pic: Floating Zip Tie Chain Tensioner

[R.C.]

loading photo ...

[RMS11]

Thats sweet. How do yall make sure all the zipties are in place. Does it work as well as mcmasters? Did yall ever have problems with zipties breaking and the tensioners falling off?

[Lowfategg]

Ha! That is a neat idea!

[R.C.]

The zip ties fall in the three slots on the top and bottom and they actually worked better than mcmaster's for us. The reason being is that tensioning them meant replacing a zip tie. So if you didn't have enough tension, pull the zip ties. Too much, cut them and put a new one. The zip ties never broke because they were rated at 75 lbs each. We implemented them after I saw that mcmaster's were giving us way too much trouble. These can be made by buying u channel of uhmw or by cncing out blocks of uhmw.

We replaced the mcmaster's during Nationals with our new ones.

[ATannahill]

very nice, were there any problems at the championship?

[R.C.]

The only one was that we did not cut the ends of the zip ties so they got stuck to the chain. That was a nightmare.



Here's a darker render.

[ATannahill]

hmm i would expect that was second nature, were you in a rush?

[R.C.]

Yes we were, it was a minute before our 4th match at nationals.

[Brandon Holley]

patent it.


i'm serious.

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley

patent it.


i'm serious.

how???

[Lowfategg]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

how???

I am sure there are a ton of guides on how to do that online, Google it!

Like try this, http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/howtopat.htm

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

how???

You've got to file an official patent.

IT GETS EXPENSIVE TO PATENT SOMETHING:

but the first thing to do is to have a researcher do a patent search...where somebody searches through all the previously issued patents to see if there is an invention that currently exists.

if there isn't then you can file for a patent which tend to take several years to issue.

Patenting this could get pricey, but it may be something your team is interested in.

I think it is a great little idea, and great little ideas should be taken care of.