EP0276592A1 - Device for placing in position and tightening a flexible structure around a limb - Google Patents

Abstract

Fastening device for a flexible structure, comprising at least one fastening strap (3), located on one of the edges of the flexible structure (2) and forming an integral part of the latter, and at least one projection (6), arranged on the outer face of the said flexible structure, for fitting at least one rigid closure buckle (5), the said strap(s) and projection(s) being produced, by moulding or moulding-on of the flexible structure, from at least one polymer composition with a hardness greater than or equal to 50 units IRHD. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to the field of fixing a flexible, removable structure around an organ, for example for the protection of this organ which can be flexible or rigid, immobile or articulated, against shocks, bad weather and splashes of fat, aggressive agents or paints.

The invention relates, more particularly, to the device for positioning and tightening the flexible, removable structure, around the member to be surrounded, by a system of attachment straps and closure loops.

Various solutions have been proposed for making systems for attaching belts or various protectors. In a large number of applications, the existing solutions relate to articles of leather, natural or synthetic, or even of fabric and the fastening devices are generally constituted by loops riveted in the article and straps made of the same material as that of the article itself or in a material of another nature. This type of binding is particularly used for shoes, clothing or flexible protective elements wrapped around the organs to be surrounded. However, today, for reasons of aesthetics, maintenance, cost or lifespan, a large number of these articles are evolving towards production from polymeric materials, plastics or rubbers. The attachment of the loop on the article is no longer possible by riveting. Indeed, polymeric materials often have - unless they include a reinforcing element - a brittle tear that is too great to allow them to resist pulling on the fastening rivet of the buckle; moreover, the strips have a deformability under elongation which no longer ensures correct tightening and the holes in these strips tend to enlarge over time or even to tear.

To overcome these drawbacks, different systems, that is to say not using the strap / buckle pair, such as the device known under the brand "Velcro" or wedging assemblies have been proposed. It has also been described, in US Patent 4,377,872 to DANIELL, protective devices for athletes legs, made of plastic and which close on themselves thanks to a system of slots and teeth on the edges. These systems all have the drawback of insufficient resistance to the stresses generated by the stresses of certain severe applications, which make the more resistant devices of straps and buckles preferred. Among these devices, there are various variants of buckles such as those used in automobile seat belts, described in particular in patents GB 2,167,485 from NSK-WARNER, US 4,610,056 from EMMERT or AU 83,21528 from MOXHAN or even the assemblies. straps / buckles comprising fairly complex devices such as those proposed in patents CA 1.206. 325 from JOHNSEN & JORGENSEN, FR 2,571,227 from ITW DE FRANCE, EP 195,076 from IWC or ZA 85.01096 from BYRNE.

If these devices are effective from the point of view of tightening, they are all of a complicated and therefore expensive construction. The analysis of the prior art clearly shows that fixing devices for flexible structures, intended to adapt by shaping - most often tubular - around an organ to be surrounded presenting, at the times, great attachment security, ease of installation and removal and a long service life, while being easy to make, and therefore of low cost, are not known.

The objective of the invention is therefore the development of a fixing device, intended in particular for the establishment and tightening of a flexible structure around a member, which is economical and fulfills the required functions for the application, without having the drawbacks of known solutions.

To do this, the fixing device for flexible structure, object of the invention is characterized in that it consists of at least one hooking strap, located on one the edges of the central zone of the flexible structure, which will be inserted into the corresponding, rigid closing loop, located on the opposite edge of the flexible structure, in such a way that it leaves free a covering tab which avoids the contact of the closure loops with the surface of the surrounded member and, on the external face and in the vicinity of the edge opposite that of the fastening strap, at least one boss intended for the mechanical mounting of a closure loop.

The fastening device which is the subject of the invention also has great ease of production and above all installation on any flexible structure, in particular made from a polymeric material, the fastening straps and the bosses for mounting the closing loops being achievable during direct molding of the part or by subsequent overmolding of the polymeric materials constituting these elements, - according to a conventional process of the polymer transformation industry - and requires only one operation finish for mounting the closure loops.

• - la figure 1 illustre le développé des faces externe et interne d'un protecteur souple pour jambe de cheval ;
• - la figure 2 est une vue partielle, par la face interne, d'une structure souple détaillant la disposition relative des éléments constitutifs du dispositif de mise en place et de serrage autour de l'organe à entourer ;
• - la figure 3 illustre une construction particulière d'une sangle d'accrochage ;
• - la figure 4 représente le détail d'une réalisation parti­culière d'un bossage, qui est creux ;
• - la figure 5 détaille une construction particulière d'une boucle de fermeture, qui est auto-perçante ;
• - la figure 6 décrit un mode de réalisation d'une boucle de fermeture ;
• - la figure 7 présente une variante du système de fixation utilisant une sangle d'accrochage crantée et une boucle de fermeture sans ardillon.

