GB2168103A

GB2168103A - Tying device

Info

Publication number: GB2168103A
Application number: GB08431199A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Matthew Mccormick
Original assignee: Bowthorpe Hellerman Ltd
Current assignee: Bowthorpe Hellerman Ltd
Priority date: 1984-12-11
Filing date: 1984-12-11
Publication date: 1986-06-11
Also published as: NO172763C; GB2168103B; NO172763B; GB8431199D0; NO854958L

Abstract

A tying device comprises a strip (1) of flexible material to extend around the article or articles to be tied and a securing means (2) attached to one end of the strip (1). The securing means (2) is adapted to receive and secure the other end of the strip (1) when it has been passed around the article or articles to be tied. The securing means comprises a bridge (6) dimensioned to allow passage of the strip thereunder and a pair of upstanding lugs (5) sufficiently resiliently deformable as to allow the strip to be pressed between respective detent means thereof and retained by said detent means after it has been bent back over the bridge (6). The lugs may be staggered so that the strip may be located under them sequentially by a side-to-side movement. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Tying device The present invention relates to a tying device. More particularly, the invention relates to a device for tying together a group of cables, pipes or similar items or for tying one or more such items to a support. The device is of the type where a strip is passed around an article or articles to be tied and joined in itself.

Devices of this type are known in which the end of the strip is passed beneath a bridge, folded back over the bridge and then held down by a pair of lugs folded over the strip by the person carrying out the tying operation.

Such devices suffer from several disadvantages in that the operation of bending the lugs to hold the strip has to be carried out at the time of applying the strip, which is time consuming and may require a special tool. Further the devices are generally covered in a corrosion resistant material, e.g. plastics material or enamel, and the bending may break this surface protective material in the region of the bend line. The device then becomes prone to attack by rust or corrosive materials. A further disadvantage occurs when it is desired to open up the tie to either insert or remove articles, after which the tie must be refastened. Repeated bending of the lugs, first one way then the other, will cause a zone of weakness at the bend line and breakage can be expected.

In an attempt to overcome these problems with folding lugs, it has been proposed, in British Published Patent Application 2117821A to provide a tying device in which the lugs are bent during manufacture so that no further bending is required during use of the tying device. However, in order for the strip to be inserted beneath the lugs, the bent portions are separated by a gap to enable the strip to be passed through edgeways and each lug is bent over sufficiently far for the strip to enter completely beneath that lug before being slipped sideways in the opposite direction to centre it beneath the pair of lugs. Insertion of the strip beneath the lugs is a more difficult procedure which takes little less time than would bending over lugs.Furthermore, the lugs must be spaced from the bridge by a distance sufficient to allow the strip, which may be of a relatively torsion resistant material such as metal, to be worked into place.

This lengthened spacing requires more material to be used for the securing part of the tying device as does the spacing of the lugs required by the insertion procedure. The increased size of the securing means is not only wasteful of material and therefore more costly but may also make the resultant tie unsightly.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a tying device which overcomes all the above disadvantages and which may be applied to an article or articles without undue effort.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tying device comprising a strip of flexible or otherwise bendable material of a length adapted to extend around the article or articles to be tied and a securing means attached to one end of the strip and adapted to receive and secure the other end of the strip when it has been passed around the article or articles to be tied, the securing means comprising a bridge dimensioned to allow passage of the strip thereunder and a pair of upstanding lugs sufficiently resiliently deformable as to allow the strip to be pressed between respective detent means thereof and retained by said detent means after it has been bent back over the bridge.

Preferably, the strip also passes between the lugs before it passes under the bridge.

The lugs may be located one directly opposed to the other.

Alternatively the lugs may be spaced one from the other in the direction of passage of the strip.

The detent means may comprise an outermost portion of each lug bent through more than a right angle in the direction of the other of the lugs. In this case, the bend is preferably radiussed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tying device comprising a strip of flexible or otherwise bendable material of a length adapted to extend around the article of articles to be tied and a securing means attached to one end of the strip and adapted to receive and secure the other end of the strip when it has been passed around the article or articles to be tied, the securing means comprising a bridge dimensioned to allow passage of the strip thereunder and a pair or upstanding lugs spaced one from the other in the direction of passage of the strip, each lug having a portion folded over at substantially a right angle in the direction of the other of the lugs, whereby the strip can be inserted by respective sideways movements under the folded over portions after it has been bent back over the bridge.

Preferably, the strip also passes under the lugs before passing under the bridge.

The spacing between the upstanding portions of the lugs in a direction transverse to the direction of passage of the strip is advantageously greater than the width of the strip but less than one and a half times the width of the strip.

In either aspect of the invention, the securing means may comprise a substantially rigid plate from which the bridge and the lugs are respectively stamped or otherwise formed.

The plate may have a width greater than that of the strip or alternatively it may be folded, cut or otherwise formed to be sub stantially the same width as the strip.

In other embodiments, the bridge and an assembly of the two lugs may be individually fixed to an end of the strip to form in combination securing means.

In either aspect of the invention, the strip is preferably attached to the securing means by welding advantageously by spot welding.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tying device embodying the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of tying device; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of tying device; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of tying device; and Figure 5 is a perspective view of one end only of a fifth embodiment of tying device.

Referring now to the drawings, the tying device of each embodiment comprises a strip of metal 1, the length of which is determined by the size of the article or articles to be tied, and a securing means 2 attached at one end of the strip 1. The opposite end of the strip 1 is rounded to aid a securing step subsequent to the tying and is provided with two holes 3.

The strip 1 is attached to the securing means 2 by appropriate spot welds 4. Both strips and securing means are of metal, such as steel and ideally coated with a protective covering of plastics material or enamel.

