GB2134586A

GB2134586A - Wire holder

Info

Publication number: GB2134586A
Application number: GB08400549A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Haruyuki Sugiura
Original assignee: Kitagawa Industries Co Ltd
Current assignee: Kitagawa Industries Co Ltd
Priority date: 1983-02-03
Filing date: 1984-01-10
Publication date: 1984-08-15
Also published as: GB8400549D0; JPS59121580U; DE3403330A1; FR2540684A1; GB2134586B; FR2540684B1; DE3403330C2; JPS6312297Y2; DE8402758U1

Abstract

The holder comprises a base plate 10, first and second support plates 14, 20 extending vertically from both ends of the base plate 10, a first resilient embracing strip member 16 having an engagement projection 18 at one end, a second resilient embracing strip member 24 having a plate portion 28 extending from the end of the second support plate 20 through a thin flexible portion 22 and an engagement projection 26 formed at the other end of the second resilient embracing strip member 24, and a rib 30 provided between the plate portion 28 and the second resilient embracing strip member 24. By means of the gap 32 formed between the plate portion 28 and the first resilient embracing strip member 24, in which gap the strip member 16 is received when in the engaged condition, fastening of the two members is easily effected but accidental disengagement of the two strip members 16, 24 less likely. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Wire holder The present invention relates to a holder for holding wire material such as a batch of electric# wires or cables, and more particularly to a holder in which accidental disengagement of two end portions of first and second resilient strip members of the holder is prevented.

A conventional holder according to the prior art is shown in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings and is normally constructed in such a manner that it comprises a pair of resilient embracing strip members 2 each having an engagement projections 4 formed at the free end portion of each resilient strip member 2 which merely engage with or lock with each other. As a result, an accidental touching or pushing down of either one of the resilient strip members 2 ty hand or by any protrusion of a tool or apparatus causes the engaged projections to be easily disengaged or unlocked as shown by the broken lines in Figure 1, with the problem that a secure locking cannot be obtained.Especially, when suspending the wire holder, or when vertically mounting the wire holder according to the prior art, there is the problem that a batch of electric wires thus held within the wire holder often becomes disengaged from the holder.

According to the present invention there is provided a holder for holding electric wires within the interior thereof, comprising: a base plate having a mounting leg portion provided thereon; a first side support plate extending substantially at a right angle from one end of said base plate; a first resilient embracing strip member extending substantially at a right angle from one end of said side support plate and having an engagement projection formed at the other end of said first resilient embracing strip member; a second side support plate extending substantially at a right angle from the other end of said base plate;; a second resilient embracing strip member extending from the end of said second support plate and connected thereto through a thin flexible portion and having a plate portion which extends to the other end of said strip members and is located above the second support plate, and engagement projections for engaging with said engagement projections of the first resilient embracing strip member formed at the end of said second resilient embracing strip member; and a rib provided between said second resilient embracing strip member and said plate portion; whereby when both engagement projections of the first and second resilient embracing strip members are placed in the engaged condition or locked condition with the end portion of said first resilient embracing strip member entered into an open space formed between said second resilient embracing strip member and said plate portion, a gap is formed between the first resilient embracing strip and the plate portion with a predetermined distance between the upper surface of the first resilient embracing strip member and the bottom surface of the plate portion which will allow engagement of both engagement projections and also restrict the distance of separation of the both ends of the first and second resilient embracing strip members after the release of the engaged projections to a certain distance.

Some embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:~ Figure 1 is a partial side view of the engaged condition of the embracing strip members of a wire holder according to the prior art, Figure 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a wire holder according to the present invention, Figure 3 is a side view of the wire holder shown in Figure 2, Figure 4 is a partial perspective view of one of the resilient embracing strip members of a wire holder according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 5 is a partial side view of the other resilient embracing strip member having the plate portion and the rib of the wire holder according to the second embodiment of the present invention, showing the engaged condition together with the first resilient embracing strip member shown in Figure 4.

