Buckle mechanism

A buckle device comprising:

• a buckle assembly disposed on a strap member, the assembly comprising
• a frame member having a generally flat bottom base and two oppositely disposed upturned sidewalls, each respective sidewall defining a pin-receiving hole and a cover restricting tab, the tab disposed on a front portion of each respective sidewall, and wherein the two oppositely disposed upturned sidewalls of the frame member and the generally flat bottom base cooperate to define a three-dimensional space having a length, width, and height;
• a cover member hingeably disposed on the frame and adapted to selectively operate from a closed position to an open position, the cover member comprising a downward turned release lip and the downward turned release lip disposed within the three dimensional space of the frame when in a closed position whereby the downward turned release lip does not extend beyond a curved plane defined by the generally flat bottom base and upturned sidewalls of the frame member;
• and
• a latch-lock cam member disposed on the frame, the latch lock comprising a tab lock supported by oppositely disposed latchcam sidewalls, each sidewall defining a latch-cam-pin-receiving through hole and at least one tooth disposed on a portion of a front of the latch-lock cam member whereby the tooth selectively engages a latch-receiving hole on a female clasp element.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a dog collar including:
• a strap having a first end and a second end opposite the first end of the strap;
• a female clasp attached to the first end of the strap and having an oppositely disposed latch-engaging end with a latch-receiving hole;
• and
• a limited release buckle attached to the second end of the strap, the limited release buckle having:
• a frame and a cover connected together and shaped to cooperate together so as to eliminated unintended or unwanted movement of the cover from a normally closed position to an open position that will release the female clasp from the limited release buckle, wherein the frame has a bottom base and two oppositely disposed upturned sidewalls and
• the cover is pivotably attached to the frame and disposed between the upturned sidewalls, the cover comprising a downward turned release lip for grasping and rotating the cover from a normally closed position to an open position, the downward turned release lip shaped so as fit within the frame and to not extend beyond a curved plane defined by the bottom base and two oppositely disposed upturned sidewalls of the frame so that the cover selectively operates from the normally closed position to the open position relative to the frame only when intentionally grasped and rotated toward the open position, whereby the shaped of the frame and cover cooperate together to eliminated unintended or unwanted movement of the cover from the normally closed position to the open position.