Cinch Cleat patent available licensing agreement new products

Snap hook Cleats: / Hook Cleats:

The uses for the hook cleat are limited only by the users imagination. Listed below you
will find some possible applications, many of which were suggested by the public at
the 2002 Minnesota Inventors Congress.

1. Secure cargo on a truck or trailer
2. Secure a car trunk that will not close
3. Secure a tarp
4. Make a fence (could use rope, or polywire for electric)
5. Tension a line on which to hang Christmas lights
6. Bundle loose branches
7. Support a young tree after being transplanted (could use bungee to allow for movement)
8. Pitch a tent or erect a canopy
9. Hang a plant
10. Make a clothesline
11. Tension a straight line at the construction site
12. Tension a straight line in the garden
13. Various arts and crafts involving tensioned lines
14. Hanging items in the garage or basement for storage
15. Hanging and leveling a fluorescent light in the garage
16. Hanging and leveling a sign or banner
17. Hanging and leveling a broom stick in the garage on which to hang clothes for a garage sale

Eye Bolt Cleats:

Tent Stakes:

Tarp Clips

Rubber Strap

Pickup Truck Anchor Points

Truck or ATV Rails

Bed Rails have become quite popular over recent years. If the Cinch Cleat were designed into Pickup rails or an ATV rack, the user would enjoy all of the benefits of the
traditional rails as well as being able to now tie one or more cinch knots on them. If multiple right and left hand knots are tied alternately next to each other, the take-up
lines will share a common take-up loop and the user will be able to use this loop like a handle to easily remove slack from the tension lines.

E-Rail Strap Cleats

Misc. Items that will use the Cinch Cleat

The Cinch cleat patent # 6,409,230 is currently available for licence or sale.
Listed below are some possible licensing options. If your group is interested in a licensing agreement, contact us and we can discuss
this.
We can be very flexible in this area,so if you think that licensing may be for you, please contact us and we can work with you to find an
agreement that works for everyone involved.
Semi-exclusive:
There are many different items that the Cinch Cleat could be designed into. A manufacturer may not have the ability to make and sell all of these various items.
It is for this reason that a semi-exclusive license may be the best choice.

Example:
A tent stake manufacturer may choose to have the exclusive right to incorporate the cinch cleat into their tent stakes.
A company that sells snap hooks may choose to exclusively incorporate the cinch cleat into their snap hooks.
In this case each company is able to enter into a semi exclusive licensing agreement with relatively low minimum royalty payments at favorable terms. Additionally, the
public will be exposed to many different products that use the cinch cleat and therefore will be more likely to know the advantages of this cleat and will want to buy other
products that incorporate this cleat into their design.

Exclusive:
An exclusive agreement would require substantially higher minimum royalties. And because the Cinch Cleat can be designed into so many diverse products, it would be
unlikely that a manufacturer would want to make and sell all of them.
However:
An exclusive agreement may make sense given the following scenario. If a group were to Exclusively license the Cinch Cleat, it would be foreseeable that they could
heavily advertise a few products that use the cinch cleat. After the idea caught on, they may be allowed to sub-licence to manufacturers that make other products. These
royalties could be split between the group with the exclusive licence and myself.

Notice: The cinch cleat and associated methods of knot tying are covered under U.S. Patent 6409230. Products offered for sale by CinchCleat LLC are not load rated
and must never be used in any application where product use or failure could result in personal injury, or damage to property. Never use for overhead lifting, or to support
human weight. Carefully inspect product before use and do not use if damaged. Avoid sharp edges, pinch points, and abrasive or hot surfaces. Activities involving ropes,
cords, rubber straps, and tensioned lines are potentially hazardous. Property could be damaged, people could be hurt, and lives may be at risk. There are many critical
factors that cannot be controlled by us, including but not limited to: the selection of materials or devices; the age, size, and condition of ropes, straps, and cleats; and the
manner and conditions under which the user has decided to use the products shown within this site. For these reasons, we shall not be held responsible for incidents
arising from the use of this website or the product offered for sale. It is the users responsibility to accept all risks and liability associated with using products offered for
sale by CinchCleat LLC. If you are not willing or able to accept all risk and be fully responsible for any liability associated with the use of these products, you should not buy
or use them.

