Information
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Patent Grant
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6416028
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Patent Number
6,416,028
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Date Filed
Tuesday, February 27, 200123 years ago
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Date Issued
Tuesday, July 9, 200222 years ago
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Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
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CPC
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US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 248 339
- 248 684
- 248 689
- 248 301
- 248 305
- 248 306
- 248 3161
- 248 3165
- 223 96
- 187 414
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International Classifications
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Abstract
A method and device for hanging elevator pads. An elevator pad clamp is disclosed that includes a back plate having an attachment end for holding the back plate in relation to an elevator wall and having two wing segments extending away from a surface of the back plate. A clamp plate is hinged to the wing segments at a clamp axis, and a spring is hinged to the wing segments and positioned to bias the clamp plate in a first state. A lever portion is hinged to the wing segments at a lever axis. The lever portion has an urging member shaped to urge against a first surface of the clamp plate as the lever portion is rotated about the lever axis to cause the clamp plate to rotate about the clamp axis. The clamping device has two states. In an open state the clamp plate and the back plate define an open set of elevator-pad receiving jaws. The device may remain in the open state without depressing the lever. In a closed state, the jaws are closed and locked. The device may remain in the closed state without depressing the lever.
Description
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a spring-loaded clamp for, and method of, hanging an elevator pad.
2. Description of the Related Art
Elevator pads are used to protect elevator walls from being scratched or damaged when the elevator is being used to carry large or bulky objects such as furniture. One common approach is to use custom tailored elevator pads in which grommets are formed into the pad at positions corresponding to hooks or plugs protruding from the elevator walls. This method is costly as each pad must have custom made and positioned grommets. Another method forms straps on one side of the pad so that the pad's straps may be placed over protruding hooks. This approach also suffers from the cost of creating and forming the strap and at times is inconvenient to use. Another method uses a clothespin-like clamp to hold the pad, in which the clamp must be pressed to open the jaws in scissors-like fashion. See (http://www.westcoastpads.com/hooks).
SUMMARY
The invention provides an improved method and device for hanging elevator pads. According to one aspect of the invention, an elevator pad clamp is provided that includes a back plate having an attachment end for holding the back plate in relation to an elevator wall and having two wing segments extending away from a surface of the back plate. A clamp plate is hinged to the wing segments at a clamp axis, and a spring is hinged to the wing segments and positioned to bias the clamp plate in a first state. A lever portion is hinged to the wing segments at a lever axis. The lever portion has an urging member shaped to urge against a first surface of the clamp plate as the lever portion is rotated about the lever axis to cause the clamp plate to rotate about the clamp axis.
According to another aspect of the invention, the clamping device has two states. In an open state the clamp plate and the back plate define an open set of elevator-pad receiving jaws. The device may remain in the open state without depressing the lever. In a closed state, the jaws are closed and locked. The device may remain in the closed state without depressing the lever.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
In the drawing,
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of an elevator pad clamping device of a preferred embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2
is a longitudinal cross-section of a preferred embodiment;
FIGS. 3A-C
is a perspective view of preferred back plates;
FIG. 4
is a perspective view of a preferred clamp plate;
FIG. 5
is a perspective view of a preferred spring; and
FIG. 6
is a perspective view of a preferred thumb-depressible lever.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an elevator pad clamping device
10
shown in a closed, or clamping, state. Clamp
10
includes a back plate
12
having two side wings
13
a
and
13
b,
a thumb depressible lever
11
is hinged to the wings
13
a,b
of the back plate
12
with pin
14
a,
and clamp plate
16
is hinged to the wings
13
a,b
of the back plate with pin
14
b.
A spring
15
(not shown in this figure) is positioned between the clamp plate
16
and the back plate
12
.
FIG. 2
shows a longitudinal cross section of an exemplary embodiment of a clamp
10
. Clamp plate
16
pivots around pin
14
b,
and thumb depressible lever
11
pivots around pin
14
a.
Spring
15
has a first portion
22
, second portion
26
, and a vertex
24
, and it is positioned around pin
14
b
and between the clamp plate
16
and back plate
12
. In its natural state, the first and second spring portions
22
,
26
are spaced apart by an angle between 30 and 45 degrees. As shown in
FIG. 5
, the spring is in a compressed state in which the second portion
26
is urged toward the first
22
.
As shown in this figure, the device
10
is in a closed, locked state. Urging portion
25
is roughly perpendicular to a portion of clamp plate
16
and thus holds the clamp plate down toward the back plate
12
. The lever
11
is shaped so that a roughly perpendicular position of urging member
25
corresponds with the a portion
27
of the lever contacting the back plate
12
. In this state, the lever
11
may be released, but the device will remain closed. In the closed state, distal portion
23
of clamp plate
16
and distal portion
21
of back plate
12
define closed jaws which can hold an elevator pad firmly.
If the lever
11
is lifted to rotate about pin
14
a
as shown by arrow B, urging member
25
slides along the clockwise direction shown along the top surface of the clamp plate
16
. This allows the spring to gradually release from the compressed state and to force the clamp plate away from the back plate
12
. The lever
11
may be lifted to a point at which the spring
15
will urge the clamping plate
16
into a fully open state. At this point, the device
10
stays in the open state naturally and the lever
11
may be released by the user until the user desires the clamp to close. In the open state, distal portion
23
of clamp plate
16
and distal portion
21
of back plate
11
define open jaws into which an elevator pad may be received or released.
