Baton structure

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6398653
  • Patent Number
    6,398,653
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, June 28, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, June 4, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Pierce; William M.
    Agents
    • Rosenberg, Klein & Lee
Abstract
A baton structure is provided. The baton structure includes a knocking cylinder and a hollow connecting tube integrally extending from a surface of the knocking cylinder. A handle is pivotably mounted to the hollow connecting tube so that the handle is foldable to reduce the storage volume of the baton structure.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a baton structure and more particularly, to a baton structure having a foldable handle to reduce the storage volume.




2. Description of the Related Prior Art




As shown in

FIG. 7

, a baton


6


includes a main rod


61


, a hollow connecting tube


62


and a handle


63


. The hollow connecting tube


62


integrally protrudes from one surface of the main rod


61


and the handle


63


is fixed to the hollow connecting tube


62


. A disadvantage of such a prior art baton consists in large storage volume during packaging or transporting.




An expandable baton with spring biased latch means is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5, 160, 140. The expandable baton includes a hollow cylindrical frame and a shaft sildably received in the cylindrical frame. A spring biased nylon steel pin assembly is further provided to limit contraction and extension of the shaft. A side handle can be fixed to the sleeve by a threaded screw. Thus, the handle of the conventional baton is not foldable. The storage volume of it can not be reduced.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




However, it is found a disadvantage in the baton structure of the above-mentioned prior art that the handle is not foldable.




Thus, there is still a need for improving the baton structure of prior art in terms of providing a baton structure with a foldable handle.




Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a baton structure with a foldable handle to reduce the storage volume.




To accomplish the object of the present invention, a baton structure includes a knocking cylinder and a hollow connecting tube integrally extending from a surface of the knocking cylinder. The hollow connecting tube includes a free end, a slot formed at the free end to form two crevices and two walls, a slot edge formed at an edge of each crevice, a first aperture defined on a position near the knocking cylinder and related to one of the crevices, and a second aperture defined on each wall of the slot to allow a bolt to pass. The handle is pivotably mounted to the hollow connecting tube. The handle includes a holding portion having a connecting portion extending therefrom to correspond to the slot of the connecting tube. The connecting portion includes a protruding portion extending from an end thereof to correspond to the connecting tube, two long holes each defined on a side extending from the connecting portion to the protruding portion to allow the bolt to pass, a first opening defined to correspond to the first aperture of the connecting tube, and a first button partially protruding out of the first opening and biased by a spring to allow the first button to perpetually and partially protrude out of the first opening.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The other advantages and/or benefits caused by the present invention will become patently apparent after reading the following detailed description of an illustrative preferred embodiment of the invention together with referring to the associated drawings in which:





FIG. 1

is an exploded view of a baton structure in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a partially side section view of the handle of the baton structure of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is a schematic view showing the first step to fold the handle of the baton structure of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 4

is a schematic view showing the subsequent step to fold the handle of the baton structure of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 5

is a schematic view showing the other subsequent step to fold the handle of the baton structure of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 6

is a partially side section view of the knocking cylinder of the baton structure of

FIG. 1

; and





FIG. 7

is a perspective view of a prior art baton.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




With reference to

FIG. 1

, a preferred embodiment of a baton structure in accordance with the present invention includes a main rod


1


and a handle


2


. The handle


2


is foldably mounted to the main rod


1


.




The main rod


1


is for defense and offense. The main rod


1


includes a knocking cylinder


11


and a hollow connecting tube


12


. The hollow connecting tube


12


integrally extends from a surface of the knocking cylinder


1


.




With reference to

FIGS. 1 and 2

, the hollow connecting tube


12


includes a free end opposite to the end connected to the knocking cylinder


11


, a slot


122


, a slot edge


1220


, a first aperture


1211


, and second apertures


124


.




The free end locates opposite to the surface of the knocking cylinder


11


where the connecting tube


12


extends. The slot


122


is formed at the free end to form two crevices


1226


and two walls


1222


. The slot edge


1220


is formed at an edge of each crevice


1226


. The first aperture


1211


is defined on a position near the knocking cylinder


11


and related to one of the crevices


1226


. Each second aperture


124


is defined on each wall


1222


of the slot


122


to allow a bolt


126


to pass therethrough.




Preferredly, the connecting tube


12


includes a recess


121


(see

FIG. 2

) defined near the knocking cylinder


11


and the first aperture


1211


is defined in the recess


121


.




