Patent ID: 7198259

Claim:
A clamp for clamping a plurality of objects together, said clamp comprising: a vacuum base having a seal adapted to engage a first object of the plurality of objects, a cavity defined between the first object and the seal when the seal is engaged with the first object; a vacuum generator fluidly connected to the cavity for reducing a pressure in the cavity so the pressure inside the cavity is lower than a pressure outside the cavity thereby to attach the vacuum base to the first object; a clamping member mounted on the vacuum base for engaging a second object of the plurality of objects, said clamping member being movable with respect to the vacuum base for applying a force to the second object to clamp the second object in position relative to the first object when the vacuum base is attached to the first object; and a valve fluidly connected between the cavity and the vacuum generator, said valve being selectably positionable between an open position allowing fluid communication between the vacuum generator and the cavity for generating a pressure inside the cavity that is lower than a pressure outside the cavity, and a closed position at least partially restricting fluid communication between the vacuum generator and the cavity for at least partially preventing air from entering the cavity when pressure inside the cavity reaches a predetermined maximum.