GB2108578A

GB2108578A - Fastening system

Info

Publication number: GB2108578A
Application number: GB08220904A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alan William Tupper
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1981-08-18
Filing date: 1982-07-20
Publication date: 1983-05-18
Also published as: JPS5861313A; DE3229602A1; GB2108578B

Abstract

A fastening system for locating pieces of material or panels 61; 64 edge to edge, comprises an elongate element 60 located at spaced positions along one panel edge by a series of traversing devices 63, and a series of attachment devices 62 (with loops 83 or 45) secured at spaced positions along the other panel edge. The panels are connected by relative sliding thereof along the juxtaposed edges with the attachment devices 62 being engaged in turn with the elongate element 60 which is secured to a guide member 73 of each of the traversing devices. The devices 63 have a pair of rotary recessed wheels 11, 12 which retain the guide member therebetween by means of pegs 18, 19 on the wheels moving through arcuate recesses 20, 21 in the guide member 73. When the attachment devices slide on the elongate element, the loops 83 or 45 pass through the traversing devices by engaging around the guide members 73 and in the spaces defined by adjacent pairs of the pegs 18, 19. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Fastening system This invention relates to a fastening system for locating pieces of material or panels at edges thereof.

The invention is concerned with a system which enables panels to be fixed at their edges to other panels or to fixed structures, e.g. of a building, to provide an expeditious partitioning system or which is used to securing together edges of cover sheets for covering loads, e.g. on a vehicle, or to form a bag-like container, e.g. for containing sails. The present fastening system utilizes a traversing or load-transfer device of the general type described in my British Patent No.

1,582,201 and corresponding U.S. Patent No.

4,265,179.

The invention provides a fastening system suitable for locating pieces of material or panels at their edges, the system comprising at least one elongate element suitable for location along one of the said edges; and at least one traversing device suitable for location at one of said edges and comprising at least one rotary wheel having a series of evenly spaced recesses defined around its periphery and a guide member mounted on the wheel at or adjacent the periphery thereof so as to be able to locate the elongate element with respect to the wheel while permitting attachment members engaged with the elongate element to be received. in said recesses in the wheel and to allow rotation of the wheel relative to the guide member thereby permitting such members to pass through the traversing device during a fastening operation.

According to preferred embodiments of the invention, there is provided a fastening system suitable for locating pieces of material or panels at their edges, the system comprising at least one elongate element; means for locating the elongate element along an edge of a piece of material or a panel or a structure, said means including at least one traversing device for securing with respect to said edge and comprising at least one rotary wheel having a series of evenly spaced recesses defined around its periphery and a guide member mounted on the wheel at or adjacent the periphery thereof so as to be able to locate the elongate element with respect to the wheel while permitting elements engaged with the elongate element to be received in said recesses in the wheel and to allow rotation of the wheel relative to the guide member thereby permitting such elements to pass through the traversing device; and at least one attachment device adapted to engage with the elongate element for relative movement therealong and for passage through the traversing device as aforesaid, to effect a fastening operation.

In constructions according to the invention, said traversing or load-transfer device may be as described and claimed in my British Patent Application No. 8213446 or in some applications traversing or load-transfer devices as described and claimed in my British Patent Applications Nos. 8112221 and 8112106 or as described and claimed in my British Patent No. 1 582,201 , or as described in my U.S. Patent No. 4265179.

In some embodiments of the invention, the or each attachment device is provided at a second edge of a piece of material, a panel or a structure for fastening to said first-mentioned edge, may comprise a part adapted to be secured to said second edge and another part which is adapted for engagement around the elongate element for relative sliding movement therealong and to be received in one of said recesses in said wheel as aforesaid to allow the attachment device to pass through the traversing device during said relative movement along the elongate element. Said another part of said attachment device may comprise a generally loop-shaped part for engaging around the elongate element.A plurality of said attachment devices may be provided for location at spaced positions along said second edge, and a series of traversing devices may be provided for location at spaced positions along said first-mentioned edge with the elongate element being engaged with the guide members of the traversing devices to locate it along that edge.

