AU2009238334A1 - Rope tensioning device - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT ORIGINAL Applicant(s): ANDREW LESLIE HEYES Actual Inventor(s): ANDREW LESLIE H4EYES Address for Service: PATENT ATTORNEY SERVICES 26 Ellingwortb Parade Box Hill Victoria 3128 Australia. Title: ROPE TENSIONING DEVICE Associated Provisional Applications: No(s).: The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- ROPE TENSIONING DEVICE Field of the Invention This invention relates to a rope tensioning device. Background of the Invention 5 Rope tensioning devices are used primarily to tighten a rope against an anchor point whereby the rope is either attached to an object or is used to secure a load. A prior art tensioning device is disclosed in international patent application publication No. W02005/012036 which has a pair of hooked ends on an elongate base, an anchoring device protruding from the elongate base and a clamp. A rope is linked 10 from behind through the first hooked end and wrapped around the anchor, through another hook and down to an anchor point. Thereafter the rope is returned through the second hooked end and fed through teeth of a clamp and pulled down to thereby tighten the whole device. The device is cumbersome and includes many parts. A user has to sequentially remember each of the steps required to feed the rope through the correct 15 parts on the device in order to tighten the rope. Because the clamp is designed to prevent the rope from pulling in a reverse direction, together with the arrangement of looping the rope through the device, it is not possible to reposition the device along the length of the rope in order to adjust the tightening position. It is also impossible to feed through multiple loops of the rope through the hooked end adjacent the clamp. The device also 20 requires a spring in order to continually provide gripping pressure by the clamp on the rope. [his, over time, can become weakened or otherwise deteriorate with the possibility of losing its strength in maintaining the force needed by the clamp to retain the rope. Another product called Tite-Tie@, which is a two-part rope tensioning device, also has hooks at either end of each part, the parts being mirror images of each other, and 25 are adapted to be aligned and abutting one another in use. A rope is fed from behind the 2 device through the first hook and then around two anchor points. The rope is then looped around an intermediate hook and thereafter around an anchoring point and around a further hook, located at an opposite end of the device. The rope is subsequently pulled down to tension it. Again a user has to remember the correct sequence in which to feed 5 the rope through the various hooks and anchor points of the device in order to use the device. Furthermore, vibrations, for example where the device has been used to secure a load which is transported, can loosen the rope whereby it can eventually lead to the ejection of the rope from the bottom hook or clasp. The device does not allow for 10 movement up and down the rope in order to adjust the position of the device and nor does it provide for looping the rope multiple times through an opening in the device in order to vary the amount of tension applied to the rope in the device. The present invention seeks to provide an improvement on the existing devices. The above references to and descriptions of prior proposals or products are not intended 15 to be, and are not to be construed as, statements or admissions of common general knowledge in the art in Australia., Summary of the Invention According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a rope tensioning device including a. first member having a first aperture and a second aperture; a second 20 member having an opening; wherein a free end of a rope is able to be inserted through the first aperture of the first member, through the opening of the second member and through the second aperture of the first member and thereafter looped around an anchor means and through the opening a second time, such that the rope is tightened by pulling the free end of the rope bearing pressure against the second member and the anchor 25 means. 3 The second member may be a frame enclosing the opening having a first part for engaging the rope on the first insertion through the opening and a second part, oppositely located to the first part, for engaging the rope when the rope is tightened. The rope may be looped around the anchor means and then through the second 5 member more than once in order to provide greater tension in the rope upon pulling the free end of the rope. The device may be moveable along the rope in both directions to adjust the position of the device along the rope prior to fully tightening the rope. Preferably, the first member is a substantially flat elongate plate having the first aperture located in one 10 half of the first mem ber and the second aperture located in the other half of the first member. The first aperture of the first member may have a periphery comprising a sLbstantially straight internal face and a curved internal face. The edges formed between a front face of the first member and each of the 15 internal faces of the first aperture may be sharply defined and/or the edges formed between a rear face of the first member and each of the internal faces of the first aperture may be sharply defined to provide additional grip to the rope when the rope is fully tightened and so that the rope is unable to move relative to the first aperture when in the fully tightened state. 20 The second aperture of the first member may have a periphery including a pair of opposed internal faces that meet at an apex. Edges formed between the front face of the first member and each of the internal faces of the second aperture may be sharply defined and/or the edges formed between the rear face of the first member and each of the internal Faces of the second aperture may be 25 sharply defined to provide additional grip to the rope when the rope is fully tightened and 4 so that the rope is unable to move relative to the second aperture when in the fully tightened state. preferably, the first part of the frame of the second member is secured to the first member by the rope when the rope is in a fully tightened state. The second member can 5 be triangular-shaped or bell-shaped having a tubular frame enclosing the opening. According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of tensioning a rope including the steps of: providing a first member having a first aperture and a second aperture; providing a second member having an opening; 10 inserting a free end of a rope through the first aperture of the first member; inserting the free end of the rope through the opening of the second member; inserting the free end of the rope through the second aperture of the first member; looping the rope around an anchor means; threading the rope through the opening a second time; 15 such that the rope is tightened by pulling the free end of the rope bearing pressure against the second member and the anchor means. The method may further include the step of looping the rope around the anchor means and threading the rope through the opening of the second member multiple times to provide greater tension in the rope upon pulling the free end of the rope. 20 The method may further include the step of allowing movement of the first and second members along the rope in both directions to adjust the position of the members along the rope prior to fully tightening the rope. ['he method may further inclu de the step of securing a first part of the second member to the first member by the rope and tightening the rope such that pulling on the 5 free end of