Abstract:
A side terminal battery cable converter clamp is provided with a clamp shaft having a distal male threaded end adapted to mate with a female threaded side terminal, said clamp shaft carrying a cam seat, a cammed handle with pin, and a locknut, wherein the cammed handle is operable to frictionally engage and release the distal male threaded shaft end and female threaded side terminal.

Description:
The present invention relates generally to battery cable clamps and more particularly to a battery cable clamp adapted for use on a side-terminal that may be easily fastened and released by hand. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that most automobiles, motorized vehicles, and inboard boats are started by battery power and that the standard modern battery is a 12-volt battery having metal top-post terminals for the opposing polarities of the battery to which the terminals of battery cables are attached. In addition to, or in lieu of, top-post battery terminals, some 12-volt battery batteries have side-terminals. Side-terminals are conductive plates with female threaded apertures. The standard battery cable terminal or connector for a side-terminal has one end connected to the battery cable and the opposite end is a plate with an aperture. A bolt is received through the aperture of the connector plate into the female threaded side-terminal, and the plate of the cable connector is bolted into contact with the conductive plate of the side-terminal to establish an electrical connection. 
     Due to cramped space in and around engine compartments where batteries are located, side-terminal connections may be necessary in some instances instead of top-post battery terminal connections. Many standard 12-volt batteries last for several years, especially when used sparingly, as in some recreational boats. During the course of the life of a battery, corrosion build up may occur and, indeed, side-terminal battery hardware is notorious for not wanting to turn. Accordingly, it is often necessary to tap the hardware lightly with a hammer or to try rotating the cable and connector plate slightly as a wrench is used to turn the bolt. Due to cramped conditions, it can be difficult to carry out these or other steps to loosen the side-terminal battery hardware. In other cases, the hardware may be sufficiently bound that it is necessary to cut the battery cable in order to remove the battery. 
     What is needed then, is a side-terminal battery connector that will overcome the problems of prior art devices. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Instead of the standard bolt which passes through a battery cable terminal plate aperture and is tightened into a female aperture of the side-terminal, the side-terminal battery cable connector clamp of the invention utilizes a bolt with a clamping handle. The bolt with clamping handle (in open position) can be inserted through the aperture of the cable connector plate and loosely screwed into the female threaded side-terminal. The clamping handle includes a boss or camming structure that increases the clamping pressure based upon the angular rotation of the handle with respect to the bolt. By moving the clamping handle to its closed position, the connector plate is firmly engaged against the side-terminal conductive plate. When it is desired to remove the battery cable, the handle can be released to its open position and a substantial decrease in the clamping pressure of the bolt against the female threads of the side-terminal results. The handle rotates loosely in axial directions and does not turn the bolt on which it is mounted. In this fashion the handle can be axially oriented in any direction required in a restricted space. Preferably, the components of the side-terminal connection clamp assembly are made of non-corrosive and in some cases non-metallic materials such as stainless steel and glass filled nylon. In this fashion, preferably the entire operation of the invention is possible without need for using any additional tools. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other objects of the invention will be explained in greater detail in connection with the following drawings of the preferred embodiment of the invention: 
         FIG. 1  is an illustration of a representative battery with top-post terminals and side-terminals, and one battery cable attached. 
         FIG. 2A  is a perspective view of a side-terminal battery cable clamp according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2B  is a side plan view of the clamp of  FIG. 2A . 
         FIG. 3A  is a perspective view of the bolt member of the clamp of  FIG. 2A . 
         FIG. 3B  is a side plan view of the bolt of  FIG. 3A . 
         FIG. 4A  is a perspective view of the seat of the clamp of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4B  is a side sectional view of the seat of  FIG. 4A . 
         FIG. 4C  is a top plan view of the seat of  FIG. 4A . 
         FIG. 5A  is a perspective view of the handle of the clamp of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5B  is a top plan view of the handle of  FIG. 5A . 
         FIG. 5C  is a bottom plan view of the handle of  FIG. 5A . 
         FIG. 5D  is a side plan view of the handle of  FIG. 5A . 
         FIG. 6A  is a perspective view of the pin of the clamp of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 6B  is a side sectional view of the pin of  FIG. 6A . 
         FIG. 7A  is a perspective view of the cap of the clamp of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 7B  is a side plan view of the cap of  FIG. 7A . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be best understood by referring to  FIGS. 1–7  of the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts. 
