WO2002035905A2

WO2002035905A2 - Clip for securing a long object, for example a pipe, a flexible tube or a cable

Info

Publication number: WO2002035905A2
Application number: PCT/EP2001/012648
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ferdinand Seeberger
Original assignee: Ferdinand Seeberger
Priority date: 2000-10-31
Filing date: 2001-10-31
Publication date: 2002-05-10
Also published as: DE10053882A1; WO2002035905A3; AU2002229526A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a clip (10) for securing a long object, for example a pipe, a flexible tube or a cable. Said clip comprises a clip body which is made from a manufactured strip which encompasses the object in the circumferential direction of the clip. Two parts of the body (14, 16), which are separated in the circumferential direction of the clip can be connected to form a clip body. Disposed on one (14) of the clip bodies (14, 16) is a mounting element (24) used for securing the clip (10) onto a construction (12). Said mounting element is embodied in the form of a nut (24) arranged in an area on the peripheral end (18) of the corresponding part of the clip body (14) and the covering thereof is produced by folding the corresponding part of the clip body (14), made of said manufactured strip, to form a single piece with said body part. Said clip (10) can also be produced in a simple manner. Welding steps can also be omitted.

Description

Clamp for holding an elongated object, such as a pipe, hose or cable

description

The invention relates to a clamp for holding an elongated object, such as a pipe, hose or cable, with a clamp body made of a strip material and wrapping around the object in a clamp circumferential direction, which is formed from two clamp part bodies which are separate in the clamp circumferential direction and connectable to the clamp body. wherein a mounting element serving to fasten the clamp to a supporting structure is arranged on one of the clamp part bodies.

In the case of clamps of this type, the mounting element (often a screw nut; clamps with a screw bolt as a mounting element are also known separately) has so far been produced separately from the clamp body and then attached to one of the partial clamp bodies by welding. Since the clamp part bodies can generally be formed from the strip material solely by bending and, if desired, embossing, the welding of the mounting element entails increased machine and cost expenditure in the form of an additional one

Welding station with itself. In addition, there are costs for the separate assembly element, which the clamp manufacturer generally sources from a third-party manufacturer. The latter cost factor can be insignificant insofar as in the case of mass production of a product, small additional costs per piece can add up to a considerable total amount. , The invention is therefore based on the technical problem of providing a clamp of the type described at the outset, which can be produced with less effort.

To solve this problem, it is provided according to the invention that the mounting element is designed as a screw nut arranged in the region of a peripheral end of the associated clamp part body, the nut shell of which is produced in one piece with the associated clamp part body from the strip material by bending processing thereof.

Due to the one-piece design of the screw nut with one of the clamp part bodies, welding processes for attaching the screw nut to the clamp body are eliminated in the solution according to the invention. There is therefore no need for a welding station in the manufacturing process of the clamps. Also, no separate nuts have to be bought. Rather, the manufacture of the screw nut can easily be integrated into the process of manufacturing the clamp part body. A few bending processes are sufficient to form the nut jacket, which, together with the bending processes used to form the clamp part bodies, can be carried out in a single pass of the strip material through an automatic punching and bending machine or a progressive tool. The additional effort for bending the nut jacket will be negligible. A corresponding adjustment of the punching and bending machine will be easily possible.

The one-piece construction between the screw nut and one of the clamp part bodies also avoids the risk of poor weld quality and thus poor resilience of the welded connection, which under unfavorable circumstances could lead to the clamp body tearing off the screw nut, for example if it is particularly heavy Cables or pipes are to be held with the clamp. The arrangement of the screw nut on a circumferential end of one of the clamp part bodies makes it possible to easily form the nut jacket from an end section of a strip cut to length from the strip material.

In terms of bending technology, it is particularly simple if the nut jacket is bent into a polygonal, in particular square, shape.

In order to form a screw thread on the inner circumferential surface of the nut shell, a groove arrangement can be pressed into the nut shell with an embossing tool. Nevertheless, it is not excluded to cut or form the screw thread in the material of the nut casing in a conventional manner.

It must be ensured that the screw nut does not bend under load and, in the worst case, even bends open. For this purpose, the preferred measure is that a tongue arrangement is integrally formed on the nut jacket, which is threaded through an opening in the associated clamp part body and bent behind the opening edge thereof. As a result, the nut jacket can be stabilized in a deformation-resistant manner.

