Strip for holding fasteners

Abstract

A strip includes an elongated strip body with a plurality of holding members for holding fasteners, such as screws, nails or the like. Each holding member includes a plurality of flexible tongues displaced from one another about a central line and terminating at distal ends that define a central hole for passage of a shank of the fastener. Thus, the distal ends are forced to incrementally flare out to acquire a biasing force that acts against squeezing movement of the shank and that culminates in a sufficient retaining force for holding the distal ends and the shank in frictional engagement so as to retain the shank in the central hole.

1 . A strip for holding fasteners, comprising: 
 a strip body having upper and lower major wall surfaces which extend in a longitudinal direction and which are opposite to each other in a transverse direction relative to the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of inner peripheral portions which are displaced from one another in the longitudinal direction, each of said inner peripheral portions extending from said upper major wall surface in the transverse direction through said lower major wall surface and surrounding a central line in the transverse direction; and    a plurality of holding members disposed to be associated with said inner peripheral portions, respectively, each of said holding members including a plurality of tongues made from a flexible material and displaced angularly from one another about the central line and along a respective one of said inner peripheral portions, said tongues extending inwardly from a respective one of said inner peripheral portions to terminate at distal ends, respectively, said distal ends being angularly displaced from one another about the central line to define a central hole through which the central line passes, said tongues being configured such that when a shank of a fastener is squeezed through said central hole in the transverse direction, said distal ends are forced to incrementally flare outward in the transverse direction to thereby acquire a biasing force that acts against squeezing movement of the shank of the fastener and that culminates in a sufficient retaining force for holding said distal ends and the shank in frictional engagement, thereby retaining the shank in said central hole.    
   
   
       2 . The strip of  claim 1 , wherein each of said tongues of each of said holding members has two lateral sides, each of which is spaced apart from one of said lateral sides of an adjacent one of said tongues by a slit that extends from said inner peripheral portion inwardly and that terminates at a corresponding one of said distal ends so as to permit the corresponding one of said distal ends to acquire the biasing force when a respective one of said distal ends is forced to flare out in the transverse direction by the squeezing movement of the shank of the fastener.  
   
   
       3 . The strip of  claim 2 , wherein said slits in each of said holding members extend radially to meet at the central line.  
   
   
       4 . The strip of  claim 2 , wherein said central hole has a polygonal shape, and said slits in each of said holding members respectively extend to terminate at apices of the polygonal shape.  
   
   
       5 . The strip of  claim 2 , wherein said slits in each of said holding members extend radially from said inner peripheral portion to terminate at an inner circumferential wall that defines said central hole.  
   
   
       6 . The strip of  claim 2 , wherein said slits in each of said holding members extend radially from said inner peripheral portion to terminate at an inner surrounding wall of a polygonal shape which defines said central hole.  
   
   
       7 . The strip of  claim 2 , wherein said central hole is defined by a circular inner surrounding wall, each of said slits extending tangentially from said circular inner surrounding wall to said inner peripheral portion.  
   
   
       8 . The strip of  claim 1 , wherein each of said holding members further has a plurality of ribs which are concentrically disposed on said tongues relative to the respective one of said inner peripheral portions about the central line such that said ribs enhance the frictional engagement between said distal ends and the shank of the fastener when the shank is squeezed through said central hole.  
   
   
       9 . A fastener strip assembly comprising: 
 a plurality of fasteners, each including an enlarged head and a shank;    a strip body having upper and lower major wall surfaces which extend in a longitudinal direction and which are opposite to each other in a transverse direction relative to the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of inner peripheral portions which are displaced from one another in the longitudinal direction, each of said inner peripheral portion extending from said upper major wall surface in the transverse direction through said lower major wall surface and surrounding a central line in the transverse direction; and    a plurality of holding members disposed to be associated with said inner peripheral portions, respectively, each of said holding member including a plurality of tongues made from a flexible material and displaced angularly from one another about the central line and along a respective one of said inner peripheral portions, said tongues extending inwardly from a respective one of said inner peripheral portions to terminate at distal ends, respectively, said distal ends being angularly displaced from one another about the central line to define a central hole through which the central line passes, said shank of a respective one of said fasteners being squeezed through said central hole in the transverse direction, said distal ends being forced to incrementally flare outward in the transverse direction to thereby acquire a biasing force that acts against squeezing movement of said shank of the respective one of said fasteners and that culminates in a sufficient retaining force for holding said distal ends and a portion of said shank which is proximate to said enlarged head in frictional engagement, thereby retaining said shank in said central hole.    
   
   
       10 . The fastener strip assembly of  claim 9 , wherein each of said fasteners is a screw which has screw threads that are disposed on said shank proximate to said enlarged head, and that are clamped by said distal ends when said shank is squeezed through said central hole.  
   
   
       11 . The fastener strip assembly of  claim 9 , wherein each of said fasteners is a screw which has an uppermost screw thread that is perpendicular to said shank and that abuts against said distal ends when said shank is squeezed through said central hole.