Patent ID: 6961979

Claim:
An apparatus forming a bundling tie, said bundling tie being capable of both being securely attached to a single portion of a workpiece at a first tie loop and easily connected and disconnected about a bundle formed of multiple workpiece portions at a second tie loop, comprising: a locking portion having a first locking slot and a second locking slot, said first and second locking slots being closed openings having respective first and second enlarged ends and respective first and second narrow ends with respective first and second intermediate necked down sections respectively between said first and second enlarged ends and said first and second narrow ends; a strand connected to said at least one locking portion; a plurality of three dimensional locking features spaced along the strand which are capable of passing through the enlarged ends of the first and second locking slots but incapable of passing through the narrow ends of the first and second locking slots; wherein said first and second locking slots are oriented in the locking portion such that the first and second reduced openings are positioned towards a connection between the strand and the locking portion; and wherein said first locking slot has a smaller necked down intermediate section as compared to a larger necked down intermediate section of the second locking slot; whereby the first locking slot may lock with a three dimensional locking feature on said strand to form the first tie loop that securely engages a workpiece section and locks thereto, and the second locking slot may lock with another three dimensional locking feature on said strand to form the second tie loop that is used to hold a bundle of sections of the workpiece and which can be unlatched with a reduced unlatching force compared to the unlatching force needed for said first locking slot.