U.S. patent number 3,787,922 [Application Number 05/164,561] was granted by the patent office on 1974-01-29 for edge protector.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Flex-o-Laters Inc.. Invention is credited to Harmon W. Arnold, Charles L. Foy.
United States Patent |
3,787,922 |
Foy , et al. |
January 29, 1974 |
EDGE PROTECTOR
Abstract
An edge protector adapted to be applied over the edges of metal,
glass or other sheet materials to prevent damage to the edges of
said sheets, and to prevent damage by said edges to adjacent
sheets, consisting of continuously extruded section of resilient
plastic including in cross-sectional contour, a U-shaped clip
portion adapted to engage frictionally therein the edge portion of
a sheet, a broad shock-absorbing head portion adjacent the closed
edge of the clip portion, and a thin, narrow neck interconnecting
the clip and head portions whereby the head portion can tilt
laterally with respect to the clip portion.
Inventors: |
Foy; Charles L. (Southfield,
MI), Arnold; Harmon W. (Carthage, MO) |
Assignee: |
Flex-o-Laters Inc. (Carthage,
MO)
|
Family
ID: |
22595063 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/164,561 |
Filed: |
July 21, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
16/404; 248/473;
248/466 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
59/00 (20130101); A47G 1/142 (20130101); A47B
95/00 (20130101); Y10T 16/95 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
A47B
95/00 (20060101); A47G 1/14 (20060101); A47G
1/00 (20060101); B65D 59/00 (20060101); A47g
001/10 () |
Field of
Search: |
;16/1,DIG.2,150,158,86,DIG.13,171 ;40/125H
;248/473,469,488,490,316D,345.1 ;52/400,403,716 ;135/62,64,54 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
782,714 |
|
Sep 1957 |
|
GB |
|
1,337,947 |
|
Nov 1963 |
|
FR |
|
Primary Examiner: Gay; Bobby R.
Assistant Examiner: Aschenbrenner; Peter A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Hamilton; John A.
Claims
What we claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent
is:
1. An edge protector comprising an elongated member formed of a
flexible, resilient plastic material having only moderately
efficient recovery characteristics from deforming strains, said
protector being of one-piece, homogenous structure and of uniform
cross-sectional contour throughout its length, and including the
following elements:
a. an elongated clip member of generally U-shaped cross-sectional
contour having generally parallel, spaced-apart side walls
connected by a base portion, and adapted to receive therein the
edge portion of a sheet article of a thickness for which the
protector is designed, said side walls being spaced apart by a
distance greater than the thickness of said sheet article and
having yieldable inward projections adapted to engage and grip said
sheet aritcle therebetween, and to center said sheet article
between said side walls,
b. an elongated head member longitudinally coextensive with said
clip member and disposed adjacent and parallel to the base portion
of said clip member, and
c. a narrow neck joining said head and clip members and being
sufficiently thin to constitute a flexible hinge permitting
relative pivotal movement between said head and clip members about
an axis parallel to and intermediate said members, said neck being
centered between the planes of said side walls, and the thickness
of said neck, in a plane normal to said side walls, being less than
the thickness of said side walls, less than the space between said
side walls, and less than the thickness of said sheet article,
whereby a shock load transmitted to said clip member by said neck
will be delivered to the edge surface of said sheet article.
2. An edge protector as recited in claim 1 wherein said head member
comprises a generally planar strip with its plane normally at
generally right angles to the planes of the side walls of said
clip, and wherein the surface of said head distal from said clip is
transversely concave.
3. An edge protector as recited in claim 1 wherein said clip member
side walls extend unequal distances from said base connecting
portion, and wherein said inward projections of said side walls
include a pair of inwardly projecting lips carried respectively by
the side walls, said lips being equidistant from said base
connecting portion whereby to engage each other normally to
preserve a fixed spacing between said side walls, and being
inclined toward said base connecting portion.
4. An edge protector as recited in claim 3 wherein said inward
projections of said side walls additionally include one or more
resilient flaps projecting inwardly from each side wall
intermediate the lip thereof and said connecting base portion, said
flaps extending more than one-half of the normal spacing between
said side walls, being inclined toward said base connecting
portion, and being disposed at graduated distances from said base
connecting portion whereby the flaps of one side wall will normally
interdigitate with the flaps of the other side wall.
