Device at a bundletie
The present invention relates to a device according to the pre-characterising clause of claim 1.
The closest related art is disclosed in patent application No. 9703637-0. The pre- characterising clause of claim 1 is based on this publication.
Cable ties are used extensively, for example, in the manufacture of passenger cars, trucks and other vehicles, and in appliance cabinets and electrical installations of all different types. The function of the cable tie is to hold together and secure cable harnesses and wire and hose bundles, for example.
It is important in this context that fitting of the cable tie can be performed as quickly and efficiently as possible and that the fitting is firm and secure. This applies particularly in mobile applications, in which the cable ties are exposed to additional stresses in the form of vibrations.
The object of the present invention is to produce a cable tie of the aforementioned type, by means of which the tying operation can be performed faster and more reliably than hitherto. This is achieved in the case of a cable tie of the aforementioned type by the characteristic features specified in the characterising part of claim 1.
The cable tie according to the invention affords a number of advantages. The fact that the tie can be inserted arbitrarily into the locking head from either of two directions means that there is no need to check beforehand that the direction of insertion is correct, as is the case with known cable ties. This makes it possible to save time and costs and makes the work easier.
The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to an exemplary embodiment shown in the drawing attached. In the drawing:
fig. la shows a diagrammatic plan view of a cable tie according to the invention, in which, for reasons of space, certain sections that are not essential for an understanding of the invention have been omitted. Fig. lb shows a cross-section through the tie part of the cable tie. Fig. 2 shows a section of the cable tie locking head during insertion of the tie part of the cable tie into the locking head. Fig. 3, in a cross-section similar to fig. 2, shows the function of the locking head when attempting to draw the tie part out of the locking head.
In the drawing 1 generally denotes a cable tie having an elongate tie part 2, which at one end has an insertion part 3 and at its other end has a locking head 4. The free end of the insertion part 3 is provided with an end part serving as grip tab 5. The tie part 2 has a certain width and thickness, whilst the insertion part 3 has a narrower width than the tie part 2, but substantially the same thickness as the tie part 2. For reasons that will be apparent below, the grip tab 5 is broader than the tie part 2 and is provided with transverse ridges 5a to facilitate gripping when tying a cable bundle or the like.
The length of the tie part 2 is in principle arbitrary, but should be suited to the size of the cable bundle that is to be tied, for example. The length of the insertion part 3 is also arbitrary, although it must be longer than the extent of the locking head 4, but not long enough to be a hindrance.
The locking head has a through-passage 6 for the tie part 2 and a slit 7 in the transverse wall of the passage remote from the tie part 2. The width of the passage 6 is somewhat larger than the width of the tie part, but its height is considerably greater than the thickness of the tie part. The width of the slit 7 is such that when forming a tie loop, the insertion part can be inserted via the slit 7 down into the passage 6. The grip tab 5 thereby prevents the insertion part 3 slipping out of the passage 6, it being possible to use the tie loop for threading further cables into the bundle before the cable tie is tightened. The grip tab 5 is then situated in a position in which it locks in the slit 7. If so desired, the tie can be opened again before finally locking the tie 2 in the head 4, as will be explained below.
In the bottom of the passage 6 there is a locking element 9 arranged on a flexible stalk 8, the surface of which element facing the slit 7 is divided into two halves 9a, 9b by an elevation 10, aligned transversely to the slit 7 and substantially arranged directly above the stalk 8. The elevation 10 has a cross-section in the shape of an isosceles triangle, preferably an equilateral triangle. The function of the elevation 10 is firstly to raise the ridged pattern of the cable tie up off the pattern of the locking element 9 when tightening the cable tie, thereby making tightening easier, and secondly to assist in making the locking effective, as will be further explained below. The halves 9a, 9b have laterally inverted ridge patterns, such that the ridge pattern of the half 9a situated beyond the elevation 10 in the tightening direction of the tie part, see fig. 2, is always of a complementary shape to a ridge pattern on the tie part 2.
As will be seen from fig. 1, the tie part 2 has such a ridge pattern 2a on both sides and this is made up, as will be seen from figures la and 2, of ridges 11 arranged across the tie part 2 at equidistant intervals from one another. The said ridges are identical to one another and have a triangular cross-section. Viewed in the tightening direction of the tie part 2, the sides of the ridges have a smaller angle of inclination in relation to the plane of the tie part 2 than opposite sides of the ridges, the angles of inclination preferably having a ratio of 1 :2 or, expressed in degrees, of 30°- 60o, for example.
It will be appreciated that the combination of the laterally inverted ridge pattern 9a, 9b of the locking element 9 and the ridge pattern 2a on both sides of the tie part means that the tie part 2 can be inserted into the passage 6 from any direction and thereafter tightened, automatic locking occurring between the tie part 2 and the locking head 4.
During tightening, the elevation 10 on the locking element 9 and the slight angle of inclination between lateral surfaces of the ridges 9a, 9b in the ridge pattern 2a of the locking element and the tie part, which come into contact with one another when tightening, help to ensure that tightening can be performed using little tensile force. A relative movement between the tie part 2 and the locking head 4 in the opposite
direction is impossible, however, owing to the positive interlocking engagement between the lateral surfaces having the greater angle of inclination on the locking element 9, and the ridge pattern 2a of the tie part, see fig. 3. It can also be seen from this figure how the tie part 2, due to flexing of the stalk 8, is pressed by the locking element 9 against the transverse wall 14 of the passage 6 remote from the tie part 2, in which the slit 7 is located, thereby enhancing the engagement between the tooth pattern.
In order to compensate for the effect of the slit 7 on the stability of the locking head 4, especially in the event of high tensile loads in the tie part 2, a groove 12 runs on both sides of the ridge pattern on the tie part, the groove being designed, when the tie part 2 is inserted into the passage 6, to engage with corresponding flanges 13 arranged on the transverse wall 14 on both sides of the slit 7. In this way a frictional connection is obtained, which acts to hold the locking head 4 together.