Abstract:
A fastening means with at least one flexible tension strand, which has a hook element at each of its two opposite ends, where it is provided in accordance with the invention that each end of the minimum of one tension strand is attached to a seating element, on which a hook element is supported with freedom to rotate around its longitudinal center axis. The invention is suitable in particular for the securing of objects in the interior space of passenger vehicles.

Description:
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of the filing date of U.S. Ser. No. 60/387,242, filed Jun. 7, 2002. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. The Technical Field 
   The invention pertains to a fastening means with at least one flexible tension strand, which has a hook element at each of its two opposite ends. 
   2. The Prior Art 
   A fastening means of this type is known generally as a tension element. A tension element of this type has an elastically resilient tension strand, to each of the two opposite ends of which a hook element is permanently connected. The tension element is used to hold objects in place, for example, on the luggage carriers of bicycles, where the corresponding tension element is stretched over the object to be held in place and is attached firmly at opposite ends by its hook elements to the luggage carrier. 
   The task of the invention is to create a fastening means of the type indicated above which can be put to various uses. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   This task is accomplished in that each end of the minimum of one tension strand is attached to a seating element such as a hook or bar, on each of which a hook element is supported with freedom to rotate around its longitudinal center axis. As a result, it is possible for the hook elements to be hooked in various positions without subjecting the tension strand to torsion, that is, without twisting. Because of its rotational support according to the invention, the hook element is disengaged from any torsional loads which the associated tension strand might otherwise impose on it. 
   The task on which the invention is based is also accomplished in that at least two tension strands are attached, in a bundle, by their ends to a collective seating element such as a hook or bar, and in that the opposite ends of these strands are provided with a corresponding number of independent hook elements. 
   According to the invention, several objects can be secured independently of each other by separate tension strands and hook elements. At the same time, however, the collective seating element such as a hook or bar, which is attached to a suitable fixed point, defines a single, common attachment point for all these objects. This solution is especially advantageous for applications of the fastening means in motor vehicles, in which various types of shopping bags or other objects are to be secured. 
   In an embodiment of the invention, the tension strand, of which there is at least one, is designed to be elastically resilient. This embodiment offers the advantage that it is thus possible to hold and secure objects of different sizes and weights. In particular, it is possible to secure shopping bags of different sizes in their upright position in a motor vehicle by engaging the hook elements in the handles of the shopping bags. The shopping bags can advantageously also be supported from underneath on an appropriate interior surface of the motor vehicle, so that the tension strands do not have to support the entire weight of the object to be secured. The various tension strands are also advantageously designed with different lengths when in their unloaded rest position. As a result, the range of uses to which they can be put becomes even wider. 
   In a further embodiment of the invention, each seating element which may also be called an attachment point is supported with freedom of rotation with respect to its longitudinal center axis around an attachment point for the end of the tension strand. The associated hook element is preferably supported with freedom of rotation on the seating element. Because the seating element itself is also supported with freedom or rotation relative to the associated tension strand, the degree to which the hook elements and seating elements are disengaged from the load of the tension strands is improved even more. 
   In a further embodiment of the invention, a hook element provided with a release guard is attached to the collective seating element or attachment point. The release guard prevents the hook element from becoming accidentally unhooked from its point of attachment. This is advantageous especially in normal motor vehicle driving situations, because sideways rocking motions and accelerations and decelerations of the vehicle can result in increased forces at the point of attachment between the collective seating element and the fixed holder in the interior of the vehicle. When these types of loads occur, the release guard reliably prevents the hook element from becoming accidentally unhooked. In particular, an elastically resilient guard hoop or similarly designed, preferably elastically resilient, guard projection can be provided, which temporarily blocks off the receiving area for hooking and unhooking the hook element. 
   Additional advantages and features of the invention can be derived from the claims and from the following description of a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, which is illustrated on the basis of the figures. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a fastening means according to the invention in its working position in the trunk of station wagon; 
       FIG. 2  shows a station wagon similar to that of  FIG. 1  with several fastening means according to  FIG. 1  distributed around the interior of the vehicle; 
       FIG. 3  shows an enlarged, perspective view of a fastening means such as that used in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ; and 
       FIG. 4  shows an exploded, perspective view of the fastening means according to  FIG. 3 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will be described in detail several specific embodiments, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated. 
