Clamping clip for bundled sinuous wire

Abstract

A clip device and a method for clamping together in bundled form a plurality of sinuous wires, wherein the clip device is formed from a single continuous piece of wire having a generally U-shaped configuration with an open end and a closed end, the closed end forming a base portion and the open end being formed by a pair of legs extending away from the base portion with each said leg having an end portion bending inwardly toward the base portion to form a pair of hooks, and the method comprising the steps of: (a) gathering a plurality of sinuous wires into a bundle; (b) compressing the bundle; (c) aligning the loops in the bundle; (d) installing the clip device; (e) stacking a clamped bundle on a pallet; (f) heating the stacked, clamped bundles in an oven; and (g) packaging the clamped bundles.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates generally to a device for clamping together in bundled form a plurality of sinuous wire in stacked relationship to one another. BACKGROUND [0002] Sofas, chairs and other similarly related furniture are typically comprised of sinuous wires that are used to provide a support structure for the seat bottoms and backs of such furniture. These springs are commonly shipped and stored in bundles that are generally formed by bundling a plurality of sinuous wires together in stacked relationship to one another and manually securing the wires to one another. [0003] The conventional method for clamping a bundle of a plurality of sinuous wires together is to manually wrap or tie a length of flexible wire around the bundle of wires. Disadvantageously, this method is labor intensive and extremely costly. Further, if the flexible wire is not sufficiently wrapped or tied around the bundle of wires, the wires can readily separate resulting i...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006] It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a device and a method for clamping together in bundled form a plurality of sinuous wires. More particularly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a device that can be installed and removed quickly without the aid of any tools, thereby, reducing the associated labor costs. Another object of the present invention is to provide a device and method that can ultimately be mechanized, further improving the efficiency and cost savings associated with the device and method.

[0011] Accordingly, the preferred embodiment and method, allow a user of the clip device to quickly and easily install the clip device over a plurality of sinuous wires to clamp the sinuous wires together in bundled form. By using the clip device, a manufacturer of the sinuous wires can dramatically reduce the labor costs associated with the conventional method of manually wrapping or tying a length of flexible wire around the bundle of wires for shipping. In addition, because of the simple design of the clip device and the straight forward method for installing the clip device, a manufacturer of the sinuous wires can readily automate the process for installing the clip device and preparing the clamped bundles of sinuous wires for shipping, further reducing the manufacturer's costs.

Problems solved by technology

Disadvantageously, this method is labor intensive and extremely costly.

Further, if the flexible wire is not sufficiently wrapped or tied around the bundle of wires, the wires can readily separate resulting in loose wires.

On the other hand, if the flexible wire is wrapped or tied too tightly around the bundle of wires, a user may have difficulty separating the bundle at the desired time of separation.

However, none of these devices and apparatuses relate to a clip device for clamping a plurality of sinuous wires.

Therefore, until now, there has not been a device or a method for quickly and efficiently, manually clamping a plurality of sinuous wires into a bundle.

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