1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to cable ties, and more particularly to a mounting cable tie used for binding and tying.
2. Description of Related Art
Cable ties commercially available nowadays include mainly mounting cable ties and releasable cable ties, both of which have a head and a strap body structured to engage each other, so that the strap body of the cable tie, after holding an article to be bound, can be inserted into and in turn get retained by the head of the cable tie, thereby binding, tying up and fixing the article for storage or other purposes.
Therein, a releasable cable tie features releasable engagement between its strap body and its head that allows its reuse. Such a releasable cable tie is generally employed for simple storage of an article to be bound, such as a coiled power cord.
On the other hand, a mounting cable tie has its strap body being unable to be withdrawn from its head after single engagement, so is limited to a one-time use. In its usage, once the strap body of the cable tie engages with the head, any further pull acted on the strap body of the cable tie can only constrict it more and its binding force cannot be dismissed unless it is cut off or broken. Thus, such a mounting cable tie is generally used for particular occasions where a one-time use is desired in order to make an article bound tightly by the mounting cable tie without possibility of release, and can be easily seen in retail stores binding a given amount of products for sale. The mounting cable ties are even used as temporary handcuffs in some countries.
Hence, mounting cable ties are desired to have strong structure and high pull-out resistance, for avoiding a counterforce from the article bound thereby to break or loosen the engaging structures of the strap body and the head.
For remedying the imperfectness of the prior-art devices, the present invention proposes an improved cable tie structure, which includes a locking head and a strap body. Therein, a direction from the strap body toward the locking head is a first direction, and a direction perpendicular to the first direction is a second direction. The locking head is formed with a window. A direction going upward from the window and being perpendicular to both the first direction and the second direction is a third direction. The strap body has a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is attached to the locking head and the second end passes through the window to engage with the locking head.
The locking head has a base plate, a pair of first side walls, a second side wall, a pair of first protrusions, a pair of second protrusions and a tooth unit. The window is formed on the base plate. The base plate has a front end and a rear end. The pair of first side walls defining two opposite borders of the window in the second direction. The second side wall is formed at one end of the locking head along the first direction while being far from the strap body. The both lateral sides of the second side wall are respectively attached to each of said first side walls. Each of the first protrusions is disposed at the side corresponding to the position where each of first side walls faces the window. The tooth unit has a base, by which the tooth unit is attached to the base plate. The tooth unit extends above the window from the base plate and is located between the pair of first protrusions, such that the tooth unit is allowed to swing to and fro along the first direction against its base. A surface of the tooth unit facing the second side wall is a first surface, and a surface of the tooth unit far from the second side wall is a second surface. The first surface has a plurality of first engaging teeth. The pair of second protrusions extend above the window from the both lateral sides of the tooth unit. In addition, a predetermined slit extending along the first direction exists between each facing pair of the first protrusion and the second protrusion. The strap body has a top surface and a bottom surface. The bottom surface has a plurality of second engaging teeth, which is able to engage with the plurality of first engaging teeth of the tooth unit. The strap body has a thickness greater than a distance from tops of the first engaging teeth of the tooth unit to the second side wall.
Therefore, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide the aforementioned improved cable tie structure, wherein for using the improved cable tie structure, after the strap body pierces through the window of the locking head along the third direction, the second engaging teeth of the strap body push the first engaging teeth of the tooth unit counter to the first direction, so that the tooth unit swings against its base toward the rear end of the base plate. Since a depth of the first engaging teeth is greater than that of the second engaging teeth, when engaging mutually, the first engaging teeth and the second engaging teeth jointly form therebetween a small interval. As compared with the prior art, the strap body is enabled to enter the window along the third direction easily with reduced resistance.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide the aforementioned improved cable tie structure, wherein when the strap body enters the window of the locking head along the third direction, if the strap body is forced to disengage counter to the third direction, since the second engaging teeth of the strap body engage the first engaging teeth of the tooth unit, the strap body pulls the tooth unit along the first direction, and since the predetermined slits formed between the facing first protrusions and second protrusions along the first direction allow the tooth unit to slightly swing along the first direction, the slight swing makes the first engaging teeth of the tooth unit snap at the second engaging teeth of the strap body more closely. Finally the second protrusions abut firmly against the first protrusions to restrict the tooth unit from further swing. In addition, the first engaging teeth engage the second engaging teeth firmly, so that the strap body is retained from being withdrawn from the locking head, thereby enhancing the pull-out resistance of the cable tie.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide the aforementioned improved cable tie structure, wherein the locking head has the window, the first side walls and the second side wall. A guiding surface is formed on the second side wall of the locking head for facing the window in order to guide the strap body to pass through the window. Thereby, a user can easily make the strap body pierce through the window of the locking head, so as to tie up an article to be bound readily.
