Cable clamp

Claim 1

A one piece clamp for rigidly clamping together upper and lower flexible cables which cross each other comprising an elongated relatively thickwalled tube-like body of malleable metal having in side view a generally U-shaped configuration defined by a base section and upright sections, said upright sections being spaced apart to receive the lower cable therebetween, said body having in its open condition a shape in end view defined by an upper hooked portion having a free edge, a lower hooked portion having a free edge, and a portion joining said upper and lower portions on the sides thereof opposite to said free edges, said free edges being spaced from each other, said base section comprising the lowest part of said lower portion and having a vertical dimension greater than the wall thickness of said lower portion to provide two spaced surfaces for contacting the lower cable on each side of the vertical centerline of the clamp, the vertical dimension of the clamp in its open condition being only slightly greater than the sum of the diameters of the cables and the wall thickness of said upper and lower portions, said free edges being spaced sufficiently to allow the upper cable to enter the clamp with the lower cable in place, said clamp being dimensioned with respect to the cable diameters so that upon deforming the clamp by squeezing the upper and lower portions toward each other, the cables are forced together whereby the upper cable tends to bend downwardly on each side of the lower cable by contact with said upper portions and the lower cable tends to bend upwardly on each side of the upper cable by contact with said spaced surfaces.