Plastic Clip

Abstract

The present invention relates to a plastic clip comprising at least first and second clip members adapted to open and close freely by means of a spring member, one of said clip members having a pair of journals and the other clip member having a pair of bearings each of which includes a bearing portion each of the journals being fitted into each of the bearing portions.

Description

The present invention relates to a clip molded of plastic material, said clip being used, for example, on suspenders or braces for connecting the suspenders or braces to trousers, or as laundry clips for fastening laundered underweares and clothing to a clothes line, and in various other ways.

The object of the present invention is to provide a clip whose parts can be manufactured extremely easily and economically, and each of said parts can be assembled very simply and rapidly.

Further object of the present invention is to provide a clip whose appearance is smart and fine.

In the conventional type clip the assembly thereof was complicated, whereas a piece of shaft was made to pass through a bore penetrating through each bearing portion of a pair of bearings provided in each of clip members and then a spring was mounted on said shaft. In assemblying this type of clip, the spring was first spaced in a required portion between upper and lower clip members, then the bores penetrating through the bearings of said clip members were arranged in alignment with a passage in the spring for passing the shaft therethrough. After the shaft was passed through said bores and passage, both end portions of the shaft projecting outside of said bores had to be caulked. Thus, much labor and time were spent for assemblying the conventional type clip which made it uneconomical. Further, the caulked shaft ends were likely to damage clothing or the like. Moreover, since both ends of the shaft had to be caulked outside of the adjacent clip members, it was uneconomical in the first place because of the additional processing time and labor, and was also greatly impedimental to a better appearance of the entire clip.

The inventor has succeeded in obviating the aforesaid disadvantages and in developing the clip of the present invention which can be readily and rapidly manufactured and assembled on one hand, and which is superior in appearance on the other hand. One of the features of the present invention will be apparent from the following descriptions.

A clip molded of plastic material comprises at least first and second clip members formed to open and close freely by means of a resilient member, for example, a spring member. One of said clip members has a pair of protruding journals which are integral with said clip member, while the other clip member has a pair of bearings each of which is provided with a bearing portion adapted to receive each of said journals. Each of said journals is fitted into each of the bearing portions for allowing the pivotal connection between the first and the second clip members, and when tension is applied in the longitudinal direction to said clip members holding any objects, each journal is supported and remain in each bearing portion without being displaced therefrom.

The clip of the present invention constructed as described above consists of various members which can be assembled extremely readily and rapidly as mentioned hereinbefore. Each of the members can be assembled by fitting the journals of one of the clip members into the corresponding bearing portions of the bearings of the other clip member after placing the spring between both clip members, eliminating the complicated procedure in the conventional type clip of placing the bores penetrating through the bearings in alignment with the passage in the spring for passing the shaft therethrough. Said spring can be mounted between the clip members quite easily, rapidly and securely by placing one of the extended portions of the spring into a narrow groove provided in one of the clip members and other extended portion of the spring into a narrow groove provided in the other clip member.

When necessary each of the members can be assembled by first fitting each of the journals of one of the clip members into each of the corresponding bearing portions of the bearings of the other clip member and then mounting the spring in the required position in the inner side of both clip members.

Since the construction of the clip according to the present invention comprises provision of the protruding journals which are integral with one of the clip members as mentioned before and which can be fitted into the bearing portions of the other clip member, there is no need in the first place to prepare an independent connecting shaft for connecting both clip members, and in the second place to caulk the end portions of this type of journals.

The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of the present invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a clip according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a part of the clip according to the present invention wherein a lower clip member is shown with a spring mounted thereon;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the clip shown in FIG. 2 taken along the line III--III;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a part of the clip according to the present invention wherein an upper clip member is shown with the spring mounted thereon;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the clip shown in FIG. 4 taken along the line V--V;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a closing member of the clip according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of a part of the clip according to the present invention wherein a bearing portion and a journal are shown prior to their engagement with each other;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged explanatory view of a part of the clip according to the present invention showing a modification of the bearing portion;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged side view of a part of the clip according to the present invention showing a further modification of the journal;