     Referring first to  FIG. 1 , a typical 12-volt battery  70  is shown with positive top-post terminal  71  and negative top-post terminal  72 . Battery  70  also has a positive side-terminal  73  and corresponding negative side-terminal  79 . Prior art battery cable terminals  76  have a generally circular distal end  65  or connector plate with aperture  66  to receive bolt  74 . Bolt  74  has male threads  67  that engage with female threads in the apertures  69  of side-terminals  73 ,  79 . Battery cable terminals or connectors  76  have a proximal end  77  that receives and is secured to battery cable  78 . Bolts  74  are fastened and unfastened with a wrench to firmly contact battery cable terminals  76  to side-terminals  73 ,  79  and establish an electrical connection. In use, side-terminal battery hardware is notorious for not wanting to turn and it is often necessary to try to break corrosion or binding between bolt, battery cable terminal, and side-terminal by tapping the hardware with hammer or attempting to rotate battery cable connector  76  while a wrench  75  engaging bolt  74  is being turned. Due to the confined spaces in which batteries are often located, bringing the desired axial forces to play upon the side-terminal battery hardware is frequently difficult. The improved battery cable clamp  10  of the present invention takes the place of the traditional bolt  74 , and may be fastened and released by hand. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B , the improved battery cable clamp  10  comprises a bolt or clamp shaft  11 , a seat  12 , a handle  13 , a pin  14 , and a cap or locknut  15 . 
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  show the clamp shaft  11  has a relatively large diameter distal end  20  with male threads  67  to be received within the female threads of the apertures  69  of side-terminals  73 ,  79  of battery  70 , a central shaft section  21 , and a proximal threaded end  22  of lesser diameter than distal end  20 . Received over the proximal end  22  of clamp shaft  11  is seat  12 . The proximal end  22  of clamp shaft  11  passes through opening  25  in seat  12  until seat  12  is retained by the larger distal end  20  of clamp shaft  11 . The flat bottom surface  26  of seat  12  abuts distal end  20  of clamp shaft  11  and the central section  21  of clamp shaft  11  passes through aperture  25 , said aperture  25  preferably having an ovular configuration. The ovular configuration allows the seat  12  to work with handles having unusually exaggerated cam sections. The top surface of seat  12  has a concave section  27 , or cam surface, centrally located wherein the concave surface extends axially in a direction perpendicular to the major axis of the ovular aperture  25 . At either end of the concave surface in the direction of the major axis of aperture  25  are raised end sections  28 . 
     Pin  14  is positioned in lateral opening  32  of handle  13 . Handle  13  and pin  14  are threaded with proximal end  22  of clamp shaft  11  passing through aperture  40  of pin  14 . The base portion  30  of handle  13  rests in the concave section  27  of seat  12  and aperture  40  of pin  14  is positioned on the central section  21  of clamp shaft  11 . Handle  13  has handle portion  31  and base portion  30 . In addition to lateral opening  32  adapted to receive pin  14 , base portion  30  has a bottom opening  33  that is generally oriented against cam seat  12 , and a top opening  34 . The central portion  21  of clamp shaft  11  passes through top and bottom openings  33   34 . Top and bottom openings  33 ,  34  are generally ovular with front and back edges acting as stops to permit only limited angular rotation of handle  13  with respect to clamp shaft  11 . Preferably about 45° of angular rotation is allowed. Furthermore, the orientation of lateral opening  32  within base  30  of handle  13  is off-center so that when the handle section is oriented approximately perpendicular to clamp shaft  11 , the thickest portion or cam section  35  of the base is interposed between pin  14  and cam seat  12 . Preferably the cam section  35  is off center an exaggerated amount of at least 0.15 inches and preferably 0.16 inches. When the handle section  31  is angularly rotated away from its position normal to the clamp shaft  11 , a thinner section of the base  30  is interposed between pin  14  and cam seat  12 . Cam section  35  is formed from wings  38  and  39  of base  30  that are on either side of bottom opening  33 . Similar, but thinner wings,  36 ,  37  are on either side of top opening  34 , and permit the proximal end  22  of clamp shaft  11  to protrude. 
     As previously described, the pin  14  is received over proximal end  22  of clamp shaft  11  and is positioned within lateral opening  32  of handle  13 . The pin  14  has a central aperture  40  to allow the proximal end  22  of clamp shaft  11  to pass through, and pin  14  is oriented with recess  41  upwardly facing. 
