Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INYENTION
This invention relate9 to a clamp ~ade of a relatively hard,
but resilient plastic material for holding elongated objects of
circular cross-section and of varying diameter to a supporting
structure, such as cables, cable harnes~e~, hoses and the like.
More particularly, the clamp includes a circular member that
extends around the outside of the cable or the like and a plural-
ity of resilient holding fingers that extend outwardly from both
sides of the member along the length of the cable and inwardly
toward the center of the clamp to center and hold the cable with~
in the clamp.
Prior art clamps of this type are shown, for example, in
German Offenlegungsschrift 2807119 ~August 23, 1979) or British
Patent 2014644B, particularly in Fi~s. 12-15 o each pa~ent. In
these clamps the holding fingers extend radially inward from the
inside of the circular wall of the clamp and then slant alter-
nately to either side to hold the cable within the clamp. A
disadvantage of this design is that the holding fingers can only
be opened up a limited distance and, as a consequence, the full
inside area of the circular clamping member cannot be used, thus
limiting the range of cable diameters that can be used with the
clamp.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a hold-
~5 ing fingers-type clamp in which practically the entire space in-
side the clamp is available to receive the cable.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be
set forth in part in the de~cription which follows, and in part
will be o~vious fro~ the degcription, or may be learned by
practice of the invention~ The objects and advantages of the
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;' invention may be realized and attained by mean9 of the
instrumentalities and combination9 particularly pointed out in
the appended claim.
To achieve the foregoing ob,jects and in accordance with the
purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described
herein, the clamp of the present invention for holding elongated
circular objects of varying diameters to a fixed surface com-
prises a circular member that extend~ tran~ver~ely around the
object, said member having side rims, a central passageway and
two ends that when spread apart provide access for the object to
the passageway. A leg is provided at each end of the member that
cooperate with each other when the ends are compressed together
to hold the clamp to a fixed surface and a plurality of resilient
holding fingers extend outwardly from the side rims of the
circular member along the length of the object and inwar~ly so
that they converge conically toward each other and the object
being held by the clamp.
DE~AILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Further features of the invention and its advantages can be
found in the description which follows and in the following
drawings:
FigO 1 is a front view of the cable clamp of the present in-
vention having holding fingers,
Fig. 2 is a side view of the clamp of Fig. 1 with a partial
section in the upper portion,
Fig. 3 is a front view of an alternative embodiment of a
cable clamp with holding fing~rs,
Fig. 4 is a side view of the clamp of Fig. 3 with a partial
section in the ~pper portion,
`I Flg. 6 i~ a side view of the assembly o Fig. 5, and
Fig. 7 is a view 9imilar to Fig~ 6, but showing the clamp
used with a thicker cable.
The cable clamp shown in .he drawing consist essentially of
a circular clamping member 1 surrounding a central passageway 2,
the ends 3 of which can be brought together to close the passage-
way 2. Each end 3 is provided with a leg 4 having ~eans which
cooperate with each other when the leg~ are compressed together,
following insertion of a circular object, such a~ cable 10 into
passageway 2, to secure the clamp in a hole in a ~upport plate.
As embodied and as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 5, this means com-
prises a projection 14 on each leg 4 that engage~ the underside
of the hole in plate 11. Clamping member 1 as well as legs 4,
are o~ suitable resilient material so that projections 14 will
positively lock the clamp to the plate. Shoulders 5 are also
provided at each end 3 that extend laterally in a direction per-
pendicular to the cable and downwardly so that they press against
the surface of plate 11 to stabilize the clamp on the plate.
In accordance with the invention and as shown in Fig. 2, a
plurality of resilient holding fingers 6, are uniformly
distributed around and extend outwardly from the periphery of
both qide rims 7 of member 1 along the length of the cable being
held. The fingers are integrally connected to clamping member 1
at their base and point inwardly toward the center of passageway
2.
Preferably, and as best shown in Fig. 2, holding fingers 6
are acu~e-angle segments of a conical surface so that they
converge conically toward each other~ This brings the ends 8 of
fingers 6 close enough together ~o that they can firmly grip the
smalle t cables 10 to be s~cured, ag ~hown in Fig. 6, while being
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able to be spread apart a sufficient di8tance to hold cable~ 16
almost a~ large as the inside diameter of the clamp as shown in
FigO 7.
As rogards Fig`~ . 1 and 2, these seg~ent-shaped holding
fingers 6 are arranged so that they are directly opposite one an-
other in an axial direction. The manufacture of such a clamp can
be somewhat complex, however, and to avoid thi~, as shown in the
alternative embodiement of Figs. 3 and 4, the ~egmented holding
fingers 12 can be interrupted by spaces 9 of equal width. In
this embodiment and as best shown in Fig. 4, the holding fingers
12 on one side of the clamp are also directly opposite spaces 9
on the other side. Such an arrangement of the fingers and spaces
permits the clamp to be produced in the form of two mutually
engagable molded halves.
While the holding fingers 12 are narrower than the fingers 6
of Figs. 1 and 2 because they are separated by spaces 9 of equal
width, they can be made somewhat thicker than holding fingers 6
to compensate for any resulting loss in their ability to hold the
cable in placeO
By constructing the clamp in this manner, a wider range of
cable diameters can be used than in prior art holding fingers-
type clamp~. Moreover the ends of the holding fingers grab the
cable at a greater axial distance than the fingers in the known
cable clamp leading to a better and firmer grip on the cable.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modification~ can be made without departing from the scope or
spirit of the invention and without ~acrificing its chief
advantages.
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