US2718045A

US2718045A - Worm geared band clip with screwdriver guide

Info

Publication number: US2718045A
Application number: US258352A
Authority: US
Inventors: Cheney Charles William
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1951-06-30
Filing date: 1951-11-27
Publication date: 1955-09-20
Anticipated expiration: 1972-09-20
Also published as: GB695669A

Description

Sept. 20, 1955 I c. w. CHENEY 2,713,045

WORM GEARED BAND CLIP WITH SCREWDRIVER GUIDE Filed Nov. 27, 1951 Attorneys United States Patent WORM GEARED B AND CLIP WITH SCREWDRIVER GUIDE Charles William Cheney, Hockley, Birmingham, England Application November 27, 1951, Serial N 0. 258,352

Claims priority, application Great Britain June 30, 1951 1 Claim. (Cl. 24-274) The present invention relates to worm geared band clips for tightening hose connections and similar purposes, and more particularly to worm geared band clips adapted to be tightened by means of a screwdriver, a guide member being provided to retain the screwdriver in position and to prevent it from sliding out of the screwdriver blade receiving slot of the worm.

The invention is particularly applicable for use with worm geared band clips such as those shown in my United States Patent No. 2,477,045 granted on July 26, 1949, and in my three United States applications Serial Number 217,215, filed March 23, 1951; Serial Number 292,342; filed June 7, 1952; and Serial Number 292,343, filed June 7, 1952; which three applications have now issued as Patents Numbers 2,650,405, 2,650,406 and 2,650,407, respectively, all dated September 1, 1953.

A clip of the kind aforesaid is used on pipes and tubes for many purposes in positions where access is difiicult, the clip usually being tightened for installation or loosened for removal by means of a hand screwdriver having a blade which is disposed in temporary engagement with a screwdriver blade receiving slot in the worm head, and it is the experience of users of such clips that engagement of screwdriver is diflicult and side slips thereof occur frequently and often cause serious injury to the operator of the screwdriver.

The invention provides in a clip of the kind described a combination of parts having as its essential features a screwdriver guide connected rigidly to the neck washer for support and fitting loosely around the head of the worm to close the open ends of the screwdriver blade receiving slot formed therein, thereby to provide a guide for retaining a screwdriver blade in engagement with the slot and a means for preventing any possible injury to the user from side slip of the screwdriver blade out of the slot.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a worm-geared band clip of this character having a screwdriver blade engaging slot formed in one end of the worm and a guide member for retaining the blade in the slot, the guide member comprising a portion which engages a portion of the worm of reduced diameter adjacent to the slotted end of the worm and another portion which completely encircles the slotted portion of the worm and closes the ends of the slot in all angular positions of the worm.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification together with the accompany drawing forming a part hereof.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of a worm-geared band clip embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary end view of the clip shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a side view of the worm forming a part of the clip shown in Fig. 1.

Patented Sept. 20, 1955 Figure 5 is a left end view of the screwdriver guide member forming a part of the clip shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 6 is a side view in elevation of the guide member shown in Fig. 5. I

Figure 7 is a right end view of the guide member shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

Figure 8 is an exploded view in side elevation of a modified form of guide member.

Figure 9 is an exploded plan view of the guide mem ber shown in Fig. 8.

Figure 10 is an assembled view in side elevation of the guide member shown in Figs. 8 and 9, showing the guide member disposed on a fragment of the tightening worm which includes the worm head, the remainder-of the worm and the band clip being omitted for simplicity of illustration.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 7, the band clip comprises a circular band designated generally as 1 having a free end 10, teeth 1b, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, being formed in the band 1 ad jacent to the free end 1a flush with outer surface of the band 1. The other end of the band 1 is fixed to a tubular housing 2 in which a worm 3 is rotatably disposed, the threads 3a of the worm 3 meshing with the teeth 1b of the band 1 and being arranged to draw the toothed portion of the band 1 through the tubular housing 2 for tightening the band about a hose or other device to be fastened.

Preferably the worm 3 is provided with a head 3b of circular cross section and of the same diameter as the external diameter of the worm threads to facilitate production of the worm from bar or rod stock. The worm head 3b is provided with a screwdriver blade receiving slot 6 formed in the end thereof and extending diametrically across the face of the worm head 3b, the slot 6 being open at both ends. Disposed between the worm head 3b and the worm threads 3a is a neck portion 4 of reduced diameter.

