US3222055A

US3222055A - Clamps

Info

Publication number: US3222055A
Application number: US324011A
Authority: US
Inventors: Cedric E Cook
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1963-11-15
Filing date: 1963-11-15
Publication date: 1965-12-07
Anticipated expiration: 1982-12-07

Description

C. E. COOK Dec. 7, 1965 CLAMPS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 15, 1963 INVENTOR. GEDRIG E CooK PROR ART 214.2 Pig. 6.

wwwd ww/f A TTORNE/S C. E. COOK Dec. 7, 1965 CLAMPS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 15, 1963 Fig.7

iw mw 4N A R. wW Cw United States Patent 3,222,055 CLANIPS Cedric E. Cook, Rte. 3, Box 163, Cortland, Ohio Filed Nov. 15, 1963, Ser. No. 324,011 4 Claims. (Cl. 269-219) My invention relates to clamps, more particularly to parallel clamps, and the principal object of my invention is to provide new and improved clamps of such character.

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming a part of this application, there are shown several embodiments which my invention may assume, and in these drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of of a prior art parallel clamp to provide comparison with my invention,

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of an embodiment of my invention,

FIGURES 3 and 4 are views similar to FIGURE 2 but showing parts in different positions,

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of one of the jaws forming part of the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 2 through 4.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a detail,

FIGURES 7 and 8 are schematic views of different embodiments of my invention,

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of a still different embodiment of my invention,

FIGURE 10 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 9, and

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating a further adaptation of the embodiment disclosed in FIG- URES 9 and 10.

A parallel clamp of the prior art, as shown in FIGURE 1, comprises a pair of jaws 15, 16 and a pair of

hand screws

17, 18 connected between the jaws and providing for parallel adjustment of the same toward and away from each other. The jaw is usually called the fixed jaw and the jaw 16 is usually called the loose jaw.

The jaws 15, 16 are usually formed as solid pieces of metal and of a configuration as shown. The fixed jaw 15 has a pair of screw-threaded

openings

19, 20 through which the screws are respectively threaded. Each screw has a head 21 which may be knurled for hand gripping purposes, and each head may have an opening 22 through which a rod may be passed to increase turning leverage.

The end of the screw 17 has a reduced extremity 23 which seats in a recess 24 formed in the jaw 16. The jaw 16 also has an opening 25 extending therethrough and of a diameter to freely pass the screw 18. Usually the screw 18 has an annular groove 26 formed adjacent to its head 21 and a fiat clip 27 is connected to the jaw 16 and seats in the groove 26 to prevent sliding of the loose jaw 16 on the screw 18. The

screws

17, 18 may be rotated to adjust the jaws toward each other to clamp a work piece W therebetween.

The parallel clamp of the prior art has serious limitations which will appear from a comparison of the prior art with my improved clamp which will now be described.

Referring to FIGURES 2 through 6, the embodiment of my invention therein disclosed comprises a pair of

jaws

30, 31, each preferably formed of metal and each having stepped portions designated 30a, 30b for the

jaw

39, and 31a, 31b for the jaw 31. A pair of

hand screws

32, 33 are connected between the

jaws

30, 31 to hold the latter in overlying relation and providing for parallel adjustment of the jaws toward and away from each other.

The

portions

30a, 31a of the jaws may be termed the the clamping portions, and the jaw portions 30b and 31b may be termed the screw receiving portions. The clamp- 3,222,355 Patented Dec. 7, 1955 ing portion 30a has opposite clamping surfaces 3tla.1 and 30a.2, while the clamping portion 31a has opposite clamping surfaces 31:11 and 31a.2. In the embodiment of FIGURES 2. through 6, the clamping surfaces are parallel to each other. The screw receiving portion 30b of-the jaw 30 has opposite sides 3012.1 and 30b2, while the screw receiving portion 31b has opposite sides 31b.1 and 3112.2.

The jaw 30 may be termed the fixed jaw and has a pair of threaded

openings

35, 36 extending completely through the screw receiving portion 30b, each opening having threaded engagement with a

respective hand screw

32, 33. The jaw 31 may be termed the loose jaw and has an opening 37 extending completely through the screw receiving portion 31b and in alignment with the threaded opening 35. The opening 37 has a diameter larger than the screw 32 to freely pass the same.

