PATENT ABSTRACT
A rope or line clamping device, including an assembly of two interfit tubular molded plastic members each having an internal web which are juxtaposed with each other and formed with elongated holes offset from the rotary axis of the members so that the holes progressively become more misaligned upon relative rotation of the members in a direction reducing the overlapping of the two holes. A ratchet mechanism holds the members in any relatively rotated position to hold rope or line segments inserted into the holes clamped together until the ratchet mechanism is selectively released allowing reverse relative rotation. In a second embodiment two sets of smaller holes are provided to separately clamp two rope or line segments.

PATENT DESCRIPTION
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/586,545 filed on Sep. 23, 2009 and claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application filed on Sep. 23, 2008. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention concerns ropes or lines as they are called on a boat, and more particularly securing ropes or lines to hold a load, moor a boat, tighten a guy line for a tent, etc. Traditionally, knots have been tied into the rope or line to form a loop but this is time consuming to tie and untie, and also requires a good knowledge of the proper knot for a given purpose. 
         [0003]    While rope or wire clamping devices have been devised, these are not particularly suited to nautical application and are themselves sometimes inconvenient to clamp or release. 
         [0004]    An object of the present invention to provide a simple but durable and weatherproof device for quickly securing two rope or segments of a rope together or releasing the same which is suitable for boating applications but also for a wide variety of other purposes. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The above recited object as well as other objects which will be apparent upon a reading of the following specification and claims are achieved by a rope or line clamping device comprised of two generally tubular rotary members snap fit together to be securely held assembled to each other while being relatively rotatable to each other about a common axis. The members are preferably molded from a tough plastic material. Each member is formed with a radially extending internal web or wall which are juxtaposed next to each other. Each web has one or two holes formed therein, the holes each being elongated such as of an oval shape and located at a location radially offset from the rotary axis of the members. 
         [0006]    In one rotated position of the two members, the elongated holes are aligned with each other. The rope or line segments are inserted therein with the members then relatively rotated causing the holes to become increasingly offset with respect to each other, to in turn cause the size of a through opening defined by the overlapped areas of the holes to become progressively reduced. 
         [0007]    This allows a clamping action to be carried out by edges of the two holes which compress the rope segments passed through both holes. 
         [0008]    A ratcheting mechanism securely holds each of the members in relatively rotated position to prevent loosening once the rope segments have been clamped together. 
         [0009]    A ratchet pawl on one member is radially deflectable inwardly to overrun in one rotational direction in which clamping is carried only and, by the grip of the user to selectively move teeth on a element out of engagement with ratchet teeth formed extending at least partially around the perimeter of the other member, allowing reverse releasing rotation between the two members as long as the pawl is held in its released position. 
         [0010]    The pawl element is preferably integrally formed with the one member when molded and is moved radially by bending of a connecting leg within an opening in the one member. 
         [0011]    An additional hole can be provided in each member to provide two smaller holes in each web which are caused to be simultaneously increasingly offset when the members are relatively rotated. The smaller sized holes will clamp to individual smaller rope diameters to allow use with a greater range of rope sizes. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a side view of a clamping device according to the invention showing rope segments clamped together therein. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged pictorial view from the top of an outer member forming a part of the clamping device shown in  FIG. 1 , the outer member inverted from its position in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a pictorial view from the bottom of the inner member forming a part of the rope clamping device shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a top view of the clamping device shown in  FIG. 1  in the fully open relative rotated position of the members. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a top view of the clamping device shown in  FIG. 4  with the inner and outer members relatively rotated 180° to the minimum through opening position. 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a top view of the clamping device as shown in  FIG. 4  but with the outer member shown in phantom lines. 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is a top view of the clamping device as shown in  FIG. 6  but rotatably advanced to the minimum through opening clamping position. 
           [0019]      FIG. 8  is a top view as shown in  FIG. 6  but with rope segments disposed therein and rotated to an intermediate clamping position. 
           [0020]      FIG. 9  is a fragmentary top view of the clamping device as shown in  FIG. 8 , but with the pawl element depressed to be disengaged from the ratchet teeth on the inner member. 
