Extruded connector strip

An extruded connector strip is described and more particularly, but not exclusively, for use as a weatherstrip connector. The connector strip has an elongated attachment body which has a flat rear attachment wall from which a pair of spaced-apart parallel flexible spacer ribs extend outwardly and sloped towards opposed elongated end edges thereof. An adhesive transfer tape is securable to at least one or more flat portions of the rear attachment wall to secure the connector strip against an object. The flexible spacer ribs permit the attachment body to be located over a connecting surface of an object to which it is intended to be secured while preventing the outer adhesive surface of the transfer tape from contacting the connecting surface until pressure is applied to the attachment body which causes the spacer ribs to flex and the outer adhesive surface of the tape to contact the connecting surface to adhere thereto.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to an extruded connector strip, and more 
particularly, but not exclusively, to a weatherstripping connector and 
wherein the connector is provided with spaced-apart flexible ribs in a 
rear wall thereof with adhesive transfer tape disposed between the ribs. 
The ribs permit the strip to be positioned over an object to which it is 
intended to be attached and moved thereover with the spacer ribs 
maintaining the adhesive surface of the tape spaced from the surface of 
the object to which it is intended to be secured until pressure is applied 
to the connector strip. 
2. Description of Prior Art 
It is known to provide connectors with adhesive transfer tape in a rear 
wall thereof whereby to secure the connectors to various objects. An 
example of this is vehicle mouldings which are nowadays adhesively secured 
to various surfaces of an automotive vehicle. With the development of 
improved adhesive transfer tapes, such tapes have outstanding retention 
force and can withstand all sorts of climatic conditions. In fact, once 
these adhesive tapes touch a surface, they quickly adhere thereto and 
usually must be destroyed if there is a need to remove them. This poses a 
disadvantage when securing an object to a surface as the object must be 
properly and exactly in position before the adhesive is caused to contact 
the surface. Therefore, when it is necessary to secure an object with 
adhesive at a precise location, it is best to provide an alignment means 
so that the article is supported at the precise location. It is, 
therefore, time-consuming to install certain articles and expensive jigs 
or guiding device are required. 
SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
It is a feature of the present invention to provide a connector strip which 
has an attachment body with a rear attachment wall provided with a pair of 
spaced-apart parallel flexible ribs permitting an adhesive transfer tape 
to be secured to the attachment wall between the ribs with the ribs 
maintaining the outer adhesive surface of the adhesive transfer tape 
spaced from a surface to which it is intended to be secured to until 
pressure is applied to the connector strip. 
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an extruded 
weatherstrip connector having the above-mentioned feature to provide 
weatherstrips to be located at proper locations with respect to sliding 
doors and windows before securing same. 
According to the above features, from a broad aspect, the present invention 
provides an extruded connector strip which comprises an elongated 
attachment body having at least a flat rear attachment wall. A pair of 
spaced-apart parallel flexible spacer ribs extend outwardly from the rear 
attachment wall. An adhesive transfer tape is securable to at least one or 
more flat portions of the rear attachment wall. The tape has opposed 
adhesive surfaces. The spacer ribs extend to a plane spaced above an outer 
adhesive surface of a transfer tape when secured to the flat rear 
attachment wall between the flexible spacer ribs. The spacer ribs permit 
the attachment body to be located with the rear attachment wall positioned 
over a connecting surface of an object to which it is intended to be 
secured and prevents the outer adhesive surface from contacting the 
connecting surface until pressure is applied to the attachment body 
causing the spacer ribs to flex and the outer adhesive surface of the tape 
to contact the connecting surface to adhere thereto. The outer adhesive 
surface has a retention force greater than the restoring force of the 
spacer ribs.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 3 to 8, there 
will be described the construction of the connector strip of the present 
invention. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the connector strip is formed from a 
plastic extruded elongated attachment body 10 of generally rectangular 
cross-section and having at least a flat rear attachment wall 11. The 
front wall 12 may be a flat wall, as shown in FIG. 4, or may have a 
decorative surface or embossment 13, as shown in FIG. 3, depending on the 
use of the strip. The embossment 13 could be a plastic moulding extruded 
with the attachment body 10 or may be a strip of other material glued or 
otherwise bonded to the front wall 12 of the attachment body. 
A pair of spaced-apart parallel flexible spacer ribs 14 are also extruded 
with the attachment body and extend outwardly from the rear attachment 
wall 11. These flexible spacer ribs are located close to the opposed 
elongated end edges 15 of the attachment body and are very thin flexible 
ribs for the purpose as will be described later. The length of these ribs 
14 is selected whereby to receive therebetween an adhesive transfer tape 
16 with its outside adhesive surface 17 lying below the plane 18 (see FIG. 
