GB2316124A

GB2316124A - Spring Clip

Info

Publication number: GB2316124A
Application number: GB9716688A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Stephen Keith Lawrence
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-08-06
Filing date: 1997-08-06
Publication date: 1998-02-18
Anticipated expiration: 2017-08-06
Also published as: GB2316124B; GB9616501D0; GB9716688D0

Abstract

A spring clip 17 of resilient plastics or metal strip 1 is configured to delineate a spiral section or preferably two oppositely-handed, co-planar spiral half-sections 4 and 5 that are located back to back and there is defined a convergent, divergent mouth 8 that opens and closes resiliently with individual entry of the cables 18 and rod 19 into the spirals. The cables 18 are retained loosely or, like the rod 19, are wedged resiliently and firmly between successive spiral-turns of the clips 17. The rod 19 may couple clips 17 together keeping them aligned with one another for support of the cables 18. A stiffening web 9 may be introduced between the halfsections 4 and 5 of each clip.

Description

Spring Clips This invention relates to spring clips.

The invention is concerned with spring clips of the kind for engaging with one or more articles for retaining them with the clip, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved form of spring clip of this kind.

According to the present invention there is provided a spring clip for engaging with one or more articles for retaining them with the clip, wherein the clip is in the form of an elongate, resilient strand that throughout a first section of its length is configured to delineate at least one turn of a spiral by which it extends with progressively increasing radius of arc into a second section of the length of the strand, and a portion of the first section on the outside of the spiral defines with a portion of the second section a substantially-closed mouth for opening and closing resiliently in admitting and retaining said one or more articles within or interlinked with the spiral.

The said portions of the first and second sections, which may bear on one another within the mouth to close it, may be convergent in relation to one another for passage of an article into the mouth and divergent in relation to one another for passage out of it, in both directions through the mouth.

The second section of the clip may also be configured to delineate a spiral by which the strand in extending along its length from the first section has a progressively decreasing radius of arc. The two spirals may be substantially co-planar and may be substantially the same as one another but of opposite hand and located back to back with one another (effective reflections of one another). The innermost part of each spiral may be inclined slightly out of the general plane of the spiral to provide increased resilience; the innermost parts of the two spirals may be inclined out of the plane in the same or opposite directions from the plane.

The spring clip of the invention may be of bent metalwire, of metal formed by forging, casting, moulding, pressing or cutting, or of plastics formed by moulding, extrusion, pressing or cutting. It may be used for embracing cables, wires, cords, rods or other elongate elements for retaining them together, or for interlinking with rings or other apertured items in retention thereof.

The article retained may be retained loose within or on the clip, or may be retained firmly wedged between successive spiral-turns of the strand.

A spring clip in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1 and 2 are a plan and a section respectively, of the spring clip according to the invention, the section of Figure 2 being taken on the line II-II of Figure 1; Figures 3 and 4 illustrate uses of the spring clip of Figure 1; Figures 5 and 6 are sections corresponding to that of Figure 2, applicable to respective modified forms of the spring clip of Figure 1; and Figures 7 and 8 are sections taken on a line corresponding to the line X-X of Figure 1, applicable to respective, further modified forms of the spring clip of Figure 1.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the spring clip has the form of a resilient metal or plastics strip 1 of oblong cross-section, that throughout its length between its two extremities 2 and 3 has a planar double-spiral configuration. More particularly, a first half-section 4 of the length of the strip 1 is configured to delineate a spiral that increases progressively in radius of arc from the extremity 2, and extends into the second half-section 5 of the strip 1 via a transitional portion 6 of maximum arc-radius. The second half 5 of the strip 2 decreases in arc-radius from the portion 6 to the extremity 3 such as to delineate a spiral which corresponds to that of the half 4 but is of opposite hand.

The two spirals are located back to back, each being an effective reflection of the other in the plane of symmetry between the two halves 4 and 5. Corresponding portions 7 on the outsides of the two spirals abut one another resiliently to form a tightly-closed mouth 8 by which articles are admitted to and removed from retention by the clip. The two portions 7 converge in relation to one another for passage into the mouth 8 and then diverge for passage out of it, in both directions through the mouth 8. It is not necessary for the two portions 7 to abut one another, however they are to come close to one another under resilient bias to give the effect of closure of the mouth 8.

The mouth 8 is openable to introduce articles into the clip and withdraw them from it, by deflecting the two half-sections 4 and 5 away from each other. Such deflection is opposed by resilient resistance of the strip 1 generally, but in particular by the transitional portion 6. The stiffness of the clip in this regard may be enhanced by introduction of a web 9 (indicated in broken line in Figure 1) at the portion 6.

The spring clip may be used as illustrated in Figure 3 to receive an elongate article 10 such as a cable, wire, cord or rod, by entering the article 10 through the mouth 8. As the article 10 is pushed into the mouth 8 from outside the clip, it bears on the converging portions 7 so as to open the mouth 8 progressively wider against the resilient resistance of the strip 1 and until the article has passed inwardly through the mouth 8. The mouth 8 closes resiliently once the article 10 has passed through.

