JP7723494B2 - clamp - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a clamp.

When joining pipes, electrofusion joints are preferably used. During the fusion of pipes with an electrofusion joint, the pipes may be temporarily held in place by a clamp to prevent the pipes and the electrofusion joint from shifting.
For example, a clamp has been disclosed in which a tube is inserted into an electrofusion joint, an attachment part is attached to the electrofusion joint, and the tube is held in place by tightening it with a tightening band connected to the attachment part (Patent Document 1).
Also disclosed is a structure that includes a cylindrical elastic body with an inner diameter smaller than that of a tube to be inserted into an electric fusion joint, and that holds the tube by this elastic body (Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-211063 Patent No. 5833414

With the conventional structure described above, one type of clamp can only hold one type of pipe diameter. This means that clamp parts with different dimensions must be set to fit each diameter, posing a challenge in terms of labor-intensive parts management. Furthermore, there is a risk of mixing up part diameters at the construction site, posing challenges to workability.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to provide a clamp that can accommodate multiple pipe diameters with a single shape.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention proposes the following means.
The clamp of the present invention is a clamp that holds a tube inserted into an electric fusion joint, and comprises a band-shaped main body portion that contacts the tube, a saw blade portion that is provided at one end of the main body portion and has a saw blade shape on at least one surface, an engaging portion that is provided at the other end of the main body portion and has a female saw blade shape that corresponds to the saw blade shape, and an attaching portion that is molded integrally with the main body portion and attaches the main body portion to the electric fusion joint, and the engaging portion has a regulating portion that extends from the main body portion in the thickness direction of the main body portion, and the saw blade portion is inserted into the engaging portion, and the saw blade portion inserted into the engaging portion passes through a through hole provided in the regulating portion.

According to this invention, when the main body portion is formed into a ring and one end of the main body portion is joined to the other end, the saw blade portion is inserted into the engagement portion, causing the saw blade shape of the saw blade portion to engage with the female saw blade shape of the engagement portion. This prevents the saw blade portion and the engagement portion from separating in the longitudinal direction of the main body portion. Furthermore, the saw blade portion passes through the through hole of the restriction portion. This causes the saw blade portion to engage with the restriction portion, preventing the saw blade portion and the engagement portion from separating in the width direction of the main body portion.

Here, the saw blade is inserted into the engagement portion, and passes through a through-hole provided in the engagement portion. As a result, the insertion depth of the saw blade is not limited by the structure of the engagement portion. In other words, the saw blade can be inserted into the engagement portion until the main body completely contacts the pipe. Therefore, one shape can accommodate multiple pipe diameters.

Furthermore, the width of the saw blade portion may be smaller than the width of the main body portion.

According to this invention, the width of the saw blade portion is smaller than that of the main body portion. This eliminates the need to enlarge the engagement portion to accommodate the saw blade portion. This prevents problems such as increased material costs due to a larger engagement portion, poor fit as a part, and reduced workability due to inserting a saw blade portion with the same width as the main body portion into the engagement portion.

Furthermore, the thickness of the saw blade portion may be greater than the thickness of the main body portion.

According to this invention, the thickness of the saw blade portion is thicker than that of the main body portion. This improves the strength of the saw blade portion and prevents problems such as breakage of the saw blade portion.

Furthermore, the saw blade portion may have a saw blade shape on both sides in the thickness direction, and the engagement portion may have the female saw blade shape on both sides in the thickness direction of the saw blade portion.

According to this invention, the sawtooth portion has a sawtooth shape on both sides in the thickness direction. This further improves the interlocking force between the sawtooth portion and the engaging portion, allowing the piping to be held securely.

Furthermore, the height of the female sawtooth shape may be lower than the height of the sawtooth shape.

According to this invention, the female sawtooth shape is smaller than the sawtooth shape, which ensures the thickness and strength of the engagement portion.

The present invention provides a clamp that can accommodate multiple pipe diameters with a single shape.

1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a clamp according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached to an electrofusion joint. FIG. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a clamp according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a front view of the clamp shown in FIG. 2 . FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view of the attached state shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the line VII-VII shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 10 is a plan view of a first modified example of the clamp of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a front view of the clamp shown in FIG. 8 . FIG. 10 is a plan view of a second modified example of the clamp of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a front view of the clamp shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a plan view of a third modified example of the clamp of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a front view of the clamp shown in FIG. 12.

