CN112776251A

CN112776251A - Clothes peg and manufacturing method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN112776251A
Application number: CN201911088430.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 连哲林
Original assignee: Ikea Supply AG
Current assignee: Ikea Supply AG
Priority date: 2019-11-08
Filing date: 2019-11-08
Publication date: 2021-05-11
Also published as: EP4054823A1; WO2021089812A1

Abstract

The invention provides a clothes peg and a method for manufacturing the same. The clothes peg comprises two clamping members (100, 200) and an elastic member (300), wherein the elastic member comprises a main body (310) and two attaching parts (380) which are respectively formed with the main body at two ends of the main body into a whole, and the elastic member is attached to the two clamping members by respectively molding the corresponding clamping members on each attaching part. The method includes molding a first clamp member on one of the two attachment portions and a second clamp member on the other of the two attachment portions in a single molding step such that an openable and closable clamp structure is defined by the first and second clamp members and the resilient member. In the present invention, the clamping member and the elastic member are integrally formed by molding the two clamping members on the two attaching portions, respectively, thereby remarkably improving the service life of the clothes peg. And the clothes peg is made of plastic materials only, so that the clothes peg does not need to be split and classified during recycling, and the recycling process is simplified.

Description

Clothes peg and manufacturing method thereof

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a clothes peg and a method of manufacturing the same.

Background

The clothes peg is widely used in life. A common clothes peg generally includes two clamping members and an elastic member disposed between the clamping members such that the two clamping members cooperate to form an openable and closable clamping structure under the action of the elastic member. However, the connection of the elastic member and the holding member is liable to become loose during a long period of use, so that the elastic member and the holding member are liable to be detached and cause damage to the clothes peg.

In addition, the clamping member of the conventional clothes peg is generally made of plastic, and the elastic member thereof employs a metal elastic part, such as a spring. An important drawback of this type of clothes peg is that its recycling process becomes complicated because the recycling process requires the plastic member and the metal member to be separated and then separately recycled due to the presence of the metal member.

The present invention is directed to solving the above-mentioned problems and/or other problems in the prior art.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention mainly aims to provide a clothes peg and a manufacturing method thereof, which overcome the defects in the prior art.

In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a clothes peg, comprising two holding members and an elastic member, wherein the two holding members cooperate to form an openable and closable holding structure under the action of the elastic member; the elastic member includes a main body and two attaching portions formed integrally with the main body at both ends of the main body, respectively, and wherein the garment hanger is configured to attach the elastic member to the two clip members by molding the respective clip members on each attaching portion, respectively.

In some more specific embodiments, the two clamping members are overmolded onto the two attachment portions, respectively, by injection molding the two clamping members onto the two attachment portions, respectively.

In some more specific embodiments, the resilient member is molded prior to attachment to the two clamping members.

In some more specific embodiments, each attachment portion includes a first anchor portion embedded in the respective gripping member and a connecting neck portion; a connecting neck embedded in the respective clamping member and connecting the first anchor to the body of the elastic member; wherein the first anchoring portion extends in a first direction along the extension direction of the respective clamping member and protrudes with respect to the connecting neck portion.

In some more specific embodiments, the first anchor portion is formed with a ridge on a side adjacent to the connecting neck portion.

In some more specific embodiments, one ridge is provided on each end of the first anchor.

In some more specific embodiments, wherein the cross-sectional area of the connective neck is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the body, a shoulder is formed at the area of connection of the body and the connective neck, wherein the shoulder is bonded to the material of the respective gripping member.

In some more specific embodiments, each attachment portion further includes a second anchor portion extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and protruding relative to the connecting neck portion.

In some more specific embodiments, the second anchor is formed in a shaft shape.

In some more specific embodiments, the garment clip is made solely of plastic material.

In some more specific embodiments, the hardness of the plastic from which the clamping member is made is greater than the hardness of the plastic from which the resilient member is made.

In some more specific embodiments, the resilient member is a different color than the gripping member.

In some more specific embodiments, the resilient member is made of a new plastic.

In some more specific embodiments, the clamping member is made of recycled plastic.

In some more specific embodiments, the resilient member is made of polyoxymethylene POM plastic.

In some more specific embodiments, the clamping member is made of polypropylene PP plastic.

In some more specific embodiments, the elastic member has an arc-shaped structure, and an opening portion of the arc-shaped structure is disposed toward the clamping structure.

In some more specific embodiments, the resilient member is omega-shaped.

In some specific embodiments, each of the clamping members is provided with a tooth structure, and the tooth structures respectively formed on the two clamping members can be engaged with each other in a state that the clamping structures are closed.

In some more specific embodiments, each gripping member is elongated.

In some more specific embodiments, each clamping member has a hollow structure formed in its end adjacent the openable clamping structure.

