Enclosed Gutter Clip And Expandable Bulb-Holding Clip
Patent No. US12366347 (titled "Enclosed Gutter Clip And Expandable Bulb-Holding Clip") was filed by Russel Williams Home Services Llc on Feb 27, 2024.
What is this patent about?
’347 is related to the field of clips and fasteners, specifically those used for attaching decorative lighting, such as holiday lights, to structures like gutters and shingles. The background highlights the time-consuming nature of installing such lights, often requiring ladders and the tedious process of attaching individual clips to light strands, especially with larger bulbs that necessitate bulb removal and re-installation.
The underlying idea behind ’347 is to create a clip that allows for rapid installation and removal of decorative lights without the need to unscrew the bulbs. This is achieved by designing a clip with a bulb holder that can temporarily expand to accommodate the bulb's widest diameter, leveraging the asymmetric ellipsoidal shape of common bulbs like C7 and C9. The clip is pushed over the bulb, and the bulb's shape prevents easy removal, ensuring secure attachment.
The claims of ’347 focus on a clip comprising an elongated body, a strut, a cantilever, and a bulb holder with a hole to receive a bulb. Claim 1 specifies that the bulb holder is fully circular and has two portions with different inner diameters. Claims 10 and 17 describe a bulb fixing and clamping device with a bottom plate, clamping plate, supporting plate, and bulb mounting seat, featuring a rectangular hole in the bottom plate and triangular grooves on the inner wall of the mounting hole. Claim 24 describes a clip with a body, cantilever, bracket or strut, and a bulb holder, where the body has a hole below the cantilever and the bulb holder has triangular cutouts.
In practice, the clip is made from a resilient material, such as plastic, that allows it to flex and expand. The bulb holder has a resting diameter smaller than the bulb's maximum diameter. When the clip is pressed onto the bulb, the holder expands, allowing the bulb to pass through. Once the bulb is in place, the clip returns to its original shape, securely holding the bulb. The cantilever and elongated body grip the mounting surface, such as a gutter or shingle.
This design differentiates itself from traditional clips that require bulb removal for installation. By incorporating a flexible bulb holder and leveraging the bulb's shape, ’347 enables a much faster and easier installation process. The clip's construction, often as a single piece of resilient material, ensures durability and ease of manufacturing. The inclusion of features like protrusions and lobes on the cantilever further enhances the clip's grip on the mounting surface.
How does this patent fit in bigger picture?
Technical landscape at the time
In the mid-2020s when ’347 was filed, attaching decorative lights to structures such as gutters commonly involved using clips designed for specific bulb sizes. At a time when installers often relied on ladders or lifts to position lights, the process of attaching individual lights to clips and then to the structure was time-consuming. When hardware or software constraints made designing clips that could accommodate different bulb sizes and shapes non-trivial, clips were typically designed to accommodate a bulb of a particular size and shape.
Novelty and Inventive Step
The examiner approved the application because the prior art did not teach a clip with the specific combination of features recited in the claims. Specifically, the prior art failed to teach a clip comprising an elongated body, a strut, a cantilever, and a bulb holder where the bulb holder is fully circular and has a first portion with a first inner diameter and a second portion with a second inner diameter, where the inner diameters are different.
Claims
This patent contains 24 claims, of which claims 1, 10, 17, and 24 are independent. The independent claims are directed to clips and bulb fixing/clamping devices, generally including features like bodies, struts/brackets, cantilevers/clamping plates, supporting plates, and bulb holders/mounting seats with specific geometric configurations and connections. The dependent claims generally elaborate on and add detail to the features and relationships described in the independent claims.
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Date
Description
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US12366347
- Application Number
- US18588335
- Filing Date
- Feb 27, 2024
- Status
- Granted
- Expiry Date
- Mar 10, 2036
- External Links
- Slate, USPTO, Google Patents