Patent Application
20050132848
A conventional eye screw typically comprises a screw portion with a rounded eye portion connected to the screw portion. Conventional eye screws are widely used for anchoring a support point to a surface, such as a wall or ceiling, in order to suspend or hold in place any number of objects from the eye portion. The eye portion allows one the convenience of hanging and unhanging objects without having to unanchor the eye screw from the wall or ceiling. This convenience has led to the wide use of eye screws in many applications including, for example, hanging plants, Christmas lights, and television cable.
When anchoring a conventional eye screw to a wall or ceiling, a force in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the screw portion and a rotational torque force are applied to the eye screw such that the screw portion engages the wall or ceiling. That is, the eye screw is screwed into the wall. In some cases, a human hand can provide enough force and rotational torque to engage the threads with the wall. However, this is not always the case and a tool is typically required to increase the amount of vertical force and rotational torque able to be applied to the eye screw. Further, a tool is also required if the location that the eye screw will be installed is not accessible or is beyond the reach (too high, for example) of a human.
One such tool used in the past is a pair of pliers (not shown). Pliers can secure the eye screw 100 in its fingers in order to provide more rotational torque to the eye screw. This tool, however, is only able to rotate as far as the human hand can rotate in one motion before the fingers must release the eye screw and then engage it again before being able to rotate the eye screw again. It is often the case that one rotational motion of the human hand is not enough for the eye screw's threads to engage the surface enough to support its own weight. As such, the eye screw falls out when the fingers of the pliers are released. Furthermore, pliers require one to be in close proximity to the location that the eye screw is being installed. Therefore, pliers are not a viable solution when the location to install the eye screw is a high ceiling.
Another tool that may be used to assist in installing a eye screw is a scalloped interior socket tool (also not shown), such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,090, filed on Apr. 16, 1996 to Marks and assigned to WorkTools, Inc. of Chatsworth, Calif. Using this scalloped interior socket, fingers inside the socket portion retract to form a “pocket” around an object. In this fashion, any shape of object can be engaged and rotational torque can be applied.
The retractable fingers, however, are biased outward. As such, when trying to anchor the eye screw, one must hold the eye screw in the scalloped interior socket when installing. Otherwise the retractable fingers, being biased outward, will push the eye screw out of the scalloped interior socket before one can position the eye screw against the wall. Thus, using a scalloped interior socket will not work for situations when the eye screw must be anchored on a high ceiling where one cannot hold the eye screw in place until the eye screw's threads engage the ceiling.
Furthermore, because the retractable fingers are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the eye screw, the conventional eye screw may rotate away from the longitudinal axis of the scalloped interior socket because the engaged portion of the eye screw is circular in nature. That is, the retractable finger socket does not apply enough force to the eye portion of the eye screw to keep the eye screw from rotating one way or another from the longitudinal axis. As a result, the scalloped interior socket is not capable of maintaining the longitudinal axis of the eye screw in alignment with its own longitudinal axis before the screw portion engages the wall or ceiling.
Therefore, it would be beneficial to have a tool that applies the proper forces to the eye portion of the eye screw in order to maintain parallel longitudinal axes of rotation (both the eye screw's and the tool's) while a eye screw 100 is being anchored.
An embodiment of the invention is a tool that includes a drive shaft with a longitudinal axis and a cavity attached to one end of the drive shaft, the cavity having an opening operable to hold an eye screw such that the longitudinal axis of the eye screw is deterred from rotating away from the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft.
Another embodiment of the invention includes a method for engaging an object with a tool having a cavity attached to a first end of a drive shaft with a longitudinal axis, the cavity having a substantially rectangular opening with a first side length longer than a second side length, the rectangular opening operable to hold an eye screw such that the longitudinal axis of the eye screw is deterred from rotating away from the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft and rotating the object about the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft.
By using the tool and method of the present invention, an eye screw can be more easily anchored in a ceiling or wall because the interior walls of the cavity of the eye screw socket will deter the eye screw from rotating away from the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft of the tool. Further, more inaccessible places can be reached using an extension pole and eye screw socket according to another embodiment of the invention.
