Swing clamp apparatus

A clamping assembly for clamping a workpiece, the clamping assembly comprising:

• a fixture for supporting the workpiece thereon;
• and
• a plurality of clamps for clamping the workpiece to the fixture, each of the clamps including
• elongated hollow cylinder body for attachment to the fixture, the cylinder body having an interior wall,
• a piston telescopically received within the cylinder body for movement between a retracted, clamped position and an extended, released position, the piston having an outer wall, and
• a cam assembly for rotating the piston relative to the cylinder body when the piston is moved between the clamped and released positions, the cam assembly including
• cam track formed in one of the interior wall of the cylinder body and the outer wall of the piston, and
• a cam follower attached to the other of the interior wall of the cylinder body and the outer wall of the piston and received within the cam track for movement along the cam track when the piston is moved between the clamped and released positions,
• the cam follower having an outer peripheral surface and a radius of curvature,
• the cam track including a central arcuate region having a radius of curvature substantially equal to the radius of curvature of the cam follower and a pair of opposed, substantially planar side faces extending from the central arcuate region, said side faces each having a proximal end that converges into said central arcuate region and an opposite distal end that diverges away from the central arcuate region, the distal ends diverging away from one another.