Button cover assembly and method for making same

Abstract

A cover assembly and a supporting method of manufacture therefor provide users with a button cover. The cover assembly comprises a disk and a cover construction. The disk has an inner disk surface comprising an uneven disk landscape having peaks and valleys strewn thereacross. The cover construction is formed from an elastic material comprising a bonding portion and an annulus. The bonding portion has a cover landscape complementary to the disk landscape as the bonding interface is formed by filling the disk landscape with the polymeric material while in liquid form. The annulus comprises an aperture having a relaxed diameter greater in magnitude than the diameter of a target button. The annulus is elastically stressable for increasing the relaxed aperture diameter to a stressed aperture configuration for receiving the button. After the assembly is donned, the annulus retains the button cover assembly adorned upon the received or enveloped button.

1 . A button cover assembly for adorning a button, the button cover assembly comprising:
 a disk, the disk having an outer disk surface, an inner surface, and a disk diameter, the inner disk surface having an uneven disk landscape; and   a cover construction, the cover construction being formed from an elastic material and comprising a bonding portion, an annulus, and a cover diameter, the bonding portion comprising a cover landscape, the disk being bonded to the cover construction at a disk-to-cover bond interface, the cover landscape being the complement of the disk landscape for enhancing bond strength, the annulus being integrally formed with the bonding portion and comprising a button-receiving cover aperture, the cover aperture having a relaxed aperture diameter, the relaxed aperture diameter being lesser in magnitude than the cover diameter, the elastic material being elastically stressable for enabling a user to increase the relaxed aperture diameter to a stressed aperture configuration for receiving a button, the received button having a diameter lesser in magnitude than the cover diameter and greater in magnitude than the relaxed aperture diameter, the annulus for retaining the button cover assembly adorned upon the received button.   
     
     
         2 . The button cover assembly of  claim 1  wherein the disk-to-cover interface is formed by first filling the disk landscape with polymeric material while in a liquid state and thereafter solidifying the polymeric material thereby bonding the disk to the cover construction such that the disk and cover landscapes complement each other. 
     
     
         3 . The button cover assembly of  claim 2  wherein the disk diameter is greater in magnitude than the cover diameter, the disk thus for masking the cover construction. 
     
     
         4 . The button cover assembly of  claim 2  wherein the annulus is substantially parallel to the bonding portion and the received button comprises a maximal button thickness, the annulus and bonding portion thus having a substantially uniform distance therebetween when in a relaxed state for receiving the maximal button thickness. 
     
     
         5 . The button cover assembly of  claim 3  wherein the outer disk surface comprises ornamental markings, the ornamental markings for ornamentally adorning the received button. 
     
     
         6 . The button cover assembly of  claim 3  wherein the cover construction is opaque, the opaque cover construction for concealing the received button. 
     
     
         7 . The button cover assembly of  claim 3  wherein the cover construction is translucent, the translucent cover construction for enabling a passerby to view the button through the cover construction. 
     
     
         8 . The button cover assembly of  claim 2  in combination with a button-outfitted structure, the button-outfitted structure being attached to the button at a button-to-structure junction, the button-to-structure junction defining an annulus-receiving gap, the annulus occupying the annulus-receiving gap when the button cover assembly is donned upon the button. 
     
     
         9 . A method for manufacturing a button cover assembly, the method comprising the steps of:
 fashioning an embroidered disk, the embroidered disk having a lower disk surface, an upper disk surface, a disk diameter, and a disk thickness, the upper disk surface having an uneven embroidered disk landscape;   positioning the embroidered disk at the first end of a disk-receiving cylinder, the disk-receiving cylinder having a cylindrical height and a cylinder diameter, the disk diameter being substantially equal to the cylinder diameter;   positioning a plunger in superior adjacency to the upper disk surface intermediate the cylinder height, the plunger comprising a plunger head and a plunger rod, the plunger head having a head thickness and a head diameter, the plunger rod having a rod diameter, the head diameter being lesser in magnitude than the cylinder diameter, the rod diameter being lesser in magnitude than the head diameter, the disk thickness and head thickness being lesser in magnitude than the cylinder height;   defining a volumetric space above the embroidered disk within the cylinder via the positioned plunger;   filling the volumetric space with a liquid polymeric material, the liquid polymeric material complementing the uneven disk landscape and covering the head in radial adjacency to the rod; and   solidifying the liquid polymeric material, the solidified polymeric material thereby becoming elastic and forming a cover construction bonded to the embroidered disk at the uneven embroidered disk landscape thereby forming a button cover assembly.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the embroidered disk is supported by a support structure, the support structure and cylinder defining a structure-receiving chamber. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the cover construction comprises a bonded portion and an annulus, the annulus having a cover aperture, the cover aperture having a diameter defined by the rod diameter, the method comprising the steps of:
 removing the head from the cover construction by elastically stressing the annulus and increasing the aperture diameter; and 
 elastically relaxing the annulus and decreasing the aperture diameter. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the button cover assembly is removed from the button-receiving chamber after elastically relaxing the annulus and decreasing the aperture diameter. 
     
     
         13 . A method for manufacturing a button cover assembly, the method comprising the steps of:
 forming a first structure, the first structure having opposed structural surfaces, the first structural surface having a non-uniform landscape;   orthogonally positioning the first structure at a first end of opposed walls, the opposed walls having a wall height and thereby defining a wall-to-wall dimension;   positioning a second structure above the first structure intermediate the walls, the second structure comprising a head and a post, the head having a head thickness and the post having a post width;   defining a volumetric space within the wall-to-wall space above the first structure via the positioned second structure;   filling the volumetric space with a liquid material, the liquid material complementing the non-uniform landscape and covering the head in adjacency to the post; and   solidifying the liquid material, the solidified material thereby becoming elastic and forming a cover construction bonded to the first structure at the non-uniform landscape to form a button cover assembly.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the second structure is removed from the cover construction after solidifying the elastic material. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the cover construction comprises a bonded portion, and an annulus, the annulus having a cover aperture, the cover aperture being defined by the post width, the method comprising the additional steps of:
 removing the head from the cover construction by elastically stressing the annulus; and 
 elastically relaxing the annulus. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the step of forming the first structure is defined by fashioning an embroidered structure, the first structural surface comprising a non-uniform, embroidered landscape. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the button cover assembly is removed from the button-receiving chamber after elastically relaxing the annulus. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the first structure extends intermediate the wall-to-wall dimension so as to fill space intermediate the walls at the first end thereof. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the embroidered structure is disk-like and the wall-to-wall space is cylindrical, the disk-like embroidered structure having a diameter substantially equal in magnitude to a cylinder diameter of the cylindrical wall-to-wall space. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the first structure is supported by a third structure, the third structure and walls defining a structure-receiving chamber.