RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of the October 29, 2013 filing of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/896,663, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

Disclosed herein are fastening devices that generally may be used to join two separate objects or to join two separate parts of the same object. The fastening devices are such that, when the connection are no longer desired, the fastening devices may be separated with virtually no sign remaining of their previous connections.

BACKGROUND

Many examples exist in which two objects are desired to be connected to each other, sometimes only temporarily. In an automobile alone, a driver may want to secure a mobile telephone or sunglasses within easy reach. In a kitchen of a household, the occupant may want to secure a tablet computer displaying a recipe upon a surface enabling easy viewing for cooking, and in the household's shower the occupant may care to secure a soap or shampoo bottle within easy access for use as desired. There are so many different fastening needs that it becomes impractical for a user to shop for and to install a specialized fastening device for each need. A multi-purpose fastener would save time and money.

In many cases, the user only wants a temporary connection and is not at liberty to leave on the premises signs of the connection, such as holes from removed screws or residue from glues or adhesives, after the need for the connection has ended. For example, a traveler staying in a hotel room for one night only may appreciate the ability to secure a magnifying mirror directly to the hotel bathroom mirror and then to easily remove the magnifying mirror after its use leaving no damage or other signs thereof to the surface to which the magnifying mirror had been secured. Accordingly, the present inventors set out to develop a versatile fastening device, suitable to many uses, which left virtually no sign of its presence after its use.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the fastening devices disclosed herein may be used to join two separate objects or to join two separate parts of the same object. After their use, the fastening devices may be removed with virtually no signs of their presence remaining on the surfaces that were fastened. As detailed below, the disclosed fastening devices enable the convenient placement of articles inexpensively, not requiring a user to seek out a specialized fastener for each envisioned need.

The invention may be embodied as a fastener having two pairs of suction cups and a flexible connector. Each suction cup of each pair has a fastening surface that faces in the opposite direction of a fastening surface of the other suction cup of the pair. The flexible connector joins the two pairs of suction cups.

The invention may also be embodied as a fastener having at least one pair of suction cups, at least one post, and at least one suction cup spacer. For the at least one pair of suction cups, each suction cup of the pair has a fastening surface that faces in the opposite direction of a fastening surface of the other suction cup of the pair. For each pair of suction cups, the post joins the two suction cups of the pair, the post and the suction cups being formed as a single unit. For each pair of suction cups, a suction cup spacer surrounds the post and contacting the suction cups.

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are briefly described as follows:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described below in the appended claims, which are read in view of the accompanying description including the following drawings, wherein:

Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 illustrate front, top, side, and perspective views, respectively, of an embodiment of the invention;

Figs. 5, 6, and 7 illustrate exploded views of perspective, top, and side views, respectively, of the embodiment of Figs. 1-4;

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate an embodiment of the invention in use fastening a mobile telephone to a drinking glass; and

Figs. 10-12 illustrate alternate configurations of an embodiment of the invention fastened to a mobile telephone.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention summarized above and defined by the claims below will be better understood by referring to the present detailed description of embodiments of the invention. This description is not intended to limit the scope of claims but instead to provide examples of the invention. With reference to the embodiment of Figs 1-4, a fastening device 10 comprises two pairs of suction cups 12. The two suctions cups 12 of each pair are joined together at a post 14 (Fig. 7) within a suction cup spacer 16 and are oriented so that fastening surfaces 18 of the suctions cups 12 face opposite directions. The two suction cup pairs are joined together adjacent their suction cup spacers 16 by a flexible connector 20. The suction cup pairs, the posts 14, and the flexible connector 20 are formed as a single unit in this embodiment, but the invention in general is not limited accordingly. Also in the present embodiment, one of the two suction cup spacers 16 has an eyelet 22 for a cord to assist the user in handling the fastening device. In some alternate embodiments, the eyelet 22 and cord are omitted. Optionally, a logo may be added to the fastener, such as on one of the suction cup spacers 16 as illustrated in the drawings.

The exploded views of Figs. 5, 6, and 7 illustrate that both suction cup spacers 16 in this embodiment are constructed by joining together suction cup spacer halves 16a, 16b. For each suction cup pair, two suction cup spacer halves 16a, 16b are joined together to grasp the respective posts 14 as shown in the drawings. As shown, in this embodiment the spacers 16 have slits 24 to accommodate the flexible connector 20. That is, the internal edges of the slits 24 surround the flexible connector 20 when the spacer halves 16a, 16b are joined together to grasp the posts 14. Also, as shown most clearly in Fig. 7, in this embodiment the diameters of the posts 14 increase midway between the suction cups 12 to form a radial bulge 26, thereby enabling the posts 14 to contact the spacer halves 16a, 16b.

