Abstract:
A novel holding device for a cord is disclosed. The holding device includes a base and a cover. Both the cover and the base have openings to allow the cord to pass through the cover and the base. When the base and the cover are in contact, the fixation ring of the cover would press the fins of the base toward the cord. In this configuration, the holding device cannot move further in the direction toward the base due to the increased fixation force. The holding device can still move in the opposition direction without the increased fixation force.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention relates generally to a cord holding device, and more specifically to an adjustable cord holding device that can be moved in one direction much easier than another direction. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    A cord holding device can be use to adjust the pulled-out length of a cord, string, belt, or rope. It is commonly used in clothing, accessories, sports, and safety equipment. For example, it can be used to adjust the length of the safety seatbelt to hold a passenger. It can also be used to adjust the tightness of the bag strap. 
         [0005]    Most conventional cord holding devices, however, are bulky, and are not suitable for applications where the overall size is limited. There are some small cold holding devices available, but their simplified designs make the adjustment of the pulled-out length difficult. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an adjustable cord holding device that is small, yet easy to use. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    The present invention is directed to an adjustable cord holding device. The device comprises a cover and a base. When the cover is moved toward the base, the fixation ring of the cover may press the fins of the base further toward the cord. This would tighten the base to the cord, and would eventually stop the base&#39;s further movement in such direction. 
         [0007]    According to another embodiment of the present invention, the cover and the base share a common housing, and a spring presses the base and the cover toward each other. At a first configuration, the adjustable cord holding device can only move in one direction. At a second configuration where the spring is compressed, the adjustable cord holding device can move in both directions along the cord. 
         [0008]    This Summary is provided merely to introduce certain concepts and not to identify any key or essential features of the claimed subject matter. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where: 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  shows a base for an adjustable cord holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  shows a cover for an adjustable cord holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  shows a configuration of an adjustable cord holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  shows another configuration of an adjustable cord holding device according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIGS. 5(   a ) and ( b ) show configurations of an adjustable cord holding device according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIGS. 6(   a ) and ( b ) show configurations of an adjustable cord holding device according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    To be consistent throughout the descriptions and for clear understanding of the present invention, the following definitions are hereby provided for terms used therein: 
         [0017]    The term “cord” refers to a linear collection of substances, which are combined together in a larger and stronger form. A cord is usually constructed of long and fibrous materials, and generally is constructed of certain natural or synthetic fibers. As used in the present invention, the scope of the term “cord” covers a string, a rope, a belt, a strap, a wire, a cable, a thread, a line, and others of similar nature. The cross section of the cord is usually round shape, but it can also be other shapes, such as a rounded rectangular shape and elliptical shape. For example, the cross section shape for the seatbelt is usually a rounded rectangle. 
         [0018]    The term “comprises” are used herein to mean that other components, ingredients, steps, etc. are optionally present. For example, a device “comprising” components A and B can consist of components A and B, or can contain components A and B, and one or more other components. 
         [0019]    Accordingly to an embodiment of the present invention, an adjustable cord holding device comprises a cover and a base. Both the cover and the base have holes to allow a cord to pass through them. When the base and the cover are placed approximate to each other, the combined structure may be moved in one direction more easily than the other direction. 
         [0020]      FIG. 1  shows a base  10  for an adjustable cord holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The base  10  may comprise a base hole  16  to allow a cord to pass through the base  10 . The shape of the base hole  16  depends on the intended use of the adjustable cord holding device. If the cross section of the cord is round, the base hole  16  may also be round. On the other hand, when the intended cord is a belt, whose cross section is rounded rectangle, the base hole  16  may also be rounded rectangle. 
         [0021]    The base  10  may comprise multiple fins to increase the base  10 &#39;s fixation to a cord. In 
         [0022]      FIG. 1 , the base  10  comprises fins  11 ,  12 ,  13 , and  14 . The fins may incline toward the base hole  16 . In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the internal surfaces of the fins may be uneven to further increase the fixation of the fins to a cord. For example, the internal surface  15  of the fin  13  has linear uneven pattern to increase friction with the cord. 
         [0023]      FIG. 2  shows a cover  20  for an adjustable cord holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the cover  20  may comprise a fixation ring  21  that surround the cover hole  23 . In should be noted that the fixation ring  21  does not nave to be round. The cover hole  23  may allow a cord to pass through the cover  20 . The fixation ring  21  may be used to tighten the fins of the base toward the cord. The internal surface  22  of the fixation ring  21  may also be uneven, thereby increasing its friction with other objects, such as the fins of the base or the cord. The shape of the fixation ring  21  may match the shape of the fins of the base. 
         [0024]    Although the base  10  in  FIG. 1  and cover  20  in  FIG. 2  have rounded shapes, a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the shapes of the cover  20  and base  10  are not material for the purpose of the present invention. For example, a shape of the cover  20  or base  10  may be a triangle, a rectangle, a polygon, an ellipse, an irregular shape, or a cartoon shape. Moreover, the shapes of the cover  20  and the base  10  do not have to be the same. For example, the cover  20  may have a circle shape and the base  10  may have a polygon shape. 
