Patent ID: 7540454

Claim:
A device for holding at least two oblong articles in an essentially parallel arrangement, the device comprising: a receiving part having an open side for the introduction of the articles and a closed side which encloses a receiving space for receiving the articles, the receiving part having an abutment section on which the first article introduced into the receiving part engages; spring elements connected with the receiving part for fixing the articles in the receiving space, one of the spring elements being configured as a locking tongue moveable transversely to the longitudinal direction of the receiving part between a rest position and a deflected position, the locking tongue comprising a free end having a bent receiving section for receiving the first article, the bent receiving section being aligned with the abutment section when the locking tongue is in the rest position; and an articulating element between the receiving section and the open side of the receiving part, the articulating element protruding into the receiving space when the locking tongue is in the rest position; wherein introduction of the first article into the receiving portion displaces the free end of the locking tongue into the deflected position when the articulating element contacts the first article; wherein further introduction of the article into the receiving portion causes the first article to rest on the abutment section, the receiving section engaging the first article such that the locking tongue returns to, and becomes locked in, the rest position, the articulating element being arranged between two areas of the receiving space that each receive one of the articles.