Patent Publication Number: US-6212919-B1

Title: Adjustable cable loop locking system for securing a pair of spacially separated articles together

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a system for securing two spaced apart articles together with a length of cable, the cable containing a pair of loop forming mechanisms on opposite end portions thereof wherein only one of the mechanisms requires locking in order to secure the articles to the cable. 
     Broadly speaking, looped cable locking devices have long been known in the prior art. See U.S. Pat. No. 2,623,378 granted to G. D. Hauer on Dec. 30, 1952; U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,118 granted to R. W. Stone on Oct. 15, 1974; U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,653 granted to R. Lyon et al. on Oct. 26, 1976; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,712 granted to D. Fox on Dec. 10, 1991, to mention but a few. The Fox patent discloses a cable locking device having an elongated handle which pivots into and out of an open edged handle housing and contains registrable apertures in a free end of the handle and through end portions of the side walls of the housing opposite the end in which the handle is pivotally attached to the housing. The shackle of a pad lock can be inserted through the apertures in the housing and handle when registered to lock the handle in the housing to secure a rope loop therein. However, all of the aforementioned patents disclose systems which require a locking device on both ends of a cable in order to trap or lock cable end loops to separate articles to be fastened together. It therefore would be desirable to provide a system for joining two separated articles together with a cable containing loop forming mechanisms on opposite end portions thereof wherein only one of the mechanisms needs to be locked. 
     By means of my invention, these and other difficulties encountered in the prior art are substantially eliminated. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of my invention to provide an adjustable cable loop locking system for securing two spaced apart articles together with a length of cable. 
     If is a further object of my invention to provide such a cable loop locking system containing a first mechanism on one end portion of a cable to form a first adjustable loop and a second mechanism on an opposite end portion of the cable to form a second adjustable loop. 
     It is another object of my invention to provide a pair of mechanisms slidably disposed on opposite end portions of a length of cable for forming loops on opposite end portions of the cable which require the locking of only one of the mechanisms to secure a pair of spaced apart articles together with the cable. 
     Briefly, in accordance with my invention, I provide a system for securing a pair of spacially separated articles together which includes an elongated, flexible cable and a first mechanism slidably containing two lead-in portions of a first loop formed on a first end portion of the cable for adjusting the size of the first loop. A second mechanism is provided which slidably contains a first of two lead-in portions of a second loop formed on a second end portion of the cable for permitting adjustment in the size of the second loop. An end of the cable at an end of the second loop is fixedly secured to the second mechanism. Next, a device is provided for selectively fixing a first of the two lead-in portions of the first loop in a stationary position within the first mechanism when in an operative condition. The first of the two lead-in portions of the first loop contains a free end of the cable. A second of the two lead-in portions of the first loop is connected to the first of the two lead-in portions of the second loop to form a central portion of the cable extending between the first and second mechanisms. An elongated, flexible, hollow sheath is provided which slidably covers the central portion of the cable. The sheath is affixed on opposite end portions thereof to the first and second mechanisms such that the first and second mechanisms are spaced apart by a fixed distance as measured along the central portion of the cable. 
     These and other objects, features and advantages of my invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description and attached drawings upon which, by way of example, only a preferred embodiment of my invention is described and illustrated. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a plan view of an adjustable cable loop locking system for securing a pair of spacially separated articles together, the system including a pivotal cable locking bar shown in an open, unlocked position, thus illustrating a preferred embodiment of my invention. 
     FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional elevation view of a first mechanism of the system of FIG. 1 as viewed along cross-section lines  2 — 2  of the latter mentioned figure, the locking bar of FIG. 1 being shown here in a closed position. 
     FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a portion of the first mechanism of FIGS. 1-2 as viewed along cross-section lines  3 — 3  of FIG. 1 except that, in this view, the locking bar of FIGS. 1-2 is shown in a closed and locked position. 
     FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the first mechanism of FIGS. 1-3 as vie ed along cross-section lines  4 — 4  of FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of a second mechanism of FIG. 1 as viewed along cross-section lines  5 — 5  of the latter mentioned figure. 
     FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of a fragment of the second mechanism of FIGS. 1 and 5 as viewed along cross-section lines  6 — 6  of FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawing figures there is shown, in a preferred embodiment of my invention, an adjustable cable loop locking system, generally designated  10 , for securing a pair of spacially separated articles together. The system  10  is well adapted for mooring a boat, such as a house boat, motor boat or launch, cabin cruiser or jet ski to a mooring post, dock piling or docking cleat. The system  10  can also be used to secure a light air craft to an air craft tiedown and for numerous other purposes. 
     The system  10  includes a first cable loop forming mechanism, generally designated  12 , which, in an unlocked condition as later explained, slidably contains the two lead-in portions of a first loop  13  formed on a first end portion of an elongated, flexible cable  14 . The first mechanism  12  contains a relatively flat central body portion  21  and permits manual adjustments in the size of the first loop  13  as represented by a double headed arrow  15  in FIG.  1 . The cable  14  may be of any suitable length as needed and should have a strength rating which is sufficient for the particular use of the system  10 . I prefer that the cable  14  be ¼ inch diameter stainless steel 7×19 braided cable as is available from the Indusco Group, 429 Talleyrand Avenue, Jacksonville, Fla. 32201-4758. The system  10  also includes a second cable loop forming mechanism  16  which slidably contains a first of the two lead-in portions of a second loop  17  formed on a second end portion of the cable  14  for permitting adjustment in the size of the second loop as indicated by a double headed arrow  19  in FIG.  1 . An end of the cable  14  at the end of the second loop  17  is fixedly secured to the second mechanism  16  in any suitable manner but, preferably, as shown in FIG.  6  and as later explained herein. An opposite end  18  of the cable  14  on the end of a first lead-in portion of the first loop  13  is free and unattached. 
     The system  10  also includes a device for selectively fixing the first of the two lead-in portions of the first loop  13  in a stationary position within the first mechanism  12 . In the present example, this device includes an elongated handle or bar  20  which is pivotally connected on one end portion, as at  22 , to one end portion a pair of spaced apart side walls  24   a  and  24   b  (See FIG. 2) of a handle housing, designated  24  in FIG. 1, formed on a lower end portion of the body portion  21  of the first mechanism  12 . The lower edge of the housing  24  is open to permit the bar  20  to be pivoted from an open position, as shown in FIG. 1, to a closed position within the housing as shown in FIGS. 2-4. The bar  20  is relatively flat, elongated, and generally rectangularly shaped except for a solid, arc shaped, flat sided bulge or projection  23  projecting from an edge which opposes a roof base  25  (See FIG. 1) of the housing  24  when the bar is in the closed position in the housing. The roof  25  of the housing  24  contains a hollow, arc shaped, flat sided depression or detent  26  (See FIG. 4) which communicates with the housing  24  and which conforms to the solid projection  23  on the bar  20  and is positioned such that the solid projection inserts into the depression as the bar  20  is closed in the housing  24 . The first lead-in portion of the loop  13  slidably extends in and along the roof or base of the housing  24  from one end  28  to the other end  30  (See FIG. 1) thereof in a relatively straight line, as shown by dashed lines  14 ′, when the bar  20  is open and thus spaced apart from the cable  14  as shown in FIG.  1 . But when the handle  20  is moved toward the closed position as shown in FIG. 4, the solid projection  23  presses against the cable  14  and depresses a portion thereof into the detent  26 , thus fixing the first lead-in portion of the first loop  13  in a stationary, non-slidable position in the housing  24  as shown. 
     The mechanism  12  of the present example is formed by two identical plates  32 ,  34  which are indented on upper and lower portions thereof so that, when the plates are fastened together as with a conventional plug or seam weld  36 , rivets or otherwise, the mechanism is formed with the handle housing  24  on a lower end and a hollow cylinder  38  on an upper end (See particularly FIG.  2 ). A second lead-in portion of the first loop  13  slidably extends through the cylinder  38 . The system  10  also includes an elongated, flexible, hollow sheath  40  of any suitable length, less than the length of the cable  14 , through which the cable slidably extends. The sheath  40  may be in the form of conventional hydraulic hose having a braided cover over a plastic or Teflon tube which is widely available in this country at the present time. I prefer to use a {fraction (5/16)} inch ID Teflon lined stainless steel hose such as manufactured by Dana Corporation, Boston Weatherhead Division, P.O. Box 1708, Brentwood, Tenn. 37024-1708 as Catalog No. H24305. The sheath  40  extends from a friction fit on one end portion thereof within the cylinder  38  to a friction fit within an enlarged diameter first end portion  42  of a hollow shaft formed through the second mechanism  16  (See FIG.  1 ). A small diameter second end portion  44  of the same hollow shaft should be large enough in diameter to permit the cable  14  to freely slide therethrough, but small enough to prevent the sheath  40  from entering therein. The sheath  40  thus fixes the distance between the first and second mechanisms  12  and  16  as measured along a central portion of the cable  14 . The sheath  40  may also be covered by a flexible plastic tube  41  to prevent the sheath from scratching the hands of the user. 
