Patent ID: 8931143
Filing Date: 2015-01-13
Classification: F16L,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A hose clamp comprising: a clamp body formed by bending a strip-shaped leaf spring material into an annular shape defining a central axis, a circumference, and an inner diameter, the clamp body including a first end portion and a second end portion; and a first operation section and a second operation section, the first operation section extending in a first radial direction from the first end portion of the clamp body, and the second operation section extending in a second radial direction from the second end portion of the clamp body, the first and second radial directions being perpendicular to the central axis of the clamp body; wherein tightening of a hose is made possible by diameter reduction by an elastic restoring force of the clamp body in order to tightly engage the hose with a connection pipe that is inserted into the hose, and the clamp body is expanded in diameter by using elastic deformation by moving the first operation section and the second operation section toward each other, a locking section is formed on a side of the first operation section, an engagement portion is engaged with the locking section, the engagement portion being selectively disengageable with the locking section and formed on a side of the second operation section, the clamp body is maintained in a diameter expansion state by engagement of the locking section with the engagement portion, when the clamp body is reduced in diameter from the diameter expansion state, the engagement of the locking section with the engagement portion is released by moving the first operation section toward the second operation section in a circumferential direction and moving the first operation section away from the second operation section in an axial direction, and the clamp body is tapered from a center point toward each of the first and the second operation sections, and also comprises a leak prevention section that includes a leak prevention piece and a contact portion, the leak prevention piece protruding axially from a side edge of the second operation section and having a tip edge extending circumferentially along the clamp body, the contact portion formed at a side edge on the first operation section, and a length of the tip edge of the leak prevention piece is set such that at least a portion of the leak prevention piece is adjacent and opposite the contact portion when an inner diameter of the hose clamp during tightening is within a predetermined range of a maximum value to a minimum value, the maximum value and the minimum value being determined based on dimensions of the hose and the connection pipe.