Inner lock band clamp
AssigneeBand-It-IDEX, Inc.
InventorGeorge A. Jansen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A clamping device is provided in the form of a cable tie. The cable tie includes a band having a free end for positioning about an object to be constrained, such as an electrical cable, and a buckle through which the free end of the band section is inserted. In a preferred embodiment, the buckle is movably positioned on the band and, during band periphery adjustment, the locking teeth on the band are in an unlocked position. When the desired band periphery is realized, the locking teeth are placed in a locked position. At this point the clamp may be further tightened with a tightening tool.
Claims28
A clamping device having a band for facilitating an adjustment of a band periphery, comprising:
- a band having a first end and a second end with locking teeth disposed therebetween;
- and
- a buckle positioned on said band and having at least a first and second position, said buckle further having a passage extending therethrough of a size and shape sufficient to receive said band;
- wherein, when said buckle is in said first position, said band periphery is adjusted by inserting a portion of said band through said buckle to yield a desired band periphery and said locking teeth are in an unlocked position until said band is adjusted to said desired band periphery, and when said buckle is in said second position, a clearance is defined between a position of said passage and said locking teeth, and said clearance enables said band to be moved through said buckle to decrease said band periphery when said buckle is positioned over said locking teeth while preventing increasing of said band periphery when said buckle is positioned over said locking teeth.
A method for clamping an object, comprising:
- providing a band having a first end and a second end with locking teeth disposed therebetween;
- providing a buckle having a passage extending through said buckle of a size and shape sufficient to receive therein said band;
- positioning said buckle on said band;
- locating said band and said buckle adjacent an object to be clamped;
- placing said first end of said band around said object and through said buckle to define an overlapping portion of said band;
- moving said buckle to a first position on said overlapping portion of said band;
- adjusting a periphery of said band through said buckle, wherein said locking teeth are in an unlocked position until said band is adjusted to a desired periphery;
- moving said buckle to a second position on said overlapping portion of said band over said locking teeth, wherein a clearance is defined between a position of said passage and said locking teeth;
- and,
- tightening said band periphery, wherein said clearance enables said band to be moved through said buckle to decrease said band periphery while preventing increasing of said band periphery.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.