In other embodiments, there may be provided two sets of traversing devices, with at least one traversing device in each set, each set being for location along a respective one of a pair of edges to be fastened together; a pair of said elongate elements for location generally along each said edge by engagement with the guide members of the corresponding traversing devices; and at least one attachment device adapted to be engaged with both of said elongate elements for movement therealong and past said traversing devices to a required position to locate the elongate elements against separation beyond a predetermined amount.

In such embodiments, a connector member may be provided for locating a pair of corresponding ends of said elongate elements with respect to one another preparatory to and during a fastening operation to facilitate engagement therewith by said connector member.

A plurality of said attachment devices may be provided each comprising an annular or other endless element and being joined one to another by a line so that they can be drawn along the elongate elements in order to effect a fastening operation. Alternatively, the or each attachment device may comprise a further traversing device which is provided with a pair of separate guide members for location with the two elongate elements respectively.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a fastening system embodying the invention; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic end view of one wheel member of a traversing device used in the fastening device of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a fragmentary section along the line A-A in Figure 2; Figures 4A-4D are diagrammatic representations of the traversing device of Figures 2 and 3 showing passage therethrough of a ring fastening element; Figure 5 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a second embodiment of a fastening system embodying the invention; Figures 6 to 9 are, respectively, side, end, plan and perspective views of elements of the system of Figure 5; and Figures 1 OA-1 OF illustrate different forms of hanger devices for the elongate element of the system of Figure 5.

Referring to Figure 1, a fastening device (40) according to the invention is provided for securing together two edges (41,42) of the same piece or separate pieces of material. For example the device could be used for fastening a canvas cover of a mainsail and a boom of a yacht.

The device (40) comprises two sets of traversing devices (43) located along the respective edges (41,42) which are to be secured together. Referring to Figures 2 to 5, each device (43) comprises a pair of spaced wheel members (11, 12) located to rotate on a common axle (16).

The wheels are positioned on opposite sides of the material with the axle passing through apertures or cringles provided along the edges (41, 42), and with the wheels projecting beyond the respective edges (41,42) of the material.

Each wheel has an annular series of spaced "teardrop" or lentil-like pegs (1 8, 1 9) which present a continuously favourable driving wedge angle to the contact on the material of the rings, which are described below.

A guide member (13a) is provided between the wheels at a peripheral part thereof and is positioned spaced from the respective edges (41, 42). The guide member is retained on the wheels by the pegs (18, 19) outer portions (30) of which engage the arcuate recesses (20, 21) on the opposites of the guide member, such that the wheels can rotate relative to the guide member.

Reference should be made to my British Patent Application No. 8213446 which describes loadtransfer or traversing devices which can be used in the present fastening device. My British Patent Applications Nos. 8112221,8112106 and 8213446 and my U.S. Patent No. 4265179 also describe load-transfer or traversing devices which could be used for the present fastening system and the descriptions in those British Patent Applications and those British and U.S. Patents are included herein.

In other embodiments the traversing devices could be mounted differently to that shown in Fig.

1, e.g. the wheels of the devices could be on the same side of the canvas material with the devices secured to the material by any suitable means cooperating with the cringles. Furthermore, the wheels need not necessarily project beyond the edges of the material so that the material edges could abut when fastened.

The fastening device (40) further includes a pair of elongate elements (22), e.g. wires or rods, which extend generally along the edges (41,42) respectively and are located with respect to the edges by the guide members (13a) of each traversing device, as shown in Figure 2. The elongate elements (22) are preferably fixed with respect to the respective guide members, e.g. by spot welding a plastics elongate member to each guide member (13a) also made of a plastics material, or they could be secured at one pair of ends to the edge portions of the material, respectively.

A generally U-shaped clip (44) is used to locate one pair of corresponding ends of the elongate elements (22) for a fastening operation. The ends of the elongate elements are located in apertures or recessed parts at respective ends of the clip (44). Alternatively, the clip may be fixed to the end of one elongate element (22) and have an aperture at its other end to receive the corresponding end of the other elongate element (22). A series of rings (45) connected by lengths of string or other suitable flexible line are drawn over the clip (44) to encircle the ends of the elongate elements engaged therewith. The rings (45) are then moved along the elongate elements to locate them at a number of positions spaced along the edges (41,42).The rings (45) pass through the traversing devices (43) by engaging around the guide members (13a) thereof and in spaces defined by adjacent pairs of the pegs (18, 19) on opposite sides of the guide members. The wheels (11, 12) then rotate relative to the guide members (13a) to allow the,rings to pass through the traversing devices as illustrated in Figures 4A to 4D. In order to effect unfastening the rings are simply moved in the opposite direction through the traversing devices to release the elongate elements.

