US2068902A - Support for pipes, handrails, or other like objects - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 26, 1937. J BLUNT I 2,068,902

SUPPORT FOR PIPES, HANDRAILS, OR OTHER LIKE OBJ-ECTS Filed Aug. 16, 1955 INVENTOR James G. B/unT Q Gi MU AT ORNEY Patented Jan. 26, 1937 UNITED STATES SUPPORT FOR PIPES, I-IANDRAILS, OR OTHER LIKE OBJECTS James G. Blunt, Schenectady, N. Y., assignor to American Locomotive Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 16, 1935, Serial No. 36,466

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a support for a pipe, hand rail or other like object.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a support for the foregoing purposes and principally for supporting the hand rails usually employed at the sides of a locomotive wherein the rail or other object is secured to the support by clamp-like securing means that is easily operated to rel-ease the object, said means being permanently connected with the body of the support so that there is no chance of mislaying or losing the object-securing means when it is freed from its object-securing position.

Further objects are the provision, in a support of the foregoing characteristics, of means for holding the object-securing means in its securing position; automatic means for operating said holding means to cause said holding means to effect said holding of said object-securing means; and manually operated means for releasing said holding means to thereby free said object-securing means.

A further object is to provide, in a support of the characteristics aforementioned, means for rigidly holding the object-securing means in its object-securing position and simultaneously urging said object-securing means in a direction toward said object whereby the securing means will exert holding pressure upon the object, to the end that a plurality of similar supports may be employed to support a pipe, hand rail or other like object at various points along its length, each support similarly holding the object in the manner aforedescribed even though the object at certain of said points of holding presents slight variations in size or contour.

Other objects of and advantages achieved by this invention will be apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing, where like references indicate similar parts throughout, Figure 1 is an elevation, which, for convenience, may be considered a side elevation, of the support of the present invention with its parts in objectsecuring position, the object secured being indicated in 'dot and dash lines; Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the support shown in Fig. 1, the object being shown fragmentally in dot and dash lines; Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line III-III of Fig. 4 of the support shown in Fig. 1 showing the clamp-like securing means open, that is to say released or freed from its object-securing position; Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line IVIV of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a plan of the support shown in Fig. 1; and Figs. 6 and '7 are, respectively, side and rear views of the clamp-like securing means shown in the various figures for securing the object in place.

The support of the present invention, as pre viously stated, is for holding pipes, hand rails or other like objects but primarily for holding the hand rails usually employed on the opposite sides of railway locomotives. The support comprises 10 a body 1 having a threaded orifice 2 at its base 3 which provides convenient, means for securing the support where desired, as for instance to the side of a locomotive boiler, by means of a bolt, stud or other fastening (not shown) in the usual 15 manner. Above the base 3 the body is hollow providing a chamber 4 open at the end opposite the base 3. 1

At the top of the body is carried object-engaging means, which, in the present instance. is 20 exemplified as comprising two oppositely disposed jaws. 5 and. 6 carried respectively at the front and rear of the body upper face 1,, therespective inner faces 8 and 9 of the jaws being slightly converging toward the center of the face 7, thereby 25 providing with the face 1 a groove l0 having tapering side walls. In this groove the object, as for instance the locomotive hand rail H, is disposed with its periphery in engagement with the faces 8 and 9 and preferably somewhat spaced 30 from the face I. The object I l is thus supported in wedge-tight engagement with the jaws 5 and 6, which thereby provide two points of contact of the object with the body. A third point of contact, suitably disposed outwardly beyond the said 35 two points of contact, is all that is further necessary to secure the object firmly in place. This construction presents a preferred form of engagement, but the invention is not restricted to such form. As a matter of fact, a three-point 4o engagement, in support of the present type, is not new and an instance thereof will be found in Patent No. 1,428,746, granted to me September 12, 1922, the construction of which patent the present invention is an improvement thereover, as will 45 presently appear. In the present instance, the said third point of engagement is provided by the object-securing means, shown in the present instance as a hook-shaped clamp 12 having a concave inner wall 13 which is so shaped as to structed to make it best suited for an object of particular cross-sectional dimensions. But, as will be presently obvious, the present support is, within certain limits, flexible in the sense that it will support and suitably secure objects of slightly varying sizes or contours. This presents an advantage in that a plurality of similar supports may be employed to support, for instance, a hand rail of a locomotive which presents at the various points of support slightly varying sizes or surface irregularities. This is made possible by the par ticular construction of the support, which is as follows:

The rear of the body has a central opening l5 extending from the exterior to the chamber 4 and extending from the base 3 to and through the jaw 6 and extending from the exterior of the jaw 6 at the rear to the groove [0. The clamp I2 is disposed through this opening [5 with its end I6, which is opposite the point or part l4, housed within the chamber 4. This chamber provides of the body four defining walls, namely, a front wall IT, a rear wall [8, and side walls 19 and 20. The end N5 of the clamp is provided with a transverse orifice 2|, and orifices 22 and 23 are provided through the respective side walls l9 and 29 in line with the orifice 2|. A hub 24. is formed on the clamp I2 with its orifice in line with the orifice 2|, the hub extending from the clamp toward the wall 29 within the chamber 4.

