This invention relates to a cord lock, and in particular such a cord lock which may be assembled onto an article for releasably holding at least one cord.

There are in existence various designs of cord locks. Such conventional cord locks includes a body and a plunger movable within the body. Each of the body and the plunger has a respective hole, and a cord is inserted through the hole of the plunger and that of the body. A spring is positioned between the body and the plunger for biasing the plunger from the body. By way of such an arrangement, the cord lock acts as a pinching mechanism, in which the plunger is movable towards the pocket (against the biasing force of the spring) to allow the cord to slide relative to the plunger hole and the body hole, and movable away from the pocket (under the biasing force of the spring) such that the side wall of the plunger hole and body hole combine to prevent the cord from sliding relative to the plunger hole and the body hole.

A shortcoming associated with such conventional cord locks is that unless the end of the cord is tied, the cord lock may be loosened from the cord and be lost. It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a cord lock which may be secured on an article, so as to minimize the risk of losing the cord lock upon release of the cord from the cord lock, or at least to provide a useful alternative to the trade and public. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a new method of assembling an article with a cord lock and at least one cord.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cord lock including a body defining a hole extending therethrough and a pocket with a base, at least a first extension and a second extension extending away from a major surface of said body, a plunger received in said pocket, said plunger defining a plunger hole, said plunger being movable in said pocket substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of said plunger hole, spring means biasing said plunger away from said base of said body, and a back plate engageable with said body, wherein said back plate includes at least a first hole, a second hole, and a recess, wherein said first hole of said back plate is adapted to receive said first extension of said body, and wherein when said first extension of said body is received in said first hole of said back plate, said back plate is swivellable relative to said body about said first extension to receive said second extension of said body at least partly within said recess of said back plate.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of assembling an article with a cord lock and at least one cord, said method including providing an article, a cord lock and at least one cord, said cord lock having a back plate and a body with at least a first extension and a second extension, and said back plate having at least one hole and one recess, forming at least three openings on said article, inserting said first and second extensions of said body through two of said three openings, inserting said first extension of said body into said hole of said back plate, swivelling said back plate relative to said body about said first extension to receive said second extension of said body at least partly within said recess of said back plate; and inserting said at least one cord through the cord lock and the remaining opening of said article.

A cord lock according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described, by way of an example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a cord lock according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the cord lock of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the cord lock of Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 4 is a left side view of the cord lock of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a right side view of the cord lock of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a rear view of the cord lock of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A of Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B of Fig. 5;

Fig. 9 is a front perspective view of the cord lock of Fig. 1;

Fig. 10 is a perspective sectional view taken along the line C-C of Fig. 6;

Fig. 11 is an exploded front perspective view of the cord lock of Fig. 1;

Fig. 12 is an exploded rear perspective view of the cord lock of Fig. 1; Fig. 13 is a sectional exploded view taken along the line A-A of Fig. 1;

Fig. 14 is a sectional exploded view taken along the line B-B of Fig. 5;

Fig. 15 is a further exploded front perspective view of the cord lock of Fig. 1;

Fig. 16 is a sectioned exploded front perspective view of the cord lock of Fig. 15; Fig. 17 is a front view of the back plate of the cord lock of Fig. 1; Figs. 18 to 21 show the steps of assembling the cord lock of Fig. 1 onto an article; Figs. 22 and 23 show the cord lock with two cords in a disengaged configuration; and Figs. 24 to 26 show the cord lock with two cords in an engaged configuration.

A cord lock according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figs. 1 to 16, and generally designated as 10. The cord lock 10 includes a body 12, a plunger 14, a spring 16 and a back plate 18.

The body 12 has a pocket 20 with a base 22 within which are received the spring 16 and a lower part of the plunger 14. The spring 16 is positioned between the base 22 of the pocket 20 and a lower end 24 of the plunger 14, such that the spring 16 biases the plunger 14 away from the base 22 of the pocket 20. It should be understood by persons skilled in the art that although the spring 16 is shown here as a separate component, it is possible instead to have a biasing means integrally formed with the plunger 14 or with the base 22 of the pocket 20, to achieve the biasing function.

The body 12 has a front major surface 26 with an elongate opening 28 and a rear major surface 30 with an elongate opening 32 which is of the same shape and size as, and is aligned with, the opening 28. The plunger 14 has an operating head portion 34 integrally formed with a body portion 36 provided with a plunger hole 38. When the plunger 14 is assembled with the spring 16 in the pocket 20 of the body 12, the plunger 14 can move in the pocket 20 upwardly and downwardly, as indicated by the double-ended arrow D-D in Fig. 7, which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis E-E of the plunger hole 38.

During movement of the plunger 14 within the pocket 20, the effective clearance G (see Figs. 1 and 8) of the openings 28, 32 of the body 12 and the plunger hole 38 varies, such that the clearance is largest when the plunger 14 is closest to the base 22 of the pocket 20 and is smallest when the plunger 14 is furthest away from the base 22 of the pocket 20. By way of such an arrangement, if a cord is inserted through the openings 28, 32 of the body 12 and the plunger hole 38, the cord may be slid relative to the openings 28, 32 of the body 12 and the plunger hole 38 when the plunger 14 is moved sufficiently towards the base 22 of the pocket 20 (the "disengaged configuration"), whereas the cord will be locked against sliding movement relative to the cord lock 10 when the plunger 14 is sufficiently away from the base 22 of the pocket 20 (the "engaged configuration"). In particular, because of the biasing action of the spring 16, the plunger 14 is biased towards the engaged configuration.

