EP3374985A1

EP3374985A1 - Fastening device

Info

Publication number: EP3374985A1
Application number: EP16787871.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Sven King
Original assignee: Eroform GmbH
Current assignee: Eroform GmbH
Priority date: 2015-11-10
Filing date: 2016-10-27
Publication date: 2018-09-19
Anticipated expiration: 2036-10-27
Also published as: EP3374985B1; HK1258582A1; WO2017080840A1; DE102015119316A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a fastening device (10) for fastening display elements to elongate support structures (14) such as tree trunks or the like, said fastening device (10) comprising: a flexible fastening strap (12) for securing the fastening device (10) to the support structure (14), said fastening strap (12) being provided with an stretchable plastic portion (18) for stretchably attaching the fastening strap (12) around the support structure (14); and a fastening portion (16) for securing the display element to the fastening strap (12); the plastic portion (18) includes a plurality of integral hinges (26).

Description

fastening device

The present invention relates to a fastening device for fastening display elements to elongated support structures such as tree trunks or the like, with a flexible fastening tape to fix the fastening device to the support structure, wherein the fastening strip has a stretchable plastic portion to the fastening tape around the support structure around fix, and with a fixing portion to fix the display element to the fastening tape.

Such fasteners are used to set signs on logs, poles or posts permanently and non-destructively.

In the field of signage and in particular the signage on trees or logs, it is well known to anchor a shield or information carrier in the form of a plate or disc by means of a screw in the wood of the tree to the shield or the information carrier well To mount visible and permanently fixate accordingly to the tree trunk. Such an attachment of an information carrier is known for example from DE 196 05 709 C1. It is also known for signage on tree trunks or piles to attach the information carrier or the shield with a fixing tape to the tree trunk or pole by the fixing band wrapped around the tree trunk or pole and the ends are connected. Such fastening devices are known for example from DE 43 13 588 A1 or DE 202 08 846 U1. A disadvantage of these fasteners for attaching information carriers or signs to logs is that the wood of the tree trunks is damaged by a screw or cut the fixing straps by the growth of the tree in the bark of the tree or rupture by the growth of the tree and fall off the tree trunk accordingly.

From DE 199 01 025 A1 a fastening device for information carrier or signs is also known, in which the information carrier are fastened by means of a flexible plastic or textile tape to a post. The disadvantage here is that no permanent and weatherproof attachment can be ensured by the plastic or textile tape.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a fastening device that allows a permanent, stable and gentle attachment of information carriers or signs on logs.

This object is achieved with the fastening device mentioned above in that the plastic portion has a plurality of film hinges.

Characterized in that the flexible fastening strap has the stretchable plastic portion, a stretchable fastening ring can be wrapped around the tree trunk, which exerts sufficient holding force to securely fix the display element to the tree trunk and at the same time is elastic enough, on the one hand during the growth of the tree not to cut into the bark of the tree and not to be destroyed by enlarging the trunk diameter. Furthermore, by providing the flexible plastic portion with the film hinges an elastic and stretchable band can be provided which provides a resilient structure with little technical effort, which is resistant to environmental influences and correspondingly allows permanent attachment of the display element to a tree trunk. Overall, thus display elements can be permanently and non-destructively or gently attached to logs or the like, which does not grow the tree cut into the bark and not destroyed by enlarging the stem diameter.

The object of the present invention is thus completely solved.

In a preferred embodiment, the plastic portion is integrally formed.

As a result, the plastic portion can be produced with a technically low cost, for example, by a plastic casting process.

In a further preferred embodiment, the plurality of film hinges each have a hinge axis, which are formed parallel to a longitudinal axis or longitudinal direction of the support structure.

Thereby, the elastic plastic portion can be wrapped around an arbitrarily shaped support structure and at the same time exert a corresponding tensile force to fix the fastening device to the elongate support structure.

In a preferred embodiment, the plastic portion is formed partially folded.

