Speed strut clamp
AssigneeVoytas Inc.
InventorMichael T. Kelly
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A strut channel clamp includes a block that can be positioned anywhere along the length of the strut channel. In embodiments, the stop can be repositioned to any of a plurality of locations along the channel. In certain embodiments, the stop and block can be placed on different surfaces of the strut channel. In some embodiments, a threaded shaft engaged with the block imparts force against the stop, and in some of these embodiments the shaft can be disengaged quickly from the block and repositioned longitudinally without rotation thereof. In various embodiments, the stop and/or block are constructed partly or entirely from common, off-the-shelf strut channel accessories. In embodiments, the block is rotatable.
Claims15
A clamp configured for operation while attached to an elongated structural member having a uniform cross sectional shape along its longitudinal axis, the clamp comprising:
- a clamp stop fixed to the structural member, the clamp stop including a stop surface at its proximal end that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the structural member;
- and
- a clamp block assembly comprising:
- a block housing slidably fixed to the structural member by an attachment mechanism that can be engaged to fix the block housing in place and disengaged to allow the block housing to slide along the longitudinal axis of the structural member while remaining attached thereto;
- a passage provided in the block housing and engaged with a shaft, so that the shaft is longitudinally fixed to the block housing when engaged therewith, but can be disengaged or otherwise manipulated for advancement and retraction through the passage;
- and
- a block surface fixed to a distal end of the shaft and substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the structural member, so that the block surface is in an opposed, parallel relationship to the stop surface when the shaft is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the structural member and the block surface is directed toward the clamp stop;
- the structural member being a strut channel having a cross sectional shape that includes a horizontal, flat bottom and vertical sides, the vertical sides having upper ends that extend horizontally inward without reaching a center thereof and then vertically downward without reaching the bottom, thereby forming an interior that is vertically open in a central region thereof but vertically blocked at both left and right sides thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.