Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Bale and package ties – hose clamps – With tighteners
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-21
2001-03-27
Brittain, James R. (Department: 3626)
Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.
Bale and package ties, hose clamps
With tighteners
C024S019000, C024S182000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06205624
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to a hose clip having a locking member for trapping the free end of the hose clip strap, and also to a locking member suitable for use with a hose clip, for this purpose.
A known form of hose clip has a housing to which is connected one end of a strap having a series of abutments along the length thereof. The strap is curled round in a circular manner so that the other end portion passes through the housing, a worm rotatably mounted in the housing engaging the abutments of the other end portion so that rotation of the worm decreases or increases the circumferential length of the encircling part of the strap, depending upon the sense of rotation of the worm.
Though a clamping device as described above is conventionally referred to as a “hose clip” (or in the U.S. as a “hose clamp”), it may be used for many purposes besides the clamping of a flexible hose to a rigid stub over which the hose is passed. The term “hose clip” should not therefore be regarded as limited to a device exclusively for the clamping of a hose and is used herein in a broad sense, to refer to the generic kind of clamping device discussed above.
It is known to attach various types of street signs to lamp posts, telegraph posts or the like by means of metal bands. The fitting of these requires special equipment and the bands must be cut when they are to be removed. These operations require special tools and to simplify the fitting and removal of such signs, it has been proposed to use hose clips of the kind described above.
A problem associated with hose clips as described above is that if the tightening of the hose clip around an object requires the circumferential length of the strap to be reduced significantly from the initial position where the free end of the strap is just engaged with the housing, there is then a relatively long free end portion projecting from the housing. That free end portion will stand away from the encircling part of the strap and is likely to cause injuries to someone in the immediate vicinity of the strap.
Though it would be possible to provide a simple loop around the strap and through which the free end portion may be passed, in a manner similar to that used with a conventional adjustable belt and buckle, the free end portion may easily be removed from such a loop following complete tightening of the hose clip. Such an arrangement would not be at all suitable for use in an area to which the public has access and which might be susceptible to even mild vandalism. For this reason, the use of hose clips for example to mount street signs to lamp posts and so on has in general not been widely adopted.
It is a principal aim of the present invention to provide means whereby the free end portion of the strap of a hose clip may be trapped in a safe manner and in such a way that the end may not be released when the hose clip is clamped to an object, so enabling the clip to be used in circumstances where a projecting free end portion would not be acceptable.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a locking member for use with a worm-drive hose clip having a strap for encircling an article to be clamped, the strap having a plurality of abutments spaced therealong for engagement by the worm, which locking member is arranged for slidable mounting on the strap and is configured such that when so mounted the free end of the strap may be entered thereinto, the locking member having a retaining portion adapted to lie against the inwardly-directed face of the strap so as to be clamped between the strap and said article on tightening of the strap therearound, and the locking member further having a catch member engageable with the free end of the strap when said free end is inserted into the locking member, which catch member thereafter resists withdrawal of said free end from the locking member.
According to a second aspect of this invention, there is provided a worm-drive hose clip having a strap for encircling an article to be clamped, which strap has a plurality of abutments spaced therealong for engagement by the worm, and a locking member slidably mounted on the strap and configured to permit the free end of the strap to be entered thereinto, the locking member having a retaining portion which lies against the inwardly-directed face of the strap for clamping between the strap and said article on tightening the strap therearound and a catch member engageable with the free end of the strap on inserting said free end into the locking member, so as to resist the withdrawal of said free end from the locking member.
It will be appreciated that the locking member carried on the strap of a hose clip has a catch member which serves to engage the free end of the strap when the clip has fully been tightened around an object, in such a way that the free end portion of the strap cannot be released from the locking member. Thus, the free end portion is held close against the encircling part of the strap and the risk of injury from projecting parts of the clip is minimised. This effect may be enhanced by having the catch engaging the abutments on the free end of the strap.
In a preferred embodiment, the locking member is made from a piece of sheet metal, by appropriate forming operations. Such a locking member may have an upper portion adapted to overlie the strap and to define in conjunction therewith a channel into which the free end of the strap may be inserted. In this case, the catch member advantageously is in the form of a tooth projecting downwardly and forwardly from the upper portion of the locking member towards the outwardly-directed face
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f the strap and in the direction of insertion of the free end of the strap into the channel.
In one embodiment of locking member, the retaining portion engages the inwardly directed face of the strap to hold the upper portion substantially parallel to the part of the strap over which the upper portion lies. In an alternative embodiment, the retaining portion is adapted to allow the locking member to pivot with respect to the strap other than when the strap has been tightened around an article. This may be achieved by the retaining portion engaging the inwardly-directed face of the strap at a position proximate one end of the upper portion, the free end of the strap being inserted into said one end of the locking member.
As a result of trials and tests on both the locking member and a worm drive hose clip using that locking member, both as described above, it has become apparent that the positioning of the locking member in the required final position can be a little awkward to perform, prior to final tightening of the clip. As a consequence, an improved form of locking member has been developed, which has a tang engageable with an abutment of the hose clip strap adjacent the free end thereof, prior to the tightening of the hose clip, so that the locking member remains in the region of the free end of the strap during fitting and initial tightening of the clip. On final tightening of the clip, the retaining portion of the locking member will overlie the free end of the strap to prevent the removal thereof from the locking member.
For the improved embodiment of locking member, the tang is somewhat similar to the catch member, and thus projects downwardly from the upper portion of the locking member towards the upwardly directed face of the strap. Unlike the catch member, which projects forwardly from the upper portion of the locking member and thus in the direction of insertion of the free end of the strap into the channel defined by the locking member, the tang should project downwardly and rearwardly, and so in the opposite direction to that of the catch member.
REFERENCES:
patent: 59443 (1866-11-01), Onions
patent: 102076 (1870-04-01), Adair
patent: 201003 (1878-03-01), Goldsmith
patent: 2419662 (1947-04-01), Sutton
patent: 3175233 (1965-03-01), Caravella
patent: 4956898 (1990-09-01), Miyamura et al.
patent: 4972558 (1990-11-01), Maio et al.
patent: 2315854 (1974-10-01), None
Brittain James R.
JCS Hi-Torque Limited
Renner Kenner Grieve Bobak Taylor & Weber
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