Shoring Clamp With Angled Flute Pin For Secure Component Interconnection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing shoring apparatuses face challenges in interconnecting components that can resist significant forces while allowing for versatile configurations without increasing the number of distinct components, and existing clamps may damage or misalign when subjected to substantial force.
Innovation Solution
The clamp design features a housing with a fixed jaw and a moveable jaw, a clamp pin with angled flutes, and a swing arm that pivots to securely engage components, allowing for adjustable positioning and substantial force application without damage, using a pin with a proximal cap and flutes that engage recesses in the housing for guided movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If existing clamps are used to interconnect shoring components, then the components can be connected, but the clamp may damage or misalign when subjected to substantial force
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp is divided into distinct functional segments: a body housing, a separate pin component with flutes, a swing arm, and jaws. This segmentation allows each part to be optimized for its specific function and replaced independently if damaged, resolving the contradiction by maintaining overall clamp integrity while withstanding substantial forces.
Solution Approach 2:
The pin is pre-configured with flutes that engage with corresponding recesses in the housing before force is applied. This preliminary engagement arrangement ensures proper alignment and force distribution are established in advance, preventing misalignment and damage when substantial clamping forces are subjected to the connection.
2Adaptability or versatility
If adjustable clamps are designed to fit various configurations, then versatility is improved, but the number of distinct components increases
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp design features a universal body housing with standardized recesses that can accommodate pins of various lengths and configurations. The swing arm and jaw assembly can be adjusted to different positions, allowing a single clamp design to serve multiple connection configurations without requiring multiple distinct component types.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamp incorporates movable and adjustable elements, including the swing arm that can pivot to different angles and the jaw assembly that can be positioned at various locations along the pin. This dynamic adjustability provides configuration flexibility while maintaining a standardized basic component structure, resolving the contradiction between versatility and component simplicity.
3Reliability
If the pin is driven with substantial force to secure the clamp, then reliable engagement is achieved, but the pin or clamp housing may be damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The pin includes a protrusion that engages with a corresponding recess in the swing arm, creating a cushioning or shock-absorbing feature before substantial force is applied. This preliminary engagement arrangement distributes impact forces and prevents direct transmission of damaging forces to the pin or housing, while still achieving reliable engagement security.
Solution Approach 2:
The swing arm acts as an intermediary element between the pin and the jaw assembly. The fluted pin engages with recesses in the housing, and the swing arm mediates the force transmission, allowing substantial force to be applied for reliable engagement while the intermediary structure protects against direct damage to the pin or housing components.
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 effectively secures components with substantial force without damaging the clamp or pin, allowing for quick and reliable adjustment in various configurations, ensuring durability and ease of use while reducing structural damage to the housing.
Implementation Method 1
The pitch of the flutes relative to the longitudinal axis of the clamp member in combination with the permitted longitudinal axis of the clamp member result in the moveable jaw being pivotable between an open position and a clamping position
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a clamp for interconnecting two components of a support apparatus such as components of a shoring apparatus for concrete forming systems. A clamp member having a moveable jaw is received for pivotal movement in a housing that is secured to one of the components. A plurality of flutes disposed at an angle to the pivot axis of the clamp member are received in coacting recesses in the housing and a proximal cap maintains the desired position of the clamp member within the housing. Axial movement of the clamp member will pivot the swing arm and a coacting, moveable jaw toward a fixed jaw formed in the housing to releasably secure the clamp to the other component.