U.S. patent number 3,733,656 [Application Number 05/240,355] was granted by the patent office on 1973-05-22 for clothes-peg.
Invention is credited to Fred Stalder.
United States Patent |
3,733,656 |
Stalder |
May 22, 1973 |
CLOTHES-PEG
Abstract
A clothes-peg made of a closed looped strip of synthetic
material extending along the geometrical outline of a standard peg,
wherein the elasticity of the peg is no longer obtained by a
spring, but by the mere straining of the peg produced by the
interengagement of the points joining two clothes engaging jaws on
one hand and the two finger gripping ends on the other, the stress
arising through the drawing together of said points stressing and
deforming the structure, the jaws of which are thus normally urged
into cooperation.
Inventors: |
Stalder; Fred (38 Geneva,
CH) |
Family
ID: |
4289920 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/240,355 |
Filed: |
April 4, 1972 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
Current U.S.
Class: |
24/557;
D32/61 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D06F
55/00 (20130101); Y10T 24/44872 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
D06F
55/00 (20060101); D06f 055/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;24/137A,137R,255GP,255SL,243GC |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,570,080 |
|
Jun 1969 |
|
FR |
|
276,138 |
|
Jul 1965 |
|
AU |
|
398,487 |
|
Mar 1966 |
|
CH |
|
Primary Examiner: Gelak; Bernard A.
Assistant Examiner: Dorner; Kenneth J.
Claims
I claim:
1. In a clothes-peg comprising a closed looped strip including in
succession a first inner jaw surface a first outer arm surface, a
first inwardly bent gripping end surface, a second inwardly bent
gripping end surface connected with the first gripping end surface
at a point of the longitudinal axis of the peg, a second outer arm
surface and a second inner jaw surface connected with the first jaw
surface at a point on the longitudinal axis of the peg, the
provision of means interengaging the connecting points between the
jaw surfaces on the one hand and between the gripping end surfaces,
on the other.
2. A clothes-peg as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interengaging
means include a semi-cylindrical projection on one connecting point
and two part cylindrical projections formed on the other connecting
point and defining a gap through which the semi-cylindrical
projection extends to be held therebetween.
3. A clothes-peg as claimed in claim 1, wherein the strip is made
of an extruded unitary strip of synthetic material.
4. A clothes-peg as claimed in claim 1, wherein the strip is a
molded member and the jaws are urged into their closed position by
the deformation of the strained structure of the peg.
Description
As well-known in the art, clothes-pegs or spring-clips may be made
of a single part of plastics associated with means interconnecting
either the jaws or the gripping lugs of the peg. However, such
known pegs provide only a slight clamping effect, since synthetic
resins do not show the advantageous properties of spring steel as
concerns resistance and elasticity.
The invention has for its object to remove this drawback of known
clothes-pegs made of plastics by making the actual peg body act as
a spring. Thus, the tensile stresses which are underneath the
elastic limit of the material forming the peg are distributed
throughout the body of said peg and ensure thereby a sufficient
permanent clamping force.
The invention has for its object a clothes-peg constituted by a
strip forming a closed loop, which loop includes a succession of
parts corresponding sequentially to the inner surface of the first
jaw, to the outer surface of an arm carrying said jaw, to the inner
surface of a finger gripping member located at the end of the peg
facing away from the jaw on said arm, to the inner surface of the
other finger gripping member which is connected in its turn with
one end of a further arm, to the outer surface of said further arm,
and to the inner surface of the second jaw carried by the outer end
of said other arm.
According to the invention, the inner surfaces of the two clothes
engaging jaws are elastically and pivotally interconnected and the
same is the case for the inner surfaces of the finger gripping
members while the connecting points between the inner surfaces of
said jaws and between the inner surfaces of the gripping members
are provided with mutual interengaging means.
The accompanying drawing illustrates diagrammatically and by way of
example, a preferred embodiment of the improved clothes-peg. In
said drawing:
FIG. 1 is a side view of a clothes-peg as it passes out of the
resin-injecting mold.
FIG. 2 shows the same clothes-peg after its two halves have been
interengaged, so as to set it under tensile stresses urging it into
its closed condition.
FIG. 3 is a cross-section through line III--III of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of the peg illustrated in FIG. 2.
FIG. 5 shows the peg illustrated in FIG. 2 in its open
condition.
The improved clothes-peg according to the invention is made of
molded synthetic material. FIG. 1 shows it as it appears as it
passes out of the mold. It is then constituted by a strip or ribbon
1 forming a closed loop. Starting from point A of FIG. 1, and
following the strip outline clockwise, it is apparent that it
includes a part B corresponding to the inner surface of the first
jaw, a part C corresponding to the outer surface of the first arm
of the peg, two parts D and E forming the inner surfaces of the
finger gripping members forming the ends of the two arms of the
peg, a part F corresponding to the outer surface of the second arm
of the peg and a part G forming the inner surface of the second jaw
on said second arm.
It is apparent that, at the output of the mold, the inner jaw
surfaces B and G are not in contact with each other and are
interconnected by a connecting part A. This part A includes two
arcuate projections H,I facing the finger gripping end of the peg
and forming together a cylindrical surface, with a gap J between
the ends of the projections. The parts D and E on the gripping end
with a rounded cylindrical member K whose outer diameter registers
substantially with the diameter of the cylinder defined by the
projections H and I. To set the peg in a tensioned condition,
urging the clothes engaging jaws against each other, the rounded
part K is pushed into the gap J between the projections H and I,
which requires a transient elastic deformation of said projections.
The latter clamp between them the rounded part K, whereby the peg
assumes the shape illustrated in FIG. 2. The tensile stress thus
applied to the peg acts throughout the latter and urges the clothes
engaging jaws against each other with a force which is sufficient
for securely holding a piece of linen, for instance, between
them.
As illustrated more particularly in FIGS. 3 and 4, the parts C and
F of the strip 1 are provided with inner ribs 2 and 3 respectively,
which increase the rigidity of the outer surfaces of the peg
arms.
When the finger gripping ends 4 and 5 of the peg are urged towards
each other, this leads to a spacing apart of the clothes engaging
jaws 6 and 7. It should be remarked that during this passage from a
closed to an open position, the entire body of the peg is strained
and cooperates in an elastic action urging the jaws back into
engagement. It is found in particular that, during the opening and
closing movements of the peg, the parts D and E at the gripping
ends are deformed at the points joining them to the outer parts C
and F. Similarly, the parts B and G on the inside of the jaws 6 and
7 are flexed and are strained at the points connecting them with
the outer surfaces C and F of the peg arms. Further elastic
deformations appear at A between the two arm-and-jaw sections and
also in the rounded part K.
Obviously, numerous modifications may be brought to the clothes-peg
described. In particular, it is obvious that the means
interengaging the rounded part K with the two projections H and I
may be executed in various manners and include, for instance,
anchoring outlines engaging the correspondingly shaped cooperating
parts.
* * * * *