In other possible embodiments, the ring elements may be replaced by a further series of traversing devices each having a pair of diametrically opposed guide members one for engagement with a respective one of the elongate elements (22). For example, load-transfer devices of the type shown in Figure 1 of my British Patent Application No. 8112106 when provided with a pair of diametrically opposed guide members may be used whereby end portions of the radial projections of the wheels thereof are received in the spaces between the pegs (1 8, 1 9) of the traversing devices (43) thereby to allow passage through the devices (43) during movement along the elongate elements (22). In such an arrangement the traversing devices (43) in the one series would be staggered in relation to those in the other series so that they are indexed in sequence as the connector load-transfer or traversing devices are moved along the elongate elements (22).

In addition to the above described embodiment a fastening device according to the invention can be used for securing together a wide variety of articles having juxtaposed edge regions. For example it could be used in conjunction with rigid or semi-rigid panels for use in the rapid erection of partitioning. Moreover, for some applications, it is possible that a single traversing device may be provided on each material edge, e.g. for a single entry of a string of rings onto the elongate elements which are in the form of long hinge pins where the rings would form the hinging links.

Figures 5 to 10 illustrate another possible embodiment of a fastening system according to the invention. In this embodiment a single elongate element (60) is located along the edge of a panel (64) and a series of attachment devices (62) are provided along the edge of a mating panel (61). The attachment devices (62) may have different forms as discussed below with reference to Figure 10. Generally the attachment device comprises a portion fixed to the edge of the panel (61) and a loop portion for engagement around and sliding movement along the elongate element (60) to effect a fastening operation.A series of traversing devices (63) are located at spaced locations along the edge of the panels (64) to provide a means for locating the elongate element (60) along the edge of panel (64) and to allow the attachment devices (62) to pass freely along the elongate element (60) during a fastening operation as described below. One possible application of such an arrangement would be a readily assembled partitioning system. Instead of locating the attachment devices (62) along an edge of a panel, they could be located along other structures, e.g. a wall or ceiling, in order to allow an edge fastening thereto of a panel or other member having an elongate element (60) located therealong by traversing devices (63).

Referring to Figures 6 to 9, each traversing device (63) comprises a pair of spaced wheels (65; 66) mounted on a common axle (67). Each wheel is formed with a series of equi-angularly spaced recesses (68; 69) in its periphery, the recesses being separated by radially projecting parts (70; 71) of the wheel A guide member or slipper (73) is located between the wheels at peripheral portions thereof. The projecting parts (70; 71) of the wheels are formed with arcuate recesses (72) in which corresponding arcuate flanges on the guide member (73) engage thereby to locate the guide member between the wheels while permitting rotation of the wheels relative to the guide member.

A connection element (74) is pivotally mounted at one end on the axle (67) in the space between the wheels (65; 66) and is formed in two separable parts allowing it to embrace the edge of the panel (64). The connection element (74) projects radially of the wheels and each part of the element (74) has a corresponding aperture (75) for alignment with an aperture adjacent the edge of the panel (64) for the passage therethrough of a connector element, e.g. a rivet or other similar element, thereby to locate the traversing device at the edge of panel (64) as shown in Figure 5.The traversing device is provided with a pair of discs (76; 77) which may optionally be fitted with rubber buffer elements, at respective ends thereof to provide additional strength to the projecting parts (70, 71) of the wheels Referring to Figure 8, an aperture (78) is formed radially through the guide member (73). The elongate element (60) is threaded through the aperture so that the traversing devices (63) are attached by their guide members (73) at a fixed spacing along the elongate element (60). The elongate element (60) may for example be a flexible line which is touch welded to the guide members (63) also made of plastics material.In this way sections of the elongate element could be replaced if a breakage occurs by inserting a replacement length of line through the apertures (78) of the two adjacent traversing devices (63) and knotting it at those apertures to effect a repair.

