Banding tools are well-known in the art for applying tension to a band around an item to be connected or held together. Banding tools are often bulky and difficult to operate due to their size. Some banding tools are designed to be more compact and easy to operate, however, these tools tend to become more complex.
Additionally, there are several various types of bands and clamps available, for example, free/open end clamps and pre-formed clamps. Pre-formed clamps are manufactured to close tolerances and therefore already partially retain the band within the buckle thereof. The free/open end clamps, however, are formed with a looser tolerance between the buckle and the band. Therefore, there is no tendency for the buckle to hold the band therein without some interaction between a tool, the band and the buckle.
Such interaction may comprise bending of the band around a buckle and/or crimping the buckle to the band. Typically tools that work with free/open end clamps require the use of a plurality of separate devices to tension and then fasten the band to the buckle. Thus, whereas the free/open end clamps are generally cheaper to manufacture and easier to handle than pre-formed clamps, additional tool requirements tend to degrade their usefulness.
One example of the use of a separate tool to secure a buckle to a band is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,303 to Pollock, Aug. 28, 1973. In Pollock, a separate blunt-nosed punch is used in conjunction with a mallet to secure the buckle and the band around a hose or other flexible tubing. Thus it is necessary to use one device to tension the band, one device to deform the band and one device to provide the force to deform the band.
Another such clamp is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,833,969 to Hollingsworth et al., Sep. 10, 1974. After the band is tensioned around a hose and the buckle is properly positioned, a punch 20 is struck with a hammer to deform the buckle. Therefore, it is necessary to again use additional tools beyond the tensioning tool to secure the band and buckle around the hose. Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus to tension and secure a free/open end band clamp without the necessity of additional tools.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds