AU742030B2

AU742030B2 - Two-part clip

Info

Publication number: AU742030B2
Application number: AU29131/99A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Brian Chester
Original assignee: Trychest Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Trychest Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1998-03-19
Filing date: 1999-03-16
Publication date: 2001-12-13
Anticipated expiration: 2019-03-16
Also published as: AU2913199A

Description

WO 99/47032 PCT/AU99/00160 1 TWO-PART CLIP Field of the Invention THIS INVENTION relates to a plastics clip attachable at its upper end in a track and having its lower end adapted to suspend a sheet or curtain. A set of such clips can be fitted to the track at their upper ends and can be used to suspend the upper end of a curtain or sheet of material which is required to be moved between a folded condition beneath one end of the track and a horizontally-extended condition at which the sheet or curtain is extended horizontally beneath the track.

State of the Art Australian Patent No. 650,372 (hereafter referred to as "the Parent Patent") covers an invention of clip for serving the above purpose. The clip described in the Parent Patent can be cheaply manufactured and can be inserted from beneath into a slot defining an entry to the track. The clip is made in one piece by a plastics moulding technique, and is formed with springy, upwardly-extending arms which can be flexed towards a common vertical plane to allow bulbous portions of the arms to enter the slot leading into the track. The bulbous portions of the arms revert to their former positions at which they diverge upwardly from the plane, when they have passed upwardly through the slot, to provide sliders which engage sliding surfaces flanking upper sides of the slot. Such a design of clip has the advantage that it does not have to be inserted into the track from one end. It may also be removed from the track by pulling it forcibly downwards.

Whereas the clip of the Parent Patent can be mass-produced cheaply and is ideally suited to attaching the upper end of a curtain to a linear track from which it is PCT/AU99/00160 Received 5- January 2000 suspended, the individual clips have to be removed from the curtain when it is sent for cleaning and then have to be separately re-attached to the curtain in order to support it in its operating position.

Object of the Invention An object of this invention is to provide an improved suspension clip.

The Invention In accordance with the present invention a curtain suspension clip has an upper portion for fitting to a support track, a lower portion for supporting the upper marginal edge of the curtain, and a load supporting swivel joint interconnecting the upper and lower portions and allowing the lower portion to turn about a vertical axis with respect to the upper portion; in which clip the lower portion is provided with strip-like members provided with fastening means for passing through respective openings in the curtain and which interengage to hold the members against opposite sides of the upper marginal edge of the curtain so that the. clip and curtain are held together.

Preferred features of the Invention Each of the two portions of the clip are preferably made from a plastics material which is stiffly resilient to allow the swivel joint to be assembled by snap fitting a stud, formed on one clip SAMENDED SHEET 2

-IPEA/AU

'7 PCT/AU99/00160 Received SJanuary 2000 portion, into a bore formed in the other clip portion. The strip-like members may be integrally-moulded with the lower portion of the clip and provided at their upper ends with hinges which allow the members to be moved between divergent positions at which they allow the curtain marginal edge to be introduced between them, and parallel positions at which the fixtures pass through registering openings in the curtain and interengage, for example by snap-fitting, so that the upper marginal edge of the curtain is gripped between the two members.

Advantages of the Invention A curtain suspended from a track by clips of the invention has the advantage that it can be moved smoothly around a curved track without risk of ugly creases being formed in it. Also the clips can be removed from the track by pulling them downwardly. The curtain with the clips still attached to it can then be sent for cleaning. After cleaning it can be re-mounted in its working position by inserting the upper ends of the clips into the track from beneath, without having to re-attach the curtain to the clips.

Introduction to the Drawings The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: In the Drawings FIGURE 1 is a side view of a clip suspended from a track shown in broken outline and along which the clip is slidable; jAMERADDH NZ,~ 3 AMENDED SHEET

~IPEA/AU

WO 99/47032 PCT/AU99/00160 4 FIGURE 2 is an end view of figure 1; FIGURE 3 is an end view of an upper portion of the clip; FIGURES 4 and 5 are respectively views from opposite sides of figure 3; FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of a lower portion of the clip of figure 1 showing legs of the clip splayed apart; and, FIGURE 7 is a plan view of the figure 6.

Description of Preferred Embodiment Figure 1 shows a clip 1 having an upper portion 2 and a lower portion 3 connected to the upper portion by a swivel joint 4. The upper portion 2 of the clip is suspended from a track 5, shown in broken outline, so that an intermediate part 6 of the upper portion projects down through a slot 7 extending along the underside of the track As shown in figures 3, 4 and 5 the upper portion 2 of the clip 1 is formed with three, spaced, upwardly-divergent arms 8 having respective outwardly-bulging portions towards their upper ends and their lower portions merging into a flattened neck 12.

The upper portion 2 is made of stiffly resilient plastics material which is sufficiently flexible for the insertion of the arms upwardly through the slot 7 of the track. The bulging portions 10 provide ramp surfaces which engage the opposite sides of the slot during upward and downward movement of the clip through the slot 7, and flex their respective arms towards the vertical plane of the neck so as to allow the upward WO 99/47032 PCT/AU99/00160 movement of the upper portion of the clip through the slot 7. Once the bulging portions 10 have passed through the slot 7 in either direction, the natural resilience of the plastics material springs the bulging portions 10 outwardly to the positions shown in figure 2, to hold the clip in the track. The clip may, however, be withdrawn from the track by tugging it sharply downwardly. This causes the lower portions of the bulging portions 10 to provide further ramp surfaces which flex their associated arms towards the vertical plane of the neck portion so that the arms can pass downwardly through the slot 7 and release the clip 1 from the track The upper portion 2 of the clip is provided beneath the neck 12 with a central domed enlargement 14 having a headed stud 15 projecting centrally downwards from its underside. The stud 15 has a head 19 provided with a bevelled rim which provides an inner part of the swivel joint 4.