The article 10 passed through the mouth 8, may be retained loosely within the spirals of the clip as illustrated in Figure 3 for articles 11 and 12, or, as illustrated for articles 13 to 15 of differing diameter, may be moved round into one or the other of the spirals to be wedged resiliently and firmly between successive spiral-turns of the strip 1. In order to release any of the articles 10 to 15 from the clip, it is only necessary to bring them to, and press them into and through the mouth 8. The mouth 8 opens resiliently to allow the article through, and then closes resiliently behind it.

Where an article to be retained by the clip is apertured as, for example, a link of a chain represented by a ring 16 in Figure 3, this is threaded on the clip to be interlinked with it for retention as shown. More particularly, the ring 16 is threaded onto the strip 1 from one or other of the extremities 2 and 3; if the extremity 2 or 3 is too large and the spirals too tight for the ring 16, it may be flexed back temporarily to open up the adjacent spiral curve. The ring 16 is then passed through the mouth 8 in the outward direction to complete its retention on the clip. For release, the ring 16 is merely passed back through the mouth 8 and removed at one of the extremities 2 and 3.

The clip of Figures 1 and 2 may have an overall dimension of only a few millimetres or, for example, as large as 200 mm or more. Most usually the clip will have an overall dimension of the order of 40 mm, in which case the thickness of the strip 1 may be about 1.5 mm and its width (thickness of the clip) about 4 mm with the radii of the spirals increasing progressively through 2.5 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm and 20 mm at ir/4 radians, 7it/4 radians, 11off/4 radians and 13off/4 radians, respectively.

Clips of the form shown in Figure 1 may be used at spaced positions along the length of, for example a run of cables, and in this case there can be advantage in linking the clips together. More especially, the clips may be linked together by a rod to define a spine holding them in a fixed spaced relationship to one another and avoiding sagging in the cable run. The use of a spine in this way between just two clips is illustrated in Figure 4.

Referring to Figure 4, two clips 17, each having the form shown in Figure 1, are clipped to cables 18 (only two are shown but there may be many more). The clips 17 are spaced from one another along the run of cables 18 and are interconnected by an elongate, substantially-rigid rod 19. The rod 19 is retained wedged into spirals of both clips 17 so that it forms a substantially-rigid spine keeping the clips 17 in alignment with one another and giving the cables 18 significant support to reduce sagging.

The strand 1 of the clip of Figure 1 need not be of metal or plastics strip having an oblong cross-section. It may instead be, for example, of extruded plastics or metal wire, having a generally square cross-section as illustrated in Figure 5, or generally circular crosssection as illustrated in Figure 6. Moreover, the innermost parts of the spirals in the regions of the strand-extremities 2 and 3 may be inclined slightly out of the general plane of the clip. As illustrated in Figures 7 and 8, the inclination may be, respectively, of the opposite or the same direction from the plane, for the two spirals.

Claims

Claims:

1. A spring clip for engaging with one or more articles for retaining them with the clip, wherein the clip is in the form of an elongate, resilient strand that throughout a first section of its length is configured to delineate at least one turn of a spiral by which it extends with progressively increasing radius of arc into a second section of the length of the strand, and a portion of the first section on the outside of the spiral defines with a portion of the second section a substantially-closed mouth for opening and closing resiliently in admitting and retaining said one or more articles within or interlinked with the spiral.

2. A spring clip according to Claim 1 wherein said portions of the first and second sections bear resiliently on one another to close the mouth.

3. A spring clip according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein said portions are convergent in relation to one another for passage of an article into the mouth and divergent in relation to one another for passage out of it, in both directions through the mouth.

4. A spring clip according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein the second section is also configured to delineate a spiral by which the strand in extending along its length from the first section has a progressively decreasing radius of arc.

5. A spring clip according to Claim 4 wherein the two spirals are substantially co-planar.

6. A spring clip according to Claim 4 or Claim 5 wherein the two spirals are substantially the same as one another but of opposite hand, located back to back with one another.

7. A combination of two or more spring clips each according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, with an elongate element that extends between them, the spring clips being spaced apart from one with the said element retained wedged between successive spiral-turns of each clip so as to couple the clips together.

8. A combination according to Claim 7 wherein the elongate element is substantially rigid so as to retain the clips substantially in alignment with one another.

9. A spring clip according to Claim 5 wherein the innermost part of each spiral is inclined out of the plane of the spiral.

10. A spring clip according to Claim 9 wherein the innermost parts of the two spirals are inclined out of the plane in opposite directions to one another from the plane

11. A spring clip according to Claim 9 wherein the innermost parts of the two spirals are inclined out of the plane in the same direction as one another from the plane.

12. A spring clip for engaging with one or more articles for retaining them with the clip, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

13. A spring clip according to Claim 12 modified substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of Figure 5 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.

14. A combination of spring clips and intercoupling rod substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.