Strap tightener
AssigneeAshimori Industry Co., Ltd.
InventorsSeishiro Akaura, Motohide Kagimura
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A strap tightener in which a specific releasable tensioning and clasping mechanism for a strap is incorporated to hold heavy loads under tension firmly in a given position. The strap tightener can advantageously be used to tie down cargo containers, motor vehicles and the like heavy loads to fixing structures on carrier vessels or carts. The strap tightener has a simple and economical structure with a reduced number of parts and is thus smoothly operable to attain good strap tensioning without incurring any damage of the strap and any loosening of the tensioned strap during the use.
Claims16
A strap tightener which comprises:
- a body including a pair of spaced parallel side plates, a longitudinally elongated slot formed in each of the side plates and a cam-supporting means laterally bridging the spaced side plates at the lower ends thereof beneath the elongated slots, and
- an operating lever having a pair of spaced parallel side plate members, a first shaft laterally extending through the basal portions of the side plate members and passing through the elongated slots in the side plates of the body in such manner that both ends of the first shaft are engaged in the slots and are slidably movable therein, and a second shaft spaced away from and in parallel to the first shaft and connecting the bottom portions of the spaced side plate members, the lower end of each side plate member being provided with a cam means having a first arcuate portion having its center on or near an axis of the first shaft and a second arcuate portion having its center on or near an axis of the second shaft;
- a strap with one free end and with a hook on the opposite end thereof being introduced into the body and the lever in such manner that the strap is passed underneath the second shaft and around the first shaft and then pulled out from the body and the lever through the clearance formed between the second shaft and the introduced strap;
- and the arrangement being such that when the lever is in its release position, the second shaft is positioned ahead of the first shaft to permit the strap to move in either direction and that when the lever is moved towards its lock position, the first arcuate portion of the cam means is first brought into sliding contact with the cam-supporting means to allow the lever to move almost pivotally about the center of the first shaft whereby the strap is squeezed downward by the second shaft, and the second arcuate portion is then brought into sliding contact with the cam-supporting means to allow the lever to move almost pivotally about the center of the second shaft whereby the first shaft moves along the elongated slots and beyond the second shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.