As a result, a resilient plastic element can be provided with technically little effort, which can exert a corresponding tensile force and can fix the fastening device with a corresponding holding force.

In a preferred embodiment, the plastic portion has a plurality of inner and a plurality of outer film hinges, which are arranged offset from one another in the radial direction. This can be provided with technically little effort a bendable and stretchable plastic section, which can exert a corresponding tensile force for fastening the fastening device.

In a preferred embodiment, two of the inner film hinges are interconnected by a web arranged in the circumferential direction.

Thereby, the plastic portion can be circumferentially supported on a surface of the elongated support structure.

In a preferred embodiment, the outer film hinges each associated with an annular clip, which surround the outer film hinges each circumferentially.

As a result, the spring force of the outer film hinges adjusted accordingly and a correspondingly large and defined tensile force can be provided by the plastic portion.

In a preferred embodiment, the plastic portion is connected to a plurality of spacer elements which are arranged on an inner side of the fastening band in order to space the plastic portion from a surface of the supporting structure.

Thereby, a contact area between the plastic portion and the surface of the support structure can be reduced, so that moisture accumulation on the surface of the support structure can be reduced and corresponding rot can be avoided.

It is particularly preferred if the spacer elements are each arranged on one of the circumferential webs. As a result, a corresponding contact section can be realized with technically little effort.

In a preferred embodiment, the spacer elements on a concave curved contact portion.

As a result, with little technical effort, the contact surface between the spacer and the surface of the support structure can be reduced.

In a preferred embodiment, the spacer elements on a convexly curved contact portion.

This can be provided with technically little effort, a stable spacer.

In a preferred embodiment, the abutment sections are each curved in a longitudinal direction of the elongated support structure.

As a result, moisture can run off the spacers accordingly, so that a moisture-related rot can be avoided.

In a preferred embodiment, the spacer elements are integrally formed with the plastic section.

As a result, the spacers can be produced with technically little effort together with the plastic section.

It is further preferred if the plastic portion is connected at its opposite ends with a fixing tape which forms a snap closure for the fastening tape. As a result, the fastening strap can be fastened permanently around the elongate support structure with little effort, so that a permanent attachment of the display elements is possible.

In a preferred embodiment, the fixing belt has a spacer element in order to space the fixing belt from the surface of the support structure.

Thereby, a moisture accumulation on the surface of the support structure can be avoided, whereby a total of moisture-related rot can be prevented.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the stretchable plastic portion has at least one element, with a first end to which a first coupling element is provided, and with a second end to which a second coupling element is provided, that for releasable coupling with a first coupling element is formed.

Here, any number of elements each with the associated first and second coupling elements can be coupled together.

In this way, the plastic portion of a plurality of elements can be optionally assembled, which are coupled with their respective first and second ends. This allows flexible adaptation to support structures of different sizes. Since uniform elements can be used, this results in a particularly cost-effective design.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the first coupling element is formed as a hollow cylindrical portion and the second coupling element formed as a cylindrical expansion portion which is formed in shape, size and arrangement such that an introduction into a hollow cylindrical portion of an adjacent element is made possible. This allows a particularly simple coupling adjacent elements together.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, in each case a first and a second coupling element are provided on the attachment portion, such that an element with a second coupling element and an element with a first coupling element can be coupled.

Thus, a direct coupling of the elements to the mounting portion in a simple and flexible manner is possible.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, central support portions are provided for support on the support structure at the attachment portion.

This facilitates alignment of the attachment portion to the support structure.

According to a further embodiment of the invention recesses are provided at the attachment portion in the corners, which allow a Schraubbefestigung an object or an introduction of pins for aligning the attachment portion or an object received thereon.

This facilitates alignment and screwing of an object to be fastened to the attachment portion.

