The present invention relates to a clipping apparatus and particularly to a sideward clipping apparatus.
A clipping apparatus mainly aims to couple two elements together or release one of the two elements through a simple operation. It generally is adopted on doors or the like. For instance, the door of the operation panel of household appliances usually uses such an apparatus. The conventional clipping apparatus have many types and are operated in different ways. They mostly adopt depressing operation. A first depressing is for coupling, and a second depressing is for releasing.
R.O.C. patent publication No. 568197 discloses a clipping apparatus which includes an anchor seat and a sliding seat. The anchor seat has a housing trough for housing an elastic U-shaped action bar and a spring on the bottom. The sliding seat has an action plate slidable in the housing trough. The action bar has two opposing suspension ends interacting with two bosses extended from two sides of the action plate through the returning elastic force of the spring. Thereby the sliding seat can be maintained on a selected position. The clipping apparatus thus formed can be operated by depressing.
The patent set forth above also discloses a prior art (FIGS. 11 through 14) of a clipping apparatus which has a case and a clipping element slidable in the case. The clipping element can slide in the case to form a clamping action to provide clipping function.
R.O.C. patent publication No. M269369 discloses a depressing clipping apparatus which provides holding and clipping function through a cyclic operation accomplished by depressing twice. It has a seat and a sliding seat. The seat has a hollow housing space to hold the sliding seat. The sliding seat has a base and a retaining portion on the bottom of the base. The base further has one side coupled with a clipping portion which is movable in a fan type. The retaining portion and the clipping portion form a clipping space between them.
As previously discussed, clipping apparatus is an indispensable element in many devices. Its stability and life span are important factors to be considered when they are being used.
The primary object of the present invention is to solve the disadvantages of the conventional clipping apparatus. The present invention includes a seat which has a housing trough to hold a sliding member. The sliding member is movable in the housing trough to a first position in normal conditions and a second position in a depressed condition. The sliding member has a pawl which includes an upper clipping end and a lower clipping end. The lower clipping end can synchronously drive the upper clipping end through a coupling portion when subject to a force at an initial stage to form a first fan type moving track. The lower clipping end is in contact with the sliding member and moved vertically under the force to the second position, and drives the upper clipping end to form a second fan type moving track. Thereby the upper and lower clipping ends form a clipping space when the sliding member is on the second position to clip a desired article.
Another object of the present invention is to enhance clipping accuracy of the clipping apparatus. The apparatus has a flexible coupling section to couple the upper and lower clipping ends. Therefore, when the pawl and article to be clipped are not precisely aligned in the clipping space, the flexible section can be moved flexibly so that the article can still be clipped securely
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
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While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.