A pin 25 extends through the orifice of the hub 24 and the orifices 2!, 22 and 23, and is thereby carried by the body I and pivotally supports the clamp 12. The pin 25 is mounted in the orifices 22 and 23 to provide axial movement for the pin, and the clamp I2 is mounted on the pin to move axially therewith and to swing about the axis thereof, but preferably independently of the pin, it not being necessary that the pin should rotate.

To provide for the axial movement of the pin and clamp, the end portion of the pin, passing through the orifice 22, is enlarged (the orifice 22 being made correspondingly large) to provide a head 26 slidable within the orifice 22 and providing a shoulder 21 between the head 26 and the remaining portion of the pin, against which the clamp l2 bears. This shoulder serves to effect axial movement of the clamp toward the wall 29, as will later appear, and furthermore prevents the pin from being dislodged by movement in a direction toward the wall 29. A cotter pin 28 is secured in the end of the pin 25 opposite the head 26, which extends beyond the body, to prevent dislodgement of the pin 25 by movement in the direction toward the wall H), the cotter pin 28 being suitably positioned to permit the required extent of axial movement of the pin 25. A hellcal spring 29 is mounted on the hub 2 bearing at one of its ends against the clamp l2 and at its opposite end against the wall 29. When the clamp has been swung to closed position it will then be free to be moved axially toward the wall 19, and the spring 29, which is, previous to this axial movement, under compression, will automatically operate to so move the clamp axially toward the wall Hi to its final object-securing position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The pin 25, due to its shoulder engagement with the clamp I2, is moved by the clamp correspondingly to final clamp-securing position (unless the pin happens to be in such position at this time, as might obviously be the case as there is nothing to prevent the pin from independently moving in this direction until stopped by the cotter pin 28) When the clamp is in its axially moved position toward the wall 20, the head 26 preferably projects slightly beyond the body, as shown in Fig. 4, and when the clamp I2 is in its opposite axial position, the head 26 protrudes from the body an additional amount, as shown in Fig. 2, equal to the amount of the axial movement of the clamp required to bring it to its final object-securing position, the cotter pin 28, by engaging the wall 26, stopping any further movement of the pin in said direction. The protruding portion of the head 26, as shown in Fig. 2, provides a ready means for manually moving the pin 25 and clamp I2, against the tension of the spring 29, from the position shown in Fig. 2 to its position toward the wall 20. This may be accomplished by pushing the pin axially from the head end or preferably by striking the pin at the outer end of the head a blow with a hammer. When the clamp has been moved to this position, it is free to be swung open or in object-releasing position, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

It will thus be seen that the clamp has both swinging and axial movements, but it should be here noted, for reasons that will presently appear, that the clamp may be swung to open and closed positions only when it has been axially moved to a definite position toward the wall 29 and that it can be moved axially only when it is in its closed position.

The clamp [2, as previously stated, is pivotally mounted on the pin 25. It comprises an arm extending from the pin and including the inner wall l3, suitably concaved to encircle part of the object H, and containing the point or part 14 disposed for engaging the object II. The clamp l2 preferably is in the form of a lever having a fulcrum at the axis of the pin 25 and comprises the arm just referred to and indicated by the line .r:c passing through said axis and the point or part i4, and a second arm extending from said fulcrum rearwardly and indicated by the line yy passing through the said axis and the point or part 30. The clamp is provided with a noselike member 3! on which the point or part 30 is located. The face of this nose-like member extends from the rear face of the clamp, as a continuation thereof, and then curves toward the fulcrum, to provide at the curved portion a face 32 which is inclined or beveled transversely of the clamp from the side nearest the wall 20 to the opposite side in a direction approaching the head 26 of the pin. A lug 33 projects from the inner face of the wall 19 and has a beveled or inclined face 34 the counterpart of the beveled or inclined face 32 for engagement thereby. The face 34 is disposed on the lug 33 at a position to be opposed to the face 32 to be engaged thereby and to coact therewith when the clamp [2 has been swung to its closed position, at which time the spring 29 automatically acts to move the clamp l2 toward the wall l9. This movement simultaneously brings the face 32 into engagement with the counterpart face 34, which engagement operates to hold the clamp 12 in its object-securing position (which it has been brought to), and the spring 29, by its continual thrust action on the clamp [2, produces a wedging action between the members having the faces 32 and 34 which action operates to urge the clamp 12 to swing toward the object II to produce a pressure of the clamp at the; point or part I4 thereof, against the object Now describing further the structural characteristics previously mentioned:-The lug 33 and nose-like member 3| are so shaped, that, when the clamp is in its axially moved position toward the wall 20 and in its swung-open position, the member or lug 33 will block or intercept the noselike member 3!, thereby preventing axial movement of the clamp toward the wall it. Therefore when the clamp is in this axial position it must first be swung to closed position before the -spring can operate to automatically move the clamp axially to its position toward the wall 49, shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Likewise when the clamp has been moved axially to its position near the wall l9 it must, at that time, be in its closed position as has just been stated, and on account of the then engagement between the faces 32 and 34 the clamp is held in this closed position and cannot be swung to open position until it has been manually moved axially toward the wall 2b, as already described.

