The present invention relates to cable ties for tying, bundling, securing, marking, or tagging objects. For simplicity, the term “bundling” may be used to indicate any of the above or similar functions of a cable tie and the term “bundled object” may be used to indicate an object or objects to which a cable tie is secured. Additionally, the present invention relates to restraining devices such as handcuffs for tying together or restricting the motion of human wrists (hands) or legs (feet). Although the majority of illustrations of this disclosure depict cable ties that bundle objects, they apply equally to handcuff restraining devices. Cable ties are sometimes called zip ties, wire ties, tie wraps, and wire ties. Cable ties may be made of a variety of materials, for example plastic (e.g., polyamide such as Nylon 6/6) or metal (e.g., stainless steel such as AISI 304 or 314).
A cable tie generally comprises a head and an elongated strap. The head includes a channel to receive the strap so that the cable tie may form a closed loop around an object or some portion thereof. The channel includes a means to engage the strap, and may include a ratcheting mechanism so that the strap may move easily through the channel in one direction (insertion) but may not move easily in the opposite direction (withdrawal). A common means to engage the strap is a toothed pawl that mates with a serrated surface of the strap. Another means to engage the strap is a ball that becomes wedged between a smooth surface of the strap and an angled surface of the channel. For simplicity, the means to engage the strap will hereafter be referred to as a pawl regardless of the actual mechanism, regardless of whether the pawl performs a ratcheting function, and regardless of whether the strap includes a serrated surface or surfaces.
Cable ties may be secured to objects temporarily. Consequently, some cable ties are designed to be releasable and/or reusable by having a means to disengage the pawl and remove the cable tie from an object. However, existing methods for disengaging the pawl may be inconvenient or impractical. Further, reusable cable ties tend to be more expensive to produce than single-use cable ties. As a result, a majority of cable ties are designed for single use (e.g., disposable).
Removing a single-use cable tie may require a user to cut the strap with a cutting implement, for example snip pliers, electric pliers, cable cutters, shears, scissors, or knives. But it may be difficult to insert a cutting implement between the strap and a bundled object, and doing so may damage the object. Several methods are described below that attempt to aid in cutting of a cable tie, such as a cable tie having an integrated cutting blade or a cable tie having a supplemental arch that may be more easily accessed by a cutting implement.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,360,281 discloses a cable tie having a housing disposed on the strap that includes a pair of blades adjacent to the strap. When a user rotates or depresses the housing, the blades compress and cut through the strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,343 discloses a tie for anchoring medical tubing wherein the strap includes a region that arches away from the medical tubing to permit scissors to be inserted between the arched region and the tubing to cut the strap. This feature may be unsuitable for some applications because the unsupported arch may collapse when the tie is tightened. A winning entry of the 2012 RED DOT Concept Design Award was a cable tie designed to prevent total collapsing of an arch by forming the arch as tapering from a first height at a first edge of the strap to zero height at the opposite edge of the strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,013 discloses a cable tie having a flap that may be folded over the head and engaged with an arched spring region of the strap which compresses during bundling. When the flap is cut, the arched spring becomes uncompressed and thereby creates a space between the strap and a bundled object for inserting a cutting implement to remove the cable tie from the object.
Instead of enabling easier cutting of a cable tie, several methods have been developed that permit the cable tie to be torn apart by hand. A few references follow.
European Patent 398,562 discloses a tie that serves a security seal, which has a pull tab that causes a thinned region of one or both side walls of the head to tear open when pulled, thereby releasing the tie from a bundled object.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,281,302 discloses a cable tie having a pull tab that causes a thinned region of a side wall of the head to tear open when pulled, thereby releasing the tie from a bundled object.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,062,820 discloses a cable tie that serves as a tote box lid retainer, which has a pull tab that causes a thinned region of the strap adjacent to the head to tear apart when pulled, thereby releasing the tie from a bundled object.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,435 discloses a cable tie having a thinned region running the longitudinal length of the upper wall of the head adjacent to the channel which may tear open when the strap within the channel is forced upwards against the upper wall and away from a bundled object.
