FORMING A LOADING BAND

SCOPE OF THE INVENTION

[1] The object of this invention is a joint for the ends of the ring that forms a loading band; these kinds of bands are used to provide attachment points for anchoring devices, also called anchoring points, for loads in car trunks, in truck cargo beds, etc. as indicated by General Regulation on Motor Vehicles RD 2822/1988 dated 23 December (BOE [Official Gazette of Spain] of 1/26/99), Appendix VI. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

[2] In their most basic form, loading bands are generally made by connecting a bar or tube that is folded or bent back on itself, forming a ring, whereby the latter is secured by a tube-shaped support, thereby allowing the ring to turn, i.e., to go up or down in the above-mentioned support, and to accommodate loads or forces that are directed toward the inside of the cargo compartment when it is used to secure parcels and objects in the trunks or beds of the vehicles in which they have been installed, be such vehicles intended for transporting passengers, freight, or mixed loads.

[3] A known procedure is to join the ends of the ring that forms a loading band by soldering/welding, hereafter generically 'soldering', whereby said ends are sometimes first beveled in order to improve the results of the above-mentioned soldering.

[4] In order to avoid the labor involved in this soldering and thus to reduce costs, various approaches have been tried. With some approaches the ends are simply left loose, whereby the support is the part responsible for keeping the ends together but, when subjected to loads, the ends tend to separate, thereby detaching from the support.

[5] In order to remedy this drawback, the idea has been put forth of providing devices that keep the arms of the ring of the band from separating. This is the case, for example, with patent WOO 162546, which calls for a loading band of the type described in which the ends of the ring are not joined but rather are pushed together and remain fitted into the window of the band support, thereby limiting the extent to which they can move laterally.

[6] Another known solution consists in making a kind of tongue-and-groove joint for the ends of the ring forming a loading band, in such a way that one end fits over the other and together the ends are secured by the support element of the loading band. Figure 2 shows this kind of joint, and Figure 1 shows a support that is common in the state of the art for this kind of loading band.

[7] As mentioned above, loading bands must withstand two kinds of movement and/or force. On the one hand, there is a weak force that is directed perpendicular to the transverse mid-plane relative to the plane of the band, a force that arises when the vehicle maneuvers, to raise or lower it before or after it is used, while, on the other hand, the larger force that said loading band must withstand is in the plane of the band directed toward the interior of the cargo compartment. This is the normal operating environment of the loading band when it is securing loads and objects in, for example, a car trunk.

[8] The above-mentioned force, which is called loading force or traction force, tends by its very nature to break down the joint between the ends of the ring that forms the loading band, so that the limit of the loading force that a band of the type described above can withstand is related not just to the strength of the material of which it is made, but also and mainly to the strength of the joint of the ends that make it up.

[9] This is why the main object of this invention is to provide a joint for the ends of the ring that forms a loading band that ensures higher levels of resistance to the loads to which it is subjected, mainly loading force or traction force.

[10] Another of the main objects of this invention is to make said joint while keeping costs low and eliminating the previous processes that were based on the soldering of the ends.

[11] These and other advantages of the invention will become clear from the attached description. BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

[12] This invention consists of a joint for the ends of the ring that forms a loading band in which said joint is produced by linking said ends, which have opposing shapes, whereby said ends subtend negative, i.e. self-clamping angles, which make it more difficult for them to separate when subjected to forces that act on the plane of the ring and toward the outside of it, which are referred to as loading forces.

[13] This outcome is achieved by means of a joint in which the linking hooks, when viewed from a transverse plane, form a negative dihedral angle, that is, the body of one goes into the body of the other, as shown in Figures 3 and 4 appended to this description.

[14] Owing to this hooking of the ends, the invention is able to eliminate the play between the hooks of the two ends and the play between the ends and the mechanically strong sections; said play was necessary in the prior art depicted in Figures 1 and 2.