Last updated: 10-18-07

The Cinch Cleat can be easily designed into a simple removable hook or snap hook. The user can use one or more hook cleats with
a single length of uncut line. After use they will be able to wrap up the entire length of line and store it separately from the hook cleats
to avoid the all to common tangled-up-mess.

The simple hook cleat would be easily molded and inexpensive to produce.

The snap hook cleat could be easily incorporated into the designs of existing snap hooks. The trigger snap design would be
especially beneficial in the sense that it would be easily removable when the line is under tension.

The Cinch Cleat can be incorporated into a design which resembles a traditional eye bolt. The user will still be able to use the eye bolt in the traditional manner such as
threading a line or inserting a hook. But now they will also enjoy the ability to tie a cinch knot as well. They will not have to thread long lengths of line, nor will they have to
untie and retie their knot in order to remove slack or adjust length. Again, the potential uses for this product are limited only to the users imagination.

If the Cinch Cleat were incorporated into a tent stake, That stake could be used in the same manner as a traditional stake, or the user could tie a cinch knot. If a cinch knot
were used, it would require less line than a traditional tensioner such as the bent metal tab that has two holes which the line is threaded through. Additionally, the tent or
tarp could be drawn all the way down to the stake.

Stake pocket anchor points have become quite popular over recent years.
If the Cinch Cleat were designed into an anchor point........
The user would still be able to thread a line and tie a traditional knot.
The user would still be able to insert a hook from a strap or bungee.
But now the user would also be able to tie a cinch knot. This would allow them to use whatever line may be handy at the time. A good example would be when you leave
the yard at your local lumber store. They almost always offer free string to tie your load down. If the cinch cleat were designed into an anchor point, you would be able to
easily tension and re-tension this line. So if you forgot your straps or did not have enough, you would still be able to confidently secure your load.

A tarp clip that had the Cinch Cleat designed into it would be a superior product. You would be able to secure the tarp with whatever line or bungee happened to be
around at the time. Since the wind is always causing slack in the lines used with traditional tarp clips, this slack could be easily removed if the clip was designed with a
cinch cleat for re-tensioning. Additionally, straps and bungee cords come in pre-determined lengths, a string tied to a cinch cleat could be whatever length was required.

Rubber straps traditionally come in to lengths, too long and to short. This can create a dangerous situation in either circumstance. If the strap is too long, it has been
common practice to wrap one end around the support or even worse tie knots in the strap. If the strap is too short, it has been common practice to over tension the strap
until it reaches. If the Cinch Cleat were designed into one of the hooks on a strap, the user could tension practically any length line with a single size rubber strap.

E-Rail or logistic straps have been used in the trucking industry for many years. They suffer from the disadvantage that they are expensive to purchase and replace. And
because of that fact they often times will disappear from the truck or have to be taken out of service because of abrasion and breakage. It is because of that fact that the
industry offers an e-rail d-ring so that less expensive rope can be used. Now just imagine if a cinch cleat were designed into an E-rail clip. Tensioning and re-tensioning
would be a snap, entire lengths of line could be used and reused because the line does not have to be threaded through a central opening, if the line breaks it can be
spliced with a knot and still be used with a cinch cleat.

Products That Will Use The Cinch Cleat

I have made additional prototypes of products that could incorporate the Cinch Cleat and related knot tying methods into their design. Some of these are shown bellow.
For further information about products not contained within this site, please contact me.

Award Winning Patent available for license or sale:
Introducing the Cinch Cleat and method of unidirectional and bidirectional cinching thereto: U.S. Utility Pat. # 6,409,230
  MANUFACTURERS / DISTRIBUTORS WANTED, Licensing Agreements sought:
                                                           Incorporate the Cinch Cleat into your product line today.