Patent ID: 8562029

Claim:
A clamp for mounting on a cylindrical member, the clamp comprising: at least two outer clamp shells shaped to be arranged around the cylindrical member and secured to one another to form together a through-going passage for receipt of the cylindrical member; at least two part-cylindrical inner clamp members which are arranged within the outer clamp shells and are shaped and arranged to seat in abutment upon the cylindrical member substantially along the longitudinal extent of the outer clamp shell, each inner clamp member including a plurality of flanges which extend radially outwardly from the clamp member, each of the flanges providing a substantially radially extending flange surface, each outer clamp shell including a plurality of clamp shell surfaces which extend outward to respective stepped inner surfaces forming a plurality of cavities, which are distributed along the longitudinal extent of the outer clamp shell, and the clamp shell surfaces face toward respective flange surfaces of a corresponding inner clamp member, wherein each cavity houses a respective flange and a respective spring element that is associated with each flange; and the respective spring elements arranged between each of the flange surfaces and the facing clamp shell surface so that each spring element is stressed and compressed between its respective flange surface and its respective clamp shell surface upon securing of the outer clamp shells to one another around the cylindrical member and so that respective spring elements acting on each inner clamp member's flanges urge the flanges in circumferentially opposite directions, thereby biasing the inner clamp members radially inwardly against the cylindrical member.