To use the tying device, the strip is passed around the article or articles to be tied and the free end is passed between a pair of lugs 5 and under a bridge 6. When the desired degree of tightness has been achieved by pulling the strip through the bridge, the strip is bent back on itself over the bridge 6 and back between the lugs 5.

In Figs. 1 to 4, the lugs 5 are formed with their free ends bent towards each other through at least a right angle thereby forming detents of the lugs 5. The angle of bend is preferably more than a right angle so that the outwardly facing sides of the detents are angled to aid insertion of the strip. The angled faces combined with a certain resilient deformability of the material of the lugs enables the strip to be pushed past the detents which thereafter hold the strip in place. Thus, in both passages of the strip through the lugs 5, insertion may be by simple snap fitting.

In Fig. 5, the arrangement is generally similar to that of Fig. 1 except for the lugs 5. In Fig. 5, the free ends 5' of the lugs 5 are bent upwardly and away from each other. The same general arrangement of lugs can, of course, also be used in the embodiments of Figs. 3 and 4 in place of the arrangements there illustrated. In the Fig. 5 arrangement, the opposed angled faces of the free ends 5' serve as a guide to the insertion of the strip.

The embodiments of this invention all follow the same principle outlined above but differ in their construction of the securing means 2.

In Fig. 1 (and also Fig. 5) there is shown a securing means which comprises a plate 7 from which the bridge 6 is formed by stamping upwardly (as seen in Fig. 1) a portion of the plate 7 bounded by two slits extending over a central portion of the plate in a direction transverse to that taken by the strip's passage. Preferably, the plate 7 is deformed downwardly (as seen in Fig. 1) at least in the region of the bridge 6 and possibly over the whole course of passage of the strip. The lugs 5 are also formed by upwardly stamping or otherwise bending the material of the plate 7 at two end edge portions thereof.

In Fig. 2 there is shown a second embodiment in which the securing means also comprises a plate 7 having a bridge 6 formed therefrom in similar manner but in which the lugs 5 are formed by stamping or otherwise bending the material of the plate at two interior zones thereof which are spaced one from the other in the direction of passage of the strip. This construction enables the plate 7 to be narrower than that of Fig. 1 but requires it to be longer.

Fig. 3 shows an embodiment in which the material of the plate 7 is folded back on itself so that the plate 7 has substantially the same width as the strip 1 but is in other ways similar to the embodiments shown in Fig. 1.

Clearly the plate 7 of the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 could be similarly folded to provide yet another variant.

Fig. 4 shows another embodiment in which there is no plate. The bridge 6 is a loop of metal attached directly to the strip at a point near its end and the lugs 5 are formed by a U-shaped strip of metal with the ends of the arms formed as detents and the base of the U attached to the strip at or near its end. This embodiment clearly uses less material than the preceding embodiments but the assembly costs are marginally higher. The lugs could, if so desired, be formed from two L-shaped strips of metal, in each of which one arm would form the lug and the other be attached to the strip. In this case, the lugs could be directly opposed one to the other or they could be spaced one from the other in a direction of passage of the strip.

The invention has been described with reference to detents formed by folding over the free ends of the lugs. However, the detents could be formed by other means, such as thickening the material of the lugs or by bending inwardly or outwardly an intermediate portion of the lug.

Claims

1. A tying device comprising a strip of flexible or otherwise bendable material of a length adapted to extend around the article or articles to be tied and a securing means attached to one end of the strip and adapted to receive and secure the other end of the strip when it has been passed around the article or article to be tied, the securing means comprising a bridge dimensioned to allow passage of the strip thereunder and a pair of upstanding lugs sufficiently resiliently deformable as to allow the strip to be pressed between respective detent means thereof and retained by said detent means after it has been bent back over the bridge.

2. A tying device as claimed in claim 1, in which the lugs are located one directly opposed to the other.

3. A tying device as claimed in claim 1, in which the lugs are spaced one from the other in the direction of passage of the strip.

4. A tying device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the detent means each comprises the lug with an outermost portion thereof bent through a right angle in the direction of the other of the lugs.

5. A tying device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the outermost portion is bent further in the direction of the securing means.

6. A tying device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the outermost portion of each lug is further bent through more than a right angle and in a direction away from the securing means.

7. A tying device comprising a strip of flexible or otherwise bendable material of a length adapted to extend around the article or articles to be tied and a securing means attached to one end of the strip and adapted to receive and secure the other end of the strip when it has been passed around the article or articles to be tied, the securing means comprising a bridge dimensioned to allow passage of the strip thereunder and a pair of upstanding lugs spaced one from the other in the direction of passage of the strip, each lug having a portion folded over at substantially a right angle in the direction of the other of the lugs, whereby the strip can be inserted by respective sideways movements under the folded over portions after it has been bent back over the bridge.

8. A tying device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the strip is adapted to pass under the lugs before passing under the bridge.

9. A tying device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the spacing between the upstanding portions of the lugs in a direction transverse to the direction of passage of the strip is greater than the width of the strip but less than one and a half times the width of the strip.

10. A tying device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the securing means comprises a substantially rigid plate from which the bridge and the lugs are respectively stamped or otherwise formed.

11. A tying device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the plate has a width greater than that of the strip.

12. A tying device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the plate is folded, cut or otherwise formed to be substantially the same width as the strip.

13. A tying device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the bridge and an assembly of the two lugs may be individually fixed to an end of the strip to form in combination said securing means.

14. A tying device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the strip is attached to the securing means by welding.

15. A tying device substantially as described herein with reference to any one of the Figures of the accompanying drawings.