Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Combined diverse multipart fasteners – Clasp
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-08
2001-10-09
Sakran, Victor N. (Department: 3626)
Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.
Combined diverse multipart fasteners
Clasp
C024S338000, C024S339000, C024S545000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06298525
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a flexible tube clip for use with flower arrangements and other purposes. More particularly, the present invention relates to a new clip, made of flexible, elastic or resilient materials, which clip is suitable for holding tubes and other cylindrical objects in generally parallel orientation, and which clip has sufficient flexibility to allow the tubes, by expansion and twisting of the clip, to rotate. The tube clip is formed from a plastic, such as polycarbonate, or other flexible material, and is formed so as to allow the clip to expand at each end as the tubes held by the clip may pry the ends of the clip apart during operation. The new clip of the present invention is therefore particularly suitable in applications requiring flexibility between cylindrical members (such as tubes or cables). Through such flexibility, individual cylindrical members may rotate about the axis of the clip so that adjacent members are no longer parallel, and a large variety of configurations for such cylindrical members is possible.
BACKGROUND ART OF THE INVENTION
In many tube and pipe clips, rigid and semi-rigid materials are combined to create a holding means for tubes and other generally cylindrical objects. Such clips are generally designed to secure the tubes so held to a stationary support through a connecting base, while others are intended to simply secure two or more tubes to each other. The clip of the present invention is of the latter variety, and so designed to secure two tubes to each other, without any additional support.
Most tube clips are also designed to secure tubes of indeterminate length. Accordingly, the inventive step of such clips often consists of apparatus designed to open up to receive the tubular member, and thereafter close around the tubular member when the clip is engaged. The clip of the present invention, on the other hand, is of a variety which may be slipped over a short tube, in order to secure it to other tubes of similar length, or longer tubes with the addition of rows of clips. As a result, the clip of the present invention does not open and close, but remains substantially in its final configuration at the time of purchase, during installation, and in use.
Finally, many tube clips are designed to secure one or many tubes, either to a separate support structure, or to each other. Such clips are often formed to allow the user to grip a number of tubes, and further allow the user to choose the number of tubes, from one to many, to be so gripped. The present invention is designed to grip only two tubes, as the use of multiple clips according to the present invention provides the capability of “ganging” such tubes and clips into an array having unusual flexibility between adjacent tubes, and among non-adjacent tubes within the array. Such arrays may be employed as display devices, carriers for small objects, storage for small objects, as a device which may assist in sorting objects having varying characteristics, or as “building blocks” for toys.
It may appreciated, in light of the foregoing discussion, that there is a need for a clip having the properties set forth herein and useful for the purposes mentioned above. The present invention is directed precisely to such useful properties and purposes.
A number of schemes have been devised to secure tubes, cables, and similar cylindrical objects to support structures and to each other, and apparatus, made of plastic or other flexible materials, have been developed accordingly. Various designs and configurations for such apparatus include:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,113 to Dvorachek, which discloses a clamp for securing a plurality of elongated articles in spaced relationship.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,716 to Sakaguchi, which discloses a synthetic resin holder, with hinge spring and base plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,156 to Guido et al., which discloses a pipe clip of resilient material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,646 to Cattani, which discloses a clamp fitting, in particular for pipes and tubes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,705 to Kraus, which discloses a plastic holding element intended for fastening at least one pipe to a support structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,215 to Freier, which discloses a pipe clip, with base plate, for fastening a single cylindrical object to a support.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,387 to Lewis et al., which discloses a holding element made of plastic for fastening a single cylindrical object to a support.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,539 to Tisol, which discloses a flexible tube clip assembly for mounting a plurality of tubular elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,655 to Marion, which discloses a clip assembly, with hinge and clasp, for fastening objects to a support.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,883 to Meyer, which discloses a flexible clip assembly for fastening a single cylindrical object to a panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,906,342 to Kraus, which discloses a holding device made of plastic for fastening a single tube-shaped body to a support.
In the above-noted inventions, and in other prior art, flexible or resilient clips are formed from plastic or resin to accomplish the purposes set forth in these corresponding patents. However, the clips disclosed in these patents are not suitable for the functions accomplished by the present invention. More particularly, but not exclusively, prior art clips do not allow a user to fasten one or more cylindrical objects together in such fashion that the user may rotate and reorient each such object, in relation to its adjacent object. Such rotation and reorientation, while relatively minor when viewed one object to the next, amounts to a large reorientation when a number of objects, fastened together by a number of clips, are employed.
The present invention is directed to such rotation and reorientation among cylindrical objects by use of a new and useful clip according to the present invention to achieve, in one preferred application, an array of cylindrical objects having unusual flexibility. Such an array using the clip of the present invention has a variety of uses not found in the prior art.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
Summary of the Invention
A clip for holding cylindrical objects, such as tubes and cables, consists, in its simplest form, of one or more holding portions, designed to grasp the object or objects to be secured, and a connecting portion, designed either to connect the holding portion or portions to a structural support or to each other. The holding portion of the clip is generally formed of some resilient or flexible material, and often includes a clasp or closure for encircling a cylindrical object. However, in some clips no clasp or closure is evident, as the clip relies on the resilient material from which the clip is composed to provide sufficient closing force to retain the cylindrical object. The connecting portion of the clip is generally formed from the same resilient material comprising the holding portions, although other materials are sometimes incorporated into the connecting portion in order to lend additional strength, or provide additional capabilities, such as spring loading which automatically closes the holding portion of the clip.
The present invention provides a new flexible tube clip, easy and inexpensive to manufacture, and easy for a user to quickly employ to assemble cylindrical objects into an assemblage of cylindrical objects having unusual properties derived from the form and composition of the clip. The clip of the present invention has two holding portions, or sets of prongs, for securing, by partially encircling, tubes or other cylindrical objects to be held. However, the ends of each holding portion, at the ends of the prongs, are open. This allows the holding portions to flex, being composed of flexible and resilient material, when tubes or other objects are inserted into the holding portions. The clip holding portions are sized to be slightly smaller than the objects to be held, and composed of elastic material, so that the holding portions flex, while the prongs of such portions spread slightly when a tube
Cook Thomas W.
Sakran Victor N.
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