US1577678A - Fastening means - Google Patents

Description

March 23 1926.

Y INVENTOR BY )mM/ZS ewf ATTO Patented Mar. 23, i926.

entre s'rares rarer risica. i

:MARCUS B. BEI-IRMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE LOX SEAL CORPORA- TECN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION 0F NEVI YORK.

FASTENING MEANS.

Application filed. April 1'7, 1925. Serial No. 23,833.

To @ZZ 107mm it may concern Be it known that I, MARCUS B. BEHRMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resi dent of the city and State of New York, county of Kings, have invented new and useful Improvements in a Fastening Means, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates generally to tie member securing means and involves an arrangement whereby the tie element or member secures articles of merchandise lin fixed association and against separation without detection and coordinately involves an arrangement whereby terminal ends of a tie member can be secured against separation, and while so secured can be made to ap proach each other by increments so Vas to correspondingly draw together the tie member about the merchandise.

Furriers in particular are presented with the diiiiculty that in shipping a number of skins, one or more skins are frequently removed frein the ,group and such factcannot be detected unless and until the skins are counted and my invention has particular utility to prevent such practice occurringv wit-hout detection. Its utility however eX- tends to the field of packaging'generally and it will be understood, as this application is read that the fastener amendment can serve even a broader field.

I am aware of the fact that devices have been constructed for this purpose in which 'terminal portions of a tie member were secured to a fastening member which held the terminal portions against separation, but in those characters of devices with which I am acquainted, either there is a provision by which the tie member can be released from the fastener at will or where such is not the case. or onlv tie member ofr determinate iene-th can be employed or the terminals of the tie member must be speciallv treated or specially formed so as to adopt them for the Jfastening operation and in either case.

Furthermore I am not aware of the device of this character in which the tie member is intended to be secured about merchandise with the terminal thereof held against separation, and while so heldv to be ,moved toward each other soV as to tighten the tie member about the merchandise, or in whichan indeterminate length of conlventional material rsuchas v wire can have onel or both of its terminal ends secured without special-treatment of such terminal end er ends.

One of the objects of my invention is the provision of an arrangement whereby an indeterminate length of wire or similar material can be employed so as to have the ends of such length locked together with the wire secured to and about an article of merchandise. or a group of such articles so that not only will any label or tag` attached to such wire bev incapablev of removal without detection,` but the merchandise or the groups of articles so associated cannot be separated or disassociated or otherwise similarly tampered with without that fact being at once apparent.

Another object of my invention is the provision of an arrangement wherein the shackle or tie which passes about the article of merchandise or the group of articles can be of a conventional type such as wire on a reel or spool, from which the desired length can be cut, and furthermore, an arrangement by which no predetermined llength of wire is necessary in order to have the device function and no special treatment of the terminals of any length is necessary in order to have it cooperate for providing` the desired engaging action, f e

My invention further involves the provision of an arrangement whereby a tie member and more particularly a tie member of the conventional type and of indeterminate length can be secured about merchandise with its terminal ends held against separation and while so held can be tightened about such merchandise, so as to tightlygrip the merchandise and prevents the disassociation thereof without detection.

For vthe attainment of these objects and such other objects as may hereinafter apnear or he pointed out I have illustrated embodiments of my invention in the accom- 'panving drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a cross sectional View through one embodiment of my invention;

Fig'. 2 is aview partly in cross section through a second embodiment of my invention; and

Fig. '3 shows a group ofslrin'sy secured together against separation by my' fastening means and with a label attachedthereto.

Upon viewing Fig. 1 of the drawing, it will be fobserved' that in this embodiment Acontaetwwith vthe balls 15 'and force them there is provided a hollow casing in which there is received the plunger 12 arranged so as to slide freely within the casing and having its forward end tapered as shown at 13. This plunger has a circular passage 1a: longitudinally therethrough of a diameter to freely receive a terminal end of a tie member which in the illustrated embodiment is shown as in the form of a length of a conventional type and thickness of wire. This plunger 12 is provided at its forward or tapered end 13 with the transverse passages 15 extending from the central longitudinal passage 14 to the outer surface and of a size sufficiently large to receive, the balls 16 for movement therein transversely of the plunger 12. These balls are of a diameter with relation to the length of these transverse passages 15 so that they can at the same time extend beyond the passages at both ends so as to simultaneously project part'way into the longitudinal passage 1e' and be in contact with the inner wall of the conical passage 11 of the casing 10. l This plunger 12 as shown in the drawing is mat-erially shorter than the length of the interior of the casing so that it will have movement longitudinally of and within such easing and a spiral spring 18 is positioned into the casing 10 and in back of the plunger 12 with one end of the spring in abutting relation to the plug 19 lixedly associated with the casing 10 at its rear and the opposite end of the spring abutting against the rear surface of the plunger 12. Y

A flexible tie member 2lof a conventional type such as a length of wire is fixed to the rear end of the casing as by having one of its terminal ends 23 upset against the inner surface of the plug 19 and has its other terminal end 25 free. The casing 10 is further provided in its forward wall with the passage 21 through such wall which passage is in registry with the passage 14 through the plunger 12 and is also of a dimension so as to freely receive a terminal end of a tie member such as a wire freely and yet without any substantial space thereabout.

