US3745638A - Clamping device including lateral adjustment means thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

A clamping device is provided having a pair of adjustable members for gripping and clamping a surface therebetween. A bolt is threaded through an aperture formed on one of the members for laterally aligning an element adjacent the surface being clamped by the members. In this manner, an element such as an angle iron may be moved into position on a clamped surface such as a flat bar prior to welding the element to the surface.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 Minera July 17, 1973 [54] CLAMPING DEVICE INCLUDING LATERAL 2,606,583 8/1952 OjConnor 269/41 X ADJUSTMENT MEANS THEREON 3,245,678 4/1966 Riehle 3,469,299 9/1969 Rogers 29/200 P Salvador A. Minera, 1921 Taraual St., San Francisco, Calif. 94116 Filed: June 9, 1971 Appl. N0.: 151,290

Inventor:

US.Cl 29/271, 269/315, 228/4, 269/271 Int. Cl B25b 27/14 Field of Search 269/37, 41, 45, 97, 269/304, 315, 305, 271', 228/57, 4; 29/200 P, 203 P, 271, 464, 283; 8l/5.l R; 81/420 References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 12/1910 Jensen 269/97 X 6/1928 Hyler 269/37 X Primary ExaminerRobert C. Riordon Assistant Examiner.l. C. Peters Attorney-Mellin, Moore & Weissenberger [57] ABSTRACT A clamping device is provided having a pair of adjustable members for gripping and clamping a surface therebetween. A bolt is threaded through an aperture formed on one of the members for laterally aligning an element adjacent the surface being clamped by the members. In this manner, an element such as an angle iron may be moved into position on a clamped surface such as a flat bar prior to welding the element to the surface. 7

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F|G 11 SALVADOR A. MINERA ll5 BY 7)L@Z&,L,- W PW I ATTORNEYS CLAMPING DEVICE INCLUDING LATERAL ADJUSTMENT MEANS THEREON BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to clamping devices, and more particularly, to a device for gripping and clamping a first element therebetween while laterally adjusting a second element with respect to the first element.

2. Description of the Prior Art Various devices are known in the art for gripping and clamping bars, fiat surfaces, etc. These devices generally take the form of C-shaped clamps, vice grip pliers, etc. In some cases, it is desired to grasp and clamp a first element, such as a flat bar, then align a second element, such as an angle iron, in position on the bar prior to welding the iron to the bar. However, although such elements may be manually aligned, minute adjustments are difficult to make and require a setup and checking approach until the desired position is reached.

There therefore exists a need for a quick method for aligning such elements together. Such means should be able to align one element at any desired angle to another. Further, such means should be relatively inexpensive, simple to use and accurate for the purposes intended.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide a device for gripping and clamping a first element while permitting lateral adjustment of a second element with respect to the first element.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a device which permits adjustment of the second element at any desired angular relation with respect to the first element.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide such a device which can be inexpensively manufactured, is simple to use and is adapted to be used with certain existing clamping devices.

These and other objects are preferably accomplished by providing a device having a pair of adjustable members for gripping and clamping a surface therebetween. A bolt is threadedthrough an aperture formed on one of the members for laterally aligning anelement adjacent the surface being clamped by the members. In this manner, an element such as an angle iron may be moved into position on a clamped surface such as a flat bar prior to welding the element to the surface.

Various embodiments are presented. More than one aperture may be used extending in various directions to thereby compensate for different positions of the element being welded. Spring biasing means may be used to securely hold the element being welded in position on the surface being clamped.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a vertical side view of a clamping device in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the device of FIG. 1 as used FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a modified upper gripping surface of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a fragmented vertical side view of still another modification of the clamping device of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are end views of still other modifications of the clamping device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a side view of the modification of FIG. 10, and

FIG. 12 is a vertical side view of another embodiment of a clamping device in accordance with my invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, aclamping device 10 is shown in the general configuration of a pair of vice grip pliers or the like. Thus,device 10 includes a pair of upper and lower levers II and 12, respectively. Upper lever 11 is pivotally joined at its forward end to alower gripping member 13, atpivot point 14. Thus, upper lever 11 andlower gripping member 13 form a pair ofgripping surfaces 15 and 16, respectively. Thesesurfaces 15 and 16 may be serrated or the like, as atteeth 17, so as to provide a positive grip for elements being clasped bysurfaces 15 and 16. Lower grippingmember 13 is in turn pivotally joined atpivot point 18 tolower lever 12.