A clamp 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in Figure 1, a pipe P inserted into a cylindrical electrofusion joint F is supported by a clamp 100. The electrofusion joint F has an electric heating wire on its inner peripheral surface. The pipe P is preferably made of resin.
In the state shown in Figure 1, an electric current is applied to the heating wire by passing it through terminal T. This increases the temperature of the heating wire, causing the inner circumferential surface of the electric fusion joint F and the outer circumferential surface of the pipe P inserted into the electric fusion joint F to melt. This causes the electric fusion joint F and the pipe P to be fused together.
In the following description, when indicating the direction of each component, the axial direction, radial direction, and circumferential direction may be referred to using the electric fusion joint F and pipe P shown in FIG. 1 as the reference.

The clamp 100 according to this embodiment is used to temporarily hold the electrofusion joint F and the pipe P in order to prevent the positions of the electrofusion joint F and the pipe P from shifting during the above-mentioned fusion process.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the clamp 100 includes a main body portion 10 , a saw blade portion 20 , an engagement portion 30 , and an attachment portion 40 .
The main body 10 is a band-shaped member that is in direct contact with the pipe P. The longitudinal direction of the band of the main body 10 is set along the circumferential direction of the pipe P. Hereinafter, the axial dimension of the main body 10 may be referred to as width, the circumferential dimension as length, and the radial dimension as thickness.

The main body 10 includes a saw blade 20 at one end of the band. The main body 10 also includes an engagement portion 30 at the other end of the band. With this configuration, when the saw blade 20 is inserted into the engagement portion 30, the main body 10 becomes annular and comes into contact with the pipe P. In this state, if the saw blade 20 is further advanced in the direction of insertion into the engagement portion 30, the main body 10 tightens around the pipe P. This causes the pipe P to be held by the main body 10.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the main body 10 may have a protrusion 11 molded integrally with the main body 10 on the annular inner surface. This may reduce the surface area that comes into contact with the pipe P when the main body 10 tightens the pipe P, thereby further improving the holding force of the main body 10 on the pipe P.

The saw blade portion 20 is formed integrally with one end of the main body portion 10. The saw blade portion 20 is inserted into an engagement portion 30 provided at the other end of the main body portion 10. In this embodiment, the width of the saw blade portion 20 is preferably smaller than the width of the main body portion 10. The thickness of the saw blade portion 20 is preferably greater than the thickness of the main body portion 10. The saw blade portion 20 comprises a saw blade shape 21 and a guide portion 22.

When the saw blade portion 20 is inserted into the engagement portion 30, the sawtooth shape 21 meshes with the female saw blade shape 31S (described below) of the engagement portion 30. This prevents the saw blade portion 20 inserted into the engagement portion 30 from moving in the direction of coming out of the engagement portion 30. The sawtooth shape 21 has multiple parallel portions 21a and inclined portions 21b arranged alternately. Below, a pair of one parallel portion 21a and one inclined portion 21b may be referred to as a step. In other words, the sawtooth shape 21 has a shape with multiple steps.

The parallel portion 21a is a portion whose surface is positioned parallel to the thickness direction of the saw blade shape 21. In other words, it is a surface that is provided perpendicular to the direction of movement of the saw blade shape 21 when the saw blade shape 21 is inserted into the engagement portion 30. With this shape, the parallel portion 21a abuts against a female parallel portion 31a (described later) of the female saw blade shape 31S when the saw blade part 20 is inserted into the engagement portion 30. This serves to prevent the saw blade part 20 from slipping out of the engagement portion 30.
Hereinafter, in the region where the parallel portion 21a and the inclined portion 21b contact each other, the portion located on the outside of the sawtooth shape 21 may be referred to as a peak, and the portion located on the inside of the sawtooth shape 21 may be referred to as a valley. The dimension between the peak and the valley, i.e., the radial dimension of the parallel portion 21a, may be referred to as the height of the sawtooth shape 21. The same applies to the female parallel portion 31a and the female inclined portion 31b described below.