Figure 10 shows various different forms of hanger device for engagement with the elongate elements (60). In Figure 1 or, the attachment device comprises a plastics body part (80) formed as two sections hinged together with an aperture (81) in one section and a press-stud (82) formed on the other section. When positioned on the panel (61) the stud (82) passes through an aperture in the panel and snap fits in the aperture (81) to lock the body part in position on the panel.

The device has a wire loop element (83) with projecting end portions which are received in sockets formed in the hinge portion of the body part (80) to provide a pivotal connection of the loop element.

Figure 1 OB shows an attachment device formed of a length of wire shaped into a lower ring portion (87) with an upwardly extending extension (84) and a second upwardly extending extension (85) spaced from the extension (84) by a short horizontal joining portion (86) which extends through an aperture in the panel (61). At the upper ends of the extensions (84; 85) the wire is formed into a loop (83) which lies in a plane perpendicular to that containing the ring portion (87).

Figure 1 OC illustrates a construction similar to that of Figure 1 OA except that the body part (90) has an aperture in each of its two sections for fixing using a rivet or the like.

Figure 1 OD shows a body part (91) made of plastics material comprising two sections with a press-stud snap fitting similar to the construction of Figure 1 OA. A loop element (not shown) is provided through apertures (92) at the upper ends of the two sections of the body part.

Figure 1 OE shows a construction similar to that of Figure lOB but made of sheet metal. The two sections of the body part (93) each have an aperture requiring a rivet fixing to the panel (61).

Figure 1 OF shows a construction of the body part (94) similar to that of Figure 10C. However, the entire body part (94) is secured on one side of the panel (61) and the loop element (83) is offset to one side only of the general plane containing the body part (94) so that the entire hanger device can be located further away from the adjacent edge of the panel (61) which can permit overlap or abutment of the juxtaposed panel edges if required.

Referring again to Figure 5, connection of the panels (61; 64) is achieved by engaging a traversing device (63) at one end of the elongate member (60) with the loop-element (83) of the first attachment device (62) secured to panel (61).

To facilitate this engagement the guide-member of the end traversing device could be provided with a threading projection extending therefrom in a direction general along the edge of panel (64) and having a free end portion curved away from the panel edge for threading through the loopelements of the attachment devices. The panel (64) is then moved laterally so that the attachment device (62) slides along the elongate element (60) and the first traversing device (63) is similarly engaged in succession with the further attachment devices secured at spaced locations along the edge of the panel (61). When the traversing device (63) encounters an attachment device (62), the vertical limbs of the loop element (83) thereof are received in a pair of recesses in the wheels of the traversing device (63). The wheels then rotate relative to the guide member (73) allowing the loop element (83) to pass through the traversing device as it slides along the elongate element (60). In this way, the attachment devices (62) when engaged with the elongate element (eO) can slide along the elongate element freely past the location points of the elongate element to effect a sliding connection of the panels edge to edge.

In another possible embodiment similar to Figures 3 to 8 the elongate element, which could be a more rigid element, could be located along the edge of panel (61) by suitable attachment device secured thereto at spaced positions and the traversing devices (63) secured to the other panel could then be successively engaged with the elongate element during a fastening operation.

Claims

1. A fastening system suitable for locating pieces of material or panels at their edges, the system comprising at least one elongate element suitable for location along one of said edges; and at least one traversing device suitable for location at one of said edges and comprising at least one rotary wheel having a series of evenly spaced recesses defined around its periphery and a guide member mounted on the wheel at or adjacent the periphery thereof so as to be able to locate the elongate element with respect to the wheel while permitting attachment members engaged with the elongate element to be received in said recesses in the wheel and to allow rotation of the wheel relative to the guide member thereby permitting such members to pass through the traversing device during a fastening operation.