Referring to Figures 2 and 3, the wire holder according to the present invention comprises a base plate 10, a one-touch mounting leg portion 12 which is provided on the underside of the base plate 10 and which can be fixed or screwed in a mounting hole (not shown) of another member, such as a chassis, by inserting the leg portion 12 through the hole, a first side support plate 14 which extends substantially at a right angle from the base plate 10 and which is integrally formed with the base plate 10, a first resilient embracing strip member 1 6 which is formed at the end of the side support plate 14 and which extends substantially at a right angle to the side support plate 14 and which can also be integrally formed with the side support plate 14, a detent projection or engagement projection 28 being formed at the end of the first resilient embracing strip member 16 and directed towards the base 10.

The first resilient embracing strip member 16 is narrower in width than that of the side support plate 14 and is made thin so as to be resilient.

The wire holder according to the present invention also comprises another side support plate 20 which extends substantially at a right angle from the other end of the base plate 10 and constitutes a second support plate, a second resilient embracing strip member 24 having a plate portion 28 which is integrally formed with the strip member 24 is connected to one end of the side support plate 20 by way of a thin flexible portion 22, an engagement projection 26 being formed at the end portion of the second resilient embracing strip member 24 and directed upwardly.

The second side support plate 20 and the second resilient embracing strip member 24 as well as the plate portion 28 are all narrower in width than that of the base plate 10 or the width of the first side support plate 1 4 and they are made thin so as to give resiliency respectively thereto. In addition, the locking surface or the surface of engagement of each engagement projection 18 or 26 is formed substantially at right angles to the plane of the respective first or second resilient embracing strip member 16 or 24. In the space formed between the second resilient embracing strip member 24 and the plate portion 28 is a reinforcing rib 30 which extends in the longitudinal direction of the strip member 24 while an open space 32 (see in Figure 3) is formed between the free end of the plate portion 28 and the free end of the resilient embracing strip member 24.The resilient embracing strip member 24 can be flexed through the thin flexible portion 22 and the end of the other resilient embracing strip member 16, le. the first embracing strip member 16 can be entered or inserted into the open space 32, and both of the engagement projections 18 and 26 formed on the resilient embracing strip members 16 and 24 can be locked or engaged with each other. In Figure 3, the broken lines indicate this locked or engaged condition.

Also in Figure 3, the distance g between the bottom surface of the plate portion 28 and the upper surface of the first resilient embracing strip member 16 is slightly greater than the depth of each engagement surface of the engagement projections 18 and 26. Accordingly, when the plate portion 28 is pushed, for instance, by hand, the gap is made zero, i.e. no gap g exists when the plate portion 28 is pushed down onto the first resilient embracing strip member 16 and the engagement of the engagement projections is released or unlocked in that case.

The holder according to the present invention may be integrally formed by single piece of a synthetic resin material, such as nylon.

The holder thus constructed can be mounted, by inserting the mounting leg portion 12 into a mounting hole (not shown) of a mounting plate such as a chassis.

Moreover, as shown in Figure 3, the four corners of the bottom surface of the base plate 10 are slightly protruded so as to give a sufficient resiliency thereto which a pin 34 for fixing its mounting position is provided at one corner of the base plate 10.

In operation, when the second resilient embracing strip member 24 having the plate member 28 is opened as shown by the solid line in Figure 3, i.e. when it is placed in the unlock condition or it is released into the opened condition, a batch of electric wires 36 can be inserted into the inner space of the holder from the opening end and they can be retained or held therein.

On the other hand, when the engagement projection 26 of the second resilient embracing strip member 24 is to be engaged with the engagement projection 18 of the first resilient embracing strip member 16, the side support plate 20 is slightly fixed to the right by hand and the engagement projections 18 is inserted or entered into the open space 32 of the second resilient embracing strip member 24 when in this fIxed condition. Then, when it has been engaged with the engagement projection 26, the side support plate 20 is restored to the original positi#on by its resiliency and the two engagement projections 18 and 26 are engaged with each other as shown by the broken lines in Figure 3, thus bringing about the complete locked condition.