It will thus be seen that the support of the present invention is simple, compact and sturdy in construction, simple and sure in operation, adaptable for slightly varying sizes of objects to be secured thereby, cheap in maintenance, and free from danger of loss of parts.

In view of the foregoing description it is believed that the operation of the support is obvious without further detailed elaboration here, it only being desirable to repeat here that when the object is to be removed, the clamp is axially moved manually from its object-securing position and then swung to open position whereupon the object is free to be removed (it being understood that the clamps of all of the supports holding the object are likewise open). To secure an object to the support all that is necessary is to place the object in the groove in wedging engagement with the side walls thereof, the clamp being then in open position, and to then swing the clamp to closed position, whereupon the spring automatically acts to axially move the clamp to object-securing position, during which movement the members having the coacting inclined faces are brought to engagement one with the other, thereby holding the clamp in object-securing position. Furthermore, by the continued action of the spring, the wedging members exert a wedging action tending to urge the clamp toward the supported object to thereby produce a pressure of the clamp upon the object at its point of engagement therewith.

While there has been hereinbefore described an approved embodiment of this invention, it will be understood that many and various changes and modifications in form, arrangement of parts and details of construction thereof may be made it without departing from the spirit of the invention and that all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims are contemplated as a part of this invention.

The invention claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A support for a pipe, hand rail or other like object comprising a body; means carried by said body adapted for engagement with said object;

a pivot pin carried by said body; a clamp for securing said object in its engaged position carried by said pin for pivotal and longitudinal movements relative to the axis of said pin whereby, by said pivotal movement, said clamp is adapted to be swung to its securing position; and means perable by said longitudinal movement of said clamp for holding said clamp in its securing position.

2. A support for a pipe, hand rail or other like object comprising a body; means carried by said body adapted for engagement with said object; a pivot pin carried by said body; a clamp for securing said object in its engaged position carried by said pin for pivotal and longitudinal movements relative to the axis of said pin whereby, by said pivotal movement, said clamp is adapted to be swung to its securing position; and means operable by said longitudinal movement of said clamp for holding said clamp in its securing position, said means having two members, one of which being carried by said clamp and the other of which being carried by said body, said members having coacting faces adapted to effect said holding by relative movement therebetween during said longitudinal movement of said clamp.

3. A support for a pipe, band rail or other like object comprising a body; means carried by said body adapted for engagement with said object; an axially movable pin carried by said body; a lever having a pair of arms, one of said arms being adapted for securing said object in its engaged position, said lever being carried by said pin to move axially therewith and to swing relative to the axis thereof whereby said securing arm will swing to its said securing position; and lever holding means comprising two members, one of which members being carried by the other of said lever arms and the other of which members being carried by said body, and a spring for axially moving said pin, lever and said member carried there by in one direction whereby said member carried by said lever will engage said other member to hold said securing arm in its said securing position, said pin being adapted to be manually moved in the opposite axial direction to thereby move said lever against the tension of said spring to free said lever.

4. A support for a pipe, hand rail or other like object comprising a body; means carried by said body adapted for engagement with said object; a pivot pin carried by said body; a clamp for securing said object in its engaged position carried by said pin for pivotal and longitudinal movements relative to the axis of said pin whereby, by said pivotal movement, said clamp is adapted to be swung to its securing position; and means having two members with faces adapted to coact to produce a wedging force for pressing said clamp against said object when said clamp is moved longitudinally, and a spring for operating said members to produce said coaction.

JAMES G. BLUNT.

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