Dual locking band clamp and method of forming the same
AssigneeBand-It-IDEX, Inc.
InventorsCasey James Dorneman, Miklos Balazs Marelin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An improved band clamp is provided that employs a punch that forms an indication in the deformed band during locking procedure. More specifically, a punch having at least one shoulder or other indication mechanisms is provided that selectively contacts a band to deform it with respect to a buckle to lock the band and buckle of a band clamp together. The shoulder contemplated thus leaves a mark on the deformed band to quickly provide a visual indication of dimple depth.
Claims13
A locked band clamp, comprising:
- a buckle including a space for receiving a band, said buckle including an aperture therethrough for receiving a punch;
- a band including a first end and a second end positioned within said space and having a portion thereof aligned with said first aperture;
- a deformation formed in the band located adjacent to said aperture that generally prevents relative motion between said band and said buckle;
- and
- a deformed portion of said band that engages an edge of said buckle that prevents relative motion of said buckle relative to said band.
A method of locking a buckle onto a band, comprising:
- positioning said buckle onto said band;
- at a first location deforming a portion of said band relative to said buckle;
- at a second location deflecting a portion of said band relative to said buckle;
- and
- cutting said band adjacent to said deflected portion of said band.
A punch for forming a deformation in a band of a band clamp, the punch including a shaft with a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end associated with a band clamping tool and the distal end being adapted to contact and deform a portion of a buckle relative to a band of the band clamp, the improvement comprising:
- providing a decreased diameter portion adjacent to said distal end that forms a visual indication of the quality of the deformation (of the lock) when said distal end is forced into said band by said tool.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.