Patent Abstract:
The present discussion relates to tubing clamps and systems employing tubing clamps. In one example a tubing clamp can include generally elongate top and bottom clamp bars extending between a hinge end and a clamp end. The clamp bars can apply force to tubing extending there between while being adjusted to a parallel relationship to one another.

Full Description:
PRIORITY 
     This utility application claims priority from, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/994,752 filed on 2014 May 16, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The accompanying drawings illustrate implementations of the concepts conveyed in the present application. Features of the illustrated implementations can be more readily understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Like reference numbers in the various drawings are used wherever feasible to indicate like elements. Further, where feasible the left-most numeral of each reference number conveys the figure and associated discussion where the reference number is first introduced. 
       FIGS. 1, 6-8, and 12-13  illustrate side elevational views of tubing clamp examples in accordance with some of the present concepts. 
       FIGS. 2-5 and 9  illustrate isometric views of tubing clamp examples in accordance with some of the present concepts. 
       FIGS. 10-11  illustrate end elevational views of tubing clamp examples in accordance with some of the present concepts. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Overview 
     The present description relates to apparatus manifest as tubing clamps. As used herein, ‘tubing’ is intended to be inclusive of hoses, flexible pipe and/or any other resilient material through which fluids can travel. The tubing clamp can apply forces to the tubing to temporarily reduce and/or stop the flow of fluid through the tubing. The tubing clamp can be characterized as a device with a variable adjustment feature which enables the tubing clamp to work with various sizes and shapes of flexible tubing while maintaining a uniform and repeatable clamping force. The variable adjustment feature can allow first and second clamping surfaces to be set at a desired distance from one another to apply a force on the tubing while maintaining a parallel orientation to one another. 
       FIGS. 1-11  collectively introduce an example tubing clamp  100 . The tubing clamp can include upper and lower clamping surfaces  102  and  104  that have pivot ends  106  and clamp ends  108 . The tubing clamp can also include an adjustable hinge member  110 , an adjustable clamping member  111 , and a force imparting member  112 . The adjustable hinge member  110  can secure the pivot ends of the upper and lower clamping surfaces at a user adjustable pivot gap (G p ). The adjustable clamping member  111  can releasably secure the clamp ends  108  of the upper and lower clamping surfaces  102  and  104  relative to one another when secured at a user adjustable clamping gap (G c ). Then as shown in  FIG. 3 , the adjustable clamping member  111  can be released and swing away to allow tubing  113  to be positioned between the upper and lower clamping surfaces. In  FIGS. 4 and 5 , when adjustable clamping member  111  is re-secured, the force imparting member  112  can allow the user to adjust the clamp ends  108  of the upper and lower clamping surfaces  102  and  104  to set a user adjustable clamp gap (G c ) until the upper and lower clamping surfaces are generally parallel. (Clamp gap G c  is not labeled on  FIGS. 4-5  due to clutter on the drawing page. Please see  FIGS. 6-8 ). This adjustable parallel feature can be employed for narrow tubing as shown in  FIG. 4  and larger tubing as shown in  FIG. 5 . Further, the parallel orientation of the upper and lower clamping surfaces  102  and  104  can provide an even clamping force across the tubing. Other solutions that employ non-parallel clamping forces and/or use pointed clamping surfaces may subject portions of the tubing to higher forces and more distortion and bending to accomplish flow restriction and thus can cause tubing failure and/or leakage and/or cause the tubing to be permanently deformed so that it does not return to its original configuration when the clamping force is removed. 
     Returning to  FIGS. 1-2 , in some implementations the upper clamping surface  102  is defined by a generally elongate (in the x reference direction) top clamp bar  114  and the lower clamping surface  104  is defined by a generally elongate (in the x reference direction) bottom clamp bar  116 . Also, the hinge member  110  can be manifest as a hinge post  118  and the clamping member is manifest as a clamp post  120  and force imparting member  112  is manifest as a clamping knob  122 . The hinge post  118  rotates around hinge point  124 ( 1 ) and the clamp post  120  rotates around hinge point  124 ( 2 ). The top clamp bar  114  can include top clamp bar slot(s)  126  ( FIGS. 2-3 ) or another element for selectively retaining the clamp post  120  relative to the top clamp bar  114 . 
