GB2140072A - Hinge connection for wire animal cage - Google Patents

Abstract

A hinge connection device for interconnecting parts of a structure, for example a collapsible animal cage, is formed by forming an end portion of a first wire 48 around a pivot point 43, and positioning a member 47 adjacent to the end of the first wire to protect the end of the first wire. The member 47 may comprise a wire component deformed to define a recess 45. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Connection devices The invention relates to connection devices and particularly to connection devices for use in interconnecting parts of structures formed at least partly of wire.

Connection devices for use in interconnecting parts of wire structures are already known and may for example include hinges formed by bending one piece of wire around another piece of wire. However the free end of the end piece of wire is generally at least partly exposed, particularly with heavy gauge wire, and can catch on clothing or injure the fingers of someone handling the structure.

According to one aspect of the. invention a connection device for interconnecting parts of a structure comprises a hinge connection device formed by forming an end portion of a first wire around a pivot point, and positioning a member adjacent to the end of the first wire to protect the end of the first wire.

The member may comprise a second wire forming a portion of the same structure part as the first wire.

The second wire may form an edge which abuts a second structure part which bears the pivot point, the second wire being formed away from the said structure part in the region of the pivot point to define with the second structure part a recess which accommodates the formed end portion of the first wire.

The pivot point may be formed by a third wire which extends parallel to and in contact with the second wire.

Wire structures which have hingedly interconnected parts are frequently such that the hingedly interconnected parts are each edged by a wire and hinges are formed by bending the end portions of wires of one part around an edge wire of the other part. Thus the parallel adjacent edge wires of adjacent parts must be spaced apart by the thickness of the wire which has been bent around to form the hinge. This leaves a gap between the edge wires which can be unsightly and inconvenient.

According to a second aspect of the invention a connection device for interconnecting two parts of a structure, each part being edged by a wire, comprises a third wire forming part of one of the structure parts, the third wire being formed around the edge wire of the other structure part to provide a hinge connection, at least one of the edge wires being formed so that it defines with the other edge wire a recess to accommodate the formed third wire, so that the remainder of the edge wires may abut one another in a parallel manner.

Preferably the recess is formed by appropriate shaping of the edge wire of the structure part which also bears the third wire.

The shaping of the said edge wire may also protect the end of the third wire.

According to a third aspect of the invention, a connection device for interconnecting parts of a structure comprises a retaining connection device for retaining together first and second parts of the structure in a releasable manner, each part of the structure being constructed at least in part from wire, the connection device comprising a clip which has a first portion arranged for mounting on at least one wire of the first structure part and a second portion arranged to releasably engage with the wire of the second structure part.

The clip may comprise a strip of spring steel which has a tail formed to engage with at least two wires of the first structure part by interlacing the tail with the wires and a nose which is arranged to clip around a wire of the second structure part.

By way of example, specific embodiments of connection devices according to the invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a general view of a collapsible animal cage incorporating various embodiments of connection device according to the invention; Figure 2 is a view of a door of the cage shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a more detailed view of one corner of the cage illustrating a first embodiment of the invention in the form of a hinge connecting device used in the construction of the cage; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view through the hinge connecting device of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a general perspective view of the corner shown in Figure 3; Figure 6 is a more detailed view of one edge portion of the cage showing a locating device used in the construction of the cage;; Figure 7 is a more detaiied view of an edge portion of the cage showing a retaining connection device used in retaining the cage in its erected condition; Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the clip which forms the connecting device of Figure 7; and Figure 9 is a perspective view showing the cage in its collapsed condition.

Referring firstly to Figure 1, there is shown a collapsible, generally rectangular, animal cage comprising a base 10, a top 12, two side walls 14 and two end walls 16, 18. The base, top, and walls are each constructed from heavy gauge lengths of wire welded together at right angles to form a mesh or grid. A securable door 20 is provided in end wall 18, as best shown in Figure 2.

Each side wall 1 4 is hingedly attached to the base 10 by three spaced apart hinge connecting devices one of which is shown in detail in Figures 3 and 4 and which will be described in detail later. Each side wall 1 4 is similarly hingedly attached to the top 1 2 by three hinge connecting devices. Each of the end walls is similarly hingedly attached to the base 10 by two similar hinge connecting devices but the end walls are not permanently connected to the side walls or the top. They are releasably connected to the side walls and top, thus preventing the cage from collapsing, by means of locating devices and retaining connecting devices which will also be described later.