Overall, the fixing device allows technically little effort a permanent attachment of the display elements on elongated support structures and in particular trees or logs, which can be applied by the stretchable plastic portion with the film hinges a tensile force by means of which the fastening device are fixed to the elongated support structure can. By forming the elastic portion of plastic with the film hinges, a fastening tape that is resistant can be provided is against environmental influences and accordingly permanently fix the display element on the elongated support structure. Due to the elastic design of the plastic portion and the film hinges damage to the elongated support structure can be avoided while allowing growth of trees as an elongated support structure without the fastening device grows into the bark or is dropped from the growing tree trunk.

It is understood that the features mentioned above and those yet to be explained not only in the particular combination given, but also in other combinations or alone, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawing and are explained in more detail in the following description. Show it:

1 is a perspective view of a fastening device for fastening display elements on an elongated support structure.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective detail view of the fastening device from FIG. 1; FIG.

3 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the fastening device of FIG. 1

Fig. 4 shows two elements from which the fastening band can be assembled, aligned one above the other in an aligned position, which allows a connection at the ends;

5 shows a modified embodiment of the fastening section in a perspective view, viewed from the side of the supporting structure;

Fig. 6. the mounting portion of FIG. 5, seen from the outside and Fig. 7 shows the attachment portion of FIG. 5, each with a coupled on each side of the element.

In Fig. 1, a fastening device is shown in perspective and generally designated 10. The fastening device 10 comprises a flexible fastening strap 12 which is secured around an elongated support structure 14, such as e.g. a tree trunk 14 is laid around to fix the fastening device 10 to the support structure 14. The elongated support structure 14 has a longitudinal axis 15. The fastening device 10 has a holding element 16, which is fastened to the flexible fastening strap 12, in order to support a display element in the form of a sign or an information panel.

The flexible fastening strap 12 has a stretchable, flexible plastic portion 18 and a fixing strap 20, wherein the fixing strap 20 is fixed to the axial ends of the plastic portion 18. The fixing belt 20 and the elastic plastic portion 18 are adapted to be wrapped around the elongated support structure 14 and secured by connecting the ends of the fixing belt 20 respectively to the elongate support structure 14, as shown in FIG.

The fixing band 20 has a tooth portion and a closure member to firmly connect the opposite ends of the flexible fastening band and to fix the flexible fastening band 14 around the elongated support structure 14, respectively.

The plastic portion 18 is formed generally folded in sections and preferably folded in a zigzag shape, wherein flexible film hinges are formed at the respective break points, so that the plastic portion 18 is bendable and stretchable in a longitudinal direction or stretchable to the flexible fastening tape 12th to wrap around the support structure 14 and exert a tensile force for attaching the attachment device 10. By the stretchable or stretchable elastic plastic portion 18, the fastening device 10 can be permanently fixed to a tree trunk as an elongated support structure 14, wherein the flexible fastening strap 14 according to a growth of the tree trunk adapts and prevents ingrowing of the flexible fastening strap into the tree trunk 14 can be.

The holding element 14 or the display element or the shield are preferably connected to the fixing belt 20 or attached to the fixing belt 20.

In Fig. 2 is a perspective detailed drawing of the fastening device 10 is shown. The fastening device 10 has the flexible fastening strap 12, which is formed by the plastic section 18 and the fixing strap 20, wherein the fixing strap 20 is fixed to axial ends of the plastic section 18. The flexible fastening band 12 forms an elongated band, which can be joined together at its ends to form a ring, as shown in FIG. Thereby, the flexible fastening tape 12 can be wrapped around the elongated support structure 14 such as e.g. a tree trunk are laid around and fixed accordingly.

The fixing belt 20 has a tooth portion 22 and a closure element 24 into which the tooth portion 22 can be inserted. The tooth portion 22 can lock in the closure element 24, so that a connection of the respective ends of the fixing band 20 by inserting the tooth portion 22 into the closure element 24 is possible. The closure element 24 has a catch, so that the tooth portion 22 permanently locked in the closure member 24, wherein the tooth portion 22 and the closure member 24 are not provided for subsequent disassembly.

