Self-attaching elastic cord

Abstract

A binding device comprising an elongated elastic member that contains at least one region of loop material generally adjacent to at least one region of hook material. The regions of different material allow binding when the loop material of the binding member comes in contact with the hook material. The elastic member is flexible and may bend back on itself to engage the hook and loop material. For example, an elastic self-attaching cord may include a surface that contains regions of loop material generally adjacent to hook material at evenly spaced intervals or placed at random intervals. Another examples are a tube or strip binding member. The elastic tube or strip binding device also contains loop material generally adjacent to hook material positioned on the surface of the tube or strip.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an elastic cord or similar material, which is capable of easily securing itself about an object without the need for knots or similar manipulation of the cord. In particular, the present invention relates to an elastic self-attaching binding instrument that utilizes hook and loop regions on the surface of an elastic body to secure itself to itself about an object. By having regions of loop material and hook material on the surface of the binding device, the binding member can form multiple binding positions.DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART[0002] Mating fabrics, such as loop material and hook material, e.g. "VELCRO", provide the user with the capability to form a strong bond that can nevertheless be broken by peeling the materials apart. The binding occurs when the hook material comes into contact with the loop material. Mating fabrics of loop material and hook material are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,717,437 and 3,009,235 granted to G.de Mestral w...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008] To separate a hook region and a loop region that are in contact with each other, a force perpendicular to one region or the other is desirable. A lateral force that is parallel to the surface of the loop and hook region may increase the force necessary to separate the two interconnected regions. The self-attaching elastic cord, when properly positioned, may have the added benefit of increasing the force necessary to separate the attached cord regions due the lateral force created by the elasticity of the extended cord.

Problems solved by technology

However, the binding possibilities were limited due to the need for two separate strips.

While this type of strip adds the ability to bind to itself when one side comes into contact with the other side, the user does not have unlimited flexibility to bind the strip despite the orientation of the strip.

Due to the non-compliant nature of the strip or rope implemented in these devices, the user must take extra care in securing the device around the objects to be bond by the fastener.

Furthermore, once the fastening device is set in place, shifting or movement of the bonded objects could lead to loosening of the objects and result in failure of the fastener to maintain adequate pressure to continue securing the objects.

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