Closure fasteners – Seals – Resilient shackle ends
Patent
1992-04-20
1994-04-26
Moore, Richard E.
Closure fasteners
Seals
Resilient shackle ends
B65D 3334
Patent
active
053060555
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a plastic seal arrangement.
Plastic seals are widely known in practically all sectors of commercial activity, and comprises a body generally designed to receive distinctive marks or signs of the producer or seller, or other identification data for the product to be marked, such as an article number, a size, a colour code etc. Said seals also comprise one or two cords fixed securely at one end to said body and provided at their other end with a hook for non-removable insertion into a corresponding cavity provided in said body, after the cord has been passed through an aperture (eyelet, chain link, hole etc) provided in the article to be marked.
Such seals have in the past been constructed and are still constructed with a very large variety of shapes, dimensions and body-chord fixing systems. They are generally formed by injecting plastics material into moulds comprising several impressions corresponding to the complete shape of the seal body or to the shape of each of the half-bodies of which each body is formed. It is apparent that the number of different impressions available must equal the number of different types of seal body to be formed combined with the number of different designs or writing to appear on each body, which means that a seal manufacturer must carry considerable and expensive equipment which in certain cases may be under-used, resulting in a high unit seal cost.
In addition, the operations required for fixing the cord to the body of current seals are difficult to mechanize, thus further increasing the final cost of the article, a cost which for obvious reasons must be as low as possible. In this respect, taking account of the lenghty time needed to set up the injection press and the consequent overall cost of this operation, the production cost of each seal can only be kept low by producing large quantities, thus obliging users to carry large and uneconomical stocks.
A further drawback consists in that generally such seals, after they have been formed, are grouped in bunches or in confusion and this causes an entanglement of the cords or a linking of hooks, with consequent loss of time for the required separation.
EP-A1 0 217 499 discloses a shackle-type seal having two portions which enclose a hollow chamber for receiving a pair of shackle legs engaging with means provided within the chamber.
AT-A 343 532 discloses a plastic seal which comprises a closed box having a side parture for the snap insertion of a body provided with a seal in which a hook engages.
US-A-4 636 347 discloses a plastic seal comprising a string and a plurality of male members and female members fused to said string.
An object of the invention is to provide a plastic seal arrangement which is of simple and economical production.
A further object of the invention is to provide a plastic seal arrangement which can be produced with completely automated equipment.
A further object of the invention is to provide a plastic seal arrangement which does not have to be carried in large stock by the user.
A further object of the invention is to provide a plastic seal arrangement having a very pleasing outer appearance and which enables this outer appearance to be varied according to the requirements of the user.
These and further objects which will be apparent from the following description are attained according to the invention by a plastic seal arrangement as described in claim
Some preferred embodiments of the present invention are further described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of a seal according to the invention with two cords provided with a hook;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a second embodiment thereof without the upper plate;
FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment thereof in the same view as FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 shows a fourth embodiment thereof in the same view as FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 shows a fifth embodiment thereof in the same view as FIG. 1,
FIG. 6 shows it along the transversal section of FIG. 5; and
FIG.
REFERENCES:
patent: 529318 (1894-11-01), Brooks
patent: 570127 (1896-10-01), Gogle
patent: 2345767 (1944-04-01), Moberg
patent: 4106802 (1978-08-01), Lozio
patent: 4636347 (1987-01-01), Kato
patent: 4887855 (1989-12-01), Tritton et al.
Gitler Stewart L.
Mainetti S.p.A.
Moore Richard E.
LandOfFree
Plastic seal does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Plastic seal, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Plastic seal will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1707622