the rope tightens the rope around a second part of the second member and around the anchor. Brief Description of the Drawings Preferred emubodinerits of the invention will hereinafter be described, by way of s example only, with reference to the drawings in which: Figure la is a perspective view of a first member of a rope tensioning device according to an embodiment; Figure lb is a perspective view of a second member of the rope tensioning device according to an embodiment; 10 Figure 1 c is a perspective view of a. second member of the rope tensioning device according to a further embodiment; Figure 2a and Figure 2b are respectively front and side views of the first member; Figures 2c and 2d are respectively front and side views of the second member of the first embodiment; 15 Figure 3a shows the first and second members adjacent one another with a rope thread through a first aperture of the first member; Figure 3b shows the rope in Figure 3a fed through a further aperture of the first member and an opening of the second member; and Figure 3c shows the rope further linked around an anchor point and a lower 20 portion of the second member in a position such that the rope is tensioned. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments Referring to Figures 1 and 2 there is shown a rope tensioning device 2 which includes a first member 4 and a second member 6. The first member 4 is a substantially flat plate having a first aperture 8 located in a first half of the first member 4 and a 25 second aperture 10 located in a second half of the first member 4 opposite to the first 6 aperture 8. The plate is shown as having slight indents 12 around the mid section Of the plate, however, any particular shape of the plate may be used having the apertures 8 and 10. The First member 4 is generally made from any suitable form of steel at a thickness of about 4 mm. Alternative materials from which it can be made include aluminium and 5 plastic. A plastic first member may be used in applications which do not require as much tension or force to be applied in a rope such as in affixing tents or camping equipment to the ground or other anchor points. Also shown is second member 6 as a tubular triangular member having an opening 14 bounded by tubular frame 16. The second member 6 is also preferably made 10 from any suitable form of steel having a diameter of approximately 8mm. The overall base length and height of the second member 6 is 65mm each way. The first member 4 has an overall length of 85mm and a width of 45mm. Likewise the second member 6 may be made from other materials such as aluminium or plastics depending on the application. 15 A further embodiment of the second member 6 is shown in Figure ic in which the second member 6 is approximately in the shape of a bell having opening 14 bounded by a frame 16. This embodiment provides a narrow section 18 bounded by head 20 of the second member 6 to more securely position the rope as it is fed through the first and second members, which is described hereinafter with reference to Figure 3. Any other 20 suitable shape may be used for member 6. Referring to Figure 2a, the first aperture 8 has a generally straight inner face 20 and a curved inner face 24 that meets respective ends of the face 22. Where face 22 meets with front side 26 and rear side 28 of the first member 4 in respective edges, preferably these edges are sharply defined which provides a better grip on the rope as it is 25 fed through the aperture 8 and prevents any slackness in the rope when it is in a fully 7 tensioned state. However, the edges may be slightly rounded and still afford sufficient grip on the rope. Second aperture 10 which is located in an opposite half to aperture 8 on the elongate first member 4, is generally round apart from a lower portion where faces 30 $ and 32 (see Figure l a) meet at a point or apex 34. This is shaped so as to provide extra traction or grip against the rope once it is in a tensioned state. Preferably the edges formed between face 30 and Face 32 and the respective sides 26 and 28 are sharply defined. Referring to Figure 3a there is shown rope 36 being fed from behind the first 10 member 4 through aperture 8. The other end of the rope may have already been secured to a further anchor point or already tied to an object which is required to be tied down. Alternatively, the other end of the rope may have been used in a further rope tensioning device 2. for example, on the other side of a load heaped on a trailer. Referring to Figure 3b the first end 38 of rope 36, after being fed through first 15 aperture 8, is then fed through the opening 14 of the second member 6 and then back through the second aperture 10 of the first member 4. With the embodiment of Figure lc, the rope 36 would reside in section 18 of the second member 6. Thereafter, with reference to Figure 3c, the end 38 is looped around an anchor point 40, such. as a bar that extends lengthways along a trailer, and then back through the front side of opening 14 20 such that it extends out the reverse side of the second member 6. Tension can now be applied to the rope tensioning device 2 or alternatively the rope can be further looped around the anchor point 40 and back through the opening 14 of second member 6 as many times as is required. The rope 36 as shown, is looped twice through the opening 14 in Figure 3. Tension is then applied to the rope 36 by pulling down on the free end 38 of 25 the rope. In this manner the rope is tensioned such that at points 42 and 44 the rope 36 is 8 forced against lower portion 46 of second member 6 whilst, at points 48 and 50 of the rope 36, pressure is bought to bear against the anchor point 40. As the rope tightens, it grips against the face 22 (rear thereof), face 24 (front thereof) of the first aperture 8 and also at apex 34 in aperture 10 of the first member 4. This action in turn provides a 5 gripping force against a top portion 52 of the second member 6 to hold the second member 6 to the first member 4. The more loops that are fed through the second member 6, so that pressure is brought against part 46, increases the overall tension that can be applied through the rope tensioning device 2. Thus the amount of pressure applied to the rope 36 can be varied by the number of loops of the rope 36 around portion 10 46 and anchor 40. Ii order to release the tension in the rope through device 2, the reverse process is undertaken. Once the rope 36 is fully tensioned, the load that is being held down is tightly held in place as the rope 36 cannot work free due to the particular location and design of 15 the first and second members 4 and 6. In particular, due to the sharply defined edges presented at either side of face 22 and the sharply defined edges presented on faces 30 and 32, the rope 36 is unable to become adrift or loosen unless provided by an external force in a deliberate attempt to release the rope 36. Prior to providing the adequate tension in the device 2, the device 2 can be moved 20 up and down the rope 36 by a user gripping both the members 4 and 6 and moving the device to the desired location along the rope 36. Thus the device 2 can be slid up and down the rope to a chosen area in order to locate the device 2 and provide the final tensioning to the device 2. The present invention allows the tying down or securing of loads without the use 25 of knots and foregoes the need to use bungie cord (or octopus straps) or any other elastic 9 means of tying down a load which can be cumbersome and difficult to provide adequate tension in order to secure a load. it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments 5 without departing from the scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. 10 10

