GB2230553A - Fasteners for cladding sheets, disposal chutes or thermal insulation sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

A fastener 1 of flexible material has a cross piece 2 at one end with lateral projections one of which may be pointed to penetrate a sheet. The other end has an attachment part integral therewith or an aperture 3 for securing such a part. The attachment point may provide or secure an elastic loop (Fig. 6). An additional fastener (Figs. 7 to 9) has interengaging wedge parts for securing the ends of a resilient band. A cladding sheet (Figs. 17 to 20) comprises a woven fabric with additional reinforcing strips 49 or regions 50 of reduced density weave to provide ventilation or easier securement of fixings. Attachment loops may be woven into the sheet. The sheet may also be coated with bitumen or rubber. Metal bands looped through attachments convert a sheet into a disposal chute (Fig. 20). <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements relating to Securing Devices For various purposes there is a need to provide a clip for securing one article to another. The present invention is concerned partly, though not exclusively, with the need to secure covering sheets on to scaffolding around buildings. One type of existing arrangement requires special stays to be hot welded on to the covering sheet at required positions. A two or three piece unit is then interconnected with the stay and onto a scaffolding pole. This is time-consuming and difficult to manipulate, particularly in strong winds.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a securing member comprising an elongated flexible strip having a tail end provided with an aperture for receipt of an attachment device, or being provided with an integral attachment device, and a head end in the form of a hammer-head enlargement, part of the member defining a pointed part for puncturing material to which the member is to be attached.

This type of securing member can easily be interconnected with the sheet material by forcing it through the sheet or through a special eyelet secured to the sheet. The attachment device could then be secured separately to a scaffolding pole.

Advantageously the pointed part is defined by a rigid pointed cap mounted on the enlarged head.

Ideally the member will include a further enlargement close to the enlarged head, but displaced therefrom along the length of the flexible member to act as a limit stop, so that when the head is pushed through a sheet of material, the possibility for flapping of the sheet will be limited. Ideally also the flexible member is elastically expandable.

In one form the attachment device, integral with the member or mounted thereon through the aperture in the tail end of the member, will comprise a collar with a releasable fixing at its two free ends. This releasable fixing may be a ratchet engagement device which can be released by opposite sideways displacement at the two ends of the collar.

From a further aspect the securing member may have a pointed arrow head at the tail end for securing through an aperture in an intermediate portion of the strip.

This type of securing member has many uses, but when used to attach sheet material to scaffolding it may be combined with an elasticated band held by the loop formed by feeding the arrow head through the aperture.

The elasticated band can then be fitted around a scaffolding pole. In particular security applications it may be advantageous to have a pair of tags mounted onto the band.

It is envisaged that the securing member will be used in conjunction with an eyelet formed with an aperture for receipt of the enlarged head of the securing member. The aperture will ideally be of H- shape.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a covering sheet formed as a woven sheet from strips of tough flexible plastics material, with bands of the sheet being reinforced by weaving a substantial increase in the quantity of strip material within those bands.

Connecting members can be pressed through the woven material within the reinforced bands without significantly affecting the strength of the sheet at the attachment point. The frequency of strips within the bands may be increased, to achieve the required reinforcement. Alternatively the widths of the strips within the bands could be increased. In any event the increase in quantity of strip material within the bands is ideally 25% to 100%. Advantageously the unreinforced bands will have spaces defined between the strips, which provide for ventilation through the sheet.

The plastics material may incorporate or be covered with or coated with a fire retardant and/or ultraviolet stabiliser material and might be formed from polythene, polyethylene, polypropylene or a polyester material.

From a still further aspect, this invention provides a two part securing clip comprising a fixed part and a movable part which slidingly engage with one another from one end of the fixed part so as to bias into a locked condition when the movable part is urged towards the other end of the fixed part, the movable part carrying on one exposed surface, of the engaged two part clip, a hook or buckle member for connection to a member which is to be secured in place.

Ideally the movable part is wedge-shaped and the fixed part has a complementary open-topped passageway with re-entrant side walls. The movable part may additionally be formed with an eye at the end which is to be urged towards and beyond the other end of the fixed part.