FIG. 10 is a front view of a modification of the clip according to the present invention showing particularly the modification of the closing member;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged sectional view of another modification of the clip according to the present invention showing particularly another modification relative to the bearing portion and the journal;

FIG. 12 is a front view of a further modification of the clip according to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged sectional view of the clip according to the present invention showing the opened state thereof;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged perspective view of the clip according to the present invention showing the closed state thereof;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged perspective view of the clip according to the present invention showing the opened state thereof;

FIG. 16 is a sectional view of a conventional type clip;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged sectional view showing a still further modification relative to the bearing portion and the journal of the clip according to the present invention; and

FIG. 18 is an enlarged sectional view illustrating the modification shown in FIG. 17.

A second (lower) clip member B is a substantially straight plate and has a pair of opposed bearings 1, 1 projecting vertically upward from back parts of longitudinal side edges of the plate, said bearings being molded integrally with the plate. Further behind said bearings 1, 1 and at the rear end of the plate, there projects vertically upward from said plate a stopper 2 for preventing separation of a closing member 3 to be described later and for blocking further clockwise rotation of the same.

Said closing member 3 has, for example, an extended tail portion having a connecting slit 5 and a connecting bore 4. Said closing member 3 is L-shaped when sectional and possesses a bore 7 for engagement with a rear portion 6 of a first (upper) clip member A to be described later. Said closing member 3 has a tooth 8 protruding towards said bore 7, and this tooth 8 engages with a recess 9 in the rear portion 6 of the first clip member A to be described later when said clip members A and B are in close contact with each other for holding any objects. On the other hand, a small projection 10 is projecting from the opposite side of said tooth 8, and this small projection 10 engages with a recess 11 of the second clip member B when said clip members A and B are in close contact with each other for holding any objects.

Said second clip member B may be integrally molded of polystyrene or other thermoplastic synthetic resins, preferably of hard resins. In the drawings numeral 12 is a narrow groove for receiving one of extended portions of a torsion coil spring 13, and numeral 14 is an auxiliary clip member. This member 14 may be made of natural or synthetic rubber, or pliable synthetic resins, and the surface thereof is provided with a number of slots in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the clip member B for preventing slip.

Each of said bearings 1 has a bearing portion 15 for supporting each of journals of the first clip (upper) member A. Each of said bearing portions 15 comprises a bore 16 and a guiding face 17 for facilitating engagement of the journal, and the guiding face 17 comprises a substantially oblique section slanting from the inner side wall of the bearing 1 upwardly towards the outer side wall of the same, said oblique section being formed at least somewhat close to said bore 16.

The first clip member A may be integrally molded of polystyrene or other thermoplastic synthetic resins, preferably of hard resins. Said first clip member A is a substantially straight plate and has a pair of opposed journal bases 18, 18 projecting vertically downward from back parts of longitudinal side edges of the plate, said journal bases being formed integrally with the plate. From each of said journal bases 18 there is projecting outwardly a journal 19 which is integral with the journal base. In the drawings numeral 20 is a narrow groove for receiving the other extended portion of the torsion coil spring 13, and numeral 21 is an auxiliary clip member. This member 21 may be made of natural or synthetic rubber, or pliable synthetic resins, and the surface thereof is provided with a number of slots in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the clip member A for preventing slip.

Said journals 19 are adapted to fit into the bores 16 of the bearing portions 15 of the clip member A. Each of the journals 19 has a guiding face 22 for facilitating insertion of the journal at the top thereof. Said guiding face 22 comprises a substantially oblique section slanting from the base side of the journal 19 upwardly towards the projected side of the same, said oblique section of the guiding face 22 being formed to correspond with the oblique section of the guiding face 17 of the clip member B.

Said recess 11 has a plurality of ridges formed thereon.

FIG. 7 shows a modification wherein an oblique section of a guiding face 117 of the bearing portion 15 extends up to a bore 116, and an oblique section of a journal 119 has a form corresponding with the oblique section of guiding face 117. A bore for the journal 119 in this modification is a recess 116 as shown in FIG. 7 instead of the penetrating bore 16.