The screw receiving portion 31b has a pair of

recesses

38, 39 entering from opposite sides thereof, the recesses being aligned with each other and with the threaded opening 36. An end of the screw 33 is reduced in diameter, as shown at 40, to freely fit in the recess 38 with its extremity bearing against the bottom of the recess 38. In some instances the

recesses

38, 39 may be connected as a straight through bore, in which case the shoulder formed by the reduced end 40 bears against the adjoining surface of the portion 31b.

Each of the

screws

32, 33 is formed with a knurled head 41, and each head may be formed with an opening 42 to receive a leverage rod. The screw 32 is formed within an annular recess 43 (see FIGURE 6). A cross bore 44 contains a ball 45 and a spring 46 which is interposed between the ball and a plug 47 threaded into the outer end of the bore 44. It will be clear that the ball 45 is spring-pressed to seat in the annular groove 43 to permit rotation of the screw 32 but to releasably hold the jaw 31 against movement axially of the screw.

In the position of parts shown in FIGURE 2, the clamp has a relatively large clamp opening, thus enabling it to fit work Wa which is of considerably greater span than the work W held by the conventional clamp of the prior art.

In the event an offset clamping of the work is desired, the arrangement of parts shown in FIGURE 3 may be effected in short order. To effect the change, the screw 32 is backed out of the jaw 30 and the screw 33 completely removed therefrom. The jaw 30 is then inverted to present the clamping surface 30a.2 in confronting relation to the clamping surface 31a.1 of the jaw 31 The screw 33 is then threaded into screw receiving portion 30b from the side 30b]. of the jaw 30 and its point 40 will again seat in the recess 38 of the jaw 31, since the latter has not been changed in position. The screw 32 is threaded into the opening 35 from the side 3011.2, and the assembly is thus completely effected and ready for adjustment to the size of the work to be clamped.

In some instances, a snout-nosed clamp may be desired and my improved clamp may be easily arranged to the position of parts shown in FIGURE 4. To effect the change from the position of parts shown in FIGURE 3, the screw 32 is entirely withdrawn from both

jaws

39 and 31. The jaw 31 is lowered to remove the screw point 40 from the recess 38 and the jaw 31 is inverted to present the clamping surface 31a.2 in confronting relation to the clamping surface 30a.2 of the jaw 33. The screw 32 is pushed through the opening 37 of the jaw 31 from the side 31b.1 and the screw is threaded into the jaw 30. The screw point 40 is then entered into the recess 39 and the assembly is thus completed, ready for adjustment.

The clamping jaws may be inverted for purposes other than offset relation. For example, in FIGURE 7, the jaws 30c, 31c have insets 50 which may be made of a soft or 3 resilient material, such as wood or rubber, to clamp work which is subject to objectionable marring. In FIGURE 8, the jaws 30d, 31d are formed with straight clamping surfaces 51 and curved clamping surfaces 52.

The embodiment of my invention disclosed in FIGURES 9 through 11 has

jaws

55, 56 formed as sheet-metal stampings. The jaw 55 is formed with a pair of offset clamping portions 57, S and the jaw 56 is likewise formed with

offset clamping portions

59, 60. The jaw 55 is formed with three threaded

openings

61, 62 and 63, which may be formed by a piercing tool, the piercing operation displacing the metal into tubular shape surrounding the opening to provide additional thread length.

The jaw 56 is also formed with three

openings

64, 65 and 66 but these openings are unthreaded. As herein disclosed, the

openings

64, 66 are formed by a piercing operation while the opening 65 may be punched and a metal block 67 may be welded in place to house the ball detent 68, the spring 69 and screw-plug 70.

In FIGURE 9,

hand screws

71 and 72 are threaded through

respective openings

61, 62, the screw 71 having a head 73 and a point 74, the latter fitting into the opening 64. The screw 72 is provided with a head 75 and an annular groove 76, the latter cooperating with the ball detent 68. Thus, in FIGURE 9, the

jaw portions

58, 60 are adapted to clamp work therebetween. However, the screw 71' may be removed from its position shown in FIGURES 9 and and this screw may be threaded through the opening 63 with the screw point 74 fitting in the opening 66, in which case the portions 57, 59 are adapted to clamp work therebetween.