The invention may be performed in various ways and preferred embodiments thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 illustrates one form of a securing clip according to this invention; Figure 2 is a representation of an attachment device to be used with the clip shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 illustrates a securing tag in accordance with this invention; Figures 4 and 5 are plan and side views respectively of an eyelet to be used with the tag shown in Figure 3; Figure 6 illustrates the tag of Figure 3 connected to a band; Figures 7 and 8 are plan and end views respectively of a further form of securing clip according to this invention; Figure 9 is a side view of a part of the securing clip shown in Figures 7 and 8; Figures 10 and 11 illustrate features of a further form of tie member of this invention;; Figure 12 shows the use of the tie member of Figure 10; Figure 13 illustrates a clip to be used with a tie member modified from that shown in Figure 10; Figure 14 illustates an alternative form of tie member; Figures 15 and 16 show means for attaching an elastic band to a tie tag; Figure 17 shows features of modification of the design of protective sheeting; Figure 18 illustrates a fixing loop formed on a protective sheet; Figure 19 shows a method of attaching a sheet as illustrated in Figure 18 to scaffolding; Figure 20 shows how the sheet of Figure 18 may be modified to form a tube; and Figure 21 is an illustration of a heat insulating protective sheet of this invention.

The securing clip illustrated in Figure 1 comprises an elongated body 1 defining a hammer-head formation 2 at one end whilst the tail is formed with an aperture 3. A linit stop 4 is positioned close to the head 2.

A pointed end 5 of the head 2 enables the head to be introduced readily through an opening in a sheet of material, or to be forced through a sheet of woven material. The securing clip will be formed from a relatively flexible material and it may therefore be advisable to provide a rigid pointed cap 6 for the flexible pointed end 5. In use this securing clip will be attached to a covering sheet by pushing the head 2 through the fabric of the sheet or a special eyelet formed in the sheet. The attachment device 7 shown in Figure 2 (looped through the aperture 3 in the tail of the clip) will then be located about a scaffolding pole with the ends 8 being pressed together and held in place by means of ratchet teeth 9. (To remove the attachment device from the scaffolding pole the portions 8 will be moved sideways in opposite directions to release the ratchet teeth).

Another method of fixing a sheet to a scaffolding pole is to use the securing tag illustrated in Figures 3 and 5 together with a special eyelet (shown in Figures 4 and 5) welded to the sheet. The securing tag has a main body portion 10 formed with an enlarged head 11 at one head and a pointed arrow head at the other end. As can be seen from Figure 6, the arrow head can be pushed through an aperture 13 in the main body part 10 so as to trap an elasticated band 14 which is to be located around a scaffolding pole. The other end of the band 14 will ideally be attached to another securing tag, although it may be feasible to use a single securing tag to trap both ends of the band 14.

The enlarged head 11 of the securing tag will be manipulated through a specially shaped aperture 15 in an eyelet 16 which will be welded to sheet material 17.

If, as shown in Figure 5, the sheet 17 is not welded right up to the edge of the eyelet this will tend to minimise the possibility of tearing.

A further particular form of securing clip of this invention is illustrated in Figure 7. This comprises a fixed base part 18 into which can be slid a movable part 19. Both parts are wedge-shaped so that when the movable part is pushed fully home it will be trapped within the fixed part 18 by the angled side walls 20 thereof. An eye 21 is formed at one end of the movable. part 19 so as to provide one means of attaching an item to be secured. Additionally, however, a hook 22 is formed on the top surface of the movable part 19 on to which a loop, for example as provided on a tarpaulin covering a lorry, may be secured. The hook may be partially flexible and have its free end against the surface of the top of the part 19, so that a loop has to forced below the hook 22, and will thus be more readily be retained there.Alternatively, the hook 22 could be replaced by a buckle member which would be engaged by a strap on a part to be secured.

A further form of tie member, forming another aspect of this invention, is illustrated in the accompanying Figures 10 to 13 of the drawings, and as basically illustrated in Figures 10 and 11 comprises a pair of end tags 23 linked together by a flexible band 24 forned from rubber or a comparable synthetic material.

Each tag 23 comprises a rod 25 on to which is placed a resiliently flexible sleeve 26 so as to secure an end of the band 24 in place.

This tie member can then be connected to a sheet of material in the manner as illustrated in Figure 12.

Thus a tag 23 is pushed fully through a strengthened strip 27 of a sheet of material 28. The tag cannot then be withdrawn accidentally. The flexible band 24 is then wrapped around a post or bar 29 and the other tag 23 can then be looped through the material of the band 24 itself to hold the second tag 23 in place.

Alternatively, the other tag 23 could be pushed through the strip 27, as shown in the lower example of Figure 12.

As an alternative to the construction shown in Figure 10 one end of the band 24 only may be provided with a tag 23 whilst the other end is fed through a hole in a hook member 30 (Figure 13) and is then looped back on itself to hold the band 24 on to the hook member 30.

Then when the band is wrapped around the post or bar 29 the hook member 30 can be clipped on to the band 24 to hold it in place.