In some more specific embodiments, the garment clip includes a detachable lanyard, the lanyard including a lanyard body and two closed loops at either end of the lanyard body; one of the closed loops defining an aperture for passage of one half of the open clamp structure such that the closed loop is movable to a position surrounding the body of the resilient member; the further closed loop is dimensioned such that the end of the lanyard carrying the resilient member and the gripping member can pass through the further closed loop, thereby forming a suspension loop from the further closed loop and the lanyard body.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a method of manufacturing a clothes peg, the method including the steps of:

-providing an elastic member in the mould, wherein the elastic member comprises a body and two attachment portions formed integrally with the body at two ends of the body, respectively;

-moulding a first clamping member on one of the two attachment portions and a second clamping member on the other of the two attachment portions in a single moulding step, such that an openable and closable clamping structure is defined by the first and second clamping members and the resilient member.

In some more specific embodiments, the resilient member is maintained in a preloaded state during molding of the first and second clamp members.

In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the holding member and the elastic member are integrally formed by molding a holding member on each of the two attachment portions of the elastic member. Therefore, the elastic component is not easy to fall off from the clamping component, and the service life of the clothes peg is obviously prolonged. Moreover, the clothes peg of the invention is only made of plastic materials, so that the clothes peg does not need to be disassembled and respectively recycled during recycling, and the recycling process is greatly simplified. And the manufacturing process of molding is simple, and the manufactured clothes peg has firm structure and long service life. The design of the structure of the attachment portion of the elastic member also greatly improves the bonding strength of the elastic member and the clamping member, and prolongs the service life of the clothes peg.

Drawings

The features and advantages of the present invention, as well as others, will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a clothes peg according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the garment hanger shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the garment clip shown in FIG. 1;

fig. 4 shows a front view of a hanging rope of a clothes peg according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an

Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of a clothes peg with a lanyard in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, the present invention provides a clothes peg, which comprises two

clamping members

100, 200 and a resilient member 300, wherein the two

clamping members

100, 200 are matched to form an openable and closable clamping structure under the action of the resilient member 300, the resilient member 300 comprises a main body 310 and two attaching portions 380 integrally formed with the main body at both ends of the main body, respectively, and the resilient member 300 is attached to the two

clamping members

100, 200 by molding the

respective clamping members

100, 200 on each attaching portion 380.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a clothes peg, the method comprising the steps of:

-placing the resilient member 300 in a mould, wherein the resilient member 300 comprises a main body 310 and two attachment portions 380 formed integrally with the main body at both ends of the main body, respectively;

in a single molding step, a first clamping member 100 is molded on one of the two attachment portions 380 and a second clamping member 200 is molded on the other of the two attachment portions 380, such that openable and closable clamping structures are defined by the first and

second clamping members

100, 200 and the resilient member 300.

The

grip members

100, 200 and the elastic member 300 are integrally formed by molding the

grip members

100, 200 on the two attachment portions 380 of the elastic member 300, respectively. Therefore, the elastic member 300 is not easily released from the holding member, and the life span of the clothes peg is remarkably extended.

The above-described molding process may be implemented by way of injection molding, as an example. As shown in fig. 1 and 3, the two

grip members

100, 200 are overmolded (over-mold) on the two attachment portions 380, respectively, by injection molding the two

grip members

100, 200 on the two attachment portions 380, respectively. This manner of injection molding is particularly suitable for forming a part in which inserts (i.e., the two attachment portions 380 of the elastic member 300) are embedded, by which the attachment portions 380 are embedded in the respective clamping members, thereby integrating the two in a more compact manner.

Preferably, the resilient member 300 has been shaped, for example by moulding, before being placed in the mould. I.e. the resilient member 300 is first formed (preferably by moulding) and then the two

clamping members

100, 200 are moulded over the resilient member 300. The above molding process may also be referred to as one-shot molding. Since the elastic member 300 is also molded, the clothes peg can be manufactured in a fully automatic manner.

Advantageously, wherein the resilient member 300 is maintained in a preloaded state during the moulding of the first and

second clip members

100, 200, for example in a state in which the two attachment portions 380 of the resilient member 300 are stretched away from each other, such that upon removal of the garment clip as a whole from the mould, the return action of the resilient member 300 causes the ends of the two

clip members

100, 200 to move towards each other to form the closed clip structure 500.

As a preferred example, the clothes peg is made of plastic material only, in other words, all the components constituting the peg are made of plastic material. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the hardness of the plastic from which the clamping member is made may be greater than the hardness of the plastic from which the resilient member is made due to the different performance requirements, for example, the clamping member may require a higher hardness and the resilient member may require a higher resilience. As a preferred example, the elastic member is made of a new plastic, such as POM (polyoxymethylene) plastic. For cost saving, the clamping member may be made of recycled plastic, such as PP (polypropylene) plastic. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited and the plastic material from which the clamping member is made and the plastic material from which the resilient member is made may be the same.

