Clip mechanism

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6185795
  • Patent Number
    6,185,795
  • Date Filed
    Monday, April 19, 1999
    25 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, February 13, 2001
    24 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Brittain; James R.
    Agents
    • Harrison & Egbert
Abstract
An improved clip mechanism in which a revolve arm spring is fastened at the center of two relative handles providing the two revolve arms are expanded to the inner side of each handle, so as to enable the front edge of the two handles having a force in clamping. In addition, inside the front edge of each handle is formed relatively a proper plain area contacting with each other. The plain area is formed an inner concave, which is protruded with a pillar. The head of the pillar is expanded to be a big edge, so as to enable the protrusion surface of clip plate to embed into the pillar of inner concave.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates generally to a clip, and more particularly to an improved clip mechanism.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




As shown in

FIG. 1

, the conventional clip


10


is provided with two arms


11


, from the revolve arm spring


12


to clamp. However, since the forward clamping portion of arms


11


of the clip


10


is constructed integral with a small forward end


13


, it therefore causes the clip


10


to not clamp securely the outer surface of the article. Often, the clip


10


fails in clamping because the area of forward end


13


is small.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The primary objective of the present invention is therefore to provide an improved clip mechanism wherein the forward end of the clip is provided each with a clip plate that can with stand the clamping force, so that the present invention achieves more security in clamping the particular article clamped between the arms.




The foregoing objective, features and functions of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

shows a schematic plan view of the prior art clip.





FIG. 2

shows a perspective view of the present invention.





FIG. 3

shows an exploded view of the present invention.





FIG. 4

shows a sectional view of the present invention as shown while clamping an article.





FIG. 5

shows a schematic plan view of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




As shown in

FIGS. 2 and 3

, the present invention is an improved clip device which is comprised of two arms


20


, two clip plates


30


, a leaf spring


40


, and a bolt


50


.




The two arms


20


are provided each with projection piece


21


at the center. Each projection piece


21


has a hole


22


aligned with to each other. In addition, inside the forward end


23


of each arm


20


is formed a rather large surface area


24


. The surface area


24


is formed with an inner concave


25


, which has a vertical pillar


26


extending transversely outwardly therefrom. The vertical pillar


26


has a bulbous head


27


opposite concave


25


.




The two clip plates


30


are positioned respectively within and against the inner concave


25


of forward end


23


of arm


20


. One surface of the clip plate


30


that faces the inner concave


25


of forward end


23


has a concave surface


31


, which is provided at the center with an aperture


32


for receiving the bulbous head


27


of vertical pillar


26


. Each convex surface


31


of clip plate


30


maintains a proper spacing from the inner concave


25


of forward end


23


of arm


20


. The other surface of clip plate


30


is formed with a plurality of gripping ribs


33


.




The leaf


40


has a spiral section


41


positioned between the projection pieces


21


the spring


40


is positioned between the arms


20


with the spiral section


41


at the center of the arms


20


. Two leaf spring arms


42


extend along respective inner surfaces of the handle portions of arms


20


.




The bolt


50


passes through the hole


22


of center projection pieces


21


of arms


20


and is fastened with a nut


60


, so that the center of arms


20


are fastened pivotally. The leaf spring arms


42


of leaf spring


40


urges the arms


20


away from each other such that the pivoting about bolt


50


causes the clamping action of the arms


20


.




As illustrated in

FIGS. 4 and 5

, when the present invention needs to clamp an uneven or a non uniformaly shape article, the clip plates


30


will cant or pivot relative to the inner concave


25


at the forward end


23


of respective arms


20


so as to fixedly clamp onto the uneven article. Furthermore, each clip plate


30


is provided with the gripping ribs


33


so as to prevent the uneven article from sliding from between the clip pates


30


present invention can clamp securely clamp the article. In addition, the convex surface


31


of clip plate


30


keeps a proper the inner concave


25


of forward end


23


of arm


20


. Each center of clip plate


30


is pivotally mounted on the pillar


26


forming a center support fulcrum. The pivoting and canting of the clip plates


30


causes the article to be clamped firmly and securely.




The embodiment of the present invention described above is to be regarded in all respects as being merely illustrative and not restrictive. Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without deviating from the spirit thereof. The present invention is therefore to be limited only by the scope of the following appended claim.



Claims
  • 1. An improved clip mechanism comprising:a pair of arms each having a projection piece extending inwardly at a center thereof, said projection piece of one arm having a hole aligned with a hole on said projection piece of the other arm, each of said pair of arms having an area at a forward end thereof, the area at the forward end of one arm contactable with the area at the forward end of the other arm, said area having an inner concave formed therein, said inner concave having a pillar extending centrally and transversely outwardly therefrom, said pillar having a bulbous head opposite said inner concave; a pair of clip plates each positioned respectively in said inner concave, each of said pair of clip plates having a convex surface facing said inner concave, each of said pair of clip plates having an aperture at a center thereof, said aperture cantably receiving said bulbous head therein such that said convex surface is spaced a desired distance from said inner concave, each of said pair of clip plates having a plurality of gripping ribs on another surface thereof; a leaf spring having a spiral section positioned between respective projection pieces of said pair of arms, said leaf spring having a pair of leaf spring arms extending outwardly from said spiral section and along a respective inner surface of said pair of arms; and a bolt extending through the holes of the respective projection pieces, said bolt being secured by a nut thereon such that said pair of arms pivot with respect to each other about said bolt, said leaf spring urging said pair of clip plates toward each other.
RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/031,117, filed on Feb. 26, 1998, and entitled “Spring-Biased Clothespin”, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,818.

US Referenced Citations (12)
Number Name Date Kind
150900 Silver et al. May 1874
622197 Bayles et al. Apr 1899
803668 Clendenon Nov 1905
1281913 Curley Oct 1918
3269766 Gardner Aug 1966
3383963 Vondrachek May 1968
3930329 Burkhardt Jan 1976
4616113 Jank et al. Oct 1986
5022291 McBain Jun 1991
5791210 Wolff et al. Aug 1998
5876026 Chen Mar 1999
6023818 Shang Feb 2000
Continuation in Parts (1)
Number Date Country
Parent 09/031117 Feb 1998 US
Child 09/294130 US