AU711500B2 - A rubber composite adjustable universal tie down strap - Google Patents

Description

P/00/01 1 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

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TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: STEVE SUMMERS STEVE SUMMERS Se S. S S *0 G.P.O. Box 772, Adelaide, SA 5001 A RUBBER COMPOSITE, ADJUSTABLE UNIVERSAL TIE Invention Title: DOWN STRAP The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the Ibest method of performing it known to me: This invention relates to tie down straps suitable for securing loads and the like.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION Tie down straps to which this invention particularly relates, generally consist of a flexible, resilient strap which is provided with an anchoring means at either end so the strap can be fastened to an object or objects with the purpose of securing the object or objects together and/or to another object.

PRIOR ART New Zealand patent specification 245891 describes a tie down strap for securing a bicycle to a carrier on a vehicle. The strap disclosed in that specification comprises a flexible length of material which has loops at either end. A tensioning device is incorporated in the strap to assist m tightening the strap to maintain the bicycle on the carrier.

A further example of a known tie down strap is disclosed in New Zealand patent specification 224885 which describes a load harness in the form of a nylon rope which can be tied to secure a load to a deck.

Another form of tie down strap is known as a "bungy cord" and consists of multiple strands of an elastomeric material which are encased within a tubular flexible fabric with a hook being secured to each of the ends of the strap. Bungy cords are generally made of a "specific length, although in use the length can be temporarily increased considerably by stretching because of the inherent elasticity of the cord. To use a bungy cord it may be 2 simply wrapped around an article or articles to be fastened and the hooks on the ends of the cord engaged, one with the other, or to an anchor or between two points dependent upon the particular usage required.

Bungy cords and similar tie down straps have two main disadvantages. The first disadvantage is that because the flexible strands of the bungy cord are encased within a fabric covering, little friction can be obtained between the outside of the bungy cord and any article which the bungy cord touches. A bungy cord therefore is generally able to secure a load only by reason of the compressive force it exerts on the load. A further disadvantage with known tie down straps such as bungy cords is that because they are manufactured in finite lengths, it is not always possible to find a bungy cord of the right length for the particular usage in hand and consequently it is often necessary to have more than one bungy cord to secure articles of different sizes.

15 OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 1..

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved flexible tie down strap Swhich will minimise the above disadvantages or which will at least give the public a useful choice.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the invention consists in a flexible resilient tie down strap comprised of a length of elastomeric material having a hook at one end and enlargements at the other end of and intermediate of the length of elastomeric material with an anchor hole through each enlargement, and anchor means comprising a second hook having a leg which can be removably engaged in the anchor hole through any of the enlargements, and an open hook at its other end.

Preferably the strap is substantially rectangular in cross section.

Preferably each said enlargement extends substantially the full width of the strap.

Preferably each enlargement comprises an increase in thickness of the strap on opposite sides of the strap.

Preferably the said anchor holes pass transversely through the said strap at approximately the mid point of the said enlargements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred form of the invention will now be described with the aid of the accompanying drawings wherein; r r r Figure 1 invention; is a view of a typical usage of the tie down strap according to the present Figure 2 is a side view of part of a preferred form of the strap; r r r c r r Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 is a plan view of the portion of the strap shown in Figure 2; is a plan view to a reduced scale of a typical length of a tie down strap; and is a view of a typical form of hook for use with the preferred form of strap.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 4 The strap 1 as depicted in the drawings, is; formed preferably of a length of an elastomeric material such as a tough rubber compound which is resilient so the strap can be stretched beyond its relaxed state and will return to the original length when the stretching force is removed. Preferably the strap is of a rectangular shape in cross section so that one dimension will form a width which is of a greater size than the other dimension which will normally form the depth.

The strap 1 is provided with a reinforcement 2 at or adjacent either end as well as at least one end preferably a plurality of intermediate reinforcements which may be equally spaced apart or spaced apart in a pattern to be randomly spaced according to the specific requirements. Each reinforcement 2 can be formed by creating an enlargement to the strap preferably in the same material as the strap. If for instance the strap is formed by a moulding process then the enlargements can be created during the moulding process. Each reinforcement 2 is preferably provided with at least one anchor means, such as the hole 3 15 which passes through the enlargement at or about the mid point of the enlargement.

