Abstract:
An array of clips ( 10 ) comprising: a first clip ( 20 ) and a second clip ( 20 ); and a connection element ( 90 ) extending between the first clip ( 20 ) and the second clip ( 20 ); each clip ( 20 ) having: a channel ( 50 ) for location of a elongate member ( 11 ), and an abutment fulcrum portion ( 70 ) formed on said clip ( 20 ); wherein rotation of the first clip ( 20 ) with respect to the second clip ( 20 ) causes the abutment fulcrum portion ( 70 ) of the first clip ( 20 ) to abut against the second clip ( 20 ) to break said connection element ( 90 ).

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to an array of clips and a method of installation of said clips. In particular, the invention relates to clips for use in securing electrical cables in a desired location and therefore will be described in this context. However it should be appreciated that other elongate members may be secured using the clip.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Electrical cabling is used throughout the world for both domestic and commercial applications. These cables can be potentially hazardous if they are easily accessed. Therefore, they are often located in roofs and/or floors of buildings. It is necessary to secure these cables so the cables are not damaged when the roof and/or floor of the building is accessed by other people who may accidentally pull or step on the cable.  
         [0003]     One popular cable clip includes a U-shaped channel and a nail. The nail extends through the U-shape channel. In order to retain an electric cable in a desired location, a cable is located within the U-shaped channel and the nail is driven into a wall, beam or the like structure. This cable clip is easy to use and cheap.  
         [0004]     Typically, a large number of such clips are applied individually to secure a single cable. Unfortunately most cables are located in remote locations such as under houses. Therefore, a large number of cables must be carried by an installer in order to secure the cable.  
         [0005]     Accessibility of the clips during installation can therefore be problematic. An installer may hold a number of such clips in the user&#39;s mouth. This is potentially dangerous as a clip can be accidentally swallowed. Alternatively, clips can be located in a pocket of the user or in a box. This is generally an inconvenience and often causes delay in accessing clips and hence more time is taken to secure a cable.  
       OBJECT OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     It is an object of the present invention to overcome or alleviate one or more of the above disadvantages or provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an array of clips comprising: 
        a first clip and a second clip; and     a connection element extending between the first clip and the second clip;     each clip having: 
            a channel for location of an elongate member, and     an abutment fulcrum portion formed on said clip;    
            wherein rotation of the first clip with respect to the second clip causes the abutment fulcrum portion of the first clip to abut against the second clip to break said connection element.        
 
         [0014]     The array of clips is normally produced with using injection moulding.  
         [0015]     The channel may be formed from two legs interconnected by a retaining body.  
         [0016]     The connection element is normally attached to one of the legs of each of the clips. The connection element may have a notch located adjacent to where the connection element is attached to the clip. The connection element is normally in the form of an attachment lug.  
         [0017]     Preferably, at least one of the legs of at least one clip includes a widened portion towards an end of the leg to slightly narrow an open side of the channel.  
         [0018]     Preferably, at least one abutment fulcrum portion on at least one clip protrudes from the clip.  
         [0019]     At least one abutment fulcrum portion may protrude from at least one leg of each clip. Normally, each leg of the clip has an abutment fulcrum portion. Preferably, the abutment fulcrum portion is in the form of an abutment ear.  
         [0020]     Preferably, the retaining body of each clip includes a protruding portion that extends into the channel. Usually, the protruding portion comprises a ridge which stands proud of the retaining body.  
         [0021]     Normally a securing member extends through a leg of each of the clips. Preferably, the securing member is a nail.  
         [0022]     According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of installation of an array of clips, the method including the steps of:  
         [0023]     placing an elongate member within a channel of a first clip;  
         [0024]     fixing the first clip to a surface to retain the elongate member in a desired position on said surface;  
         [0025]     rotating a second clip with respect to the first clip to cause the abutment fulcrum portion, located on either of said first clip or said second clip, to abut against the other of said first clip or said second clip to break a connection element connecting said first clip and said second clip.  
         [0026]     The first clip may be separated from the other second clip before or after being fixed to the surface.  
