Tube clamp and piercing device

Claim 1

A clamp and piercing device for securely clamping a tubular member and piercing the wall thereof, comprising: two clamp jaws constituting a clamp body, a semi-circular depression in each jaw for accommodating a tubular member to be clamped and pierced, hinge member connecting each clamp jaw at one end thereof to allow opening and closing of the clamp jaws, a hollow piercing member extending through one of the clamp jaws in the area of the semi-circular depression to thereby pierce a wall of the tubular member held in the clamp when the clamp is closed, means for attaching a take-off conduit to the hollow piercing member to establish a path for fluid communication with the inside of the tubular member being clamped, a pair of locking end tabs one at the end of each of the clamp jaws, means flexibly and integrally connecting one end of at least one end tab to the end of the corresponding clamp jaw, locking means in the form of locking rachet teeth facing each other on the end tabs arranged so that they can be locked together to secure the clamp jaws in clamping position or unlocked by flexing at least one of the end tabs away from the other to quickly and easily unlock the clamp, and a finger contact portion on at least the flexibly connected end tab for finger contact for moving such end tab to unlock the rachet teeth locking means.