Tie strap structure   

Abstract: A tie strap structure includes a elastic main body and at least one first raised section. The elastic main body has an anchor section and an insertion section outward extending from the anchor section. The anchor section has a first abutment side, a second abutment side opposite to the first abutment side and a through hole for the insertion section to correspondingly insert therethrough. The first raised section is formed on one side of the insertion section and projects from the side of the insertion section. It is convenient to use the tie strap structure and the tie strap structure is manufactured at lower cost.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a tie strap structure, and more particularly to a versatile tie strap structure, which can be conveniently reused to save cost.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The conventional tie straps are widely used in daily life to fix or bundle articles. For example, a tie strap can be used to keep the electrical wires of electrical devices, bundle sundries and so on.

Please refer to FIG. 1A. The conventional tie strap includes an anchor section 10 and a strap body 11. The anchor section 10 is formed with a through hole 101 in which a latch tooth 103 is formed. The strap body 11 is formed with cooperative engagement teeth 112 arranged on the strap body 11 corresponding to the latch tooth 103. In use, the strap body 11 is first wound around the articles to be bundled and then passed through the through hole 101 of the anchor section 10. Then the strap body 11 is pulled tight to latch the engagement teeth 112 of the strap body 11 with the latch tooth 103 in the through hole 101 so as to tie up and bundle the articles.

The conventional tie strap can be used to bundle the articles. However, after the engagement teeth 112 are engaged and latched with the latch tooth 103, the engagement teeth 112 cannot be disengaged from the latch tooth 103. When the user desires to untie the articles, it is necessary to use a blade to directly cut off the strap body 11. Therefore, the tie strap cannot be reused. This leads to waste of resource and increase of cost and fails to meet the requirement of environmental protection. Moreover, the conventional tie strap can be hardly conveniently used.

Furthermore, the tightness of the conventional tie strap cannot be freely adjusted by a user himself/herself. This may lead to security problem in use of the tie strap. For example, in case a user incautiously ties up his/her own finger when bundling the articles, it will be necessary to cut off the strap body 11 with a sharp blade to untie the user\'s finger. When doing this, it often takes place that the user negligently cuts his/her own finger. In some other cases, when a user (such as a child) plays the tie strap, the user may incautiously incorrectly tie up a part of his/her own body with the tie strap, (such as the finger or the neck). Under such circumstance, a child often fails to immediately loosen the tie strap. As a result, after a period of time, the tied up part may become necrotic. In some more serious cases, such situation may lead to death.

To overcome the above problem, some manufacturers have developed an improved tie strap structure as shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C. The improved tie strap structure includes an anchor section 10, a strap body 11 and a disengagement section 13. The anchor section 10 is formed with a through hole 101. The disengagement section 13 has a latch tooth end 131 and a press end 132 extending from the latch tooth end 131. The latch tooth end 131 is positioned in the through hole 101. A user can press the press end 132 to release the latch tooth end 131. Multiple cooperative engagement teeth 112 are arranged on the strap body 11 corresponding to the latch tooth end 131. In use of such tie strap, the strap body 11 is first wound around the articles to be bundled, (such as wire materials and sundries), and then passed through the through hole 101 of the anchor section 10. Then the strap body 11 is pulled tight to latch the engagement teeth 112 of the strap body 11 with the latch tooth end 131 so as to tie up and bundle the articles. When the user desires to untie the articles, the user can press the press end 132 with his/her finger (or a tool with a tip). At this time, the latch tooth end 131 is disengaged from the engagement teeth 112. Then the strap body 11 can be extracted out of the through hole 101 to untie the articles.

The articles can be tied up with the above tie strap and untied therefrom. However, it is inconvenient to use such tie strap. This is because when the user desires to loosen the tie strap, the user needs to continuously press the tiny press end 132 with his/her finger (or a tool with a tip) for totally extracting the strap body 11 out of the through hole 101. After a period of time, the user\'s finger will feel uncomfortable or painful. Moreover, since the press end 132 has a quite small press area, it is hard for the user to precisely press the press end 132. As a result, it is uneasy to loosen the tie strap from the articles and the security in use cannot be ensured. Furthermore, it is difficult to manufacture such tie strap with the disengagement section. As a result, the manufacturing cost of such tie strap is higher.

