US2806273A - Article clip - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 17, 1957 H. M. RUTH 2,806,273

ARTICLE CLIP Filed June a, 195:5.

u l j INVENTOR HAROLD M. *RUTH ATTORNEY United States Patent O ARTICLE CLIP Application June 8, 1953, Serial No. 360,062 1 Claim. (Cl. 24-81) The present invention relates to a clip for fastening together in a closed polygonal pattern articles, such as f Y cans, having a bead on their outer periphery.

In the marketing of canned goods, it is frequent practice to bundle a plurality of cans together in order that they may be more conveniently handled, stored, and displayed. For instance, bundles of four cans arranged in either a square-shaped grouping or a diamond-shaped grouping (also called a nest) are very much in demand by both retailers and customers since they are readily packed and unpacked, stacked, lifted and carried. It is highly desirable that such can bundles may be made up quickly and inexpensively by either machine or by hand, and that the bundles may be readily unfastened manually without the aid of a tool. Other desirable features of these can bundles are low tare weight, minimum space requirements, and exposure of the body ofthe cans to view so that the identity of the product packed therein and its advertising, usually displayed on the can body, may be seen.

One object of the present invention is to provide a clip for fastening together cans into a bundle that is possessed of all the desirable characteristics mentioned above.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive clip for quickly and easily fastening together in a closed polygonal pattern a group of articles having a peripheral bead.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a clip for fastening together peripherally beaded articles into a firm bundle.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank from which the clip of the present invention is made.

Fig. 2 is an Velevation of an article clip formed from the blank shown in Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a reduced fragmentary plan View of a squareshaped group of four cans to which the clip shown in Fig. 2 has been applied.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 and showing in addition a longitudinal section of a clencher for applying the present clip to a square-shaped group of four cans.-

Fig. 5 is a reduced perspective view of a square bundle of four cans fastened together by a pair of the present clips, the cans being shown in phantom.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken approximately along the line 6-,-6 of Fig. 3.

The present article clip 11 (Fig. 2) is ,preferably formed from a blank 12 (Fig. l) of thin, still, deformable material, such ascold rolled sheet steel, and is specifically designed for fastening together into a square bundle four cylindrical articles, such as cans 13, 14, 15 and 16 (Figs. 3 to 6, inclusive) of the type in which comestibles are commercially preserved. Each of the cans 13, 14, 15 and 16 is usually made of metal and comprises a hollow cylindrical body'18 and a pair of end closures 19 (Figs. 3 and Patented Sept. 17, 1957 ICC 6), only one of which is shown. The closures 19 are hermetically sealed to the can body 18 by can seaming machines which fold together the adjacent edge portions of the body and the closures, thereby forming an annular, peripheral bead 21 (Figs. 3, 4 and 6) around both end margins of the can. Said beads 21 extend axially away from the end of the can and also radially outward from the can body 18, as best seen in Fig. 6, and are usually approximately elliptical in cross-section.

The clip blank 12 (Fig. l) comprises an elongated web 22 having a rectangular central portion 23 from the opposite ends ofwhich extend somewhat hourglass- shaped wing portions 24 and 25. The central portion 23 of the web is provided with rectangular side flanges 27, and the wing portions 24 and 25 have concavely curved side anges 28. In addition the web 22 has a pair of longitudinal depressions 29 spanning the portions of the web which connect the central portion 23 with the wing portions 24 and 25 to strengthen these connecting portions of the web 22 against bending stresses. From the free end of the wing portions 24 and 25 of the web 22 extend tabs 31v each lateral edge of which is provided adjacent the web 22 with Va curved notch 32 that furnishes an arcuate shoulder 33 Vspaced from said web. A similar notch is provided on each side of the blank between the central portion 23 and the wing portions 24 and 25, respectively.

The clip 11 (Fig. 2) is fashioned 'from the blank 12 (Fig. l) by bending each of the anges 27 and 28 down along the dotted lines 34 and 36, respectively, until they -4 are at approximately right angles with the web 22, and

by bending each of the tabs 31 in two places so that the inner portion 37 of the tabs 31 is bent down from the web 22 approximately 45 degrees along the dotted line 38 and the outer portion 39 of the tabs is bent upwardly from the inner tab portion 37 approximately 45 degrees along the dotted line 41. Each of the wing flanges 28 is bowed in toward the center of the web 22 (Figs. 3 and 5) and is shaped to conform to the inner periphery of the bead 21 on one of the cans 13, 14, 15 and 16. The clip flanges 27 are straight and act to strengthen the center portion 23 of the web against bending stresses.

The clip 11 is adapted to be applied to a square group of four laterally adjacent cans either manually or by machine. In both cases the procedure is the same. Four cans 13, 14, 15 and 16 (Fig. 5) are arranged in a closed square, as described above, with the adjacent beads 21 on the neighboring ends of the cans tangent to each other. The clip 11 (Fig. 2) is then placed across one end of the square group of cans so that the wing portions 24 and 25 of the web 22 rest on the beads 21 over the points of tangency of the cans 13 and 14, and 15 and 16, respectively (Figs. 3 and 5), with their curved flanges 28 in contact with and closely overlying the similarly curved inner periphery of the beads 21 of said cans. The tabs 31 extend generally outwardly from the group of cans in opposite directions and the beads of the cans project into the notches 32 and 35, respectively.

