Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6276236
-
Patent Number
6,276,236
-
Date Filed
Monday, December 6, 199925 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, August 21, 200123 years ago
-
Inventors
-
-
Examiners
- Eley; Timothy
- Berry, Jr.; Willie
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 081 93
- 081 485
- 081 483
- 081 347
- 081 352
- 081 353
- 081 354
- 081 355
- 081 129
- 081 150
- 269 43
- 228 493
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
The present invention is regarding to a structural improvement of a clamp which includes a flex attached to a handle set, an actuator cable extends through the slider and is linked to gripper device, of which the openings and open notch are built in, it offers a convenient scheme for operator to detach or engage actuator cable from gripper device, by simple operation, gripper devices may be conveniently interchanged in order to meet versatile needs in various situations.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a clamp and more particularly to a structural improvement of a clamp for the hose-clips which comprising a handle set, a flex, an actuator cable and a gripper device, the actuator cable may separate and engage with the gripper device in a simple manor through a pair of opening and an open notch built in the gripper device in order to meet the operation requirements.
In the pipe or hose design, e.g. the pneumatic or the oil pipe, often the pipes must connect to each other or to a designated hose-clip. Therefore all the connections between the pipes and the connectors must be tightly tied up by a hose-clip or pushed together to prevent loosen connection or unexpected leakage. However the terminal connectors may be well buried deeply in the complex the pipe layout or in restricted space. In order to reach it with the tools or hands, operators must depend on special tools to complete the work.
A mechanism of the clamp for the hose-clips designed to loose or install the pipes applies via a control cable between the clamp and the gripper set to loose up the pipes by the displacement of the control cable actuated by the clamp.
But the control cable and the gripper set are built as a whole piece. Depends on which kind of the gripper is attached, each of the clamp gives a specified operational function. In reality the pipes may disconnect from each other and from the connectors as well. Operator thus inconveniently has to carry several different kinds of the clamps in cases hand-unreachable locations are encountered. Thus an interchangeable the gripper set design would be practical.
In addition, there might not be sufficient working space for the gripper set once the gripper set reaches the pipe location. Operator has to maneuver the control cable in order to align the gripper set with the pipe. The cable is twisted and un-smooth accordingly. It thus degrades the capability of the cable in controlling the gripper set when operator applies maneuvering. The handle set easily yields unexpected attitudes due to the fixed configuration between the handle set and the control cable. It is hard for operator to the handle. The existing the clamp mechanisms are inaccurate and hard-to-handle under these conditions. It needs improvements.
The present invention is arisen to militate and/or obviate the aforediscussed disadvantage in order to provide a new and novel structure hereinafter.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention has a main object to provide a structural improvement of a clamp which includes a handles set, a flex, an actuator cable and a gripper device, a pair of openings and an open notch are built in the gripper device for the actuator cable interchanging, separation and adjoining.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a structural improvement of a clamp which provides an interchangeable integration among the flex, the actuator cable and the handle set, the handle set and the actuator cable maintain angular motion to each other and, thus, the actuator cable stays smooth and the handle set stays in operational attitude.
The present invention will become more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description thereof when read in conjunction with the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a perspective view to show the present invention,
FIG. 2
is an exploded perspective view to show the gripper device of the present invention,
FIG. 3
is an assembled perspective view to show the gripper device of the present invention,
FIG. 4
is a perspective view to show the second embodiment of the gripper device of the present invention, and
FIG. 5
is a perspective view to show the second embodiment facilitate in a pipe.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Please refer to
FIGS. 1
,
2
and
3
, the present invention, a structural improvement of a clamp comprises a handle set
21
having a pair of handles
2
a gripper device
31
and an actuator cable
25
in a flex
24
. The handle
22
and an actuator
23
are at the two ends of the handle set
21
and act on each other, a blocker
26
is attached to the end of the actuator cable
25
which runs through the flex
24
fixed to the actuator
23
, the blocker
26
is restrained on a terminal piece
27
screwed at the forward end of a slider base
32
.
The gripper device
31
includes base
32
mounted with a spring
34
and a connected slider
33
, the sectional view of the slider base
32
appears in a U-shaped, a first opening
323
set for linking the slider base
32
is placed above a fastening hole
322
which locates at a forward end
321
of the slider base
32
, also there is a first protruding tab
324
at the outer side of the bottom.
A stopper
331
locates at the end of the slider
33
, a slider-fastening hole
332
appears at the stopper
331
, a second opening
333
connects to the slider-fastening hole
332
, there is also an open notch
334
on the surface of the slider
33
(as shown in the
FIG. 2
of the slider), there is also a second protruding tab
335
placed at the bottom of the slider
33
.