The plastic portion 18 is formed of a plastic material and folded in sections, wherein in the respective bending points bendable or flexible portions are formed, each forming film hinges 26 of the plastic portion 18. The film hinges 26 each have a hinge axis, which are aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis 15 of the elongated support structure 14 and the tree trunk 14. By thus arranged film hinges 26 of the plastic portion 18 is um the longitudinal axis 15 bendable and at the same time the plastic portion 18 is stretchable in its longitudinal direction, so that accordingly a holding force can be applied and can be exerted on the support structure 14, so that a simple mounting of the flexible fastening strap 12 is possible.

In the embodiment shown here, the plastic portion 18 each have two adjacent inner film hinges 26, which are interconnected by a web 28, wherein in each case two of the inner film hinges are connected to each other via an outer film hinge 26. As a result, a zigzag structure is formed in sections, which in each case has a contact section for the flexible fastening strip 12 on the web 28. On the web 28, a spacer 30 is arranged, which has a curved surface, which is convexly curved in this embodiment. As a result, the abutment surface of the plastic portion 18 on the elongated support structure 14 can be reduced, so that moisture accumulations can be reduced and correspondingly mold attack of the surface of the support structure 14 can be avoided.

In a preferred embodiment, the plastic of the plastic portion 18 is resistant to UV radiation and weathering and has a pesticidal composition or coating and in particular a fungicidal coating.

The fixing strap 20 may further comprise one or more spacer elements to keep the fixing strap 20 spaced apart from the surface of the support structure 14 such that, on the one hand, the contact surface of the fixing strap 20 on the surface of the support structure 14 is reduced and at the same time accumulate moisture on the fixation strap 20 Fixing band 20 can be avoided.

The plastic section 18 is preferably formed in one piece and produced in a plastic injection or -gußverfahren. The spacer elements 30 are integrally formed with the plastic portion 18 in a particular embodiment. In Fig. 3, an alternative embodiment of the fastening device 10 is shown in perspective. The same elements are designated by the same reference numerals, in which case only the special features are explained.

The spacer elements 30 are each formed on each second of the webs 28 and have a concave curved surface, so that two elongated abutment sections are formed. The abutment portions serve to space the plastic portion 18 from the surface of the support structure 14 and reduce the contact area. The spacer elements 30 are formed bent around a longitudinal axis, which is aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis 15, so that moisture can easily run off the spacer elements 30.

The plastic portion 18 further includes a plurality of clasps 32 which are cylindrically shaped and are arranged around the outer film hinges 26 around and are each connected to a connecting portion between the outer and the inner film hinges. The clips reinforce a spring force of the outer film hinges, so that the spring force in the longitudinal direction of the plastic portion 18 can be increased.

A modification of the previously described embodiment of the fastening device is explained below with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7.

In order to facilitate adaptation to different sizes of support structures (e.g., different tree diameters) 14, the attachment band 12 may be composed of any number of elements 34, 36 as shown in FIG.

Each of the elements 34, 40 is constructed identically and has a first end and a second end. The first end has a first coupling element 36 in the form of a hollow cylindrical section. The second end has a second coupling element 38 in the form of a longitudinally slotted, cylindrical portion. In this case, shape, size and arrangement are coordinated so that each one element 40 with its second coupling element 38 in a first coupling element 36th an adjacent element 34 can be inserted and fixed when the two elements 34, 40 are aligned with each other in a suitable manner, as indicated in Fig. 4 by a common longitudinal axis 42.

As can be seen from FIGS. 5 and 6, the attachment portion 16a can be adapted accordingly, so that on its side facing the support structure 14 on one side a first coupling element 36 and on the other side a second coupling element 38 is arranged ,

Thus, elements can be coupled directly by means of the connector at the attachment portion 16a.

