Clamp apparatus

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6276236
  • Patent Number
    6,276,236
  • Date Filed
    Monday, December 6, 1999
    25 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 21, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Eley; Timothy
    • Berry, Jr.; Willie
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