Marman Clamp

While I was cleaning the dryer vent, I had to disconnect a screw-type clamp connecting the flexible metal hose from the dryer to the round sheet-metal vent tube. It reminded me of a Marman clamp. Instantly I thought, “I should blog about the Marman clamp.”

Here’s what a Marman clamp looks like (right). It may look familiar. But here’s what you probably don’t know:

Do you remember Zeppo Marx? Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Gummo were comedians and Zeppo was the foil, the loser straight man. Zeppo (real name: Herbert) didn’t like acting and in 1933 he left the group to become a theatrical agent. Zeppo enjoyed tinkering with mechanical things and became an inventor. In 1941, Zeppo established the Marman Products Company. It made clamps and strapping devices and was involved in the war effort. It was the first company to produce the Marman clamp after its inventor showed Zeppo the device. Marman clamps have many uses; a common use is for quick disconnects for large fuel lines. They are used in spacecraft such as the Cassini orbiter now in orbit around Saturn. Marman clamps were used to hold the “Fat Man” atomic bomb inside the B-29 bomber Bockscar.

Herbert “Zeppo” Marx held three patents. Two patents name him as co-inventor of a cardiac pulse monitor. The monitor was worn like a wristwatch and would alarm if the wearer went into cardiac arrest. Truly, Zeppo was not the Zero he played in the movies.