Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Bale and package ties – hose clamps – With tighteners
Patent
1988-12-05
1990-07-10
Brittain, James R.
Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.
Bale and package ties, hose clamps
With tighteners
24273, 24 20R, F16L 3302
Patent
active
049398229
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a fastening element, in particular a pipe clamp produced from a strip of material, preferably a strip of sheet metal, with a flexible tongue looping around the one or several objects to be fastened, and a holding part connected therewith, into which holding part the free end of the tongue is inserted and anchored, the free end of the tongue being bent over in the form of a hook. The holding part is connected with the tongue and has a hook-up edge spaced from the paint of connection between the tongue and the holding part. The hook-shaped end of the tongue is hooked up with the hook-up edge, and the holding part acts as a lever for closing the fastening element.
Such fastening elements have become known, for example from German published patent disclosure DE-OS No. 28 45 871. In this earlier solution, the holding part is connected with the tongue via a joint comprised of a number of components, and the holding part, furthermore, is formed by a hook articulated on a lever, which hook is disposed in an above-dead point position when the fastening element is in the closed position.
The drawback of this solution lies in its relatively complicated structure and high manufacturing cost. Furthermore, when the holding part is in the closed position, it needs to be lifted only slightly for causing the fastening element to snap open. This may also easily occur if the lever is touched unintentionally.
The object of the invention is to avoid these drawbacks and to provide a fastening element of the type specified above that is marked by its simple structure and with which an unintentional opening of the element is largely excluded. Furthermore, the fastening element of the invention can be manufactured in a simple way from both plastic material and metal, in particular from sheet metal.
According to the invention, this is accomplished with a holding part which protrudes from the tongue at a fixed angle preferably amounting to 90.degree., and is integral with at least part of the tongue.
In this way, it is possible to hook the tongue into the holding part after is has been looped around the objects to be held, and to subsequently bend the holding part down, which places the tongue tightly around the elements to be fastened, compressing the latter. Due to the lever action of the holding part, this can be accomplished with relatively little force on part of the user. Furthermore, this permits using the fastening elements according to the invention without requiring any tools.
In addition, closing the fastening element of the invention leads to a plastic deformation of the material that can be reversed only with a corresponding application of force, so that an unintentional opening of the fastening element is excluded.
In order to assure that the tongue is fully and tightly resting against the elements to be fastened, for example tubes or the like over the greatest possible angular range, the holding part may define an opening having a width slightly greater than the width of the tongue and extending from the point of connection or bending point between the tongue and the holding part up to the hook-up edge, which preferably is arranged on a web bridging the aperture, the portion of the tongue adjacent the area in which the tongue is connected with the holding part preferably being widened and the aperture in the holding part extending into this widened tongue portion.
In this way, the end of the tongue hooked into the holding part can rest on the tongue or on the elements to be fastened also within the area of the bent holding part, the latter resting on the tongue too, which results in a solid and slip-free support.
So as to prevent the holding part from being bent back under the influence of the tensile forces acting on the tongue without having to make provision for separate safety means, provision may be readily made that the holding part has a weak point slightly spaced from the area of connection with the tongue, which permits bending down the holding part by hand.
The result of these measur
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Brittain James R.
Kelman Kurt
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