Claims
- 1. A rod clip comprising:
a first portion having a top surface with a recess and a bottom surface, a second portion hinged to the first portion, said second portion having a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein folding the second portion over the first portion forms a channel for retaining the rod; a lever retaining device disposed on one of the first and second portions; and at least one rod-retaining tab disposed on the first portion, said rod-retaining tab adapted to retain a rod in the recess prior to folding the second portion over the first portion.
- 2. The rod clip according to claim 1, wherein the hinge is formed by apertures on sides of one of the first and second portions and corresponding protrusions on the other of the first and second portions, said protrusions extending into the apertures to allow pivoting of the first and second portions with respect to each other.
- 3. The rod clip according to claim 1, wherein the areas of the first and second portions that form the channel are threaded so as to securely retain a correspondingly threaded rod.
- 4. The rod clip according to claim 1, wherein the locking device comprises a latch on one of the first and second portions, and a recess on the other of said first and second portions, wherein said latch snaps into said recess to lock the first and second portions together.
- 5. The rod clip according to claim 1, wherein the lever retaining device comprises a protrusion extending below the bottom surface of one of said first and second portions.
- 6. The rod clip according to claim 5, wherein the protrusion comprises a cylinder having latches to engage a lever.
- 7. The rod clip according to claim 5, wherein the protrusion includes wings extending outward from the protrusion to engage a lever.
- 8. The rod clip according to claim 1, wherein the lever retaining device is formed by an extension of one of the first and second portions, the extension comprising a first leg, a second leg pivotally and integrally connected to the first leg and an end section, such that folding the second leg over the first leg forms the lever retaining device and causes the end section to abut the top surface of the respective first or second portion.
- 9. The rod clip according to claim 1, wherein the rod clip is produced already assembled in a one-step injection molding process.
- 10. The rod clip according to claim 1, wherein there are four rod-retaining tabs, two tabs being disposed opposing each other on one end of said recess and two tabs being disposed opposing each other on another end of said recess, a top portion of said tabs protruding into a space above the recess, so that a rod can be snapped into said recess over said tabs and retained in said recess until the second portion is folded over the first portion.
- 11. The rod clip according to claim 10, wherein the tabs are integrally formed with the rod clip.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This is a continuation-in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/187,663, filed on Jul. 2, 2002, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10187663 |
Jul 2002 |
US |
Child |
10768763 |
Jan 2004 |
US |