The features and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly from the description of the drawings, presented by way of non-limiting example and in which:

• - Figure 1 illustrates the development of the external and internal faces of a flexible protector for horse leg;
• - Figure 2 is a partial view, from the internal face, of a flexible structure detailing the relative arrangement of the constituent elements of the device for positioning and tightening around the member to be surrounded;
• - Figure 3 illustrates a particular construction of a fastening strap;
• - Figure 4 shows the detail of a particular embodiment of a boss, which is hollow;
• - Figure 5 details a particular construction of a closure loop, which is self-piercing;
• - Figure 6 describes an embodiment of a closure loop;
• - Figure 7 shows a variant of the fastening system using a notched hooking strap and a barb-free closure loop.

FIG. 1 illustrates a flexible protector for a horse's leg, intended to guarantee against the blows the metacarpus or the metatarsus by coming to wrap around the barrel, the closure being located on the hock.

The upper part (1) is intended to support the knee.

The central zone (2), which protects the barrel, comprises the fixing device composed, on one of the edges of the said central zone, hooking straps (3), made of flexible polymeric material but of high modulus, the more often pre-drilled with holes (4) intended to receive the barbs of the closure loops (5) subsequently attached to the opposite edge and in which said hooking straps are inserted, thus allowing the flexible protector to take the form tubular necessary to protect the horse's leg.

View 1a shows the external face of the flexible protector and highlights the bosses (6) or reliefs, also made of a flexible polymer material but of high modulus, in which will be fixed, by tightening, the closure loops (5) , of which only one has been represented.

Preferably, the polymeric materials used for producing the attachment straps (3) and bosses (6) - which may be identical or of different natures - will have a DIDC hardness at least equal to 50 units.

View 1b of the internal face of the flexible protector shows the slots (7) corresponding to the opening part of the bosses (6) when they are hollow.

FIG. 2 is a partial view, from below, that is to say by the internal face, of a flexible structure, which details the relative arrangement, in the middle zone (2), of the constituent elements of the fixing device of the flexible structure around the organ to be surrounded.

The number of attachment straps (3), intended for tightening the flexible structure, is at least equal to one. If it is greater than two, said attachment straps are arranged at equal distance (d) on one of the edges of the median zone (2) to ensure good distribution of the tightening and to prevent any sliding of the flexible structure. along the surrounded organ. The attachment straps (3) form with the edge of the middle zone (2), of which they are an integral part, an angle provided with a rounding (A1) of 90 °.

On the opposite edge of the median zone (2) and on the external face, are arranged bosses (6) - here shown hollow - in a number equal to that of the hooking straps (3), the part of which opens out onto the inner face is in the form of slots (7), said bosses being intended for mounting the closure loops (5), only one of which has been shown, on the central boss.

The bosses (6) are placed at a distance from the edge of the central zone (2) barely greater than the half-length of the closure loop (5), so as to provide along said edge a covering tab (8 ), free of any element, which, during the generally tubular shaping of the flexible structure around the member to be surrounded, will slide under the zone (9) constituting the base of the attachment straps (3 ). This arrangement is intended to avoid, on the surface of the surrounded member, any contact with the closure loops and to ensure good sealing.

FIG. 3 illustrates a particular construction of a hooking strap, intended for shaping, generally tubular, of the flexible structure and for tightening around the member to be surrounded, said hooking strap being produced in a composition polymeric, flexible but of high modulus, which constitutes all or part of the flexible structure.

In order to avoid mechanical injury, the tether straps are never placed in contact with the surface of the surrounded organ.

The hooking strap (3) is advantageously made inelastic so that the tightening around the surrounded member keeps a constant value. It must also resist the tensile forces which are applied when the flexible structure is put in place and tightened.

It is advantageous to carry out a pre-drilling, during manufacture, of the holes (4) of the hooking strap (3), holes intended to receive the barb of the corresponding closure loop. Said holes (4) must not be able to widen or tear under the effect of pulls and stresses during use.

To meet these three imperatives of inelasticity and mechanical strength of the fastening strap (3) and of non-deformability of the holes (4), while retaining the advantage of simplicity of construction and installation, a textile reinforcement (10), of the canvas type, is placed in the hooking strap (3).

Of the open mesh type, it allows polymeric bonds to be created through said meshes, thus guaranteeing the attachment strap (3) against any possibility of delamination or take-off without requiring adhesion of the textile reinforcement (10), prior to its installation in the hooking strap.

Likewise, thanks to its open meshes, the textile reinforcement (10) will easily lend itself to drilling the holes (4) during the manufacturing operation and will prevent, during use, any propagation of tears from said holes. (4) which, without this textile reinforcement, would constitute, in themselves, incipient tears.