As best seen in Figure 2, the door 20 is also connected by similar hinge connecting devices 22 to a vertical wire forming part of the end wall 1 8. The door is securable in the closed position by means of a latch device 24.

The latch device comprises a piece of wire similar to that used in the construction of the rest of the cage, which has been bent through a right angle and then bent back on itself through another right angle, forming two part allel arms 26 spaced apart by a shorter member 28 at right angles to the arms 26. Two vertical wires 30, 32 of the door 20 are deformed at four locations 34 to give outwardly pointing kinks in the wires. The vertical wire 36 of end wall 1 8 is similarly deformed at two locations 38. The latch device 24 is slidable behind the kinks 34 and over the other wires of the door 20 and is thus held in position on the door. In order to secure the door, the door is shut and the latch device is pushed so that its arms 24 engage behind the kinks 38 of wires 36.The kinks 34, 38 are made such that the latch device is a force-fit behind, and hence once secured, it is difficult to accidentally release the latch device 24. In order to make it slightly easier to secure the door, the ends of the arms are slightly deformed towards the door so that less effort is required to locate the arms behind the kinks 38. A further outwardly facing kink 40 is provided in another vertical wire of the door to engage with the latch device 24 and thus prevent it from being moved out of its r.ormal position on the door.

Referring now to Figure 3, there is shown one bottom corner of the cage and one of the hinge locating devices. As can be seen from Figures 3 and 5, the base 10 does not lie entirely in one plane. The outermost edges of the base 10 which abut the side walls 14 are bent upwardly to be at right angles to the rest of the base.

The hinge connecting device 22 consists of a shaped portion 46 of the lowermost horizontal wire of side wall 14. The portion 46 is shaped to have a piece 47 parallel to but spaced from the rest of wire 44 thus defining with wire 43 of the base a recess 45. An end portion of a vertical wire 48 of the side wall 14 is bent around wire 43 to form a hinge.

The end 50 of the wire 48, as best seen in Figure 4, is accommodated by the recess 45 and abuts against the material of piece 47.

Thus the side wall 14 can pivot about the longitudinal axis of wire 43. The provision of piece 47 has two effects. Firstly it shields the extreme end 50 of the bent wire so that it is less likely to catch on clothing or the fingers of a user of the cage. Secondly it is possible for substantially the entire length of the wires 43 and 44 to closely abut one another leaving no unsightly or inconvenient gap. The effect is even more beneficial at side edges of the cage other than the edges where the base 10 abuts the side walls 14. Where the base 10 abuts the side walls 14 the hinge devices are spaced slightly from the extreme edges of the cage because of the upturned sides of the base. Along other edges of the cage the hinges are at the extreme edges of the cage where they are more likely to come into contact with the clothing and fingers of a user.

The upper portion of each end wall is releasably secured to the upper portion of each side wall by a retaining connecting device which will be described in more detail below with reference to Figure 7. Two such retaining devices can be seen at 56 in Figure 1. However there are two similar connecting devices on the side wall 1 5 which is to the rear as viewed in Figure 1.

To further secure together the end walls, side walls and top in the erected condition, the side walls and top are provided with hooklike locating devices one of which is shown in detail in Figure 6 at 57. One of the wires 52 making up the side wall 14 is bent into a loop 58 and then returned at 59 to be welded to the other wires of the side wall 1 4. It will be seen that in the erected condition the loop 58 hooks around one of the edge wires of end wall 1 8 so that neither the end wall nor the side wall can move outwardly with respect to the other. Each vertical edge of the cage has two such locating devices spaced apart between the base and top of the cage. Each end of the top of the cage has two similar devices which hook under the top edge of the adjacent end wall.

The retaining connection device shown in Figure 7 will now be described in detail. The connecting device essentially comprises a piece of spring steel having the shape shown in Figure 8. The spring steel is bent to have a generally U-shaped tail portion 60 and a bulbous nose 61. The tail 66 is permanently secured to one of the side walls 14 as shown in Figure 7 by interlacing the tail with two of the vertically extending wires 62 of the side wall 14. The tail passes behind each of the wires 62, around the right-hand wire 62 as viewed in Figure 7, and then back behind the left-hand wire 62. The nose 61 projects between two other wires 63 and the shaping of the spring steel strip as shown in Figure 8 is such that when the tail is secured in the position shown in Figure 7 the nose 61 is strongly urged between the wires 63 to project on the inside of the cage.