The lower portion 3 of the clip 2 is shown in detail in figures 6 and 7 and has a central sleeve 16 formed with an internally-stepped bore 17 at its upper end and which forms the outer part of the swivel joint 4. The clip portion 3 is integrally moulded from the same stiffly-resilient plastics material as the upper portion 2 and is provided with a pair of legs 18 connected by thin plastics webs 9, providing hinges, to the sleeve 16.

.One of the legs 18 is provided with a pair of vertically-spaced, moulded studs 21 capable of being snap-fitted into flared apertures 22 formedin the other leg when the two legs are pressed firmly together as shown in figure 1.

Ooeration of the Preferred Embodiment The above-described clip is assembled as follows.

WO 99/47032 PCT/AU99/00160 6 The two portions 2 and 3 of the clip are first fitted together by snap-fitting the stud of the upper portion 2 into the stepped bore 17 of the sleeve 16 of the lower portion. The deformable resilience of the plastics sleeve 16 is sufficient to allow this to occur. The bevelled head 19 is then located within the larger-diameter portion of the hole 17. The head 19 is thus trapped in position and the stud 15 allows the lower portion 3 to swivel about a vertical axis with respect to the upper portion 2.

The assembled clip is then thrust upwardly through the slot 7 of the track 5, as has already been explained, so that the bulging portions 10 of the arms 8 engage the marginal surfaces of the track flanking the upper side of the slot 7 as shown in figure 2. The clip can then slide freely along the track A sheet of flexible material 30 shown in figure 1, such as a modesty curtain, is provided with horizontally-spaced pairs of vertically-spaced holes along its upper marginal edge. The spacing between the holes corresponds to the spacing between the studs 21. The studs 21 of each clip are then passed through a corresponding pair of vertically spaced holes and the two legs 18 of the clip are snapped together. The modesty curtain is thus held by its upper marginal edge being gripped between the two legs which are held together by the snap-fit of the studs 21 into the flared holes 22.

The neat way of suspending a modesty or other curtain by the construction of clips described, has the advantage that the track can be curved quite sharply without spoiling 20 the fall-line of the curtain. This results from the presence of the swivel joint in the clip which allows the path followed by the curtain to vary from the precise path followed by the suspension clips during their movement along the track. Movement of the clips along curved portions of the track can then take place without resistance from WO 99/47032 PCT/AU99/00160 7 the stiffness of the curtain as the rotation of the lower portion of the clip with respect to the upper portion avoids stress occurring between the two clip portions and which would otherwise be induced by the turning of the upper portion of the clips when following a bend in the track.

Advantageous features of the Preferred Embodiment A significant feature of the above-described clip and which should not be overlooked, is the way in which the upper marginal edge of the curtain is gripped. The opposed faces of the two legs gripping the curtain edge are flat so that a vertical section of the curtain edge is clamped between the two flat surfaces. This reduces the vertical loading on the upper borders of the vertically spaced holes through which the studs 21 pass, and also reduces the risk of the upper marginal edge of the curtain being deformed or frayed by the weight of the curtain hanging beneath it.

A further advantage of the above-described clip is that it can be sent with the curtain for dry-cleaning. It is easily detached from the track by a sharp downward tug, and can be left attached to the curtain during a normal dry-cleaning process as it will not impose damaging strains on the curtain during normal handling. Should one of the clips, or a portion of it be lost or damaged as a result of handling, it is easily replaced with a fresh portion.

The invention of the above-described clip is well-suited to providing a patent-ofaddition to the invention of the Parent Patent.

Claims

1. A curtain suspension clip having an upper portion for fitting to a support track, a lower portion for supporting the upper marginal edge of the curtain, and a load supporting swivel joint interconnecting the upper and lower portions and allowing the lower portion to turn about a vertical axis with respect to the upper portion; in which clip the lower portion is provided with strip-like members provided with fastening means for passing through respective openings in the curtain and which interengage to hold the members against opposite sides of the upper marginal edge of the curtain so that the clip and the curtain are held together.

2. A clip as claimed in claim 1, in which the strip-like members comprise legs having flat faces which engage respective opposite faces of the upper marginal edge of the curtain so that it is gripped between them.

3. A clip as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the fastening means comprise studs on one member which pass through the openings in the curtain and snap into recesses in the other member to hold the curtain tightly between the two members.

4. A clip as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims, in which the strip-like members are integrally formed with the lower part of the clip and are connected to it by plastics line hinges which allow the members to move towards. and away from one another.

5. A clip as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the upper and lower portions of the clip each comprise a one-piece plastics moulding.. AMENDED SHEET IPEA/AU PCT/AU99/00160 Received 5 January 2000

6. A clip as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which its two portions are each made of stiffly resilient plastics material and the swivel joint is assembled by forcing a stud formed on one portion of the clip and providing the swivelling axis, into a bore of stepped cross-section formed in the other portion of the clip.

7. A clip as claimed in claim 6, in which the stepped bore is formed in the lower portion of the clip and the stud received by the bore is formed in the upper portion of the clip. 9 AVMENDED SHEET iFMeWA!i