A conventional cable tie is made of plastic by injection molding and includes a locking head and a strap connected to the locking head. The strap has a plurality of ratchet teeth disposed thereon, and the locking head has a plurality of pawls engageable with the plurality of ratchet teeth. In operation, the strap is wound around an object and inserted through the locking head so that the plurality of pawls are engaged with the plurality of ratchet teeth to bundle the object.
However, the excess segment of the strap penetrating through the locking head is inconvenient to storage, and a cutter has to be used to remove the excess segment, which is inconvenient to operate.
The present invention is, therefore, arisen to obviate or at least mitigate the above-mentioned disadvantages.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a cable tie, which has good structural strength and is convenient to remove an excess segment of the cable tie.
To achieve the above and other objects, the present invention provides a cable tie, including: a locking head and a strap body. The locking head includes a plurality of first engaging teeth. The strap body is connected with the locking head and defines a longitude direction. The strap body includes a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface and two lateral sides respectively connected between the first surface and the second surface. The first surface includes a plurality of second engaging teeth and two protruding edges, and the plurality of second engaging teeth are engageable with the plurality of first engaging teeth. The two protruding edges are disposed on two opposite sides of the plurality of second engaging teeth. A plurality of notched portions are spacedly disposed on the two lateral sides and interrupt the two protruding edges, and based on the first surface, a height of each of the two protruding edges is greater than a height of each of the plurality of second engaging teeth.
The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment(s) in accordance with the present invention.
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The locking head 10 includes a plurality of first engaging teeth 11. The strap body 20 is connected with the locking head 10 and defines a longitude direction L. The strap body 20 includes a first surface 21, a second surface 22 opposite to the first surface 21 and two lateral sides 23 respectively connected between the first surface 21 and the second surface 22. The first surface 21 includes a plurality of second engaging teeth 211 and two protruding edges 212, and the plurality of second engaging teeth 211 are engageable with the plurality of first engaging teeth 11. The two protruding edges 212 are disposed on two opposite sides of the plurality of second engaging teeth 211. A plurality of notched portions 24 are spacedly disposed on the two lateral sides 23 and interrupt the two protruding edges 212 so as to form a plurality of weaken segments on the strap body 20, which allows the strap body 20 to be disconnected via at least one of the plurality of notched portions 24 without cutting tools. Based on the first surface 21, a height H1 of each of the two protruding edges 212 is greater than a height H2 of each of the plurality of second engaging teeth 211 so as to increase a structural strength of the strap body 20 and avoid disconnecting the strap body 20 at an undesired position.
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Specifically, each of the plurality of notched portions 24 includes a first cutting surface 241 and a second cutting surface 242 extending toward each other, and an extending length of the first cutting surface 241 is greater than an extending length of the second cutting surface 242. The first cutting surface 241 and the second cutting surface 242 of each of the plurality of notched portions 24 are connected with each other and formed a connecting edge 243, and each said connecting edge 243 is close to a tooth peak 214 of one of adjacent two of the plurality of second engaging teeth 211. Each of the plurality of second engaging teeth 211 includes a guiding surface 215 and an abutting surface 216 being more oblique than the guiding surface 215, the guiding surface 215 and the abutting surface 216 define one said tooth peak 214 therebetween, as shown in
Furthermore, the first cutting surface 241 and the second cutting surface 242 of each of the plurality of notched portions 24 define an acute angle θ therebetween, and the acute angle θ is greater than 10 degrees and less than 80 degrees (preferably greater than 50 degrees), as shown in
In the longitude direction L, a distance between tooth peaks 214 of adjacent two of the plurality of second engaging teeth 211 is defined as a first distance D1, a width of an opening of each of the plurality of notched portions 24 on one of the two lateral sides 23 is defined as a second distance D2, and the second distance D2 is smaller than or equal to two times of the first distance D1, which prevents a structure of the strap body 20 from over-weakening by the plurality of notched portions 24. A distance between adjacent two of the plurality of notched portions 24 is defined as a third distance D3, and the third distance D3 is greater than or equal to two times of the first distance D1 so as to avoid damage to the plurality of second engaging teeth 211 after fracturing the strap body 20. Preferably, a length of the channel 121 is greater than a sum of the second distance D2 and the third distance D3 so as to stably guide the two lateral sides 23 for smooth movement.
Moreover, the first surface 21 further includes a plurality of flat surfaces 217 each located between adjacent two of the plurality of second engaging teeth 211, and each of the plurality of notched portions 24 extends from one of the two lateral sides 23 to one of the plurality of flat surfaces 217. In this embodiment, each of the plurality of weaken segments is defined by one of the plurality of flat surfaces 217 and two of the plurality of notched portions 24 aligned with said flat surface 217. In the longitude direction L, a width W2 of each of the plurality of flat surfaces 217 is smaller than a width W3 of one of the plurality of second engaging teeth 211, and the width W2 of each of the plurality of flat surfaces 217 is smaller than the second distance D2 so that the strap body 20 can be accurately fractured at one of the plurality of flat surfaces 217 without cutting tools. Preferably, the connecting edge 243 of each of the plurality of notched portions 24 is located at a side of one of the plurality of flat surfaces 217 close to one said abutting surface 216, which prevents each said guiding surface 215 from being damaged.
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
The present invention is a CIP of application Ser. No. 29/713,922, filed Nov. 19, 2019, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20230014377 A1 | Jan 2023 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 29713922 | Nov 2019 | US |
Child | 17945307 | US |