Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE: SOFFIT CLIP
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a clip for re~ai~ g a string of
Christmas lights to the underside of an eave of a house and more
particularly, the present invention relates to a clip which is insertable in oneof the perforations of a vented vinyl soffit panel strip.
5 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The use of decorative Christmas lighting on the exterior of
residences is a popular practice in North America. Strings of coloured
lights are usually installed along the edges of roofs and the cornices of
buildings in early December of each year. The lights are lit daily for
10 several hours at sunset until about a week or so after New Years' Day.
Decorative light sets are typically hung on nails and threaded hooks
which are installed through the fascia board of the roof. A first
inconvenience with this practice is that the nails and hooks remain visible
throughout the year. These f~t~ners alter the appearance of the house and
15 collect webs and other insect works during the spring and summer period.
Moreover, the fascia boards of modern houses are usually covered by pre-
painted aluminum sheeting and any perforation of this protective cover is
objectionable.
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In this respect, a number of different devices have been developed
in the past for retaining Christmas lights along the edges of a roof without
using driven-type fasteners. A first example of a device for mounting
decorative lights is described in U.S. Patent 5,056,747 issued on October
15, 1991 to Andrew G. Kireta. The article is a C-shaped bracket. The
bracket may be clamped to wooden rafters below the eave, to rain gutter or
to porch support posts. The C-shaped bracket is also attachable to the roof
by inserting one leg of the bracket under a roof shingle. Several clips are
provided on the surface of the bracket to accommodate decorative light
strings running in any directions.
Another device of the prior art is illustrated in U.S. Patent
5,141,192, issued on August 25, 1992 to William E. Adams. The article
has a spiral member on one end and a J-hook on the other end. The J-hook
is adapted to retain an electrical cord of a light string and the spiral end is
l 5 an~ch~ble to the outside lip of a rain gutter. The article is workable with
an elongated staff such that the Christmas lights may be put up and
removed without using a ladder.
One inconvenience of installing a bracket on the rain gutter or over
the edge of a roof is that the bracket often becomes bound in snow and ice
before the end of the holiday season. It is not uncommon to receive several
heavy snow falls and freezing rain in December and early January.
Therefore, when the light set is due for being removed, the task must be
done with great care to avoid d~m~ging the light bulbs, the mounting
brackets and the roof itself. This task is often made quite harsh by
typically inclement January winds.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the present invention, however, there is provided a clip for
retaining a set of decorative lights under the eave of a house where the
lights are protected from snow, freezing rain and icicles.
In one aspect of the present invention, the clip is attachable to a
soffit panel having perforations of a common nominal diameter. The clip
is made of a slender strip of a resilient material having a major cross-
section dimension which is smaller than the common nominal diameter of
the perforations of the soffit panel.
The slender strip has a backward bend in a mid-region thereof,
defining a first leg member and a second leg member. The first leg
member extends from the backward bend in a generally straight alignment
defining a supportive axis of the clip. The second leg member has a first
segment exten~ing from the backward bend alongside the first leg member
and a second segment extending from the first segment and defining an
open loop having an opening contiguous with the first segment. This
opening has a breadth which is smaller than a size of the loop.
One advantage of the soffit clip of the present invention is that the
first leg member is insertable entirely into one of the perforations of the
soffit panel and is readily oriented with the supportive axis of the clip
laying over the upper surface of the soffit panel. When a cord from the set
of decorative lights is hung from the loop, a bending moment caused by a
weight of said cord in the loop about the backward bend increases a surface
pressure of the first leg member against the upper surface of the soffit
panel. This surface pressure enhances the retention of the clip to the soffit
panel and prevents the clip from moving back out of the perforation.
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In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a new
method for attaching a set of decorative lights to a perforated soffit panel.
The method comprises the steps of inserting the first leg member of a the
soffit clip of the present invention entirely into one of the perforations in
5 the soffit panel, in a direction tangential to a surface of the soffit panel, and
inserting a cord of the set of decorative lights into the loop of the clip.