The textile reinforcement (10) is generally placed, in the fastening strap (3), in the vicinity of half the thickness of said fastening strap, for reasons of ease of production but, its only function being the reinforcement of this area, its position in the thickness of the hooking strap (3) is unimportant.

The textile reinforcement (10) may advantageously include a heel (11) which extends it into the zone (9) constituting the base of the attachment straps (3) and thus increases its reinforcement and non-extensibility efficiency.

Figure 4 shows, in section the detail of a particular embodiment of a boss intended for fixing a closure loop. It has proved to be interesting, in fact, for reasons of ease of mounting the closure loops, to produce hollow bosses, with thin side walls (12), easily pierced by closure loops, the ends of the jumpers are sharp.

The bosses (6) are arranged on the external face of the flexible structure, in the vicinity of the edge of the median zone (2) opposite to that comprising the attachment straps, their number being equal to that of said attachment straps.

View 4a shows that the hollow part (13) of the boss (6) has a parallelepiped shape with a rounded top.

View 4b, which is a cross section of the boss (6), highlights the width (f) of the hollow part (13) of said boss (6) which is of the order of 0.10 to 0.20 times the diameter of the boss (6) and its height (h) which is at least equal to 1.1 times the thickness of the middle zone (2), in order to allow the thinned side wall (12) to be pierced by the self-piercing closure loop.

View 4c, longitudinal couple of the hollow boss (6), shows the length (F) of the hollow part (13) of said boss which is between 0.80 and 0.95 times the width at the base (G) of said boss .

Figure 5 details a particular constitution of a closure loop, which is self-piercing to easily mount in the hollow bosses and then ensure the shaping, generally tubular, and the tightening of the flexible structure, on the 'organ to be surrounded, by means of attachment straps.

The closing loop (5), rigid, generally metallic, comprises a frame (14), of generally rectangular shape, and a central bar (15) serving as an axis for mounting the barb (16) and the rider (17).

In order to facilitate its mounting in the hollow bosses, the closing loop (5) has the particularity of having the ends (18) of the jumper (17) pointed, so as to be able, under the clamping effect exerted during mounting by a simple pliers, to perforate the thinned side walls of the hollow boss and to force the rider (17) to come into contact with the rounded top of the hollow part internal to the boss over the entire length of the arms (19) of said rider (17), realigned by deformation during assembly, in order to ensure a better distribution of stresses.

In the event of significant stress or shock, the flexible, high-modulus polymer composition constituting the boss will deform, its modulus being less than that of the material constituting the closure loop (5), thus preventing any opening of the arms (19) of the jumper (17) which would have led to the separation of the closure loop (5) and the boss (6).

The self-piercing closing loop may, in addition, as illustrated, comprise, in the vicinity of its center, two guide pins (20) intended to limit the movement of the barb (16), while maintaining it in the central position , to facilitate its insertion into the holes of the corresponding hooking strap.

FIG. 6 describes an embodiment of a closure loop (5) which improves the connection between the rider (17) and the frame (14) and offers the possibility of mass production, at low cost. cost.

Views 6a, 6b and 6c show schematically the pre-winding and mounting operations of the jumper (17) on the central bar (15) of the closing loop (5).

View 6a shows the pre-form (27) of the jumper and the arrow (S) illustrates the direction in which the pre-winding must be done.

View 6b shows the shape taken by the rider (17) after the pre-winding operation of the part (28).

View 6c shows the jumper (17) inserted on the central bar (15) on which it is then closed so as to leave sufficient play to ensure the free rotation of said jumper (17) around the axis formed by the central bar (15) of the frame (14) of the closure loop.

The closure loop thus produced conforms in all respects to that illustrated in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 illustrates a variant of the fastening device, in which the flat hooking straps, previously described, are replaced by notched hooking straps (21), coming to bear on thickeners (22) arranged on the opposite edge of the flexible structure, extra thicknesses playing the role of the bosses of the fixing device described above and which, like said bosses, may include a cavity (not shown) for facilitate the mounting of the closure loops (23) which, in the variant using the notched hooking straps, do not have a barb.

The ends (24) of the barbed-free closure loops (23) are advantageously pointed in order to make said closure loops self-piercing to facilitate their introduction into the thinned walls of the extra thicknesses (22), hollow.

The shaping, generally tubular, and the tightening of the flexible structure around the member to be surrounded will be done by traction on the ends (25) of the notched hooking straps (21) the notches (26) preventing, by blocking mechanical against the barbed closure loops (23), the loosening of said notched hooking straps (21), however can be released by hand by passing the barbed closure loops (23) over the notches (26).

The notched fastening straps (21) can be made inextensible by a textile reinforcement of the same type as that used for the flat fastening straps.

