Single-Piece Clamp Ring with Breakaway Connectors for Pipe Fastening
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Solution Overview
Problem
The interconnection of pipes in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems is time-consuming and challenging due to minor variations in pipe dimensions and manufacturing tolerances, and existing pipe fasteners are complex, multi-part fittings that are costly to manufacture and difficult to handle.
Innovation Solution
A clamp ring made from a single piece with a strap, lever, and clip connected by breakaway connectors, featuring an inner and outer strand with notches for adaptability and a latch for secure closure, allowing for easy assembly and adjustment to accommodate varying pipe diameters without the need for separate parts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If pipe fasteners are made as complex multi-part fittings, then they can achieve secure pipe connection, but they become costly to manufacture and difficult to handle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate fastening components (strap, lever, and connection elements) into a single integrated clamp ring structure. This unification maintains the secure connection function while eliminating the complexity of assembling and handling multiple separate parts, directly resolving the contradiction between reliability and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The single-piece clamp ring design performs multiple functions that were previously distributed across separate components: the strap provides adjustment and wrapping, the lever provides mechanical advantage for tightening, and the integrated connection elements provide secure attachment. This multi-functionality in a single structure achieves reliable connection without multi-part complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If pipe fasteners use multiple separate parts, then they can provide adjustable and secure fastening, but they require assembly preparation and risk parts coming apart in transit
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp ring is manufactured as a complete, ready-to-use single-piece structure with all fastening components permanently integrated. This preliminary integration eliminates the need for assembly preparation by the user, as the fastener arrives fully assembled and requires only attachment to the pipe, directly addressing the time loss issue.
Solution Approach 2:
By merging all adjustable fastening components into a single integrated structure, the patent eliminates the risk of parts coming apart during transit while maintaining full adjustability. The strap, lever, and connection elements are permanently unified, ensuring the fastener remains complete throughout handling and transport.
3Ease of manufacture
If the clamp ring uses a single piece structure, then production costs are reduced and assembly is simplified, but adaptability to varying pipe diameters must be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp ring incorporates a dynamic strap mechanism that can be adjusted in length and tension within the single-piece structure. This allows the same integrated component to adapt to various pipe diameters by adjusting the strap configuration, maintaining versatility while benefiting from the cost and simplicity advantages of a single-piece manufacturing approach.
Solution Approach 2:
Within the single-piece structure, the patent incorporates segmented or adjustable elements (such as the strap with multiple connection points or adjustable lever positions) that enable adaptation to different pipe sizes. This internal segmentation allows versatility to be achieved through design features rather than multiple separate parts.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the strap uses multiple strands with different lengths, then it can accommodate varying pipe circumferences, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the multi-strand strap structure into the single-piece clamp ring, where the inner and outer strands are permanently unified with the lever and connection elements. This merging maintains the adaptability benefits of multiple strands while eliminating the complexity of handling them as separate components, as they are permanently assembled in the manufacturing process.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The clamp ring reduces production costs, simplifies installation, and provides secure, adaptable pipe fastening with reduced risk of parts coming apart, while allowing for easy adjustment and secure closure to accommodate pipes with varying diameters and tolerances.
Implementation Method 1
the strap, lever and clip being connected to each other by breakaway connectors that break when the strap, lever and clip are moved relative to each other
Implementation Method 2
The inner strand can distend, stretch or otherwise deform to adapt to pipes with larger circumferences
Implementation Method 3
with the lever gripping the strap, the lever being arranged to push opposite ends of the strap towards each other
Implementation Method 4
the clip being arranged to grip the strap
Implementation Method 5
The notches provide additional material between the strands, so that if a pipe with a circumference smaller than the length of the outer strand is placed in the clamp ring, and the clamp ring is placed in a closed position, the notches of one strand come into contact with the opposite strand or opposite notches, which enables the opposite strands to provide additional structural support
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed clamp rings for fastening a pipe, the clamp ring comprising a strap, a lever and a clip. The strap is attached to the lever, and the lever is attached to the clip, the clip being arranged to grip the strap, and, with the lever gripping the strap, the lever being arranged to push the opposite ends of the strap towards each other. The clamp ring is made in a single piece, the strap, the lever and the clip being connected to each other by breakaway connectors that break when the strap, the lever and the clip are moved relative to each other.