Clamping device for profiled bars or the like

Abstract: A device (1) for clamping profiled bars to other profiled bars, to ceilings, walls and similar parts is disclosed which comprises a claw (6) to be positioned on a flange (14; 19) of the article to be clamped, and further at least one clamping bolt (2) which can be inserted into a hole (22) provided in said claw (6), said claw (6) having two different working or operation surfaces (9 and 10) provided on opposite sides of said claw (6) so that said claw (6) suits to contact differently inclined surfaces of articles to be clamped together.

Description: The invention relates to a device for clamping profiled bars or the like, for instance, to other profiled bars, to ceilings, walls and similar parts, said device comprising a block-like claw to be positioned on a flange or the like of the article to be clamped, and further comprising at least one clamping bolt which can be put into a hole provided in said claw. In a known clamping device of this kind (GB-A-411 400) a hook-like adapter is arranged on a headed bolt thus that it can be positioned on the plane surface of a flange having parallel surfaces for clamping purposes. The hook-like adapter or block-like claw has in its upper side a rectangular recess for receiving the hexagonal head of the bolt to avoid that the claw can be turned when the bolt is fastened since otherwise there would be the risk that the claw looses its desired clamping position. However, for fastening the bolt an opposing nut must be provided since no rotational movement of the head bolt relative to the hook-like adapter or claw is possible. The clamping surface of the block-like claw extends in a plane radial to the axis of the hole for receiving the clamping bolt. A further disadvantage of this prior art clamping device resides in the fact that this clamping device can be used only with profiled bars having flat flanges since if the surface of the flange would be inclined only a line contact between the clamping surface of the claw and the inclined surface of the flange would occur. A known hanger comprises a clamping device having an U-shaped bracket with two parallel flanges into which a clamping bolt can be screwed, the one flange having a thread hole wich is perpendicular to the longitudinal extension of the respective flange while the other flange comprises an inclined thread hole in order that the clamping bolt can be positioned in an inclined arrangement if the one surface of the flange to be clamped is inclined (DE-U-86 12 392). However, this known clamping device does not use a compact claw as clamping element but a rather complicated and not sufficiently stable clamping element. The object of the present invention is to provide a clamping device and system for clamping profiled bars or the like which can effectively be used with profiled bars having flanges of all types and which provides a simple but effective lock against not desired rotational movement between the bolt in the respective claw without being an obstacle against turning said bolt for fastening and loosing purposes. In addition, this clamping device and system should be simple and sturdy per se. In accordance with the present invention the claws of the clamping device or system each have two different working, operation or clamping surfaces provided on opposite sides of said claw so that for clamping flanges having a flat or planer surface the one said two clamping surfaces and for clamping flanges having an inclined surface the opposing clamping surface of the respective claw is used. The user of this device needs only to put the claw in the correct position onto said bolt. Accordingly, a very simple device for multi-functional clamping purposes is provided. By providing circular or circumferential ratchets around the through hole of each claw a very effective lock between the bolt and the claw can be obtained which lock is not due to a positive engagement between both parts so that relative rotational movements for fastening the bolt of the clamping device are possible. These and other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the drawings and from the claims. In the drawings, a preferred embodiment of a clamping device comprising the features of the present invention is schematically shown, wherein Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the clamping device clamping two articles together of which one has an inclined surface, Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the clamping device of Fig. 1, which, however, interconnects two articles both having parallel and plane surfaces, Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a block-like claw of the clamping device, Fig. 4 is a plan view of the claw of Fig. 3 showing the one of two opposed clamping surfaces of said claw, Fig. 5 is a further plan view of the claw showing the opposite side or operation surface of said claw, Fig. 6 is a front face view of the claw shown in Figs. 3 to 5, Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a spacer of the clamping device, Fig. 8 is a plan view of the spacer of Fig. 7, Fig. 9 is a sectional view of another spacer of the clamping device, Fig. 10 is a plan view of the spacer of Fig. 9, Fig. 11 is a vertical section of a modified clamping device, Fig. 12 is a side elevation of an additional washer or disc used with the clamping device of Fig. 11 and Fig. 13 is a plan view of the disc shown in Fig. 12. A clamping