In the case of the two-part clamps considered here, it is known per se to design the two clamp part bodies in the region of one of their ends adjacent in the circumferential direction of the clamp with cooperating engagement elements which can be hooked into one another for connecting the clamp part bodies. If desired, irrespective of the material uniformity of the screw nut with one of the clamp part bodies, a simplification in terms of design can be achieved in that the engagement element of one of the clamp part bodies is formed by the mounting element and this in a window formed in the other clamp part body can be attached. In this way, no additional engagement element has to be integrally formed on the clamp part body designed with the mounting element.

Also, if necessary, regardless of the material uniformity of the screw nut with one of the clamp part bodies, it can be provided that one of the two clamp part bodies, in particular the clamp part body made with the mounting element, extends in the clamp circumferential direction over an angle of more than 180 degrees. This has the advantage that the object which is to be held with the clamp can be inserted into this part of the clamp body and does not fall out, even if the clamp is not yet closed. This results in a simplified handling when the clamp is subsequently closed. Both hands are then available for this task without the pipe or cable having to be held in the clamp with one hand. It is understood that the one clamp part body may only extend over such an angle that the space existing between the circumferential ends of this clamp part body is not too narrow to insert the object into the clamp part body or to place the clamp part body on the object. It has proven to be particularly favorable if the one clamp part body extends over an angle between 190 and 230 degrees, preferably between 200 and 220 degrees.

The two clamp part bodies can preferably be clamped together by screwing on adjacent clamping ends in the circumferential direction of the clamp. If the mounting element is then arranged on the one clamp part body in the region of its circumferential end opposite the clamping end of this clamp part body, the position of the screw connection which is ergonomically advantageous for the installer can be achieved, at which the clamping ends of the clamp part bodies are screwed together to close the clamp , The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. They represent:

1 shows an embodiment of the clamp according to the invention in a closed state,

FIG. 2 schematically shows an end region of a sheet metal strip cut to length from a strip material to form a screw nut, from which one of two clamp part bodies of the clamp of FIG. 1 is formed, FIG.

3 is a schematic perspective of an intermediate phase when bending the sheet metal strip of FIG. 2 to form the screw nut,

4 is a schematic perspective of the final stage of the screw nut formed by bending,

5 is a plan view of an engagement end of the other clamp part body intended for engagement with the screw nut and

6 shows a schematic perspective of the two clamp part bodies in the region of the clamping ends at which the clamp part bodies can be screwed together.

1 shows a two-part pipe clamp, generally designated 10, which serves to hold a pipe, a cable, a hose or the like. For this purpose, the clamp 10 can be mounted on a support structure denoted by 12. The support structure 12 can be, for example, a wall of a room in which the pipe or the like is to be laid, or a separate holding component mounted on the wall. The clamp 10 has two clamp body parts which are separated in a circumferential direction of the clamp and are essentially curved in the form of a circular arc 14, 16 on. The clamp part bodies 14, 16 are both made of sheet metal strips which are cut to length from strip steel, suitably cut to size by punching and then bent to their final shape.

The two clamp part bodies 14, 16 each have an engagement end 18 and a clamping end 20 in the clamp circumferential direction. With their engagement ends 18, the two clamp part bodies 14, 16 can be hooked into one another. The clamp part bodies 14, 16 can be screwed together at their clamping ends 20 by a clamping screw 22. In this way, the clamp part bodies 14, 16 can be assembled into a clamp body that completely wraps around the pipe or the like, and the clamp 10 can be closed.

On one of the clamp part bodies 14, 16 - here the clamp part body 14 - a screw nut 24 is arranged, by means of which the clamp 10 can be mounted on a bolt 26 anchored in the supporting structure 12. The screw nut 24 is arranged in the region of a circumferential end of the clamp part body 14, specifically in the region of the engagement end 18 of the clamp part body 1. It is made in one piece with the clamp part body 14 by being bent together with the clamp part body 14 from a single sheet metal strip cut to a suitable length from the steel strip. Fig. 2 shows part of such a sheet metal strip. This is designated 28 in FIG. 2. In the area of a strip end, the sheet metal strip 28 is cut to size by punching in such a way that a rectangular material section 30 is cut free, which hangs in the middle on a residual material section 32 of the sheet metal strip 28 and has tongues 34 on its two edge regions opposite in the transverse direction of the strip, which tongues 34 toward this residual material section 32 protrude from the material section 30. In order to form the screw nut 24, the material section 30 is first bent along mutually parallel folding lines 36, which are drawn in dashed lines in FIG. 2 and extend in the longitudinal direction of the strip, to form a rectangular cylinder 38, from which the tongues 34 continue to protrude in the direction of the residual material section 32 , This rectangular cylinder 38 can be clearly seen in FIG. 3. Specifically, the material section 30 is bent such that both tongues 34 protrude from the upper rectangular side of the rectangular cylinder 38 in FIG. 3. This upper side of the rectangle of the rectangular cylinder 38 is accordingly formed in half by one of the two edge regions of the material section 30 opposite in the transverse direction of the strip. These edge regions of the material section 30 are designated by 40.