Adjustment of the distance betweengripping surfaces 15 and 16 is provided by means of aspring 18 joined at one end to ahook 19 on the inner surface of upper lever 11 and at the other end to anaperture 20 inlower gripping member 13. A connectingmember 21 is pivotally joined atpivot point 22 to lever 12 and at the upper end thereof is pivotally joined to a U-shapedmember 23.Member 23 has a portion (not shown) slidable within one end of a threadedbolt 24 which includes abolt head 25 extending out of upper lever l I. In this manner,bolt 24 may be turned to pivot aboutpoint 22 to movesurfaces 15 and 16 together. Thus,device 10 may grip a bar or flat surface or the like, then locked into clamping position by squeezingmembers 11 and 12.

Such a device is well known in the art and forms no particular part of my invention. Thus, any suitable gripping and clamping device may be used. Accordingly, the particular inventive feature of my device will now be described. However, such feature may be applied to various clamping devices, one other example of which will be given further hereinbelow.

Thus, a threaded aperture 26 (see also FIG. 2) is formed in upper lever 11. Abolt 27 having abolt head 28 is threaded withinaperture 26. It can be seen that by turningbolt head 28,bolt 27 is laterally adjustable with respect todevice 10.

In operation, with particular reference to FIG. 2, it is frequently necessary in the assembly of many machines or the like to make extremely small lateral adjustments when spot-welding or the like. For example, it may be desired to weld an angle iron to a flat bar. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2,device 10 is clamped ontoflat bar 29 in the manner set forth hereinabove.Arrow 30 onflat bar 29 indicates the point at which it is desired to spotweld theangle iron 31 tobar 29. Thisarrow 30 may be a line or the like drawn onbar 29 to indicate the exact location desired. In order to moveangle iron 31 onbar 29 to the right that is, in the direction ofarrow 32 so that theiron 31 may be spot-welded at point orarrow 30 such minute adjustment may be accomplished by merely turningbolt head 28 until it abuts againstangle iron 31 atpoint 33, then further turninghead 28 untilangle iron 31 is aligned with point orarrow 30. At this time, spot-welding or the like ofiron 31 tobar 29 may be carried out.

During all of the foregoing,bar 29 is firmly clamped within thegripping surfaces 15 and 16 ofdevice 10. The minute adjustment ofangle iron 31 onbar 29 is carried out quickly and easily in a more accurate manner than mere manual alignment would accomplish.

Althoughaperture 26 andbolt 27 is shown on upper lever 11, which forms the upper gripping member ofdevice 10, obviously such aperture and bolt may be located on lower grippingmember 13 which includeslower lever 12. This is shown in FIG. 3 wherein a plurality of such apertures are shown with the bolts in most cases omitted for convenience of illustration (i.e., the bolts could obviously be interchangeable within the particular aperture desired).

Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, wherein like numerals refer to like parts of FIG. 1, a plurality of spaced threadedapertures 33, 34 are formed in lower grippingmember 13 and a plurality of spacedapertures 35, 36 are formed in the upper gripping member (i.e., lever 11). Obviously, the particular number and placement ofapertures 33 through 36 is a matter of choice. However, preferably apertures 35 and 36 are vertically aligned for reasons to be discussed hereinbelow with respect to FIG. 9. Also, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, similar apertures may extend in a direction substantially normal toapertures 35 and 36. Thus, as shown particularly in FIG. 4, abolt 37 is threaded inupper aperture 35 while abolt 38 may be threaded within anaperture 39 crosswise to aperture 35 (of course, both bolts may not be inserted at the same time). In this manner, various alignments similar to those discussed with respect to FIG. 1 may be accomplished.

