that the

rollers

56 and 58 function to close the loop without interference from the base 14 or ring 10.

It has been found that maximum efficiency of production insuring alignment of the sleeve edges 38 and 39 is attained by forming the sleeve as shown in FIG. 5, so that in open position the opposed circular sections each having a radius r are joined by a straight section I in which the radius r of each of the two circular sections equals the length of the straight line section I.

In using the press, an operator needs only to grasp a key ring in one hand, a fob in the other, place the rod 24 of the fob into open loop 20, and then place the partial assembly randomly anywhere on the conveyor 66. The latter will, of course, carry all sub-assemblies placed thereon to the

rollers

56 and 58. Thus it will be seen that it is relatively simple to assemble the key ring and fob, particularly where the operator can place the sub-assembly anywhere on the upper run of the conveyor 66. The assembled key rings with fob may pass from between the

roller

56 and 58 and drop into a container (not shown).

The above disclosure has been given by way of illustration and elucidation and not by way of limitation, and it is desired to protect all embodiments of the hereindisclosed inventive concept within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A fob-key-ring assembly comprising: a key-ring having an elongated base portion; a fob having an attaching bar secured at one edge of said fob and spaced from the fob body; and a securing sleeve on said base portion of said key-ring portion encircling said attaching bar on said fob, said base portion and said securing sleeve formed of a single sheet of material bent to form said base portion and securing sleeve as separate parts of an integral unit.

2. A fob-key-ring assembly as in claim 1 in which said attaching bar is dimensioned to freely rotate about its axis in said securing sleeve.

3. A fob-key-ring assembly as in claim 1 in which said sleeve is thicker in cross-section than said fob or said key-ring.

4. A fob-key-ring assembly as in claim 1 in which said key-ring comprises: a generally U-shaped bail on one end portion of said base portion; latch means on said other leg of said bail; a detent on said base portion operable to releasably lock said other leg to said base member in a position where the ring element and base member form a closed loop; and said sleeve extending from the side of the base portion opposite to that from which the ring element extends.

5. A fob-key-ring assembly according to claim 4 wherein said base and sleeve are made from a single sheet of material formed into a hollow channel with said sleeve extending from said channel.

6. A fob-key-ring assembly according to claim 5 wherein said channel has cutout sections for receiving the legs of said U-shaped ring element.

7. A key-ring according to claim 5 wherein said channel is formed with a detent opening adjacent one longitudinal end of said channel with an outer edge of said opening defining a detent for said latch.

85. A fob-key-ring assembly according to claim 7 wherein said latch means on said leg of said bail is formed by a notch which engages said outer edge of said detent opening.

9. A fob-key-ring assembly according to claim 8 wherein the distance between the two legs of said bail is selected so that in locked position, the resiliency of the bail urges said other leg of said bail to biasingly engage said detent edge.

Claims

8. A fob-key-ring assembly according to claim 7 wherein said latch means on said leg of said bail is formed by a notch which engages said outer edge of said detent opening.