Technical Field

The present invention relates to a device according to the preamble of claim 1

Background

It is known to retain objects, such as tools, in holders by means of flexible lips project- ing from their respective sides. US patent 5,915,572 discloses a belt with protruding, flexible tongues on the one side, said belt being made of a flexible material and adapted to be bent and maintained in an essentially U-shaped state with the tongues extending towards each other, and the tongues being positioned in such locations of the belt that they, when the belt is in its bent state, are positioned on the legs of the U. The tongues are shaped as substantially plane triangular-shaped projections with rounded ends.

Disclosure of the Invention

The device according to the invention is characterised in that the tongues sequentially are turned approximately 90 degrees in relation to each other at the two ends of the belt and alternately positioned relatively close to each side of the belt. In this way a device providing good retention of an object is obtained.

According to the invention, the tongues which are positioned closest to the same side of the belt can have their planes located substantially parallel to each other at each end of the belt, but with an opposite inclination at the one end of the belt compared to the other end, the edge of the tongues nearest to the end of the legs also being nearest to the side of the belt. Hereby it is obtained that the respective object easily can be in- serted between the legs from the sides of these as well as from the end of these.

According to the invention, the belt and tongues can furthermore be manufactured in one piece from a soft flexible thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). The belt can, according to the invention, be adapted to be attached in a stiffer substantially U-shaped bracket for mounting on a holder for the object, whereby the holder with the belonging retention device can be easily fixed on to a single side of a holder. Finally, according to the invention, the belt can be adapted to be sewn-in to form part of a pocket for receiving the object to be fixated whereby the individual holder becomes especially simple and compact.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention is explained in detail below with reference to the drawings, in which

Figs. 1 - 3 show a preferred embodiment of a device according to the invention seen from the side, from above and in perspective in its U-shaped state respectively,

Fig. 4 shows a different embodiment of a device according to the invention incorporated as part of a holder for receiving a mobile telephone, and

Fig. 5 shows an embodiment of the invention, shown mounted on a fixation face belonging to a holder for the fixation of a paint brush.

Detailed description of the Invention

The device shown in Fig. 1 - 3 includes a rectangular belt 1 , which in each end is provided with four identical tongues, which have a substantially triangular shape with rounded ends. Seen from above, the tongues are positioned parallel to each other on each side of the belt 1 , but with opposite inclinations in either end of the belt, as the side of the tongues 2 nearest to the side of the belt are nearest to the respective ends of the belt 1 all over. The inclination of the tongues relative to the nearest side of the belt is 45 degrees all over.

In the shown embodiment, the belt 1 has a central rectangular cutaway 3. The belt 1 and tongues 2 are manufactured in one piece from a soft flexible thermoplastic plastic material and especially a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). Hereby the belt 1 can both be easily bent into the U-shape shown in Fig. 3, while at the same time the tongues 2 are flexible and easily yielding. In addition the tongues can exert a relatively good friction on the object inserted between the tongues 2 projecting towards each other in the belt's 1 U-shaped state. Fig. 4 shows an embodiment of the device with the belt 1 sewn together with sides 4 and 5 of a suitable material, to form a container for receiving a mobile telephone 6. Due to the shape and inclination of the tongues 2, the mobile telephone is easily inserted between the projecting tongues 2, which subsequently retains the mobile tele- phone in an efficient manner. Because of the fact that there are no tongues 2 positioned centrally on the belt in the area near the traversing branch of the U-shaped device, the mobile telephone can be guided all the way to the bottom of the container.

The device with the projecting tongues 2 and bent in to its U-shaped state is easily mounted on to a wall 7 forming part of a container 8 for the reception of a paint brush 9 (cf. Fig. 5). The device comprising the belt 1 with the tongues 2 is mounted on the wall 7 by means of a U-shaped bracket 10 of which one leg is sewn in behind a fabric 1 1 covering the wall 7. The bracket 10 and the belt 1 are attached to each other by means of rivets 12 and 13. The U-shaped state of the device in combination with the U-shaped bracket 10 allow the shaft of the paint brush 9 to be easily introduced to engage between the tongues 2 by insertion from the end of the U-shaped device.

The device according to the invention is as mentioned made up by a suitable material and can be shaped in suitable dimensions and be adapted to fixation in a holder by sewing, gluing or otherwise. The device can be manufactured in one piece by casting. The belt 1 can have other shapes than the purely rectangular shape and the number of tongues 2 can vary, just as the inclination of the tongues in relation to the sides of the belt can vary.

The drawing e.g. shows small protrusions, which on the belt's U-shaped state are positioned on the outer side of the legs and appear as elongations of the tongues. These protrusions indicated by the reference numeral 14 in Fig. 3 can, if present, contribute to an eased grip on for example a mobile telephone container (cf. Fig. 4).

The invention has been described according to a preferred embodiment. Numerous variations can be made without diverging from the general concept of the invention.