US2640240A - Rope clamp - Google Patents

Description

June 2, 1953 J. J. COLONNA I ROPE CLAMP 'F 'iled March 16, 1949 INVENTOR.

cj avze JzbZonm Patented June 2, 1953 UNITED-; STATES PATENT QFFICE ROPE QLAMP Jerome J. Colonna, Chicagm, 11L

Application March 16, 1949, Serial No. 81,715

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a rope clamp or locking hook. The clamp is useful on clothesline posts, trucks using ropes to fasten shipments, boats, any place where a rope is belayed over a hook where the. rope is not to slip over the hook.

Applicants first object is to provide a plate having upper and lower arms which may be rocked on a central mounting so that a rope or line may be squeezed between one arm of the plate and its supporting post and then held by the pull of the line on the opposite arm. In addition to the configuration of the plate, applicant utilizes a pair of screws having a truncated conical neck which loosely holds the clamp to the post.

Another object of the invention is to provide the plate with a rocking surface along the transverse lines of the screw holes so that the plate may rock easily into one of two extreme positions.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained in one embodiment of the invention disclosed in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figs. 1 and 2 are front and side elevations respectively of applicants clamp mounted on a post with the tension exerted on the lower arm;

Figs. 3 and 4 are front and side elevations respectively of applicants clamp mounted on a post with the tension exerted on the upper arm; and,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the two positions of the clamp engaging respectively the upper and lower surfaces of the conical neck of the screws.

Continuing to refer to the drawings, the numeral It in Fig. 1 identifies applicants clamp. The clamp consists of a body portion 2, a pair of depending legs 14 and it, an upwardly extending arm i8, and two forwardly directed wings 28 and 22. Transversely of the body portion !2 are two screw holes 24 and 26 and there is a rolled bend 28, see Fig. 2, in the body portion [2 approximately along the line of the screw holes 24 and '26. This bend is on a comparatively large radius. The arm I8 is bent at 39 so that when the arm 58 is rocked toward the post 32, the arm I8 will lie in a plane parallel to the surface of the post 32. The legs 14 and H5 are similarly bent at 34 and 36 so that the legs i l and it will lie in a plane parallel to the surface of the post when the clamp is rocked to its extreme downward position. A wale 38 is impressed in the body portion l2 to provide strength.

Applicant utilizes screws 48 and 42 to mount the clamp on the post, and referring to Fig. 5, each of these screws has a conical neck 44. The screws are not pulled up tightly on the clamp. The holes 24 and 26 in the clamp are larger than threaded shank 46 of the screw 40, their diameter being indicated by the lines 48 and 50 in Fi In using applicants clamp, the line 52 may be passed under wing 20, see Fig. 1, behind arm 18, then forwardly of the body portion I2 and behind either leg 36 or leg 34. The party stringing the line grasps the line at 52, the other end being fastened at some point not shown, and pulls it as tight as desired while the other hand at 54 takes up the slack. Ultimately, all of the tension is maintained at 54 and this rocks the clamp into the position shown in Fig. 2 with the line at 56 squeezed between the arm l8 and the post 32.

The party stringing the line may introduce the lead end beneath a leg l4, see Fig. 3, in which arrangement he leads the line upwardly over the body portion I2, behind the arm i8 and then forwardly over or under the wing 20. Here the end 56 pulls the clamp into the position shown in Fig. 4 with the line squeezed between the leg [4 and the post 32.

Referring to Fig. 5, the position of the screw holes is illustrated for the two extreme positions of the clamp. The position of the clamp shown in Fig. 2 is illustrated in Fig. 5 by dot-dash lines with the upper and lower edges of the screw holes indicated by the numerals 58 and 60. The position of the clamp shown in Fig. 4 is illustrated in Fig. 5 by dotted lines with the upper and lower edges of the screw holes indicated by numerals 48 and 50.

The advantage of applicants clamp resides in being a single stamping although being movable in mounted position. The clamp holes having a diameter slightly less than the largest diameter of the conical neck of the screws protect the screw head from being sheared off by pulling in the plate. The ends of the arm and legs being in planes parallel to the surface of the post when in effective position, squeeze the line evenly and minimize fraying.

Applicant claims:

A rope clamp comprising a metallic plate, a transverse horizontal bend on a comparatively large radius in the plate with the concave surface forward, openings in the plate along the bend for receiving fastening means, a central arm extending upwardly from the central portion of said plate, second and third arms, one on each side of the central arm, extending forwardly and downwardly below the central arm and spaced respectively from the central arm by a distance sufiicient to pass a rope, said three arms being above the transverse bend, and a pair of spaced downwardly directed legs on the plate below the transverse bend, one on each side of a vertical line containing the upwardly directed central arm.

JEROME J. COLONNA.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number 0 Number Name Date Munroe Sept. 2, 1884 Brinkerhoff July 9, 1889 Adams June 3, 1902 Day Apr. 7, 1914 Alexander June 28, 1927 Haley June 24, 1930 Johannsen Sept. 29, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Jan. 14, 1908

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