Multi-strand cable clamp with positive strand engagement

In a hooking device for holding a wire or the like from a suspended multi-strand cable, said hooking device comprising a pair of opposingly disposed plate members having respective end edges and lateral edges and arranged one over the other with the respective end edges facing one another, one end edge of each said plate member being bent to define a jaw means for gripping said multi-strand cable and having fingers asymmetrically formed therealong, the other end edges of said plate members abutting one another whereby to act as a hinge for moving said jaw means between open and closed positions, releasable coupling means interconnecting said plate members and operable to bias said jaw means to said closed position for releasably securing said cable in clamping engagement between said jaw means with said asymmetrically formed fingers interdigitating, said coupling means including a bolt having a longitudinal axis extending perpendicular to said plate members, and at least one hooking member for holding said wire or the like, said hooking member having a connecting end, a stem portion and a hooking end, said connecting end being mounted between said plate members to said bolt with said stem portion extending generally perpendicular to said bolt and out of said coupled plate members through one of said other end edges and lateral edges thereof, said other end edges and lateral edges each having guide means for orienting and maintaining a hooking member substantially perpendicular to and parallel to said cable, respectively, the improvement wherein said one end edge of each said plate member is formed with a projecting tooth which is inclined relative to the longitudinal axis of said cable so as to engage said cable between two successive outer strands thereof, thereby providing a positive strand engagement and preventing said plate members from pivoting about said cable and sliding therealong.