Bar clamp

The present invention relates to a bar clamp and more particularly to an improved ratchet type bar clamp in which the jaws may be moved toward each other step-by-step and the jaws may be moved apart when desired.

Ratchet type bar clamps have been in use for a number of years. They usually comprise a jaw mounted on a moveable bar and another jaw mounted on a stationary handle assembly. A trigger is provided in the handle assembly which when pressed will move the jaws closer together in a series of steps. When is desired to move the jaws apart, a release button is activated to move the jaws apart. Existing ratchet type bar clamps are complicated and expensive to manufacture and assemble and many are not easily capable of being used by one hand.

Objects

The present invention overcomes these drawbacks and has for one of its objects the provision of an improved bar clamp which is simple to use.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved bar clamp in which the jaws can be advanced toward each other with one hand.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved bar clamp in which the jaws can be released to moved away from each other by the same hand.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved bar clamp in which the jaws can be easily placed in position to spread apart an article as well as to tighten on an item

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved bar clamp which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bar clamp made in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the bar clamp taken along line 2 — 2 of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing the position of the parts when the jaws are to be moved closer together.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing the position of the parts when the jaws are to be moved apart.

FIG. 5 is a detail showing the position of some of the parts when the jaws are to be moved toward each other.

FIG. 6 is a detail showing the position of some of the parts when the jaws are to be moved away from each other.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the manner of switching one of the jaws to a position where the jaws are used to spread an item apart.

FIG. 8 is a plan view similar to FIG. 7 showing the jaws being moved apart from each other in an item spreading position

FIG. 9 is in perspective detail view showing the manner of positioning the bar into one of the jaw bases.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of two control plates used with the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line 11 — 11 of FIG. 7 .

Referring to the drawings, the bar clamp 1 of the present invention comprises a straight bar 2 having a front end 3 , a rear end 4 , a top edge 17 a bottom edge 18 and side walls 19 . The front and rear ends 3 - 4 each have an opening 11 and a guide pin 12 extending therefrom. Removably mounted on front end 3 is a first jaw assembly 5 which comprises a gripping face 6 , a body 7 , and depending a base 8 . The base 8 has an opening 9 (FIG. 8) into which the front or rear end 3 - 4 end 3 of the bar 2 may be inserted and a side hole 10 extending from one face of base 8 through to the other face 33 . The guide pin 12 is adapted to slide in a groove 13 in opening 9 in the base 8 to guide the bar into the opening 9 in the base 8 . The side hole 10 has inner end 14 which is plain and smooth and an outer end 15 which is threaded. The jaw assembly 5 is held in place by a threaded wing nut 16 inserted in the inner end 14 of the opening 10 in base 8 of the jaw assembly 5 and through the opening 11 in the bar 2 and tightened into the threaded outer end 15 of side hole 10 in the base 8 .

A second jaw assembly 20 comprises a gripping face 21 , a body portion 22 and a base portion 23 depending therefrom. The base portion 23 of the second jaw assembly 20 has a handle portion 24 extending downwardly therefrom. The base portion 23 is substantially hollow and has front and rear walls 25 - 26 with openings 27 - 28 therein which are in alignment with each other and through which the bar 2 extends. The handle portion 24 has a trigger 30 which is pivotally mounted therein at 31 and which has its upper active head 32 extending into the base portion 23 through opening 33 .

Within the hollow base portion 23 the bar 2 has a control advancing plate 35 and a control release plate 40 mounted thereon. The advancing plate 35 has an opening 36 therein through which the bar 2 extends and a lower portion 46 . The opening 36 has upper and lower edges 37 and 38 . A spring 39 is interposed between the rear wall 26 of the base portion 23 and the advancing plate 35 in order to hold the advancing plate 35 in a position substantially perpendicular to the bar 2 . In this position the upper and lower edges 37 - 38 of the advance plate 35 do not engage the upper and lower edges 17 - 18 of the bar and do not affect the bar 2 .

Between the advance plate 35 and the front wall 25 of the base 23 , the base 2 has the release plate 40 mounted thereon which also has an opening 41 therein through which the bar 2 extends. The opening 41 has upper and lower edges 42 - 43 and a lower portion 47 . A spring 44 is mounted between the release plate 40 and a collar 45 adjacent the advancing plate 35 . The release plate 40 is normally in a substantially angled position (FIG. 2) with its upper portion 48 resting on pivot stop 49 and the lower portion 47 resting on release button 50 on it upper edge 42 bearing against the upper edge 17 of the bar 2 . In this position, the bar 2 cannot move rearwardly because it is locked in place by the upper edge 42 of the opening 4 in the release plate 40 bearing against upper edge 17 . A release button 50 extends through an opening 51 in the lower part of the front wall 27 base 23 and bears against the lower portion 47 of the release plate 40 .

With the position of the parts as shown in FIG. 4 squeezing the trigger 30 with one hand will pivot the active head 32 of the trigger 30 so that it will press against lower portion 46 of the advance plate 35 to angle it to cause the upper edge 37 of the opening 36 to bear against the upper edge 17 of the bar 2 and will move the bar 2 forward to move the jaw assembly 20 forward toward the first jaw assembly 5 . In this position the gripping faces 6 - 21 will grasp an article (not shown) between them. When the trigger 30 is released the spring 39 will move the advance plate 35 back to its angled position. When it is desired to move the second jaw assembly 20 in the opposite direction to release an article from the grasp of the gripping faces 6 - 21 , the release button 51 is pressed inwardly with the thumb of the same hand that is holding the handle assembly 24 in order to cause it to bear against the lower portion 47 of the release plate 40 and move the release plate 40 around pivot stop 49 to a position substantially perpendicular to the bar 2 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. This releases the hold or lock that the upper edge 42 of the opening 41 has on the upper surface 17 of the bar 2 and permits the bar 2 to be moved in the opposite direction and thereby move the second jaw assembly 20 away from the first jaw assembly 5 . When the release button 50 is released the spring 44 will move release plate 40 back to its angled position thereby again locking the bar 2 against rear end movement.

It will be seen that the jaws can be moved toward each other by one part of the hand e.g. first four fingers and the other part of the hand (e.g. the thumb of the same hand) can then be used to release the jaw assemblies 5 - 20 for movement in the opposite direction.

If desired, the first jaw assembly 5 of the present invention can be removed from the front end 3 of the bar 2 by unscrewing and removing the wing nut 16 . The first jaw assembly 5 can then be placed on the rear end 4 of the bar 2 by placing the rear end 4 into the openings 9 in the base 8 from its outer end and tightened thereon by the wing nut 16 so that the gripping faces 6 - 21 face away from each other. In this position, the bar clamp be used to spread articles apart.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides an improved bar clamp which is simple to use, in which the jaws can be advanced toward each other with one hand, in which the jaws can be released to move away from each other by the same hand, which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and in which the jaws can be easily placed in position to spread apart an item as well as to tighten on an item.

As many and varied modification of the subject matter of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description given hereinabove, it will be understood that the present invention is limited only as provided in the claims appended hereto.