Patent ID: 8186452

Claim:
A clamp system for supporting an elongate rebar cage for displacement along a longitudinal axis, the rebar cage comprising a plurality of longitudinal bars and a plurality of ring bars, comprising: a clamp housing defining a housing engaging surface; an actuator member defining an actuator cam surface, where the actuator member is supported for movement between first and second actuator positions; a plurality of clamp members each defining a clamp cam surface, a clamp engaging surface, and a pair of side surfaces, where each of the clamp members is supported for movement between first and second clamp positions; an actuator system for displacing the actuator member between the first and second actuator positions; whereby as the actuator member moves from the first actuator position to the second actuator position, the actuator cam surface engages the clamp cam surfaces to cause the clamp members to move towards the clamp housing such that end portions of the plurality of longitudinal bars are gripped between at least one of the clamp engaging surfaces and the housing engaging surface; and the side surfaces of adjacent movable clamp members extend at angles relative to the longitudinal axis such that as the clamp members move between the first and second clamp positions, the side surfaces of adjacent movable clamp members overlap with respect to the longitudinal axis, each of the end portions of the longitudinal bars are engaged by at least one of the clamp engaging surfaces, and at least one of the end portions of the longitudinal bars is engaged by two of the clamp engaging surfaces.