ROTATIONAL GRIP MECHANISM FOR FLAT AND CURVED PANELS

There is provided a mechanism for gripping and retaining flat or curved pane ls or the like in a generally planar arrangement. More specifically, there is provided a clamping cartridge which includes a plurality of rotatable pin pairs which operate to engage the edges of the panels and apply a clamping force thereto. Preferabl y, the rotatable pin pairs are resiliently rotatable so that the clamping force whi ch can be applied to the panel edge may be varied. The resilient rotation of the pin pairs may be effected through the use of a spring or other resilient member on which a n actuator is operable for ultimately rotating the pin pairs. The pins of each pin pair, which are normally aligned generally perpendicularly to the edge of the pane l when in their open-most panel receiving and releasing position, are rotatable int o engagement with the edge of the panel so as to clamp the edge therebetween. Further operation of the actuator causes the clamping force to vary the clamping force on account of the spring member without imparting further rotation. Th e resilient rotation of the pin pairs permits panels of varying thickness and/ or multiple panels to be clamped by the same cartridge and permits operability of the device when not all of the pin pairs are used to retain a panel. The clamping force increases with thickness of panel(s) due to increased compression of spring member. One or more such clamping cartridges can be used in a variety of storage and/or packaging systems.