           [0021]      FIG. 10  is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through a portion of the assembled inner and outer members. 
           [0022]      FIG. 11  is a top or end view of a second embodiment of a clamping device according to the invention, having two holes in a web of each member, shown in their aligned position. 
           [0023]      FIG. 12  is a top or end view of the clamping device shown in  FIG. 11  with the members rotated to offset both holes in each member. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0024]    In the following detailed description, certain specific terminology will be employed for the sake of clarity and a particular embodiment described in accordance with the requirements of 35 USC 112, but it is to be understood that the same is not intended to be limiting and should not be so construed inasmuch as the invention is capable of taking many forms and variations within the scope of the appended claims. 
         [0025]    Referring to the drawings and  FIGS. 1-3 , the rope or line clamping device  10  receives two segments of a rope  12  passing through the device  10 , the rope doubled over to form a loop and are clamped together by limited relative rotation of two members assembled together, for convenient reference referred to as an outer member  14  and an inner member  16 . 
         [0026]    The outer member  14  has a ribbed rim  18  for convenient gripping, while the smaller diameter tubular body  20  of the inner member  16  is longer and ribbed also for a convenient gripping. 
         [0027]    The outer member  14  also has a smaller diameter tubular body  22 . 
         [0028]    Both bodies  20  and  22  have an internal web or wall  24 ,  26  extending across the inside diameter thereof. Each web  24 ,  26  has a hole  28 ,  30  formed therein which are preferably of an elongated shape such as the oval shape shown. 
         [0029]    The holes  28 ,  30  are both located offset from the center axis of the bodies by preferably the same distance and preferably are of the same shape so that in one relative position of the members  14 ,  16 , the holes  28 ,  30  are aligned with each other. 
         [0030]    This defines the maximum area through opening defined by the overlapped areas of the two holes  28 ,  30  and through which the two rope segments  12 A,  12 B of the rope  12  are inserted. 
         [0031]    When the two members are relatively rotated, as while gripping the ribbed rim  18  and body  20  in each hand, the holes  28 ,  30  become misaligned to a progressively greater extent, as seen in  FIGS. 8 and 9  to reduce the area of overlap and thus to reduce the size of the through opening. This causes the edges of the holes  28 ,  30  to compress against the two rope segments  12 A,  12 B clamping them together. The thickness of the webs  24 ,  26  is sufficient as to not cut into the rope while creating sufficient pressure to securely engage the same, i.e., about an ⅛ inch thickness has been found to be satisfactory for this purpose. 
         [0032]    The two members  14 ,  16  are preferably molded using a high strength plastic, such as 67% nylon filled with 33% fiberglass fibers. A UV protection additive is also desirable. 
         [0033]    The two members  14 ,  16  have an internal ratchet mechanism described below which secures the two members  14 ,  16  in each advanced rotative position when rotated in one direction (clockwise in the Figures) from the fully open position shown in  FIG. 4 . The ratchet mechanism is able to be released by pushing on a release button  32  projecting beyond the rim  18  of the outer remember  14 . 
         [0034]    The body  20  of the inner member  16  has a slightly larger diameter rim  34  which projects above the internal web  26  and is formed for about half its inner surface with a series of internal ratchet teeth  36  which are shaped to mate with several ratchet teeth  38  facing out on a pawl  40  connected to the button  32 . 
         [0035]    The pawl  40  is molded integrally with the outer member  14  but fit within a recess  42  formed in the rim  18 , the body  22  and web  24 , cantilevered on the end of a leg  44  projecting axially from the body  22  adjacent the upper side of the recess  42 . The leg  44  is thick enough (about 3/16 inches) and short enough to hold the ratchet teeth  36 ,  38  firmly in engagement, but still allow the pawl  40  to be deflected radially inward sufficiently to disengage the teeth  36 ,  38  when compressed by the user&#39;s grip allowing relative opening rotation of members  14 ,  16 , and also to allow the ratchet teeth  36 ,  38  to overrun each other when relatively rotating the member  14 ,  16  in the clamping direction. 
