US3981053A — Two-part worm drive clamp with variable length ba…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 228 words

A two-part worm drive clamp comprising a tensioning part consisting of a comparatively short flexible strip having one end thereof terminating in a coupling tab which is of circular configuration and has an inclined narrow neck portion at its inner region, and a tensioning worm rotatably mounted on the other end of said strip, and a flexible band-forming part in the form of ribbon-like strip stock having leading and trailing ends, said band-forming part being provided adjacent to its trailing end with a tab-receiving opening which is designed for interlocking with said tab, is of keyhole configuration, and includes a relatively narrow rectangular trailing portion and a relatively wide circular leading portion the diameter of which is slightly in excess of the diameter of the tab in order that said tab may be passed sidewise through said circular leading portion of the tab-receiving opening, the width of the trailing portion of the opening being such as closely to confine said inclined narrow neck portion when the band-forming part is tensioned about an article, said band-forming part being provided with a longitudinal series of spaced apart transverse slots extending inwardly from its leading end, and said leading end of the band-forming part being designed for cooperation with said worm whereby rotation of the worm will effect engagement thereof with said transverse slots to tension the clamp about the article.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 228 words

A two-part worm drive clamp comprising a tensioning part consisting of a comparatively short flexible strip having one end thereof terminating in a coupling tab which is of circular configuration and has an inclined narrow neck portion at its inner region, and a tensioning worm rotatably mounted on the other end of said strip, and a flexible band-forming part in the form of ribbon-like strip stock having leading and trailing ends, said band-forming part being provided adjacent to its trailing end with a tab-receiving opening which is designed for interlocking with said tab, is of keyhole configuration, and includes a relatively narrow rectangular trailing portion and a relatively wide circular leading portion the diameter of which is slightly in excess of the diameter of the tab in order that said tab may be passed sidewise through said circular leading portion of the tab-receiving opening, the width of the trailing portion of the opening being such as closely to confine said inclined narrow neck portion when the band-forming part is tensioned about an article, said band-forming part being provided with a longitudinal series of spaced apart transverse slots extending inwardly from its leading end, and said leading end of the band-forming part being designed for cooperation with said worm whereby rotation of the worm will effect engagement thereof with said transverse slots to tension the clamp about the article.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 87 words

A two-part worm drive clamp as set forth in claim 1 and wherein the coupling tab lies in the general plane of the strip of the tensioning part and its inclined narrow neck portion is connected to said tensioning part strip by an outwardly displaced offset, and the tab-receiving opening is separated from the trailing end of the band-forming part by a narrow web which lies in the common plane of the coupling tab and strip and also lies flush against the inner side of the offset.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 232 words

A long length or roll of substantially continuous, ribbon-like, flexible, band-forming stock designed primarily for use in forming the band-forming part of a two-part worm drive clamp of the type that comprises a tensioning part consisting of a comparatively short flexible strip having a coupling tab at one end thereof and a tensioning worm rotatably mounted on the other end of said strip, and an elongated, flexible, band-forming part adapted to have its ends joined in end-to-end fashion to the tensioning part in order to complete the clamp, said band-forming stock being of one-piece character and designed to be severed into single or multiple lengths in order to form the band-forming part of the clamp of any desired length, said stock having visual means dividing it into unit lengths for selective severing purposes, each unit length having a leading end and a trailing end and being provided with a tab-receiving opening adjacent to its trailing end and a longitudinal series of spaced apart, transversely extending slots extending inwards from its inner end, the tab-receiving slot of any unit length being designed for interlocking relation with the tab on the one end of the strip of the tensioning part of the clamp and the leading end of any unit length being designed for cooperation with the worm whereby rotation of the worm will effect engagement thereof with its transverse slots for band-tensioning purposes.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 232 words

A long length or roll of substantially continuous, ribbon-like, flexible, band-forming stock designed primarily for use in forming the band-forming part of a two-part worm drive clamp of the type that comprises a tensioning part consisting of a comparatively short flexible strip having a coupling tab at one end thereof and a tensioning worm rotatably mounted on the other end of said strip, and an elongated, flexible, band-forming part adapted to have its ends joined in end-to-end fashion to the tensioning part in order to complete the clamp, said band-forming stock being of one-piece character and designed to be severed into single or multiple lengths in order to form the band-forming part of the clamp of any desired length, said stock having visual means dividing it into unit lengths for selective severing purposes, each unit length having a leading end and a trailing end and being provided with a tab-receiving opening adjacent to its trailing end and a longitudinal series of spaced apart, transversely extending slots extending inwards from its inner end, the tab-receiving slot of any unit length being designed for interlocking relation with the tab on the one end of the strip of the tensioning part of the clamp and the leading end of any unit length being designed for cooperation with the worm whereby rotation of the worm will effect engagement thereof with its transverse slots for band-tensioning purposes.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 36 words

Band-forming stock according to claim 3 and wherein the tab-receiving opening in the trailing end of each unit length is of keyhole configuration and comprises a relatively narrow trailing portion and a relatively wide leading portion.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 37 words

Band-forming stock ase set forth in claim 4 and wherein the relatively narrow trailing portion of each keyhole tab-receiving opening is of rectangular configuration and the relatively wide leading portion of such opening is of circular configuration.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 50 words

Band-forming stock as set forth in claim 3 and wherein the visual means for dividing it into unit lengths is in the form of pairs of oppositely disposed notches which are formed in the edges of the stock in alignment with the frontmost slots of the longitudinal series of slots.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1979-09-21	1980-03-22	1980-09-21	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1983-09-21	1984-03-22	1984-09-21	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1987-09-21	1988-03-22	1988-09-21	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Two-part worm drive clamp with variable length band-forming part

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