According to the above, the fastening hole
322
at the end of the gripper device
31
on the slider base
32
restrains the position of the blocker
26
at the terminal end of the actuator cable
25
of the handle set
21
, the actuator cable
25
runs through the slider fastening hole
332
on the stopper
331
of the slider
33
. It tightly attaches the flex
24
to the slider-fastening hole
332
, and thus places the second protruding tab
335
on the slider
33
and the first protruding tab
324
on the handle set
32
against each other. The actuator cable
25
is actuated by the actuator
23
while the handle
22
on the handle set
21
is pushed. The slider
23
slides on the slider base
32
and there is a relative displacement between the second protruding tab
335
and the first protruding tab
324
.
The actuator cable
25
may easily travel through the first opening
323
on the fastening hole
322
, the open notch
334
on the slider
33
and the second opening
333
on the slider-fastening hole
332
. Thus it helps to integrate the actuator cable
25
, the slider base
32
and the slider
33
together.
In operating of the present invention, applying the second protruding tab
335
and the first protruding tab
324
on a pipe or a hose, the pipe is loosened due to the relative displacement and resultant force between the second protruding tab
335
and the first protruding tab
324
.
Please also refer to
FIG. 4
for the second embodiment of the present invention. The gripper device
31
is attached to the slider base
32
through the slider
33
. There is the fastening hole
322
and the first opening
323
on the foward end
321
of the slider base
32
. The first protruding tab
324
is attached to the bottom of the slider base
32
. Also the open notch
334
, the stopper
331
, the fastening hole
322
, the second opening
333
and the second protruding tab
335
are built into the slider
33
, the first protruding tab
324
and the second protruding tab
335
are dentate. A pair of concave notches
325
and
336
are on each one of them.
Refer to
FIG. 5
for the second embodiment of the present invention. The blocker
26
at one end of the actuator cable
25
is attached to the fastening hole
322
of the slider
33
. The other end of the actuator cable
25
runs through the slider-fastening hole
332
of the slider base
32
. It attaches to the handle set
21
and the first protruding tab
324
and the second protruding tab
335
at their locations on pipe. Held by the notches
325
and
336
of the first protruding tab
324
and the second protruding tab
335
, the cable maneuvering generates displacement and force between the first protruding tab
324
and the second protruding tab
335
, and thus detaches the connected pipe.
It is worthy of mentioning that different kinds of the gripper device
31
may conveniently be attached or disengaged from the actuator cable
25
due to the first and second openings
323
and
333
and the open notch
334
designed for the actuator cable
25
, the slider base
32
and the slider
33
. Operator may conveniently replace different kinds of the gripper device
31
for various pipes.
The handle set
21
and the flex
24
are linked but not fixed, the handle set
21
and the flex
24
may rotate with respect to each other. When the gripper device
31
enters an hand-unreachable working space (e.g. automobile engine combustion chamber), the twisted the flex
24
on the gripper device
31
may yield impaired the actuator cable
25
or poor handling attitude of the handle set
21
. With the help of the rotation flexibility between the handle set
21
and the flex
24
, it may be used to adjust the twisted the actuator cable
25
and the poor attitude of the handle set
31
.
In general this invention adopts handle set, gripper device, flex and actuator cable to implement pipe clamp. By the designated openings and open notch on gripper device, the actuator cable may quickly separate from and attach to different kinds of gripper device. It also maintains a smooth actuator cable and excellent handle attitude of handle set.
Note that the specification relating to the above embodiments should be construed as exemplary rather than as limitative of the present invention, with many variations and modifications being readily attainable by a person of average skill in the art without departing from the spirit or scope thereof as defined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
Claims
- 1. A clamp comprising:a handle set including a pair of handles and an actuator, the pair of handles and the actuator linked with each other, a flex having one end secured to the actuator of the handle set, an actuator cable having a predetermined length which extends through the flex, one end of the actuator cable secured to a blocker, the other end of the actuator cable secured to the actuator of the handle set, a gripper device including a slider slidably mounted on a slider base with a spring mounted between the slider and the slider base, a fastening hole defined in an end face of the slider base, a first opening defined in the end face of the slider base and communicating with the fastening hole, a first protruding tab protruding outward from a bottom of the slider base, the slider having one end provided with a stopper, a slider-fastening hole defined in the stopper, a second opening defined in stopper and communicating with the slider-fastening hole, an open notch defined in a surface of the slider, a second protruding tab protruding outward from a bottom surface of the slider, wherein, the actuator cable in turn extends through the first and second openings, the open notch, the fastening hole, and the slider-fastening hole while the flex is fixed in the slider fastening hole such that the gripper device and the actuator cable are integrally connected with each other.
- 2. A clamp as recited in claim 1 wherein said gripper device further has a U-shaped slider base.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
5253554 |
Riera et al. |
Oct 1993 |
|
5507206 |
Solski |
Apr 1996 |
|