         [0027]     Preferably, the method includes use of an array of clips in accordance with the first aspect of the invention.  
         [0028]     According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a clip for retaining an elongate member relative to a surface, said clip comprising: 
        two legs interconnected by retaining body to form a channel;     a securing member extending through at least one of the legs, and     a protruding portion that extends into the channel.        
 
         [0032]     Preferably, the clip is adapted for use with a larger cable having cross-sectional dimensions of about 12 mm by 6 mm.  
         [0033]     Preferably, the clip is adapted for use with a smaller cable having cross-sectional dimensions of approximately 9 mm by 4 mm.  
         [0034]     Preferably, in use, the distance between the part of the projecting portion which is closest to the surface is approximately equal to the corresponding dimension of the smaller elongate member. In one embodiment, this dimension is approximately 4 mm.  
         [0035]     Preferably, in use with the larger elongate member, the projecting portion compresses a dimension of the larger elongate member, at the point of contact, approximately to the size of the corresponding dimension of the smaller elongate member.  
         [0036]     Each clip in accordance with the third aspect of the present invention may also form part of an array of clips according to a first aspect of the present invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0037]     Embodiments of an array of clips will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0038]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an array of clips according to an embodiment of the invention;  
         [0039]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of two clips joined together  
         [0040]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the clips of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0041]      FIG. 4  is an end view of the clips of  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0042]      FIG. 5  is a cross-section corresponding to C-C of  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0043]      FIG. 6  is a top view of the clips of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0044]      FIG. 7  is a bottom view of the clips of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0045]      FIG. 8  is a sectional side view of a clip;  
         [0046]      FIG. 9  is a side view of a clip used to retain a cable of a first size;  
         [0047]      FIG. 10  is a side view of a clip used to retain a cable of a second size;  
         [0048]      FIG. 11A  to  11 E show tops views of one clip being removed from an adjacent clip;  
         [0049]      FIGS. 12 and 3  are alternative embodiments of attachment lugs; and  
         [0050]      FIGS. 14, 15  and  16  are cross-sectional views of alternative embodiments of clips;  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0051]      FIG. 1  shows an array of clips  10  for use in attaching cables to a surface such as a wall or beam. The array of clips  10  includes ten clips  20  that are joined together with connection elements in the form of attachment lugs  90 .  
         [0052]     FIGS.  2  to  8  show the clips  20  in more detail. Each clip  20  comprises two legs  30  and  31  interconnected by a retaining body  40  to form a channel  50 . Both of the legs  30  and  31  have a widened portion  32  located towards an end of each of the legs  30  and  31 , to slightly narrow an open side of the channel  50 .  
         [0053]     A bore  60  extends through one of the legs  30 . A countersink  61  is located at the top of the bore  60  that is wider than the remainder of the bore. A securing member, in the form of a nail  62 , extends through the bore. It should be appreciated that other types of securing members may be used such as a screw.  
         [0054]     An abutment ear  70  is located on each leg  30  and  31  of the clip  20 . The abutment ear  70  is located adjacent respective lower ends of the legs. Abutment ears  70  are located on opposite sides of the legs  30  and  31 .  
         [0055]     A projection  80 , in the form of a ridge, extends into the channel from the retaining body. The projection  80  is tapered and is relatively small.  
         [0056]     Each of the clips  20  are connected to an adjacent clip  20  through an associated attachment lug  90 . The attachment lug  90  is adapted to retain the clips  20  in a strip during storage but to allow easy manual disconnection of the clips  20  during use.  
         [0057]     The attachment lug  90  is relatively thin. A notch  91  is located at each end of the attachment lug adjacent to where the attachment lug  90  is attached to each leg  30  and  31  of the clip  20 . The notch  91  is located at an opposite side of the clip  20  where the abutment ear  70  is located.  
         [0058]     In use a cable  11  is located within the channel  50  of the clip  20 . The widened portion  32  of the two legs  30  and  31  assists in holding the cable  11  within the channel  50 . The clip  20  is then located at a desire location such as a wall or beam.  FIGS. 9 and 10  show how the clip  20  retains different sized 3-core cables  11  and  12 .  FIG. 9  illustrates the clip  20  holding a larger 13 mm wide by 6 mm thick cable  11  whilst  FIG. 10  illustrates the clip  20  holding a smaller 10 mm wide by 4 mm thick cable  12 .  
