Arrangement for gripping end regions of elongated flexible elements

Claim 1

An arrangement for gripping an end region of an elongated flexible element, comprising: (a) a casing bounding an interior passage which extends axially along a longitudinal axis of said casing, said casing having an inner circumferential wall which is tapered in an axial direction; (b) a sleeve mounted at least in part in said interior passage for axial movement relative to said casing, said sleeve having an outer circumferential wall which is tapered in the axial direction and slidably engages said inner circumferential wall of said casing during movement of said sleeve, said sleeve further having an interior axially-extending channel in which the end region of the element is inserted, said sleeve also having a radial bore which extends radially from said outer wall of said sleeve for a predetermined radial distance to said channel; (c) a gripping member mounted at least in part in said radial bore for radial movement therealong, said gripping member having a radial dimension larger than said predetermined radial distance of said radial bore; and (d) means for moving said sleeve and said gripping member between a non-gripping position in which said gripping member is located outside said channel, to a gripping position in which said gripping member extends at least in part into said channel for gripping the inserted end region of the element; wherein said sleeve has a generally conically-shaped body portion bounded by said outer circumferential wall, an extension portion extending axially of said body portion at one end thereof outwardly and past said casing, and a reduced-diameter portion extending axially of said body portion at the opposite end thereof into said casing; wherein said moving means include biasing means for normally urging said sleeve to the gripping position; wherein said moving means include a support member mounted on said casing and having an abutment surface within said passage, and wherein said biasing means constitute an elongated spring having one end engaged with said abutment surface, an opposite end engaged with said body portion, and a coiled portion surrounding said reduced diameter portion; wherein said support member has an exterior thread which threadedly engages an interior thread formed within said passage, and further comprising a mounting member securely mounted to a support surface, said mounting member having an exterior thread, wherein said moving means further include a turnbuckle member having an interior thread which threadedly engages said exterior thread of said mounting member, and an exterior thread which threadedly engages an interior thread of said support member; and wherein said exterior and interior threads of said turnbuckle member extend in opposite circumferential directions such that turning of said turnbuckle member causes relative movement between said mounting and support members.