Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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GRIP
Technical field of the invention
The present invention relates to a grip comprising a
body with an abutment and a suitably spring-loaded
clamping jaw which is movable relative to the body and
which serves to clamp a rope against the abutment so as to
f ix said grip in the desired position along the rope.
Background of the invention
In prior art grips of the type described above, the
abutment consists of a hook member of substantially
crescent-shaped cross-section, whose two opposite ends are
integrally formed with two separate arms which are, in
turn, integrally formed with the body proper and between
which the clamping jaw is positioned to press the rope
against the concave inner side of the hook member. On
appllcation of the grip to the rope, the clamping ~aw is
moved back to an end position which is maximally spaced
from the hook member and in which the distance between the
clamping ~aw and tha hook member is slightly greater than
the diameter of the rope, such that the grip can be
laterally hooked on to the rope, whereupon a concavely
formed front surface of the clamping ~aw is pressed
against the rope, for example by means of a spring in the
body, thereby clamping the rope in the nip between said
front surface and the concave inner side of the hook
member. T~ be reliable, this grip must be provided with an
amply dimensioned hook member serving as an abutment. In
practice, the hook member thus is of a thickness which is
considerably greater than half the rope diameter. However,
this results in the hook member projecting from the rope
to a disproportionately great extent so that it strikes
against different types of guide wheel included in, for
example, ski-lifts and similar ropeways, whereby the guide
wheels regularly cause inconvenient rattling noises, in
addition to being subjected to wear themselves.
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srief description of the inventive idea
The present invention aims at elimînating the above-
mentioned drawbacks of prior art grips and at providing a
grip which operates silently when driving a ropeway, for
example a ski-lift, without the demands for reliability
being neglected. According to the invention, this is
achieved in that the abutment consists of two thin bands
of metal which in their mounted state are spaced apart and
are separately appllcable to the rope, each of said bands
having two opposite end portions which are conjointly
inserted ~n a slit formed in the body and which are
secured in said slit by a locking means, the two bands
being positioned each on one side of the clamping jaw
which is movable relative to said body, and at the same
time completely surrounding the rope.
Since the two bands, in contrast to the hook member
in prior art grips, which is open in one direction, com-
pletely surround the rope, they can be made of a compara-
tively very thin material, without the capability of thebands of resisting the compressive force of the clamping
jaw being lost. For comparison, it may be mentioned that
when tested, steel bands having a thickness of 1.0-1.5 mm
appeared to yield a strength which is even higher than the
corresponding strength of a hook member of about 8 mm
thickness.
Further description of prior art
US patent 660,395 discloses a grip which per se comprises
two band-shaped members which are spaced apart and partly
surround the rope. In this grip - which has no kind of
movable clamping jaw whatsoever - the individual band
member is, however, clamped against the rope by means of a
pair of nuts which are screwed to threaded, specially
designed end portions of the band member and are tightened
against the actual body of the grip. However, such
clamping nuts can readily, even after a short period of
use in the difficult surroundings of a ski-lift, inadvert-
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loosen from their tightened state, and this can bedisastrous in precisely ski-lifts. In contrast hereto, the
inventive grip provides an absolutely reliable connection
with the rope for a long time, in that the suitably
spring-loaded clamping jaw which is disposed between the
two bands, never runs the risk of coming loose from its
rope-clamping state.
Brief description of the accompanyin~ drawing
In the drawing:
Fig. 1 is a partly sectional view of the inventive grip;
Fig. 2 is a similar view as seen at an angle of 90
relative to the view in Fig. l; and
Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the same grip, during
mounting on a rope.
Detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the
invention
The grip illustrated in the drawing comprises ln per
se known manner a body which in its entirety is designated
1 and in which at least one spring 2 is arranged for
pressing a clamping ~aw 3 against a rope or wire desig-
nated 4. The clamping jaw 3 is detachably mounted at the
free end of a shaft 5 which is actuated by the spring 2 in
such manner that the clamping ~aw normally is kept resili-
ently pressed against the rope. To remove the grip from
the rope 4, the shaft can be withdrawn to a rear end pos'-
tion by compression of the spring 2 by means of a screw
mechanism 6. Optional components, such as tow rods of a
ski-tow or the like, may be connected to the grip in some
suitable manner.
Acccording to the invention, two thin clips or bands
7,7' are arranged as abutments, which are separately
applicable to the rope 4 and subsequently connectible with
the body 1 on each side of the clamping ~aw 3, while com-
pletely surrounding the rope. More precisely, the two
bands 7,7' are preformed such that the main portion
thereof constitutes a cylindrical configuration of sub-
stantially the same diameter as the rope 4. The two
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opposite end portions of each individual band are con-
jointly inserted in a slit 8 formed in the body and
aresecured therein by suita~le locking means. In the
embodiment illustrated, the locking means consist of beads
or pro;ections 9, e.g. metal rods that are welded to the
ends of the bands. The beads are accommodated in a cavity
10 which is formed in the body at a distance from the
opening of the slit 8. In this embodiment, both the slit 8
and the cavity 10 are closed on one side by means of an
outer end wall 11 ensuring that the band cannot slip out
of the slit in the direction away from the body.
The grip is mounted on the rope 4 in the following
manner. The clamping jaw 3 is removed from the space
between the two separate legs 12,12' of the the body 1,
and the two bands 7,7' are applied to the rope by snap
action. Then, first one band is inserted in the space
between the legs 12,12' and its ends are moved laterally
into one of the two slits, whereupon the other band is
positioned in the space between the legs 12,12' and its
ends are moved into the other slit. Subsequently, the
clamping jaw 3 is reinserted in the space between the legs
12,12', while the spring 2 is still kept in its compressed
state by the screw mechanism 6. After that, the screw
mechanism 6 is caused to release the spring 2 to act on
the clamping jaw 3 which, in turn, presses the rope 4
against the halvss of the annular bands 7,7', which are
spaced from the body, while the rope is clamped and the
grip is fixed in the desired position along the rope.
Feasible modifications of the invention
Of course, the invention is not limited to the
embodiment described above and shown in the drawing. Thus,
instead of the beads 9 as shown, other locking means can
be used for securing the individual abutment bands to the
body of the grip. As locking means, use can be made of
e.g. screws or screws combined with clamping ~aws whlch
clamp the ends of the band against part:s of the body.
Moreover, the illustrated end walls 11 adjacent to the
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slits may be dispensed with, so as to render it possible
to insert the ends of the bands into the slits from
outside, instead of rom inside. In this case, the ends of
the bands can be secured in the slits by other means, such
as locking pins, screws or the like.
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