         [0059]     The clip  20  holds the larger cable  11  through the projection  80  contacting and slightly deforming an outer sheath of the larger cable  11  and thereby holding the larger cable  11  in place against a surface. However, when the clip  20  is used with the smaller cable  12 , the projection  80  contacts the smaller cable  42  in between a valley located within the outer sheath of the smaller cable  12  and therefore preventing undesirable movement of the smaller cable  12 . Thus, provision of the projection  80  allows the illustrated clip to be used effectively with either size of cable  11  or  12 . It should be appreciated that in an alternative embodiment, the projection  80  may be a pad of a resilient material so that deformation occurs in the projection rather than the cable  20 .  
         [0060]     Once the clip  20  and cable  11  are located at a desired position, the nail is then nailed into the wall or beam. During nailing, the nail  62  is moved with respect to the bore  60  located with the leg  30 . A head  64  of the nail sits with the countersink  61  after nailing has been completed whilst a body  63  of the nail holds the cable to the wall or beam.  
         [0061]     In order to break the attachment lug  90  and remove a clip  20  from an adjacent clip  20 , one clip  20  is rotated with respect to an adjacent clip as shown in  FIG. 11A  to  11 E. Upon rotation of one clip  20  with respect to the adjacent clip  20  this causes the abutment ear  70  on one leg  31  of one of the clips  20  to abut against a leg of the other clip. The abutment ear  70  provides a fulcrum in order that the attachment lug  90  tears from the leg it is attached. The notch  91  in the attachment lug  90  assists in tearing of the attachment lug away from the leg. It should be noted that due to the placement of the abutment ears  70  the one clip may be rotated with respect to the other clip in either a clockwise direction shown in  FIG. 11D and 11E  or anti-clockwise direction shown in  FIG. 11B  to  11 C to break the attachment lug.  
         [0062]     The process of breaking the attachment lug  90  may then be repeated, as required, with the rest of the clips  20  of the array. It will be appreciated that unlike the use of clips which are not connected, a user can conveniently hold a considerable number of clips in one hand. In the preferred embodiment, an array of clips includes ten such clips, but clearly the number of clips formed in an array may be selected as desired.  
         [0063]     It will be appreciated that many alternatives are possible. For example  FIGS. 12 and 13  show variations of the abutment ear  70 .  FIG. 12  shows the abutment ear  70  extending the length of the leg whilst  FIG. 13  shows a U-shaped abutment ear  70 . It should be appreciated that the abutment ear  70  provides a fulcrum through which the attachment lug is broken. Therefore, the abutment ear  70  may be of any shape so long as it performs that function.  
         [0064]     Further alternatives for the shape of the clip  20  are also possible as shown in  FIG. 14 ,  FIG. 15  and  FIG. 16 .  
         [0065]      FIG. 14  shows an alternative embodiment for use with an elongate member with generally circular cross-section.  
         [0066]      FIG. 15  illustrates an embodiment in which the clip has legs of a different length.  
         [0067]      FIG. 16  illustrates an embodiment in which a channel  50  is provided by two arms  34  and  35  which are resilient around cable which is to be fixed to a surface. This embodiment may be beneficial where contact between the cable and the surface is not desired, or where removal of the elongate member without removal of the clip from the surface is desired.  
         [0068]     Although the embodiments of FIGS.  12  to  16  are described and illustrated to show envisaged alternatives, the embodiment of FIGS.  1  to  10  is preferred. Although the attachment lugs  90  may be provided at any desired and convenient point on each clip  20 , it is preferred that they are provided so that, in use, once a clip  20  is detached, any attachment lug  90  or part of an attachment lug still attached to the clip  20  will be close to the surface to which the clip is attached. This helps to avoid unsightly and possibly hazardous broken plastic elements remaining on the clip  20  where they are likely to be contacted by other objects.  
         [0069]     It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.