Device for facilitating knot tying

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The subject device facilitates tying knots and, in the preferred embodiment, is made of flat, stiff plastic, and is about 2 inches long, 3/8 of an inch wide and 0.
060 of an inch thick.
In plan view one end is rounded with a hole at the center of the end radius.
The hole is for attachment of a lanyard or the like to prevent loss of the device and make the device easier to find and bring to hand.
The other end of the device is a two-pronged fork.
The width of the fork is about 1/2 the width of the tool and the fork is centered on the end about the longitudinal centerline of the tool.
The length of the fork, i.
e.
the length of its tines, is in the range of 2 to 2.
5 times its width.
The outside edges of the fork and the tines are slightly tapered and become narrower toward the end of the tool.
The transition shapes between the edges of the fork and the edges of the wider portion of the device form shoulders that are at angles to the longitudinal centerline in the range of 30 degrees to 80 degrees.
The shoulders are located such that their intersections with the tines of the fork are closer to the ends of the tines than the end of the slot between the tines by a distance in the range of 1 to 1.
5 times the average width of the slot.
In plan view the end of the slot is radiused.
When viewed in section along the longitudinal centerline of the tool, the radiused end of the slot is tapered from approximately 1/2 the thickness of the device toward the hole at an angle ranging from 10 degrees to 45 degrees.
There is another slot, called the side slot, in the device at a right angle to its longitudinal axis to a depth of between 1/4 and 1/2 the width of the device and at a distance from the ends of the tines in the range of 2 to 4 times the length of the tines, 2.
5 times being preferred.
The device is used to facilitate the tying of any and all of the variety of knots used to join two separate strands of line or leader in which one strand is wound or wrapped around and secures the other strand as typified by the common terms nail knot or tube knot, in which nails or tubes are commonly used to assist in the knot tying process