The screwdriver guide member comprises a neck washer portion 5, an apertured guide portion 7 and a base portion 10 integrally formed with and interconnecting the neck washer portion 5 and the guide portion 7. The neck washer portion 5 is shown in Fig. 5 in its open condition prior to assembly. After assembly of the open neck washer portion 5a on the neck 4 of the worm 3, the neck washer portion 5a is closed about the neck 4 as shown in solid lines at 5 in Fig. 5 and also shown in the sectional view of Fig. 3, the neck 4 being freely rotatable therein.

The tubular housing 2 is provided with lugs 13 and 14 (Fig. 2) spaced from its right hand end and which are bent laterally inwardly after the worm with the guide member secured thereto has been placed within the tubular housing 2. The

lugs

13 and 14 are thus disposed between the neck washer portion 5 and the guide portion 7 of the guide member so that axial movement of the worm 3 within the housing 2 is limited on the one hand by engagement between the neck washer portion 5 and the right hand end surface of the tubular housing 2 upon tightening the band clip and on the other hand by engagement between the neck washer portion 5 and the

lugs

13 and 14 when the band clip is loosened. The worm 3 is thus retained within the housing 2.

The circular aperture 7a of the guide portion 7 is dimensioned to fit freely around the head 3b of the worm 3 and is axially positioned with respect to the screw driver blade receiving slot 6 so that it eifectively closes both ends of the slot 6, thereby guiding a screwdriver blade in engagement with the slot 6 and preventing it from slipping sidewise out of the slot 6 in all positions of rotation of the worm 3.

In operation, the worm 3 is turned in a clock-wise direction as viewed in Fig. 2 to effect tightening of the clip. The helical thread 3a of the Worm engages a few of the teeth 1b formed in the outer surface of the toothed portion of the band 1. As viewed in Fig 1, during tightening of the clip, the free end 1a of the circular band 1 is drawn toward the right, producing a force of reaction toward the left acting along lower edge of the helical thread of the Worm 3. This force of reaction produces a turning moment tending to rotate or tilt the longitudinal axis of the worm 3 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1. Since the left end of worm 3 cannot move upwardly, being restrained by the crown of the tubular housing 2, the right end with the head 31) tends to move downwardly or radially inwardly causing a corresponding movement of the guide member whose base portion 10 is pressed into frictional engagement with the outer sur face of the toothed end portion of the band 1, interfering engagement with the teeth 1b being prevented by the fact that they are flush with the outer surface of the band.

In the modified embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 8 to 10, the guide member is formed in two parts comprising a neck washer member 15 which is initially open at its top at 16 (Fig. 9) permitting it to be assembled about the neck portion 4 of the Worm 3. The neck washer member 15 is provided with a flange 17 which is pressed into frictional engagement with the outer surface of the toothed end portion of the band 1 when the band clip is tightened, as described above. The guide aperture 18 is formed in an auxiliary member 19 which comprises a horizontally extending lug portion 2t) having a notch 21 formed in its free end which permits it to be clamped or squeezed into permanently assembled engagement with upstanding lug portions 22 of the neck washer member 15 as shown in Fig. 10.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed In a worm-geared band clip of the class described, in combination with a helically threaded worm having a head of circular cross section with a screwdriver blade receiving slot formed therein, said slot being open at both ends and extending diametrically across the entire face of said head, and a neck portion of reduced diameter intermediate said head and the threads of said worm, the provision of a guide member comprising a neck washer portion carried by said worm and engaging said worm neck portion, said engagement permitting rotation of said worm therein, said guide member comprising a circularly apertured guide portion, said head passing freely through said aperture and being completely encircled by said guide portion, said guide portion being fixed with respect to said neck washer portion and spaced therefrom, said guide portion being axially positioned with respect to said worm head to substantially close the open ends of said slot, whereby a screwdriver blade in engagement with said slot will be guided and prevented from slipping sidewise out of one of its open ends in all positions of rotation of the worm, and a tubular housing in which said worm is rotatably disposed, said housing comprising an end surface engageable with one side of said neck washer portion and lugs spaced from said end surface and engageable with the other side of said neck washer portion whereby axial movement of said worm in said housing is limited and said worm is retained therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 536,267 Great Britain May 8, 1941