The inclined portion 21b is a portion whose surface is positioned at an angle relative to the parallel portion 21a. The angle between the parallel portion 21a and the inclined portion 21b is at least a right angle or less, and preferably between 20° and 80°. When the sawtooth shape 21 is inserted into the engagement portion 30, the inclined portion 21b abuts against the female inclined portion 31b (described below) of the female sawtooth shape 31S. At this time, the force that moves the sawtooth shape 21 toward the engagement portion 30 pushes up the female sawtooth portion 31, thereby inserting the sawtooth shape 21 into the engagement portion 30.

The guide portion 22 is located on the saw blade portion 20, further toward one end of the main body portion 10 than the saw blade shape 21. The surface of the guide portion 22 does not have the steps that the saw blade shape 21 has, and has a flat surface shape. This makes it easier to insert into the engagement portion 30 compared to the saw blade shape 21. In other words, by passing this guide portion 22 through the engagement portion 30 in advance, it serves to make it easier to insert the saw blade shape 21 into the engagement portion 30.

The engaging portion 30 is provided at the other end of the main body 10. The engaging portion 30 is the portion into which the saw blade portion 20 is inserted. The engaging portion 30 also serves to maintain the holding force applied to the pipe P by the main body 10 by holding the inserted saw blade portion 20 so that it does not slip out. The engaging portion 30 includes a female saw blade portion 31, a through hole 32, a connecting portion 33, and a restricting portion 34.
The female saw blade portion 31 is a portion provided at the other end of the main body portion 10 with a radial gap therebetween. The female saw blade portion 31 is integrally molded so as to protrude axially from a connecting portion 33 (described later). The female saw blade portion 31 has a female saw blade shape 31S on the surface facing the main body portion 10.

The female saw blade shape 31S is a portion that meshes with the saw blade shape 21 of the saw blade portion 20 inserted into the engagement portion 30. As shown in FIG. 3 , the female saw blade shape 31S has a plurality of alternating female parallel portions 31a and female inclined portions 31b. Hereinafter, a pair of one female parallel portion 31a and one female inclined portion 31b may be referred to as a step. In other words, the female saw blade shape 31S is a shape that has a plurality of steps.
The female parallel portion 31a is a portion whose surface is positioned parallel to the thickness direction of the female saw blade shape 31S. In other words, it is a surface provided perpendicular to the direction of movement of the saw blade shape 21 when the saw blade portion 20 is inserted into the engagement portion 30. With this shape, the female parallel portion 31a abuts against the parallel portion 21a of the saw blade shape 21 when the saw blade portion 20 is inserted into the engagement portion 30. This prevents the saw blade portion 20 from slipping out of the engagement portion 30.

The female inclined portion 31b is a portion whose surface is positioned at an angle relative to the female parallel portion 31a. The angle between the female parallel portion 31a and the female inclined portion 31b is preferably parallel to the inclined portion 21b of the saw blade portion 20. When the saw blade portion 20 is inserted into the engagement portion 30, the female inclined portion 31b abuts against the inclined portion 21b of the saw blade shape 21. At this time, the female saw blade shape 31S is pushed up by the force of the saw blade shape 21 moving toward the engagement portion 30. This allows the saw blade portion 20 to be inserted into the engagement portion 30.

In this embodiment, in order to ensure the strength of the female saw blade portion 31, i.e., the thickness of the female saw blade portion 31, while providing a deformation allowance for the female saw blade portion 31, it is preferable that the height of the female saw blade shape 31S is lower than the height of the saw blade shape 21. However, this does not apply when the strength is ensured by increasing the thickness of the female saw blade portion 31.
Furthermore, if the height of the saw blade shape 21 and the female saw blade shape 31S does not ensure mutual meshing, the saw blade portion 20 may have a saw blade shape 21 on both sides in the thickness direction, and the engagement portion 30 may have a female saw blade shape 31S on both sides in the thickness direction of the saw blade portion 20.

