Patent ID: 7690237

Claim:
A crimping tool comprising: a split housing assembly made from a suitably strong and rigid material having a central passageway to accommodate a tubular work piece, the split housing having at least two main body components, the main body components including a structurally rigid joining mechanism, the rigid joining mechanism enabling the at least two main body components of the split housing to be separately placed around a tubular work piece and joined to form a generally short thick-walled cylindrical frame enclosing or encircling the work piece, the joining mechanism also enabling the split housing to be separated and removed from the work piece, wherein the rigid joining mechanism is configured to join the at least two main body components solely by providing keys and keyways which preclude pivotal movement of the main body components, the keyways receiving the keys in an interlocking engagement which is separable by relative movement of the main body components in a substantially axial direction as defined by the work piece and resists separation in other directions; a crimper assembly carried by the housing assembly, the crimper assembly having three or more jaws arranged to radially extend and retract, the jaws each carrying a discrete portion of a crimping surface generally shaped to conform to the work piece and positioned to radially engage the outside surface of the work piece when the split housing is placed around the work piece and joined; the crimping assembly having means to apply a selected proportion of radial force to each of the jaws, correlatively providing proportionally distributed radial inward crimping load to the crimping surface, where the number of jaws can be selected to distribute portions of the crimping surface to accommodate non-axi-symmetric features of the work piece, and the distribution of force can be selected to arrange for controlled radially distributed loading of the jaws.