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US 6,823,564 B2Granted
Plastic clip construction
AssigneeTipper Tie, Inc.
InventorsGregory P. Gorman, James S. Smith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A two-part clip construction includes a U-shaped clip made from a plastic material with the legs of the clip spaced so as to fit over and then be deformed through a through passage in a leg locking member. The construction is especially designed to permit utilization of polymerics for forming the clips.
Claims5
A two part clip construction comprising, in combination:
- a first U-shaped clip member including first and second spaced legs joined at one end by a connecting crown, each leg having an opposite free end with an inside, said insides of said free ends of said legs spaced a first distance, said first clip member formed from a deformable, plastic material, whereby the first clip member may be strained to form a generally closed loop shape having the legs arranged in an overlapping array with the leg ends extending in generally opposite directions;
- and
- a leg retention member for engaging the legs, said retention member comprising a block with first and second, spaced opposed sides and with a through passage between the opposed sides, said through passage defining openings on the opposite sides of the retention member, said openings spaced a second distance no greater than the first distance, said through passage sized and shaped to accommodate movement of the leg ends there through upon positioning the first and second free leg ends into openings respectively on opposed sides of the retention member and plastically deforming the first and second legs in overlapping array to thereby retain material gathered between the legs.
A method for retaining gathered material comprising the steps of applying a two member clip construction to the gathered material, said clip construction comprising:
- a first U-shaped clip member including first and second spaced legs joined at one end by a connecting crown, each leg having an opposite free end with an inside, said insides of said free ends of said legs spaced a first distance, said first clip member formed from a deformable, plastic material, whereby the first clip member may be strained to form a generally closed loop shape having the legs arranged in an overlapping array with the leg ends extending in generally opposite directions;
- and
- a leg retention member for engaging the legs, said retention member comprising a block with first and second, spaced opposed sides and with a through passage between the opposed sides, said through passage defining openings on the opposite sides of the retention member, said openings spaced a second distance no greater than the first distance, said through passage sized and shaped to accommodate movement of the leg ends therethrough upon positioning the first and second free leg ends into openings respectively on opposed sides of the retention member and plastically deforming the first and second legs in overlapping array to thereby retain material gathered between the legs by positioning the gathered material between the first and second leg members of the clip member;
- positioning the retention member in alignment with the clip member by orienting the retention member with the openings aligned for receipt of the leg members;
- directing the first and second leg members respectively into opposed side openings of the retention member;
- and
- plastically deforming the leg members to encircle the gathered material.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.