The through hole 32 is provided in the engaging portion 30 closer to one end of the main body portion 10 than the female saw blade shape 31S. The through hole 32 is a portion through which the saw blade portion 20 passes after passing through the female saw blade portion 31. The through hole 32 is provided by being integrally molded from the connecting portion 33. The through hole 32 penetrates a restricting portion 34 (described later) in the circumferential direction (the longitudinal direction of the main body portion 10).
When the saw blade portion 20 is inserted into the engagement portion 30 as described above, the state shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7 is obtained. As shown in Figure 6, the through hole 32 is provided around the entire circumference of the saw blade portion 20 and is further molded integrally with the connecting portion 33 (described later). The fact that the through hole 32 is provided around the entire circumference of the saw blade portion 20 means that, in a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the saw blade portion 20, the through hole 32 covers the entire circumference of the saw blade portion 20. In contrast, as shown in Figure 7, the female saw blade portion 31 is not molded integrally with the connecting portion 33.

Here, if the through hole 32 is not provided around the entire circumference of the saw blade portion 20, for example, if the through hole 32 is open on the side not facing the connecting portion 33, even when the saw blade portion 20 is inserted into the engaging portion 30 and the saw blade shape 21 and the female saw blade shape 31S are engaged, applying force to the saw blade portion 20 toward the opening may cause the saw blade portion 20 to come off the engaging portion 30. By not opening the through hole 32 (engaging with the restricting portion 34), the above-mentioned problem can be prevented from occurring.

Furthermore, if the female saw blade portion 31 is molded integrally with the connecting portion 33, the female saw blade portion 31 is fixed to the connecting portion 33. As a result, even if an attempt is made to insert the saw blade portion 20 into the engagement portion 30, the female saw blade portion 31 does not deform, which can lead to problems such as the saw blade portion 20 not being able to be inserted, requiring a large amount of force to insert, or damage to the saw blade shape 21 and female saw blade shape 31S. By not molding the female saw blade portion 31 integrally with the connecting portion 33, the above problems can be prevented from occurring.

In this embodiment, the through hole 32 and the female saw blade portion 31 are molded as a single unit, as shown in Figure 3. Alternatively, as shown in Figures 8 and 9, the through hole 32 and the female saw blade portion 31 may be provided separately. In this case, the female saw blade portion 31 must be molded as a single unit with the connecting portion 33. In this case, the circumferential dimension of the female saw blade portion 31 may be determined taking into account the elasticity of the material used for the clamp 100, allowing for deformation of the female saw blade portion 31.

The connecting portion 33 is a base for the female saw blade portion 31 and the through hole 32. The connecting portion 33 is a wall-shaped member formed to extend radially at one end of the main body 10. In this embodiment, an attachment portion 40 is integrally formed on the connecting portion 33 on the side opposite to the side where the female saw blade portion 31 and the through hole 32 are connected.
The restricting portion 34 extends from the main body 10 in the thickness direction of the main body 10. The restricting portion 34 extends from the main body 10 toward the position of the female saw blade portion 31 relative to the main body 10. In this embodiment, the restricting portion 34 is connected to the end of the female saw blade portion 31.

The mounting portion 40 is used to attach the clamp 100 to the terminal T of the electrofusion joint F. The mounting portion 40 has a hole 40h that matches the diameter of the terminal T, and the terminal T is attached by hooking it over the hole. The mounting portion 40 is integrally molded with the main body 10 together with the connecting portion 33.

As shown in Figures 10 and 11, the connecting portion 33 may have a notch 33c formed to match the shape of the female saw blade portion 31. The notch 33c is formed by not providing any component of the connecting portion 33 in the axial direction of the U-shaped internal region of the engaging portion 30, which is created by integrally molding the female saw blade portion 31, the restricting portion 34, and the main body portion 10.

By providing the notch 33c in this manner, rather than providing a gap between the connecting portion 33 and the female saw blade shape 31S as shown in Figure 6, the connecting portion 33, the restricting portion 34, and the female saw blade portion 31 can be molded integrally, and then the notch 33c can be provided to allow for deformation of the female saw blade shape 31S.

Alternatively, as shown in Figures 12 and 13, only the through hole 32 of the restricting portion 34 may be in contact with the connecting portion 33. In other words, by arranging the female saw blade shape 31S so that it does not come into contact with the connecting portion 33, the female saw blade shape 31S and the connecting portion 33 are not molded integrally, allowing for deformation of the female saw blade shape 31S.