Two upper extensions 40a, 40b and one lower extension 42 extend from the rear major surface 30 of the body 12. As can be seen more clearly in Fig. 12, each of the upper extensions 40a, 40b has a respective cylindrical stem 44a, 46a and a respective dome-shaped head 44b, 46b, in which the heads 44b, 46b are wider than the stems 44a, 46a. As to the lower extension 42, its longitudinal free end is also wider than its stem portion which joins the free end with the rear major surface 30.

Turning now to the back plate 18, such includes a lower hole 48, a curved slot 50, a mouth 52, and an elongate opening 54. The curved slot 50 has the centre of the lower hole 48 as its centre of curvature. In addition, a curved resilient tongue 56 extends within the slot 50. In particular, the tongue 56 is integral with a longitudinal end 50a of the slot 50 closer to the mouth 54, and extends towards, but does not touch, the other longitudinal end 50b of the slot 50. The distance between the free end of the tongue 56 and the longitudinal end 50b of the slot 50 equals to or is slightly larger than the width of the stem 44b of the upper extension 40b of the body 12.

The opening 54 of the back plate 18 is of the same shape and size as the openings 28, 32 of the body 12, such that when the back plate 18 is assembled with the body 12 (in a manner to be discussed below), the opening 54 is aligned with openings 28, 32.

As shown in Fig. 17, the mouth 52 has a generally C- shaped stepped portion 58, and the longitudinal end 50b of the slot 50 also has a generally C-shaped stepped portion 60.

Turning now to Figs. 18 to 21, such show the steps of assembling the cord lock 10 onto an article 62, which may be a piece of fabric of a rack sack, a surface of a luggage, a back pack, or the like. Four holes 64, 66, 68, 70 are formed through the article 62. Preferably, the article 62 is slightly elastic and resilient, such that although the holes 64, 66 are of a diameter smaller than the head portions 46a, 46b of the extensions 40a, 40b, the head portions 46a, 46b can still be inserted through the holes 64, 66 respectively, without damaging the head portions 46a, 46b or the article 62.

The holes 64, 66, 68, 70 are sized and positioned such that the extensions 40a, 40b, 42 are receivable through the holes 64, 66 and 68 respectively, and the hole 70 is similar in size and configuration to the elongate opening 54. The hole 70 is positioned such that when the lock cord 10 is assembled onto the article 62, the hole 70 is aligned with the opening 54, thus allowing a cord to pass through.

When assembling, the extensions 40a, 40b, 42 are inserted through the holes 64, 66, 68 respectively, such that the head portions 46a, 46b and the free end of the extension 42 are on a side of the article 62 opposite from the plunger 14. The extension 42 is then received through the lower hole 48, which serves as an axis of swivelling of the back plate 18 relative to the body 12 in the direction indicated by the arrow S. During this swivelling movement, the head 46b of the extension 40 is received within the slot 50 for sliding movement relative to the slot 50 and on the tongue 56.

The swivelling movement stops when the extension 40a is received within the mouth 52, in which the base of the head portion 46a sits on the stepped portion 58 of the mouth 52. In this position, and thanks to the resilience of the tongue 56, the extension 40b is received through the slot 50, and the base of the head portion 46b also sits on the stepped portion 60 of the longitudinal end 50b of the slot 50. By way of such an arrangement, the back plate 18 cannot be detached from the article 62 or the body 12 by being pulled in the direction indicated by the arrow T, which is perpendicular to the direction of movement of the plunger 14. In addition, as the free end of the tongue 56 abuts or is adjacent to the stem 44b of the extension 40b, it is also not possible to disengage the back plate 18 from the body 12 by swivelling the back plate 18 relative to the body 12 in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow S in Fig. 20. The back plate 18 is thus fixedly engaged with the body 12.

Once assembled, one or more cords or strings may be inserted through the cord lock 10, i.e. through the elongate opening 28 of the front major surface 26 of the body 12, the plunger hole 38 of the plunger 14, the elongate opening 32 of the rear major surface 30 of the body 12, and the opening 54 of the back plate 18, and, of course, thereby, through the opening 70 on the article 62. As shown in Figs. 22 and 23, when the plunger 14 is moved towards the base 22 of the pocket 20 of the body 12 to assume a disengaged configuration, against the biasing force of the spring 16, sufficient clearance is provided for, allowing cords 72, 74 received through the cord lock 10 to slide relative to the cord lock 10. As shown in Figs. 24 to 26, when the plunger 14 is moved away from the base 22 to assume an engaged configuration, under the biasing force of the spring 16, the cords 72, 74 are prevented from exhibiting sliding movement relative to the cord lock 10.

It should be understood that the above only illustrates an example whereby the present invention may be carried out, and that various modifications and/or alterations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, although Figs. 22 to 26 show two cords 72, 74, it would be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art that the number of cords or strings that may be received through the cord lock 10 depends on the relative size of the cord or string and the clearance of the openings 28, 32 through the body 12 and the plunger hole 38.

In addition, various features of the invention which are, for brevity, described here in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any appropriate sub-combinations.