Profile clamp with a screw having a section of reduced diameter

Abstract

A profile clamp includes a clamping band and a first tensioning head arranged at a first end and a second tensioning head arranged at a second end of the clamping band. The first tensioning head includes a first opening and the second tensioning head includes a second opening. A screw is provided with a screw head and a screw body. The screw body may be guided through the first opening and the second opening. A threaded nut is provided, which may be arranged on the screw body when the screw body is guided through the first opening and the second opening. The screw body has a first threaded section and a second threaded section and a section of reduced diameter therebetween.

Claims

1. A profile clamp comprising a clamping band and a first tensioning head arranged at a first end and a second tensioning head arranged at a second end of the clamping band, wherein the first tensioning head comprises a first opening and the second tensioning head comprises a second opening, wherein a screw is provided comprising a screw head and a screw body, wherein the screw body is guidable through the first opening and the second opening, and wherein a threaded nut is provided, which is arrangeable on the screw body when the screw body is guided through the first opening and the second opening, wherein the screw body comprises a first threaded section and a second threaded section and comprises a section of reduced diameter therebetween, wherein the clamping band comprises a first section and a second section, wherein the first and the second section are joined by a joining element formed as a band of material attached to respective ends of the first and the second section.

2. The profile clamp of claim 1, wherein the screw body is guided through the first opening and the second opening and the threaded nut is arranged on the screw body.

3. The profile clamp of claim 2, wherein an abutment element is provided that is arrangeable on the screw body.

4. The profile clamp of claim 3, wherein the abutment element is arranged on the screw body in the region of an end of the screw body, against which the threaded nut may abut in a longitudinal direction away from the screw head.

5. The profile clamp of claim 3, wherein the abutment element is a washer.

6. The profile clamp of claim 1, wherein the section of reduced diameter is longer in a longitudinal direction of the screw than one thread turn.

7. The profile clamp of claim 1, wherein the section of reduced diameter comprises at least 20% of the length of the screw body.

8. The profile clamp of claim 1, wherein the section of reduced diameter has no thread.

9. The profile clamp of claim 1, wherein the section of reduced diameter is smooth along its length.

10. The profile clamp of claim 1, wherein a diameter (D1) of the section of reduced diameter matches or is less than a free diameter (D2) between outer flanks of a thread of the threaded nut.

11. The profile clamp of claim 1, wherein the first threaded section and the second threaded section have a same outside diameter of thread.

12. The profile clamp of claim 11, wherein the first threaded section extends from a first end of the section of reduced diameter towards the screw head, and the second threaded section extends from a second end of the section of reduced diameter towards an end of the screw body.

13. The profile clamp of claim 1, wherein the clamping band is biased to an open position.

14. The profile clamp of claim 1, wherein the threaded nut is secured against rotation with respect to the tensioning head.

15. The profile clamp of claim 1, wherein the section of reduced diameter comprises at least 25% of the length of the screw body.

16. The profile clamp of claim 1, wherein the section of reduced diameter comprises at least 30% of the length of the screw body.

17. The profile clamp of claim 1, wherein the section of reduced diameter comprises at least 40% of the length of the screw body.

18. The profile clamp of claim 1, wherein the section of reduced diameter is formed as a cylinder.

19. The profile clamp of claim 1, wherein the first threaded section comprises a greater length of the screw body than the second threaded section, the first threaded section extends from a first end of the section of reduced diameter towards the screw head, and the second threaded section extends from a second end of the section of reduced diameter towards an end of the screw body.

20. The profile clamp of claim 19, wherein the threaded nut is initially threaded to the second threaded section which comprises a smaller length of the screw body than the first threaded section, the first threaded section extends from a first end of the section of reduced diameter towards the screw head, and the second threaded section extends from a second end of the section of reduced diameter towards an end of the screw body.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) Further features, details and advantages of the disclosure may be derived from the following description of embodiments and figures.

(2) FIG. 1 shows a side view of a screw used with a profile clamp.

(3) FIG. 2 shows a side view of the profile clamp.

(4) FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an end of a screw and a washer.

