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(11) | EP 1 149 549 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
| published in accordance with Art. 158(3) EPC |
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| (54) | DEVICE FOR FIXING ELONGATE PRODUCTS |
| (57) A fastening device for elongated products, suitable for being arranged on a support,
either on its own or in a group, made up of a hollow cylinder, preferably prismatic
or trapezoidal in shape, with a frontal mouth inside which lie a series of thin flexible
ribs along the lateral faces of the cylinder, which makes up an intermediate space
capable of clamping the end of the product. In the centre of the space there is preferably
a pin coaxial with the axis of the orifice which can be lodged in the hollow interior
of the product. This orifice may lack the aforementioned pin if the end of the product
to be held is solid. In an alternative embodiment the said orifice of the device and
the internal ribs make up a space for lodging the product which is adapted to the
shape of the end of the product to be inserted. |
DESCRIPTIVE REPORT
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The object of the present application for an Inventions Patent is to register a fastening device for elongated products which incorporates significant innovations and advantages compared with other devices with a similar purpose.
[0002] To be more precise, the invention consists of a support suitable for inserting an oblong or tubular object, or one with an end thus shaped, which can be arranged on display cases of various types and which display the products supported in a characteristic arrangement which differs from that used so far.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
[0003] The use of supports for elongated or oblong objects on a support element or receiver of these objects is common. These fastening devices are generally narrow, difficult to insert and very specific regarding the object to be inserted; some skill is needed for this operation. Some support designs have more play than others in order to facilitate the introduction and extraction of the object they house, but these are less secure and less portable as the object is liable to come loose easily due to knocks, vibrations or overturning.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The fastening device for elongated products allows their display perpendicular to the surface on which they stand. The product emerges noticeably as a projection of the support. The supports which are grouped together, for example in a vertical support element, permit the products housed in them to acquire capricious arrangements. The device is made in such a way that the housing of the product within it is firm and easy to achieve; removing it easily is also possible. This facilitates the automated assembly of the products on e supports, as well as transport and handling of the objects equipped with such devices with the product previously prepared.
[0005] The devices are made up of a hollow cylinder shaped to fit the surface of the support object. This cylinder has a narrow mouth which allows access to an orifice, of some depth, prismatic or troncopyramidal in shape and which has in the centre a conical emergent pin surrounded by a series of ribs arranged radially from the surrounding walls of the orifice. The ribs do not have contact with the aforementioned pin; they shape an intermediate space suitable for introducing the hollow end of the product which snaps on. If the terminal of the product to be inserted does not have a central orifice in which to lodge the pin, alternatively the support will lack the aforementioned pin for holding it. It has also been taken into account that if the terminal should be neither cylindrical nor with a regular or cylindrical shape, the ribs will form an intermediate space suitable for the transverse section of the said terminal. It has also been anticipated that the ribs are thin and that their back comes into contact with the rounded product in order to obtain suitable fastening pressure. Moreover, this back is arched or convex in its proximity to the exterior which facilitates the entry of the end of the product to be inserted.
[0006] The depth of the orifice is determined by the weight of the product to be supported; it needs to be deeper if the projecting product is of considerable weight.
[0007] The device is particularly suitable for receiving the product in automated form in a mechanical filling plant which avoids the manual insertion of the products. This is due to the curved configuration of the ridges of the ribs near the mouth of the device, which operate as a self-centring system, even allowing a certain variation in the thickness and shape of the products to be inserted in the same type of device. In its turn, the pin serves a centring and regrouping function for the product housed in the device.
[0008] To complete the description which continues below so as to make its characteristics better understood, the present descriptive report is accompanied by a set of plans which show, in detailed illustrations, the most significant details of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DESIGNS
DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERENTIAL EMBODIMENT
[0012] The figures mentioned, in accordance with the numbering adopted, show a preferential, albeit non-restricting, embodiment of the invention, which consists of a device made up of a hollow cylinder (5). This is prismatic or troncopyramidal in shape, preferably with a frontal narrow mouth giving access to an internal orifice (3), with a series of ribs (1) perpendicular to each of the respective lateral faces and longitudinally to the orifice (3), without coming into contact among themselves and creating an intermediate hollow space. In the centre of this space, corresponding to the central axis of the cylinder (5), there is preferably a cylindrical pin (2), the end of which is free, of decreasing diameter, and rounded. Each rib (1), flexible in structure, is thin with a rounded ridge. The section of the rib (1) is uniform, and its height gradually decreases as it approaches the narrow opening of the orifice (3) of the cylinder (5), forming a convex curved tip of the outside ridge of the aforementioned rib.
1. THE FASTENING DEVICE FOR ELONGATED PRODUCTS is suitable for the standard display of
products which are either oblong or with ends in the form of pins on a support, on
the surface of which are located one or several of these devices. The latter are characterised by consisting of a hollow cylinder (5) and preferably by being prismatic or troncopyramidal
in shape. This cylinder has a frontal aperture which gives access to an orifice (3),
inside which is a series of thin flexible ribs (1), perpendicular to each of the respective
lateral faces longitudinal to the cylinder (5) of the device. The respective ridges
of each rib (1) are separated by an intermediate hollow space suitable for the housing
of the product (4) and its securing by wedging. This is because in the centre of the
hollow of the orifice (3) there is preferably a pin (2) which is conical or cylindrical
with a rounded end, ready to be housed in the hollow interior of the oblong or elongated
end of the product (4). Also, each rib (1), flexible in structure, has a rounded external
ridge, the height of which decreases gradually as it approaches the free aperture
of the cylinder (5) ready for the self-centring of the object (4) housed, whether
it be elongated, oblong or tubular in shape.
2. THE FASTENING DEVICE FOR ELONGATED PRODUCTS, in accordance with claim (1), is characterised by the fact that in an alternative realisation the orifice (3) and the ribs (1) in the
interior of the cylinder (5) may have different proportions, making up a central hollow
which can be coupled to the non-circular or regular transverse section of the product
(4) housed.