In the use of a device of this character, it will, be understood that the spring 18 will normally retain the plunger 12 in its eX- treme'forward position to the left of Fig. 1 and the action of the inclined surface 11 at .the forward end of" the casing will be such as to force the balls inwardly toward each other and into ,the central channel 14. Upon the insertion of the terminal end f the wire 24 through the opening 21 and into the passage 14, such terminal end will apart .and in suc-h action results from the c'oaction of .the'balls with the inclined "surfacell, until a point is reached, where the space between the balls is suiicient to permit the terminal end 25 to pass between the balls for the desired distance and upon a release of this invention the spring 18 will act to move the plunger forwardly to the left as far as possible which is determined by thc relative dimensions of the parts. Any attempt to withdraw this terminal end will be prevented because such action will tend to draw up the balls 15 forwardly with it and any such tendency will Vcause the inclined wall 11 to still further engage and clutch the terminal end 25 against withdrawal.

I am aware of the fact that attempts have hitherto been made to automatically secure the terminal end of a tie or. connecting member to a fastening member to which the other end of the tie or connecting member has been permanently fixed but in all of these arrangements with which I am acquainted, none of them have provided against the withdrawal whether accidentally or intentionally of the'terminal end so automatically connected and clutched to the fastener, and in which as far as I am aware, has the tie member been of the conventional type so that, for instance, where it is desired to secure the two terminal ends against separation by the fastener about the articles of merchandise, such as skins that the length of the tie member can be indeterminate so that the starting with the maximum length which may be necessary a terminal portion thereof of any desired length may be cut away and the new terminal portion thus provided cooperate with the fastener without any impairment of its eiliciency.

In Fig. 2 of the drawing,` I show a different embodiment in my invention which is particularly adapted for my purposes and in which the tie member is absolutely independent of the fastener and in which there-- fore,'no special provision has to be made for securing the tie member thereto and in this en'ibodiment, I show a hollow asing 30, hollowed out to form a compartment 81, the opposite ends of which are narrowed or tapered as shown at 32 and 33. lVithin the opposite ends of this casing, are arranged plunger members t2 each having a central passa-ge A13 therethrough and the transverse passagesrt within which transverse pas sages are received the balls L15, the forward end of each of these plungers being tapered as shown at Each plunger in all re-V spects is constructed and functions as does the plunger 14; in the en'ibodiment of Fig. l. The casing is provided at its opposite ends with 'the openings 1:7 and lt therethrough which preferably register with the longitudinal openings 'fl-3 through the plungers and each of which serves the same purpose 'as the opening 21 in the embodiment of Fig. 1'; A spring 50 preferably of the spiral 1an y terminal end lof the length so removed isy inserted through one of the openings 4'? or 4S in the end walls of the casing 30 and into the longitudinal passage 43 in the adjacent plunger member to cause a clutching engagement between the balls 45 and such terminal end vagainst removal so that the withdrawal to such terminal end from the casing is therefore impossible without destruction of either the tie member or the fastener. The tie member is then passed about the merchandise such as the group of skins A in Fig. 3 so as to tightly grip them and the opposite terminal ends inserted through the opposite openings in the opposite end of the casing and into the passage 43 in the other plunger to secure the gripping engagement therebetween.

One of the important features of my invention is the fact that the fastening element which is to secure the terminal ends of a tie member against separation is of such a character with reference to the tie member that, the terminal portions of the tie member can be inserted there-in for association against separation and by stepped increments the tie member about the merchandise shortened so that therefore assuming one terminal end f the tie member locked in position to the fastener against withdrawal or removal and the tie member passed about the mechandise, the gripping engagement between the tie member and the merchandise, can be'increased by increments corresponding with the increments by which other terminal ends of the tie member are inserted and pushed into the locking member. Y

It is the practice among furriers to `associate together by a string a number of skins which are shipped to the dyeing establishment which skins are tied as a group while dyed together. In this connection, the employment of a wire is particularly useful because of the fact that the wire is -not affected by the dye; furthermore, the casing l0 may have thereon the name of the fnrri-er from whom the skins are received so that the liability of the tag being removed or lost or destroyed during the shipping and dyeing process is eliminated. In this manner, I

attain the advantages not only inherent in wire, but also the special advantages of such material in connection with the manner in which the mechandise secured thereby is to be operated upon.

0f course, it will be understood that. while I have disclosed my tie member as secured about the skins and holding them by friction, it could be effected by having a wire passed through the skins.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to securey by Letters Patent is:

1. A fastener comprising, in combination, a wire substantially symmetrical and uniform throughout its length, a casing having an opening in one end properly proportioned to receive an end of the wire inserted slidably therein, means at the opposite end of the casing to maintain an end of the wire associated therewith, a spring-presse-d block within the casing having a passage in alignment with the opening in the casing, and a member carried by the block proportioned for wedging engagement with the wire and actuated by the spring action.

'2. A fastener comprising, in combination, a. Wire substantially symmetrical and uniform throughout its length, a casing having a tapered end and an opening in said tapered end properly proportioned to receive an end of the wire inserted slidably therein, means at the opposite end of the casing to maintain an end of the wire associated therewith, a' spring-pressed tapered block within the tapered end of the casing having a.' passage in alignment with the opening in the casing, andamember carried by the block proportioned for wedging engagement with the wire and actuated by the interaction of the spring and the taper of the casing. Y

3. A fastenercomprising, in combination, aV wire substantially symmetrical and uniform throughout; its length, a casing tapered at one end and having an opening in the tapered end properly proportioned to receive an end of the wire inserted slidably therein, means at the opposite end of the casing to maintainv an end of the wire associated therewith, aI spring-pressed tapered block within the casing having a passage in alignment with the opening in the casing and a lateral opening, a member inserted into the lateral opening and carried by the block proportioned for wedging engagement with the wire and actuated by interaction of the spring and the taper of the casing.

ln witness whereof, l have signed this specification, this th d y of April 1925.

MARCUS B. BEHRMAN.

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