Double Action Spring Clip

Abstract

A double action, highly versatile clip formed from spring stock and including a pair of jaws and additionally, contracting coil-like clamping means which contracts against the support passing therethrough to anchor the clip firmly in any desired operating position thereon. The jaws and coil clamps are operable selectively at the user's option without releasing the clamping position of the other.

Description

This invention relates to manually operable clamps and more particularly to a simple, highly versatile, double action spring clip readily formed in one piece from spring stock and operable to grip a support and additionally to grip another object and wherein each grip is operable selectively and independently of the other.

The invention clip has been devised to meet the need for an extremely simple yet highly versatile clip incorporating means for anchoring it in any desired position on a support and having independently operable jaws providing firm and reliable gripping action for any of a wide variety of articles. An operating environment illustrative of the versatile character of the invention clip is to be found in hospitals. For example, in an operating room or at a patient's bedside there is need for supporting a wide variety of articles in different positions under a multiplicity of different conditions. The clip should be readily adjustable to any position lengthwise or circumferentially of a support for various instrumentalities and equipment. Additionally this clip should be capable of performing a gripping action on some piece of equipment, sterile sheeting, drapes or the like. A satisfactory clip should also be rugged, reliable, positive in action, readily sterilizable, easily operated and free of detachable parts likely to become lost or misplaced.

These and the like needs are satisfied in a highly satisfactory manner by the invention clip which is typically fabricated from a single piece of either strip or wire spring stock. The main body of the clip includes a coil of at least one convolution having a normally, fully relaxed internal diameter less than that of the tubular member on which it is to be supported. The criss-crossed ends of this coil project laterally from one side of the coil to provide finger grips which, when pressed toward one another, forcibly expand the diameter of the coil while the latter is being installed over the end of a support or adjusted to a new support position therealong. Upon relaxation of the finger grips the coil contracts and firmly grips the tubular support.

The legs of a second clamp embrace the opposite sides of the coil from the outer ends of the coil finger grips and have their other ends crossing one another and formed into a pair of normally closed clamping jaws. The legs of the jaws are so bent as to urge the jaws toward closed position and be expandable to an open position by pressing the supporting legs toward one another from their mid lengths. Pressure applied to legs in this manner is isolated from and does not relax the gripping action of the coil on the support and, likewise, compression of the finger grips to relax a clip from its support does not open the clip jaws.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved double action spring clip having independently operable means for holding it in a desired supported position and for gripping another object.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a simple, inexpensive, versatile clip formed from one piece of spring stock and having a plurality of separate and independently operable clamping portions.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a spring clip without detachable parts and having a coil portion provided with means for expanding the girth thereof while shifting it to a desired position on a tubular support and having independently operable clamping means designed to clamp any of a variety of objects and including means for opening the jaws at will without disturbing the gripping action of the coil portion.

These and other more specific objects will appear upon reading the following specification and claims and upon considering in connection therewith the attached drawing to which they relate.

Referring now to the drawing in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing typical equipment in a hospital operating room and including a number of the invention double action clips employed for a variety of different functions;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view on an enlarged scale of a preferred embodiment of the invention spring clip;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale showing the clip in use to hold a flexible intravenous feeding tube captive but free of pressure against the walls thereof, and also including a dot and dash illustration of the jaws in open position;

FIG. 4 is a front end elevational view of the clip as shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view showing the clip mounted on a tubular support with the finger grips compressed to expand the central coil out of gripping relation with the tubular support; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the coil expanded against the tubular support and pressure being applied to an intermediate portion of the jaw legs with a flexible wall tube between the jaws before the jaws are released to hold the sidewalls of the tube collapsed to cut off flow along the tube.

Referring initially more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a variety of ways of using the invention double action clip, designated generally 10, in a hospital operating room. As there shown, four of the clips are mounted in pairs on the tubular upright shaft 11 of stand 12,12 commonly used to support equipment for blood transfusions, intravenous feedings and the like functions. Such stands include a base 13 mounted on castors 14 and support notched brackets 15 at the upper ends of shaft 11 notched to receive the bails 16 for a blood transfusion container 17.

