Rope lock device

Claim 2

A rope lock device comprising: a body having spaced apart top and bottom wall-forming portions and diametrically opposed side wall-forming portions, a first pair of spaced apart apertures formed at one end of said body and a second pair of spaced apart apertures formed at the other end of said body with apertures closest to said side wall-forming portions adapted to receive a length of rope therethrough, a pair of movable arm means positioned within said body and including gripping means to engage the rope and urge the rope firmly against one of said side wall-forming portions at each end of said body and restraining the rope against movement in either direction, and selective release means having a first portion within said body and engageable selectively with said movable arm means, and a second portion extending outwardly of said body to be manually operated to effect selective release of said movable arm means from the rope, whereby the rope can be pulled through said rope lock assembly in either direction.

Claim 3

A rope lock assembly comprising: a body having spaced apart top and bottom wall-forming portions and diametrically opposed side wall-forming portions, a first pair of spaced apart apertures formed at one end of said body and a second pair of spaced apart apertures formed at the other end of said body with apertures closest to said side wall-forming portions adapted to receive a length of rope therethrough, movable arm means positioned within said body and including gripping means to engage the rope and urge the rope firmly against one side of said side wall-forming portions and restraining the rope against movement in either direction, release means having a first portion within said body and engageable with said movable arm means, and a second portion extending outwardly of said body to be manually operated to effect release of said movable arm means from the rope, whereby the rope can be pulled through said rope lock assembly in either direction, said bottom and said side wall-forming portions being U-shaped in the cross section, said top wall-forming portion being hinged at one edge with the top edge of one of said side wall-forming portions and having a free edge disposed therefrom, said movable arm means being insertable into said body when said top wall-forming portion is open, latch means formed along the top edge of the other of said side wall-forming portions, and hook means formed along said free edge of said top wall-forming portion and cooperable with said latcH means to hold said top wall-forming portion closed when the rope lock device is in an assembled condition.

Claim 4

A rope lock assembly comprising: a body having spaced apart top and bottom wall-forming portions and diametrically opposed side wall-forming portions, a first pair of spaced apart apertures formed at one end of said body and a second pair of spaced apart apertures formed at the other end of said body with apertures closest to said side wall-forming portions adapted to receive a length of rope therethrough, movable arm means positioned within said body and including gripping means to engage the rope and urge the rope firmly against one side of said side wall-forming portions and restraining the rope against movement in either direction, release means having a first portion within said body and engageable with said movable arm means, and a second portion extending outwardly of said body to be manually operated to effect release of said movable arm means from the rope, whereby the rope can be pulled through said rope lock assembly in either direction, said bottom and said side wall-forming portions being U-shaped in the cross section, said top wall-forming portion being hinged at one edge with the top edge of one of said side wall-forming portions and having a free edge disposed therefrom, said movable arm means being insertable into said body when said top wall-forming portion is open, latch means formed along the top edge of the other of said side wall-forming portions, and hook means formed along said free edge of said top wall-forming portion and cooperable with said latcH means to hold said top wall-forming portion closed when the rope lock device is in an assembled condition.

Claim 5

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein said movable arm means is a single H-shaped unit having the four free end portions thereof extending toward said side wall-forming portions and including teeth gripping means formed at said free ends for gripping the rope passing therethrough.

Claim 6

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein said movable arm means is formed of a first perpendicular member extending across said body and engageable with said side wall-forming portions thereof, said first perpendicular member further including a transversely disposed resilient member extending therefrom on a side opposite the end of said rope lock assembly and insertable between a transversely disposed resilient member and a second similarly shaped member to provide bias means for urging said first and second perpendicular members into engagement with rope passing therethrough.

Claim 7

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 4 wherein said side wall portions are arcuately-shaped from end to end and said movable arm means is urged into engagement with said side wall portions when moved toward the ends of said rope lock assembly.

Claim 8

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 4 wherein said release means is secured to said perpendicular member and extending from the ends of said body portion intermediate the apertures formed therein, said release means including a slot formed longitudinally therealong to engage an upstanding guide member formed in said bottom and top wall-forming portions.

Claim 9

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said body is formed of two similarly shaped halves which are provided with snap lock means along their mating edge portions to be fastened together upon insertion of said movable arm means and said release means therein.

Claim 10

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said top wall-forming portion has a slot formed therein, said release means including a stem extending through said slot and including depending abutments extending into said body, said movable arm means being formed in an H-shaped configuration having recesses formed near the free ends thereof to receive said depending abutments for disengaging said free ends from a rope passing through said rope assembly when said abutments are moved as a result of actuation of said stem.