The attachment portion 16a in this case has a cuboidal basic shape, each with a protruding toward the support structure 14 support portion 44, 46 in the middle. This results in good alignment with the support structure 14 in conjunction with the coupled elements.

In the corner regions of the attachment portion 16a further through recesses are formed, which can serve as screw receptacles or for the introduction of pins to facilitate alignment of an object to be fastened at the attachment portion 16a.

In the middle of the mounting portion 16a, a central recess 52 is provided, which serves the same purpose as the remaining recesses 47 to 51st

The attachment portion 16a can be inexpensively manufactured as a plastic injection molded part.

Claims

claims

1 . A fastening device (10) for attaching display elements to elongated support structures (14) such as tree trunks or the like, comprising: a flexible attachment strap (12) for securing the attachment device (10) to the support structure (14), the attachment strap (12) comprising a elastic plastic portion (18) for extensively fixing the fastening band (12) around the support structure (14), and a fixing portion (16, 16a) for fixing the display member to the fastening band (12), characterized in that the plastic portion (18) has a plurality of film hinges (26).

2. Fastening device according to claim 1, characterized in that the plastic portion (18) is integrally formed.

3. Fastening device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the plurality of film hinges (26) each have a hinge axis, which are formed parallel to a longitudinal axis (15) of the support structure (14).

4. Fastening device according to one claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the plastic portion (18) is partially folded formed.

5. Fastening device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the plastic portion (18) has a plurality of inner and a plurality of outer film hinges (26) which are arranged offset from one another in the radial direction.

6. Fastening device according to claim 5, characterized in that in each case two of the inner film hinges (26) are interconnected by a web arranged in the circumferential direction (28).

7. Fastening device according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the outer film hinges (26) are each associated with an annular clip (32) surrounding the outer film hinges (26) each circumferentially.

8. Fastening device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the plastic portion (18) having a plurality of spacer elements (30) is connected, which are arranged on an inner side of the fastening strip (12) to the plastic portion (18) of a surface of the support structure (14) to space.

9. Fastening device according to claim 8, characterized in that the spacer elements (30) are each arranged on one of the circumferential webs (28).

10. Fastening device according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the spacer elements (30) have a concavely curved abutment portion.

1 1. Fastening device according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the spacer elements (30) have a convexly curved abutment portion.

12. Fastening device according to claim 10 or 1 1, characterized in that the abutment sections are each formed curved in a longitudinal direction of the elongated support structure (14).

13. Fastening device according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the plastic portion (18) is connected at its opposite ends with a fixing belt (20) which forms a latching closure (24) for the fastening strip (12).

14. Fastening device according to claim 13, characterized in that the fixing belt (20) has a spacer element in order to space the fixing belt (20) from a surface of the support structure (14).

15. Fastening device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the stretchable plastic portion (18) has at least one element (34, 40), with a first end to which a first coupling element (36) is provided, and with a second end, on which a second coupling element (38) is provided, which is designed for releasable coupling with a first coupling element (36).

16. Fastening device according to claim 15, characterized in that any number of elements (34, 40) in each case with the associated first and second coupling elements (38, 40) can be coupled together.

17. Fastening device according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that the first coupling element (36) is formed as a hollow cylindrical portion, and that the second coupling element (38) is designed as a cylindrical expansion portion which is formed in shape, size and arrangement such that an introduction into a hollow cylindrical portion of an adjacent element (34, 40) is made possible.

18. Fastening device according to one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that the fastening portion (16 a) respectively a first and a second coupling element (38, 40) are provided, such that an element (40) with a second coupling element (38) and an element (34) with a first coupling element (36) can be coupled.

19. Fastening device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the attachment portion (16 a) central support portions (44, 46) are provided for support on the support structure (14).

20. Fastening device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the attachment portion (16 a) in the corners recesses (47, 48, 49, 50) are provided, which a Schraubbefestigung an object or an introduction of pins for aligning the attachment portion (16 a ) or an object recorded on it.