The elements of the fasteners may be formed using materials and methods known in the art. As non-limiting examples, the suction cups 12, their posts 14, and the flexible connector 20 may be formed of flexible PVC, and the suction cup spacer halves 16a, 16b may be formed of plastic, such as by an injection molding process. Figs. 8 and 9 show an embodiment of the invention fastening a mobile telephone 28 to a drinking glass 30. As is clear in the illustrations, two suction cups of the fastening device 10 attach by suction to the mobile telephone 28, and the other two suctions cups attach by suction to the glass 30. Fig. 8 shows how the mobile telephone 28 is positioned for viewing its display, and Fig. 9 shows how the glass 30 becomes a convenient handle for the mobile telephone 28. The suction cup spacers act to stabilize the connection between the mobile telephone 28 and the glass 30, because without the suction cup spacers the posts between the suction cups would allow the relative movement (swaying or jiggling) between the suction cups. That is, the suction cup spacers inhibit relative motion of the suction cups, so the mobile telephone 28 and the glass 30 do not move relative to each other significantly. Note also that, due to the flexibility of the connector connecting the two pairs of suction cups, the fastening device 10 may also attach to glasses that have a more curved profile relative to its axis. The flexibility of the connector can be especially useful for fastening a mobile telephone to a curved window of an automobile. The present embodiment is also suitable for fastening to a surface a mobile telephone that has a curved body. Further, embodiments having two suction cup pairs instead of one pair are more stable in the direction parallel to the length of the flexible connector.

Figs. 10-12 show different views of embodiments of the invention fastened to the mobile telephone 28. Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate cords 32 in the eyelet of the fastening device 10. As is shown, the cord 32 connects the fastening device 10 to the mobile telephone, the configuration thereby preventing loss of the fastening device 10 when not in use. The cord 32 may have an elongated member (not shown for clarity) with the size and shape of an electrical plug in order to fit snugly into the earphone jack of the mobile telephone 28 and thereby secure the cord 32 of the fastening device 10 to the mobile telephone 28. In Fig. 12, two suction cups fastening surfaces, ordinarily facing the same direction when not in use, are positioned to fasten to each other. The flexible connector is designed in this embodiment to be flexible enough to enable this configuration.

As is apparent from the foregoing disclosure, embodiments of the fastening devices can be used to join two separate objects or to join two separate parts of the same object. An example of the former is using one (or more, if desired) fastening devices to fasten a tablet computer to a surface of in a kitchen, such as a window, refrigerator, or cabinet surface, to enable a user to conveniently follow a recipe displayed on the tablet. An example of the latter use is attaching one side a fastening device (that is, two suction cups on the same side of the flexible container) to a door or cover of a cabinet or compartment and attaching the other side of the fastening device to the nearest part of the surface available when the door or cover is rotated to the fully- open position. As is clear, embodiments of the fastening devices are such that, when the connection are no longer desired, the fastening devices may be separated leaving virtually no signs (for example, adhesive residues or holes from removed screws or nails) of their previous connections.

Embodiments of the disclosed fastening devices can be manufactured inexpensively, and examples of their uses are virtually unlimited. A mobile telephone may be fastened to its charger or to a wall while the charger is engaged with an electrical outlet. A driver may fasten sunglasses to a car windshield (by surrounding the bridge of the sunglasses with the bridge front side and back side adjacent the flexible connector and the windshield, respectively, and the bridge top side and bottom sides adjacent the suction cup spacers). Instead of grasping the bridge of a pair of sunglasses, the fastening device may grasp analogously an eyelet of an oven mitt to secure it to a kitchen wall or other vertical surface. In a shower stall, an inverted shampoo bottle may be fastened to wall at a convenient height for a user to easily dispense shampoo. Keys may be fastened to a door (for example, by trapping the key ring analogously to surrounding a sunglasses bridge as described above), and a television remote control may be fastened to the television.

Having thus described exemplary embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent that various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. For example, an embodiment may be constructed with only one suction cup pair and the flexible connector omitted. Alternations, modifications, and improvements of the disclosed invention, although not expressly described above, are nonetheless intended and implied to be within spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing discussion is intended to be illustrative only; the invention is limited and defined only by the following claims and equivalents thereto.