US3653099A

US3653099A - Bundle tie device

Info

Publication number: US3653099A
Application number: US60677A
Authority: US
Inventors: Norman Edwin Hoffman
Original assignee: AMP Inc
Current assignee: TE Connectivity Corp
Priority date: 1970-08-03
Filing date: 1970-08-03
Publication date: 1972-04-04
Anticipated expiration: 1989-04-04

Abstract

A bundle tie device comprises a loop through which a strip is fed and is guided therethrough by guide means provided by the loop and the strip. The strip has teeth on the top and bottom surfaces, each of the teeth has leading surfaces with a less acute angle than trailing surfaces. The strip is fed through the loop and guided around a bundle of wires or members to be bundles via a guide means of an applicator tool and the leading end of the strip is fed back through the loop whereupon the leading end of the strip is secured to the loop, then the strip is pulled with the teeth ratcheting along each other until the strip is tight around the bundle whereupon the teeth are in a meshed condition within the loop and a distance to either side, and the stored pressure in the bundle, by virtue of its configuration, aids in maintaining the teeth in this meshed and thereby locked condition although such pressure is not necessary. Other teeth are provided in a channel of the strip which are engaged by a feed means on the applicator to feed the strip through the loop and tighten the strip around the bundle. In a hand tie version the loop is prebonded to one end of the strip.

Description

United States Patent Hoffman Apr. 4, 1972 [54] BUNDLE TIE DEVICE Primary ExaminerDonald A. Griff'm [72] Invent Batman Hamburg Attomey-William J. Keating, Ronald D. Grefe, Gerald K. [73] Assignee: AMP Incorporated, H i b P Kita, Frederick W. Raring, Jay L. Seitchik and John P. Vandenbur 22 Filed: Aug. 3, 1970 g 211 Appl. No.: 60,677 [57] ABSTRACT A bundle tie device comprises a loop through which a strip is fed and is guided therethrough by guide means provided by (5|. the p and the Strip. The strip has teeth on the p and bob 58 H d 71 73 74 tom surfaces, each of the teeth has leading surfaces with a less 1 2 5 PB 5 B A acute angle than trailing surfaces. The strip is fed through the 8/ P loop and guided around a bundle of wires or members to be 73 73 20 TT bundles via a guide means of an applicator tool and the leading end of the strip is fed back through the loop whereupon [56] References Cited the leading end of the strip is secured to the loop, then the strip is pulled with the teeth ratcheting along each other until UNITED STATES PATENTS the strip is tight around the bundle whereupon the teeth are in 3,518,727 7/1970 Eberle et al. ..24/16 PB a m h n i i n wi hin he loop and a distance to either 3 529 795 9/1970 v Niel I I 243 71 side, and the stored pressurein the bundle by virtue of its con- 3,340,630 9/1967 Becker 40 21 c figuration, alds rnqmtammg the teeth m the {fleshed and 3,489,076 1/1970 Countryman 24/ l 6 PB thereby locked condition although such pressure is not neces- 2,935,773 5/1960 Weckesser ..24/17 A saryotherdtgethfarzpmvlded i fi i 3 5 q n 4 are engage y a ee means on e app ca or o ee e s l'lp 3473768 10/1969 Plaseckl 2 H6 PB X through the loop and tighten the strip around the bundle. In a FQREIGN PATENTS 0 APPLICATIONS hand tie version the loop is prebonded to one end of the strip. 518,012 3/1953 Belgium ..24/16 PB 3 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPR 4 I972 SHEET 1 [1F 2 BUNDLE TIE DEVICE This invention relates to tie devices and more particularly to tie devices for bundling wires or other members.

A number of bundling devices are available to bundle wires so that the wires are neatly maintained in bundles and not disposed in a random and haphazard manner. These prior art devices are one-piece with the loop or anchoring means being part of the strip. In some devices, another element is provided in the loop to provide means for locking or anchoring the strip therein. The one-piece bundling devices are injection molded which is quite costly since a number of different molds are necessary to provide a range of sizes thereof. No means is provided on the strip to be engaged by feed means on an applicator to feed the strip through the loop and tighten it around a bundle.

An object of the invention is to provide a bundle tie device having a loop and strip as separate elements.

Another object is the provision of guide means provided by the loop and the strip to guide and position the strip as it is being moved therethrough.

A further object is to provide teeth on the top and bottom surfaces of the strip which engage one another as the engaging parts of the strip are moved through the loop and they resist becoming disengaged when the strip has been tightly drawn around the bundles of wires.