Then the rectangular cylinder 38 is erected by bending it on its cylinder base connected to the remaining material section 32 of the sheet metal strip 28 about a fold line 42 parallel to the transverse direction of the strip, which is shown in broken lines in FIG. 3. The tongues 34 move towards the residual material section 32. They are threaded through an opening 44 formed in the residual material section 32 and, after being threaded through the opening 44, are bent flat onto the residual material section 32, as indicated by dashed lines in FIG. 4. In this way it is achieved that the rectangular cylinder 38 is held together and is not bent open under load. It is thus possible to dispense with welding or soldering the edge regions 40 which are adjacent after the material section 30 has been bent.

The rectangular cylinder 38 thus erected forms the nut jacket of the screw nut 24. In order that the screw nut 24 can be screwed onto the screw bolt 26, a screw thread must also be machined into the inner peripheral surface of the nut jacket 38. The screw thread is preferably attached by arranging grooves in the rectangular sides of the nut shell 38 using an embossing tool 46 is pressed. For example, a conventional tap can be used as the embossing tool. However, the grooves 46 are not cut into the nut jacket 38 by rotation of the thread cutter, but are simply pressed in without rotation of the thread cutter. Of course, it goes without saying that cutting or shaping the screw thread is not excluded within the scope of the invention. The grooves 46 are preferably incorporated into the bent nut jacket 38. Nevertheless, it is fundamentally conceivable to instead incorporate the grooves 46 into the still flat material section 30 before the nut jacket 38 is bent.

The screw nut 24 is preferably designed with a double thread which, starting from the open end of the screw nut 24 with which it is placed on the screw bolt 26, first has a first thread of larger thread diameter (for example M8) and then a second thread of smaller thread diameter (for example M6). In this way, the clamp 10 can be used in a variety of ways, and depending on the specific application and his own preferences, the fitter can select a suitable diameter for the screw bolt 26. The smaller thread can be realized, for example, by means of a separate insert which is inserted into the nut jacket 38 and fixed therein. It is also conceivable to form both threads directly into the material of the nut shell 38.

FIG. 5 shows the area of the engagement end 18 of the other clamp part body 16. It can be seen that in this area a window 48 is cut out of the clamp part body 16, into which the screw nut 24 can be hung when the two clamp part bodies 14, 16 are assembled. Due to the anchoring of the screw nut 24 by the bent tongues 34, there is no danger that tensile forces exerted by the clamp part body 16 on the screw nut 24 via the window edge of the window 48 will become one Tear out the screw nut 24. The window 48 is dimensioned and the clamp part body 16 is shaped in the area of its engaging end 18 so that the two clamp part bodies 14, 16 - if they are suspended in one another - can be moved in a hinge-like manner relative to one another. The. Clamp 10 can be easily opened by opening the two clamp part bodies 14, 16 to such an extent that the tube or the like can be inserted into the clamp 10 without problems.

A radial bulge 50 (see FIGS. 1 and 5) produced by embossing in each of the clamp part bodies 14, 16, which extends in the circumferential direction over a large part of the length of the respective clamp part body 14, 16, serves to stiffen the clamp part bodies 14, 16.

In the area of their clamping ends 20, both clamp part bodies 14, 16 each have an essentially radially projecting clamping flange 52 or 54 (see FIGS. 1 and 6). When the clamp part bodies 14, 16 are in the assembled state, the clamping flanges 52, 54 lie essentially flat against one another and can be clamped together by the clamping screw 22. One of the clamp part bodies 14, 16 - here the clamp part body 16 - has in its clamping flange 54 a threaded hole 56 into which the clamping screw 22 can be screwed. The clamping flange 52 of the other of the clamp part bodies 14, 16 - here the clamp part body 14 - has an edge recess 60 formed on a flange side edge 58, the width of which is smaller than the head diameter of the clamping screw 22, but larger than the shaft diameter. The clamping flange 52 can thus be pushed with its edge recess 60 ahead onto the threaded shaft of the clamping screw 22 from the side and can be clamped between its head and the clamping flange 54 by tightening the clamping screw 22.