Instead of cutting or tearing a cable tie, it is possible to design cable tie in such a way that the pawl may disengage, thereby permitting the strap to be withdrawn from the channel. A reference follows.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,266,654 discloses a cable tie having two channels in the head, a first channel having a pawl that does not permit withdrawal of the strap and a second channel having a pawl that permits withdrawal of the strap by means of a lever extending from the pawl that causes the pawl to disengage when actuated with a finger.
Many of the previously described methods have limitations. For example, cable ties having integrating blades tend to be expensive to manufacture. Cable ties having thinned regions for tearing tend to be weaker than equivalent standard cable ties. Finally, cable ties having pawls with levers that can be pressed to disengage the pawl tend to be difficult to disengage.
The several embodiments within this disclosure teach a cable tie and a method for using a cable tie that addresses limitations of standard cable ties and of cable ties adapted to be more easily removed from an object. The several embodiments disclose a cable tie having a truss or arch on or around which the strap may be looped so that the strap is maintained away from an object that the cable tie is secured to. The truss or arch creates a cavity into which a cutting implement may be inserted, therefore making it easier to cut the strap and remove the cable tie from the object. Cutting implements may include a pair of snip pliers, diagonal pliers, lineman's pliers, pincers, electric pliers, wire cutters, crimpers, scissors, shears, nippers, and so on. The cutting edge of such tools may be referred to as the “blade.”
In one embodiment the cable tie comprises a head on one end of the strap and a truss on a medial portion of the strap. The truss may be adjacent to a slot that separates the truss from the head (the slot may be adjacent to the head but it need not be). In one embodiment, the distal end of the strap may be passed over the truss, inserted into the slot, and pulled through the slot until a surface of the strap overlaps the truss, thereby forming a first loop. Although the remainder of the strap is capable of passing through the slot, it is prevented from doing so by the truss. Moreover, the first loop is prevented from collapsing onto itself because the truss around which the first loop is formed has sufficient structural integrity. Therefore, this first loop may have a region of the strap that is always separated from an object by a cavity within the truss.
In one embodiment, to secure the cable tie to an object, the distal end of the strap is passed around the object, inserted into a channel of head, and pulled through the channel to engage the strap with a pawl. To remove the cable tie from the object, a cutting implement may be inserted into the cavity beneath the truss and within the first loop, and used to cut through the first loop. The region of the strap that was maintained away from the slot by the truss may now be moved through and out of the slot, thereby releasing the cable tie from the object.
The following numerals are used to identify the corresponding elements in the figures for the several embodiments. 200-level numbers refer to elements on or associated with the head; 300-level numbers refer to elements on or associated with the strap; 400-level numbers refer to elements on or associated with the slot; 500-level numbers refer to elements on or associated with the truss.
Although the channel 210 is illustrated as a through-hole having an axis substantially perpendicular to the plane of the strap 300, its axis may be oriented in any relation to the plane of the strap 300, for example it may be substantially parallel to the plane of the strap 300 as is commonly the case for low-profile cable ties. Further, the channel 210 may be an open-faced (not fully enclosed) channel defined on a surface of the head 200 instead of a bore defined therethrough.
The separation between the head 200 and the truss 500 need not be approximately equal to the relevant dimension of the slot 400 as illustrated; there may be a distance between the truss 500 and the slot 400 and/or a distance between the head 200 and the slot 400. The effectiveness of the truss 500 to behave as a structural member capable of supporting a first loop of the strap 300, as shown in
Although the truss 500 is illustrated as an arch having two footings, the truss 500 may be any member that projects from the plane of the strap 300 that has at least one footing. For example, the truss 500 may be a single projecting member (e.g., a pillar, boss, support, or post) capable of supporting a loop of the strap 300 by itself (not illustrated); or the truss 500 may be a single projecting member that supports a loop of the strap 300 with assistance from the head 200 (not illustrated); or the truss 500 may be a pair or plurality of projecting members that together are capable of supporting a loop of the strap 300 (not illustrated). The truss 500 may itself define a cavity 510, for example if the truss 500 is shaped like an arch as shown in
The strap 300 may resist being bent into a relatively small-radius first loop as shown in
The loop shown in
The cable tie 100 may include one or more optional bumpers 340 disposed on the strap 300 adjacent to the truss 500 between the truss 500 and the distal end of the strap 300. As shown by the sequence from
The cable tie 100 may include one or more optional corrugations 320 disposed on a surface of the strap 300 near the truss. The corrugations 320 may be on the opposite surface of the strap 300 from which the truss 500 protrudes (as illustrated in the many figures); or they on the same surface of the strap 300 from which the truss 500 protrudes (not illustrated); or they may be on both wide surfaces of the strap 300 (not illustrated). The corrugations 320 may be disposed approximately adjacent and/or opposite a footing of the truss 500 or approximately adjacent and/or opposite the bumper 340, and may extend by a length approximately equal to the circumference of the first loop when formed as shown in
Finally, the cable tie 100 may optionally include a void 520 beneath the truss 500 to aid in manufacturing of a plastic injection-molded cable tie 100. The void 520 is not necessary if the truss 500 comprises one or more projecting members that do not have any overhangs relative to a parting line that divides the cable tie 100 into first and second portions. Further, the void 520 may not be necessary even if the truss 500 includes overhangs relative to a parting line provided the plastic-injection mold has slides or other elements that aid in the manufacture of such overhanging features.
The severed strap 300 is no longer held together in tension adjacent to the truss 500, meaning the severed segments of the strap 300 may move substantially freely away from the truss 500. Consequently, the remainder of the segment of the strap 300 that surrounds the object may now pass through and out of the slot 400 and away from the object as shown in
A typical cable tie generally has one strap and one locking head (one channel) as has been generally described and illustrated with reference to the first embodiment. However, cable ties exist that have multiple straps and multiple channels. For example, plastic zip-tie handcuffs used as restraining devices by law enforcement officers typically comprise two straps and two channels (the heads may be integrated together or separated by a distance). A cable tie may have more than two straps and more than two channels, and the number of channels need not equal the number of straps.
At the time of manufacture of the cable tie 100 of
Head 200a has a channel 210a and a pawl 220a to receive and engage the strap 300a, respectively. Similarly, head 200b has a channel 210b and a pawl 220b to receive and engage the strap 300b, respectively. The strap 300a and strap 300b may have serrations 310a and serrations 310b to aid the pawl 220a and pawl 220b in engaging the strap 300a and strap 300b, respectively. The strap 300a and strap 300b may have corrugations 320a and corrugations 320b to reduce bending stress when the strap 300a and strap 300b is passed over the truss 500a and truss 500b and fed through the slot 400a and slot 400b, respectively. The strap 300a and strap 300b may have a bulge 330a and bulge 330b to inhibit withdrawal of the strap 300a and strap 300b from the slot 400a and slot 400b, respectively. The strap 300a and strap 300b may have a bumper 340a and bumper 340b to inhibit overly sharp bending or kinking of the strap 300a and strap 300b when inserted and pulled through the slot 400a and slot 400b, respectively. A cavity 510a and cavity 510b may be formed when the strap 300a and strap 300b is passed over the truss 500a and truss 500b, fed through the slot 400a and slot 400b, and rested on or adjacent to the truss 500a and truss 500b, respectively. Finally, the cable tie 100 may optionally include a void 520a and void 520b beneath the truss 500a and truss 500b, respectively, to aid in manufacturing of a plastic injection-molded cable tie 100.
The foregoing embodiments are exemplary and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present invention. Various implementations and combinations of these embodiments have been recognized and anticipated. It is therefore intended that the appended claims cover all such embodiments that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
This application is claims the benefit of provisional U.S. Pat. App. 62/575,881, filed Oct. 23, 2017. The disclosure of the prior application is incorporated herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20190119018 A1 | Apr 2019 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62575881 | Oct 2017 | US |