     Finally, the components of the side-terminal battery cable clamp  10  are held in place by the attachment of cap or locknut  15  which has a proximal knurled portion  46  and a narrower distal portion  47 . The end cap  15  also has a threaded aperture  48  which is screwed onto the male threads of proximal end  22  of clamp shaft  11 . The distal portion  47  abuts the upward recess  41  of pin  14 . 
     When the side-terminal battery cable clamp  10  is fully assembled, the handle portion  31  is rotated out of normal orientation from clamp shaft  11  so that a relatively thin portion of base  30  is interposed between seat  12  and pin  14 . Then the male threaded distal end  20  of clamp shaft  11  is passed through aperture  66  of battery cable terminal plate  65  and then threaded into the female threads of the aperture  69  of side-terminal  73  of battery  70 . The battery cable clamp  10  is hand tightened by turning knurled portion  46  of locknut  15 , which causes clamp shaft  11  and its threaded distal end  20  to turn. After being turned sufficiently to engage male threads of distal end  20  with female threads of aperture  69 , handle portion  31  is depressed to a position normal to clamp shaft  11  and substantially parallel with the side surface of battery  70 . This has the effect of interposing thicker cam section  35  between seat section  12  and pin  14 , which applies pressure between male threads of distal clamp section  20  and the threads of side-terminal opening  69  on battery  70 . This securely presses the battery cable terminal connector  76  against the battery side-terminal  73  to ensure a good electrical connection. The pressure exerted between male and female threads also holds clamp  10  securely in place. 
     When it is desired to remove the battery cable terminal  76  from the side-terminal  73 ,  79 , the handle section  31  of clamp  10  is rotated out of normal which removes the cam section  35  from its position between pin  14  and seat  12 , thereby relieving pressure between male threads of distal clamp shaft  20  and female threads of side-terminal opening  69 . This permits the battery cable clamp connector to be removed by hand by rotating knurled surface  46  of end cap  15  to disengage the threaded bolt end  20  of side-terminal aperture  69 , thereby permitting the clamp  10  to be removed from the side-terminal  73  and the battery cable terminal plate  76  to be disengaged from side-terminal  73 ,  79 . Preferably, the handle  13 , seat  12 , and end cap  15  will be made of glass filled nylon, and the end cap  15  may have a stainless steel insert within aperture  48  for added strength. The end cap  15  may also be permanently fastened, as by adhesive, to the distal end  22  of clamp shaft  11  once the clamp  10  is assembled. The pin  14  and clamp shaft  11  are both preferably made of stainless steel and thereby all of the components are resistant to rust and corrosion. 
     It has been noted that bottom aperture  33  and upper aperture  34  of handle  13  are ovular or elongated in nature, this permits the angular rotation of handle  13  with respect to shaft  11  about pin  14 . Preferably, about 45° of rotation is allowed by these openings, which is sufficient to insert or remove the cam section  35  from between the pin  14  and seat  12 . If the handle section  31  were raised more than 45° from normal with the clamp shaft, it would require additional clearance between the side of battery  70  and its compartment. It is to be noted that the handle section  13  is held to the clamp shaft  11  by pin  14 . Pin  14  and therefore handle section  13  rotate freely in the axial direction about lock shaft  11 . This permits the handle section  31  to be oriented in any direction needed to fit within the space of the battery compartment. 
     It may also be noted in  FIG. 5B  that the handle section  31  is offset from the axial center pin  14  to the side of cam  35  on the base  30  of handle  13  by about 0.12 to 0.14 inches. In this fashion, even when the handle section is rotated angularly with respect to clamp shaft  11  by about 45°, due to the offset of handle section  31  and the movement of handle  13  and cam seat  12  with respect to lock shaft  11  permitted by ovular opening  25 , the knurled portion  46  of locking cap  15  is still accessible through upper aperture  34  of handle  13 . This permits the side-terminal battery cable clamp  10  to be threaded or unthreaded from the female threads of the opening of side-terminal  73 ,  79  by manually turning the knurled portion  46  of the locknut  15  regardless of the axial or angular position of the handle section  31 . 
     Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed in detail herein, it will be understood that various substitutions and modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiment described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention as recited in the appended claims.