A modification of the bearing portion 15 of the bearing 1 is shown in FIG. 8, and in the case of this modification a bearing portion 115 has a slit 117' for guiding the journal and a bore 116' which communicates with the slit 117'.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9 a journal 119' has no guiding face such as the guiding face 22. Such journal may also be tapered or only the top portion thereof may be slightly tapered.

As shown in FIG. 11, one of the bearing portions 15 may be formed as shown in FIG. 3 and/or FIG. 7 (i.e., the guiding face may or may not extend up to the bore as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 3 respectively, and the bore may be or may not be the penetrating type as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 7 respectively). Also, the journal 19 has such a construction as shown in FIG. 7 (this journal may alternatively be formed in the shape as shown in FIG. 5). Further, the other bearing portions 15 may have only the bore 16 and may not have the guiding face 17 while the journal 19 may be formed without a guiding face.

The clip according to the present invention is assembled as will now be described.

First, each of journals 19 of molded clip member A is fitted into a corresponding bearing portion 15 of a clip member B, particularly into a bore 16 of the bearing portion 15. However, prior to this operation, a rear portion 6 of the clip member A is inserted into a bore 7 of a closing member 3. A torsion coil spring 13 is mounted between the clip members A and B, particularly between journal bases 18, 18 of the clip member A simultaneously as the clip members A and B are joined together by means of a joining device which is used for joining the members A and B together. One of the extended portions of the spring 13 is received in a narrow groove 20 of the clip member A, while the other extended portion of the spring 13 is received in a narrow groove 12 of the clip member B.

Alternatively, the spring 13 may be pushed into the connecting portion of the members A and B, particularly between the journal bases 18, 18 from the free ends of the members A and B after said members are joined together, and then one of the extended portions of the spring 13 is placed into the narrow groove 20 and the other extended portion is placed into the narrow groove 12.

Thus, both members A and B are assembled extremely readily and rapidly.

Since both clip members can be joined together mainly by fitting each of the journals 19 into each of the bores 16, there is no need to arrange bores of both clip members in alignment with a passage of a spring in order to pass therethrough a shaft as in a conventional type clip.

Besides, the outer end of the journals need not be caulked at outside of the bores as was necessary in the conventional type clip.

Moreover, as each of the journals 19 is integrally formed with the plastic clip member A, it can be pressed relatively easily into the bore 16 of each of the bearings 1 which is also integrally molded of the plastic material with the clip member B. What facilitates the insertion of the journals 19 into the bores 16 is the provision of the guiding face 22 on each of the journals 19 and provision of the corresponding guiding face 17 on each of the bearing portions 15, said guiding face 22 comprising the substantially oblique section slanting from the base side of the journal upwardly towards the projected side of the same, while said guiding face 17 comprising the substantially oblique section slanting from the inner side wall of the bearing 1 upwardly towards the outer side wall of the same. Both guiding faces 22 and 17 are made to correspond with each other so that they tend to facilitate smooth and rapid insertion of the journals 19 into the bores 16.

Both clip members A and B are in open state due to the action of the torsion coil spring. The closing member 3 is handled resisting the resilience of said spring, the extended tail portion of the closing member being brought in contact with the upper end of the stopper 2 of the clip member B while the small projection 10 is settled in the recess 11 of the clip member B and the tooth 8 is settled in the recess 9 of the clip member A, thereby the clip members A and B are in closed state.

Instead of providing the closing member 3, the clip members A and B may be opened and closed by using a slider 23 which embraces the clip members A and B therein as shown in FIG. 10 and slides horizontally thereon.

The clip as described hereinbefore can be used on suspenders or braces for connecting the suspenders or braces to trousers. In such use one end of a pair of suspenders or braces is passed through the connecting bore 4 by means of the connecting slit 5 and is secured thereto, while the required end of the trousers is held with the clipping end of the clip by means of the auxiliary clip members 14 and 21. Said connecting slit 5 may be formed off the center portion of the bore 4 so that said one end of the pair of suspenders or braces can not only be easily inserted into the connecting bore 4 but also be prevented from slipping off the bore 4.

This clip can also be used for fastening one end of a band to the other end of the same by securing one end to the connecting bore 4 of the clip and holding the other end with the clipping ends of the clip.

