Unitary elastic binding element

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a unitary elastic binding element, and more particularly to a unitary elastic binding element made of silicon materials and including an endless and non-circular shape.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Typical unitary elastic binding elements or rubber bands are normally made of rubber materials and comprise an endless and circular band member which includes a circular or annular cross section.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,736 to Williams discloses one of the typical elastic binding devices including one or more rubber tubing cores engaged in an outer woven jacket that can be elongated and contracted with the core.

However, the rubber tubing cores are made of rubber materials and may only be formed into or formed as an endless and circular band member which includes a circular or annular cross section, but may not be formed into the other shapes or configurations.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,842,948 to Smith discloses a typical rubber band retainer apparatus including one or more cylindrical strands to be retained together with a retainer.

However, similarly, the cylindrical strands are also made of rubber materials and may only be formed into or formed as an endless and circular or cylindrical band member which includes a circular or annular cross section, but may not be formed into the other shapes or configurations.

In addition, the rubber materials for making or forming the typical elastic binding devices or the typical rubber bands may not be suitably or completely burned and may generate poisonous materials, such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins which may seriously pollute our environment.

Furthermore, the rubber materials of the typical elastic binding devices or the typical rubber bands may become sticky by heat or may become embrittlement after aging and may not be suitably used after aging.

The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional unitary elastic binding elements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a unitary elastic binding element made of silicon materials and including an endless and non-circular shape or formable into various kinds of outer contours other than circular or cylindrical shapes.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a unitary elastic binding element comprising an endless band member made of a silicon material which will not pollute our environment, and formable into and retained in a predetermined contour.

The endless band member may include either a square cross section, a rectangular cross section, a cylindrical cross section, or a circular cross section.

The endless band member may include one or more words, or one or more patterns applied onto the outer peripheral portions for such as decorative purposes.

The endless band member is preferably made of silicon polymer materials or the like. The endless band member may further include one or more decorative members attached onto the endless band member.

Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan schematic view of a unitary elastic binding element in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the unitary elastic binding element taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view similar to FIG. 2, illustrating the other arrangement of the unitary elastic binding element;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3, illustrating the further arrangement of the unitary elastic binding element;

FIG. 5 is a plan schematic view similar to FIG. 1, illustrating the still further arrangement of the unitary elastic binding element;

FIG. 6 is a plan schematic view similar to FIGS. 1 and 5, illustrating the still further arrangement of the unitary elastic binding element;

FIG. 7 is a plan schematic view similar to FIGS. 1 and 5-6, illustrating the still further arrangement of the unitary elastic binding element;

FIG. 8 is a plan schematic view similar to FIGS. 1 and 5-7, illustrating the still further arrangement of the unitary elastic binding element;

FIG. 9 is a plan schematic view similar to FIGS. 1 and 5-8, illustrating the still further arrangement of the unitary elastic binding element;

FIG. 10 is a plan schematic view similar to FIGS. 1 and 5-9, illustrating the still further arrangement of the unitary elastic binding element;

FIG. 11 is a plan schematic view similar to FIGS. 1 and 5-10, illustrating the still further arrangement of the unitary elastic binding element; and

FIG. 12 is a plan schematic view similar to FIGS. 1 and 5-11, illustrating the still further arrangement of the unitary elastic binding element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, a unitary elastic binding element 1 in accordance with the present invention comprises an endless strap or band member 10 made of silicon materials, such as silicon rubber materials or silicon polymer materials which may be completely burned without generating poisonous materials, such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins that will pollute our environment, and the silicon materials will not become sticky or embrittlement after aging and may be suitably used after a long time.

The endless band member 10 may be formed into and retained in various shapes or configurations or predetermined contours, such as the bat-shaped member 10 as shown in FIG. 1, the apple-shaped member 11 as shown in FIG. 5, the circular-shaped member 13 as shown in FIG. 6, the bone-shaped member 14 as shown in FIG. 7, the hat-shaped member 15 as shown in FIG. 8, the angel-shaped member 16 as shown in FIG. 9, the bat-shaped member 17 as shown in FIG. 10, the cat-shaped member 18 as shown in FIG. 11, or the oblong or cylindrical-shaped member 19 as shown in FIG. 12 which may include one or more heart-shaped decorative members 20 attached thereto or disposed or provided on the ends of the cylindrical-shaped member 19 for such as decorative purposes.

As shown in FIG. 2, the endless band member 10 may include a rectangular or square cross section, or may include a cylindrical cross section as shown in FIG. 3, or may include a circular or annular cross section as shown in FIG. 4, and the endless band member 10 may be retained in the various cross sections as shown in FIGS. 2-4, and may also be retained in the various shapes or configurations or contours as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5-12 because of the silicon or silicon rubber materials. Furthermore, the endless band member 10 may be formed into various sizes or dimensions or widths or heights and/or thicknesses for such as hair-binding purposes, or for binding various objects, such as paper sheets, pens, or for providing resilient forces to the elastic band powered tit guns or the like.

In addition, the endless band member 10 may be applied with various words or phrases 21, 22 as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, and/or may be applied with various figures or patterns 23, 24 as also shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, and/or may include one or more heart-shaped decorative members 20 (FIG. 12) disposed or provided or attached to the cylindrical-shaped member 19 for such as decorative purposes.

Accordingly, the unitary elastic binding element in accordance with the present invention may be made of silicon materials and may include an endless and non-circular shape or formable into various kinds of outer contours other than circular or cylindrical shapes.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Unitary elastic binding element

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