US20140165339A1

US20140165339A1 - Reversible cable tie

Info

Publication number: US20140165339A1
Application number: US13/759,073
Authority: US
Inventors: Jia Yuan
Original assignee: Wistron Corp
Current assignee: Wistron Corp
Priority date: 2012-12-14
Filing date: 2013-02-05
Publication date: 2014-06-19
Also published as: TWI515149B; CN103863699A; TW201422491A

Abstract

A reversible cable tie includes a belt, a guide portion and a constraint base. The belt includes a first end, a second end and a plurality of constraint structures. The guide portion and the constraint base are disposed on the first end and the second of the belt. The constraint base includes a hollow portion, an opening structure, a hook and a handle. The belt passes through the hollow portion. The opening structure is disposed on an external surface of the hollow portion. The hook is movably disposed inside the hollow portion and exposed via the opening structure. A first end of the hook is resiliently connected to a first wall of the opening structure. A second end of the hook buckles the constraint structure, so as to constrain a movement of the belt relative to the constraint base. The handle is disposed on the second end of the hook.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable tie, and more particularly, to a reversible cable tie.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The tie is often applied to bind the object, such as wires, rods and so on. The conventional tie includes a body, a guide portion and a constraint base. The guide portion and the constraint base are respectively disposed on two ends of the body. A plurality of first engaging portions is disposed on a surface of the body, and a second engaging portion is disposed inside the constraint base. When the guide portion guides the body through the constraint base, the second engaging portion can be engaged with the first engaging portion for constraint between the body and the constraint base to bind the object.
The conventional tie includes the second engaging portion with sawtooth form that is disposed inside the constraint base, and the sawtooth-shaped second engaging portion includes a plurality of engaging units to simultaneously engage with the engaging units of the first engaging portion. Therefore, disassembly procedure of the conventional tie is inconvenient due to separation of the sawtooth structures and the engaging units. Besides, the second engaging portion of the conventional tie is closed inside the constraint base. The second engaging portion can not be separated from the first engaging portion if tightness of the conventional tie is insufficient, and the whole tie is useless to be abandoned. Thus, the conventional tie is environment-unfriendly style, and design of a reversible cable tie is an important issue in the related industry.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a reversible cable tie for solving above drawbacks.
According to the claimed invention, a reversible cable tie includes a belt, a guide portion and a constraint base. The belt includes a first end, a second end and a plurality of constraint structures. The constraint structures are disposed between the first end and the second end. The guide portion is disposed on the first end of the belt. The constraint base is disposed on the second end of the belt. The constraint base includes a hollow portion, an opening structure, a hook and a handle. The belt passes through the hollow portion. The opening structure is disposed on an external surface of the hollow portion. The hook is movably disposed inside the hollow portion and exposed via the opening structure. A first end of the hook is resiliently connected to a first wall of the opening structure, and a second end of the hook relative to the first end buckling the corresponding constraint structure so as to constrain a movement of the belt relative to the constraint base. The handle is disposed on the second end of the hook. A gap is formed between the handle and a second wall of the opening structure opposite to the first wall.
According to the claimed invention, the hook does not protrude from the external surface of the hollow portion.
According to the claimed invention, the second end of the hook buckles with one of the plurality of constraint structures.
According to the claimed invention, the opening structure further includes a third wall and a fourth wall different from the first wall and the second wall. Intervals are formed between the third wall and a lateral side of the hook, and the fourth wall and the other lateral side of the hook.
According to the claimed invention, each constraint structure includes a supporting surface and a blocking surface. A wedged protrusion is disposed on the second end of the hook. Two surfaces of the wedged protrusion respectively contact against the supporting surface and the blocking surface.
According to the claimed invention, a planer normal vector of a contact surface of the wedged protrusion is substantially parallel to a moving direction of the belt relative to the constraint base.
According to the claimed invention, a planer normal vector of the blocking surface of the constraint structure is substantially parallel to the planer normal vector of the contact surface of the wedged protrusion.
According to the claimed invention, resilient deformation of the second end of the hook is substantially greater than a height of the blocking surface.
The reversible cable tie of the present invention can dispose the hook on the external surface of the constraint base as the cantilever beam form. The free end of the hook can be pulled according to user's demand for rapid separation of the wedged protrusion relative to the constraint structure of the belt. Meanwhile, the belt can freely move inside the constraint base. As tightness of the reversible cable tie is adjusted at suitable magnitude, an external force applied to the free end of the hook can be removed, and the resilient recovering force of the hook can drive the wedged protrusion to engage with the constraint structure for tight and stable constraint. Comparing to the prior art, the reversible cable tie of the present invention has advantages of easy structure, convenient operation and re-used application.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 respectively are diagrams of a reversible cable tie in different operation modes according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 respectively are diagrams of a constraint base in different views according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 respectively are sectional views of the reversible cable tie in different operation modes according to the embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 respectively are diagrams of a reversible cable tie 10 in different operation modes according to an embodiment of the present invention. The reversible cable tie 10 includes a belt 12, a guide portion 14 and a constraint base 16. The belt 12 can include a first end 18, a second end 20 and a plurality of constraint structures 22. The first end 18 and the second end 20 are opposite ends of the belt 12. The plurality of constraint structures 22 is disposed between the first end 18 and the second end 20. In addition, the guide portion 14 is disposed on the first end 18, and the constraint base 16 is disposed on the second end 20. The guide portion 14 can be driven to pass through the constraint base 16, and the constraint structure 22 of the belt 12 is engaged inside the constraint base 16, so as to tie up an object firmly by the reversible cable tie.