     As can be appreciated from  FIG. 1 , the tubing clamp  100  can also include a visual indicator  128  that can aid the user in adjusting the tubing clamp for a specific size of tubing and/or in maintaining the parallel nature of the upper and lower clamping surfaces  102  and  104  when applying force to the tubing  113  ( FIGS. 3-5 ). In this case, the visual indicator  128  is manifest as a window  130  formed in top clamp bar  114  and indicators  132  on the hinge post  118 . The user can align an individual indicator  132  in the window  130  for a specific tubing size. In the implementations of  FIGS. 1-11 , the indicators are numerals. For instance, if the user wants to use ½ inch tubing, the user can turn the top clamp bar  114  until indicators  132  on the hinge post  118  comprising “½” is visible in the window  130  on the top clamp bar  114 . Indicators in the form of colors or patterns are described below relative to  FIGS. 12-13 . 
     As can be appreciated from  FIGS. 3-5 , the example tubing clamp  100  can hingedly secure the hinge post  118  to the bottom clamp bar  116  at hinge point  124 ( 1 ) and hingedly secure the clamp post  120  to the bottom clamp bar  116  at hinge point  124 ( 2 ). In this example the hinge post  118  is threaded to allow the user to adjust the overall dimension of the hinge or pivot end  106  length (e.g., gap G p ). This can be done by releasing clamp post  120  from top clamp bar slot  126  as shown in  FIG. 3 . The clamp post can be pivoted away from the top clamp bar  114  which can also be pivoted upward. The top clamp bar  114  can then be turned in relation to the bottom clamp bar  116  through one full revolution (e.g., clockwise (CW) to decrease the gap G p  ( FIG. 1 ) or counterclockwise (CCW) to increase gap G p ). By specifying the thread pitch of the threaded hinge post  118 , the overall travel can be controlled by the alignment with the clamp post  120 . By adjusting the clamp opening using the threaded hinge post  118 , the faces of the top and bottom clamp bars  114  and  116  can be maintained in a parallel arrangement (e.g., gap G p  equal to gap G c ) to allow the clamping action to be uniform across the upper and lower clamping surfaces  102  and  104 . 
     Another aspect of the inventive concepts involves the visual indicator  128 . In this case, window  130  and indicators  132  can facilitate a uniform and repeatable clamping force for a given tubing size. The threaded hinge post  118  can be marked at specific and uniform locations. The top clamp bar has window  130  (e.g., locating feature) that allows the user to very accurately verify that the tubing clamp  100  is set to the desired clamping dimension. 
     Viewed from one perspective, in some implementations the top and bottom clamp bars  114  and  116  of the tubing clamp  100  can work more effectively when top and bottom clamp bars  114  and  116  are aligned in parallel. To use a specific example, if the thread pitch of the threaded hinge post  118  is 12 threads per inch, each specific revolution will allow the tubing clamp  100  to open or close by 0.083″ per revolution (2.1 mm). When the top clamp  114  is aligned with the bottom clamp  116 , the exact calibrated feature setting will be visible in relation to the locating feature. 
     In some configurations, to implement the device a user would loosen the clamping knob  122  to release the clamping force. By swinging the clamp post  120  out of the top clamp bar slot  126 , the tubing clamp  100  can be opened and flexible tubing  113  can be inserted between the top and bottom clamp bars  114  and  116 . The threaded clamp post  120  is returned to the top clamp bar slot  126  and by tightening the clamping knob  122  the tubing clamp  100  can be forced closed, thus sealing (and/or controlling flow) of the intended tubing  113 . Note that while the top clamp bar slot  126  extends generally parallel to the x reference direction in the illustrated implementation, in other implementations, the top clamp bar slot  126  could extend generally parallel to the y reference direction. 
