Releasable cable tie

A method of tying and securing electrical cables, comprising:

• (a) providing a molded one-piece plastic elongate planar strap for binding electrical cables and a plurality of strap teeth formed on one side of said strap;
• (b) inserting said strap into a locking head on said strap in a locking direction and forming a loop to receive cables to be bound, with the plurality of strap teeth being on the side of the strap away from the cables to be bound;
• (c) locking said strap in said locking head formed at one end of said strap through an opening for receiving an opposite end of said strap and having at least one lock tooth on said latch complementary to said strap teeth and extending into said opening and adapted to engage with a strap tooth for preventing movement of said strap in a release direction, said releasable latch formed integrally with said strap and extending outwardly therefrom away from said strap, to form a locked strap;
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• (d) releasing said locked strap by activating a releasable latch on said locking head pivotally supported on said strap wherein said releasable latch is readily accessible by the user, said latch being deflected about a pivot line on the locking head to release the lock tooth from engagement with a strap tooth to permit the strap to be moved in a release direction, said strap being releasable from the body and said locking head being reusable.

A releasable cable tie, comprising:

• (a) a molded one-piece thermoplastic elongated planar strap for binding electrical cables;
• (b) a plurality of strap teeth formed on one side of said strap;
• (c) a locking head formed at one end of said strap, said locking head having an opening therethrough for receiving an opposite end of said strap, said opposite end being insertable into said opening in a locking direction and forming a loop to receive electrical cables to be bound, with the plurality of strap teeth being on the side of the strap away from the electrical cables to be bound;
• (d) a releasable latch on said locking head pivotally supported on said strap and at least one latch lock tooth on said latch complementary to said strap teeth and extending into said opening and adapted to engage with a strap tooth for preventing movement of said strap in a release direction, said releasable latch formed integrally with said strap;
• (e) a large and wide thumb pad having a width at least 95% of the width of said strap to form a releasable latch readily accessible by the user, said large and wide thumb pad being positioned to be deflected about a pivot line on the strap to release the lock tooth from engagement with a strap tooth to permit the strap to be moved in a release direction;
• (f) an index finger back plate positioned below said thumb pad and having a width and length at least as large as the width and height of said thumb pad behind said large and wide thumb pad;
• (g) wherein said large and wide thumb pad extends away from said strap when said strap is in said window and is readily accessible by the user for deflection about a pivot line;
• (h) wherein said latch lock tooth is on the side of the opening opposite from said strap and is directly actuated by movement of said large and wide thumb pad so as to move said latch lock tooth from locking engagement with a strap tooth a sufficient distance to enable movement of the said strap in a release direction;
• (i) wherein the latch lock tooth is positioned at one end of the thumb pad integrally formed on said thumb pad, and said thumb pad is joined to a bridging member positioned below the latch lock tooth, whereby pressure on the end of the thumb pad will pivot the releasable latch about the bridging member and free the latch lock tooth from engagement with the strap tooth;
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• (j) locking head side walls reinforcing the latch and constructed and arranged so as to define the bridging member and pivot line for the latch, said strap being easily releasable from the body and said locking head being reusable.