   A motor vehicle in the form of a station wagon according to  FIGS. 1 and 2  has an interior space  1 ,  1   a . The interior space  1 ,  1   a  of the vehicle has a seat unit in the front and a seat unit in the rear. Behind the rear seat unit is a cargo space. The seat units have backrests, on the tops of which headrests  2 ,  2   a  are provided. The headrests  2 ,  2   a  are attached by sliding frames  3 ,  3   a  to the backrests of the seat units. These sliding frames  3 ,  3   a  of the headrests  2 ,  2   a  serve as preferred attachment or holding points, in a fixed position in the vehicle, for the fastening means  4 , described in greater detail below. The fastening means  4  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  are designed as illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . Accordingly, a fastening means with two tension strands  6  of elastically resilient material is provided. The elastic resilience of the two tension strands  6  is illustrated by the symbolic spring in  FIG. 3 . The two tension strands  6  terminate in cup-like seating elements  9 . The end parts of the tension strands  6  are preferably provided with areas  14  of greater thickness, which are anchored in their associated seating elements  9  in a form-locking manner with respect to the tension direction of the tension strands  6 . As can be seen on the basis of the arrows in  FIG. 3 , the seating elements  9  are supported in such a way that they can rotate around their center longitudinal axis and thus also around corresponding nodal points at the ends of the tension strands  6 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the seating elements  9  have for this purpose a core  13 , in which the folded-back ends, that is, the areas  14  of greater thickness, of the tension strands  6 , are held and anchored. This core  13  is not free to rotate relative to the thickened areas  14  of the tension strands  6 . The core is enclosed in each case by a cup-shaped sleeve  9   a , visible in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , of a seating element  9 , which jackets the core  13  and is supported with the freedom to rotate relative to the core. The sleeve  9   a  of the seating element  9 , i.e., of the core  13 , is connected by latching means  10   a  to the associated hook element  10 . To ensure that the hook element is free to rotate, it is preferably also made of two parts. That is, it can consist of a latching part  10   a , which can be latched to the core  13 , and the hook part  10   b  of the hook element  10 , which is supported with freedom of rotation on the latching part  10   a.    
   An upper seating element in  FIG. 3 , at which both of the tension strands  6  terminate, represents a collective seating element  7 . This element is designed in the same way as the previously described seating elements  9 , each of which receives the end of only a single tension strand. The only difference is that, in this case, the ends of two tension strands  6  are anchored jointly in this collective seating element  7 , that is, in the corresponding core. 
   A hook element  11 , which projects out from the side opposite the tension strands  6 , is provided on the collective seating element  7 . A hook element  10  is mounted in the same way on each of the seating elements  9 ; these hooks also project out from the side of the seating element opposite the associated tension strand  6 . The hook elements  10 ,  11  are supported with freedom of coaxial rotation around the longitudinal center axes of the seating elements  9  and around that of the collective seating element  7 , respectively. For this purpose, the hook elements  10 ,  11  are supported rotatably either on the associated core or on the cup-shaped sleeve of each of the receiving elements or of the collective receiving element  7 . This is illustrated by the circular arrows. 
   In an exemplary embodiment of the invention not illustrated here, the hook elements  10 ,  11  are connected nonrotatably to the associated rotatable seating elements. In this embodiment, therefore, the seating elements and the hook elements always rotate together in dependence on each other. 
   A release guard  8  is assigned to the hook element  11 , which is supported rotatably on the collective seating element  7 ; this release guard blocks off the open area of the hook element  11  used for hooking and unhooking. An elastically resilient tab or web-like projection  12  is provided as a release guard, which, when in its unloaded rest position according to  FIG. 3 , blocks off the open area of the hook element. As the hook element  11  is being hooked onto an appropriate attachment point fixed to the vehicle, the projection  12  is pushed back toward the hook element  11  under elastic deformation until the hooking process is complete. Upon completion of the hooking process, the projection  12  springs back to its original position. To unhook the hook, the projection is pushed back by hand, which allows the hook element  11  to be removed. 
   So that typical shopping bags  5  or other objects can be secured within the interior of the vehicle  1 ,  1   a , each fastening means  4  is first hooked to the vehicle by the hook element  11  assigned to the collective seating element  7 . In the illustrations according to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the fastening means is hooked to the sliding frames  3  of the front and rear seat units. It is now possible, as needed, to hook the handles of typical shopping bags  5  onto the free-hanging hook elements  10  of the lower seating elements  9 . If a shopping bag is relatively heavy because of its contents, the tension strand  6  in question will stretch elastically downward until the shopping bag  6  comes to rest on a corresponding support surface in the interior space of the vehicle. According to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , such support surfaces are in particular the floor of the cargo space ( FIG. 1 ), the surface of the seat cushion of the rear seat unit, and the floor of the interior of the vehicle immediately behind the front seats. If the shopping bags or objects in question are relatively light in weight, they will hang freely from the tension strands  6  in question and can also lean against an upright surface of the vehicle&#39;s interior as well, depending on their orientation inside the vehicle. 
   The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate the invention, and the invention is not limited thereto, except as those skilled in the art who have the present disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.