Also, as shown in FIG. 5, the apertures in lever 11 may not be necessarily vertically aligned as shown byapertures 40 and 41. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, in addition to one or more apertures such as 33 and 34 which may extend in a direction substantially parallel to the plane ofsurfaces 16 and 17, a threadedaperture 43 may extend normal toaperture 42 and parallel to the plane formed by grippingsurfaces 15 and 16.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, wherein only lever l 1 is shown, theapertures 45 and 46 formed therein may extend at an angle with respect to a plane normal to the plane formed by grippingsurfaces 15, 16. Thus,bolt 47, threaded inaperture 45, extends through lever 11 at both an angular relationship with regard toaperture 46 e.g., at an angle of about 45 with respect toaperture 46 and also parallel to the plane of grippingsurfaces 15, 16.

As shown in FIG. 8, wherein primed numerals refer to like parts of FIGS. 1 through 7, asocket 48 may be formed or otherwise associated with upper lever 11'.Socket 48 is adapted to receiveball 49 therein and retain it in place.Ball 49 is adapted to extend into a position whereby it comes into contact withmember 50.Member 50 may be separable from device and is generally of a configuration whereby it has acavity 51 on its upper surface for receivingball 49 therein when gripping surfaces and 16' are clamped into position. Of course, any suitable locking means may be provided. Thus,ball 49 is locked" into position by abutment ofmember 50 and remains stationary when device 10' is clamped as discussed hereinabove.

Ball 49 has a threadedaperture 52 extending therethrough for receiving a threaded bolt therein (not shown). Thus, a universal pivot is provided whereby various angular lateral adjustments may be made via baIl-and-socket 48, 49 when device 10' is clamped into position.

Still other modifications of my invention are shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. Thus, in FIG. 9, a clamping device is shown similar todevice 10 of FIG. 1. A bar 101 or the like is shown clamped between upper and lowergripping members 102 and 103. Anaperture 104 extends through upper grippingmember 102 and has abolt 105 threaded therethrough all in the manner ofdevice 10 of FIG. 1. However, in this modification, a laterally extending extension portion 106 is secured or otherwise integral with the top of upper grippingmember 102. Obviously, this portion 106 may extend on either side of grippingmember 102 or even be movable relative thereto and locked into the desired position. Portion 106 thus extends generally normal to the plane formed by grippingmembers 103 and 104 and generally parallel to the surface being gripped (i.e., bar 101). A threaded aperture 107 is formed in extension portion 106 and abolt 108 is threaded therein. Aspring 109 may be disposed between extension portion 106 and the element being welded to bar 101 (here, angle iron 110). If desired, one end of thisspmg 109 may be spotwelded as at weld 111 to extension portion 106. The other end ofspring 109 preferably does not extend below the upper surface of bar 101 in its uncompressed state. The tension ofspring 109 is selected so that it maintainsangle iron 110 in a relatively stable position on bar 101 prior to welding. Thespring 109 surrounds the portion ofbolt 109 between angle iron 1 l0 and extension portion 106.

In operation,device 100 is clamped onto bar 101 as discussed hereinabove.Angle iron 110 is located on bar 101 andbolt 108 andspring 109 is placed in the position shown in FIG. 9 to holdiron 110 in fixed position relative to bar 101.Bolt 105 may be used to align the end ofangle iron 110 with a point on bar 101 (indicated by arrow 112).

If desired, a clamping device similar todevice 10 of FIG. 1 may also be clamped to bar 101 on the other side ofdevice 100. In addition,device 100 may include a plurality of threaded apertures in the manner discussed hereinabove with respect to FIGS. 3 through 8. Further, the ball-and-socket means of the device of FIG. 8 may be applied todevice 100.

Another modification of clampingdevice 10 of FIG. 1 is shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. Here,device 113 includes upper and lower gripping members 1 l4 and 115 having abar 116 clamped therebetween. One or more threaded apertures,aperture 117, for example, extends through upper gripping member 1 14 and has abolt 118 threaded therein, all in the manner discussed hereinabove with respect to the device of FIG. 1.

