There are a wide variety of attachment methods used upon our clothing, such as zippers, snaps, and the like. Perhaps the most common of these methods is the use of a button and a corresponding button hole. The button has been used for countless generations for quickly and easily securing clothing.
Unfortunately, buttons are prone to failing. Generally speaking, buttons fail when the threads holding them in place break due to repeated use or becoming caught on another object. This detachment usually occurs at the most inopportune time when an article of clothing is needed the most.
Failure of a button requires a user to either take valuable time to sew the button back on or find an alternate piece of clothing. Many people do not possess suitable seamstress skills, thus forcing a costly repair or an even costlier replacement of the entire item of clothing. In many cases, even when the user is capable of repairing the clothing themselves, they will not have appropriate equipment on hand at the time of failure. Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which buttons can be replaced on clothing in order to increase the useful lifetime of the clothing.
Various attempts have been made to provide fasteners providing button-type functionality. Examples of these attempts can be seen by reference to several U.S. patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,802; U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,034; U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,890; U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,541; U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,911; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,043.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each of these references suffer from one or more disadvantages. Many such devices are not secure and are prone to coming off under minor stress. Many such devices are not robust enough to be suitable for long-term use. Many such devices cannot be prevented from rotating after they are installed. Accordingly, there exists a need for an attachable fastening device replacing buttons on clothing without the disadvantages as described above. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.