Patent ID: 7891067
Filing Date: 2011-02-22
Classification: A01K,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A tool for expanding an elastic band and releasing it for contraction about an object, comprising: a base plate having a center; a cam plate oriented in a plane parallel to the plane of said base plate and rotatably secured to said cam plate, and having a center located near the center of said base plate; at least three cam slots located in said cam plate, said cam slots each having an inner end nearer the center of said cam plate and an outer end further from said center, said slots curving inward toward said center near said outer end; at least three expander bars, each having a proximal end near the center of said base plate and a distal end furthest away from said center, and having a finger extending approximately perpendicularly near its proximal end and a cam pin between its proximal and its distal end, said cam pin being capable of movement in an associated one of said cam slots; and wherein each said expander bar is moveably mounted to said base plate for movement to and from the center of the cam plate so that when an elastic band is fitted around all of said fingers and said cam plate is rotated in a first direction relative to said base plate, said cam pins move outwardly in said associated cam slots, causing said expander bars to move outwardly and expand the elastic band, said cam pins locking in place when the rotation of the cam plate causes them to reach the outer end of said cam slot.