(5) FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the profile clamp.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) The screw of FIG. 1 is for use with a profile clamp and has a screw head 21 formed at one end of a screw body 22. The screw body has a thread 23 with a first threaded section 27 that extends from a first end 29 of the section of reduced diameter 25 towards the screw head 21, and a second threaded section 28 that extends from a second end 30 of the section of reduced diameter 25 towards the screw end 26. In other words, the section of reduced diameter 25 is arranged between the first threaded section 27 and the second threaded section 28. Here, the section of reduced diameter 25 is formed as a smooth cylinder with no thread 23, whereby the diameter D1 of the section of reduced diameter 25 is smaller than the outer diameter of the thread 23 in the first threaded section 27 and the second threaded section 28 of the screw body 22.

(7) The section of reduced diameter 25 encompasses around 35% of the total length of the screw body 22, whereby other percentages are also thinkable as described herein. The thread 23 comprises thread flanks 24 that mate with a corresponding thread of a nut element (not shown).

(8) The profile clamp 1 of FIG. 2 uses the screw 20 shown in FIG. 1. The clamp 1 has a clamping band 5 formed with a first section 6 and a second section 7 that are connected via a joining element 8. Here, the joining element 8 is formed as a band of material attached to respective ends of the first section 6 and second section 7. A first tensioning head 11 and a second tensioning head 12 are arranged at a first end 9 and second end 10 of the clamping band 5.

(9) The screw 20 is fed through a first opening and a second opening (not shown) and secured in the openings by a nut 40, which in turn is held on the screw body 22 by an abutment element 50, which is this case is formed as a washer 60. In the state of the clamp 1 shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to press the clamp together so that the section of reduced diameter 25 of the screw body 22 slides through the nut 40 and the opening of the second tensioning head 12. Thereafter or at the same time, the nut 40 may also be moved along the section of reduced diameter 25 until it reaches the first threaded section 27 of the screw body 22, where it may be tightened again so as to prevent the clamp 1 from springing open.

(10) FIG. 3 shows a screw end 26 of the screw 20 shown in FIG. 1 and a nut 40. Here it may be seen that a diameter D1 of the section of reduced diameter 25 matches a free diameter D2 between outer flanks 42 of the thread 41 of the nut 40, so that the nut 40 may be easily slid along the section of reduced diameter 25 of the screw 20.

(11) FIG. 4 shows a side perspective view of the clamp 1. Here, the first opening 13 and second opening 14 through which the screw 20 is inserted may be clearly seen. They are both formed in the centre of the first tensioning head 11 and the second tensioning head 12 respectively.

(12) All the features and advantages, including structural details, spatial arrangements and method steps, which follow from the claims, the description and the drawing can be fundamental to the invention both on their own and in different combinations. It is to be understood that the foregoing is a description of one or more preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention. The invention is not limited to the particular embodiment(s) disclosed herein, but rather is defined solely by the claims below. Furthermore, the statements contained in the foregoing description relate to particular embodiments and are not to be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention or on the definition of terms used in the claims, except where a term or phrase is expressly defined above. Various other embodiments and various changes and modifications to the disclosed embodiment(s) will become apparent to those skilled in the art. All such other embodiments, changes, and modifications are intended to come within the scope of the appended claims.

(13) As used in this specification and claims, the terms “for example,” “for instance,” “such as,” and “like,” and the verbs “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and their other verb forms, when used in conjunction with a listing of one or more components or other items, are each to be construed as open-ended, meaning that the listing is not to be considered as excluding other, additional components or items. Other terms are to be construed using their broadest reasonable meaning unless they are used in a context that requires a different interpretation.

LIST OF REFERENCES

(14) 1 Profile clamp 5 Clamping band 6 First section 7 Second section 8 Joining element 9 First end 10 Second end 11 First tensioning head 12 Second tensioning head 13 First opening 14 Second opening 20 Screw 21 Screw head 22 Screw body 23 Thread 24 Thread flank 25 Section of reduced diameter (SRD) 26 Screw end 27 First threaded section 28 Second threaded section 29 First end of SRD 30 Second end of SRD 40 Nut 41 Thread 42 Outer flanks 50 Abutment element 60 Washer L Longitudinal direction of screw D1 Diameter of SRD D2 Distance between nut flanks