An additional object is the provision of additional teeth for engagement by feed means of applicator means to feed the strip through the loop and draw the strip tight around a bundle of wires while the parts of the strip that are moved relative to each other within the loop are ratcheted along each other.

A still further object is to provide means on the loop and the strip to lock one end of the strip within the loop.

Still another object is the provision of means on the loop to mount the loop on a mounting means or in an aperture of the mounting means.

Other objects and attainments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which there are shown and described illustrative embodiments of the invention; it is to be understood, however, that these embodiments are not intended to be exhaustive nor limiting of the invention but are given for purposes of illustration in order that others skilled in the art may fully understand the invention and the principles thereof and the manner of applying it in practical use so that they may modify it in various forms, each as may be best suited to the conditions ofa particular use.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a part perspective view of a bundle of wires bundled together by a bundling device;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view ofa strip ofthe bundling device;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the loop and a cross-sectional view of the strip in an overlapping position in the loop;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along lines 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6-8 illustrate application of the bundle tie device around a bundle of wires;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating the formation of the loops;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment with a loop, having mounting means thereon, bonded to the strip;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 10 but with mounting means on the loop; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an identification clip for attachment to the tie strip.

Turning now to the drawings, and especially FIGS. 1-5, a bundle tie device BTD includes a strip 1 and a loop 2 which are preferably extrusion-molded from a suitable plastic material such as, for example, nylon; other plastic materials, of course, can be utilized, and subsequently, subjected to a rolling operation to impart the toothed configuration thereto.

Strip 1 is provided with a central channel 3 having feed teeth 4 disposed therealong. Teeth 4 have leading and trailing surfaces 5 with opposite by equal angular dispositions relative to the strip. Latching teeth 6 are provided in the top surface of strip 1 adjacent channel 3 and similar latching teeth 7 are provided in the bottom surface of the strip in alignment with the top surface teeth. The

teeth

4, 6, and 7 are formed in strip 1, preferably by a rolling operation, after strip 1 has been extruded. Each of teeth 6 in the top surface has a leading surface 8 and a trailing surface 9 each of which preferably form acute angles with strip 1, the leading surface 8 forming a smaller angle with strip 1 than the trailing surface 9. The reverse arrangement is true on teeth 7 and leading surface 10 preferably forms a larger angle with strip 1 than trailing surface 11 so that the top surface teeth 6 can ratchet along bottom surface teeth 7 where the parts of strip 1 that move relative to each other are disposed in loop 2 and until strip 1 has been tightly drawn around a bundle of wires whereupon the

teeth

6 and 7 are disposed in a permanent latching position as described in greater detail hereinafter. However, the trailing sides 9 and 11 of

teeth

6 and 7, respectively can be any combination of perpendicularity or undercut from perpendicularity.

Loop 2 has an opening 12 provided with a centrally disposed lug 13 extending outwardly from a top surface thereof. Lug l3 mates with channel 3 when strip 1 is fed into opening 12 to guide the movement of strip 1 through loop 2. If desired, a projection (not shown) may be provided in the bottom surface of strip 1 so that such projection will mate with channel 3 when the leading end of strip 1 is ratcheted along the strip in loop 2 in order to guide the leading end of the strip as it begins to engage the part of the strip in loop 2. If this projection is provided on the bottom surface of strip 1, then a channel will have to be provided in the opening 12 opposite lug 13 to accommodate the projection.

Loop 2 is provided with an aperture 14 in communication with opening 12 and this serves to permit cutting or chisel blades 15 of an applicator (not shown) to move within aperture 14 normal to the insertion axis of opening 12 and form sections 16 out of the bottom part of strip 1 after the leading end of strip 1 has been fed in along the top or trailing part of strip 1 disposed in loop 2 thereby locking the leading end of the strip within loop 2.

In operation, as illustrated in FIGS. 6-8, a split clam-shell guide means 17 of the applicator is positioned around wires W and a loop 2 is positioned adjacent an upper end of the guide means. The applicator has a feed means (not shown) which is provided with teeth for engagement with feed teeth 4 of strip 1 of random length that can be fed from a reel on the applicator. The feed means feeds the strip through loop 2 with lug 13 and channel 3 guiding the strip within loop 2 and the strip is guided around the wire bundle via guide means 17 and back into and through loop 2 beneath the strip portion disposed in loop 2 and until the leading end extends just beyond the front end of loop 2. At this point, chisel blades 15 form out sections 16 to lock the leading end of the strip within loop 2, then the applicator applies tension on the strip in the opposite direction so that the top part of the strip is ratcheted along the bottom locked part of strip 1 (in the direction of arrow A) until sufficient tension has been applied to the strip to bundle the wires W into a tight bundle, the pressure of the bundle providing sufficient expansion pressure to cause

teeth

6 and 7, in engagement within loop 2, to remain in engagement so long as this pressure is in existence due to the angular orientation of the mated teeth. The strip is then severed from the bundle tie device adjacent the outer end of loop 2.