Besides, the conventional tie strap itself is not elastic. Therefore, the conventional tie strap can be hardly applied to soft articles such as hairs, packaging bag, carriage bag and other irregular soft articles. The conventional tie strap cannot truly bundle the soft articles and is very likely to loosen from the soft articles after tied. Therefore, the conventional tie strap can be only applied to those hard articles such as wire materials and sundries.

In conclusion, the conventional tie strap structure has the following shortcomings: 1. It is inconvenient to use the conventional tie strap. 2. The tightness of the conventional tie strap cannot be adjusted by a user himself/herself as necessary. 3. The conventional tie strap cannot be reused. 4. The conventional tie strap cannot be reused so that the cost cannot be saved. 5. The conventional tie strap cannot be securely used.

SUMMARY

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a versatile tie strap structure, which can be conveniently used.

A further object of the present invention is to provide the above tie strap structure the tightness of which can be adjusted by a user himself/herself as necessary.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide the above tie strap structure, which can be reused to save cost.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide the above tie strap structure, which has excellent security in use.

To achieve the above and other objects, the tie strap structure of the present invention includes a elastic main body and at least one first raised section. The elastic main body has an anchor section and an insertion section outward extending from the anchor section. The anchor section has a first abutment side, a second abutment side opposite to the first abutment side and a through hole for the insertion section to correspondingly insert therethrough. The first raised section is formed on one side of the insertion section and projects from the side of the insertion section. The tightness of the tie strap structure can be adjusted by a user himself/herself as necessary. In addition, the tie strap structure can be reused to save cost. Moreover, the tie strap structure is versatile and can be conveniently used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a conventional tie strap;

FIG. 1B is a perspective view of another conventional tie strap;

FIG. 1C is a perspective view of the conventional tie strap of FIG. 1B, seen in another direction;

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention according to FIG. 2A, in which the intervals between the raised sections are enlarged;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention in another form;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the use of the first embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIGS. 2A and 2B, which show a first embodiment of the tie strap structure of the present invention. The tie strap structure includes at least one first raised section 21, at least one second raised section 22 and a elastic main body 2. The elastic main body 2 has an anchor section 201 and an insertion section 203. The anchor section 201 has a first abutment side 2011, a second abutment side 2012 opposite to the first abutment side 2011 and a through hole 2013. The through hole 2013 has, but not limited to, an elliptic configuration for illustration purposes only. Alternatively, the through hole 2013 can have a rectangular configuration, circular configuration or any other suitable configuration. The through hole 2013 is positioned between the first and second abutment sides 2011, 2012 for the insertion section 203 to correspondingly insert therethrough.

The anchor section 201 has an elliptic configuration or any other suitable configuration such as a rectangular configuration or a circular configuration. The anchor section 201 has a certain thickness 2015. The first raised sections 21 are formed on one side of the insertion section 203 and project from the side of the insertion section 203. Each two adjacent first raised sections 21 define a first receiving space 24 therebetween. The second raised sections 22 are formed on the other side of the insertion section 203 and project from the other side of the insertion section 203 corresponding to the first raised sections 21. Each two adjacent second raised sections 22 define a second receiving space 25 therebetween.

The intervals, that is, the first and second receiving spaces 24, 25 between the first and second raised sections 21, 22 can be preset as necessary to adjust the binding tightness. In this case, the allowance for the anchor section 201 positioned within the first and second receiving spaces 24, 25 can be adjusted. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, the thickness 2015 of the anchor section 201 is equal to the width of the first and second receiving spaces 24, 25 and the width of the second receiving space 25 is equal to that of the first receiving space 24. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 2B, the thickness 2015 of the anchor section 201 is smaller than the width of the first and second receiving spaces 24, 25 and the width of the second receiving space 25 is equal to that of the first receiving space 24. Accordingly, different binding tightness can be achieved to avoid damage of the surfaces of the bound articles (such as wire materials and sundries) due to overtightening. Under such circumstance, the articles can keep a beautiful appearance.

