Flexible tie strut
OwnerThomas H. McGaffiganinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A flexible tie strut for supporting both compressive and tensile forces, the flexible tie strut includes a tension member and a coaxially mounted compression member, the compression member and the tensile member are interconnected at their respective ends. A coupler for interconnecting flexible tie struts, and a system of couplers and struts are also disclosed. Additionally, wheels are disclosed that have axles having both male and female connection means.
Claims10
A coupler comprising a body of two identical pieces, each piece having a generally planar mating surface and having a perimeter and having an axis therethrough and being generally symmetrical about said axis, each piece having a portion of at least one partial cavity in the perimeter thereof and in the generally planar mating surface, said pieces being connected together by contact of said mating surfaces in mirror image and coplanar fashion joining said portions to form said body having a complete cavity in the periphery thereof to form a two-dimensional connector.
A self erecting system comprising a flexible tie strut for supporting both compressive and tensile forces having a first connector means attached to the first ends of said tension member and said compression member and a second connector means attached to said second ends of said tension member and compression member to connect said flexible tie strut to objects to be connected and having a coupler having a body of two-identical pieces, each piece having a perimeter and having an axis therethrough and being generally symmetrical about said axis, each piece having a portion of at least one cavity in the perimeter thereof, said pieces being connected together in mirror image fashion to form said body having cavities in the periphery thereof to form a two-dimensional connector.
A self erecting system comprising a flexible tie strut for supporting both compressive and tensile forces having a first connector means attached to the first ends of said tension member and said compression member and a second connector means attached to said second ends of said tension member and compression member to connect said flexible tie strut to objects to be connected and having a coupler having a body of two-identical pieces, each piece having a perimeter and having a coupler having a perimeter and at least one cavity, in said perimeter, said cavity having at least one tooth extending into said cavity to engage a connector means of a tie strut to be mated to said coupler.
A wheel assembly comprising:
- at least one wheel having a rotational axis and having an opening therethrough concentric with said axis;
- and
- an axle-like member permanently mounted within said opening, said axle-like member having connector means integral with each end thereof, said connector means being a quarter-turn connector at one end and a cavity that is complimentary in dimension to said quarter turn connector having at least one tooth at the other end thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.