2. A fastening system suitable for locating pieces of material or panels at their edges, the system comprising at least one elongate element; means for locating the elongate element along an edge of a piece of material or a panel or a structure, said means including at least one traversing device for securing with respect to said edge and comprising at least one rotary wheel having a series of evenly spaced recesses defined around its periphery and a guide member mounted on the wheel at or adjacent the periphery thereof so as to be able to locate the elongate element with respect to the wheel while permitting elements engaged with the elongate element to be received in said recesses in the wheel and to allow rotation of the wheel relative to the guide member thereby permitting such elements to pass through the traversing device; and at least one attachment device adapted to engage with the elongate element for relative movement therealong and for passage through the traversing device as aforesaid, to effect a fastening operation.

3. A system as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the or each attachment device comprises a part adapted to be secured to a second edge of a piece of material, a panel or a structure for fastening to said first-mentioned edge and another part which is adapted to engage around the elongate element and to be received in one of said recesses in said wheel as aforesaid to allow the attachment device to pass through the traversing device during said relative movement along the elongate element.

4. A system as claimed in Claim 3 wherein said another part of said attachment device comprises a generally loop-shaped part for engaging around the elongate element.

5. A system as claimed in Claim 3 or Claim 4, wherein a plurality of said attachment devices are provided for location at spaced positions along said second edge.

6. A system as claimed in any of Claims 2 to 5 wherein a series of traversing devices are provided For location at spaced positions along said firstmentioned edge.

7. A system as claimed in Claim 2 wherein there are provided two sets of traversing devices, with at least one traversing device in each set, each set being for location along a respective one of a pair of edges to be fastened together; a pair of said elongate elements for location generally along each said edge by engagement with the guide members of the corresponding traversing devices; and at least one attachment device adapted to be engaged with both of said elongate elements for movement therealong and past said traversing devices to a required position to locate the elongate elements against separation beyond a predetermined amount.

8. A system as claimed in Claim 7 wherein a connector member is provided for locating a pair of corresponding ends of said elongate elements with respect to one another preparatory to and during a fastening operation to facilitate engagement therewith by said connector member.

9. A system as claimed in Claim 7 or Claim 8 wherein a plurality of said attachment devices are provided each comprising an annular or other endless element and being joined one to another by a line so that they can be drawn along the elongate elements in order to effect a fastening operation.

10. A system as claimed in Claim 7 or Claim 8 wherein the or each attachment device comprises a further traversing device which is provided with a pair of separate guide members for location with the two elongate elements respectively.

11. A system as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein the traversing device comprises a pair of rotary members disposed in a spaced apart relationship for rotation about a common axis, each member having an annular series of substantially equally spaced projections extending towards the other member with each annular series of projections being disposed to encircle the common axis of rotation of the members and a guide member having at least a portion thereof disposed between the rotary member, opposite side faces of said portion of the guide member being formed with arcuate tracks for receiving and locating the free ends of the projections of the aforesaid series thereof, respectively, the arrangement being such that the rotary members can be rotated about said axis with respect to the guide member which is located with respect to the rotary members by said projections which move through said arcuate tracks as the rotary members rotate.

12. A system as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 10 wherein the traversing device comprises at least one rotatable wheel which is formed with recesses in its periphery, the recesses being evenly spaced around the wheel and adjacent recesses being separated by a projecting part of the wheel; and a guide member mounted on the wheel at or towards the periphery of the wheel to form an integrated structure therewith, the wheel and the guide member having cooperating relatively rotatable surfaces and the arrangement being such that the wheel can rotate about its axis relative to the guide member with said members engaged with the elongate element being received, guided and passed in said recesses in the wheel while the elongate element is located with respect to the wheel by the guide member.

13. A system as claimed in Claim 12 wherein said traversing device comprises two spaced apart wheels with the guide member located therebetween, the guide member and the projecting parts of the wheel having interengaging portions which permit relative rotation between the wheels and the guide members as aforesaid.

14. A system as claimed in any preceding claim wherein an aperture is formed through the or each guide member to allow threading therethrough of said elongate element to locate the or each traversing device at a required position along the elongate element and to allow connection to the or each guide member of a replacement section of the elongate element in the event of a breakage thereof.

1 5. A fastening system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, Figures 1 and 2, or Figures 3 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.

16. A pair of edges of a single piece of material, or of separate pieces of material or panels or structures when provided with a fastening system as claimed in any preceding claims for releasably fastening together said pair of edges.