The edge wires of the end walls of the cage are forced past the associated sprung noses 61. The sprung noses 61 prevent the end walls from collapsing inwardly and they cannot collapse outwardly because of the location devices 57.

The retaining connection devices such as that shown in Figure 7 can be easily manufactured, very rapidiy fitted to the wires of the cage without the use of special tools, but nevertheless provide a very effective spring loaded retaining device.

The cage shown in the drawings is intended to provide a collapsible and readily portable animal cage, for example for use in caging a dog when visiting other people, or during dog shows. The connection devices described provide a secure and substantially rigid cage without any gaps or sharp projections which may injure or trap the fingers. A dog can be readily introduced into, or removed from, the cage by means of the door.

In order to collapse the cage the noses 61 of the four retaining connection devices are simply pressed outwardly with the fingers and the end walls 1 6 and 1 8 can then be collapsed inwardly to lie on the base 10. The fact that two side wdges of the base are turned upwardly provides a small space within the base into which the end walls can collapse. The rest of the cage is then collapsed sideways by pivoting one side wall towards the base. The cage collapses in the manner of a parallelogram, the top moving parallel to the base. When the side wall has been collapsed on to the base the hinge between that side wall and the top is coincident with the hinge between the other side wall and the base.

This is because the end walls of the cage are substantially square. From this position the other side wall and the top can be folded back again on to the collapsed base and first side wall to provide a neat flat package as shown in Figure 9.

The cage can readily be re-erected by reversing the above described procedure.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiments. It is not essential that the connection devices be applied to an animal cage. They may be applied to some other enclosure, for example a crate for despatching goods. Padlocks may be provided to lock together the various walls of the cage in the erected condition.

The connection devices need not be utilised on an enclosure at all, they may be utilised on any structure which is at least partially constructed of wire.

It is not essential that the connection devices be formed of metal. For example the spring steel strip shown in Figures 7 and 8 may be replaced by a plastics clip. For example an elongate strip of plastics may be utilised having a nose similar to the nose 61 and having recess into which the wires 62 may be smacked to locate the clip in position.

Claims (11)

1. A connection device for interconnecting parts of a structure comprises a hinge connection device formed by forming an end portion of a first wire around a pivot point, and positioning a member adjacent to the end of the first wire to protect the end of the first wire.

2. A connection device as claimed in Claim 1, in which the member comprises a second wire forming a portion of the same structure part as the first wire.

3. A connection device as claimed in Claim 2, in which the second wire forms an edge which abuts a second structure part which bears the pivot point, the second wire being formed away from the said structure part in the region of the pivot point to define with the second structure part a recess which accommodates the formed end portion of the first wire.

4. A connection device as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, in which the pivot point is formed by a third wire which extends parallel to and in contact with the second wire.

5. A connection device for interconnecting two parts of a structure, each part being edged by a wire, comprises a third wire forming part of one of the structure parts, the third wire being formed around the edge wire of the other structure part to provide a hinge connection, at least one of the edge wires being formed so that it defines with the other edge wire a recess to accommodate the formed third wire, so that the remainder of the edge wires may abut one another in a parallel manner.

6. A connection device as claimed in Claim 5, in which the recess is formed by appropriate shaping of the edge wire of the structure part which also bears the third wire.

7. A connection device as claimed in Claim 6, in which the shaping of the said edge wire also protects the end of the third wire.

8. A connection device for interconnecting parts of a structure comprises a retaining connection device for retaining together first and second parts of the structure in a releasable manner, each part of the structure being constucted at least in part from wire, the connection device comprising a clip which has a first portion arranged for mounting on at least one wire of the first structure part and a second portion arranged to releasably engage with the wire of the second structure part.

9. A connection device as claimed in Claim 8, in which the clip has a tail formed to engage with at least two wires of the first structure part by interlacing the tail with the wires and a nose which is arranged to clip around a wire of the second structure part.

10. A connection device as claimed in Claim 9, in which the clip is of spring steel.

11. A connection device as claimed in Claim 9, in which the clip is of plastics material.