The tie member of Figure 14 is moulded from plastics material and as such defines a tag 31 with pointed ends and having an extending flexible strap 32 whose free end defines a pair of arms 33 having fingers 34 which return inwardly adjacent to one another. The tag 31 can be pressed through a woven sheet. An elastic strap has its ends forced between the fingers 34 so as to loop over respectively formed hook portions 35 after the strap 36 has been located about a scaffold pole.

Methods of securing an elastic band 37 to a tag are shown in Figures 15 and 16. The tag 38 of Figure 15 is split to define two arms 39 connected by a hinge portion 40. Cutouts 41 provide spaces for receipt of the band 37 and a locating device 42 enables the two arms 39 to be releasably secured together to trap the band 37. Tag 43 of Figure 16 has a removable portion 4 with a pair of locking devices 45 which enable the portion 44 to be releasably secured to the tag 43 so as to trap the band 37 which is received in a recess 46.

In either example as shown in Figures 15 and 16 the elastic band may have a similar tag at its other enr, or a hook 30 as shown in Figure 13.

The particular types of securing clip shown in Figures 1 to 6 and 10 to 16 are especially advantageous for use with a type of sheet material constructed in accordance with this invention from woven tough flexible plastics strips. The weaving machine will be programmed with a code which will cause the strips to be woven, within pre-determined bands, in such a way as to increase the quantity of strip material within those bands.This can be done either by increasing the number of strips per unit width or by increasing the width or thickness of the strips within the bands (whilst maintaining the same quantity of strips per unit width) . hen the head of a securing clip is pressed through the material (thus spreading apart the woven strips), the woven material will tend to return to its previous condition as far as possible so that the strength of the material is not significantly affected. The securing clips may be attached to the sheet in the regions where the reinforcing bands are formed.

Various possible features which might be employed in woven sheeting material of this invention are illustrated in Figure 17. The basic sheet material 8 firstly might be provided with reinforcing strips 49 where the material is woven at a greater density (for example double the density) as compared with the rest of the material. Alternatively, the basic material 48 itself may be regarded as defining the reinforcing strips whilst regions 50 have a reduced density of weave. In this particular instance the fibres extend in one direction only in the strip 50. This design has two advantages.Firstly, the open nesh arrangement provides easy access for inserting securing tags. ore importantly, however, these open strips 50 can provide ventilation which will reduce the effect of high winds on the sheet material (when used, for example, as protective sheeting on scaffolding around a building).

Also, the ventilation effect provides a better working environment within an enclosure formed by the sheeting material than is the case when using a consistently closely woven material. As a further modification to the basic weave, wide reinforcing strips 51 can be provided where portions 52 of a very dense weave (possibly ten times normal) are interspersed with open weave strips 50. In order to strengthen the edges of the open weave strips 50, a strong nylon thread 53 will be stitched down each side. This thread may be of a contrasting colour to indicate the edges of this (or indeed any other strip). An adhesive tape material 54 is ideally fixed to the edges of the sheet 48 to mininise fraying. Alternatively, a fast drying adhesive could be sprayed or glued on to the sheet edges to reduce fraying.

As shown in Figure 18, sheet material 55 may readily be formed with attachment loops 56. This is achieved by stitching threads 57 along the length of the sheet 55 but allowing a significant length of the thread to remain unstitched to create the loop 56. Sheet material formed in this way could then be used in association with straps which pass through such loops 56. An example is shown in Figure 19 where a webbing strap 57 is attached to a sheet 55 which will form a roof cover between horizontal scaffold poles 58. The ends of the webbing 57 will incorporate ratchet tensioning devices 59 which enable the webbing to be secured tightly about a lower scaffolding pole 59 so that the sheet 55 is held in a taut condition. The sheet 55 will be of a strong thick material which can be coated with a waterproofing compound, such as bitumen or rubber.

The sheet material 55 could also be stitched along its edges to define a sleeve 60 as shown in Figure 20.

Metal bands 61 will then be looped through the loops 56 to give the sleeve 60 a degree of rigidity at spaced positions and also to provide means for attaching the sleeve to a fixed structure. Preferably there will be 6 loops 56 around the circumference of the sleeve This sleeve (which will be of a very strong weave material) may then be used as a chute for disposal of rubble during the demolition of a building.

A heat insulating sheet material is illustrated in Figure 21. This comprises a backing sheet 62 of flexible woven material, onto which is laminated a sheet on which bubble blisters 64 have been created he blister sheet 63 provides a degree of heat insulation, whilst the backing sheet 62 provides the necessary supporting strength. Such a sheet is ideally suited for use in connection with the type of securing clip as shown in Figures 7 to 9.

Claims (34)

1. A securing member comprising an elongated flexible member having a tail end provided with an aperture for receipt of an attachement device, or being provided with an integral attachment device, and a head end in the form of a hammer-head enlargement, part of the member defining a pointed part for puncturing material to which the member is to be attached.

2. A member according to claim 1, wherein the flexible member is elastically expandable.

3. A member according to claim 1 or claim 2, including a further enlargement close to the enlarged head, but displaced therefrom along the length of the flexible member to act as a limit stop.

4. A member according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pointed part is defined by a rigid pointed cap mounted on the enlarged head.

5. A member according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the attachment device, integral with the member or mounted thereon through the aperture in the tail end of the member, comprises a collar with a releasable fixing at its two free ends.

6. A member according to claim 5, wherein the releasable fixing is a ratchet engagement device which can be released by opposite sideways displacement at the two ends of the collar.

7. A member according to any one of claims 1 to 3, having a pointed arrow head at the tail end for securing through an aperture in an intermediate portion of the strip.

8. A securing device comprising a member according to claim 7 in combination with an elasticated band held by the loop formed by the arrow head fed through the aperture.

9. A device according to claim 8, including a further member according to claim 7 mounted onto the band.

10. A member according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the flexible strip is a flexible band and incorporates the attachment device, the enlarged head being provided by a tag attached to the band.

11. A member acording to claim 10, wherein the attachment device is in the form of a rod passed through the looped end of the band, and a sleeve slid over the rod to trap the band.

12. A member according to claim 11, wherein the other end of the flexible band has onother rod and sleeve tag or a hook member attached thereto.

13. A member according to claim 10, wherein the attachment device comprises a two-part tag incorporating mutually engageable, releasable attachment means, providing a space for receipt of the end of the band.

14. A member according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the tail end of the member divides to form two limbs, with return fingers adjacent to one another to provide a pair of hook members for receipt of ends of an attachment device.

15. A securing member or device according to any one of claims 1 to 14, together with an eyelet formed with an aperture for receipt of the enlarged head of the securing member.

16. A securing member or device according to claim 15 wherein the aperture is of H-shape.

17. A two part securing clip comprising a fixed part and a movable part which slidingly engage with one another from one end of the fixed part so as to bias into a locked condition when the movable part is urged towards the other end of the fixed part, the movable part carrying on one exposed surface, of the two part clip, a hook or buckle member for connection to a member which is to be secured in place.

18. A clip according to claim 17, wherein the movable part is wedge-shaped and the fixed part has a complementary open topped passageway with reentrant side walls.

19. A clip according to claim 17 or claim 18, wherein the movable part additionally is formed with an eye at the end which is to be urged towards the other end of the fixed part.

20. A covering sheet formed as a woven sheet from strips of tough flexible plastics material, with bands of the sheet being reinforced by weaving a substantial increase in the quantity of strip material within those bands.

21. A covering sheet according to claim 20, wherein the frequency of strips within the bands is increased.

22. A covering sheet according to claim 20 or claim 21, wherein the widths -of the individual strips within the bands are increased.

23. A covering sheet according to any one of claims 20 to 22, wherein the increase in quantity of strip material within the bands is 25% to 100%.

24. A covering sheet according to any one of claims 21 to 23 wherein unreinforced bands have spaces defined between the strips.

25. A covering sheet according to any one of claims 20 to 24 wherein edges of bands defined in the sheet have a coloured and/or strengthening thread stitched through the material.

26. A covering sheet according to any one of claims 20 to 25, wherein the plastics material incorporates or is covered with or coated with a fire retard ant and/or ultraviolet stabliser material.

27. A covering sheet according to any one of claims 20 to 26, wherein the plastics material is polythene, polyethylene, polypropylene or a polyester material.

28. A covering sheet formed from woven sheet material and provided with adjustment loops created by stitching threads through the material but leaving unstitched portions of the threads where the loops are formed.

29. A covering sheet as claimed in claim 28 wherein webbing straps are passed through the loops.

30. A covering sheet according to claim 29 wherein the ends of the webbing straps incorporate ratchet tensioning devices.

31. A sleeve formed by connecting together the edges of a covering sheet as defined in any one of claims 28 to 30 with straps passing through the loops to provide means for attaching the sleeve to a fixed structure.

32. A covering sheet comprising a backing sheet of flexible woven material to which is laminated a sheet incorporating bubble blisters.

33. A securing member substantially as herein described with reference to one or more of Figures 1 to 16 of the accomapanying drawings.

34. A covering sheet substantially as herein described with reference to any one of Figures 17 to 21 of the accompanying drawings.