Patent ID: 8191840

Claim:
A clamping system for attaching a fixture to a pole, the clamping system comprising: a pair of rigid segments that can be placed on opposite sides of the pole, attached to each other, and compressively tightened toward each other so as to compress the pole therebetween with a longitudinal axis of the rigid segments being parallel to a longitudinal axis of the pole, the pair of rigid segments including a first rigid segment and a second rigid segment, the first rigid segment having an outward-facing surface, an inward-facing surface, and a pair of opposing side surfaces extending between boundaries of the outward-facing surface and the inward-facing surface; a T-channel formed in the first rigid segment parallel to the outward-facing surface and extending to and penetrating both the outward-facing surface and at least one of the side surfaces, so that a head of a compatible mounting bolt can be inserted into the T-channel through the side surface, with the remainder of the mounting bolt extending through the outward-facing surface, the T-channel having a cross-sectional shape that prevents the head of the compatible mounting bolt from being pulled through the outward-facing surface; and a plurality of spaced-apart interior channels formed in the first rigid segment, each of the interior channels being parallel to the inward-facing surface and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the first rigid segment, each of the interior channels extending to and penetrating both the inward-facing surface and at least one of the side surfaces of the first rigid segment, each of the interior channels being able to accept insertion of an elastomeric insert through one of the side surfaces, the interior channels having cross-sectional shapes that prevent the elastomeric inserts from falling through the inward-facing surface, while allowing the elastomeric inserts to protrude through the inward-facing surface and be pressed against the pole when the rigid segments are compressively tightened toward each other.