5. An edge protector as recited in claim 4 wherein one of said side
walls has a lesser number of said flaps than the other side wall,
and wherein the flaps carried by said one side wall are thicker and
less flexible than the flaps carried by said other side wall.
Description
This invention relates to new and useful improvements in edge
protectors, and has particular reference to edge protectors
consisting generally of continuous strips of protective material
adapted to be applied and secured to the edges of panels of sheet
metal, glass, or the like, to prevent damage to or by said edges.
Such edge protectors are highly desirable, for example, when large
numbers of finished sheets of metal or the like must be shipped,
stored, or the like, since they prevent the sharp edges of said
sheets from cutting, scratching, marring, or otherwise damaging
other sheets, or cutting or destroying paper or other wrappers in
which the sheets may be enclosed. They also tend to protect the
edges of the sheets to which they are applied, as for example to
minimize denting or bending thereof by edge blows thereon, and in
the case of enameled or otherwise coated sheets, to prevent
scraping contact of the edges of a sheet with obstacles, which
could peel the coating away from the sheet for a considerable
distance from its edge. The specific uses of edge protectors of
this type are too numerous to catalog in detail.
Edge protectors of this general character, consisting essentially
of an elongated clip of U-shaped cross-sectional contour, and
formed of resilient material to engage frictionally over the edge
of a metal sheet, are presently in use, but have been found to
possess certain objectionable features. For example, while they are
generally effective in preventing the edges of a sheet protected
thereby from scratching or damaging other sheets nearby, the
connecting base portion of the U-shaped clip is rather thick and
seats solidly on the extreme edge of the protected sheet, and
therefore has at best rather poor shock-absorbing properties in
preventing damage to the sheet itself, in that the sheet edge
itself may be rather easily dented or otherwise damaged by external
blows against the protector. Accordingly, an object of the present
invention is the provision of an edge protector of the general
character described having greatly improved shock-absorbing
properties. Generally, this object is accomplished by the addition
to the U-shaped clip member of a transversely yieldable head member
adjacent and aligned with the base portion of the clip. Previous
attempts to improve the shock-absorbing properties of the clip have
been made by giving the base portion of the clip special
configurations permitting some yieldability thereof in the plane of
the sheet to which the clip is attached, but the necessarily small
dimensions of the clip, and the necessity of using material
sufficiently dense to afford the required structural strength, have
rendered such attempts at best only partially successful.
Also, it is evident that in normal use, the plane of a sheet
protected by edge protectors will not always be disposed normally
or at right angles to the surface engaged by the protector, whether
that surface be an adjacent sheet, floor, the wall of a packing
case, or anything else, but will often be disposed at some acute
angle thereto. With all previous edge protectors of this general
class within our knowledge, it has been found that impact blows
between the protector and the supporting surface, at such an acute
angle, often results in a tendency to spring the walls of the
U-shaped clip apart, thereby loosening or completely relaxing the
frictional grip of said walls on the sheet, so that there is danger
the protector will fall away from the sheet and its protection
lost. Furthermore, if the U-shaped clip has been specially
configurated to provide a shock-absorbing cushion, the cushion
effect is generally, unidirectional relative to the protector, and
is lost, or diminished if force is applied thereto at another
angle, as for example the acute angle as discussed above.
Accordingly, another object of the present invention is the
provision of an edge protector of the character described which
preserves a uniform cushioning action through a wide range of
angles between the protected sheet and the surface engaged by the
protector, and the frictional grip of which on the sheet is not
loosened by edge blows thereon. This is accomplished by the
provision of a hinge connection between the clip and the previously
mentioned head member and also by a special configuration of the
clip walls.
Other objects are simplicity and economy of construction, the
protector consisting entirely of a resilient plastic, and being
formed completely by extrusion, in either one or two pieces, and
efficiency and dependability of operation.
With these objects in view, as well as other objects which will
appear in the course of the specification, reference will be had to
the accompanying drawing, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a sheet of metal
with an edge protector embodying the present invention applied
operatively thereto,
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line II--II of FIG.
