Patent ID: 7600725

Claim:
A clamp for an elongated member comprises a receiving portion defining a chamber for receiving and holding the elongated member therein and a resilient retaining wing extending obliquely from an inlet end of an adjacent side wall of the receiving portion toward a bottom of the receiving portion, the resilient wing having flexibility to be bendingly displaced closer to the adjacent side wall of the receiving portion when the elongated member is pressed into the receiving portion, so as to allow the elongated member to pass through the inlet to the receiving portion, and then engaged with an outer peripheral surface of the elongated member received in the receiving portion so as to produce a resistance against pull-out of the elongated member from the receiving portion; wherein the resilient retaining wing of the clamp has a connection end connected to the inlet end of the adjacent side wall of the receiving portion to serve as a support point for allowing the entire resilient retaining wing to be bendingly displaced closer to the adjacent side wall of the receiving portion thereabout; the resilient retaining wing is bent in a direction away from the adjacent side wall of the receiving portion at an intermediate position located between the connection end and a distal end of the wing so as to make the width of a passage for the elongated member narrower in a first portion between the intermediate position and the distal end than in a second portion between the connection end and the intermediate position; a point of application of a pressing force during the insertion of the elongated member is set at the intermediate position, and a point of action of the pressing force is set at the connection end; and the second portion of the resilient retaining wing extends toward the bottom of the receiving portion obliquely at a predetermined small angle relative to the adjacent side wall of the receiving portion so as to increase a distance between the point of application and the point of action, whereby, when the elongated member is received in the receiving portion, the distal end of the resilient retaining wing is engaged with the outer peripheral surface of the elongated member to produce a resistance against pull-out of the elongated member from the receiving portion; and wherein the predetermined small angle is in the range between 10 to 20 degrees.