The handle


2


is for folding and is pivotably mounted to the hollow connecting tube


12


. The handle


2


includes a holding portion


21


. On one end of the holding portion


21


, a connecting portion


22


extends to correspond to the slot


122


of the connecting tube


12


. Thus, the connecting portion


22


can be inserted into the slot


122


of the connecting tube


12


.




The holding portion


21


is for holding with hands.




The connecting portion


22


includes a protruding portion


220


, two long holes


221


, a first opening


224


, and a first button


228


.




The protruding portion


220


extends from an end of the connecting portion


22


to correspond to the connecting tube


12


. Thus, the protruding portion


220


can be inserted into the connecting tube


12


.




Two long holes


221


are respectively defined on a side extending from the connecting portion


22


to the protruding portion


220


. The long holes


221


are so configure that the bolt


126


can pass through the two long holes


221


. Therefore, when the connecting portion


22


and protruding portion


220


are respectively inserted into the slot


122


and the connecting tube


12


, the bolt


126


can be pass through the second apertures


124


and long holes


221


to pivotally mount the handle


2


to the connecting tube


12


. Thus, the handle


2


is povitoally mounted to the main rod


1


.




The first opening


224


is defined to correspond to the first aperture


1211


of the connecting tube


12


. The first button


228


partially protrudes out of the first opening


224


and biased by a spring


229


to allow the first button


228


to perpetually and partially protrude out of the first opening


224


. Therefore, the first button


228


can partially protrude out of the first aperture


1211


through the first opening


224


to lock the protruding portion


220


to the connecting tube


12


. As shown in

FIG. 2

, the handle


2


is vertically lock to the main rod


1


to integrally show a T like side view.




Preferredly, the protruding portion


220


includes a second opening


222


defined on a side thereof opposite to the side having the first opening


224


defined thereon and a second button


226


partially protrudes out of the second opening


222


so that the spring


229


is urged between the first and the second buttons


228


,


226


.




With reference to

FIGS. 2 and 3

, when one desires to unlock the handle


2


from the main rod


1


, he begins with hitting the first button


228


into the first aperture


1211


in the direction of the arrow (as shown in FIG.


2


). Afterward, he pulls the handle


2


in the direction opposite to the main rod


1


so that the holding portion


21


can move downward (as shown by the arrow of FIG.


3


). Thus, the first button


228


of the protruding portion


220


can be pulled out of the first aperture


1221


of the connecting tube


12


to unlock the handle


2


. Then, handle


2


can freely swing clockwise or anti-clockwise related to the bolt


126


serving as the axis for its swinging (as shown by the dotted arrows of FIG.


3


).




With reference to

FIG. 4

, when the handle


2


swings anti-clockwise to a horizontal position, the handle


2


can further be moved in the direction indicated by the dotted arrow. Meanwhile, the first button


228


is moved to be locked the slot edge


1220


of the connecting tube


12


. Thus, the handle


2


is folded to a position that it is longitudinally parallel to the knocking cylinder


11


.




With reference to

FIG. 5

, when the handle


2


swings to a horizontal position, similarly, the handle


2


can be locked by the second button


226


to form a folded state. This folded state is the other embodiment of the present invention.




With reference to

FIGS. 1 and 6

, the knocking cylinder


11


preferredly is hollow. The knocking cylinder


11


includes a first plain portion


113


, a block portion


114


, a fourth aperture


112


, a third aperture


111


, and an inner shaft


13


received therein.




The first plain portion


113


integrally extends from a position to an end of the knocking cylinder


11


. The block portion


114


is located at the position where the first plain portion


113


begins to extend toward the end of the knocking cylinder


11


. The fourth aperture


112


is defined at an end near the block portion


114


. The third aperture


111


is defined at an end opposite to the block portion


114


.




The inner shaft


13


is slidably received in the knocking cylinder


11


and its contraction and extension from the knocking cylinder


11


can be limited. It is explained in following paragraphs.




The inner shaft


13


includes a second plain portion


132


, a hollow tube


1310


, and a circular recess


131


.




The second plain portion


132


is defined to correspond to the first plain portion


113


of the knocking cylinder


11


. Thus, a relative rotation between the inner shaft


13


and the knocking cylinder


11


is eliminated by the match of the first and the second plain portions


113


,


132


when the inner shaft


13


is received in knocking cylinder


11


.




