Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
rd <l '.'.f ?. ! _._
ROPE FASTENER
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to a rope
fastener, and, more particularly, relates to a rope
fastener which is adapted to attach a loop of a rope
to another object such as a metal ring, another
rope, or the like.
Rope fasteners are known which function to
fasten a rope to an object by connecting a loop of
the rope to the body. An example of one such
fastener can be found in United States Patent No.
3,002,780, issued to R. G. Eggeman on Oct. 3, 1961.
This fastener includes a body which has a pair of
holes through the top and bottom sides of the body
portion. At least one hook extends from the top
side of the body and has a gradually narrowing shank
portion and a bill portion that turns in towards the
body. In use, terminal ends of a length of cable
are threaded thraugh the holes to form a loop which
extends out of the bottom of the body. This loop is
passed through the hook to form a sling which
tightens about a load to effect a tight grasp.
_1_
2~~~J'~~.
This fastener, while being effective for some
applications, has several disadvantages. The
inwardly curved nature of the hook makes it
difficult to .release the loop. In addition, the
relatively wide nature of the space formed by the
hook allows the cable to move freely within the hook
and increases the possibility of the loop
inadvertently slipping out of the hook. Moreover,
the relatively Large size and heavy construction of
this hook makes it poorly suited for applications
where light weight and agility are important, for
example, recreational activities such as water
skiing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present
invention to provide a fastener that is dependable
and that can be used in a wide variety of
applications.
In accordance with a first aspect of the
invention, the fastener includes a body having a top
surface and first and second longitudinal ends. At
least one aperture extends longitudinally through
the body. An abutment lug is provided having a
first portion which extends generally vertically
from the top surface of the body near the second end
thereof. A generally planar second portion extends
perpendicular to the first portion towards the first
end of the body, in parallel with a longitudinal
axis of the body and spaced from the body.
_2_
In accordance with another aspect of the
invention, the body includes a second aperture
extending longitudinally through the body. The
first and second apertures are parallel to one
another and are arranged symmetrically about a
center of the body.
It is a further object of the invention to
provide a device of the type described above for
securely fastening a rope to an object.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the
invention, a spacing between the second portion of
the lug arid the top surface of the body is
approximately equal to the thickness of the rope and
allows the abutment lug to securely hold the rope.
In addition, the lateral sides of the first lug
portion in one embodiment of the invention curve
inwardly to form grooves into which the rope loop
seats.
Other objects, features and advantages of the
present invention will become apparent to those
skilled in the art from the following detailed
description. It should be understood, however, that
the detailed description and specific examples,
while indicating preferred embodiments of the
present invention, are given by way of illustration
and are not intended to be limiting. NTany changes
and modifications within the scope of the present
invention may be made without departing from the
spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such
modifications.
-3-
r
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a rope
fastener in accordance with a first embodiment of
the invention;
Figure 2 illustrates a side view of the
fastener of FIG. 1;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of one
possible configuration of a rope and the rope
fastener of the first embodiment of the invention;
Figure 4A, 4B, and 4C illustrate a mode of
use of the rope fastener of FIG. l;
Figure 5 is a perspective view of a fastener
according to a second embodiment of the invention;
and
Figure 6 is a side view of the fastener of
Figure 5.
DETAINED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A rope fastener constructed in accordance
with the present invention includes a body having at
two spaced apertures located therein which extend
in parallel with a longitudinal axis of the body and
which slidably receives two adjacent rope segments
defining a loop. The fastener further includes an
-4-
engagement lug that can be releasably engaged by the
loop for attaching the rope to another object. The
engagement lug comprises a hook-like formation
comprised of a first portion extending generally
vertically from a point adjacent the second end of
the top surface of the body, and a generally planar
second portion which is connected to the first
portion and which extends parallel to the top
surface of the body toward the opposite, first end
of the body. The first portion may include lateral
grooves which more tightly receive the loop. The
abutment lug is engaged by the loop by folding over
the rope to form the attachment loop.
