US2746112A - Baseboard cord clip - Google Patents

Description

y 2, 1956 P. J. SIMON BASEBOARD c0120 CLIP Filed April 20, 1950 n 5 Wm/arm Ti 7N m -/m NM 7 l A United States Patent BASEBOARD CORD CLIP Paul J. Simon, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application April 20, 1950, Serial No. 157,139

2 Claims. (Cl. 24-129) This invention relates to temporary securing means for receiving and holding free cords and cables. It is especially useful for holding excess lengths of ordinary electrical extension cords.

The primary objects of the invention are to provide a retainer clip which may be readily installed, as on the floor near a wall, and readily removed, into which clip one or more loops or lengths of extension cord may be quickly inserted, and from which any desired part of the stored cord may be readily pulled or lifted. At the same time it is an object of the invention to provide a clamp in which lengths of cord, once inserted, will be securely held against accidental dislodgment. Still further, the invention aims to provide a unit which, once it has been installed, is sufficiently secure to remain in place as cord is pushed into it or pulled out of it.

How these and other objects of the invention are atrained is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the device of the present invention as installed for use.

Fig. 2 is a view of the device itself shown in perspective from a different angle.

Referring first to Fig. 1, a section of conventional baseboard 11 is shown resting upon a floor 12. The usual molding or toe board 13 covers the joint between these members. A standard baseboard electrical outlet 14 is shown, having an extension cord 15 connected thereto by means of the usual male plug 16. It will be seen that the extension cord 15 has been gathered in a series of loops 17, preferably with that run of the cord which is closest to the outlet end 16 lowermost, and that run of the cord which is closest to the appliance end 18 of the cord uppermost.

The loops 17 are shown secured in the retaining clamp of my invention. This clamp A, as a whole, is formed of a single metallic strip or ribbon, preferably made of stainless spring steel of about 12 or 14 gage.

The perspective views show the clamp from the front, in Fig. 1, and from the rear in Fig. 2. Generally considered, it may be said that the clamp has three main elements: a rear support, a front support, and a tongue member resiliently mounted between these supports. Also, a nose piece or guide is provided to lead cord into the clamp and hinder accidental removal from the clamp. A lateral extension or mounting may be incorporated to facilitate installation.

Since the clamp is formed of the convolutions of a single strip, it will facilitate description to follow the several runs and bends in serial order. One end 19 of the strip forms a movable closure for the bottom of a retaining pocket 20 provided to receive loops of the extension cord 15. The rear wall of the pocket 20 is provided by a flat or substantially flat section 21, resembling a tongue, and the upper closure of the cord-receiving pocket consists of a flat section 22 formed by bending the tongue rather sharply forwardly, as at 23. A reverse bend 24 marks the extremity of the upper closure 22, this bend 2,746,112 Patented May 22, 1956 being at a considerably sharper angle, so as to provide a guide flange 25 sloping upwardly and rearwardly when the device is in use. Those parts of the strip which have just been described are resiliently held in place by means of the bend 26, which is formed at an acute angle to the guide flange 25, thus orienting the rear support 27 into a position fairly close to the bend 23.

For convenience of manufacture, to increase flexibility, and also to accommodate displacement of the end 19, the base of the clip is preferably formed in two lands 28 and 29 by the provision of an obtuse-angle bend 30 between the rear support 27 and the rear land 28, and an acute-angle bend 31 between the rear land 28 and the forward land 29. Another obtuse-angle bend 32 brings the strip back to a position substantially parallel to the rear support 27. Thus is provided a front wall 33 for the cord-retaining pocket 20. The front wall 33 is carried upwardly to a point somewhat above the bend 24 and is then reversely bent at as shown at 34, so as to provide an outer face member 35 preferably in contact with the front wall section 33. The outer face member 35 is terminated by an obtuse-angle bend 36 providing a toe strip 37 which is preferably in contact with the front land 29. Another obtuse-angle bend 38 connects the toe strip 37 with the attaching heel 39. This attaching heel extends generally in a direction which is normal to the rear support 27, although I prefer to impose a small degree of arcuity on at least a portion of it so as to provide spring action when it is inserted beneath a molding strip or baseboard, as shown in Fig. 1. Alternatively, the heel need not be normal to the clamp as a whole, but may, for example, extend downwardly from the lower bend, to form an attaching ear to nail the clamp to a wall, or to slip behind the upper rim of a door jam.

Since it may be desirable under some circumstances to install the retaining clamp independently of the position of a baseboard or molding strip, the heel is terminated in a flat section 40, which may be apertured to receive a nail or screw 41 to provide for attachment directly to any suitable surface.