Since the clothes peg of the present invention is made of only plastic material, it is not necessary to disassemble and sort and separately recover before recovery, greatly simplifying the recovery process. And the manufacturing process of the clothes peg is simple, and the manufactured clothes peg has firm structure and long service life.

The structure of the attachment portion 380 of the elastic member is described in detail below as an example. As an example, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, each attachment portion 380 comprises a first anchoring portion 320 and a connecting neck portion 340, the first anchoring portion 320 being embedded in the respective gripping

member

100, 200; the connecting neck 340 is embedded in the

respective clamping member

100, 200 and connects the first anchoring portion 320 to the main body 310 of the elastic member 300; wherein the first anchoring portion 320 extends in a first direction along the extension direction of the respective clamping member and protrudes with respect to the connecting neck 340.

Since the first anchoring portion 320 is embedded in the

respective clamping member

100, 200 and extends in a first direction along the extension direction of the respective clamping member, the material of the respective clamping member surrounds and bonds with the first anchoring portion 320 during injection molding to prevent the elastic member from being detached from the respective clamping member. As an example, the first anchoring part 320 may be formed in a plate shape.

As an example, the first anchoring portion 320 is formed with a ridge 360 on a side near the connecting neck portion 340. The number of the ridges 360 may be one or more. The presence of the ridge 360 provides a stronger bond with the material of the respective gripping member, preventing the resilient member from disengaging from the respective gripping member.

Advantageously, as shown in fig. 2, one ridge 360 may be provided on each end of the first anchor 320. Such that the entire attachment portion 380 generally forms an anchor-like structure for more secure engagement in the corresponding clamping member.

A second anchor 330 is also preferably provided. That is, each of the attachment portions 380 further includes a second anchoring portion 330, respectively, the second anchoring portion 330 extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and protruding with respect to the connecting neck portion 340. As one example, the second anchoring portion 330 may be formed in a shaft shape. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the shapes of the first and

second anchors

320 and 330 and the extending directions thereof are not limited to the above description as long as the first and second anchors function to prevent the elastic members from being separated from the respective clamping members.

As shown in fig. 1 to 3, the cross-sectional area of the connection neck 340 is smaller than that of the body 310, so that a shoulder 350 is formed at the connection region of the body 310 and the connection neck 340, wherein the shoulder 350 is combined with the material of the

corresponding grip member

100, 200.

The shoulders 350, on the one hand, allow the elastic member to better engage the corresponding gripping member and, on the other hand, as shown in fig. 3, provide a smooth transition between the elastic member 300 and the gripping member, improving the quality and appearance of the garment clip.

As there is a line of intersection or seam at the junction of the resilient member 300 and the clamping

members

100, 200, for example at the junction of the shoulder 350 and the

respective clamping member

100, 200. In order to avoid the user thinking that the dividing line is a crack or flaw formed in the same part, the resilient member may be selected to be a different colour from the gripping member. Advantageously, the resilient member may be slightly different in colour from the gripping member.

The exemplary specific structure of the attachment portion 380 of the elastic member is described above, however, it can be understood by those skilled in the art that the configuration of the attachment portion of the present invention is not limited thereto as long as the attachment portion is embedded in the

grip members

100, 200 by overmolding as described above, enabling a secure and reliable connection of the elastic member to both grip members.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the elastic member has an arc structure, and an opening portion of the arc structure is disposed toward the holding structure. Preferably, the elastic member is formed in an omega shape. The above structure realizes sufficient elasticity to realize opening and closing of the openable and closable holding structure 500 with a simple structure. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the elastic member body 310 may take other configurations, such as U-shaped, wave-shaped, V-shaped, w-shaped, etc.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 2, the first and

second clamping members

100 and 200 are identical in structure and are arranged as mirror images of each other. Therefore, as the structure of the first clamping member 100 will be described below, the structure of the second clamping member 200 will be known to those skilled in the art from the description of the structure of the first clamping member 100. The first and second holding

members

100 and 200 are each elongated in structure, the first holding member 100 includes a grip portion 110 and a holding portion 120, two attaching portions of the elastic member 300 are attached to the first and second holding

members

100 and 200 at intermediate portions between the grip portions and the holding portions of the first and second holding

members

100 and 200, respectively, and a holding structure 500 of the clothes peg is formed between the holding portions of the two holding members.

As an example, a grip groove 111 matching with fingers is further provided on the outer side of the grip portion 110 of the first clamping member 100. A slip prevention protrusion may be provided in the grip groove 111 to facilitate a user's manipulation.

Advantageously, as shown in fig. 3, a tooth-like structure 121 is provided on each of the holding members, and the tooth-like structures 121 respectively formed on the two holding members can be engaged with each other in a state where the holding structure 500 is closed.

Advantageously, each clamping member may have a hollow structure 122 formed in its end adjacent the openable clamping structure 500. In other words, the hollow structure 122 may correspond to the position of the tooth-like structure 121 on the holding portion, and may be a plurality of holes communicating with each other or isolated from each other, or may be a hole. The hollow structure 122 may reduce the overall weight of the garment hanger and may enable material savings.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the clothes peg of the present invention may further include a detachable lanyard 400, the lanyard 400 including a lanyard body 410 and two closed loops 420,430 at both ends of the lanyard body 410; one of the closed loops 420 defines an aperture for passage of one half of the open clamp structure such that the closed loop 420 can move to a position surrounding the body 310 of the resilient member; and the further closed loop 430 is dimensioned such that the end of the lanyard carrying the resilient member and the clamping member can pass through the further closed loop 430, thereby forming a suspension loop from the further closed loop 430 and the lanyard body 410.

Shown in fig. 5 is the garment clip in an assembled position in which the closed loop 420 has been moved to a position surrounding the body 310 of the resilient member and the further closed loop 430 is moved from the end of the closed clip structure 500 towards the garment clip body, and a portion of the

clip member

100, 200 passes through the further closed loop 430. After the shown position, the further closed loop 430 will continue to move until the entire clothes peg has passed the closed loop 430, so that the further closed loop 430 and the lanyard body 410 form a suspension loop by means of which the clothes peg can be suspended from other members. The lanyard 400 can thus be used to hang a clothes peg, for example, to a pole (e.g., a shower curtain pole) by first wrapping the lanyard body 410 around the pole and then threading the clothes peg through another closed loop 430. The hanging rope 400 makes the clothes peg convenient to use and not easy to lose.

It should be understood that the above-mentioned embodiments are merely illustrative of the technical concepts and features of the present invention, which are intended to enable those skilled in the art to understand the contents of the present invention and implement the present invention, and therefore, the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereby. All equivalent changes and modifications made according to the spirit of the present invention should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A clothes peg, the clothes peg comprising:

two clamping members (100, 200); and

-an elastic member (300), wherein the two clamping members (100, 200) cooperate under the action of the elastic member (300) to form an openable and closable clamping structure, characterized in that:

the elastic member (300) includes a main body (310) and two attaching portions (380) formed integrally with the main body at both ends of the main body, respectively, and wherein the garment hanger is configured to attach the elastic member (300) to the two clip members (100, 200) by molding the respective clip members (100, 200) on each of the attaching portions (380), respectively.

2. The garment hanger according to claim 1, wherein the two clip members (100, 200) are over-molded on the two attachment portions (380), respectively, by injection molding the two clip members (100, 200) on the two attachment portions (380), respectively.

3. The garment hanger according to any one of claims 1-2, wherein each attachment portion (380) comprises:

a first anchoring portion (320) embedded in the respective gripping member (100, 200); and

a connecting neck (340) embedded in the respective clamping member (100, 200) and connecting the first anchoring portion (320) to the main body (310) of the elastic member (300); wherein the first anchoring portion (320) extends in a first direction along the extension direction of the respective clamping member and protrudes with respect to the connecting neck (340).

4. The clothes peg of claim 1, wherein: the clothes peg is made of plastic material only.

5. The clothes peg of claim 4, wherein: the hardness of the plastic from which the clamping member is made is greater than the hardness of the plastic from which the resilient member is made.

6. The garment hanger according to claim 1, wherein the resilient member has an arcuate configuration with an open portion of the arcuate configuration disposed toward the gripping structure.

7. The clothes peg of claim 1, wherein: comprises a detachable hanging rope (400), wherein the hanging rope (400) comprises a hanging rope main body (410) and two closed loops (420,430) at two ends of the hanging rope main body (410);

one of the closed loops (420) defining an aperture for passage of one half of the open clamp structure such that the one closed loop (420) is movable to a position surrounding the body (310) of the resilient member; and

wherein the further closed loop (430) is dimensioned such that the end of the lanyard carrying the resilient member and the gripping member can pass through the further closed loop (430) such that a suspension loop is formed by the further closed loop (430) and the lanyard body (410).

8. A method of manufacturing a garment hanger, the method comprising the steps of:

-providing an elastic member (300) in a mould, wherein the elastic member (300) comprises a main body (310) and two attachment portions (380) formed integrally with the main body at both ends of the main body, respectively;

-moulding a first clamping member (100) on one of the two attachment portions (380) and a second clamping member (200) on the other of the two attachment portions (380) in a single moulding step, such that an openable and closable clamping structure is defined by the first and second clamping members (100, 200) and the resilient member (300).

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the first clamping member (100) and the second clamping member (200) are overmolded on the two attachment portions (380), respectively, by injection molding the two clamping members (100, 200) on the two attachment portions (380), respectively.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the resilient member (300) is molded prior to being disposed in a mold.