Handle for exothermic mold with spring connectors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11229970-B2
Application number	US-201816102121-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 13, 2018
Priority date	Aug 21, 2017
Publication date	Jan 25, 2022
Grant date	Jan 25, 2022

Abstract

Disclosed is a handle clamp for an exothermic mold. The clamp includes a pair of legs, each having a plurality of rods that are shaped to fit into engagement holes on sections of the mold. The rods of each leg engage with one section of the mold. Engagement brackets are rotatably disposed on one or more or the rods. The brackets each have a thumb bolt that can be extended toward a mold section connected with the clamp. When engaged with the mold section, the thumb bolt stabilizes the mold section on the handle. A detent mechanism is provided between the bracket and the leg of the handle. The detent mechanism releaseably holds the bracket in one of a selected plurality of rotational positions with respect to the rod. By selecting different rotational positions for the brackets, the handle can be configured to engage with different configurations of mold. The thumb bolts that are biased toward the mold section by a spring. The bolts include a key that can be aligned or misaligned with a key slot on the bracket. By aligning the key with the key with the key slot, the bolt can be moved toward or away from the mold section under the biasing force of the spring. By misaligning the key and key slot, the bolt can be locked into engagement with the mold section or else held in a disengaged position.

First claim

We claim:

1. A handle clamp for an exothermic mold comprising: a pair of grips; a pair of legs connected with respective ones of the grips, the legs arranged to move toward and away from one another in response to motion of the grips; a plurality of engagement rods disposed on each of the legs, wherein the engagement rods on each leg are adapted to engage with respective sections of the exothermic mold; one or more brackets, each said bracket rotatably disposed on one of the rods; and a detent mechanism to releasably hold each said bracket in one of a plurality of angular positions of each said bracket with respect to a respective one of the rods.

2. The handle clamp of claim 1 , wherein the detent mechanism comprises a convex feature and a plurality of concave features arranged radially about the respective engagement rod, the convex feature disposed on the leg or the bracket and the concave features disposed on the other of the leg or the bracket, the concave and convex features shaped to engage with one another and positioned so that when a selected one of the concave features is engaged with the convex feature, the bracket is positioned in a respective one of the plurality of angular positions about the respective rod.

3. The handle clamp of claim 2 , wherein the detent mechanism further comprises a force applying member adapted to apply a force to hold the engaged convex and concave features against one another.

4. The handle clamp of claim 3 , wherein the force applying member is one of a coil spring, a spring washer, an elastomeric washer, and a magnetic insert.

5. The handle clamp of claim 2 , wherein the concave feature is a hole or dimple on the leg or bracket.

6. The handle clamp of claim 2 , wherein the convex feature is a pin extending from one of the leg or bracket and the concave feature is a hole in the other of the leg or bracket.

7. The handle clamp of claim 1 further comprising a locking mechanism, the locking mechanism releasably locking the grips in a closed position.

8. The handle clamp of claim 1 , further comprising a bolt hole through the bracket and a bolt disposed in the bolt hole and movable toward and away from a surface of the mold.

9. The handle clamp of claim 8 , wherein the bolt and the bolt hole are in threaded engagement with one another.

10. The handle clamp of claim 8 , wherein the bolt hole further comprises a key slot, wherein the bolt further comprises a key, wherein the bolt is rotatable in the hole, and wherein, when the key is aligned with the key slot, the bolt can slide through the bolt hole.

11. The handle clamp of claim 10 , wherein a proximal end of the key engages a distal surface of the bracket when a tip of the bolt engages with the mold section.

12. The handle clamp of claim 8 , wherein the bolt comprises a bolt-driving spring arranged to bias the bolt in a direction toward or away from the mold.

13. The handle clamp of claim 12 , wherein the bolt-driving spring comprises a coil spring, wherein the bolt further comprises a spring retaining feature, and wherein the coils spring is disposed between a surface of the bracket and the spring retaining feature.

14. The handle clamp of claim 8 , wherein the bolt further comprises a threaded portion adapted for threaded engagement with a threaded hole of the mold section.

15. The handle clamp of claim 9 , wherein the threaded portion of the bolt is provided only on a proximal portion of the bolt.

16. A method for forming a weld comprising the steps of: providing an exothermic mold formed from a plurality of mold sections wherein the mold sections comprise rod engaging holes, stabilizer holes, and a mold cavity; providing a handle clamp, the handle clamp comprising: a pair of grips; a pair of legs connected with respective ones of the grips, the legs arranged to move toward and away from one another in response to motion of the grips; a plurality of engagement rods disposed on each of the legs, wherein the engagement rods on each leg are adapted to be inserted into engaging holes of respective mold sections of the plurality of mold sections; one or more brackets rotatably disposed on respective ones of the rods, wherein the bracket comprises a bolt hole; a bolt movably disposed in the bolt hole; and a detent mechanism to releasably hold the bracket in a selected angular position from among a plurality of angular positions with respect to the rod; positioning the bracket in the selected angular position; engaging the detent mechanism to hold the bracket in the selected angular position; fitting the engagement rods into the rod engagement holes of the mold sections; extending the bolt through the bolt hole toward the mold section; engaging a tip of the bolt with a respective stabilizer hole of the mold section; positioning the mold sections adjacent a structure to be welded; squeezing the grips to press the mold sections together; activating an exothermic reaction in the mold to form the weld in the mold cavity; separating the grips to separate the mold sections; and removing the weld from the mold cavity.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the bolt and bolt hole comprise mutually engaged threads and wherein the step of extending comprises rotating the bolt.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the handle clamp further comprises a spring connected with the bolt and wherein the step of extending comprises biasing the bolt into engagement with the mold section with a biasing force applied by the spring.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the bolt further comprises a key, wherein the bolt hole further comprises a key slot, and wherein the step of moving further comprises rotating the bolt to align the key with the key slot to allow the bolt to move through the bolt hole.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising, after the tip is engaged with the stabilizer hole, rotating the bolt to misalign the key and the key slot to prevent the bolt tip from moving away from the stabilizer hole.

21. A handle clamp for an exothermic mold comprising: a pair of grips; a pair of legs connected with respective ones of the grips, the legs arranged to move toward and away from one another in response to motion of the grips; a plurality of engagement rods disposed on each of the legs, wherein the engagement rods on each leg are adapted to engage with respective sections of the exothermic mold; one or more brackets, each said bracket rotatably disposed on a respective one of the rods; and a detent mechanism to releasably hold each said bracket in one of a plurality of angular positions of each bracket with respect to the one of the respective rod, wherein the detent mechanism includes a force applying member configured to bias each said bracket towards a respective one of the legs.

Assignees

• Hubbell Inc

Inventors

• Ruland Rodd R
• STILWELL Charles Mitchell
• Schroeder David Lee

Classifications

• B22D33/00 Primary

  Equipment for handling moulds · CPC title

• B23K23/00

  Alumino-thermic welding · CPC title

• B23K20/26

  Auxiliary equipment · CPC title

• B22D19/04

  for joining parts · CPC title

• B25B5/16

  Details, e.g. jaws, jaw attachments · CPC title