It will be seen that the clamp just described is easily and inexpensively manufactured, may be installed or removed with very little dilficulty, and yet readily receives, securely holds, and readily releases excess lengths of ordinary extension cord or similar stranded material.

In operation, it will be found that, since the front wall 33 is carried a little above the bend 24, the space provided between the nose or guide flange 25 and the upper end of the front wall 33 facilitates insertion of a length of cord into the retaining pocket 20. Additional loops may be formed and inserted with equal ease, depending upon the extent of excess length to be accommodated, until substantially all of the extension cord from the outlet end to the appliance end is neatly gathered up and housed, with the appliance in a standby position. Yet, when the appliance is moved into a working position, and additional cord length is required, it is not even necessary to release the cord manually from the retaining space, since nothing more than a tug on the line will suflice to free it from the retaining clamp. Nevertheless, the upper closure 22 reduces the possibility of accidentally dislodging the cord.

It is an advantage of the present device that, because of the yielding restraint imposed by movement of the tongue-like wall 21 of the cord pocket, the storage space 20 increases as the number of cord sections inserted in it increases, While at the same time the total distance from front to back of the clamp remains substantially constant. This tends to prevent wedging of one run of cord against another, which is a common drawback in U shaped clips heretofore known. In such clips, the wedging effect sometimes jams the cord so tightly as to spring the legs of the U beyond the elastic limit of the clip when an attempt is made to pull the cord free. This results in permanent distortion of the clip.

It is, of course, obvious that circumstances may suggest the'desirability of using the clamps in pairs or even in greater numbers, so as to accommodate unusually long extension cords commonly found in association with waflle irons and similar equipment.

It is also apparent that some changes in the orientation of the convolutions just described may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Thus, it may be preferable, from a quantity production standpoint, to substitute right-angle bends at 30, 32, and 36, thus eliminating the acute-angle bend at 31 and the obtuseangle bend at 38. If this is done, clearance for the tip 19 to swing towards the rear wall must be allowed. I prefer the arrangement shown because it automatically results in providing slightly greater resilience and freedom of movement for the front support, consisting of wall section 33 and face strip 35.

In this connection, it should be noted that I prefer to facilitate insertion or removal of cord loops by providing resilience, as just mentioned, not only at the bend 26 but also at the base of the front wall 33. A stiffer fastening may be secured by reducing the resilience at the base, as by substituting a sharper bend or by forming a longitudinal crease or dent in the strip at this point.

Various types of resilient strip may be used. Phosphorbronze gives excellent results, and, where painting or enamelling is in prospect, cold rolled steel. Other resilient metals or alloys may be substituted. Synthetic resins may likewise be used, though not, so far as I have been able to determine, with results as good as those obtained when using steel. If the resilience is low, so that pressure of the tongle against the cord is slight, it is desirable to increase the resistance to accidental displacement of the cord by facing the rear surface of the front wall 33 and the front surface of the tongue 21 with friction material, such as latex or its derivatives.

I claim:

1. A retaining clip for cords, having planar front, rear, and intermediate members of similar length, bridge means at the base of said members connecting front and rear mem r o e h a y e d ng y ma n ining m in substantially parallel spaced planes, a resilient connection supporting the intermediate member from the free end of the rear member and yieldingly maintaining the intermediate member in a plane which transects the parallel planes of the front and rear members, with the free end of the intermediate member terminating short of but closely adjacent to the line of connection between the front member and the bridge piece, said resilient connection supporting the intermediate member being constructed and arranged to yield more readily than said bridge means connecting the front and rear members.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the resilient connection between the free end of the rear member and the intermediate member is configured to span the distance between front and rear members and to connect with the intermediate member at a locus adjacent the rear member, whereby to provide a space between the front member and the intermediate member within which a plurality of runs of cord may be housed under light restraint while still permitting the front member to occupy a position substantially parallel to the rear member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 256,999 Green Apr. 25, 1882 320,260 Knuth June 16, 1885 337,200 Sargent Mar. 2, 1886 362,760 Mather May 10, 1887 750,526 Ferguson Jan. 26, 1904 1,753,013 Lindmark Apr. 1, 1930 1,772,687 Reinke Aug. 12, 1930 1,944,343 Herman Jan. 23, 1934 2,157,788 Howell May 9, 1939 2,251,744 Kurath et al Aug. 5, 1941 2,332,855 Jones Oct. 26, 1943 2,539,825 Genua Jan. 30, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 131,991 Switzerland of 1929 537,445 Germany Nov. 3, 1931

Images