With reference to Figs. 1 and 2, a fastener
10 constructed in accordance with the first
embodiment of the invention includes a body 12 and
an abutment lug 22 integrally molded from a suitable
synthetic plastics material such as ASS, nylon, or
the like. The body 12 has a pair of cylindrical
apertures 14 which pass through the body from a
first longitudinal end 16 of the body to a second
longitudinal end 18. The apertures 14 are parallel
to one another and are arranged symmetrically about
the center of body 12. The dimensions of the
fastener and the particular material utilized may be
determined by the strength requirements of the body
and the thickness of the rope.
The abutment lug 22 includes first and second
portions 24 and 26 which are integrally formed as
shown and which cooperate to form a hook-like
formation on which a rope can engage. The first
-5-
r
portion 24 projects vertically from the top surface
20 of the body proximate to the second end 18
thereof. The second portion 26 extends
perpendicularly to the first portion 24 towards the
first end 16 of body 12, the free end of portion 26
terminating approximately midway of the length of
the body. The bottom surface of portion 26 defines
with a the top surface 20 of body 12 a space 23 into
which the rope extends during operation (see Figs.
4B and 4C). The free end of portion 26 is rounded
to facilitate insertion of the rope into the space
23.
With reference to Fig. 3, a segment 30 of a
rope 32 is slidably received in each of the
apertures 14 to define a closed loop 34. The loop
34 can be formed in any suitable manner, for
example, by connecting the free end of the rope to
the remainder of the rope 32, as shown. Other
methods include inter-braiding, knotting, clamping
or the like. It can thus be seen that the rope
fastener 10 can either form a part of rope 32, where
the loop 34 is permanently formed, or can be
separately provided for use with different ropes.
The manner in which the rope fastener l0 can
be used to attach a rope to another object will now
be described. Referring to Figs. 4A-4C of the
drawings, the fastener 10 is used to fasten rope 32
to a handle 40 which in turn can be secured to
another body. In order to fasten the rope onto
handle 40, the segments 30 forming the closed loop
34 are passed under and over the outwardly extending
-6-
?~~'~~ ~_
portion of the handle 40, whereafter the loop can be
inserted below the top portion 26 of the abutment
lug 22 in the manner illustrated in Fig. 4B. The
rounded free end of portion 26 of the abutment lug
serves to facilitate the fastening process by
guiding the loop into the space 23 defined between
the portion 26 and the top surface 20 of body 12.
The height of space 23 is preferably designed to be
approximately equal to the thickness of the rope
segments 30 to provide a secure fit of the rope in
the abutment lug. This secure fit prevents the loop
from being withdrawn from the lug when the loop is
being tightened, and also decreases the likelihood
of the rope slipping out of space 23 will in the
event the loop is temporarily slackened. The loop
can then be tightened by pulling the rope 32 which
will cause fastener 10 to be slidably displaced
along the rope segments 30, thus tightening the loop
in the manner illustrated in Fig. 4C.
The rope 32 can be released in the reverse
manner by merely pushing the segments 30 back
through the body 12 of fastener 10, which will then
allow the loop 34 to be released from the abutment
lug 22, thereby releasing the rope 32.
Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate a second embodiment
of the invention in which the opposed sides of
portion 124 of abutment lug 122 are curved inwardly
to define grooves 125. The grooves 125 allow a
better engagement of the loop in the rope with the
abutment lug when the loop is tightened in the
manner illustrated in Fig. 4C., thereby providing
_
,.
for a more secure frictional retention. The tops of
the grooves are defined by ridges 127 which inhibit
the upward movement of the loop out of the grooves
125.
The front surface of the portion 124 of the
lug is also concavely curved (see Fig. 6), with the
intersection of the opposite ends of the front
surface with the grooves being rounded off to form
a substantially continuous groove extending around
the front and sides of the portion 124.
It will thus be seen that the rope fastener
of the present invention greatly facilitates the
retention of ropes to different elements or objects.
The rope fastener, being light-weight and reliable,
is particularly well suited for use in boating
applications such as mooring, the attaching of
sails, attaching a rope to the handle of water skis,
and the like. The rope fastener can also be used in
conjunction with towing ropes, guy ropes, and in any
other similar applications.
While specific embodiments of the invention
have been described and illustrated, it will be
clear that variations in the details of the
embodiments specifically illustrated and described
may be made without departing from the true spirit
and scope of the invention as defined in the
appended claims.
_g_
