Protective device for wallets, purses and the like
United States Patent 3882915
A compression spring formed of a rectangular piece of spring steel and coated with a plurality of colored plastics or paints is folded into a man's wallet or the strap of a woman's purse. When a thief removes the wallet from a man's pocket or tears the woman's purse away from its strap, the spring unfolds and the colors thus exposed draw attention to the thief, causing him to drop the stolen item and permit its recovery by its rightful owner.
Inventors:
Filipski, Anna M. (Chicago, IL)
Filipski, Roman F. (Chicago, IL)
Filipski, Roman F. (Chicago, IL)
Application Number:
05/412697
Publication Date:
05/13/1975
Filing Date:
11/05/1973
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Export Citation:
Primary Class:
International Classes:
A45C1/06; A45C1/00; A45C1/06
Field of Search:
150/35,38,39,47 190/61 116/84
Primary Examiner:
Norton, Donald F.
Claims:
Having thus described this invention, what is asserted and claimed as new is
1. In combination:
2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said sections differ in color.
1. In combination:
2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said sections differ in color.
Description:
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Our invention relates to the protection of mens's wallets, women's purses, and other items which can be placed in a pocket or carried by a handle or strap.
It is an object of our invention to facilitate the recovery of such items, when they are stolen, by drawing attention to the person who steals them, and thereby causing such person to drop the stolen item to avoid capture and thus allowing the rightful owner to claim it.
To this end, we construct a folded compression spring out of a rectangular piece of spring steel, said spring being painted colorfully or coated with plastic of bright hues. We fold said spring into the wallet or handle or strap of the item which we wish to protect. When a thief steals the wallet from a pocket or tears the purse or other item from its strap or handle, the spring unfolds, thus exposing a long brightly colored strip. This strip attracts attention to the thief, who drops the stolen item to avoid attention and capture and allows its rightful owner to reclaim it.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a drawing of a situation in which our invention, placed in a man's wallet, could be useful;
FIG. 2 is a side view of our invention unfolding;
FIG. 3 is a frontal view of our invention in its unfolded state.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings, a thief 1 with accomplice 2 accosts a victim 3 with the intent of stealing victim's wallet 4 into which a rectangular steel compression spring 5 folded longitudinally into a plurality of brightly colored square faces 6 of like dimension has been folded. The faces are disposed side by side in contact with each other when folded together and held detachably in place within the folded wallet. Once the wallet is not kept shut by the pressure of the pocket 7 in which it is carried, it unfolds, as shown in FIG. 2, to a fully extended state, as shown in FIG. 3, thus colorfully attracting attention to thief, who drops it to avoid capture and enables victim to reclaim it.
While we have described our invention with particular reference to the drawings, such is not to be considered as limiting its actual scope.
Our invention relates to the protection of mens's wallets, women's purses, and other items which can be placed in a pocket or carried by a handle or strap.
It is an object of our invention to facilitate the recovery of such items, when they are stolen, by drawing attention to the person who steals them, and thereby causing such person to drop the stolen item to avoid capture and thus allowing the rightful owner to claim it.
To this end, we construct a folded compression spring out of a rectangular piece of spring steel, said spring being painted colorfully or coated with plastic of bright hues. We fold said spring into the wallet or handle or strap of the item which we wish to protect. When a thief steals the wallet from a pocket or tears the purse or other item from its strap or handle, the spring unfolds, thus exposing a long brightly colored strip. This strip attracts attention to the thief, who drops the stolen item to avoid attention and capture and allows its rightful owner to reclaim it.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a drawing of a situation in which our invention, placed in a man's wallet, could be useful;
FIG. 2 is a side view of our invention unfolding;
FIG. 3 is a frontal view of our invention in its unfolded state.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings, a thief 1 with accomplice 2 accosts a victim 3 with the intent of stealing victim's wallet 4 into which a rectangular steel compression spring 5 folded longitudinally into a plurality of brightly colored square faces 6 of like dimension has been folded. The faces are disposed side by side in contact with each other when folded together and held detachably in place within the folded wallet. Once the wallet is not kept shut by the pressure of the pocket 7 in which it is carried, it unfolds, as shown in FIG. 2, to a fully extended state, as shown in FIG. 3, thus colorfully attracting attention to thief, who drops it to avoid capture and enables victim to reclaim it.
While we have described our invention with particular reference to the drawings, such is not to be considered as limiting its actual scope.