         [0025]      FIG. 3  shows a configuration of an adjustable cord holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The adjustable cord holding device may comprise a base  10  and a cover  20 . The cover  20  may comprise a fixation ring  21 . As previously described, the base  10  may comprise the fins  11 ,  12 ,  13 , and  14 . A person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the number of the fins, and the shapes of the fins are not material for the purpose of the present invention. For example, the base  10  may have 1 fin, or multiple fins. 
         [0026]    The base  10  and the cover  20  may be aligned as shown in  FIG. 3 , such that a cord  30  may pass through the base hole  16  of the base  10  and the cover hole  23  of the cover  20 . At this decoupled configuration, whereas the cover  20  is not in contact with the base  10 , the base  10  and cover  20  may move freely along the cord  30  in either direction. For the cover  20 , because the hole  23  is larger than the cross section of the cord  30 , it can move along the cord  30  easily. For the base  10 , because the fins  11 ,  12 ,  13 , and  14  have not been forced toward the cord  30 , the base  10  can also move along the cord  30 . 
         [0027]      FIG. 4  shows another configuration of an adjustable cord holding device according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this configuration, the base  10  and the cover  20  are coupled together. As shown, when the cover  20  is coupled with the base  10 , the fixation ring  21  of the cover  20  may force the fins of the base  10  toward the cord  30 . For example, the fins  11  and  12  in  FIG. 4  are now forced toward the cord  30  by the fixation ring  21 . Hence, the more the cover  20  is moved in the direction  40 , the more it is moved toward the base  10 . This would push the base&#39;s fins tighter toward the cord, thereby increasing the force of fixation. Eventually, the increased force of friction would stop the cover  20 &#39;s further movement in the direction  40 . Therefore, at this configuration the feedback mechanism caused by the fixation ring  21  and the fins  11  and  12  would allow the combined structure to be able to move only toward direction  50 . 
         [0028]    When the object  101  is moved in the direction  40 , it will eventually be in contact with the cover  20 . Once it does, it will trigger the aforementioned feedback mechanism to stop further movement of the object  101  in the direction  40 . In order for the object  101  to move further in the direction  40 , the cover  20  must first be moved in the direction  50  to allow it to be decoupled with the base  10 . Then, the base  10  can be moved in the direction  40 , and the cover  20  may follow the movement, and eventually the object  101  can move further in the direction  40 . 
         [0029]    On the other hand, if the object  102  is to move in the direction  50 , it will be in contact with the base  10 . However, such movement will not trigger the feedback mechanism previously described, and therefore would allow the object  102 , base  10 , and cover  20  to move toward the direction  50 . 
         [0030]    In summary, once the base  10  and the cover  20  is coupled to each other, the movement of the cover  20  toward the base  10  would increase the fixation to the cord, thereby stopping any further movement in that direction. Thus, in this configuration, the cord-fixation force against moving the combined structure toward the direction  40  is greater than the cord-fixation force against moving the combined structure toward the direction  50 . 
         [0031]      FIGS. 5(   a ) and ( b ) show configurations of an adjustable cord holding device according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 5(   a ), the cover  20  and the base  10  share a common housing  42 . One end of the spring  41  is attached to the common housing  42 , and the other end of the spring  41  is attached to the base  10 . Moreover, the spring  41  may push the base  10  and the cover  20  toward each other, into a coupled position as explained in the description section associated with  FIG. 4 . When the base  10  and the cover  20  are coupled to each other, as previously explained, the combined structure would stop further movement at the direction  40 , because such movement would increase the fixation force between the base  10  and the cord  30 . Hence, at this configuration, where the base  10  is forced to couple with the cover  20  by the string  41 , the combined structure can only move in one direction along the cord  30 , opposite of direction  40 . A person of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the base  10  can also be coupled with the cover  20  by other means, such as a notch, magnetic force, suction force, and a bottom. For example, instead of using the spring  41  to force the base  10  and cover  20  at the coupled configuration, the base  10  and the cover  20  may be bottomed together. 
         [0032]    In order to move in the direction  40 , as illustrated in  FIG. 5(   b ), the base  10  may be moved away from the cover  20  to compress the spring  41 . This would decouple the base  10  from the cover  20 , and the combined structure can now be moved in the direction  40 . Hence, at this configuration, the combined structure can move in both directions along the cord  30 . At previous example, where the base  10  and the cover  20  are bottomed together, a user may open the bottom(s) to decouple them. 
         [0033]      FIGS. 6(   a ) and ( b ) show configurations of an adjustable cord holding device according to another embodiment of the present invention. As previously mentioned, the cover  20  and base  10  may have shapes other than round shape. In  FIG. 6(   a ), the cover  20  and the base  10  both have substantially rectangular shapes. The rectangular shapes may be chosen to adopt the slit opening adapted to fix on a belt.  FIG. 6(   b ) shows a cross-sectional view of the adjustable cord holding device. As shown, as the cover  20  is moved toward base  10  in the direction  40 , the fixation ring  21  of the cover  20  may press the fin  10  further toward the cord  30 . If so, the notch  16  on the fin  10  may eventually fixed onto the cord  30  to stop further movement of the combined structure along the direction  40 . 
         [0034]    Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.