This method is particularly efficient in the sense that the clips are
manually attachable to a perforated soffit, at any location on that soffit
without using any tools and without ~m~gin~ the surface of the soffit
10 panels. Moreover, the clips are easily removable manually after the
holiday season by reversing the in~t~ tion movement and pulling the clips
out of the perforations. The clips may be left on the cord of the decorative
light set for future use.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DR~WINGS
The preferred embodiment of the present invention will be further
understood from the following description, with reference to the drawings
in which:
- Figure 1 illustrates a typical in~t~ tion of a set of decorative lights
under the eave of a house using the soffit clips of the preferred
embodiment.
- Figure 2 is an enlarged view of Detail 2 in Figure 1 showing a
closer view of the installation of the set of decorative lights
illustrated in Figure 1.
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- Figure 3 is a side view of a first model of soffit clip of the preferred
embodiment.
- Figure 4 illustrates a typical installation of the soffit clip of the
preferred embodiment through a perforation of a perforated vinyl
soffit strip.
- Figure 5 illustrates a soffit clip of the pl~rell~d embodiment stapled
to a wood member.
- Figure 6 illustrates three models of the soffit clip of the preferred
embodiment.
10 - Figure 7 illustrates a method for ~ cturing the soffit clip of the
preferred embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The soffit clip 20 of the preferred embodiment and a typical
installation thereof are illustrated in Figures 1 to 4. The Figures 1 and 2
15 in particular illustrate a preferred installation of a set 22 of decorative
Christmas lights under the eave 24 of a roof where the lights are protected
from snow, freezing rain and icicles.
This installation is also advantageous because the reflective surfaces
above and behind the lights 22 are significantly larger than a reflective
20 surface available when the lights are mounted on the rain gutter 26 for
example. The visual appeal of the decoration is thereby enhanced over the
traditional installation.
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The soffit clip 20 ofthe plerellt;d embodiment is manufactured with
a resilient m~teli~l preferably a strip of spring steel or stiff plastic material.
A preferred material of fabrication for the soffit clip 20 is found in a
common hair pin generally known as a bobby pin. These pins are made of
5 spring steel and have a protective coating with enlarged plasticized ends.
The protective coating protects the pin from the weather conditions and the
enlarged plasticized ends facilitates the manipulation of the clip during
installation of a set of decorative lights. Hence, a preferred method for
manufacturing the soffit clip 20 of the preferred embodiment is by
10 modifying a bobby pin as it will be explained later.
The soffit clip 20 of the preferred embodiment comprises a
continuous strip of spring steel, or similar resilient material, having a
backward bend 30 in a mid-region of the strip. A first leg member 32
extends from the backward bend 30 in a generally straight aligmnent
15 defining a supportive axis of the soffit clip 20. A second leg member 34
also ext~n~s from the backward bend 30 alongside the first leg member 32.
The backward bend preferably has an angle of curvature which is more
than 180~ such that the second leg member 34 touches the first leg member
32 at a point of contact 36 on an int~rmediate region of the first leg member
20 32.
The second leg member 34 has a curled portion 38 extending away
from the first leg member 32 towards the backward bend 30 thereby
forming an open loop 40 into which an electrical conductor of a set of
decorative lights can be retained.
The extremity 42 of the curled portion 36 is bent inwardly relative
to the curvature of the loop 40 forming thereby a funnel-like opening 44 of
the loop 40 through which an electrical cord is easily insertable.
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The first leg member 32 has a generally straight supportive axis with
a several ripples 48 in a mid-region thereof adjacent to the point of contact
36. The end 50 of the first leg member 32 is curved away from the
supportive axis and from the second leg member 34. This curved end 50
5 facilitates the insertion of the first leg member 32 into a perforation 28 in
the soffit panel 24 in a tangential direction relative to the surface of the
soffit panel.
