Final Design

The project requires the design of a hose clamp that can stop the flow of water in order to attach another hose during a hose lay. The design meets the following functional requirements based on the sponsor specifications:

• Increased reliability

• Simple/easy to use

• Price

• Multi-tool component

• Decreases hose ruptures and other failures (TBD after further research)

The final design for the project is a clamping bar that can be used with one hand by a firefighter to stop the flow of water in wildland fire hose. The clamping bar is made out of 1045 cold drawn steel due its ideal strength to weight ratio, the total weight of the bar is 2.6 lbs. The four components are as listed:

• The rubber handle

• The pins

• The main body

• The spanner wrench

Use

In order for the user to use the clamping bar the hose should be inserted in between the pins with the center pin, colored in red in the figure to the right, facing up. Then the user would rotate the clamping bar 180 degrees until the green colored pins are facing up. At this point, the water in the hose would be restricted and the next hose could be attached.

Manufacturing

The clamping bar was designed to have a simple manufacturing process. This would be done through either plasma cutting or using a water jet to cut the flat design out, which can be seen rendering below. Then either a bending machine called a break would bend the pins and handle into place or another bending technique could be utilized.