5) aligned with the ends of the flexible ribs 14. 
The adhesive transfer tape is of a type well known in the art and consists 
of a silicone body 19 or other suitable body having opposed adhesive 
surfaces 17 and 17'. A protective peel-off sheet 20 is usually removably 
retained over one of the adhesive surfaces, herein surface 17. 
Accordingly, once this peel-off surface 20 is removed, the outer adhesive 
surface 17 lies below the plane 18. This permits the extruded connector 
strip to be located over a surface, such as surface 21, with the outer 
adhesive surface 17 spaced therefrom by the spacer ribs 14. Accordingly, 
the connector strip can be moved and aligned on that surface with the 
outer adhesive surface 17 spaced from the connecting surface 21 as shown 
in FIG. 5. After the connector strip is in position, then pressure is 
applied over the front wall 12 of the strip, causing the spacer ribs 14 to 
flex out, as shown in FIG. 4, and the outer adhesive surface 17 to 
adhesively engage the connecting surface 21. It is pointed out that the 
adhesive surface of the tape 16 has a retention force which is greater 
than the restoring force of the spacer ribs 14 whereby these spacer ribs 
will not cause the strip to detach. The adhesive tape 16 may be short 
strips, such as shown in FIG. 8, and provided at various locations over 
the rear attachment wall 11 of the connector strip. 
The extruded connector strip of the present invention was developed 
primarily, but not exclusively, for use as weatherstripping connectors and 
examples of these are illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. As shown in all of 
these figures, all of the connector strips have a continuous rear 
attachment wall 11 with the spacer ribs 14 extending along the entire 
length of the attachment body and disposed at diverging angles and sloped 
outwardly towards a respective elongated end edge 15 of the attachment 
body. The attachment body 10 is also extruded as a rigid plastic body 
while still retaining some flexibility. Of course, if the connector strip 
is intended to be secured over curved surfaces, then this body would be 
extruded as a thinner strip. As shown in FIG. 5, the attachment body 10 
has a flexible flap 22 extruded from one of the end edges 15 thereof. It 
is also pointed out that the flap and the spacer ribs 14 may be extruded 
from a different more flexible material and adhered to the body 10 by the 
use of extrusion methods well known in the art. The flexible flap 22 is an 
elongated rectangular flap extending the length of the attachment body and 
disposed at a downward angle in the direction of the flexible spacer ribs 
14. 
The weatherstripping as shown in FIG. 6 is an elongated rectangular 
weatherstrip brush 23 secured to an edge rod 24 which is slidingly 
received within a connecting channel member 25 moulded integrally with the 
body 10 and extending over the front wall 12 thereof adjacent an end edge 
15. The weatherstrip brush 23 is retained in sliding fit within the 
connector channel 25 as herein shown. 
FIG. 7 shows a still further type of weatherstripping and wherein an 
elongated tubular flexible plastic member 26 is moulded along a 
reinforcing rib 27 formed with the body 10. Again, the tubular member 26 
may be formed of a different plastics material which is highly 
compressible and which can retain its flexible characteristics over a 
large temperature spectrum. 
The weatherstripping connectors as illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 have 
different utilities when applied to a sliding door assembly 30 as shown in 
FIG. 1. The weatherstrip brush assembly of FIG. 6 is designed for 
connection to the bottom and top door sills 31 of the moveable door 32 as 
indicated by arrows 33 and as better shown in FIG. 2B. As can be seen, the 
elongated attachment body 10 is adhesively secured to the sill 31 with the 
brush 23 disposed in contact with the sill adjacent the bottom track 34. 
FIG. 2A illustrates the flexible flap connector 22 secured along the 
outside edge 35 of the moveable door 32 and it engages with the side frame 
(not shown) of the stationary door 36. As the moveable door 32 is 
displaced in the track 34, the flap 22 will flex. When the door is closed, 
this flap forms a seal with the side frame of the stationary door. 
The tubular flexible weatherstrip of FIG. 7 is secured along the inner side 
frame 37 so that the tubular member 26 will abut against the door casing 
38, when closed. An advantage of the weatherstripping connectors of the 
present invention is that they are extremely easy to install and its 
flexible rib features permit perfect alignment of the strips prior to 
connection. The strips are easily cut to size and no special tools nor 
screw or nail fasteners are required for these installations. In fact, the 
weatherstripping application of the connector strip of the present 
invention permits these strips to be cut by using conventional shears or 
scissors. 
It is within the ambit of the present invention to cover any obvious 
modifications provided such modifications fall within the scope of the 
appended claims.