Tube clamp

DETAILED DESCRIPTION AND ADVANTAGES The present invention provides a tube clamp of the type for clamping and supporting a rigid coupling for fluid lines or a flexible elastomeric grommet disposed about a fluid line for absorbing shock and vibration.
The tube clamp includes a pair of oppositely facing clamping members each having a generally U-shaped cross section defined by a pair of spaced apart side walls and a connecting wall extending therebetween.
The side walls define at least one seating surface and a clamping hole for mounting one of the coupling and grommet between the clamping rail.
The present invention is characterized by including gripping means extending into the clamping hole from the seating surface for gripping an elastomeric grommet upon application of a predetermined clamping force to prevent sliding movement of the grommet relative to the clamping members and for yielding away from a rigid coupling upon application of the predetermined clamping force to allow the coupling to be seated against the seating surface.
One advantage of the subject invention includes providing a high quality, low cost tube clamp for clamping both elastomeric grommets and rigid couplings and which tube clamp is more tolerant of variances in the outside diameter of the grommet in order to ensure that pressurized fluid lines are properly supported within the tube clamp to prevent possible fluid leakage.
Another advantage of the subject invention is that grommets manufactured by less expensive forming processes, such as standard extrusion, may be used successfully with the subject tube clamp, thereby providing an inexpensive, high quality alternative to the prior art.