US1347023A - Adjustable batten-clamp - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES EDWARD GEE AND ROBERT L. BURNS,V OF DENVER, COLORADO.

ADJUSTABLE BATTEN-CLAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 20, 1920.

Application filed November 13, l1919. Serial No. 337,899.

To all wiwi/t t may concern.'

Be it known that we, EDWARD Gan and Ronnnr L. BURNS, citizens of the TJnited States, residing at Denver, in the county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in 'Adjustable Batten-Clamps; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in clamps and it has more particular reference to an adjustable clamp which is especially designed to be used in connection with theatrical scenery.

Heretofore, great difliculty has been encountered by stage hands in properly erecting and arranging theatrical scenery so that it will present a. realistic appearance to the audience. lt is generally7 well known that theatrical scenery consists of wooden frames, commonly known as battens, over which the painted canvas is stretched and fastened. Due to dampness and various other causes, these battens become warped and get out of shape, consequently when it is desired to arrange the scenes, the meeting edges of the battens do not come into effective contact with each other, which condition naturally forms cracks between the scenes, thereby greatly impairing the effectiveness of the setting. It is therefore the object of tiis invention to provide a simple, inexpensive, yet highly efficient clamp which may readily be placed upon the battens to cause the meeting edges of the battens to come into tight contact with each other, thereby overcoming the above circumstances to a great extent.

Another object .of the invention is to provide means for retaining the clamp in operative position, this retaining means being of such construction that it permits the clamp to be readily attached to, and detached from the battens.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be appare-nt during the course of the following description.

ln the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

The figure is a perspective view of a clamp constructed in accordance with eur invention, illustrating the manner in which it is attached to the battens.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of our invention, the numerals l and 2 indicate a pair of metal bars or strips. The bar l has one of its ends bent laterally to form a clamping jaw which is adapted to engage the inner edge of the batteri 3. The other bar, 2, is provided with an adj ustable jaw l which engages the inner edge of the other batten 5. This jaw 4 may be adjustably mounted on the bar 2 in any suitable manner, but as we have shown, the bar 2 is provided with an elongated slot 6, and the clamping jaw 4L is provided with a threaded stud which ext-ends through this slot 6, and a clamping nut 7 serves to retain the clamping jaw 4 in the desired position. lVith this construction it will be seen that the clamping jaws may be readily adjusted to various sizes of battens. ln order to actuate the clamping jaws toward and from each other, we provide a lever 8 which is pivotally connected to the bars l and 2 as shown, hence it will be seen that by moving the lever 8 toward the right the clamping jaws will be actuated to clamping position. lVhile this lever may be of any other construction, we prefer to employ a flat metal bar and a portion of this bar is offset laterallyT as indicated at 9, so that when in its operative position the lower portion thereof will extend diagonally across the battens 3 and 5, the purpose of which will hereinafter be set forth. In a clamp of this type it is desirable to have the bars 1 and 2 parallel with each other at all times so as to bring the clamping jaws into proper engagement with the battens. In other words, it is generally known that these battens are generally constructed of soft wood and if the bars l and 2 of the clamp are not parallel the clamping jaws would so engage the inner edges of the battens that they would tend to dig into them, which of course is not desirable, and by making the bars parallel it will be seen that the inner surfaces of the clamping jaws will at all times be parallel with the inner edges of the battens, thereby insuring proper engagement of the jaws with the battens. Any suitable means may be employed for retaining these bars l and 2 in parallelism with each other, but we .prefer to employ a link 10 which is pivotally connected thereto as shown, and

this construction insures that the bars 1 and 2 will be parallel at all times. TheY lever 8 is retained in operative position by means of a locking member 11 which is carried thereby and is longitudinally shiftable on it. This locking member 11 may be constructed in any desired manner, but we have. shown it as being in the form of a rectangular sleeve, a portion of which extends laterally from one side of the lever 8 and is engageable with the inner edge of the batten 3'. Inasmuch as this sleeve 11 might otherwise Y slip off of the lever 8 when the clamp is not in use we provide a lever with a lateral projection or stud 12 which prevents the member 11 from slipping ell of the lever when the device is not in use. By Constructing the lever 8 with theY ollset portion 9 it will be seen that when the locking member is moved to locking Vposition it Will be tightly wedged against the inner edge of the batten 3.

It is customary in erecting scenery to employ braces and in order to make this device more effective in use we have provided a brace-engaging loop 13 at one end of the lever 8 so as to permit a brace to be detachably connected with it.

It is believed that the manner of using the clamp is entirely obvious from the foregoing description, therefore further description is thought to -be unnecessary.

lVhile we have described our clamp as loeing` especially designed for use with theatrical scenery, we desire it to be understood that it 'may be equally well employed to clamp various other types or' battens and 'strips of wood together.

2. A batten clamp comprising apair of clamping jaws adapted to engage two opposed battens, a lever pivotally connected to the jaws for actuating them toward and from each other,and means movably mounted on the lever and adapted'to engage one of Y the battens to retain the clampingjaws in operative position. V Y i 3. A batten clamp comprising a vpair of clamping jaws adapted to engage two opposed battens, a lever pivotally connected to said jaws, and a lever locking member carried by the lever and longitudinally shiftable thereon, said locking member being adapted to engage one of the battens.

4. A batten clamp comprising a pair of clamping jaws adapted to engage opposed battens, a lever pivoted to the jaws and adapted to actuate them to clamping position, a portion of the lever being offset laterally to permit another portion thereof to extend diagonally across the battens, and a locking member shiftable longitudinally on said lever, and adapted to be positioned against an edge of one of the battens.

5. A batten clamp comprising a pair of bars each having a jaw adapted to engage the article to be clamped, an actuating lever pivotally connected to said bars, a link pivotally connected to said bars, and means to retain the lever in operative position.

6. A batten clamp comprising a pair of bars, one of said bars having one of its ends bent laterally to form a clamping jaw, the other bar being provided with an elongated slot, a second clamping aw having a threaded stud thereon extending through the slot in one of the bars, a clamping nut on said stud, a link pivotally connected to the bars, a jaw actuating lever and means carried by the lever to retain it in operative position.

In testimony whereotwe have hereunto set our hands. y

' EDWARD GEE.V

`ROBERT L. BURNS.

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