Anextension portion 119 is secured to or otherwise integral with upper gripping member 114 and extends in a direction substantially parallel to bar 116 as shown. An aperture is formed inextension portion 119 and has abolt 120 threaded therein. The end ofportion 119 may be enlarged, as shown, if desired. An element is shown disposed onbar 116, such as ablock 121.Block 121 has anaperture 122 extending therethrough having abolt 123 extending therethrough.Bolt head 124 is at the top ofblock 121 and the lower end thereof extends through aslot 125 or the like inbar 116. It is desired to properly align the lower end ofbolt 123 inslot 125 before threadingnut 126 thereon. As can be seen in FIG. 10, abutment ofblock 121 by means of bothbolts 118 and 120 would move block 121 alongbar 116 to its desired location.

As discussed hereinabove with respect to theclamp ing device 100 of FIG. 9, obviously various apertures and a ball-and-socket arrangement may be also provided ondevice 113 of FIGS. and 11.

It has been stated hereinabove that the concepts of my invention are not limited to theclamping device 10 of FIG. 1. Thus, the techniques of my invention may be adapted to a conventional C-clamp or the like, such asclamp 53 of FIG. 12.Clamp 53 includes a main C- shapedbody portion 54 having a threadedaperture 55 formed in oneleg 56 ofbody portion 54. Anadjustable bolt 57 having abolt head 58 at one end and'a lower gripping and clampingmember 59 at the other end is threaded inaperture 55. Theother leg 60 forms an upper gripping member whereby abar 61 or the like may be clamped between upper and lowergripping members 59 and 60, respectively. Alever 62 passes through anaperture 63 formed inbolt head 58 fortuming bolt 57 within aperture 55 (and thus adjustingclamp 53 to grip or clamp it to bar 61). Again, the foregoing has described a conventional clamp which may be adapted to carry out the techniques of my invention.

Thus, a threadedaperture 64 is formed in lower grippingmember 59 similar toaperture 26 of FIG. 2. Thisaperture 64 also extends generally parallel to the plane of thegripping surfaces 65 and 66 formed by upper and lowergripping members 59 and 60, respectively. In like manner, a second threaded aperture 67 may also be formed in lower grippingmember 59 spaced fromaperture 64. Athird aperture 68 havingbolt 68 threaded therein may extend generally normal to aperture 67 and also generally parallel to the plane of grippingsurfaces 65 and 66. Of course, any number of such apertures may be provided extending at any desired angle as discussed hereinabove with regard to FIGS. 1 through 8. Also, a ball-and-socket arrangement may be provided on eithergripping members 59 and 60 as discussed hereinabove with regard to FIG. 8. In that case, however, the member would have to be enlarged to provide for means for locking the ball in a stationary position within its socket (not shown).

Leg 60 may be provided with anextension portion 69 on the upper surface thereof. Thisportion 69 may also include a plurality of spacedthreadedapertures. Thus, vertically alignedapertures 70 through 72 may be provided generally parallel to the plane of grippingsurfaces 65, 66. Like apertures73 through 75 may also be provided extending generally normal toapertures 70 through 72 (in the manner of the apertures of FIG. 4) and also generally parallel to the plane of grippingsurfaces 65, 66.

As shown in FIG. 12,bolts 76 and 77 are threaded inapertures 73 and 75, respectively. These bolts may vary in overall length, if desired. Assuming that it is desired to spot-weld element 78 to bar 61 at a desired angle thereto,bolts 76 and 77 may be moved varying lengths to their dotted line positions 76' and 77 until they abut againstelement 78 and move it a minute distance until the desired angle is reached. At this point,element 78 may be readily welded to bar 61. This feature of the device of FIG. 9 also applies to the device of FIGS. 3 and 4.

Again, one or more ball-and-socket arrangements (not shown) may be provided onleg 60 in the manner of the arrangement of FIG. 8. Any suitable means may be provided for holding such ball stationary within its socket, such.as a threaded set-screw or the like (not shown) extending throughextension portion 69 into contact with the ball. Also, the particular number and angular relation of apertures through may be varied in the manner discussed hereinabove with regard to FIGS. 1 through 8.

