Abstract:
A clamping system includes a pair of clamps, each of which can be moved along, and rotated 360° about a common grooved rod. A ratchet mechanism locks each clamp to the rod at selected positions thereon.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     Provisional application No. 60/381,991, filed May 20, 2002. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This invention relates to a clamping system, where the clamps can be moved along a shaft from zero to a fixed maximum distance along the shaft and allow the clamps that are part of the clamping system to rotate 360 degrees on said shaft. This clamping system will permit the temporary attachment of elongated elements, which in most instances have a tubular component, to a transport device. These elongated elements include, but are not limited to medical stands, golf clubs, guns, lamps, etc. 
     There are a number of inventions that are used to attach medical stands to patient transport devices such as wheelchairs, gurneys, or beds. The Ohanian U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,260 (2001), the Boettger U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,539 (1994), the Scharf U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,680 (1996), the Sheehan U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,036 (1993), the Sims U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,670 (1999), the Schneider U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,391 (1989), the Ambach U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,961 (1999) the Gross U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,922 (1989), and the Wilt U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,157 (1985) describe devices with bases that attaches to a transport device. All of these patents require a modification of the transport device for a clamp to attach to said transport device. For example, in the Ohanian invention, there is an extension arm, terminating with a clamping portion that grasps a medical stand. The clamping portion is attached to a base that is part of a modified transport device. These inventions have other limitations For example, in the Boettger and the Sims inventions their clamping arms cannot be adjusted. This fixes the position of, for example, an attached medical stand very close to the frame of the transport device. The Scharf invention has the opposite problem. The Scharf invention places an attached stand far from the transport device. Placing the attached stand far from the transport device interferes with the movement of the transport device through hallways and in elevators. This arrangement may also place the base of a medical stand in a position that will interfere with pushing the transport device. 
     Other inventions do not require modification of the transport devices, but the units require some effort to attach a medical stand to the transport device. The Young U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,768 (1990) consists of two metal strips held together by a hinge terminating in clamp ends. Due to this device&#39;s lack of adjustability, this device will only attach to a vertical support member on the transport device, and because of its configuration, it will either interfere with pushing the transport device or will make the transport device more difficult to maneuver through a hallway or in an elevator. The Trickett U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,213 (1993), the Kerr U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,209 (1986) and the Burnett U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,166 (1996) do not require a modification of the transport device, but like the Boettger invention, because it cannot be adjusted, the position of the attached medical stand is fixed very close to the frame of the transport device. Again, this arrangement may place the base of the medical stand in a position that will interfere with pushing the transport device. 
     Other devices such as Pryor U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,324 (1995) and Slone U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,016 (2001) not only require modifications of the transport device, but they also require the transfer of IV bags from a standard medical stand to a clamp based pole having a support for an IV bag or pump. 
     The present invention is an improvement over prior art because, unlike inventions such as Smith U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,074 (1994) or Gospodarich U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,148 (1997), this invention is simple and quick to attach and remove from objects. Unlike other inventions, this invention does not require any modification of a transport device, and, unlike the Young U.S. Pat. No. 4969,768 (1990), due to its pivoting head, there is no constraint on the clamping surface configuration of the transport device. The present invention is also an improvement over prior art, such as the Boettger U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,988 (1997), because its configuration is quite adjustable, without a loss of strength. Finally, in the present invention, there is no requirement for transferring IV bags or a medical apparatus from one pole to another. 
     SUMMARY 
     This invention discloses clamps that can be used to hold elongated objects such as medical stands, golf clubs, etc. Each clamp consists of a holding clamp assembly  2  and an attachment clamp assembly  4  held together by a rod  13 . Both the holding clamp assembly and attachment clamp assembly can be moved along said rod  13  and locked into position along said rod  13  by a ratchet assembly  15  or rotated around an axis (the rod  13 ) to permit the precise attachment to an object. 
    
    
     DRAWING FIGURES 
     FIG. 1 shows a side view of the invention 
     FIG. 2 shows a side view of the holding clamp assembly  4 . 
     FIG. 3 shows a cross-section of either the holding clamp assembly or the receiving clamp assembly at the clamp handle. 
     FIG. 4 shows a cross-section of either the holding clamp assembly or the receiving clamp assembly at the ratchet assembly level. 
     FIG. 5 shows two clamps attaching a medical stand to a bed. 
     FIG. 6 shows two clamps attaching a medical stand to a gurney. 
     FIG. 7 shows two clamps attaching a medical stand to a wheelchair. 
     FIG. 8A shows the ratchet assembly component. 
     FIG. 8B shows the holding plate (Front View). 
     FIG. 8C shows the holding plate (Side View). 
     FIG. 9 shows the clamp attaching cart to trash receptacle. 
     FIG. 10 shows the clamp attaching two carts together. 
