GB2295655A - Plastics eyelet - Google Patents

Abstract

A plastic eyelet includes a female portion 1 having an annular locking lip 3 on the inner circumference thereof and a male portion 2 having an annular protrusion 5 on the outer circumference of a cylindrical column 4 thereof. The male (or female) portion 2 has an uneven surface 6 on a flange 8 thereof so that, once the portions 1 and 2 are combined to grip a sheet of material, they cannot be separated or spun freely relative to each other. The eyelet portions can be easily recycled if the material of the sheet to which they are fastened is the same as that of the eyelet portions 1 and 2. <IMAGE>

Description

A PLASTIC EYELET The present invention relates generally to a plastic eyelet and, more particularly, to a plastic eyelet having a male eyelet portion and a female eyelet portion to be engaged with each other.

Conventional eyelets are made of nonferrous metals such as aluminium or copper alloy, and are therefore weak in strength. In addition, they consist of common male and female eyelets so that they are easily separated from each other by impact in use, and can even become detached from a sheet of textile or plastic to which they are fastened. Such a sheet may be torn and not therefore capable of being used any longer.

According to the invention there is provided a plastic eyelet comprising a female eyelet portion having first locking means on an inner circumference thereof, and a male eyelet portion having second locking means on an outer circumference of a cylindrical column thereof.

With such an arrangement, the first and second locking means can lock the female and male eyelet portions securely together.

Preferably, the first and second locking means are respective annular projections. This can achieve an effective snap-fit.

Preferably, the female or the male eyelet portion has an uneven surface on a laterally extending region thereof. In use the laterally extending region will normally engage a sheet or the like of textile or plastics to which the eyelet is fastened, and the provision of an uneven surface improves the engagement and minimises rotation of the eyelet on the sheet.

Advantageously, the interlocking of the first and second locking means is such as to clamp the sheet or the like between respective laterally extending regions of the male and female eyelet portions. A compressive clamping force can help to prevent rotation even if no uneven surface is provided.

An uneven surface may be provided on the female or the male eyelet portion, or there may be uneven surfaces provided on both portions. Preferably, the uneven surface is provided on a bottom plate of the male eyelet portion.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an eyelet according to the invention; and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a modified eyelet according to the invention when engaged on a sheet or the like.

As shown in Fig. 1, the plastic eyelet includes a female eyelet portion 1 and a male eyelet portion 2. An annular locking jaw 3 is formed on the inner circumference of the female eyelet portion 1. The male eyelet 2 includes a bottom plate 8 and a cylindrical column 4. An annular protrusion 5 is formed on the outer circumference of the cylindrical column 4 of the male eyelet portion 2 and an uneven surface 6 is formed on the bottom plate 8 of the male eyelet portion 2.

The embodiment of Fig. 2 differs from that of Fig.

1 in that an uneven surface is provided on the laterally extending and downwardly facing region of the female eyelet portion 1. Figure 2 also shows the eyelet in a fastened condition.

In order to fasten the eyelet to a sheet 7 of e.g.

plastics, the cylindrical column 4 of the male eyelet portion 2 is upwardly engaged in a hole formed in the sheet 7, and then the female eyelet portion 1 is downwardly forced on to the male eyelet portion 2. The resilient characteristic of the plastic enables the annular locking jaw 3 of the female eyelet portion 1 to go beyond and interlock with the annular protrusion on the cylindrical column 4 of the male eyelet portion 2, as shown in Fig.2. Accordingly, the sheet 7 surrounding the hole is securely engaged between the uneven surface provided on the downwardly facing region of the female eyelet portion 1 and the bottom plate 8 of the male eyelet portion 2. Once the eyelet is fastened to the sheet in this way, the eyelet portions cannot be separated or spun freely when they are connected to a support such as a post (not shown) by a string or a belt passing through the eyelet.

It will be appreciated that a secure fastening can similarly be achieved by the embodiment of Fig. 1, in which case the uneven surface 6 of the bottom plate 8 engages and grips the sheet. Additionally, since the material of the sheet 7 is the same as that of the eyelet, it is not necessary to separate the eyelet from the sheet 7 in order to discard them for recycling, compared with conventional nonferrous eyelets. That is, they can be recycled by direct fusing of the combined elements, thereby making recycling easier.

While the fundamental novel features of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood from the disclosure that various substitutions, modifications and variations may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, all such modifications and variations are included within the intended scope of the invention as disclosed herein.

Claims (5)

1. A plastic eyelet comprising a female eyelet portion having first locking means on an inner circumference thereof, and a male eyelet portion having second locking means on an outer circumference of a cylindrical column thereof.

2. A plastic eyelet as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and second locking means are respective annular projections.

3. A plastic eyelet as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the female or the male eyelet portion has an uneven surface on a laterally extending region thereof.

4. A plastic eyelet as claimed in claim 3, wherein the uneven surface is provided on a bottom plate of the male eyelet portion.

5. A plastic eyelet substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.