1,
FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing the metal sheet
inclined acutely to a supporting surface,
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing the edge protector
only,
FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view similar to FIG. 4, showing a
slightly modified form of construction,
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line VI--VI of FIG.
5, and
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 4 but showing a slight
modification of structure.
Like reference numerals apply to similar parts throughout the
several views, and the numeral 2 applies to a sheet of material
such as metal, the edge 4 of which is to be guarded and shielded by
an edge protector. Edge 4 may be either straight, as shown, or
curved. The edge protector contemplated by the present invention,
in the form thereof illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, is indicated
generally by the numeral 6, and consists of an elongated form of
uniform cross-sectional contour which may be conveniently and
economically formed by extrusion of a comparatively soft, flexible,
resilient material such as certain types of plastics. A low-density
polyethylene is entirely satisfactory. It may be formed in
continuous lengths, then cut with shears or the like into shorter
lengths as may be necessary or desirable for any particular
job.
In cross-sectional contour, the protector includes, as best shown
in FIG. 4, a U-shaped clip portion 8, a head portion 10, and a
narrow neck 12 interconnecting said clip and head portions. Clip
portion 8 includes a base connecting portion 14 and a pair of side
walls 16 and 18 extending in generally parallel relation from the
laterally opposite edge of base 14. The clip portion is adapted to
be applied over the edge portion 4 of sheet 2, as shown in FIGS.
1-3, and side walls 16 and 18 project unequal distances from base
14 whereby to facilitate the application of the clip to the sheet.
The shorter side wall 16 has an inturned lip 20 formed continuously
along the free edge thereof, said lip being inclined toward base
14. The longer side wall 18 likewise has an inturned lip 22 formed
therealong adjacent its free edge and inclined toward base 14. Lips
20 and 22 are spaced equidistantly from base 14, so as normally to
engage each other as shown in FIG. 4 whereby to limit the movement
of the side walls 16 and 18 toward each other and to preserve a
V-shaped entry slot 24 between their free edges. This further
facilitates the application of the protector over the edge of sheet
2. Each side wall 16 and 18 also has one or more inwardly directed
continuous flaps 26 formed on the inner surface thereof,
intermediate base 14 and the free edge lip 20 or 22 thereof. Flaps
26 are also inclined toward base 14, and are relatively thin, and
hence more flexible, as compared to the side walls. Also, the flaps
26 of the respective side walls are disposed in staggered relation
on said side walls, and extend more than half the distance to the
opposite side wall, so that normally the flaps of the opposite
walls extend into interdigitating relation, as shown in FIG. 4. The
purpose of these flaps will be fully set forth below.
Head portion 10 of the protector has the form generally of a
continuous flat strip extending parallel to clip 8, and the plane
of which is disposed normally at right angles to the plane of a
sheet 2 inserted between side walls 16 and 18 of the clip. Head 10
is relatively thick along its midline, but tapers to a relatively
thinner section at both of its lateral edges. The surface of the
head distal from clip 8 is transversely concave, as indicated at
28. Neck 12 comprises a narrow section of plastic extending
longitudinally of the connector, and integrally interconnecting
said clip and head along the midline of the exterior surface of
base portion 14 of the clip, and the midline of surface of the head
opposite from the concave surface 28 thereof. Said neck is
sufficiently thin to permit easy, hinge-like pivoting between the
clip and head, and normally holds the clip and head in closely
spaced apart relation as shown.
In use, clip portion 8 of the protector is applied over edge 4 of
sheet 2 as shown and described, the resilience of side walls 16 and
18, lips 20 and 22 and flaps 26 providing a secure frictional grip,
so that the concave surface 28 of head 10 rests against any
supporting surface, illustrated as 30, which would otherwise engage
and support said sheet. It will be seen first that any compressive
force between sheet 2 and surface 30, as caused for example by the
weight of the sheet or dropping of the sheet to the surface, will
cause resilient deformation of the head accompanied by partial
flattening of the concave curvature thereof, as shown in FIGS. 2
and 3. This action performs a spring shock-absorbing function which
very effectively prevents impact damage or bending of the edges of
the sheet. Moreover, this curshioning effect is preserved even if
plate 2 should be disposed at an acute angle to surface 30, as
shown in FIG. 3, since in that case head 10 merely pivots relative
to the clip, as permitted by the flexibility of neck 12, so as to
engage surface 30 as before. If head 10 were not effectively hinged
to the clip by neck 12, and if sheet 2 were acutely angled to
surface 30 as in FIG. 3, then only one or the other of the lateral
edges of the head would engage surface 30, and the cushioning
effect of the head would be greatly diminished, or lost.