     FIG. 11 shows clamp attaching a motorized golf cart to a push golf cart. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The preferred embodiment of this clamping system is illustrated in FIGS. 1 to  4 . The clamping system  1  consists of an attaching clamp assembly  2  with an attaching clamp jaw  3  and a holding clamp assembly  4  with a holding clamp jaw  5 . The attaching clamp assembly  2  and the holding clamp assembly  4  can be made of metal, plastic, wood or any other sufficiently stiff material. There are also screws  9 . Each screw  9  consists of a threaded screw shaft  25 , a screw adjusting thumb wheel  27  and an object holding cup  29  (in another embodiment, the screw adjusting thumb wheel  27  is not a thumb wheel, it is a knob). Integrated into the attaching clamp assembly  2  and the holding clamp assembly  4  are hand grips  10  formed from the body of the attaching clamp assembly  2  and defined by hand grip openings  11 . Both the attaching clamp jaw  3  and the holding clamp jaw  5  have screw holding extensions  19  with threaded screw holding bores  21  for receiving the screw  9  and fixed jaws extensions  23 . These fixed jaw extensions  23  may be the same length and width, as in the present embodiment, or different lengths and widths, as in other embodiments. These fixed jaw extensions  23  also can be coated or covered with a non-slip material. For the embodiment of this invention in FIGS. 1 through 11, each fixed jaw extension  23  has v-grooves  24  for securing the clamp to cylindrical objects. In other embodiments a v-groove  24  may not be present. Both the attaching clamp assembly  2  and the holding clamp assembly  4  also have ratchet assemblies  15  that secure the attaching clamp assembly  2  and the holding clamp assembly  4  onto a rod  13  having at least one rod groove  14 . The rod  13  passes through the ratchet assemblies  15  and the receiving bores  17  of both the attaching clamp assembly  2  and the holding clamp assembly  4 . The rod  13  can be made of metal, wood or plastic. In FIGS. 1 through 4 one can see the ratchet assemblies  15 . The Ratchet assemblies  15  consist of a cap  31  that is attached to the rest of the attaching clamp assembly  2  and the holding clamp assembly  4  by two attachment extensions  33 , which can be rivets, screws, or lugs. The cap  31  fits over a ratchet assembly seat  43 . Each ratchet assembly seat  43  has two ratchet assembly seat distal walls  45  and a ratchet assembly seat base  47 . The attachment extensions  33  are located on the surface of the ratchet assembly seat distal walls  45 . Each cap  31  consists of a cap releasing side  39 , which is pressed to disengage the attaching clamp assembly  2  and the holding clamp assembly  4 . The cap  31  also has two cap distal sides  37 . Each attachment extension  33  are seated in a channel  35  in each cap distal side  37 . These channels  35  can be either elliptical or rectangular and are located on each side of the cap  31  (see also FIG.  8 A). This arrangement permits the cap to move up and down within a limited range. The range of movement of each cap is determined by the length of the channels  35 . Also attached to or integrated into each cap distal side  37  of the cap  31 , are two compression plates  41  (see FIG. 8A) that are attached to the walls of each cap distal side  37 . These compression plates  41  engage a holding plate  49  (see FIGS. 8B and 8C) that disengages from a rod groove  14  when the cap releasing side  39  is pressed. The holding plate  49  in the present embodiment is held in place by cap grooves  42  etched in each cap distal side  37  (FIG.  8 A). The holding plate  49 , unless disengaged from a rod groove  14 , will prevent the movement of the clamp bodies along the rod  13 . The force necessary to engage the holding plate  49  with a rod groove  14  is supplied by a spring  51 . The spring  51  is seated on the ratchet assembly seat base  47  (FIG. 4) and held into position by the two ratchet assembly seat distal walls  45 . The spring  51  pushes the holding plate  49  into rod groove  14 . 
     In FIGS. 5 and 6, the attaching clamp assembly  2  is attached to a bed/gurney frame  53 , and to a headboard  55  of a bed/gurney. In FIG. 7, the attaching clamp assembly is attached to a wheelchair handle  59 . The attaching clamp assembly can also be attached to the wheelchair frame  57 . The holding clamp assembly  4  can be attached to a medical stand  61  or to any other object with a sufficient surface area to be clamped. 
     One could substitute other objects for the medical stand  61 . For example, FIG. 9 shows the clamping system  1  attaching a maintenance cart  71  to a trash receptacle  73 . Another example is in FIG.  10 . FIG. 10 shows the clamping system  1  attaching two flatbed carts  80  together. Finally, FIG. 11 shows the clamping system  1  attaching a motorized golf cart  95  to a push golf cart  97 . 
     Operation—FIGS.  5  through  11   
     The invention is simple to operate. The attaching clamp jaw  3  is hooked around an object and the thumb wheel  27  is turned until the screw cup is tightly engaged with the attachment object on one side and fixed jaw extension  23  on the other side. The holding clamp jaw  5  is pivoted on the bar to hook the held object, such as a medical stand  61 . The thumb wheel  27  is then turned until the screw cup is tightly engaged between the held object and a fixed jaw extension. The holding clamp assembly  4  can then be adjusted inwardly or outwardly along the rod by pressing the cap releasing side  39  and pushing in or pulling out the holding clamp assembly  4  along rod  13 . 
     Scope of Invention 
     Although the description above contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. For example, the clamp can be made of wood, metal, or plastic. In the present embodiment, screws are used to secure the clamp; however, one could secure an object using a friction based system. The rod in the present embodiment is approximately  30  centimeters; however the rod can be longer or shorter. In the present embodiment, the cap  31  is attached to the attaching clamp assembly  2  and the holding clamp assembly  4  by attachment extensions  33 ; however, in one embodiment, the cap  31  is held on a holding clamp assembly  4  or an attaching clamp assembly  2  by interlocking ridges located on the cap distal sides  37  and on the two ratchet assembly seat distal walls  45 . 
     As illustrated in FIGS. 9 to  11 , one can substitute other objects for a medical stand  61 . One can attach many items to each other including, but not limited to, rifles to chairs, brooms or mops to trash receptacles, gardening tools to lawn mowers, etc.