More particularly, the invention relates to such a device of the kind comprising a rope attachment portion and, connected thereto, an anchoring portion for anchoring the device to an outer element.

Since long ago, steel-wire ropes and other ropes having very small diameters, for instance about 1 mm, have been in general use for suspending various objects from ceilings or walls. Nevertheless, till now, any rope anchoring device of the kind initially specified has not come out which can offer a safe and reliable holding of a rope having a very small dia-meter. Therefore, the invention has for its purpose to provide a rope anchoring device of said kind which is well suited for use with such very thin ropes. How-ever, it should be noted that the invention may be applied also on rope anchoring devices intended to be used for anchoring ropes having compa- ratively large diameters.

The rope anchoring device, according to the in- vention proposed for said purpose, is primarily characte- rized in that the rope attachment portion comprises a body, having a neck section which is connected to the anchoring portion and two shoulders which project in lateral directions from said neck section, and a clamping jaw which is formed by a separate member and which is adapted to cooperate with a section of the body, serving as a clamping counter support, in order to clamp between itself and the counter support both parts of a rope, laid in a bight around the body and extending across the two shoulders and behind said neck section from the side of the body facing the clamping jaw.

The design of the rope anchoring device above de- scribed results in that the device can be produced in an easy and inexpensive manner and nevertheless offer a safe a reliable holding of a rope.

The device may preferably comprise at least one clamping bolt or screw for applying clamping forces on the clamping jaw. For instance, the device may comprise a clamping screw which extends through a clearance hole in the body of the rope attachment portion and has a head bearing against the rear side of said portion and which is provided in thread engagement with a threaded hole in the clamping jaw.

In order to facilitate an improved holding of the rope to the rope attachment portion, the counter support may suitably form a depression in the body of the rope attachment portion and the clamping jaw may be adapted to be inserted at least partially into said depression. When applied against the two parts of the rope, the clamping jaw will then cause said parts to assume a bent shape and hereby further the desired holding of the rope between the clamping jaw and the counter support.

In this case, the clamping jaw and the counter support may have cooperating clamping surfaces having any suitable profiles adapted to each other. The clamping jaw and the counter support may for instance be shaped and dimensioned so as to make it possible to clamp the two rope parts between the bottom of said depression and the facing side of the clamping jaw as well as between two opposite approximately parallel side walls of the de- pression and two approximately parallel edge surfaces of the clamping jaw facing respective ones of said side walls.

Alternatively, said depression may have two opposite side walls which extend in mutually diverging directions from the bottom of the depression and towards the open end of the depression. In this case, the clamping jaw may have opposite clamping edges, cooperating with said two side walls of the depression.

The anchoring portion and the body of the rope attachment portion may suitably be made in one piece and then preferably be formed by a stamped sheet metal piece.

By producing the anchoring portion and the body of the

rope attachment portion in this manner, it is possible to reduce the total manufacturing costs for the device to a very low amount. If, as previously mentioned, the counter support forms a depression in the body of the rope attachment portion, the counter support may consist of a countersunk section of the body of the rope attachment portion, obtained through a pressing operation.

Below the invention is described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:- Figure 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a rope anchoring device according to a first embodiment of the invention, selected by way of example only, Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the device according to Figure 1, illustrating the device in an assembled state and with a rope attached thereto, Figure 3 shows an exploded perspective view of a device according to a second embodiment of the invention, also selected by way of example only, Figure 4 shows an exploded perspective view of a device according to a third and preferred embodiment of the invention, Figure 5 shows a partial view, in section and on an enlarged scale, of the device accordng to Figure 4, illus- trating the device in an assembled state and with a rope attached thereto, and Figure 6 shows a corresponding partial view of a slightly modified device.

The device shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a plane member, generally designated 10 and made by stamping it out from a plane metal sheet. The lower portion 11 of said member forms a body of a rope attachment portion of the device, while the upper portion 12 of said member forms an anchoring portion for anchoring the device to an outer element.

At its upper end, body 11 has a neck section 13, connected to anchoring portion 12, and two shoulders 14, extending in lateral directions from said neck section.

Besides body 11, the rope attachment portion also

comprises a clamping jaw 15, formed by a separate member and adapted to cooperate with a section 16 of body 11, serving as a clamping counter support, in order to clamp between itself and counter support 16 both parts 17 and 18 of a rope 19, laid in a bight around the body and exten- ding across the two shoulders 14 and behind neck section 13 from the side of body 11 facing the clamping jaw.

Reference numeral 20 designates two clamping screws, ser- ving to apply the required clamping forces on clamping jaw 15. From the rear side of body 11, these screws may be inserted each through one clearance hole 21 in the body and then brought into thread engagement each with one threaded hole 22 in the clamping jaw. In this case, rope parts 17 and 18 are placed side by side between the two screws 20.

In the embodiment according to Figures 1 and 2, clamping jaw 15 is formed by a generally rectangular plane sheet metal piece. In the embodiment shown in Figure 3 the clamping jaw is instead formed by a sheet metal piece bent into a U-shape and comprising a plane web portion 15'and two legs 15", projecting from said web portion and in- sertable each through one slot-shaped through opening 23 in body 11. As a consequence of this design of the clamping jaw, it is possible to use a single centrally placed screw 20 for applying the required clamping forces on the clamping jaw. In this case, the two rope parts are placed each on one side of screw 15, between said screw and one of the two legs 15".

The device shown in Figure 4, which represents a preferred embodiment of the invention, differs from the device according to Figures 1 and 2 in that the counter support forms a depession 24 in body 11 into which clamping jaw 15 can be at least partially inserted. In vertical section, said depression, which may be obtained through a pressing operation, may have any suitable pro- file to which the profile of the clamping jaw should be adapted. For instance, as shown in Figure 5, depression 24 may have two opposite mutually parallel side walls 24',

extending perpendicular to the plane bottom of the depres- sion. Provided that clamping jaw 15 and depression 24 are suitably dimensioned, the two parts of rope 19 may in this case be clamped not only between the bottom of the depres- sion and the side of the clamping jaw facng said bottom but also between each side wall 24'and the edge surface of the clamping jaw facing the wall in question.

Figure 6 shows a slightly modified embodiment in which depression 24 has a larger depth and the two side walls 24'extend in mutually diverging directions from the bottom of the depression and towards the open end of the depression. In this case, the two parts of rope 19 may be clamped between walls 24'and cooperating clamping edges 25 of clamping jaw 15 which has two opposited stepped la- teral surfaces.

In all embodiments shown in the drawing, anchoring portion 12 has the shape of an annular eye. Hereby, the device is suited for anchoring for instance to a ceiling or a wall in a building simply by being hooked with said eye on a hook or the like, mounted in said ceiling or wall.

However, the invention is not restricted to the embodiments above described and shown in the drawing. In- stead, may other embodiments are feasible within the scope of the invention. For instance, it could be mentioned that the anchoring portion need not form a closed eye but may instead have a hook-like shape. Moreover, the body of the rope attachment portion and the anchoring portion may be made by casting them from a suitable material instead of by stamping them out from a metal sheet. In this case, the neck section of the body of the rope attachment portion connected to the anchoring portion and the two shoulders extending from said section may be provided with convex curved surfaces along which the rope may slide easily.