Patent Application
20140123443
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clothes peg, equipped so as to avoid accidental dropping thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Clothes pegs have been known virtually universally for a long time. The most disparate varieties thereof exist. There are wooden pegs and plastic pegs or pegs of other materials. There are pegs containing a metal spring and pegs which rely on the resilience of the material of which they are made. Pegs generally comprise two jaws, kept closed by a spring or by another elastic component and which may be opened against the force of such elastic component due to two gripping tabs, which can be manually actuated.
When the washing is hung out on suitable lines, especially when it is hung out outdoors, the use of such pegs first opened and then left to close again in the ways set forth before, prevents the individual components of the washing from being blown away due to any wind.
As mentioned and as from common experience, the use of such pegs is extremely simple and within everybody's reach. However, although these are not dangerous devices to use, pegs are not per se devoid of drawbacks. As a matter of fact, the elongated shape thereof and the reduced size thereof compared to the hands of the user, together with the fact that the operation thereof depends on elastic force, result in a high risk of them slipping from the hands and drop on the floor. It is a virtually universal experience to have to ring the neighbor's bell on the lower floor to retrieve the peg fallen while it was being fastened or unfastened.
Such drawback, although it does not imply very heavy consequences, nevertheless has some unpleasant aspects. Apart from the embarrassment of having to ask a neighbor to be able to access their terrace to retrieve a peg or the inconvenience of having to retrieve the peg of the upper floor neighbor, there may be unpleasant situations. There are elderly people who, despite being perfectly able to hang out the washing normally, find it difficult to stoop to collect the pegs even from their own floor. Furthermore a peg falling from a top floor may hit a passer-by causing injuries (even to a relatively serious degree) or a car, damaging the bodywork thereof.
The instant system and method, as illustrated herein, is clearly not anticipated, rendered obvious, or even present in any of the prior art mechanisms, either alone or in any combination thereof. Thus the several embodiments of the instant apparatus are illustrated herein.
The present invention aims to manufacture a clothes peg which does not pose the risk of being dropped, with no excessively complicated constructions, so that it is within everybody's reach.
For such purpose, the present invention consists of a clothes peg, characterized in that it carries a thread which has means for the fastening thereof in a removable manner, but steadily connected to the washing lines or to the line-supporting structure.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of a clothes peg in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways, including applications involving not only firefighters. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty, which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.
The present invention is now described in further detail on the basis of the attached drawing, wherein:
The present invention provides a thread 1 to which a clothes peg 2 is connected. Thread 1 furthermore has means 3 for the steady but removable connection thereof to the line to which the washing is hung out to let it dry.
Thread 1 may be made of any material; preferred examples are hemp, linen, cotton, plastic, steel. The use of a thread 1 of plastic material is preferred.
Thread 1, preferably 60-70 cm long and peg 2 may be manufactured integrally, welded, glued or fastened by means of screws, rivets, Allen screws or nails. Advantageously, thread 1 may be manufactured by injection molding, partly rolled up, and preferably mutually connecting by means of welding points (4) some of the coils. This configuration is extremely useful for the packaging of the product, since it occupies little space. Upon the first use, it will suffice to pull in opposite directions the two ends of thread 1 to break the welding points (4), so as to be able to unwind thread 1. Similarly, the thread may be removably connected, through a hook, a gripper, a clamp, an eyelet, a slit, an arrow or other removable device.
If a thread 1 of plastic material is used, it can have a certain adhesiveness of the lateral surface thereof. In this case, thread 1 may be rolled up and kept compact to put it away when it is not used. To put it into use again, it is sufficient to pull the two ends thereof in opposite directions.
Means 3 may differ, in a way known per se. It is particularly advantageous if means 3 are manufactured with an elastic loop of thread 1, apt to snap closed once it has been forced against the washing line; thereby, the fastening is extremely simple and does not require particular care by the user. However a fastener or other device may also be used. Another extremely advantageous device consists of a ring or of a noose. When one wants to close means 3, the washing line is wound with thread 1 and the end of said thread in contact with peg 2 is caused to pass through the ring or noose, thereby obtaining the fastening thereof.
When the washing is to be hung out to dry, means 3 are fastened to the washing line, one item is hung out on the same line and, in a known manner, peg 2 is closed around the hung out item. Peg 2, being fastened to thread 1, in turn anchored through means 3 to the washing line, cannot fall even if it were to be dropped by the person using it. Clearly, if thread 1 is not integral with peg 2, said two components 1 and 2 will have to be fastened one to the other in a location where peg 2 cannot be dropped, for example on a table inside the home before beginning to hang out the clothes, so as to avoid to drop—instead of the peg alone—peg 2 and anchoring thread 1.
A series of rings slipped onto the washing line may also be provided when the line is stretched from which thread 1 departs, which thread 1 carries, in any one of the ways previously described, peg 2.
It is evident that the present invention allows to fasten securely clothes pegs, solving the problems illustrated in the introduction.
However, it is understood that the protection of the present invention extends to any technically equivalent construction variant thereof.
In conclusion, herein is presented a clothes peg. The invention is illustrated by example in the flow diagrams and figures, and throughout the written description. It should be understood that numerous variations are possible, while adhering to the inventive concept. Such variations are contemplated as being a part of the present invention.