With the screw 71 threaded in the opening 63, its point 74 may receive a pad 77 and thus adapt the clamp for C-clarnp operations, as shown in dot-dash lines, wherein a channel 78 and bar 79 are clamped between the pad 77 and the portion 60. Of course, the screw 71 may be backed off from its position shown in full lines in FIG- URE 10 and the pad inserted over its point, so that a channel or the like may be clamped between the pad and the portion 59.

In addition, a plug 80 (see FIGURE 11) may be provided, the plug having a reduced end 81 forming a point which may seat in the opening 66 so that additional clearance is provided to clear a lower flange 82. To further add to the flexibility of the clamp of FIGURES 9 through 11, the

jaws

55, 56 may be inverted in the manner described in connection with the embodiment of FIGURES 2 through 6.

In view of the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that I have accomplished at least the principal object of my invention and it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiment herein described may be variously changed and modified, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specifically described; hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosed embodiment is illustrative only, and that my invention is not limited thereto.

I claim:

1. A parallel clamp, comprising a pair of jaws in overlying relation and having paired aligned openings adjacent each end and intermediate said ends, one opening in each pair being threaded, a pair of hand screws connected between said jaws and providing for parallel adjustment of said jaws toward and away from each other, one screw being threaded through the threaded one of the intermediate pair of openings and having its end seating in the unthreaded one of such openings, and the other screw being threaded through the threaded one of one end pair of openings and having its end seating in the unthreaded one of such openings, whereby the jaw portions at the other pair of end openings are operable to clamp a workpiece t herebetween, said hand screw at said one end pair of openings being removable therefrom and similarly engaged with said other pair of end openings, whereby the jaw portions at said one pair of openings may now be utilized to clamp a workpiece therebetween.

2. The construction according to claim 1 wherein the jaw portions of each jaw at the end openings are in stepped relation.

3. The construction according to claim 1 wherein a screw is threaded through the threaded one of the pair of end openings which are free of a hand screw so that said parallel clamp is adapted to C-clamp purposes.

4. The construction according to claim 1 wherein a plug is seated in the unthreaded one of the pair of end openings which are free of a hand screw so that said parallel clamp is adapted for C-clamp purposes.

570,952 12/1957 Italy. 252,838 1/1948 Switzerland.

ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Eqca miner,

SUSKO, Examiner,

Claims

1. A PARALLEL CLAMP, COMPRISING A PAIR OF JAWS IN OVERLYING RELATION AND HAVING PAIRED ALIGNED OPENINGS ADJACENT EACH END AND INTERMEDIATE SAID ENDS, ONE OPENING IN EACH PAIR BEING THREADED, A PAIR OF HAND SCREWS CONNECTED BETWEEN SAID JAWS AND PROVIDING FOR PARALLEL ADJUSTMENT OF SAID JAWS TOWARD AND AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, ONE SCREW BEING THREADED THROUGH THE THREADED ONE OF THE INTERMEDIATE PAIR OF OPENINGS AND HAVING ITS END SEATING IN THE UNTHREADED ONE OF SUCH OPENINGS, AND THE OTHER SCREW BEING THREADED THROUGH THE THREADED ONE OF ONE END PAIR OF OPENINGS AND HAVING ITS END SEATING IN THE UNTHREADED ONE OF SUCH OPENINGS, WHEREBY THE JAW PORTIONS AT THE OTHER PAIR OF END OPENINGS ARE OPERABLE TO CLAMP A WORKPIECE THEREBETWEEN, SAID HAND SCREW AT SAID ONE END PAIR OF OPENINGS BEING REMOVABLE THEREFROM AND SIMILARLY ENGATED WITH SAID OTHER PAIR OF END OPENINGS, WHEREBY THE JAW PORTIONS AT SAID ONE PAIR OF OPENINGS MAY NOW THE UTILIZED TO CLAMP A WORKPIECE THEREBETWEEN.