TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION THIS INVENTION relates to a hook device for a strap assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Strap assemblies are generally used to hold down loads. For example, the assemblies can be used to hold down loads on a vehicle bed. Each assembly has a strap or cord section and attachment devices at ends thereof. One form of the attachment devices is a hook.

The inventor created a strap assembly with a hook device as shown in Figure

1. This hook is complex and therefore costly to manufacture. This hook has a base portion and a bent portion which are in different planes. It therefore occupies a relatively large volume in packaging and thereby has a relatively higher transportation costs per unit volume.

The hook, if pulled with a hand, may slip out and cause injury to a user or a person nearby. This hook has a relatively larger surface area and is more likely to cause injury should the strap recoil. OBlECT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to alleviate or to reduce to a certain level one or more of the above prior art disadvantages.

OUTLINE OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In one aspect therefore the present invention resides in a hook device for a strap assembly. The device comprises a base portion extending in one plane and a bent portion extending in said one plane. The base portion is arranged for connection to a strap member of the strap assembly and has an opening configured to allow another hook device to pass therethrough. The bent portion is arranged for hooking onto an object Preferably, said base portion and said bent portion are formed of a single wire or plate material. More preferably, said base portion and said bent portion are formed of a stamping of the plate material.

The opening in the base portion may also be configured to receive a finger of a user.

The bent portion may have a neck part extending outwardly from the base portion, and a first end part spaced from the neck part and extending inwardly towards the base portion to define a mouth. The first end part may have a free end

Preferably said free end is arranged to border said mouth. Said free end may be shaped in the form of a curved tip part.

The base portion may be configured as a loop around said opening. The base portion may have a second end part extending to close said loop. The second end part is preferably fixed to the bent portion.

In another aspect therefore, the present invention resides in a strap assembly comprising a strap or cord section with opposed ends and a hook device as aforementioned at each end thereof.

Preferably, the strap or cord are elastic.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the present invention can be more readily understood and be put into practical effect reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate non-limiting embodiments of the present invention and wherein:- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a prior art strap assembly; Figure 2 is a perspective view from above of a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of the hook device according to the present invention; Figure 3 shows a perspective view from below of the hook device shown in

Figure 2;

Figure 4 shows a side view of an embodiment of the hook device with a different wire bending configuration from the device shown in Figure 2; and

Figure 5 shows a strap assembly having a hook device being used to anchor around a pole.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to Figure 1 , the strap assembly 50 as shown has a strap 52 formed of an elastic cord embedded in webbing and another strap 54 formed of an inextensible webbing material. Each of the straps 52 and 54 have a hook device 56 at one end thereof and compatible coupling devise 58,60 at opposite end thereof.

In use, the coupling device 60 is coupled to the device 58 as is known in the

art, and the effective length of the strap 54 is adjusted by positioning the device 60 therealong.

The hook device 56 has an end tip part 62 that extends in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane containing the base portion 64, and an end portion 66 that is in a plane spaced from the plane of the base portion 64.

Referring now the embodiment of the hook device 10 shown in Figures 2 to 4. The device 10 has a base portion 12 and a bent portion 14 extending from and in a substantially same plane as the base portion 12. The device 10 is formed by appropriately bending a single piece of wire having opposed ends 20 and 21 . In the embodiment shown in Figures 2 and 3, the base portion 12 forms a closed loop 16 around an opening 18. The free end part 20 of the base portion 12 is fixed to the bent part 14.

The bent portion 14 has a neck part 22 extending outwardly from the base portion 12, and an end part 24 spaced from the neck part 22 and extending inwardly towards the base portion 12. The end part 24 terminates short of the base portion 12 to form a mouth 26 therewith. The end 21 is shaped to form a curved end tip part 28 which represents the extremity of the bent portion 14.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the wire is bent so that its opposed ends 20 and 21 meet at the base portion 12 and are arranged to close the opening 18. The curved end tip part 28 is formed by turning the wire onto itself.

1 both the embodiment shown in Figures 2 and3, and the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the base portion 12 is configured so that another device 10 can pass through the opening 18. The opening 18 is also configured to allow a user to place a finger therein when pulling a strap or cord attached to the device 10. The hook device 10 as shown is formed by bending a piece of wire into shape. This can by be accomplished by a simply forming process. Accordingly, the manufacturing costs are relatively lower, and less material is required. As the device 10 is substantially flat (both portions 12 and 14 in the same plane), relatively more of the devices 10 can be packaged per unit volume. Thus, the transportation costs are lower than prior art. Furthermore, as the base portion 12 and the bent portion 14 are in the same plane, and the tip part 28 extends towards the base portion 12,

there is less likelihood of the tip part causing injury to the user or others nearby. Turning to Figure 5, there is shown an embodiment of a strap assembly 40 having a strap 42 with opposed ends 44 to each of which is attached the device 10

(one end only shown). The devices 10 are attached to the ends 44 by means of webbing, fabric, leather or any suitable material extending through the opening 18 and fixed to respective ends 44.

The opening 18 is configured to allow the device 10 which is attached to the opposite end 44 to pass therethrough as shown. As such, the device 10 allows the assembly 40 to be fixed about an anchoring such as a pole 46. The hook 10 can also hook onto the cord part or strap 42 of the strap assembly 40 without the cord part having to twist 90 degrees. The twisted strap 42 would tend to untwist itself, resulting in the hook 10 coming off the strap 42.

The opening 18 of the device 10 as shown is particularly advantageous as it allows a user to place a finger therein without interfering with the bent hook portion 14. With the finger in the opening 18, the base portion 12 prevents the accidental slipping of the hand from the hook 10. This overcomes the problems of the prior art assembly 50 shown in Figure 1 where a finger in the base portion 64 would block passage into the mouth of the bent hook portion, and the finger would also jam on the anchoring. Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the present invention many variations and modifications thereto will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the broad ambit and scope of the invention as herein set forth in the following claims.