The clips 10 used for various purposes in connection with stands 12 are illustrated in detail in FIGS. 2-6. As there shown, each is formed from a single length of heavy duty spring wire stock. The central portion of the stock is formed into a tubular coil 20 having at least one and preferably two or three convolutions in accurate axial alignment with one another. The opposite ends 22,23 of coil 20 project in substantially opposite directions from a generally common tangential area of the coil and then are bent outwardly into return bend loops or finger grips 24,25. The remaining end portions of the spring stock then extend forwardly across the opposite exterior sides of coil 20 to form the long resilient spring legs of a pair of clamping jaws 28,29 at the free ends of the spring material comprising the clip.

As herein shown, the clamping jaws 28,29 are formed into a small diameter coil to provide a large area gripping surface with an object to be clamped or supported therebetween. It will be understood that these jaws may be of various configurations and that, if desired, the wire stock can be flattened and that, irrespective of the shape of the jaws, abutting faces can be roughened or serrated to enhance their gripping action. It will be observed from FIGS. 3, 5 and 6 that the junction of the jaws with their supporting legs 26,27 cross and have bearing contact with one another in an area 30 very close to the inner ends of the respective jaws.

To avoid any possibility of the jaws becoming misaligned with one another, the plane of the jaws is preferably canted in a direction such that the sloping abutting faces tend to cam the legs toward or into contact with one another at their points of crossover 30. This self-camming action will be best understood from FIG. 4 wherein it will be noted that the surfaces of the jaws are canted to the right of a vertical plane passing through the axis of coil 20 by a suitable angle, such as 5 to 10 degrees, and to an even greater angle if this is found desirable. Preferably the camming is effective to maintain the bearing point 30,30 at the inner ends of the jaws in contact with one another thereby assuring that the gripping surfaces are accurately aligned.

The mode of use and operation of the described double action clip will be readily apparent from the foregoing description, particularly when considered in connection with FIGS. 1, 3 and 6. The clip is assembled over a tubular support such as a pole or the upright shaft 11 of stand 12 by gripping the finger grips 24,25 between the thumb and forefinger of one hand and pressing them toward one another as indicated by the arrows A--A in FIG. 5. This forces the coil 20 convolutions to expand to a larger diameter as necessary to provide a smooth sliding fit with a properly sized support. The finger grips are held depressed in this manner until the clip is positioned at the proper height and oriented to the proper angle circumferentially of the support. Upon release of the finger grips the spring coil contracts as the grips spread to the position shown in FIG. 6, thereby firmly gripping shaft 11. During this operation jaws 28,29 remain firmly closed.

One or more of the clips having been properly positioned along supporting shaft 11, the operator may proceed to operate jaws 28,29 by using the finger and thumb of one hand to apply pressure to the mid lengths of the legs as is indicated by arrows B--B in FIG. 6. In this manner, jaws 28,29 are forced apart to any desired degree, it being noted that even when the jaws are spread to the extent indicated in FIG. 6, the portions of the legs opposite arrows B-B are well spaced from coil 20 and shaft 11. As shown in FIG. 6, the flexible walled tube 33 of the blood container 17 is in readiness to be gripped and completely collapsed to pinch off flow through the tube.

In some cases, it is desirable to use jaws 28,29 in the portions of their supporting legs to hold the flexible tube 34 of a second blood container loosely captive and free of external pressure. In this case the free end of the hose is simply inserted between the jaws and the adjacent portion of coil 20 in the manner indicated in FIGS. 1 and 3. Many users find it preferable to disengage jaws 28 and 29 to facilitate insertion or withdrawal of tube 34. Disengagement of the jaws is accomplished expeditiously by applying thumb and finger pressure in opposite directions to jaws 28 and 29 in the directions indicated by arrows C,C in FIG. 4 thereby releasing the jaws to their open positions indicated in dot and dash lines in FIG. 3. Tube 34 is then readily inserted or withdrawn following which the jaws are re-engaged by applying thumb and finger pressure to the diametrically opposed edges of the jaws until the jaws have been crossed over one another to their assembled gripping position illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. The jaws themselves may then be used to hold some other object gripped therebetween. It will also be understood that finger grips 24,25 may be manipulated at any time to relax the grip of the clip on shaft 11 in order that the clip may be moved to a different location or to a differently oriented position circumferentially of the shaft.

Jaws 28,29 are also commonly used to grip data or record sheets, placards, notices, a screen or a guard drape such as that indicated at 36 in FIG. 1. As many clips as desired may be inserted over the upper end of shaft 11 by lifting away bracket arm 15 from its telescopic assembly to the shaft or the clips may be inserted over the lower end of shaft 11 when it is lifted away from it socketed support in the tube fixed to the base 13 of stand 12.

