Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6487756
-
Patent Number
6,487,756
-
Date Filed
Wednesday, May 23, 200123 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, December 3, 200221 years ago
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Inventors
-
-
Examiners
Agents
- Sheldon & Mak
- Anderson; Denton L.
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 024 31
- 024 313
- 024 36
- 242 379
- 242 2792
- 070 456 R
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A hand tool and lanyard combination comprised of a hand tool to which a lanyard is removably attached. The lanyard is a length of flexible cable having an anchor and a free end. The anchor end has a housing with a spring mounted rotatable spool disposed within the housing so that the length of flexible cable is retractable by the rotation of the rotatable spool. The free end has a free end attachment mechanism for removably attaching the free end to the hand tool.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention addresses the problem of how a worker can securely retain his or her hand tools, especially when working at elevated locations.
SUMMARY
The invention is a combination comprising a hand tool and a detachable lanyard attached to the hand tool. The lanyard comprises a length of flexible cable having an anchor end and a free end. The anchor end has a housing with a spring-mounted rotatable spool disposed within the housing so that the length of flexible cable is retractable by the rotation of the rotatable spool. The free end having a free end attachment mechanism for removably attaching the free end to the hand tool.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying figures where:
FIG. 1
is an isometric view of a tool belt and tool combination having features of the invention;
FIG. 2
is an isometric view of the combination illustrated in
FIG. 1
showing the use of one of the tools in the invention;
FIG. 3
is an isometric view of a hand tool illustrating the use of a unique gripping pad;
FIG. 4
is a plan view of the gripping pad illustrated in
FIG. 3
;
FIG. 5
is a side view of the gripping pad illustrated in
FIGS. 3 and 4
;
FIG. 6
is an isometric view of an additional embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 7
is a diagrammatic view of an attachment pin combination having features of the invention;
FIG. 8
is an isometric view of an additional embodiment of the invention wherein the lanyard is attached to the wrist of the user;
FIG. 9
is an isometric view of the embodiment illustrated in
FIG. 8
showing the insertion of a cable retainer spool into a pouch attached to the wrist of the user;
FIG. 10
illustrates the attachment of a wrist band used in the embodiment illustrated in
FIGS. 8 and 9
;
FIG. 11
is an isometric view illustrating the attachment of a lanyard having features of the invention to the shoulder strap of a user;
FIG. 12
is an isometric view illustrating the use of the invention with a tool secured to the back of the user; and
FIG. 13
illustrates the attachment of a lanyard having features of the invention to a hand tool.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention and several variations of that embodiment. This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments. Practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well.
In the invention, one or more of the worker's hand tools
12
are readily attachable and deattachable by a lanyard
14
which prevents the hand tool
12
from falling away from the worker.
The lanyard
14
comprises a short length of flexible cable
16
retained on a cable retainer spool
18
. At the free end
20
of the cable
16
is a tool attachment connector
22
which allows the lanyard
14
to be readily attached to and deattached from a hand tool
12
. The cable
16
is typically made from a thin metallic material. Other materials, such as nylon cord, chain, braided cable, woven elastic cord (“bungee cord”), plastic mono-filament line (“fishing line”), and even string can also be used. Typically, the cable
12
has a length of between about 2 feet and about 4 feet.
The cable
16
should be sufficiently strong so as to not break when a hand tool
12
used with the lanyard
14
is inadvertently dropped by the user. The cable
16
also should be sufficiently flexible to allow full use of the hand tool
12
when the hand tool
12
is attached to the lanyard
14
.
The cable retainer spool
18
typically comprises a rotatable spool
24
disposed within a spool housing
26
. Preferably, the rotatable spool
24
is spring mounted within the spool housing
26
so as to make the cable
16
retractable. Preferably, the spring mounted rotatable spool
24
only exerts sufficient force to draw the cable
16
back into the cable housing
26
when the tool
12
to which the lanyard
14
is attached is not in use.
The spool housing
26
can be conveniently housed within a pouch
28
, such as a leather pouch, as illustrated in the drawings.
The lanyard
14
further comprises a retainer spool attachment device
30
, such as clips, clamps or other mechanical attachment means which facilitate the rapid attachment and
25
deattachment of the cable retainer spool
24
to the person of the user or to a solid object proximate to where the user is working.
FIGS. 11 and 12
illustrate how the cable retainer spool
24
is attached to the shoulder strap
31
of the user.
FIGS. 1-3
illustrate how the cable retainer spool
24
is attached to the worker's tool belt
32
.
FIGS. 6
,
8
and
10
illustrate the attachment of the cable retainer spool
24
to the wrist of the user using a wrist band
34
. The wrist band
34
is typically made from a nylon cloth or leather construction. The wrist band
34
has the additional advantage of acting as an elastic bandage, thereby supporting the wrist and reducing fatigue in the wrist. Typically, the wrist band
34
is attachable and deattachable to the user using hook and loop fasteners or snaps.