Please refer to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 respectively are diagrams of the constraint base 16 in different views according to the embodiment of the present invention. The constraint base 16 includes a hollow portion 24, an opening structure 26, a hook 28 and a handle 30. Dimensions of the hollow portion 24 are substantially greater than dimensions of the belt 12, so the belt 12 can easily pass through the constraint base 16. The opening structure 26 is disposed on an external surface 32 of the hollow portion 24. The hook 28 is movably disposed inside the hollow portion 24 and exposed via the opening structure 26, which means the hook 28 can be viewed from outside of the constraint base 16, and the hook 28 can be manually touched for operation of the reversible cable tie 10.
Furthermore, the hook 28 includes a first end 34 and a second end 36. The first end 34 of the hook 28 is resiliently connected to a first wall 261 of the opening structure 26, and the first end 34 can be a fix end. The second end 36 of the hook 28 can be a free end. The second end 36 buckles the constraint structure 22 when the belt 12 inserts into the constraint base 16, so as to constrain a movement of the belt 12 relative to the constraint base 16. The handle 30 is disposed on the second end 36 of the hook 28. An amount of lengths of the handle 30 and the hook 28 can be substantially smaller than a width W of the opening structure 26, so that a gap 11 can be formed between the handle 30 and a second wall 263 of the opening structure 26. The handle 30 can be manually pulled through the gap 11 to press the hook 28 to be resiliently deformed.
The opening structure 26 further includes a third wall 265 and a fourth wall 267 that are different from the first wall 261 and the second wall 263. The first wall 261, the second wall 263, the third wall 265 and the fourth wall 267 are four inner lateral walls of the opening structure 26. The first end 34 of the hook 28 is connected to the inner lateral wall (the first wall 261) of the opening structure 26. The second end 36 of the hook 28, whereon the handle 30 is disposed, does not contact the second wall 263. Two lateral sides of the hook 28 do not contact the third wall 265 and the fourth wall 267, which means intervals 12 are formed between the lateral sides of the hook 28 and the inner lateral walls of the opening structure 26. The gap I1 is greater than a predetermined value for operational convenience of the handle 30. The handle 30 can be pulled by a tool, such as user's finger or the screwdriver. Dimensions of the intervals 12 have no limitation. The width A of the hook 28 can be substantially smaller than the width B of the constraint structure 22 of the belt 12, so the hook 28 can be engaged inside a slot 221 formed on the constraint structure 22. Dimensions of the second end 36 of the hook 28 that can be the free end conforms to design's demand of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the hook 28 and the handle 30 do not protrude from the external surface 32 of the hollow portion 24. The hook 28 can be outwardly pulled easily via the opening structure 26, and the constraint base 16 can surround the hook 28 to prevent the hook 28 from deformation by accident hit. Besides, the hook 28 of the present invention can further include a wedged protrusion 38 disposed on the second end 36. The hook 28 can buckle with one of the constraint structures 22 by the wedged protrusion 38. Therefore, because the resilient deformation D of the second end 36 can be substantially greater than a height H of the constraint structure 22, the wedged protrusion 38 can be separated from the corresponding constraint structure 22 when the hook 28 is pulled. If the other wedged structure (such like the form of the wedged protrusion 38) is disposed on the hook 28 and located between the first end 34 and the second end 36, the said wedged structure is still engaged with the constraint structure 22 even though the maximum resilient deformation D is generated, and the hook 28 can not be separated from the constraint structure 22 completely.
The constraint structure 22 includes a supporting surface 40 and a blocking surface 42. Two surfaces (one of the surfaces is the contact surface 381) of the wedged protrusion 38 can respectively contact against the supporting surface 40 and the blocking surface 42, so that the hook 28 can stably buckle the constraint structure 22. Dimension of the blocking surface 42 equals the height H. When the hook 28 buckles the constraint structure 22, a planer normal vector V1 of the blocking surface 42, a planer normal vector V2 of the contact surface 381 of the wedged protrusion 38, and a moving direction of the belt 12 relative to the constraint base 16 can be substantially parallel to each other. The wedged protrusion 38 can wholly contact against the blocking surface 42, a combination of the wedged protrusion 38 and the constraint structure 22 can effectively constrain the movement of the belt 12.
Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 respectively are sectional views of the reversible cable tie 10 in different operation modes according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the hook 28 is set at an initial state. The hook 28 does not protrude from the external surface 32 of the hollow portion 24. The wedged protrusion 38 of the hook 28 can buckle the corresponding constraint structure 22, which means the contact surface 381 entirely contacts against the corresponding blocking surface 42 to constrain the movement of the belt 12 relative to the constraint base 16. For disassembly of the hook 28, as shown in FIG. 6, the handle 30 can be outwardly pulled to resiliently deform the hook 28. In the meantime the resilient deformation D of the second end 36 can be greater than the height H (shown in FIG. 4) of the blocking surface 42. The wedged protrusion 38 can be separated from the corresponding constraint structure 22, and the belt 12 can arbitrarily move relative to the constraint base 16 for adjusting tightness of the reversible cable tie 10.
In conclusion, the reversible cable tie of the present invention can dispose the hook on the external surface of the constraint base as the cantilever beam form. The free end of the hook can be pulled according to user's demand for rapid separation of the wedged protrusion relative to the constraint structure of the belt. Meanwhile, the belt can freely move inside the constraint base. As tightness of the reversible cable tie is adjusted at suitable magnitude, an external force applied to the free end of the hook can be removed, and the resilient recovering force of the hook can drive the wedged protrusion to engage with the constraint structure for tight and stable constraint. Comparing to the prior art, the reversible cable tie of the present invention has advantages of easy structure, convenient operation and re-used application.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A reversible cable tie comprising:

a belt, the belt comprising a first end, a second end and a plurality of constraint structures, the constraint structures being disposed between the first end and the second end;

a guide portion disposed on the first end of the belt; and

a constraint base disposed on the second end of the belt, the constraint base comprising:

a hollow portion, the belt passing through the hollow portion;

an opening structure disposed on an external surface of the hollow portion;

a hook movably disposed inside the hollow portion and exposed via the opening structure, a first end of the hook being resiliently connected to a first wall of the opening structure, a second end of the hook buckling one of the plurality of constraint structures so as to constrain a movement of the belt relative to the constraint base, wherein a wedged protrusion is disposed on the hook, the wedged protrusion comprises a contact surface and a support surface, the contact surface is connected to the second end of the hook, the support surface is connected between the contact surface and the first end of the hook; and

a handle disposed on the second end of the hook, a gap being formed between the handle and a second wall of the opening structure opposite to the first wall.

2. The reversible cable tie of claim 1, wherein the hook does not protrude from the external surface of the hollow portion when an external force is not applied to the hook.

3. (canceled)

4. The reversible cable tie of claim 1, wherein the opening structure further comprises a third wall and a fourth wall different from the first wall and the second wall, intervals are formed between the third wall and a lateral side of the hook, and the fourth wall and the other lateral side of the hook.

5. The reversible cable tie of claim 1, wherein each constraint structure comprises a supporting surface and a blocking surface, the support surface and the contact surface of the wedged protrusion respectively contact against the supporting surface and the blocking surface when an external force is not applied to the hook.

6. The reversible cable tie of claim 5, wherein a normal vector of the contact surface of the wedged protrusion is substantially parallel to a moving direction of the belt relative to the constraint base when an external force is not applied to the hook.

7. The reversible cable tie of claim 6, wherein a normal vector of the blocking surface of the constraint structure is substantially parallel to the normal vector of the contact surface of the wedged protrusion.

8. The reversible cable tie of claim 5, wherein resilient deformation of the second end of the hook is substantially greater than a height of the blocking surface.