FIG. 3A
shows a preferred back plate
12
in more detail. As shown, exemplary embodiments have a tapered design in which there's a thinner extension portion
31
having a hooked end
33
and a wider portion
32
toward the device's distal end. Wings
13
a,b
protrude from the wider portion and define through holes
34
,
35
for receiving the pins
14
a,b
mentioned above. The holes
34
and
35
are offset relative to one another to define the pivots described above. In this embodiment, pivot hole
35
is about 0.25 inches, radially away from pivot hole
34
and about 0.15 inches farther away from the back plate surface. In addition, in this embodiment the hooked end
33
has a radius of about 0.3 inches; the length of the back plate is about 4.3 inches; the wider portion is about 1.2 inches wide; and the wings protrude about 0.5 inches. The distal end is slightly curved, as described above to define a portion of the jaws of the device
10
, and includes upwardly protruding teeth
36
. The hooked end
33
of this embodiment is suitable for some elevators, but other embodiments will have other configurations to hook over paneling or other fixtures. See
FIGS. 3B-C
for other embodiments of back plates, suitable for other elevator arrangements.
FIG. 4
shows the clamp plate
16
in more detail. The clamp plate
16
includes a hinge portion
41
that defines holes
45
a
through which pin
14
b
passes to form the hinge that allows the clamp plate
16
to rotate, as described above. Opening
45
provides a space into which a portion of spring
15
(not shown in this figure) may fit, allowing the spring to also wrap around pin
14
b
as described below. Flat section
42
, which extends from the hinge portion
41
, is the section that contacts the spring
15
as described above. The flat section
42
extends into a vertical segment
43
that transitions into top jaw
44
, which curves to define a top jaw of the device
10
. Downward projecting teeth
46
help hold an elevator pad. In one embodiment, the clamp plate is about 1.3 inches long and about 1 inch wide. The flat section is about 0.5 inches long and the vertical segment
43
is about 0.2 inches high.
FIG. 5
shows the spring
15
in more detail in an uncompressed state. Spring
15
in one embodiment is formed of a metal exhibiting resilient properties and is about 0.58 inches long L and about 0.6 inches wide W. Spring
15
includes a curved portion
51
that is designed to fit over pin
14
b
and to fit in the cylindrical void
45
of the clamp plate
16
. The curved portion transitions into an L-shaped portion in which the shorter leg
52
is about 0.14 inches high. As explained above the spring includes a vertex
24
from which spring portion
26
extends.
FIG. 6
shows the lever
11
in more detail. Lever
11
is about 1.5 inches long and about 1 inch wide. The longitudinal cross-sectional shape has a hinge segment
52
which defines hole
53
through which pin
14
a
passes to form the hinge that allows the back plate
11
to rotate, as described above. The hinge portion
52
extends downward to an urging portion
25
(described above) that extends transversely relative to the major length of the lever
11
and perpendicular to the major surface. This urging portion
25
is the portion that presses the clamp plate
16
down, when the clamping device
10
is in the closed state, and that slides along the clamp plate
16
when the lever is rotated counter to direction A of FIG.
1
. Transitional segment
54
extends at an angle away from the hinge segment
52
and into the portion
27
described above that contacts the back plate
16
when the device
10
is in a closed state. The transitional segment
54
further includes a curved profile
55
to facilitate its usage.
To assemble the device, a pin is passed hole
35
and through the curved section
41
of clamp plate
16
and spring
15
, while positioning the spring in between the clamp plate
16
and back plate
12
. A second pin is then placed through hole
34
and through the cylindrical portions
61
,
62
of lever
11
. Both pins are then secured.
Having described an exemplary embodiment, it should be apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art that changes may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
- 1. A clamp for holding elevator pads in an elevator, comprising:a back plate having an attachment end for holding the back plate in relation to an elevator wall and having two wing segments extending away from a surface of the back plate; a clamp plate hinged to the wing segments at a clamp axis; a lever portion hinged to the wing segments at a lever axis, the lever portion having an urging member shaped to urge against a first surface of the clamp plate as the lever portion is rotated about the lever axis to cause the clamp plate to rotate about the clamp axis.
- 2. The clamp of claim 1 further comprising a spring hinged to the wing segments and positioned to bias the clamp plate in a first state.
- 3. The clamp of claim 2 wherein the urging member is shaped to substantially disengage from the clamp plate allowing the spring to uncompress to the first state, when the lever portion is rotated into an open state, and wherein, when the lever portion is rotated into a closed state, the urging member presses the clamp plate toward the back plate to compress the spring.
- 4. The clamp of claim 3 wherein the closed state corresponds with the urging member being substantially perpendicular to the surface of the clamp plate.
- 5. A method of hanging elevator pads, comprising the steps of:providing a plurality of clamps each having a lever to position the clamp in one of an open state, defined by open clamp jaws, and a closed state, defined by closed clamp jaws, and each clamp having an elevator attachment feature; positioning the levers of each clamp to place each clamp in an open state; positioning the elevator pad in the open jaws of each clamp; positioning the levers of each clamp to close the jaws of each clamp onto the pad; and placing the clamps so that the elevator attachment feature engages the elevator to hang the elevator pad.
US Referenced Citations (12)