The hollow tube


1310


is defined opposite to the second plain portion


132


. The hollow tube


1310


has a fifth aperture


1311


so configured to correspond to the third aperture


111


of the knocking cylinder


11


. A third button


136


is provided to partially and elastically protrude out of the third aperture


111


through the fifth aperture


1311


by a spring


135


. The third button


136


together with the spring


135


, thus, can lock the inner shaft


13


on the knocking cylinder


11


when the inner shaft


13


is received in the knocking cylinder


11


.




The circular recess is defined between the second plain portion


132


and the hollow tube


1310


.




When one hits the third button


136


into the third aperture


111


to unlock the inner shaft


13


from the knocking cylinder


11


so as to allow an extension of the inner shaft


13


from the knocking cylinder


11


(as shown by the arrow of FIG.


6


), the extension distance is decided by the distance between the first aperture


111


and the fourth aperture


112


. The block portion


114


of the knocking cylinder


11


can stop the extending of the inner shaft


13


by block the circular recess


131


of the inner shaft


13


. After extending, the third button


136


partially protrudes out of the fourth aperture


112


through the fifth aperture


1311


so that the inner shaft


13


can be locked by the knocking cylinder


11


.




Preferredly, a C ring


133


and two O rings


134


are provided to encircle the circular recess


131


. The assembly of the C ring


133


and O rings


134


will damp the colliding force between the block portion


114


and the circular recess


131


.




More preferredly, the knocking cylinder


11


includes a cap


137


mounted at an end to correspond to the hollow tube


131


of the inner shaft


13


. The cap


137


can prevent the inner shaft


13


from dropping out of the knocking cylinder


11


.




Having thus detailedly described the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will become apparently to those skilled in the art that the detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrative only and thus various modifications, changes and substitutions can be made without departing from the spirit of the following claims of the present invention. All of such modifications, changes and substitution as stated above are still within the scope of the present invention.



Claims
  • 1. A baton structure comprisinga main rod including a knocking cylinder and a hollow connecting tube integrally extending from a surface of the knocking cylinder, the hollow connecting tube including a free end opposite to the surface of the knocking cylinder where connecting tube extends, a slot formed on the free end to form two crevices and two walls, a slot edge formed at an edge of each crevice, a first aperture defined on a position near the knocking cylinder and related to one of the crevices, and a second aperture defined on each wall of the slot to allow a bolt to pass therethrough, and a handle pivotably mounted to the hollow connecting tube, the handle including a holding portion having a connecting portion extending therefrom to correspond to the slot of the connecting tube, the connecting portion including a protruding portion extending from an end thereof to correspond to the connecting tube, two long holes each defined on a side extending from the connecting portion to the protruding portion to allow the bolt to pass therethrough, a first opening defined to correspond to the first aperture of the connecting tube, and a first button partially protruding out of the first opening and biased by a spring to allow the first button to perpetually and partially protrude out of the first opening.
  • 2. The baton structure as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe connecting tube further includes a recess defined near the knocking cylinder and the first aperture is defined in the recess.
  • 3. The baton structure as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe protruding portion further includes a second opening defined on a side thereof opposite to the side having the first opening defined thereon and a second button partially protrudes out of the second opening so that the spring is urged between the first and the second buttons.
  • 4. The baton structure as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe knocking cylinder is hollow and includes a first plain portion integrally extending from a position to an end thereof, a block portion located at the position the first plain portion extending, a fourth aperture defined on an end near the block portion, a third aperture defined on an end opposite to the end the block portion defined, and an inner shaft slidably received therein, the inner shaft including a second plain portion corresponding to the first plain portion of the knocking cylinder, a hollow tube defined opposite to the second plain portion, the hollow tube having a fifth aperture corresponding to the third aperture of the knocking cylinder to allow a third button partially and elastically protruding out of the fifth aperture by a spring, and a circular recess defined between the second plain portion and the hollow tube.
  • 5. The baton structure as claimed in claim 4, whereina C ring and an O ring are further provided to encircle the circular recess.
  • 6. The baton structure as claimed in claim 4, whereinthe knocking cylinder further includes a cap mounted on an end corresponding to the hollow tube.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Number Name Date Kind
1737275 Sudek Nov 1929 A
5085433 Parsons Feb 1992 A
5160140 Starrett Nov 1992 A
6131971 Chen Oct 2000 A
6216317 Chen Apr 2001 B1