     To adjust the tubing clamp for an alternate tubing size or wall thickness, the user can adjust the top clamp bar  114  in relation to the bottom clamp bar  116  until the calibration and locating features (e.g., window  130  and indicators  132 ) match the specification for such tubing  113 . 
       FIGS. 6-8  collectively illustrate how hinge post  118  can be adjusted in top clamp bar  114  to set a desired pivot gap G p  and then utilize the clamp knob  122  to adjust the clamp end gap G c  so that it is equivalent and thus cause the upper and lower clamping surfaces  102  and  104  to be parallel while imparting force on the tubing ( FIGS. 3-5 ). Thus, upper and lower clamping surfaces are parallel in  FIGS. 6-8 , but the distance between the upper and lower clamping surfaces increase from  FIG. 6  to  FIG. 7  and from  FIG. 7  to  FIG. 8 . 
     Note that  FIGS. 9-11  show hinge post  118  threaded directly into top clamp bar  114  (e.g., the hinge post can be viewed as the male portion and the top clamp bar can be viewed as the female portion). However, other implementations can allow the female threaded portion of the adjustment feature to swivel or move to allow for greater adjustment. Other implementations can employ threading on both top and bottom clamp bars  114  and  116  rather than just on the top clamp bar in the illustrated configuration. For instance, the hinge points  124 ( 1 ) and  124 ( 2 ) can be threaded with female threads to allow the respective hinge post  118  and clamp post  120  to be adjusted relative to the bottom clamp bar  116 . Further, the hinge points  124 ( 1 ) and  124 ( 2 ) can be constructed in various ways. For instance, in the illustrated configuration, the hinge points can be studs that extend in the y reference direction through a hole in the hinge post  118  or clamp post  120 . Other hinge configurations can be employed. For instance living hinges, snap in hinges, and/or heat staked hinges, among others, can be employed. Further this implementation uses different retaining configurations for the hinge and clamp ends relative to the top clamp bar  114 , but other implementations can use similar configurations at both ends. 
       FIGS. 12 and 13  show an alternative tubing clamp example  100 A where clamp post  120  has a clamping knob  122 A and hinge post  118  also has a clamping knob  122 B. In this case, the hinge post  118  is slidably receiveable through the top clamp bar  114 . The hinge post is threaded into the clamping knob  122 B. This configuration can allow precise adjustment of the pressure/force applied to the tubing while maintaining a parallel orientation of the top clamp surface  102  and the bottom clamp surface  104 . 
     This implementation also employs visual indicators  128 ( 1 ) and  128 ( 2 ) on the clamp post  120  and the hinge post  118  so that the user can readily identify where to adjust each end of the tubing clamp for a given diameter of tubing. This visual indication can be in the form of patterns, such as cross-hatching, or color, or any other pattern or indicator that is readily visible to the user. 
     Still other implementations can move the location of the threaded features from the top clamp bar  114  to the bottom clamp bar  116 . Further, the present implementations lend themselves to use with a wide range of tubing sizes. For instance, a single tubing clamp can be used with tubing ranging from ¼ inch to 1 inch, for example. Further, the implementations can be scaled such that a similar but larger tubing clamp could handle from ½ inch to 2 inch tubing, etc. Thus, many variations in tubing size or format can be covered by a set of relatively few tubing clamps  100 A. 
     Each item in the described implementations can be built from any material suited for the application and function. This may include metal or plastic, among others, employed for strength, ease of fabrication, and/or application environment. The parts may be fabricated in any fashion that suits the application and function. This may include, but not be limited to, injection molding, 3-D printing, machining, casting etc. 
     The inventive concepts are not specific to any market or application and additional configurations and applications are contemplated. 
     CONCLUSION 
     Although specific examples of tubing clamps are described in language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not intended to be limited to the specific features described. Rather, the specific features are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claimed statutory classes of subject matter.

Technology Classification (CPC): 5