Please further refer to FIG. 2A. The insertion section 203 has a first side 2031 and a second side 2032 opposite to the first side 2031. The first raised sections 21 are arranged on the first side 2031 at intervals, (that is, project from the first side 2031 of the insertion section 203), and integrally connected therewith. The second raised sections 22 are arranged on the second side 2032 at intervals, (that is, project from the second side 2032 of the insertion section 203), and integrally connected therewith.

In this embodiment, the first and second raised sections 21, 22 respectively project from the first and second sides 2031, 2032 in, but not limited to, two forms for illustration purposes only.

FIG. 2A shows the first form of the first raised sections 21, which perpendicularly extend from the first side 2031 and also shows the first form of the second raised sections 22, which perpendicularly extend from the second side 2032. FIG. 3 shows the second form of the first raised sections 21, which obliquely extend from the first side 2031 and also shows the second form of the second raised sections 22, which obliquely extend from the second side 2032.

The operation of the tie strap of the present invention is described as follows:

Please refer to FIGS. 2A and 4. When a user uses the tie strap to bind articles (not shown), the insertion section 203 is first wound around the articles to be bound. Then, the insertion section 203 is passed through the through hole 2013 of the anchor section 201 and pulled tight to engage (or receive) the anchor section 201 in the first and second receiving spaces 24, 25. At this time, the first and second abutment sides 2011, 2012 respectively abut against the opposite sides of the first and second raised sections 21, 22 to provide a binding effect for the articles.

When the user desires to untie the articles, the user needs to move the anchor section 201 outward in a direction away from the articles until the insertion section 203 is extracted out of the through hole 2013 of the anchor section 201. At this time, the articles are untied. In the case that the user only wants to adjust the binding tightness of the articles, (for example, slightly loosen the articles), the user only needs to move the anchor section 201 outward in a direction away from the articles until the anchor section 201 reaches a position with the desired tightness. Then, the anchor section 201 is engaged (or received) in the first and second receiving spaces 24, 25 with the desired tightness. At this time, the first and second abutment sides 2011, 2012 respectively abut against the opposite sides of the first and second raised sections 21, 22 to provide a binding effect for the articles. Accordingly, the user himself/herself can freely adjust the tightness of the tie strap according to the requirement of the user. In addition, the tie strap can be conveniently reused to save cost.

The tie strap structure of the present invention is applicable to different articles with different hardness. For example, the tie strap can be applied to human hairs as a hair band for bundling hairs. Alternatively, the tie strap can be applied to a packaging bag or carriage bag as a sealing band for sealing the packaging bag or carriage bag. Alternatively, the tie strap can be applied to wire materials and sundries to bundle the same. Accordingly, the tie strap is versatile and can be widely used in various fields.

Please refer to FIG. 5, which shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment is substantially identical to the first embodiment in major structure, connection relationship and function and thus will not be repeatedly described in detail hereinafter. The second embodiment is only different from the first embodiment in that each first raised section 21 has a first free end 211 formed with a first recessed section 212 and each second raised section 22 has a second free end 221 formed with a second recessed section 222. The first and second recessed sections 212, 222 serve to chuck wire materials of articles. For example, after the articles are fixedly bundled with the tie strap structure, the appendant wire materials of the articles can be chucked in the corresponding first and/or second recessed sections 212, 222 to help in keeping the wire materials. In conclusion, in comparison with the conventional tie strap, the present invention has the following advantages: 1. It is convenient to use the tie strap of the present invention. 2. The tightness of the tie strap of the present invention can be adjusted by a user himself/herself as necessary. 3. The tie strap of the present invention can be reused. 4. The tie strap of the present invention can be reused to save cost. 5. The tie strap of the present invention can be securely used.

The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. It is understood that many changes and modifications of the above embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is limited only by the appended claims.