As described above, with the clamp 100 according to this embodiment, when the main body portion 10 is formed into a ring and one end of the main body portion 10 is joined to the other end, the saw blade portion 20 is inserted into the engagement portion 30, causing the saw blade shape 21 of the saw blade portion 20 to engage with the female saw blade shape 31S of the engagement portion 30. This prevents the saw blade portion 20 from separating from the engagement portion 30 in the longitudinal direction of the main body portion 10. Furthermore, the saw blade portion 20 passes through the through hole 32 of the restriction portion 34. This causes the saw blade portion 20 to engage with the restriction portion 34, preventing the saw blade portion 20 from separating from the engagement portion 30 in the width direction of the main body portion 10.

Here, the saw blade portion 20 is inserted into the engagement portion 30, and the inserted saw blade portion 20 passes through a through-hole 32 provided in the engagement portion 30. As a result, the insertion depth of the saw blade portion 20 inserted into the engagement portion 30 is not limited by the structure of the engagement portion 30. In other words, the saw blade portion 20 can be inserted into the engagement portion 30 until the main body portion 10 completely contacts the pipe P. Therefore, one shape can accommodate multiple pipe P diameters.

In addition, the width of the saw blade portion 20 is smaller than that of the main body portion 10. This eliminates the need to enlarge the engagement portion 30 to accommodate the saw blade portion 20. This prevents problems such as increased material costs due to enlarging the engagement portion 30, poor fit as a part, and poor workability due to inserting a saw blade portion 20 with the same width as the main body portion 10 into the engagement portion 30.

In addition, the thickness of the saw blade portion 20 is thicker than that of the main body portion 10. This improves the strength of the saw blade portion 20 and prevents problems such as breakage of the saw blade portion 20.

In addition, the sawtooth portion 20 has sawtooth shapes 21 on both sides in the thickness direction. This further improves the interlocking force between the sawtooth portion 20 and the engagement portion 30, allowing the piping to be held securely.

In addition, the female sawtooth shape 31S is smaller than the sawtooth shape 21, which ensures the thickness and strength of the engagement portion 30.

The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, the protrusion 11 of the main body 10 may not be provided if it is not necessary.
Furthermore, as long as deformation of the female saw blade portion 31 can be ensured, the female saw blade portion 31 and the connecting portion 33 may be molded integrally.

In addition, the components in the above embodiments may be replaced with well-known components as appropriate, and the above-described modifications may be combined as appropriate, without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

10 Main body portion 20 Saw blade portion 21 Saw blade shape 30 Engagement portion 31S Female saw blade shape 32 Through hole 34 Restriction portion 40 Mounting portion 40h Hole 100 Clamp F Electric fusion joint P Pipe

Claims (7)

A clamp for holding a tube inserted into an electrofusion joint,
a belt-shaped main body portion in contact with the pipe;
a saw blade portion provided at one end of the main body portion and having a saw blade shape on at least one surface; and an engagement portion provided at the other end of the main body portion and having a female saw blade shape corresponding to the saw blade shape.
an attachment portion that is integrally molded with the main body portion and that attaches the main body portion to the electrofusion joint;
a longitudinal direction of the saw blade portion and a longitudinal direction of the main body portion;
The engaging portion is provided with a restricting portion extending from the main body portion in a thickness direction of the main body portion,
The saw blade portion is inserted into the engaging portion, and the saw blade portion inserted into the engaging portion passes through a through hole provided in the restricting portion.
Clamp. A protrusion is provided on the inner surface of the main body.
The clamp of claim 1 . The thickness of the saw blade portion is greater than the thickness of the main body portion.
3. The clamp according to claim 1 or 2. the saw blade portion has the saw blade shape on both sides in the thickness direction, and the engagement portion has the female saw blade shape on both sides in the thickness direction of the saw blade portion,
A clamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The height of the female sawtooth shape is lower than the height of the sawtooth shape.
A clamp according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The female saw blade shape is not formed in the restricting portion of the engaging portion.
A clamp according to any one of claims 1 to 5. a connecting portion that connects the mounting portion and the main body portion,
The through hole is provided in the engaging portion in which the main body portion, the connecting portion, and the restricting portion are integrally molded.
A clamp according to any one of claims 1 to 6.