device (1) for clamping two members or articles together comprises in accordance with Figs. 1 and 2 a bolt (2) having an integral hexagonal head (3), a hexagonal nut (4) fitting with and screwed onto the threaded end (5) of said bolt (2), further a block-like claw (6) and a spacer (7) both fitting with and arranged on said bolt (2) between its hexagonal head and the nut screwed onto the threaded end (5) of said bolt (2), as shown in particular in Fig. 1. As to be understood in particular from Figs. 3 to 6, the claw (6) is a substantially rectangular block (8) comprising of metal, for instance cast iron. Said block (8) has two working or operation surfaces (9) and (10) arranged on opposite sides of said block so that claw (6) can be positioned in two different positions on bolt (2), as can be understood from Figs. 1 and 2. In the arrangement of Fig. 1 claw (6) is positioned thus that its working surface (9) having an inclined indented contact surface (11) is arranged below so that the inclined contact surface (11) contacts the inclined upper surface (13) of a flange (14) of an article like a rolled beam or another article not shown in detail in the drawings. Accordingly, claw (6) is thus arranged that its contact surface (11) more or less fits with the upper surface (13) of the article to be clamped to an other article like a plate (15) having parallel upper and lower surfaces (16) and (17), respectively. In the arrangement of Fig. 2, claw (6) is in a position inverse to that of Fig. 1 so that its working face (10) having a horizontal indented contact surface (12) contacts the horizontal upper surface (18) of a flange (19) having parallel upper and lower surfaces of an article not shown in detail in the drawings in order to clamp said flange (19) to the upper surface (16) of plate (15). For a simple identification of both operation or working sides of claw (6) the contact surfaces (11) and (12) are provided with grooves (20) and (21), respectively, of different number, orientation and cross section. While the inclined indented contact surface (11) is provided with two grooves (20) of even cross section but arranged in an oblique position to one another, the horizontal indented contact surface (12) is provided with a single central groove (21) the cross section thereof increasing to the centre of claw (6), as shown in Fig. 5. This larger groove (21) can also be used to receive information indications at its bottom relating to the size or type of the particular claw (6). The main portion of the block-like claw (6) contains a through hole (22), the central axis (23) of which extends perpendicular to the working surfaces (9) and (10) of claw (6). The internal diameter of the through hole (22) is adapted to the diameter of bolt (2) and is slightly larger than the diameter of bolt (2), as shown in Fig. 1. At each end of the through hole a circular ratchet (24) and (25), respectively, is provided around the through hole (22) which serves as contact surface for nut (4), as shown in Fig. 1. These ratchets serve as locks for the tightened nut (4) to avoid that this nut can be losened under external influence like vibration. The individual dents (26) have a clockwise orientation for a right-handed thread of bolt (2), as shown in the drawings. At the end comprising the contact surfaces (11) and (12) claw (6) is provided with a flat face (27), and the grooves (20) and (21) extend to this flat face, as shown in particular in Fig. 6. The opposing end face (28) of claw (6) comprises a groove-like key seat (29) extending over the entire thickness or height of claw (6) parallel to axis (23) and is open to the end face (28). This key seat serves to receiving a key element as described below. In accordance with Figs. 1 and 2, the block-like claw (6) can be supported on plate (15) by means of the spacer (7). This spacer (7) has, as shown in particular in Figs. 7 and 8, a plate-like main body (30) of generally speaking rectangular configuration. In the center of said main body (30) a through hole (31) is provided, the internal diameter of which corresponds to the internal diameter of through hole (22) of claw (6). Accordingly, spacer (7) can be arranged on bolt (2), as shown in Fig. 1. At the rear end of the plate-like main body (30) of spacer (7) a projection (32) is provided for supporting spacer (7) on the upper surface (16) of plate (15), as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In Fig. 7 dotted lines (33) indicate that projection (32) can have different heights in order to adapt the clamping device (1) to different practical applications. For instance, in Fig. 1 a spacer (7) having a relatively low projection (32) is used while Fig. 2 shows the use of a relatively high projection (32) on spacer (7). In accordance with Fig. 7 three different spacers (7) are provided for different applications and having accordingly different heights. The projections (32) have, independent of their particular height, rounded corners (34) to avoid that such corners can produce indentations in the upper surface (16) of plate (15) if spacer (7) is not arranged in an absolutely horizontal but rather in a more or less inclined position. At the rear end of the main body (30) of spacer (7) an upwardly extending tongue (35) is provided which serves as a key and fits into key seat (29), as can be taken in particular from Fig. 1. If tongue (35) is arranged in the groove-like key seat (29) relative rotation between claw (6) and spacer (7) is not possible. The end (36) of main body (30) of spacer (7) which is opposit to tongue (35) has a flat face configuration as can be taken in particular from Fig. 8. This end (36) extends nearly until the face end (37) of flange (19) or flange (14) so that rotational movement of the combined claw (6) and spacer (7) is avoided by contact between end (36) and face end (37) when nut (4) is tightened. Thus, claw (6) cannot be turned out of alignment with flange (14) or (19), respectively, when nut (4) is tightened but is pressed in the desired position against the surface (13) or (18), respectively, of flange (14) or (19), respectively, which should be secured to plate (15). Near the end (36) of the main body (30) of spacer (7) said spacer (7) is provided with lugs (38) extending to the lower side of said spacer, the number of said lugs being an indication to the size of the projection (32) of said spacer (7). The spacer (7) having the lowest projection has only one lug and the spacer having the highest projection has three lugs. Therefore, the user of such clamping device can easily determine which type or size of spacer he/she has in hand. Instead of lugs (38) such spacer (7) can be provided at its end face (36) with grooves (39) as can be taken from Figs. 9 and 10. As can be taken from Fig. 11 a further washer or disc (40) can be arranged below spacer (7) for the event that such spacer (7) does not have a sufficient height or thickness. Such disc (40) has two portions (41, 42) of different thickness as can be taken in particular from Fig. 12 so that such disc can equalize different heights if arranged in its one or its other position. In Fig. 11 the lower or thinner portion (41) of disc (40) is arranged below projection (32) of spacer (7). If disc (40) would be turned about its central axis for an angle of 180° the portion (42) of higher thickness would support spacer (7) so that claw (6) would be in a more elevated position. As shown in Figs. 12 and 13, both portions (41, 42) of disc (40) are interconnected by an inclined surface (43). Disc (40) is provided with a central hole (44) through which bolt (2) fits as can be understood from Fig. 11.

Claims: Device for clamping profiled bars or the like, for instance, to other profiled bars to ceilings, walls and similar parts, said device comprising a block-like claw (6) to be positioned on a flange or the like of the article to be clamped, and further comprising at least one clamping bolt (2) which can be put into a hole (22) provided in said claw, said claw (6) having two different clamping surfaces (9, 11 and 10, 12) provided on opposite sides of the claw (6), the clamping surface (12) on one side of the claw (6) extending in a first plane radial to the longitudinal axis (23) of said hole (22) of the claw (6), and the clamping surface (11) on the opposite side of the claw (6) extending inclined from a second plane radial to the longitudinal axis (23) of said hole (22) of said claw (6) and towards said first radial plane. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that both clamping surfaces (9 and 10) of said claw (6) in which said through hole (22) ends are parallel to one another and extend each in one of said two radial planes. Device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each clamping surface (11 and 12) has a profiled or indented surface. Device as claimed in one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that each clamping surface (9 and 10) comprises at least one indentation like a groove (20 or 21) extending in longitudinal direction of said claw (6), wherein the number and/or the cross-section of grooves provided in both clamping surfaces is different. Devices claimed in one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that both clamping surfaces (9 and 10) comprise around the through hole (22) a circular or circumferential ratchet (24, 25) on which a part of said clamping bolt (2, 3, 4) can be supported. Device as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the dents (26) of said circular ratchets (24, 25) have a clockwise orientation for clamping bolts having a right-handed thread. Device as claimed in one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it comprises at least one spacer (7) to be arranged below said claw (6), which spacer has a hole (31) for receiving the clamping bolt (2) and furthermore has an end face (36) on its periphery. Device as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that said spacer (7) has at its periphery opposite to said end face (36) a projecting tongue (35) which fits into a key seat (29) provided at the rear side of the claw (6). Device as claimed in claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the spacer (7) is provided with a support or projection (32) of variable height, the corners (34) thereof being rounded. Device as claimed in one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the spacer (7) is provided with indicating means (38; 39) for marking the particular height of its projection (32). Device as claimed in one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that a disc (40) having two portions (40, 41) of different thicknesses is to be arranged below said spacer (7) and/or said claw (6).

Inventors: ENGELBARTS MARINUS, NUSSBAUM PAUL, ENGELBARTS, MARINUS, NUSSBAUM, PAUL
Applicants: ERICO GMBH
Application year: 1991
Main classification: F16B43
IPC codes: F16B39, F16B43, E04B1, F16B2, E01B9