US2102717A

US2102717A - Metal form clamping device

Info

Publication number: US2102717A
Application number: US92754A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jennings William Allen
Original assignee: Economy Forms Corp
Current assignee: Economy Forms Corp
Priority date: 1936-07-27
Filing date: 1936-07-27
Publication date: 1937-12-21
Anticipated expiration: 1954-12-21

Description

Dec. 21, 1937.

W. A. JENNINGS METAL FORM CLAMPING DEVICE Filed July 27, 1956 Patented Dec. 21, 193'? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METAL FORM CLAMPING DEVICE Application July 27, 1936, Serial No. 92,754

1 Claim. (Cl. 25-131) I mould forms may be readily, quickly and easily clamped together with sufficient firmness to withstand the shocks and jars to which such structures are subjected in use, and particularly when the cement between the forms is tamped or agitated, and which clamping devices may be readily,

quickly and easily detached when the forms are being removed from a nished concrete structure.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 shows a perspective View of my improved clamping device.

Figure 2 shows a side elevation of one of my improved clamping devices applied to the flanges of a metal form and illustrated in clamped position. The dotted line shows the position of the pin.

Figure 3 shows a transvers-e sectional view through portions of two abutting metal forms and their flanges, and through my improved clamping device applied thereto, illustrating a form of the invention in which the clamping device is frictionally held in position by bending the adjacent portions of the flanges of the metal form.

Figure 4 shows a similar view illustrating a modification in which the jaws of the clamping device are retained in position by springing into openings in the flanges of the forms.

Figure 5 is a similar view illustrating another modification in which the clamping device is held in position on the iianges by bending the flange laterally to one side and employing the resiliency of the liange to hold the clamp in place.

Figure 6 shows a similar View of another modification in which the clamping device is held in place by a projection on the resilient jaw of the clamping device being sprung into position below the looped portion of the flange oi the mould form.

Figure 7 shows a similar view of another modication in which both jaws of the clamping device are resilient, and in this view they are shown spread apart by the thickness of the over-lapped portions of the flange; and Y Figure 8 shows a view of the same form of the invention with the resilient jaws sprung to position engaging the lower edges of the overlapped portions of the ange of the metal forms.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, the clamping device, as clearly shown in Figure 1, comprises a body portion I0, with a handle por- 5 tion II at one end and an extension I2 at the other end, to which extension, there is fixed a pin I3. Between the handle portion II and the extension I2 there are two jaws I4 and I5. In this figure the twol jaws are provided with extensions 10 I6 and I1 at their ends furthest from the body, the extensions projecting toward each other.

This entire clamping device is preferably formed of a single piece of resilient metal and is preferably cast complete in one piece so that it is cheap to manufacture and does notneed any machine.

The metal forms which I employ in connection with my invention are composed of relatively fiat body portions I8 made of resilient sheet metal 20 and provided with flanges I9 whichk extend from the edges of the body substantially at right angles, and their outer ends are folded back upon the flanges at 20, the edges of the members 2B being spaced apart from the body I8. These flanges are provided with a series of openings 2| preferably equally spaced apart throughout their entire lengths, so that the clamping device may be placed on any part of the iiange.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1, 'l and 8, I apply the clamping device as follows: I first insert the pin I3 through the aligned openings 2| in two of the fianges of the metal form. I then grasp the handle portion and turn it pivotally centered upon the pin I3 35 until the jaws I4 and I5 engage opposite sides of the two iianges, as shown in Figure '7 where they are seen to be slightly sprung apart. I then, preferably with a hammer, strike the handle and drive the jaws toward the bodies of the forms until the projections I6 and I'I have passed below the lower edges of the flanges 20, whereupon the jaws spring toward each other and thereby yieldingly hold the clamping device in position and to clamp the two adjacent mould forms firmly together.

In practice I have found that with my improvement the forms are held together with sufiicient rigidity to withstand the tamping or agitation to which the concrete in the mould forms is ordinarily subjected.

When it is desired to dismantle the mould form the operator may, by grasping the handle II or by using a lever to pry them outwardly, quickly and easily swing them to position with the jaws 55 beyond the ends of the overlapped flanges, and then the handle may be moved laterally, either by hand or with the use of a hammer, to withdraw the pin. Obviously, these operations of applying the clamping device, or removing it, can be accomplished very quickly and easily by unskilled labor. Y v

In the modied form illustrated in Figure 6 I have shown a projection 22 on one of the jaws only, the other one being left smooth and. straight and parallel with the adjacent portion of the flange of the form. With this construction the operation of applying or removing the clamping device is the same as that hereinbefore described, except that only one projection 22 is employed to hook under the adjacent edge of the overlapped portion of the ange.

In Figure 4 I have shown another modification in which the clamping jaws are somewhat shorter in length than that shown in Figure 7, and otherwise the same only the projections 23' and 24 thereon are so positioned as to enter the adjacent openings 2l in the anges of the mould forms.

In the modication shown in Figure 5 I have shown one of the jaws 25 to be of the same length as the adjacent overlapped portion 2i] of the ange i9, and the other jaw is provided with an extension 25 at its lower end to pass under the lower edge of th-e adjacent overlapping portion 2E) of the ange of the mould form. In this modification the clamp is held in position both by the resiliency ci the flanges i9 which are bent laterally when this mcdiled form of the device is applied, and by the extension 26 being moved to position under the shoulder formed by the adjacent overlapping member of the ange.

In the modified form illustrated in Figure 3 I have shown the inner adjacent surfaces of both jaws, and slightly curved, and one jaw 2l terminates at about the lower end of the overlapping portion of the flange, while the other jaw is longer and has a projection 23 that eX- tends toward the adjacent ange below the overlapping portion. In this form of the invention the resiliency of the flanges themselves aid in holding the clamping device in position, and in this form of the invention the part indicated as 28 constitutes an inwardly extended projection which functions somewhat similar to the projections I6 and l1 of the form of the invention illustrated in Figure l.

In practical operation with any of the forms of my invention herein described I can easily, readily and quickly insert the pin I3, drive the handle toward the anges, turn the handle in the direction toward the flanges of the metal forms and then drive the body l 0 with a hammer,

or otherwise, to position for causing one of the projections on the inner face of the jaws to position below the overlapping edge of the ange or into the pin openings 2l, and when this has been done the resiliency either of the jaws themselves or of the flanges securely holds the clamps in position and the metal forms rigidly in engagement with each other.

I claim as my invention:

A clamping device comprising a lever, a fulcrum pin extended laterally from one end portion of the lever, and a pair of jaws formed integral with the lever and of resilient material, the space between the ends of the jaws furthest from the lever being less than the space between the remainder of the jaws and whereby when the jaws are forced upon two articles to be clamped together and which are relatively thick at Vtheir outer edges and of less thickness at a point spaced from said outer edges, the jaws -will Tre forced apart during the time when the jaws are moving over said relatively thick portions and then spring toward each other and form a frictional locking engagement with said articles when the end portions of the jaws reach said less thick portions of the articles.

WILLIAM ALLEN JENNINGS.