The tool attachment connector
22
is preferably of the “snap-on” variety, wherein the tool attachment connector can be readily attached and de-attached from a corresponding lanyard receiving connector
36
located within a hand tool
12
. In a preferred embodiment, the tool attachment connector
22
is a push-release, spring-loaded, ball bearing locking pin, as illustrated in FIG.
7
. In this embodiment, the tool attachment connector
22
is a male-type connector adapted to be received and retained within a corresponding female receptor
40
. This female connector
40
comprises an inwardly projecting flange
42
suitable for engaging and retaining retractable projection members
44
, such as ball bearings disposed within the tool attachment connector
22
. In a typical embodiment, the tool attachment connector
22
is readily disengaged from the lanyard receiving connector
36
in the hand tool
12
by depressing a spring-loaded button
46
on the back side
48
of the tool attachment connector
22
.
Other attachment devices can also be used as the tool attachment connector
22
, such as clips, screws, snaps, clamps, hook and loop fasteners and the like.
As illustrated in the drawings, lanyard receiving connectors
36
can be disposed within a wide variety of hand tools
12
, including tape measures, screwdrivers, hammers, axes, pliers, screw guns and cutting tools.
In one embodiment of the invention, the lanyard receiving connector
36
is disposed within a removable handle gripping pad
48
as illustrated in
FIGS. 3-5
. In this embodiment, the handle gripping pad
48
can be easily attached and deattached from the handle
50
of a hand tool
12
by hook and loop fasteners or snaps.
The lanyard
14
can be used in a wide variety of activities where the dropping of tools
12
presents a significant problem, such as high construction, welding, electrical and telephone work. Also, the lanyard
14
is useful in scuba diving, sky diving, rock climbing, mineralogy, ice climbing, fire fighting and aerial rescue efforts.
In operation, a worker intending to use a particular hand tool
12
disposed within the worker's tool belt
32
first grips the tool attachment connector
22
and pulls a length of the cable
16
out from the cable retainer spool
18
sufficient to reach the hand tool
12
to be used. Next, the worker snaps the tool attachment connector
22
into the corresponding lanyard receiving connector
36
disposed within the tool
12
. The worker then uses the hand tool
12
in the usual manner. The fact that the hand tool
12
is tethered to the lanyard
14
does not effect the use of the tool
12
because the retractive force of the spring within the cable retainer spool
18
is almost imperceptibly slight. If the worker should inadvertently drop the tool
12
during its use, the tool
12
only falls the distance of the cable
16
. Since the cable
16
is typically only about 3 feet in length, the inadvertently dropping of the tool
12
causes no danger to the tool
12
itself or to other individuals working beneath the worker. When the worker is finished with the hand tool
12
, the hand tool
12
is disposed back into the worker's tool belt
32
and the tool attachment connector
22
can be removed from the lanyard receiving connector
36
. The lanyard
14
is then ready to be used with a different tool
12
to be selected by the worker from his or her tool belt
32
.
Having thus described the invention, it should be apparent that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the scope and fair meaning of the instant invention as set forth hereinabove and as described hereinbelow by the claims.
Claims
- 1. A combination comprising a hand tool and a detachable lanyard attached to the hand tool, the lanyard comprising a length of flexible cable having an anchor end, a free end and a spring-mounted rotatable spool disposed within the housing so that the length of flexible cable is retractable by the rotation of the rotatable spool, the free end having a free end attachment mechanism for removably attaching the free end to the hand tool, the free end attachment mechanism being a quick release attachment device comprising a male connection pin, the hand tool being provided with at least one female receptor capable of accepting and firmly retaining the male connection pin.
- 2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the length of flexible cable is made from steel.
- 3. The combination of claim 1 wherein the lanyard comprises a retainer spool attachment device.
- 4. The combination of claim 1 wherein the hand tool is a hammer.
- 5. The combination of claim 1 wherein the hand tool comprises an electric motor.
- 6. The combination of claim 1 wherein the quick release attachment device comprises a push-release, spring-loaded, ball bearing locking pin.
- 7. A combination comprising a hand tool and a detachable lanyard attached to the hand tool, the lanyard comprising a length of flexible steel cable having an anchor end, a free end and a housing with a spring-mounted rotatable spool disposed within the housing so that the length of flexible cable is retractable by the rotation of the spring-mounted rotatable spool, the free end having a quick release attachment mechanism for removably attaching the free end to the hand tool, the quick release attachment device comprising a push-release, spring-loaded, ball bearing locking pin.
- 8. The combination of claim 7 wherein the hand tool comprises an electric motor.
- 9. The combination of claim 7 wherein the hand tool is a hammer.
US Referenced Citations (7)