Multi-Part U-Clamp for Confined Fastener Channel Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional U-clamps require additional space for pivoting or screwing into fastener channels and cannot be easily installed with or without a long item passed through their holder, especially in confined spaces, and their design limits the possibility of hook-shaped abutment sections.
Innovation Solution
A U-clamp designed in multiple parts with oppositely oriented anchoring elements that are adjustable relative to each other, allowing insertion into fastener channels through a translational movement, and featuring a spring mechanism for automatic spreading of abutment sections post-installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional U-clamps are designed with fixed-length legs and abutment sections, then the anchoring elements can engage in undercuts, but the clamp cannot be inserted into confined mounting openings without additional pivoting or screwing maneuvers
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp body is divided into two separable clamp elements that can be moved relative to each other. This segmentation allows the effective span to be reduced during installation by separating the elements, enabling insertion into confined mounting openings without requiring pivoting or screwing maneuvers.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamp elements are designed to be movable relative to each other, transforming the clamp from a static fixed-span structure to a dynamic adjustable-span structure. This allows the span to be temporarily reduced for installation and then restored to the full span for operational use.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the legs of the U-clamp are made longer to accommodate pivoting installation, then the clamp can be installed with long items passed through, but additional space is required adjacent to the mounting point
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the clamp into two movable elements, the overall length requirement is eliminated. Each element can be positioned independently within the mounting opening, allowing installation in confined spaces without requiring additional length or adjacent free space.
Solution Approach 2:
The installation approach transitions from requiring additional linear space (length dimension) to utilizing the mounting opening space more efficiently by separating the clamp elements, effectively using the depth dimension of the mounting opening instead of requiring lateral clearance.
3Reliability
If abutment sections are designed in hook shape to engage beveled legs, then engagement with fastener channel legs is improved, but conventional U-clamps cannot accommodate this design due to their fixed structure
Solution Approach 1:
The movable design of the clamp elements provides the necessary design flexibility to incorporate hook-shaped abutment sections. The dynamic adjustment capability allows the abutment sections to be optimally positioned and shaped for reliable engagement with beveled fastener channel legs, which would be impossible in a fixed-structure conventional clamp.
4Ease of operation
If U-clamps are designed to be screwed into fastener channels, then installation is possible in confined spaces, but sufficient free space adjacent to the mounting point is required
Solution Approach 1:
The separated clamp elements can be inserted directly into the fastener channel through the mounting opening without requiring adjacent free space for screwing operations. This eliminates the need for additional mounting space while maintaining ease of installation in confined areas.
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
Enables easy installation of the U-clamp in confined spaces with or without a long item, allowing hook-shaped abutment sections to engage on both sides of the fastener channel, providing secure fastening without the need for additional space or complex maneuvers.
Implementation Method 1
at least one spring element which acts on the bracket elements to spread them apart so that the abutment sections engage in the undercuts
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The invention relates to a clamp 1 for fastening a long item, such as an electrical cable 2, to a support structure having an undercut fastener channel 4, such as a rung 3 of a cable ladder, which clamp 1 has a clamp part 7, through whose legs 19, 20 and whose bridge part 15 connecting the legs 19, 20 a long item receptacle 10 is enclosed and whose legs 19, 20 carry at their end at least one abutment section 23, 24 which can be inserted into the undercut of a fastener channel 4 of the support structure and is aligned transversely to the longitudinal extent of the fastener channel 4, as well as a clamp part 7 which is arranged opposite the legs 19,20 in the direction of its longitudinal extent and acting on a long item passing through the long item holder 10 to fasten a long item to a supporting structure, and a tensioning device acting on the pressure plate 11 to clamp a long item passing through the long item holder 10 to the supporting structure. A special feature of this U-clamp 1 is that the U-shaped part 7 is designed in several parts and comprises a first U-shaped element 8 and a second U-shaped element 9, in which U-shaped elements 8, 9 the abutment sections 23, 24 of their anchoring elements 21, 22 are arranged pointing in opposite directions, and that the U-shaped elements 8, 9 are arranged against one another in the direction of the passage of a long item through the long item holder 10 to reduce the effective span S of the U-shaped clamp 1, in the section of their anchoring elements 21, 22 for the purpose of inserting the anchoring elements 21,22 are adjustable into a fastener channel 4 of a supporting structure.,