Holding clamp for an aquarium heater

Claim 1

A holding clamp for suspending an aquarium heater from the top of an aquarium frame, said holding clamp comprising: an L-shaped bracket having first and second perpendicular legs; a first retaining member slidable along said first leg of said bracket, said first retaining member and the second leg of said bracket providing a horizontal throat having an adjustable width for accommodating frames of different width sizes; a second retaining member slidable along the second leg of said bracket, said second retaining member and the first leg of said bracket providing a vertical throat having an adjustable height for accommodating frames of different height sizes; locking means for securing the holding clamp to the aquarium frame with said retaining members being positioned to accommodate the appropriate frame size; holding means connected to said bracket for supporting the aquarium heater; said first retaining member including an L-shaped member having an elongated slot in a first leg thereof, an elongated slot being provided in said first leg of said L-shaped bracket, said locking means comprising a stem portion extending through both elongated slots to permit sliding of said L-shaped member with respect to said L-shaped bracket, and a locking knob engaging said extended stem for securely clamping together said first legs of both said L-shaped member and said L-shaped bracket, whereby the second legs of both said L-shaped member and said L-shaped bracket are spaced apart a desired distance from each other to define the desired horizontal throat; said first and second legs of said L-shaped bracket being U-shaped in cross section, and said locking means including a block fitting within the U-shaped configuration of said first leg of said bracket, said block supporting a threaded stem extending through the elongated slots, and said locking knob having a threaded bore therein for receiving said threaded stem and tightening down against an outer side of said first leg of said bracket; and said first retaining member being an L-shaped spring clip, said first leg of said spring clip slidably nesting within the first leg of said bracket, and said second leg of said spring clip being inwardly bowed, said block having at least one width dimension fully extending across the distance between the spaced apart walls of the U-shaped configuration of the first leg of the bracket.