Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Cord and rope holders – Pivoted part
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-27
2001-09-25
Gordon, Stephen T. (Department: 3612)
Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.
Cord and rope holders
Pivoted part
C024S2650BC, C024S298000, C024S13600R, C410S116000, C410S100000, C410S097000, C410S103000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06292984
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to load-support and/or tie-down systems for supporting loads and/or securing loads in, or on, a suitable support structure such, merely by way of example, as in or on a load-carrying truck bed or the like; and, more particularly, to a fixed reel-mounted load-support and/or tie-down rope, cord or line having: i) provisions for permitting attachment of the free outboard end of the rope, cord or line to a fixed structural member; ii), and adjustable hook slideably mounted on the rope, cord or line and attachable thereto wherein the adjustable hook can be released from the rope, cord or line, slid laterally there along to any desired position, and reattached to the rope, cord or line on a virtually instantaneous basis.
As the ensuing description proceeds, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention finds particularly advantageous, but by no means exclusive, use with load-support/tie-down systems of the type employing shock cords or elastic cables with securement hooks—for example, bungee cords or the like—which are commonly known in the art as “sandows” used for holding or securing a wide range of objects having differing sizes, shapes and weights in any of a suspended, static or stationary environment, or in or on moving vehicles such as cars, trucks, boats, planes, motorcycles and the like. However, it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention finds equally advantageous use with tie-down systems, hoisting devices, and the like of the type employing ropes, cords, lines, webbing, cables and/or wires which have no appreciable elasticity or stretchable properties including ropes, cords, lines, webbing, cables and/or wires formed of natural or synthetic materials, either braided or non-braided. Accordingly, and for purposes of simplicity, the term “cord” will hereinafter be used in the ensuing specification and the appended claims in its broadest possible non-limiting sense to include both elastic and non-elastic load-supporting elements irrespective of whether in the form of: i) webbing; ii) conventional non-elastic braided ropes and/or cords formed of natural or synthetic materials; iii) wire ropes, lines, or cables (either single strand or multiple braided strands); and/or iv), sandows—e.g., conventional resilient shock cords, bungee cords, or similar elastic elements.
The present invention further finds particularly advantageous application with load-support/tie-down systems of the type including automatic take-up reels for the particular cord employed, yet wherein substantially the entire load support is provided by the cord itself and either two or more hooks attached to the cord or at least one hook attached to the cord together with a second attachment mechanism or system at or adjacent the free outboard end of the cord; and, wherein at least one such hook is adjustable—i.e., the hook is: i) freely slideable along the cord to adjust its effective length; and ii), instantaneously lockable to the cord at any desired point without the need for separate locking devices or the use of knots to secure the adjustable hook—yet, wherein: a) the tension on a tensioned cord may be increased without releasing the adjustable hook by simply pulling the inboard end of cord through the latched adjustable hook (this despite the fact that the latched adjustable hook absolutely precludes movement of the cord in the opposite direction relative to the latched adjustable hook, which movement would tend to relax the tension on the effective cord length outboard of the latched adjustable hook); and b), no force or load is applied to the automatic take-up reel at any time, either directly or indirectly.
As a consequence of attaining the foregoing objectives, the present invention enables the ready use of light-weight automatic take-up reels which are neither intended for, nor capable of, being subjected to heavy loads and/or forces and wherein relatively all of the benefits of such automatic take-up reels—e.g.: i) flexibility in terms of the effective cord length enabling securing of loads having a wide range of sizes and/or shapes; ii) convenient storage of the unused portion of the cord during use of the load-support/tie-down system, thus eliminating loose cord ends and the dangers inherent therewith; and iii), protected effective storage of the entire cord during non-use of the load-support/tie-down system. Notwithstanding the foregoing, those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the invention is not limited to use with light-weight automatic take-up reels, but, rather, it can be used with virtually any take-up reel, whether automatic or manual, or whether light-weight or heavy duty.
The phrases “effective length” of the cord or “effective cord length” as used herein and in the appended claims are intended to mean that portion of the cord in engagement with the load to be secured and intermediate two (or more) spaced hooks—or a hook and any conventional spaced attachment mechanism or system at or adjacent the free outboard end of the cord—capable of being secured to fixed structural elements; and, wherein at least one hook is adjustably, but positively, attached to the cord, yet is capable of being disengaged from the cord, slid along its length to increase, or decrease, the effective length of the cord, and reattached to the cord, all by the simple expedient of turning the adjustable hook between: i) a first position wherein the hook is at an acute angle relative to the cord and positively affixed thereto; ii) a second position wherein the hook is not disposed at an acute angle relative to the cord and is freely slideable therealong, and iii), back to the first position; or alternatively, where the effective length of the cord can be decreased by merely pulling the portion of the cord inboard of the adjustable hook through the adjustable hook without releasing the latter from the cord.
Tie-down and/or load-support systems employing the present invention preferably, but not necessarily, employ at least one positively lockable hook of the type capable of being instantaneously released from, or positively affixed to, the cord in such a manner that: i) the cord is not subject to fraying or damage at the point of hook attachment; ii) the loading applied to the effective length of the cord by the object(s) being supported, tied down and/or secured serves to enhance the fixed non-slidable attachment of the cord and adjustable hook at the selected adjustable point of attachment therebetween; and iii), the tension on the effective length of the cord can be increased—i.e., the effective length of the cord can be decreased—simply by pulling the portion of the cord inboard of the adjustable hook through the adjustable hook while the latter remains positively latched to the cord. In other words, the force(s) applied to the cord by the load being secured and/or supported tend(s) to enhance the gripping action between the cord and adjustable hook rather than tending to loosen the tie-down system.
2. Background Art
Those skilled in the art will, of course, appreciate that a wide variety of load-support and/or securement or tie-down systems have been employed for many years. Typically, such conventional systems employ an elastic cord and one or more hooks which is or are “adjustably fixed” to the cord in the sense that a separate manually operated latching system is employed and/or the hook is provided with sinuous or non-linear channels within which the cord must be manually reeved and positioned each time the hook is shifted along the cord to change the effective length of the system. An example of such a system is disclosed in Dupre U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,121. In this arrangement, the patentee employs an elastic cable and a multiplicity of adjustable hooks with the portion of the cable extending between adjustable hooks defining the effective length of the cable used to secure a load or a portion of a load. In order to change the effective length of the cable, it is nec
Cassidy J. Robert
Gordon Stephen T.
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