Yet another embodiment of the invention comprises an eye screw having a shank and a trapezoidal eye portion attached to the shank, the trapezoidal eye portion having an opening formed by four sides, wherein at least two sides comprise parallel straight runs on opposite sides of the opening.
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
A trapezoidal eye screw 100, shown in
The trapezoidal eye screw 100 is unique when compared to a conventional eye screw (not shown) in that the two straight runs 150 on either side of the opening 130 of the eye portion 110 provide engagable straight edges for use with a tool operable to engage a trapezoidal eye screw 100.
The drive shaft 215 is typically hexagonal such that it fits securely in the chuck of a common power drill (not shown). However, any shape, such as square or round, may be used for the shank 215 of the eye screw socket 200. Additionally, the drive shaft 215 may include a notched end 220 separated by a groove 221. The notched end 220 allows the eye screw socket 200 to be used with a typical “quick disconnect” interface with other tools, such as, for example, a ratchet, or an extension pole (also not shown).
In this embodiment, the eye screw socket 200 is designed to be used with a power drill. Thus, a hexagonal drive shaft 215 is shown that is operable to engage the chuck of a power drill. The drive shaft 215 is coupled to the socket 210 which is designed to engage a typical trapezoidal eye screw 100. The socket 200 includes a cavity or enclosure formed having a rectangular opening 211 formed by a first pair of parallel side walls 212 and a second pair of parallel side walls (not seen easily in
Still referring to
The trapezoidal eye screw 100 in
In the past, a conventional eye screw easily rotated about one of two horizontal axes 310 and 311 when one attempted to anchor the eye screw to a wall. However, when using the eye screw socket 200 in conjunction with a trapezoidal eye screw 100 the trapezoidal eye screw 100 is deterred from rotating on either of the horizontal axes 310 and 311 because of the forces applied to the eye portion 110 of the trapezoidal eye screw 100 by the interior walls of the cavity of the eye screw socket 200.
For example, if the trapezoidal eye screw 100 begins to rotate along the axis 310 then the parallel walls 212 apply a force against the straight runs 150 of the eye portion 110 of the trapezoidal eye screw 100. Likewise, if the trapezoidal eye screw 100 begins to rotate along the axis 311 then the parallel walls 314 apply a force against the facing (the flat sides) of the eye portion 110 of the trapezoidal eye screw 100. As such, the trapezoidal eye screw 100 is deterred from rotating about any axis when engaged with the eye screw socket 200.
The size of the cavity may be suited to fit any size of trapezoidal eye screw 100. Typical eye screws 100 have lengths that range from approximately 1 inch to 3 inches, dimensions of the eye portion 110 that range from ½ inch to 1.5 inches in both width and length of the trapezoidal opening 130, and thicknesses that range from 0.08 inches to 0.2 inches. The eye screw socket 200 is typically designed to fit one particular size of trapezoidal eye screw 100 in order to securely fit the contour of the eye portion 110 of the trapezoidal eye screw 100. Further, according to one embodiment, the cavity may also include chamfered interior corners so as to better secure the typically rounded portions of some embodiments of the trapezoidal eye screw 100. In this manner, an engaged eye screw 100 is further deterred from rotating.
By using an extension pole 401 with the eye screw socket 200, one can reach more inaccessible places with the eye screw socket 200 for anchoring eye screws 100. For example, trapezoidal eye screws 100 can be anchored on high ceilings or under awnings of a house using an extension pole 401 with an eye screw socket 200.
Other mounting options are contemplated for the eye screw socket 200 but are not shown in the drawings for brevity. For example, the eye screw socket 200 may be mounted in a conventional way to a typical ratchet or wrench. Further, the eye screw socket 200 may be used in conjunction with a drive mechanism, i.e., power drill, ratchet, extension pole, having a jointed drive shaft, i.e., a universal joint. As such, the rotational axis of the drive mechanism may be a different angle than that of the longitudinal axis of the trapezoidal eye screw 100.
From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention.