The operation is repeated at other locations along the wires thereby bundling the wires in a neat bundle.

FIG. 9 illustrates loops formed in a strip as a result of extrusion and fabricating techniques. Cutting blades are used to cut the strip into segments connected together and apertures 14 are blanked therein. The strip of loops 2 can be fed one at a time adjacent guide means 17 of the applicator while strip 1 is fed therethrough to perform the bundling operation as described above.

Loop 20 of FIG. is a modification of loop 2 and is the same as loop 2 except that loop 2a does not require aperture 14 (FIG. 6) since loop 2 is bonded to strip 1 and is provided with stiffly flexible arcuate-shaped legs 18 which have holes 19 therein for mounting the bundle tie device BTDa on a mounting member. A hollow spade-shaped member 20 is provided on loop 2a between legs 18, and it has shoulders 21. The rounded nose 22 of member 20 can be pushed through an aperture in a mounting panel with shoulders 21 engaging one side of the panel while legs 18 engage the other side of the panel. The stiffly flexible nature of the segments of member 20 permits accommodating various sizes of apertures in the mounting panels and the legs 18 permit accommodation of various thicknesses of the mounting panels.

Thus, legs 18 and member 20 on loops 2a constitute mounting means for mounting the bundle of wires after the bundling operations have been performed onto a mounting panel or the like.

in FIG. 11 is shown bundle tie device BTDb similar to that shown in FIG. 10 but without panel mounting means on the loop 2b.

FIG. 12 illustrates an identification clip lC having depending legs 24 with strip retaining ledges 26 thereon. Such clip is adapted to be slidably attached to strip 1 and can be prestamped with identifying indicia or other information.

it will, therefore, be appreciated that the aforementioned and other desirable objects have been achieved; however, it should be emphasized that the particular embodiments of the invention, which are shown and described herein, are intended as merely illustrative and not as restrictive of the invention.

The invention is claimed in accordance with the following:

1. A bundle tie device for bundling wires or the like comprising a strip having a channel in one surface and latching teeth in the one surface adjacent said channel and in another surface in alignment with the teeth of the one surface, said latching teeth in the surfaces having leading and trailing surfaces, the leading surfaces of the latching teeth of the one surface making a smaller angle with the strip than the trailing surfaces thereof while the leading surfaces of the latching teeth of the other surface make a larger angle with the strip than the trailing surfaces thereof, and a separate loop within which overlapping segments of said strip are disposed with the latching teeth in latching engagement when said bundle tie device is tightly disposed around a bundle of wires.

2. A bundle tie device for bundling wires or the like comprising a strip having a channel in one surface and latching teeth in the one surface adjacent said channel and in another surface in alignment with the teeth of the one surface, and a separate loop within which overlapping segments of said strip are disposed with the latching teeth in latching engagement when said bundle tie device is tightly disposed around a bundle of wires, and stiffly flexible legs of arcuate configuration extending outwardly from said loop, and a hollow spadeshaped member having shoulder means extending outwardly from said loop between said legs.

3. A method of bundling wires comprising the steps of placing guide means around a number of wires, positioning a loop adjacent one end of said guide means, feeding a strip having latching teeth on top and bottom surfaces through said loop and along said guide means until a leading end of said strip is disposed in said loop with said latching teeth of the sections of said strip in said loop in engagement, securing said leading end in said loop by forming sections out from the leading end of said strip between spaced sections of a bottom of said loop, pulling the strip outside of said guide means until the wires are tightly bundled, and severing said strip adjacent an outer end of said loop.

Claims

2. A bundle tie device for bundling wires or the like comprising a strip having a channel in one surface and latching teeth in the one surface adjacent said channel and in another surface in alignment with the teeth of the one surface, and a separate loop within which overlapping segments of said strip are disposed with the latching teeth in latching engagement when said bundle tie device is tightly disposed around a bundle of wires, and stiffly flexible legs of arcuate configuration extending outwardly from said loop, and a hollow spade-shaped member having shoulder means extending outwardly from said loop between said legs.