Claim 11

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said bottom and said side wall-forming portions are U-shaped in the cross section, said top wall-forming portion being hinged along the top edge of one of said side wall-forming portions, said movable arm being inserted into said housing when the top wall-forming portion is open, said top wall-forming portion having an alignment post located near the four corners thereof to be inserted into said U-shaped configuration for maintaining alignment between said side wall-forming portions and said top wall-forming portion.

Claim 12

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said side wall-forming portions are arcuate in shape being more closely spaced together near said ends, said movable arm means being formed of first and second back-to-back transversely disposed members having oppositely directed rope gripping portions extending toward said arcuate walls to form a progressively decreasing gripping zone between said arcuately shaped wall and said rope gripping portions.

Claim 13

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 10 further including integral biasing means formed on said first and second back-to-back rope gripping members and engageable with the other of said rope gripping members to urge them apart and toward the diverging ends of said arcuate walls.

Claim 14

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 10 further including a release stem extending from said first and second back-to-back rope gripping members and protruding through said ends to be compressed for relEase of said rope gripping portions from a rope passing therethrough.

Claim 15

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein there is provided a plurality of openings formed in said top wall-forming member, a plurality of tab members secured to said movable arm means and extending through said openings to be manually compressed toward a central point therebetween for release of said movable arm members from a rope passing therebetween.

Claim 16

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said movable arm means is H-shaped in configuration with a bar portion extending parallel to each of said sides of the H-shaped configuration and providing means for engaging resilient tab means formed on said release means.

Claim 17

A rope lock assembly comprising: a molded plastic body member having spaced apart top and bottom wall-forming portions and diametrically opposed side wall-forming portions, a first pair of spaced apart apertures formed at one end of said body and a second pair of spaced apertures formed at the other end of said body with the apertures closest to the side wall-forming portions adapted to receive a length of rope therethrough, pairs of molded plastic movable arm means positioned within said body at each end of said plastic body member and including gripping means to engage with the rope and urge the rope firmly against the side wall-forming portions at each end of said body member and restraining the rope against movement in either direction, and a molded plastic release member having a first portion within said body selectively engageable with each pair of the movable arm means and a second portion extending outwardly of the body to be manually operated to effect release of the movable arm means, whereby selective actuation of said release member will allow the rope to be pulled through the rope lock assembly in either direction.

Claim 18

A rope lock assembly comprising: a molded plastic body member having spaced apart top and bottom wall-forming portions and diametrically opposed side wall-forming portions, a first pair of spaced apart apertures formed at one end of said body and a second pair of spaced apertures formed at the other end of said body with the apertures closest to the side wall-forming portions adapted to receive a length of rope therethrough, pairs of molded plastic movable arm means positioned within said body at each end of said plastic body member and including gripping means to engage with the rope and urge the rope firmly against the side wall-forming portions at each end of said body member and restraining the rope against movement in either direction, and a molded plastic release member having a first portion within said body selectively engageable with each pair of the movable arm means and a second portion extending outwardly of the body to be manually operated to effect release of the movable arm means, whereby selective actuation of said release member will allow the rope to be pulled through the rope lock assembly in either direction.

Claim 19

The rope lock assembly set forth in claim 15 wherein said molded plastic body portion has the bottom and side wall-forming portions thereof U-shaped in the cross section and the top wall-forming portion hinged at one edge with a top edge of one of the side wall-forming portions, said hinge being formed of a reduced thickness of molded plastic material of which said side wall and said top wall-forming portions are formed, said movable means being insertable into said body when said top wall-forming portion is open, and molded latch means formed along the top edge of the other of said side wall-forming portions to engage with molded hook means formed along a free edge of said top wall-forming portion and cooperable with said latch means to hold said top wall-forming portion closed when said rope lock device is in an assembled condition.

Claim 20

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 15 wherein said molded plastic body portion is formed of two similarly configurated halves, each half forming one of said side wall-forming portions and one of said top and bottom wall-forming portions, each half including guide means formed therein to be diametrically opposed when the halves are placed in an assembled condition, said rope lock assembly including first and second perpendicular members forming said movable arm means and including transversely disposed resilient means extending therefrom on a side opposite the end of said rope lock assembly and insertable between a second transversely disposed resilient member of the second perpendicular member to provide bias means for urging said first and second perpendicular members against the rope passing therethrough.

Claim 21

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 15 wherein said molded plastic movable arm means includes tab means extending upwardly through openings formed in the top wall-forming portion of said body and provide means for disengaging said movable arm means from the rope passing therethrough to release the rope for movement in either direction.

Claim 22

The rope lock assembly as set forth in claim 15 wherein said release means is formed of a C-shaped memBer having outwardly directed tab portions engaging the interior wall-forming portions of said body for stopping movement thereof in an outward direction and further including a resilient tab formed within the bight portion thereof to engage a transversely disposed substantially rigid bar portion of said movable arm means.