Clamping devices

A clamping device for clamping blade-shaped material and operable with one hand to remove and insert the blade-shaped material into the clamping device, comprising:

• two parallely arranged strips movable relative to each other,
• each said parallely arranged strips including at least two oppositely poled magnetic regions, and
• means interconnecting said strips to move them from a first position in which said oppositely poled magnetic regions on one of said strips faces said oppositely poled magnetic regions on said other of said strips of like magnetic polarity so as to repel each other magnetically and maintain said strips in an open-material release position, to a second position in which said oppositely poled magnetic regions on one of said strips faces said oppositely poled magnetic regions on said other of said strips of unlike magnetic polarity so as to attract each other magnetically and cause said strips to move as a result of magnetic attraction into its closed and material pickup and clamping position, said interconnecting means including:
• a common flexible support including first and second strip carrying walls, and a third wall pivotally interconnecting and linking said first and second walls, at least one pair of said strips being carried by said first and second walls, said strips on said first and second walls being spaced from each other in their open-material release position to provide a free center space therebetween, the width of said third interconnecting wall being equal to sum of the widths of said strips and said free center space therebetween.