Unitary clamp action fitting

Claim 1

A cantilever clamp action fitting for holding a tubular or cylindrical member having a longitudinal axis at least partially therethrough, comprising a circumferentially continuous main body and a nut having a parallel-sided, internally threaded bore, said main body comprising: an axial passageway extending into said body along the longitudinal axis, an externally threaded segmented substantially straight end which can mate with the nut and which has slots dividing the end into a plurality of segments, and a transverse surface providing areas disposed about the longitudinal axis, said transverse surface being substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and forming a camming a reacting force surface for the nut; said threads on said nut and said segments each having tapered side walls, the axial passageway, segmented end and transverse surface being arranged such that when a member is inserted into the passageway and the nut is tightened against the transverse surface, a reactive compressive force is transmitted through the nut, via the internal nut threads reacting on the externally segment threads, to the segments of the segmented end, and both radial and longitudinal components of the reactive force contribute to the bending of the segments and cause each segment to bend inward toward the longitudinal axis, thereby clamping the member tightly.