Although an anchor hole is a highly preferred form of an anchorage point, it is to be understood that instead of a hole it is possible to form a projection, an indentation or otherwise shape the enlargement to form an anchorage by which the strap can be attached to articles or otherwise utilised as will be hereinafter apparent.

The strap is provided with hooks 4 which may be symmetrical in shape or asymmetrical as shown more particularly in Figure 5. Each hook may conveniently be formed from a "heavy duty wire or suitable drawn rod and can be composed of a metal, preferably, a metal with corrosion resistance properties. In a highly preferred form, each hook 4 may be encased in a plastics material such as a nylon, to reduce the likelihood of damage to an article to which the hook is attached. If the anchor means is a hole 3, then at least one leg of each hook will be of a size that it can be inserted through the hole to enable the hook to ,be removably attached to the strap.

In use the strap can be utilised in a similar manner to a "bungy cord" in that the hooks can be anchored on the objects to be secured such as the pipes 8 illustrated. Because of the nature of the strap, if the distance between two hooks is not correct, the distance can be adjusted by withdrawing one or both hooks from the strap and replacing the legs of the hooks into an appropriate anchor hole or holes 3 so the hooks are spaced apart the required distance.

A particular advantage resulting from the present invention is that one length of the strap is able to accommodate a considerable range of uses because of the ability to readily adjust the distance between the hooks 4 so a single strap can take the place of a multiple of lengths of straps previously known. In addition, because each anchor hole 3 is formed an enlarged reinforced portion of the strap, considerable strength is imparted to the area surrounding the hook. A yet further advantage provided by the strap of the present invention, is that because the strap is formed of a single solid length of elastomeric 15 material, the strap is able to create considerable friction between the strap and the article or articles to be secured by the strap or articles over which the strap passes.

Further advantages that arise from the construction of the strap as herein described are that

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if the strap should be too long for any particular application, then it is a simple matter to sever the unwanted length so a single strap can be simply shortened or divided into two or more straps if required. In addition two or more straps can be temporarily or permanently o~ojoined together by registering an enlargement from one strap with an enlargement from another strap and passing the leg of a hook or other suitable object through the aligned holes in the enlargements, a yet further advantage available is that it is possible to join one or more additional straps to a strap so that additional straps can extend from the first strap in a different plane. Such a junction can be made by passing

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6 the leg of a hook which is attached to one strap through an anchor hole in an enlargement in another strap.

Having disclosed the preferred forms of the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the particular art to which the present invention relates that various modifications and amendments can be made to the preferred forms and yet still come within the basic concept of the invention. All such modifications and amendments are intended to be included within the scope of this invention which is limited only by the advancement in the art as defined in the appended claims.

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Claims (7)

1. A flexible resilient tie down strap comprised of a length of elastomeric material having a hook at one end and enlargements at the other end of and intermediate of the length of elastomeric material with an anchor hole through each enlargement and anchor means comprising a second hook having a leg which can be removably engaged in the anchor hole at any of the enlargements, and an open hook at its other end.

2. A strap as claimed in claim 1, comprising a similar enlargement at said one end of the length of elastomeric material, also comprising an anchor hole through the enlargement at said one end, and wherein the hook at said other end also comprises a leg which is removably engaged in the hole to secure the hook to the said one end.

3. The strap as claimed min claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the strap is substantially 15 rectangular in cross section.

A strap as claimed in claim 3, wherein each said enlargement extends substantially the full width of the strap.

5. A strap as claimed in claim 3 or in claim 4 wherein each enlargement comprises an increase in thickness of the strap on opposite sides of the strap. *fee, A strap as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each said anchor "hole passes through the said strap at approximately the mid point of the said enlargement.

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7. A flexible resilient tie down strap according to claim 1 and substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 21st day of July 1998 STEVE SUMMERS By his Patent Attorneys A.P.T. Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys *0