GB2258004A - A clip for holding a pipe, cable or similar article. - Google Patents

Abstract

The clip comprises a mounting section 10 to enable the clip to be mounted on a surface 25 and an article retaining section 17. The retaining section 17 comprises a first part 18 carried by the mounting section and a second part 19 hingedly mounted for movement relative to the first part. The second part is preferably mounted on the first part for movement into an operative position in which an article 26 such as a pipe or cable will be held between the two parts 18, 19. First and second parts 18, 19 may have latching means to held them together (Fig. 3 net shown), and a plurality of pipe/cable recesses may be provided. Mounting may be effected by e.g. a bolt as shown in Fig. 2, or alternatively a resilient stud may be provided on the mounting section (Fig. 9, net shown). <IMAGE>

Description

A CLIP FOR HOLDING A PIPE, CABLE OR SIMILAR ARTICLE The invention relates to a clip for holding a pipe, cable or similar article and is particularly, but not exclusively, concerned with such a clip for use in a motor vehicle.

Over the years, various types of pipe and cable clips have been used in motor vehicles. Such clips have been of an open mouthed type which receive the pipe or cable in a snap-fit manner. There is a danger of accidental detachment of a pipe from such a clip when the vehicle is passing over uneven terrain and, at times, it can be difficult to snap-fit a pipe or cable into position.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved type of clip.

According to the present invention there is provided a clip for holding a pipe, cable or similar article comprising a mounting section to enable the clip to be mounted on a surface and an article retaining section comprising a first part carried by the mounting section and a second part hingedly mounted for movement relative to the first part into an operative position in which the article will be held between the two parts.

By providing a second part which is hingedly mounted in that way, it is possible to retain the article firmly between the two parts thereby reducing the risk of separation of the article from the clip.

The second part is preferably hingedly mounted on the first part.

It may be convenient to hold the article in position in the clip prior to mounting the clip say, on vehicle bodywork. Retaining means may, therefore, be provided for retaining a second part in the operative position. The clip can then be fastened to the vehicle bodywork with the article firmly in position.

The retaining means may take the form of suitable interengaging surfaces such as snap fit type sprags or latches.

Instead of, or in addition to, the second part being held in its operative position by the retaining means, it could be held in its operative position by interengagement with an adjacent surface which does not form part of the clip. For example, when the article has been placed in position in the clip, the clip can then be mounted on the vehicle bodywork so that the bodywork itself holds the first part in its operative position.

For positive location of the article within the retaining section, one or both of the first and second parts may be formed with article locating means such as one or more recesses. If desired, recesses may be provided in both first and second parts for locating parts of the article.

The clip may conveniently be moulded from plastics material and, in such a case, the hinge may be formed by part of the moulding itself.

The mounting section may comprise a body portion and a mounting member connected to the body portion by frangible means, said body portion of the article receiving section preferably defining a bore which may be arranged to receive the mounting member coaxially after fracture of the frangible means. In that way, it is possible to locate the mounting section over, say, a screw threaded stud with the first part of the clip in its operative position in engagement with or positioned adjacent a surface on which the stud is mounted, and then the mounting member can be driven onto the stud whilst simultaneously fracturing the frangible means.

The mounting member may take the form of a nut having, for example, a fluted bore. The nut may include a head which may be formed, e.g. on its underside, to be received into a recess in said body portion of the article receiving section.

The head of the nut may have its underside formed in a part spherical manner and the recess may also be part spherical and complementary to the underside of the head. By forming the head and recess in that way the nut can self align to a certain extent with, say, the aforementioned screw-threaded stud. To assist further in self alignment and in the case where the mounting member is received in the body portion of the article receiving section, the bore may be tapered to allow for tipping of the nut in the bore.

A clip in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig.1 is a cross section through one form of clip in accordance with the invention in an unmounted position, Fig.2 is an elevation of the clip of Fig.1 to a reduced scale mounted on a surface and locating a brake pipe.

Fig.3 is a cross section through a further type of clip in accordance with the invention, Fig.4 is an elevation showing the clip of Fig.3 to a reduced scale mounted on a surface and retaining four brake pipes, Fig.S is an elevation of a still further type of clip in accordance with the invention in a mounted position and also showing a weld stud suitable for mounting the clip, Fig.6 is a plan view of the clip shown in Fig.5, Fig.7 is view of the clip shown in Fig.6 on arrow VII in Fig.6, Fig.8 is an elevation of another type of clip in accordance with the invention, Fig.9 is anzelevation of part of a modified clip in accordance with the invention having an alternative mounting section, Fig.10 is a view showing a modified version of the clip which includes a self aligning nut feature, Fig.11 is an elevation of the clip of Fig.10 mounted on a surface and locating two brake pipes, Fig.12 is an elevation similar to Fig.1 having the self aligning nut feature and Figs.13 and 14 show variations of the clip for holding three and four pipes respectively and having the self aligning nut feature.

With reference to Figs.1 and 2, the clip comprises a mounting section 10 comprising a body 11 defining a bore 12 and a nut 13 at the upper end of the body as viewed in Fig.1. The nut 13 (constituting the aforesaid mounting member) has a head 14 and a fluted bore 15. The head has a frusto conical underside 14a for location in a countersunk recess 9 in the body 11. The lower end of the nut 13 is attached to the upper end of the body 11 by a frangible section 16.

The clip is preferably moulded from a plastics material and the frangible section 16 is easily formed by the moulding step. The external diameter of the nut is chosen so that it will slide through the bore 12 with working clearance.

One side of the body 11 is provided with a retaining section 17. The retaining section comprises a first part 18 mounted directly on the body 11 and a second part 19 which is connected to the first part 18 through a hinge 20 formed during the clip moulding step. The first part 18 and the second part 19 are formed with respective semi-cylindrical recesses 22, 23.

The clip may conveniently be attached to a weld stud 24 as shown in Fig.5 which may be attached to vehicle bodywork 25.

Prior to fastening the clip in position, a brake pipe 26 is positioned in the recess 22 and the second part 19 is hinged into the position shown in Fig.2 in broken lines in Fig.1 so as to hold the brake pipe 26 between the first and second parts 18, 19. The body 11 of the mounting section 10 is then placed over the stud 24 so that the upper end of the stud engages the bore 15 of the nut 13. The head 14 of the nut can then be struck with hammer so as to drive the nut along the weld stud 24. If it is necessary to remove the clip from the weld stud 24, the nut 14 can be rotated and in order to assist in turning the nut with a spanner, the head 14 may be of hexagon shape.

On striking the nut 14 as aforesaid, the frangible section 16 will fracture. Once the nut 13 has been driven fully along the weld stud as in Fig.2, the second part 19 of the retaining section 17 will engage the body part 25 to retain the pipe 26 in the recesses 22, 23.

In order to ensure that the second part 19 will be urged firmly against the bodywork 25, the body 11 of the mounting section 10 is provided with a step 10a on the opposite side of the axis X of the nut 13 to the retaining section 17. The lower edge of the step 10a lies level with the lower surface of second part 19 when the latter is hinged into its broken line position. Once the head 14 of the nut 13 engages the upper end of the body 11 during location on the weld nut 24, the body 10 will urge the second part 19 of the retaining section 17 firmly against the bodywork 25.

In Fig.3, the body 11 of the mounting section 10 has retaining sections 17 extending on both sides thereof. In Fig.3, each of the first and second parts 18, 19 of the retaining section defines two recesses 22, 23. Parts in Fig.3 corresponding to parts in Fig.2 carry the same reference numerals.

Each second part 19 of the retaining section 17 is formed with a retaining sprag 27 at its outer end which co-operates with a further retaining sprag 28 moulded onto the body 11. When the second part 19 is hinged to close the recesses 22, 23 as shown in Fig.4, the sprags 27, 28 interengage as shown in broken lines to hold the second part 19 in position.

In that way, articles may be located in the recesses 22, 23 without fear of the articles being released prior to mounting the clip onto the weld stud 24.

With the second parts 19 in the broken line positions the lower end of the body 11 lies in a plane higher than the lower surfaces of the two second parts 19.

As in Fig.1, the body 11 has a nut 13 connected thereto by a frangible section 16.

Instead of providing the head 14 with a frusto conical underside 14a, the head 14 may be flat underneath as shown at 114 for engagement with a flat upper surface 100 of the body 10 as shown in broken lines in Figs.1 and 3.

The clip shown in Fig.3 can be mounted on a stud 24 in the manner described with respect to Fig.1 and, when so mounted, will take up the form shown in Fig.4 in which it.can carry four brake pipes 26.

Sprags 27, 28 can be provided on the clip of Fig.1 if required.

Figs.5, 6 and 7 show a pipe clip-similar to that shown in Figs.3 and 4 but suitable for holding two pipes 26. Parts corresponding to parts in Fig.3 carry the same reference numerals.

Fig.8 shows a further clip similar to Figs.3 and 4 but for holding only three pipes. Parts corresponding to parts in Fig.3 carry the same reference numerals.

Although the clip can be mounted on a weld stud, it should be appreciated that the body 11 of the mounting section 10 can be modified to enable the clip to be attached to any other suitable mounting.

For example, as shown in Fig.9, the mounting section 10 may be formed with plug 30 formed with resilient a non-return fingers 31 which can be snap fitted through an aperture 32 formed in vehicle bodywork 25.

Reference is now made to Figs.10 to 14 in which parts corresponding to parts in Figs.1 to 9 carry the same reference numerals and will not be described in detail. All of the clips in Figs.10 to 14 include sprags 27, 28.

In Fig.10, the body 11 has a part spherical recess 40 therein and the bore 12 is tapered so as to coverage towards the recess 40. The nut 13 has its head 14 formed with a part-spherical underside 41 which is of complementary shape to the recess 40.

The nut 13 can be driven on to the weld stud 24 in the way described with respect to the earlier Figures. However the spherical recess 40 and head underside 41 together with the tapered bore 12 permit the nut to tip from a coaxial position to a certain extent as shown in Fig.11. In that way, the nut 13 of the clip can self align with a weld stud 24 which is not perpendicular to the surface 25 on which it is mounted.

The clips shown in Figs.12 to 14 each have a nut 13 with a head 14 formed with a part spherical underside 41 for location in a complementary recess 40 in the body 11.

Instead of the bore 12 being tapered as shown in Figs.10 to 14, it could be a parallel bore dimensioned to provide clearance to permit tipping of the nut 13.

Claims (23)

1. A clip for holding a pipe, cable or similar article comprising a mounting section to enable the clip to be mounted on a surface and an article retaining section comprising a first part carried by the mounting section and a second part hingedly mounted for movement relative to the first part into an operative position in which the article will be held between the two parts.

2. A clip according to Claim 1 in which the second part is hingedly mounted on the first part.

3. A clip according to Claim 2 in which the first part has one edge carried by the mounting section and an opposite second edge hingedly mounting the second part.

4. A clip according to Claim 1, 2 or 3 in which retaining means is provided for retaining the second part in the operative position.

5. A clip according to Claim 4 in which the retaining means comprises interengaging surfaces.

6. A clip according to Claim 4 or 5 in which the interengaging surfaces are arranged to snap fit together or latch one against the other.

7. A clip according to Claim 5 or 6 in which one of the interengaging surfaces is positioned at or adjacent an edge of the second part remote from the hinge mounting thereof.

8. A clip according to Claim 7 in which the other interengaging surface is positioned on or adjacent the mounting section.

9. A clip according to any of Claims 1 to 8 in which, in use, the second part is held in its operative position by engagement with a surface which does not form part of the clip.

10. A clip according to any preceding Claim in which at least one of said parts is formed with one or more article receiving recesses.

11. A clip according to any Claim 10 in which the or each article receiving recess will be open to receive an article prior to hinging the second part into its operative position and will be substantially closed when the second part occupies its operative position.

12. A clip according to Claim 10 or 11 in which each of the two parts has one or more article receiving recesses.

13. A clip according to Claim 12 in which a said recess in the first part is provided to receive part of an article and a recess in the second part is provided to receive another part of the article.

14. A clip according to any preceding Claim in which the clip is moulded from plastics and the hinge mounting for the second part is formed by a part of the moulding.

15. A clip according to any preceding Claim in which the mounting section comprises a body portion and a mounting member connected thereto by frangible means, said body portion defining a bore arranged to receive the mounting member coaxially after fracture of said frangible means.

16. A clip according to Claim 15 in which the mounting member includes a head of larger transverse dimension than the bore.

17. A clip according to Claim 16 in which a recess is defined in the body portion for receiving the head.

18. A clip according to Claim 17 in which the recess is frusto conical.

19. A clip according to Claim 17 in which the recess is part-spherical.

20. A clip according to Claim 18 or 19 in which the head is formed with a surface which is locatable in the recess and is of complementary shape to the recess,

21. A clip according to Claim 19 or Claim 20 when appendant to Claim 19, in which the bore which receives the mounting member is tapered to permit tipping of the mounting member relative to the body,

22. A clip according to any preceding Claim In which the mounting section carries a plurality of article retaining sections.

23. A clip for holding a pipe or other article substantially as described herein with reference to Figs. 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 to 7, Fig.8, Fig,9, Figs.lO and 11, Fig.12, 13 or Fig.14 of the accompanying drawings.