     Referring now particularly to FIGS. 1 and 6, the end of the cable  14  which is connected to the second mechanism  16  is, preferably, frictionally secured in a metal fitting  46  which contains a ball shaped head  48 . As in the case of the first mechanism  12 , the second mechanism  16  is formed of two identical, indented plates  50   a  and  50   b  which are fastened together in any suitable manner such as by means of welding, as at  52 , applied between flush portions  53  (See FIG. 1) of the plates, rivets or otherwise. Indented portions  54  of the plates  50   a  and  50   b  thus form the hollow shaft containing end portions  42  and  44  as previously mentioned. Similarly, an indented portion  56  forms an open side portion through which an end of the cable  14  extends and a bulbous portion  58  in which the ball head  48  on the end of the cable is trapped. The fitting  46  can thus rock in the portion  58  to allow a corresponding end portion of the cable  14  at the end of the second loop  17  to more readily flex to permit adjustments in the size of the second loop, particularly as the second loop becomes relatively small. 
     To lock the bar  20  in the closed position when desired, I prefer to use either of two arrangements, although any other suitable arrangement could be used. The first arrangement is to simply provide a pair of registered holes  59  through the side walls  24   a  and  24   b  of the handle housing  24  on a lower end portion opposite the end portion containing the pivot pin  22  as shown in FIG. 1. A similar size hole  60  is formed through a lower free end portion of the bar  20  which aligns and registers with the holes  59  when the bar is placed in the closed position in the housing  24  so that the shackle or bow of a conventional pad lock or combination lock can be inserted through the three holes  59 ,  60  to lock the bar in the closed position. A second arrangement, includes a cylinder lock housing  62  formed on one of the side walls  24   b  of the housing  24  which opens toward the bar  20  when closed as shown in FIG.  3 . Within the housing  62  is placed a conventional rotatable cylinder lock  64  of the type which may be accessed and operated by inserting and rotating a key  66  therein, preferably from the underside of the housing  62  as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 3. A cam member  68  is rotatably attached on one end portion thereof to a rotatable key cylinder  70  of the lock  64  in the interior of the housing  62 . An elongated slot  72  is formed in the body of the bar  20  which lies in the plane of the cam member  68  when the bar  20  is closed in the housing  24 . By rotating the key  66  when inserted in the lock  64  and while the bar  20  is in the closed position, the cam member  68  is rotated into the slot  72  to lock the bar closed or can be rotated out of the slot to unlock the bar. 
     To use the system  10 , the bar  20  is first placed in the unlocked position as in FIG. 1 to permit both lead-in portions of the first loop  13  to be slidable through the first mechanism  12  to permit adjusting the size of both loops  13  and  17 . The second loop  17  is then attached to a first article, such as a boat cleat or piling and adjusted to a size conforming to the cleat or piling nearly as practical. The first loop  13  is then placed over and around a second article to be joined to the first article such as a dock piling or the like and the first loop is adjusted to a size conforming as nearly as practical to the second article by pulling the free end  18  of the cable  14  away from the first mechanism  12 . When the first and second loops  13  and  17  have been placed over the respective articles and properly sized, the locking bar  20  is closed into the housing  24  to depress the cable  14  into the detent  26  with the projection  22  and the bar  20  is locked in place as previously explained. Because the free end  18  of the cable  14  can be readily removed completely from the first mechanism  12 , that end of the cable can also be used by being inserted through an article such as an eye bolt. 
     Although the present invention has been shown and described with respect to specific details of a certain preferred embodiment thereof, it is not intended that such details limit the scope and coverage of this patent other than as specifically set forth in the following claims.