The cross-section of the spring steel material of the clip 20 is
smaller than a typical perforation 28 of a commercially available vented
l o vinyl soffit panel strip 24. In this respect, it has been found that a spring
steel having a major cross-section ~lim~n~ion being smaller than 0.125 inch
is quite satisfactorily. Similarly, a clip having a backward bend with an
inside diameter of between 0.060 inch to 0.100 inch has been found to be
~ o~liate for installation of the clip on common soffit panel strips having
15 a thickness of about 0.062 inch.
A typical installation of the soffit clip 20 of the preferred
embodiment consists of inserting the curved end 50 of the first leg member
32 into a perforation 28 of a soffit panel strip 24, and pushing the first leg
member 32 entirely through the perforation 28 such that the supportive axis
20 of the clip 20 lies over the upper surface of the soffit panel 24. The
resilience of the strip at the backward bend 30 exerts a pressure between
the first and second leg members 32,34, to retain the soffit clip 20 in place
in the perforation 28.
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The ripples 48 on the first leg member 32 also cooperate with the
resilience of the backward bend for relai~ g the soffit clip 20 in the
perforation 28, by increasing the friction of the first leg member 32 against
the upper surface of the vinyl strip 24.
The electrical cord of the decorative light set may thereafter be
installed into the loop 40 by pushing the conductor into the funnel-like
opening 44.
One will understand that the installation instructions described
above may be reversed according to the preference of a user. The clips 20
can be installed on the electrical cord before the cord is attached to the
soffit panel 24. This particular sequence is advantageous for easing a
difficult manipulation of small objects at arms length when a user is
standing in a ladder and working with gloves for example.
The soffit clip 20 of the preferred embodiment may be installed at
various distances from one-another to accommodate any particular
application. It has been found that a spacing of about 24 inches to 36
inches is quite ~pl~pliate for relail~ing a common set of Christmas lights.
A rubber band (not shown) may be wrapped around a clip 20 and the
electrical cord for applying a longitudinal tension in the cord, for
preventing an excessive sag in the cord when the clips 20 are spaced too far
apart. It is also recommended to install the clips 20 at a distance of about
3 to 6 inches from the fascia board of the eave to adequately protect the
lights from snow and freezing rain.
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Referring now to Figure 5, the soffit clip 20 of the preferred
embodiment is also attachable with staples 52 in a wood structure 54 for
example. The staple 52 is preferably installed over the ripples 48 of the
first leg member such that the soffit clip 20 cannot be easily removed from
5 the mounting structure.
The soffit clip 20 ofthe plefelled embodiment is m~mlf~cturable in
various types of resilient material according to the preference of a
m~mlf~cturer. As it was mentioned earlier, one of the preferred materials
of fabrication for the soffit clip 20 is a common hair pin. Other materials
10 include a flat strip of spring steel 56 and a round wire 58 as illustrated in Figure 6.
When the soffit clip of the preferred embodiment is m~mlf~ctured
from a flat strip of spring steel 56, the preferred strip has a width of
between 0.060 inch to about 0.100 inch and a ~ickness of about 0.020 inch
15 to about 0.030 inch. When the soffit clip of the preferred embodiment is
manufactured with round wire 58, the diameter of the round wire is
preferably between about 0.060 inch to about 0.100 inch. The overall
dimensions of the soffit clip 20 of the preferred embodiment are a total
length of about 2.0 inches and a loop size of about 0.50 inch.
One method for manufacturing the soffit clip 20 of the preferred
embodiment is illustrated in Figure 7. The method requires the use of a
round bar 60 having a slot 62 through one of its end. The bar 60 is
preferably held in a workshop vice 64 and oriented horizontally. The
straight portion of a bobby pin 66 is inserted into the slot 62, and the pin
66 is bent in the direction as indicated by arrow 68 in Figure 7. This
method is particularly efficient for producing the desired result consistently
and without great expense in tooling.
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While the above description provides a full and complete disclosure
of the preferred embodiment of this invention, various modifications,
alternate constructions and equivalents may be employed without departing
from the true spirit and scope of the invention. Such changes might involve
5 alternate components, structural arrangement.c, construction features or the
like. Therefore, the above description and the illustrations should not be
construed as limiting the scope of the invention which is defined by the
appended claims.