A stop lug 62 is formed on the clamping flange 54 and forms a stop for an edge 58 opposite the flange side edge Flange side edge 64 of the clamping flange 52 forms. If the clamping flange 52 is pushed onto the threaded shaft of the clamping screw 22 and lies on the clamping flange 54, the stop lug 62 prevents the two clamping flanges 52, 54 from accidentally falling apart again. In. namely, the clamping flange 52 strikes one direction with the bottom of its edge recess 60 on the clamping screw 22, in the other direction it strikes the stop lug 62 with its flange side edge 64. There is thus a securing against loss, which avoids that the fitter has to use one hand to hold the clamping flanges 52, 54 together when he wants to close the clamp 10.

From Fig. 1 it can also be seen that the two clamp part bodies 14, 16 extend in the clamp circumferential direction over unequal angles. Specifically, the clamp part body 14 designed with the screw nut 24 extends over an angle of approximately 200 to 210 degrees, while the clamp part body 16 extends over a correspondingly smaller angle. It is thus possible to insert the pipe or the like into the clamp part body 14 without the pipe falling out, even if the clamp 10 is not yet closed and the clamping screw 22 has not yet been tightened. This applies even if the clamp 10 is mounted with a screw nut 24 on top, for example on a ceiling.

Another advantage, which results from the inequal angular extent of the clamp part bodies 14, 16, lies in the ergonomic area. 1, in which the clamp 10 is attached to a vertical support structure 12, it can be seen that the clamping screw 22, which is arranged approximately tangentially to the circumferential direction of the clamp, is at an angle to the vertical and horizontal. This inclined position of the clamping screw 22 allows the fitter particularly easy access to the screw head. He does not have to bend his hands unnecessarily to be able to tighten the clamping screw 22. A comparable spatial inclined position of the clamping screw 22 also arises when attaching the clamp 10 to a horizontal support structure, such as on the ceiling of a room.

Claims

Expectations

1.Clamp for holding an elongated object, such as a pipe, hose or cable, with a clamp body made of a band material (28), which wraps around the object in a clamp circumferential direction and which consists of two clamp part bodies (14 that are separate in the circumferential direction of the clamp and connectable to the clamp body , 16), one (14) of the clamp part body (14, 16) having a mounting element (24) serving to fasten the clamp (10) to a superordinate construction (12), characterized in that the mounting element (24) is designed as a screw nut arranged in the region of a peripheral end (18) of the associated clamp part body (14), the nut jacket (38) of which is made in one piece with the associated clamp part body (14) from the band material (28) by bending processing thereof.

2. Clamp according to claim 1, characterized in that the nut jacket (38) is bent to a polygonal, in particular square shape.

3. Clamp according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a groove arrangement (46) with an embossing tool is pressed into the nut jacket (38) to form a screw thread of the screw nut (24).

4. Clamp according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that on the nut jacket (38) a tongue arrangement (34) is integrally formed, which is threaded through an opening (44) in the associated clamp part body (14) and bent behind the opening edge ,

5. Clamp according to one of claims 1 to 4 or the preamble of claim 1, wherein the two clamp part bodies (14, 16) in the region of one (18) of their adjacent ends in the clamp circumferential direction (18, 20) with interacting engagement elements (24, 48) are executed, which can be hooked into one another for connecting the clamp part bodies (14, 16), characterized in that the engagement element (24) of one (14) of the clamp part bodies (14, 16) is formed by the mounting element (24) and this in a the other clamp part body (16) formed window (48) can be hung.

6. Clamp according to one of claims 1 to 5 or the preamble of claim 1, characterized in that one (14) of the two clamp part body (14, 16), in particular with the mounting element (24) executed clamp part body (14), in Clamp circumferential direction extends over an angle of more than 180 degrees.

7. Clamp according to claim 6, characterized in that the one clamp part body (14) extends over an angle between 190 and 230 degrees, preferably between 200 and 220 degrees.

8. Clamp according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the two clamp part bodies (14, 16) at adjacent clamp ends (20) in the circumferential direction of the clamp can be clamped together by screwing and that the mounting element (24) on the one clamp part body (14) is arranged in the area of the circumferential end (18) thereof which is opposite the clamping end (20) of this clamp part body (14).