         [0036]    The inside diameter  19  of the rim  18  is formed with a groove  46  at the bottom of the rim  18 . The groove  46  extends around to either side of a clearance space  48  formed between the ratchet button  32  and pawl  40 . 
         [0037]    This clearance enables the rim  34  to rotate through while allowing engagement of the ratchet teeth  36  and  38 . 
         [0038]    The two members  14  and  16  are snap fit together to partially overlap each other with the rim  34  (which is chamfered to make fitting easier) inserted into the inside diameter  19 . 
         [0039]    A series of spaced sloping shallow features  50  interact with the rim chamfer to enable the rim  34  to be compressed slightly and also expand the rim  18  during insertion until passing over the features  50 . Thereafter, the rims  34 ,  18  snap back to their unstrained dimensions to be captured above the features  50 , and the members  14 ,  16  are held together with assembly but able to relatively rotate to a limited extent as will be described below. In order to facilitate expansion of the rim  18  during assembly, a series of spaced windows  52  are formed therein around the perimeter thereof. 
         [0040]    The relative rotation between the members  14 ,  16  is limited to about one half turn by an axially projecting tab  54  integral with the rim  34 . The tab  54  rides in the groove  46  where it is deepest. The groove  46  has a segment  46 A beyond the adjacent windows on either side of the pawl  40  which is shallower such that the tab  54  prevents relative rotation in either direction past the deep section of the groove  46 . 
         [0041]    This prevents relative rotary movement of the members  14 ,  16  past the full open position in a counterclockwise direction (shown in  FIG. 6 ) or past the most advanced clamped position in a clockwise direction (shown in  FIG. 7 ). 
         [0042]    Another tab  56  projects radially from the perimeter of the hole  30  at its midpoint. This tends to engage and move the rope segments  12 A to a long ways juxtaposition within the holes  28 ,  30  as seen in  FIG. 8  to insure a strong grip is achieved. 
         [0043]    In use, the members  14 ,  16  are rotated to the fully open position seen in  FIGS. 4 and 6 . 
         [0044]    After insertion of the rope segments into the through opening defined through the holes  28 ,  30 , the members  14 ,  16  are relatively rotated in a clockwise direction to reduce the through opening size by progressive misalignment of the holes  28 ,  30  until the rope segments are tightly compressed by the hole edges as seen in  FIG. 7  or  8 . Different size ropes can be clamped within a predetermined range by greater or lesser rotation of members  14 ,  16 . 
         [0045]    The ratchet teeth  36 ,  38  override when the members  14 ,  16  are relatively rotated in that direction but immediately lock together upon release of the members preventing any attempted counter rotation so that the members  14 ,  16  are held locked together with the rope segments  12 A tightly clamped. 
         [0046]    By compressing the release button  32  as with one finger when gripping the rim, the ratchet teeth  36 ,  38  are released as seen in  FIG. 9 , allowing counter rotation to the release condition of  FIG. 6 . 
         [0047]      FIGS. 11 and 12  show a second embodiment of a clamping device  10 A in which a pair of ovate smaller holes  28 A,  28 B are formed in web  24  of body  20 A and a pair of similarly shaped holes  30 A,  30 B in web  26 A of body  22 A, each hole in said  28 A,  28 B and  30 A,  30 B located diametrically opposite each other and offset from the common axis of relatively rotation of members  14 A,  16 A. Thus, a rope segment (not shown) can be inserted through each set of holes  28 A,  30 A, and  28 B,  30 B and simultaneously clamped when the members  14 A,  16 A are relatively rotated as seen in  FIG. 5 , reducing the through opening size spaces through which the rope or line segments pass to clamp the same. This arrangement allows accommodation of a greater range of rope diameters. 
         [0048]    A diametrical reinforcing rib  58  is molded into the web  28  extending between the two holes  30 A,  30 B. 
         [0049]    The clamp device described is simple and rugged but highly reliable in operation, providing great convenience in securing or releasing lines on a boat, guy lines on a tent, tying down a load with a rope, etc.