The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
While the present invention discloses an improved cable tie structure, the engaging teeth and the principles on which the engaging teeth engage mutually for fixation have been known to people of ordinary skill in the art and need not to be discussed in any length in the following description. Also, the accompanying drawings referred by the following description are intended to show the characteristics of the present invention and are not necessarily made to scale.
Please refer to
Referring to
In the prior art, for preventing the strap body 20 from being withdrawn in a direction counter to the third direction A3, it would be necessary to reinforce the tooth unit 17 in its pull-out resistance. For this purpose, a general approach is to increase the sectional area of the base 174 of the tooth unit 17. However, increasing the sectional area of the base 174 could compromise the resilience of the tooth unit 17, leading to hard swing of the tooth unit 17 along the first direction A1. Consequently, when binding an article to be tied up, the strap body 20 would have to be drawn with increased force.
Referring to
Thereby, in operation of using the improved cable tie structure 100 of the present invention to bind an article to be tied up (not shown), the strap body 20 pierces through the locking head 10 along the third direction A3, so the second engaging teeth 28 of the strap body 20 push the first engaging teeth 18 of the tooth unit 17 in a direction counter to the first direction A1, such that the tooth unit 17 swings toward the rear end 122 of the base plate 12 against its base 174. At this time, since the depth D18 of the first engaging teeth 18 is greater than the depth D28 of the second engaging teeth 28, a relatively large interval exists between the strap body 20 and the tooth unit 17, as compared with the prior art, so the strap body 20 is allows to enter the window 11 easily with reduced resistance.
After the strap body 20 is adjusted in length to properly bind an article to be tied up, since the second engaging teeth 28 of the strap body 20 engage with the first engaging teeth 18 of the tooth unit 17, withdrawing the strap body 20 from the locking head 10 counter to the third direction A3 can cause the strap body 20 to drive the tooth unit 17 along the first direction A1. Moreover, in virtue of the predetermined slit L formed between each facing pair of the second protrusion 16 and the first protrusion 15 along the first direction A1 (as shown in
By comparison, in the prior-art device that lacks for the first protrusions 15 and the second protrusions 16 of the present invention, when the strap body is force to disengage, the entire tooth unit is moved by the strap body. Since the tooth unit is attached to the base plate via the base only, the base receives considerable stress and the tooth unit tends to break at the base. Differently, in the improved cable tie structure 100 of the present invention, the second protrusions 16 firmly abut against the first protrusions 15, so the pulling force from the strap body 20 acting on the tooth unit 17 is partially transferred to the first protrusions 15 of the locking head 10 by the second protrusions 16. As a result, the stress on the base 174 is reduced and thus the base 174 is not fragile, so the tooth unit 17 as a whole is able to bear relatively large pulling force and the strength thereof is improved.
Referring to
Furthermore, referring back to
The present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment and it is understood that the embodiment is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Moreover, as the contents disclosed herein should be readily understood and can be implemented by a person skilled in the art, all equivalent changes or modifications which do not depart from the concept of the present invention should be encompassed by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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99129069 A | Aug 2010 | TW | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20120047691 A1 | Mar 2012 | US |