Since the gap g between the plate portion 28 and the first resilient embracing strip member 16 is formed in such a manner that the distance of which is slightly larger than the depth of the locking surface or surface of engagement of each engagement projection, almost no complete unlocked condition or disengagement between the engagement projections 1 8 and 26 of the two resilient embracing strip members 16 and 24 occurs even if the plate portion 28 is pushed down accidentally.

On the other hand, if this accidental pushing down action is exerted on the plate member 28, any electric wire or wires cannot pass outside or come off since the wire or wires must pass through the very narrow space to be possibly formed between the two engagement projections (this will be not actually possible) and also must pass through the upper surface of the first resilient embracing strip member 16 and the bottom end surface of the plate portion 28, through the space formed between the end portion of the one resilient embracing strip member and the rib 30 of the other resilient embracing strip member.

Accordingly, the disengagement of a wire or wires from the holder can be almost completely prevented, as the path for the wire to be disengaged is long. Even when the wire holder according to the present invention is to be mounted in a suspended condition or in the vertical condition, the disengagement of a wire or wires from the wire holder can be prevented.

The unlocking of the wire holder can be carried out in the reverse sequence to the locking sequence as described in the foregoing, so that the locking and unlocking operations can be made simple.

In the foregoing embodiment, the first engagement projection 1 8 of the first resilient embracing strip member 16 has been shown and described as having a single head portion as shown in Figure 2. However, the first engagement projection 16 may be formed in such a manner that it has a double head portion. Figure 4 shows another embodiment of the first resilient embracing strip member 16. Namely, in Figure 4, a notch or recess 38 is formed at the end portion of the first resilient embracing strip member 1 6 and located at is centre thereof, and a pair of engagement projections 18 are formed as the result of the notch or recess 38.

Figure 5 shows another embodiment according to the present invention of the second resilient embracing strip members 24 having the plate portion 28 and a rib 40 which extends up to the extreme end of the engagement projection 26, different from the first embodiment. In this case, the edge of the rib 40 enters into the notch 38 of the first resilient embracing strip member 16 while the engagement projections 18 of the resilient embracing strip member 16 engage with the engagement projection 26 of the second resilient embracing strip member 24. Figure 5 shows this engaged condition of the two resilient embracing strip members.

With this construction, the displacement in the transverse direction, i.e. the orthogonal direction to the sheet, of each resilient embracing strip member can be prevented and the coming off of the electric wire or wires can be also-prevented.

As described in the foregoing, in the wire holder according to the present invention, a gap is formed with a predetermined distance between the upper surface of the first resilient embracing strip member and the bottom end surface of the plate portion when the both engagement projections of the first and second resilient embracing strip members are placed in the engaged condition or locked condition, with the end portion of the first resilient embracing strip member entered into an open space formed between the second resilient embracing strip member and the plate portion.As a result, not only the engaged condition or locked condition of the both engagement projections can be secured from the accidental pushing down action of either one of the resilient embracing strip member to a certain degree, but also the distance of separation of the ends of the first and second resilient embracing strip members can be restricted to a certain predetermined distance even if the release of the engaged condition occurs due to the accidental pushing down action is exerted thereon, thus preventing the disengagement of the electric wire or wires.

Accordingly, it becomes possible to safely use the wire holder according to the present invention in such mounting conditions where the electric wires held within the wire holder are liable to come off out of the wire holder according to the prior art, that is, when suspending the wire holder or mounting the wire holder in the vertical state.

Moreover, the locking and unlocking operations can be easily carried out in the present invention, similarly as in the case of the prior art since the space formed at the end of the one resilient embracing strip member do not, by any means, hinder the locking and unlocking or release of the both engagement projections.

Furthermore, in the wire holder according to the present invention a complete disengagement of the first and second resilient embracing strip members due to the accidental pushing down action thereon can be prevented without degradation the facility of the locking and unlocking or release operations which has been provided with the wire holder according to the prior art.

