Clamping device
OwnerWilliam T. Maxantinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A clamping device for holding beehive honeycomb frames within the rotating reels of a centrifuge. The clamp includes a pair of parallel bars biased apart by spring pins and held at one end by a hinge pin connected to a holding bracket which is affixed to the inside face of the centrifuge reel. The other end of the spring-loaded parallel bars snaps into bosses mounted on a second holding bracket affixed to the opposite inside face of the centrifuge reel. To remove the clamp, the user extends his hand across the spring-loaded bars and tightens his grip to compress the bars together so that one end of the bars will disengage the bosses. The user then pivots the whole clamp about the hinge pin so that the frames can be removed.
Claims7
In combination,
- an open reel type centrifuge for extracting honey from a honeycomb frame which may be mounted therein, said centrifuge including a reel supported for rotation therein, said reel having an axel and first and second wheel sections mounted for rotation with said axel in axially spaced apart relationship, and each wheel section aligned generally perpendicular to the axis of said axel and said reel having transverse supports fixed to and extending between said wheel sections to provide structural support for said reel and to provide hangers for said honeycomb frames;
- and,
- a clamp for retaining honeycomb frames between said first and second wheels and against said transverse supports of said open reel type centrifuge to hold said honeycomb frames in position against the centrifugal force developed when said reel rotates, said clamp comprising:
- first and second clamp bars extending between the wheels of said open reel;
- a plurality of spring pins extending between said clamp bars and spaced longitudinally along said clamp bars at points removed from the ends of said clamp bars;
- springs disposed about each of said spring pins and biasing said clamp bars apart;
- means for pivotably attaching one end of said first and second clamp bars to said first wheel adjacent the circumference thereof so that said clamp may be pivoted out of the way to permit honeycomb frames to be loaded into said reel;
- means fixed to said second wheel adjacent the circumference thereof for removebly engaging the other end of said first and second clamp bars whereby said clamp bars may be moved together against the bias force of said springs and pivoted into position against said honeycomb frames and then said clamp bars may be released to engage said other end of said first and second clamp bars with said engagement means to securely hold said honeycomb frames in said reel against the influence of the centrifugal force developed when said reel rotates in said centrifuge.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.