In the absence of head 10, the protector would consist merely of
the U-shaped clip portion 8, as do many edge protectors in current
use. In such protectors, it will be understood that impact blows to
the outer surface thereof, along the juncture lines between the
base and side walls thereof, as indicated at 32 and 34 in FIG. 2,
have a definite tendency to "spring" the clip open so that its
frictional grip on sheet 2 is diminished, or released entirely.
That is, blows along these lines, which are the most exposed points
and hence the most likely to receive blows, have a tendency to
increase or flatten the angle between the base and the associated
side wall. Since the plastic of which the protector is formed is
relatively inefficient in recovering completely after deformation,
the momentary increase of angle between the base and side wall,
resulting from a blow, is likely, in some degree, to remain
permanently after the blow. Thus the side walls 16 and 18, after
the blow, are spaced a little farther apart, and their frictional
grip on sheet 2 is reduced. In the present structure, this
undesirable effect is largely prevented by neck 12, which transmits
the force of any blow received by head 10, not to the lines 32-34
along the base-side wall angles, but instead to the midline of the
base directly over edge 4 of sheet 2. In this manner, any
possibility that a blow to head 10 could cause the clip to spring
open is virtually eliminated. However, with sheet 2 angled acutely
to surface 30 to the maximum extent permitted by hinge neck 12, as
shown in FIG. 3, so that one or the other of base-side wall angles
32 or 34 (34 as shown) rests directly on head 10, there would still
be the possibility that a blow to head 10 would be transmitted
directly to angle 34, though reduced in intensity by the
yieldability of the head itself, and thus cause some tendency to
spring the side walls apart. In the present structure, this effect
is counteracted by flaps 26 of the clip. These flaps, being much
thinner and hence more flexibile than side walls 16 and 18, are
less subject to permanent deformation than said side walls, so that
in the event said side walls should be slightly sprung apart as
described, flaps 26 simply recover to a slightly greater degree,
and hence retain their frictional grip on sheet 2. If there are, as
shown, an unequal number of flaps 26 on the two side walls (two on
side wall 18 and only one on side wall 16) the flaps on the side
wall carrying the fewer flaps may be made thicker than those on the
other side wall, to better balance the load and center sheet 2
therebetween.
FIGS. 5 and 6 show a slightly modified construction which is
identical to that shown in FIGS. 1-4, corresponding parts being
indicated by corresponding primed numerals, except that clip 8' and
head 10+ are formed by separate extrusions, and are joined by a
hinge connection other than the integral neck 12 shown in FIGS.
1-4. Iead, a cylindrical rib 6 is formed continuously along the
exterior side of clip base 14', at the midline thereof, and
connected to base 14' by a integral neck 38 of reduced transverse
width. Head 10' is formed with a continuous cylindrical groove 40
in the surface thereof opposite from concave surface 28' thereof,
said groove opening exteriorly of the head. The clip and head are
assembled by rolling or "popping" rib 36 into groove 40, whereby to
form a pivotal connection between said clip and head. The operation
of this species of the invention is generally identical to that of
the species shown in FIGS. 1-4, although its manufacture is
somewhat more expensive. It will be understood, however, that rib
36 engages frictionally in groove 40, so that it will retain any
pre-set angularity between the clip and head. This may be
desirable, for example, when using the protector in circumstances
involving a very small load between the protector and its
supporting surface 30. In such circumstances, the tendency of necks
12 to elastic recovery from any deformed position might tend to
move the sheet 2 out of a necessary or desired position, or the
like.
While we have shown and described certain specific embodiments of
our invention, it will be readily apparent that many minor changes
of structure and operation could be made without departing from the
spirit of the invention.
* * * * *