Claims (17)

1. A rope tensioning device including: a first member having a first aperture and a second aperture; 5 a second member having an opening; wherein a free end of a rope is able to be inserted through the first aperture of the first member, through the opening of the second member and through the second aperture of the first member and thereafter looped around an anchor means and through the opening a second time, such that the rope is tightened by pulling the free end of the rope 10 bearing pressure against the second member and the anchor means.

2. A device according to claim I wherein the second member is a frame enclosing the opening having a first part for engaging the rope on the first insertion through the opening and a second part, oppositely located to the first part, for engaging the rope when 15 the rope is tightened.

3. A device according to claim t or claim 2 wherein the rope is looped around the anchor means and then through the second member more than once in order to provide greater tension in the rope upon pulling the free end of the rope. 20

4. A device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the device is moveable along the rope in both directions to adjust the position of the device along the rope prior to fully tightening the rope.

5. A device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the first member is a substantially flat elongate plate having the first aperture located in one half of the first member and the second aperture located in the other half of the first member. 5

6. A device according to claim 5 wherein the first aperture of the first member has a periphery comprising a substantially straight internal face and a curved internal face.

7. A device according to claim 6 wherein the edges formed between a front face of the first member and each of the internal faces of the first aperture are sharply defined 10 and/or the edges forced between a rear face of the first member and each of the internal faces of the first aperture are sharply defined to provide additional grip to the rope when the rope is fully tightened and so that the rope is unable to move relative to the first aperture when in the fully tightened state. 15

8. A device according to claim 7 wherein the second aperture of the first member has a periphery including a pair of opposed internal faces that meet at an apex.

9. A device according to claim 8 wherein edges formed between the front face of the first member and each of the integral faces of the second aperture are sharply defined 20 and/or the edges formed between the rear face of the first member and each of the internal faces of the second aperture are sharply defined to provide additional grip to the rope when the rope is fully tightened and so that the rope is unable to move relative to the second aperture when in the fully tightened state. 12

10. A device according to claim 2 wherein the first part of the frame of the second member is secured to the first member by the rope when the rope is in a fully tightened state. 5

11. A device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the second member is triangular-shaped or bell-shaped having a tubular frame enclosing the opening.

12. A method of tCnsioning a rope including the steps of: 1 o providing a first member having a first aperture and a second aperture; providing a second member having an opening; inserting a free end of a rope through the first aperture of the first member; inserting the free end of the rope through the opening of the second member; inserting the free end of the rope through the second aperture of the first member; 15 looping the rope around an anchor means; threading the rope through the opening a second time; such that the rope is tightened by pulling the free end of the rope bearing pressure against the second member and the anchor means. 20

13. A method according to claim 12 further including looping the rope around the anchor means and threading the rope through the opening of the second member multiple times to provide greater tension in the rope upon pulling the free end of the rope. 13

14. A method according to claim 12 or claim 13 further including allowing movement of the first and second members along the rope in both directions to adjust the position of the members along the rope prior to fully tightening the rope. 5

15. A method according to any one of claims 12 to 14 further including securing a first part of the second member to the first member by the rope and tightening the rope such that pulling on the free end of the rope tightens the rope around a second part of the second member and around the anchor. 10

16. A rope tensioning device substantially as bereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

17. A method of tensioning a rope substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 14