While the particular double action spring clip herein shown and disclosed in detail is fully capable of attaining the objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore stated, it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention and that no limitations are intended to the detail of construction or design herein shown other than as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. A double action spring clip having a pair of manually manipulatable spring pressed jaws including a first pair of finger grips for opening said jaws, and clamping means for supporting said clip in a selected position on a support and including a second pair of finger grips operable as they are pressed toward one another to relax said clamping means independently of and without disturbing the gripping action of said manually manipulatable jaws.

2. A spring clip as defined in claim 1 characterized in that said clip is formed from a single length of long spring stock.

3. A spring clip as defined in claim 1 characterized in that said clip is formed in one unitary piece from spring wire.

4. A spring clip as defined in claim 1 characterized in that the support engaging portion thereof comprises a tubular coil of at least one convolution with the opposite ends thereof crossing one another and projecting outwardly from said coil to from a spaced apart pair of said second finger grips effective when pressed toward one another circumferentially of said coil to expand the same, and said coil automatically contracting toward a smaller diameter when said finger grips are released.

5. A spring clip as defined in claim 4 characterized in that said manually manipulatable jaws cross one another between the inner ends of the juxtaposed gripping surfaces thereof and the adjacent side of said tubular coil.

6. A spring clip as defined in claim 5 characterized in that the gripping surfaces of said manually operable jaws are inclined acutely to a plane normal to a plane passing through the supporting legs of said jaws rearward of the gripping surfaces thereof and whereby said gripping surfaces serve to cam said jaw legs toward one another at their crossing point.

7. A spring clip as defined in claim 5 characterized in that the legs of said manual jaws straddle said tubular coil and have their outer ends attached to a respective one of the finger grips of said coil.

8. A spring clip as defined in claim 7 characterized in that the legs of said manually operable jaws are spaced from and lie out of contact with said tubular coil in all normal operating positions of said jaws.

9. A spring clip as defined in claim 5 characterized in that said manually manipulatable jaws are stressed toward one another when assembled so as to cross one another intermediate the jaws proper and said finger grips.

10. A spring clip as defined in claim 9 characterized in that said jaws are manually shiftable between a stressed gripping position wherein said jaws cross one another and a relaxed non-gripping position in which said jaws are uncrossed and spaced from one another.

11. A spring clip as defined in claim 10 characterized in that the movement of said jaws between said stressed gripping position and said relaxed non-gripping position does not materially alter the gripping action of said support clamping means.

12. A spring clip as defined in claim 4 characterized in that said manually operable jaws and said clamping means are each operable independently of the other between their respective open and closed positions by said first and second pairs of finger grips respectively.

13. A spring clip as defined in claim 1 characterized in that said support engaging portion of said clip comprises a coil in excess of one full convolution and having the opposite ends crossing one another and projecting in opposite directions from substantially a common area of tangency with said coil, and the outer remote ends of said projections being provided with finger grip portions spaced to either side of a plane passing through the axis of said coil and being operable as they are pressed toward one another to expand the diameter of said coil so long as said finger grips are pressed toward one another.

14. A spring clip as defined in claim 10 characterized in that said manual jaws have long legs crossing one another close to the jaws proper and then straddling the exterior of said coil to a point of attachment with the outer free ends of said finger grips, and the portions of said jaw legs intermediate the opposite ends of said legs providing said first pair of finger grips for opening said jaws without opening said coil clamping means.

15. A spring clip as defined in claim 11 characterized in that said manual jaws are twisted so that the gripping surfaces thereof are canted to a plane passing therethrough and through the axis of said coil.

16. A spring clip as defined in claim 1 characterized in that said spring pressed jaws have long supporting spring arms free of connection to one another except at the ends of said arms remote from said jaws, and said arms having a relaxed position with said jaws spaced apart and a stressed gripping position when said jaws and their supporting spring arms are crossed over one another.

17. A spring clip as defined in claim 16 characterized in being formed essentially from spring wire stock.

18. A spring clip as defined in claim 17 characterized in that said jaws comprise a pair of return bend loops lying generally parallel to one another when closed together in the normal gripping position thereof.

19. A spring clip as defined in claim 16 characterized in that said jaws are manipulatable between the relaxed non-gripping and the stressed gripping positions thereof by applying pressure to said return bend loops to shift the same in opposite directions in the general plane of said loops to the extent necessary to cross and to uncross said supporting arms.