[15] This more effective joint of the present invention also makes it possible to ensure better alignment of the ends of the bar or closed tube of the ring that forms the loading band; this allows the band to turn better when it is subjected to forces caused by maneuvers of the vehicle. BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS

[16] To make the invention easier to understand, it is accompanied by a sheet of drawings, which are presented solely for purposes of illustration and are not intended to limit the invention.

[17] Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a support that is common in the state of the art for this kind of loading band. The support is shown in partial-section view in order to illustrate the shapes of the ends of the ring that forms the loading band.

[18] Figure 2 shows a known kind of joint for the ends of the ring that forms a loading band; this is a front view and is of the kind that is referred to as a tongue-and-groove joint, which can be considered part of the prior art shown in the previous figure.

[19] Figure 3 shows a loading band according to one of the preferred embodiments of this invention.

[20] Figure 4 shows an enlarged partial detail of the previous figure, whereby the joint connection of the ends of the ring that forms the loading band of this invention is depicted. DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

[21] This invention consists of a joint for the ends of the ring that forms a loading band; these kinds of bands are used to create attachment points for loads in car trunks, truck load beds, etc. in which the shapes of the two ends hook together, forming negative joint angles (3), whereby there is no transverse play (4) and/or longitudinal play (5) in the joint of the mechanically strong section (1) and the retaining hook (2) or in the joint between the two retaining hooks (2).

[22] With reference to Figure 2, which depicts the state of the art with regard to joining the ends of the rings that form loading bands by means of a tongue-and-groove joint for said ends, said figure shows the drawbacks to this approach. That is, the need to provide a tongue-and-groove joint or, to close the ends, entails a transverse play (4).

[23] Likewise, the fact that it is necessary to ensure greater linearity and concentricity of the axis of rotation around the tongue-and-groove joint for the ends of the bar or closed tube of the ring mandates a longitudinal play (5).

[24] In these kinds of structures, we find that the mechanically strong section (1), whose function is to accommodate the forces of traction/loading applied to the ring, is lowered since the presence of longitudinal play (5) leaves a certain amount of structural material in the area of the mechanically strong section (1), entailing a reduction in its performance when subjected to the above-mentioned traction or loading forces. At the same time the height of the retention hook (2) is inadequate.

[25] Finally, in the actual structures of the said joints, the tolerance in the manufacture of the parts means that in general the initially positive joint angles (3) of the retaining hooks (2) tend to form straight dihedral angles as much as possible.

[26] The negative results of this are: a) poor holding force during and after the application of the forces of traction or loading, as well as b) the mis-alignment of the axis of rotation; this makes it difficult for the ring that forms the loading band to turn and for the ring to go up or down relative to the support when the force associated with vehicle maneuvers is applied to the ring.

[27] This invention remedies these drawbacks by means of a hooking joint which, as shown in the detail in Figure 4, has no transverse play (4) or longitudinal play (5) and thus ensures a better joint and better attachment of the ends owing to the hooking or closing of the band.

[28] Both the mechanically strong sections (1) and the size of the retaining hook (2) can be optimized until the transverse play (4) and the longitudinal play (5) are eliminated in order to ensure greater strength.

[29] The attachment angles (3) between the retaining hooks (2) are negative, i.e. self- clamping, in that the upper ends of the respective retaining hooks (2) are displaced from the vertical, whereby one extends into the vertical projection of the other. This keeps the retaining hooks (2) from detaching. In addition, this hook of the invention makes it possible to recalibrate the bar or closed tube of the ring that forms the loading band since, after this recalibration is done and because the retaining hooks (2) are properly linked, the cross-section of the bar or closed tube used here retains its original shape and dimensions.

[30] The invention offers an improved linking force over the state of the art, given a material of a specified strength. In addition, the proper alignment and concentricity of the (recalibrated) central axis of rotation makes it easier for the ring to turn when the vehicle maneuvers.

[31] It is understood that in this case there can be variations with regard to details of implementation and shape without altering the essence of the invention.