It can be seen from the foregoing that I have described a relatively economical and simple arrangement whereby a clamping device may be used to align certain elements with the element being clamped. Although various embodiments have been set forth, the basic concept is that adjustment means is provided on the device for vertically aligning such elements in a manner permitting relatively minute lateral adjustments.

I claim:

1. A clamping device comprising:

a pair of upper and lower elongated levers, the upper lever pivotally connected at one end to a lower gripping member and the lower lever also pivotally connected at one end to a point on said lower gripping member remote from the point of connection of said upper lever thereto;

gripping means disposed onvboth said upper lever and said gripping member for grasping an element clamped'by said device when said upper and lower levers and said lower gripping member are pivoted together, said gripping means including a first gripping surface on said upper lever and a second gripping surface on said lower gripping member, both of said surfaces being moved into juxtaposed relationship when said upper and lower levers and said lower gripping member are pivoted together;

means operatively connected to all of said upper and lower levers and said lower gripping member for varying the distance between said gripping surfaces, locking said upper lever and said lower gripping member against said element when said element is gripped between said gripping surfaces, and quickly releasing said element after gripping said element between said gripping surface,

a first threaded aperture extending through said upper lever in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the gripping surfaces of said upper lever and said lower gripping member and generally normal to the longitudinal axis of said upper lever; 1

a second threaded aperture extending in a direction substantially normal to said first-mentioned aperture and substantially parallel to the plane of the gripping surfaces of said upper lever and said lower gripping member; and

an elongated threaded bolt removably threaded into each of said apertures of a length greater than the overall length of said apertures.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said apertures lie in the same plane.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein each of said bolts include a bolt head at one end thereof for adjusting said bolt with respect to said aperture.

elongated threaded aperture extending through the lower gripping member in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the gripping surfaces of said upper lever and said lower gripping member; and

an elongated threaded bolt of a length greater than said last-mentioned aperture removably threaded into said last-mentioned aperture.

1: a a: a:

Claims (5)

1. A clamping device comprising: a pair of upper and lower elongated levers, the upper lever pivotally connected at one end to a lower gripping member and the lower lever also pivotally connected at one end to a point on said lower gripping member remote from the point of connection of said upper lever thereto; gripping means disposed on both said upper lever and said gripping member for grasping an element clamped by said device when said upper and lower levers and said lower gripping member are pivoted together, said gripping means including a first gripping surface on said upper lever and a second gripping surface on said lower gripping member, both of said surfaces being moved into juxtaposed relationship when said upper and lower levers and said lower gripping member are pivoted together; means operatively connected to all of said upper and lower levers And said lower gripping member for varying the distance between said gripping surfaces, locking said upper lever and said lower gripping member against said element when said element is gripped between said gripping surfaces, and quickly releasing said element after gripping said element between said gripping surface; a first threaded aperture extending through said upper lever in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the gripping surfaces of said upper lever and said lower gripping member and generally normal to the longitudinal axis of said upper lever; a second threaded aperture extending in a direction substantially normal to said first-mentioned aperture and substantially parallel to the plane of the gripping surfaces of said upper lever and said lower gripping member; and an elongated threaded bolt removably threaded into each of said apertures of a length greater than the overall length of said apertures.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said apertures lie in the same plane.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein each of said bolts include a bolt head at one end thereof for adjusting said bolt with respect to said aperture.

4. The device of claim 1 further including a plurality of threaded apertures extending through said upper lever, at least two of said plurality of apertures extending in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the gripping surfaces of said upper lever and said lower gripping mem-ber and at least two of said plurality of apertures extending in a direction substantially normal to the first-mentioned two apertures.

5. The device of claim 1 further including at least one elongated threaded aperture extending through the lower gripping member in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the gripping surfaces of said upper lever and said lower gripping member; and an elongated threaded bolt of a length greater than said last-mentioned aperture removably threaded into said last-mentioned aperture.

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