Cable tie with improved pawl
AssigneeThomas & Betts International, Inc.
InventorPaul John Bartholomew
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cable tie includes a band of one material and a pawl of a different material. The pawl has a stem region and a securing region, wherein the securing region includes at least one barb and a stabilizing surface opposite the at least one barb. The band includes a head section and a tail section that may be inserted through the head section to secure a load. The head section includes a base section into which at least a portion of the stem region of the pawl is inserted, and an insertion channel to receive the tail section, wherein at least a portion of the pawl extends into the insertion channel. When a load is exerted to remove the tail section from the insertion channel, the barb engages the tail section and the stabilizing surface contacts a wall of the insertion channel to prevent bending of the pawl.
Claims20
A cable tie, comprising:
- a pawl of a first material, the pawl including a stem region and a securing region, wherein the securing region includes at least one barb and a stabilizing surface opposite the at least one barb;
- and
- a band of a second material, different than the first material, the band including a head section and a tail section, the head section including:
- a base section into which at least a portion of the stem region of the pawl is inserted, and
- an insertion channel to receive the tail section, wherein at least a portion of the pawl extends into the insertion channel,
- wherein, when a load is exerted to remove the tail section from the insertion channel, the at least one barb engages the tail section and the stabilizing surface contacts a side of the insertion channel to prevent bending of the pawl.
A pawl for a cable tie, comprising:
- an embedded region configured to be embedded into a base of the cable tie;
- a deflection region, adjacent to the embedded region, to allow bending of the pawl in response to an applied force from an object contacting the barb when the object advances in a first direction within a channel of the cable tie;
- and
- a hook-shaped securing region including a barbed surface on the outside of the hooked-shape securing region includes at least one barb configured to engage the object contacting the barb when the embedded region is embedded into the base of the cable tie and when the object advances in a second direction opposite the first direction within the channel, and a stabilizing surface, generally opposite the barbed surface, configured to contact a side of the channel to prevent bending of the pawl when the embedded region is embedded into the base of the cable tie and when force is applied from the object in the second direction.
A cable tie head, comprising:
- a pawl including a stem region and a securing region, wherein the securing region includes at least one barb and a stabilizing surface opposite the at least one barb, and wherein the pawl includes a first material;
- a base section to receive at least a portion of the stem region, wherein the base section includes a second material that is different than the first material;
- an insertion channel to receive a strap for the cable tie, wherein at least a portion of the pawl extends into the insertion channel;
- and
- wherein, when an extraction load is applied to remove the strap from the insertion channel, the at least one barb engages the strap and the stabilizing surface contacts a side of the insertion channel to prevent bending of the pawl.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.