While the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A holder for holding electric wires within the interior thereof, comprising: a base plate having a mounting leg portion provided thereon; a first side support plate extending substantially at right angle from one end of said base plate; a first resilient embracing strip member extending substantially at a right angle from one end of said side support plate and having an engagement projection formed at the other end of said first resilient embracing strip member; a second side support plate extending substantially at a right angle from the other end of said base plate;; a second resilient embracing strip member extending from the end of said second support plate and connected thereto through a thin flexible portion and having a plate portion which extends to the other end of said strip member and is located above the second support plate, and an engagement projection for engaging with said engagement projections of the first resilient embracing strip member formed at the end of said second resilient embracing strip member; and a rib provided between said second resilient embracing strip member and said plate portion; whereby when both engagement projections of the first and second resilient embracing strip members are placed in the engaged condition or locked condition with the end portion of said first resilient embracing strip member entered into an open space formed between said second resilient embracing strip member and said plate portion, a gap is formed between the first resilient embracing strip and the plate portion with a predetermined distance between the upper surface of the first resilient embracing strip member and the bottom surface of the plate portion which allow engagement of both engagement projections and also restrict the distance of separation of the both ends of the first and second resilient embracing strip members after the release of the engaged projections to a certain distance.

2. A holder for holding electric wires within the interior thereof as claimed in claim 1, in which the surface of engagement of said engagement projection of the first resilient embracing strip member is substantially at a right angle to one surface of said strip member and the width of said first resilient embracing strip member is narrower and thinner than that of said first side support plate so as to give resiliency thereto.

3. A holder for holding electric wires within the interior thereof as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the length and the width of said plate portion is substantially equal to that of the second resilient embracing strip member, the width of which is in turn substantially equal to that of the first resilient embracing strip member, so as to give a resiliency thereto.

4. A holder for holding electric wires within the interior thereof as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the surface of engagement of said engagement projections of the second resilient embracing strip member is substantially at a right angle to one surface of said second resilient embracing strip member.

5. A holder for holding electric wires within the interior thereof as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the four corners of the bottom surface of said base plate are slightly protruded so as to give a sufficient resiliency thereto when the holder is mounted by inserting the mounting leg portion into a mounting hole of a mounting plate, such as a chassis, to which said holder is to be mounted.

6. A holder for holding electric wires within the interior thereof as claimed in any preceding claim, in which a pin for fixing the holder in its mounting position is provided at one corner of the bottom surface of the base plate.

7. A holder for holding electric wires within the interior thereof as claimed in any preceding claim, in which said plate portion extends from one end of the second resilient embracing strip member at an angle thereto and the opposite end portion of the plate portion is bent so as to be substantially parallel to the upper surface of the first resilient embracing strip member and to form the gap between the upper surface of the first resilient embracing strip member and the end portion of the plate portion.

8. A holder for holding electric wires within the interior thereof as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the length of said gap is slightly larger than that of the engagement surface of either one of the engagement projections, whereby when the plate portion is pushed down and is in contact with the upper surface of the first resilient embracing strip member, the engaged condition of the both engagement projections is released or unlocked.

9. A holder for holding electric wires within the interior thereof claimed in any preceding claim, in which the foward edge of said rib does not reach the extreme end of the first resilient embracing strip member.

10. A holder for holding electric wires within the interior thereof as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the end portion of the first resilient embracing strip member has a notch at its centre, and the forward edge of said rib extends substantially to the end of the plate portion so as to enter into the notch of the first resilient embracing strip member when the engagement of the engagement projections is established.

11. A holder for holding electric wires within the interior thereof as claimed in any preceding claim, in which said plate portion, said first side support plate, said first resilient embracing strip member, said second side support plate, said second resilient embracing strip member, and said rib are all integrally formed in one piece.

12. A holder for holding electric wires within the interior thereof as claimed in claim 6, in which said pin is also integrally formed with the other remaining elements.

13. A holder for holding electric wires within the interior thereof, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 or Figure or Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.