The inner portion 37 of the tabs 31 is then bent downwardly and inwardly between the converging body portions 18 of the lcans 13 and 14, and 15 and 16 until it is substantially perpendicular with the adjacent wing portion 24 or 25, respectively. This movement of the inner tab portions 37 may be accomplished manually by depressing the outer tab portions 39 whereby the tabs will bend almost exclusively along the bend lines 38, 38 (Fig. l) due to the reduced width of the tabs along these lines and due to the fact that the moment of the tab depressing force at these lines is greater than at anyv be incorporated in a machine adapted to perform automatically the entire clipl applying operationy or it may be used as a hand tool to aid in the manual application of the clip. y

The clencher 4'6 comprises' a plate 47 to one side of which an actuating member 48, only part of which is shown, is centrally attached. Two pins 49V and 51' exte'n'd' normally from' the opposite side ofthe plate 47 and are so arranged thereon that the clencher may be initially placed above the clip 22 with the pins' resting orr the inner portions 37 of the tabs 31. Movement of the clencher 46 from this position toward the square group of cans 13, 14, 15 and 16 will quickly turn down the inner tab portions 37 into a position perpendicular with the web portions 24 and 25, as shown in Figs. 3 and- To prevent the web 22 from bowing upwardly during the above described tab depressing operation the clencher plate 47 has a flat spring 52 (Fig. 4) secured in a downwardly arched position to its underside. During theV tab depressing operation the spring 52 bears against the central portion 23 of the clip web 22 thereby maintaining the web wings 24 and 25 in contact with the can beads 21. The pins 49 and 51 may also be spaced so as to contact the outer tab portions 39 whereby upon movement of the clencher 46 toward the cans the inner portions 37 will be bent perpendicular to the web 22 in the manner previously described in connection with the fully manual depression of the tabs 31.

As the inner portion 37 ofthe tabs 31 is depressed the oppositely arranged shoulders 33 (Figs. 1 and 6) thereonclosely follow the curved outer periphery of the adjacent can beads 21 and when the inner tab portion 37 reaches its final position, perpendicular to the web 22, the shoulders 33 closely underlie the adjacent can beads 21. With the inner tab portion 37 in this position the beads at the selected end of the square group ofcans 13, 14, 15 and 16 are clamped between the tab shoulders 33 andthe adjacent curved flanges 28, thereby fastening all four cans 13, 14, 15 and 16 to the clip 11.

While the notches 32 are shown in Fig. 6 exactly fitting the can beads 21, so that the clip 11 will firmly grasp the can beads and hold the four cans rigidly together, in actual practice the beads 21` vary considerably in their cross-sectional dimensions and consequently the fit between the notches and the can'beads is not always as close as that shown in Fig. 6. Nevertheless, the clip 11 will still dependably fasten the cans 13', 14, 15 and 16 together. In fact, a certain amount of looseness between the clip and the beadsk 21 may be desirable in many instances, since it allows the cans to be similarly oriented for display purposes after they have been fastened together.

It should be pointed out that when only one clip 11 is applied to the top endl of a square group of four cans the entire group may be picked up as a unit by grasping and lifting the pair of cans atA either side of the clip, namely, the cans 13 and 14, or the cans 15 and 16, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. But, with only one clip 11 fastening the group of four cans together they may not belifted as a group by picking up a pair of cans that is bisected by the clip 11, namely, the cans 13 and 15, or the cans 14 and 16 (Figs. 3 and 5). In the latter case the lifting of either designated pair of' cans will strip the clip from the other pair of cans; However, if another clip 11 is installed at the lbottom of the square group of cans so that it lies crosswise of the clip 11 applied at the top of the group, as shown in Fig. 5,A an extremelyrigid and stable bundle is thereby attained which may be picked up by grasping. and lifting any on'e of the cans in the bundle. Such a bundle may be very roughly liandled lwithout danger of the cans therein separating.

Since the clips 11 are easily applied either by machine or by hand' a number of' can bundles may be made up quickly at the factory or other distribution points with the aid of machinery before displaying the canned produce for retail sale, or the cans may be displayed in bulk and the customer supplied with clips and allowed to bundle the cans if he so desires. The clips 11 may be readily removed lfrom the group of cans 13, 14, 15 and 16 without the aid of a tool by merely grasping the outer tab portions 39 (Figs. 3 and 5) and bending the tabs 31 outward, thereby removing the shoulders 33 rfrom contact with the beads 21. The clips may then be lifted from the can beads 21, and since said clips are relatively inexpensive they may be discarded.

Although the embodiment of the present invention shown in the drawings and described herein is specifically adaptedy for fastening together a square group of four cylindrical metal cans, it is apparent that the present invention is equally adaptable to the joining of different sized and shaped groups of articles which are neither cylindrical nor made of metal, such as square cross-sectioned, cardboard containers and the like, so long as they are provided with a bead or similar protuberance which may be grasped by the clip. Naturally, the configuration of the web, flanges and tabs of the clips to be applied to diierently shaped articles and differently arranged groups l thereof must conform t-o the contour and position of the beads of the various articles in the various groups.

While I have described a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the details thereof Without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A clip for securing together in a closed polygonal pattern a group of cylindrical articles having peripheral beads, comprising an elongated body having a channel-shaped central portion including a web portion and downtumed flanges, similar channel-shaped wing portions spaced from said central portion by extensions of said web portion at opposite ends thereof, each of said wing portions being adapted to straddle the beads on a pair of transversely adjacent articles with its web engaging the top and its flanges engaging the inner surfaces of said beads, the end edges of the flanges on said central portion being adapted to engage the `outer surfaces of all of said beads, a transversely rigid locking tab projecting from the free end of each of said wing portions `substantially coplanar with the web thereof and deformable to a position substantially perpendicular to said web between said adjacent articles, and laterally projecting shoulders on said tabs adapted to be moved into locking contact with the under surfaces of the beads of said `adjacent articles when said tabs are ldeformed to a position between said adjacent articles-to maintain said wing portions in bead-straddling position and to thereby retain said articles in secured relation with said clip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain July 6, 1922

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