The clip according to the present invention can also be used as laundry clips, paper clips and others as will now be expalined.

The clip shown in FIG. 12 has first and second clip members A' and B' similar to those shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, FIGS. 7 to 11, FIG. 14 and FIG. 15, and the member B' possesses bearings 1', 1'. However, the closing member 3 as well as any other parts relative to the closing member 3 including the stopper 2 are omitted from this clip. A narrow groove 20' for receiving one of the extended portions of a spring 13' and a narrow groove 12' for receiving the other extended portion of the spring 13' are provided respectively on the extended tail portions of the clip members A' and B'. Said spring 13' is provided in the reversed direction to the one for the spring 13 shown in FIG. 1 in order to keep both members A' and B' usually in closed state.

The auxiliary clip members 21' and 14' shown in FIG. 12 are same as the members 21 and 14 shown in FIG. 1. Each of the bearings 1' has a bearing portion 15' for supporting each of journals of the clip member A'. Each of the bearing portions 15' comprises a bore and a guiding face for facilitating engagement of the journal, said guiding face having the same form as the guiding face previously described, and the modifications of the guiding face previously described can be applied in this case too. Further, the clip member A has a pair of journal bases same as previously described, and the journal protruding outward from each of the journal bases has also a guiding face same as the one mentioned before.

In a modification shown in FIG. 17, a bearing portion 115 is formed without having any guiding face but having only a recess for receiving a journal 119, while the journal 119 is formed having a guiding face 117.

In a modification shown in FIG. 18, a bearing portion 115 is provided with a guiding face 117 and a recess for receiving a journal 119, while no guiding face is formed on the journal 119.

While the embodiments of the invention as shown and described herein may be taken as preferred examples of the same, it is to be understood that modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

What I claim is:

1. A plastic clip comprising first and second clip members, each of the clip members having a clipping end and a second end, the first clip member having a pair of laterally outwardly extending journals formed integrally therewith intermediate the ends thereof, the second clip member having a pair of laterally spaced bearing portions formed integrally therewith intermediate the ends thereof, each of the bearing portions having an opening for rotatably receiving one of the journals, each journal being rotatably received by one of the bearing portions whereby the first and second clip members are pivotally secured to each other, spring means between the clip members for resiliently urging the clipping end portions thereof apart, and a generally L-shaped closing member movably mounted adjacent the second end of one of the clip members, the closing member being provided with a central opening and having a tail portion and a clip-engaging portion extending generally perpendicularly to the tail portion, the clip member being movable between a first position in which the clip-engaging portion thereof engages each of the clip members adjacent the second end thereof to hold the second ends of the clip members apart and the clipping ends together against the force of the spring and a second position in which the second end of said one clip member extends through the central opening in the clip member whereby the closing member permits the second ends of the clip members to move toward each other to separate the clipping ends.

2. The clip of claim 1 in which at least one of the associated journals and bearing portions is provided with guide means to facilitate insertion of the journals into the bearing portions.

3. The clip of claim 1 in which the other clip member includes a rear portion extending from the second end thereof toward the second end of said one clip member, the tail portion of the closing member being engageable with said rear portion when the closing member is in the first position.

4. The clip of claim 1 in which the opening is formed in the tail portion adjacent the intersection of the tail portion and the clip-engaging portion.

5. The clip of claim 1 in which the clip-engaging portion includes a pair of projections extending generally perpendicularly to the tail portion, the projections extending generally perpendicularly to the clip members when the closing member is in the first position with one of the projections engaging the first clip member and the other projection engaging the second clip member to hold the second ends of the clip members apart when the closing member is in the first position, the projections extending between the clip members generally parallel therewith when the closing member is in the second position.

6. The clip of claim 5 in which the other clip member includes a rear portion extending from the second end thereof toward the second end of said one clip member, the tail portion of the closing member being engageable with said rear portion when the closing member is in the first position.

7. The clip of claim 5 in which the tail portion of the closing member is provided with a strap opening spaced from the first mentioned opening whereby the clip can be secured to strap means.

8. The clip of claim 5 in which the opening is formed in the tail portion adjacent the intersection of the tail portion and the clip-engaging portion.