The fixing device for flexible structure, object of the invention, is produced by vulcanization or overmolding, in a mold, under press, according to a process commonly used in the polymer processing industry.

In a mold having the appropriate shape and dimensions, are arranged the flexible structure or its components as well as the textile reinforcements and the polymeric materials for producing the bosses or the extra thicknesses which may - if necessary - have received, beforehand, a treatment of adhesion intended to ensure their intimate connection with the material (s) constituting the flexible structure.

The pressurization and the heat treatment cause the final fixing device of the flexible structure, while ensuring the intimate connection of the components together. Due to the design of the mold and the arrangement of the components, the flexible, high-modulus polymer compositions constitute, at least, the (or) strap (s) of attachment which allows (tent) the tightening around the part of the organ to be protected and the (or) boss (es) or (or) extra thickness (es) on (s) which (s) will come (or will come), later, during the finishing operation, mount the closing loop (s) into which the hooking strap (s) engage (s).

After demolding the flexible structure, a finishing operation allows the establishment of each of the closure loops, with or without barbs, on the boss or the extra thickness provided for this purpose.

The finishing operation is greatly facilitated, in the variant of the invention which includes the type of hollow boss or allowance and uses the type of self-piercing closure loop, since a simple pressure on the arms of said loop closing, using pliers, causes the perforation of the thinned walls of the boss or the extra thickness and the tightening of the arms of the closing loop.

The device for fixing a flexible structure around a member to be surrounded, object of the invention, offers, compared to solutions known from the prior art, the following advantages:
- It is very economical to produce since it is produced in a single molding or overmolding operation, followed by a finish, which can be very simplified, consisting in mounting the closure loop;
- it ensures a good seal thanks to the cover tab placed at the level of the attachment straps, without causing mechanical injury since said tab covering avoids any contact of the rigid closure loop with the surface of the part of the surrounded member;
- it is easy to put on the organ to be surrounded and removed,
- It can not slip since the hooking strap can be made inextensible and that the through holes of the barb of the closure loop cannot enlarge during use.

The present invention applies to the fixing of flexible structures as well on rigid as flexible organs, immobile as articulated or mobile.

Those skilled in the art can, of course, make various modifications to the fixing device for flexible structure and to its variants, described by way of non-limiting examples, without going beyond the ambit of the invention.

Claims (11)

1) fastening device for flexible structure, characterized in that it comprises at least one hooking strap (3) located on one of the edges of the flexible structure (2) and forming an integral part thereof and at least one boss (6), disposed on the external face of said flexible structure, for mounting at least one rigid closure loop (5), said strap (s) and boss (s) being produced, by molding or overmolding of the flexible structure, from at least one polymer composition of hardness greater than or equal to 50 DIDC units. 2) Fixing device for flexible structure according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the attachment straps (3) is made inelastic by the insertion of a textile reinforcement material (10). 3) Fixing device for flexible structure according to claim 2, characterized in that the textile reinforcement (10) of each of the attachment straps (3) is extended in the body of the protection device by a heel (11) 4) fastening device for flexible structure according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that each of the fastening straps is pre-drilled, during molding, holes (4) intended to receive the barb (16) of the closing loop (5). 5) Fixing device for flexible structure according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the bosses (6) disposed on the edge of the external face of the flexible structure opposite to that comprising each of the attachment straps (3) is hollow to facilitate the mounting of the corresponding closing loop (5). 6 °) fastening device for flexible structure according to one of claims 1 or 5, characterized in that each of the bosses (6) is disposed at a distance from the edge greater than half the length of the closure loop (5) mounted, in order to leave free a cover tab (8) intended to avoid contact with the surface of the member surrounded with each of the closure loops (5). 7 °) fixing device for flexible structure according to claim 5, characterized in that each closing loop (5) comprises a jumper (17), for its mounting in the boss (6), the ends (18) of the arms (19) are pointed to enter, by self-drilling, in the thinned side walls (12) of said boss (6). 8 °) fastening device for flexible structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the hooking elements consist of at least one notched strap (21), coming to be supported on at least one corresponding extra thickness (22) placed on the edge of the flexible structure opposite that of the attachment strap and at least one closure loop (23) having no barb. 9 °) fastening device for flexible structure according to claim 8, characterized in that each of the notched hooking straps (21) is made inextensible by the insertion of a textile reinforcement. 10) Fixing device for flexible structure according to claim 8, characterized in that each of the extra thicknesses (22) arranged on the external face of the flexible structure is hollow, to facilitate the mounting of the closure buckle without corresponding barb (23 ). 11 °) fastening device for flexible structure according to claim 8, characterized in that the ends of the barbless closure loop (23) are pointed to penetrate by self-drilling into the thinned walls of each of the thickeners (22).

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