Self-contained button attachment assembly

Abstract

A self-contained button attachment assembly. In a preferred embodiment, the assembly comprises a fastener dispensing tool. The tool includes a hollow, open-ended, unitary housing having a top portion and a bottom portion. The top portion and the bottom portion are generally cylindrical in shape, the top portion having a substantially greater cross-sectional diameter than the bottom portion. Four hollow, slotted needles are fixedly mounted in the housing and extend out through the bottom thereof. Four ejector rods are slidably mounted within the four needles, the four ejector rods being fixedly mounted at their respective top ends on a plate that is slidably mounted within the top portion of the housing and is accessible through the open top end thereof. The assembly also comprises a conventional garment button of the type having four transverse openings. The button is positioned within the bottom portion of the housing so that the four needles extend partially through its four transverse openings, the button being releasably retained within the housing by a circumferential lip formed on the inside of the housing. The assembly further comprises a pair of fasteners, each fastener comprising a U-shaped flexible filament and a pair of transverse feet, the transverse feet being disposed at opposite ends of the filament and extending perpendicularly to the plane of the filament. Each transverse foot is loaded into one of the hollow slotted needles and is positioned over the button.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.