Universal joint of leash for dogs

Details Universal joint of leash for dogs Universal joint of leash for dogs

2000-02-04

2001-06-26

Jordan, Charles T. (Department: 3644)

Animal husbandry

Animal controlling or handling

Hitching or tethering

C403S122000, C119S769000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06250256

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a universal joint for use in a leash for dogs. The joint head of the universal joint is of a ball shape and a retaining tube having a chamber provided with dome shaped end for housing the ball-shaped joint head is used so as to make the universal joint operated in a smoother manner, reducing frictional contact in rotation and preventing the roundly cornered chamber from damage of abrasion in use. In addition, the retaining hook will not be outwardly bent at corners. Such a universal joint is operated in wider angles and more smoothly.
2. Prior Art
Referring to
FIGS. 1
,
2
, a first prior art universal joint applied to a leash which is made up of a hook
10
, a retaining ring
20
and a leash element
90
is shown. The hook
10
has an extended rod
101
which terminates in an enlarged limiting cylinder
102
. The closed retaining ring
20
has a locking element
201
having a round open-ended cavity
202
in which the limiting cylinder
102
is housed. In assembly, the enlarged limiting cylinder
102
is led through the open-ended cavity
202
, then the locking element
201
of the retaining ring
20
is punched into an oval shape to rotarily secure the hook
10
to the retaining ring
20
.
Such a prior art structure has the following disadvantages:
1. The friction between the locking element
201
and the limiting cylinder
102
is relatively serious, preventing smooth operation of the retaining ring
20
in use when the leash is subject to a strong pull.
2. The open-ended cavity
202
of the retaining ring
20
is easily worn out due to abrasion, resulting in easy detachment of the retaining ring
20
from the enlarged limiting cylinder
102
of the hook
10
.
3. When the leash
90
and the retaining ring
20
is not placed in a rectilinear relation, the retaining ring
20
is easily bent, making smooth operation of the retaining ring
20
impossible.
Referring to
FIGS. 3
,
4
, the second prior art is made up of a hook
30
, a connector
40
, a pair of pins
50
, a sleeve
51
and a leash
90
. The hook
30
has an engaging section
31
provided with a central round cavity
32
and a pair of symmetric pin holes
33
. The connector
40
has an extended rod
41
which is provided with a deep central hole
42
at one end and an enlarged cylinder
43
at the other end. The sleeve
51
has a through hole
511
and a stop flange
512
in the interior and a peripheral groove
513
on the external surface.
The connector
40
is inserted into the sleeve
51
with the enlarged cylinder
43
engaged with the stop flange
512
and the extended rod
41
exposed externally of the through hole
511
in assembly. Then, the sleeve
51
is placed in the central round cavity
32
of the hook
30
with the peripheral groove
513
in line with the pin holes
33
so that the sleeve
51
can be retained in place in the central round cavity
32
of the hook
30
, as shown in FIG.
4
. In such a manner the connector
40
is safely and rotarily engaged with the sleeve
51
. At last, the frontmost end of the leash
90
is placed in the central hole
42
and the extended rod
41
is punched to deform for fixing purpose. In common, such a prior art has the same disadvantages as the first one in practical operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a universal joint for use in a leash for dogs. The universal joint has a ball shaped joint head and a retaining tube having a roundly cornered chamber terminating in a dome-shaped end, that are smoothly engaged with each other so that the universal joint subject to a pull of a dog can be smoothly spun with less friction and abrasion and without producing bending of corners on any parts of the universal joint.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a universal joint for use in a leash for dogs. Such a universal joint is equipped with a ball shaped joint head and a retaining tube having a roundly cornered chamber so as to make the universal joint free of excessive abrasion and the expansion of an opening hole and outward bending of the peripheral edge of the chamber in use. It results in prolonging of the operation span of a leash accordingly.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4488511 (1984-12-01), Grassano
patent: 4980805 (1990-12-01), Maglica et al.
patent: 5672024 (1997-09-01), Muaghan et al.
patent: 5758986 (1998-06-01), Kraps
patent: 5852988 (1998-12-01), Gish
patent: 5901668 (1999-05-01), Goodger, Sr.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Universal joint of leash for dogs does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Universal joint of leash for dogs, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Universal joint of leash for dogs will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2461458