Method and apparatus for hanging a string of lights

Abstract

A small plastic tool is configured with a socket that may be screwed onto the end of a conventional broomstick, mop handle, paint roller extension pole, or other long pole to allow the tool to be raised to an elevated height while the user remains standing on the ground surface. The tool has a distal end formed with cruciform arms. A hook receiving slot is defined into the structure of a first mutually opposing pair of the cruciform arms, while a wider channel is defined through the other pair of cruciform arms. The hook receiving slot is configured to snugly receive the hook portion of a cup hook, which allows the cup hook to be raised to overhead, elevated, horizontal surfaces. The pole can then be rotated to screw the threaded shank of the cup hook into the overhead structure. The same tool can be used to cradle the twisted pair of wires of a string of lights in the channel defined in the distal end of the other pair of cruciform arms in the tool. The string of lights can thereby be lifted, supported within the channel and deposited in the crook of the hook portion of the cup hook.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tool of the invention as viewed from the distal end thereof.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tool of the invention as viewed from the proximal end thereof.

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevational detail of the tool of the invention taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the distal end of the tool of the invention.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view taken along the lines 5-5 in FIG. 3 with the tool of the invention shown in section as used for installation and removal of a cup hook.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating installation and removal of cup hooks according to the method of the invention.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view, with the tool of the invention shown in section, taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 1, showing use of the tool for putting up and taking down a string of decorative lights.

FIG. 8 illustrates use of the tool in installing and removing a string of decorative lights according to the method of the invention.

FIG. 9 is an elevational detail view illustrating use of the tool of the invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of presently-preferred embodiments of the invention and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present invention may be constructed or utilized. The description sets forth the functions and the sequence of steps for constructing and operating the invention in connection with the illustrated embodiments. However, it is to be understood that the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 and 7, a light string installation and removal tool 10 is formed as a small, molded hard plastic, generally cylindrical structure having length of about one and seven-eighths inches and an external diameter of about one inch. More specifically, the tool 10 preferably has an overall length from the extremity of its proximal end 12 to the extremity of its distal end 14 of about 1.9 inches and an external diameter of about 0.969 inches. This external diameter is large enough to define an internal threaded socket 16 in the proximal end 12 of the tool 10. The proximal end 12 of the tool 10 maybe considered to be its passive end, while the distal end 14 thereof may be considered to be its working end.

The tool 10 is utilized to install both a set of cup hooks 40 and also a string of decorative lights 60. The cup hooks 40 may be standard three-quarter inch cup hooks each with a three-eighths inch diameter base 46. The decorative string of lights 60 may be a standard string of twenty-five, fifty, or one hundred Christmas lights.

The small size of the tool 10 ensures that it is lightweight enough so that it may be repetitively hoisted upwardly without unduly tiring the person performing the installation or removal of the light string 60 and cup hooks 40. Indeed, the strength and energy requirements in this regard are far less than would be required to position a ladder, ascend it, and install the cup hooks 40 and light strings 60 using a ladder.

The plastic used to fabricate the tool 10 may be hard, polyvinyl chloride plastic. The tool 10 should be hard enough so that even with multiple installations of cup hooks, it will not crack, scar, or break. Preferably the tool 10 is configured with friction points so that it may be used with or without an extension pole 22.

The proximal end 12 of the tool is preferably about 1.125 inches in length. The proximal end 12 of the tool 10 defines within its structure a socket 16 with internal, female threads that threadably engage the externally threaded end 20 of a conventional broomstick or paint roller extension pole 22. More specifically, the socket 16 is formed with a nominal, internal pitch diameter of 0.634 inches at the peaks of the internal threads defined in the proximal end 12, and with a diameter of 0.739 inches at the valleys between the peaks. The internal threads 24 are formed with an angular, obtuse angle incline of 119.74 degrees and with a longitudinal pitch of 0.20 inches from one of the thread teeth 24 to the next. The configuration of the internally threaded socket 16 is thereby such that it can be readily screwed onto and will remain affixed to the externally threaded tip 20 of a conventional broomstick 22. The internal female threads 24 of the socket 16 firmly, but releaseably, engage the external male threads 21 on the broomstick 22.

The opposite, distal end 14 of the tool 10 is shaped into a cruciform having a first set of mutually opposing cruciform arms 26 and 28 and a second set of mutually opposing cruciform arms 30 and 32, ninety degrees offset from the first set. The first set of cruciform arms 26, 28 is oriented at right angles relative to the second set of cruciform arms 30 and 32, as best illustrated in FIG. 4. The distal end 14 of the tool 10 is preferably formed in a cruciform shape so as to leave longitudinally elongated corner cavities 34 that not only reduce the amount of plastic need to form the tool 10, but also allow uniform cooling of the distal end 14 of the tool 10 in the mold during molding.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, a narrow, elongated slot 36 with a rectangular opening is formed in the structure of the cruciform arms 26 and 28 in the distal end 14 of the tool 10. The slot 36 is configured to receive the hook or crook portion 38 of a standard three-quarter inch cup hook 40 of the type illustrated, for example, in FIGS. 5 and 9. The cup hook 40 has a longitudinally extending shank 42 that is configured with external threads with a pointed tip 44 at its distal extremity. A rounded flange 46 is formed at the hook shoulder end of the shank 42, at the transition between the hook portion 38 and the cup hook shank 42. The flange 46 is curved convex toward the hook portion 38, and concave toward the cup hook shank 42. The flange 46 is configured generally as an arcuate segment of a sphere.

As viewed in FIG. 4, the hook receiving slot 36 is preferably 0.600 inches in length and 0.110 inches in width, and extends to a depth of 0.850 inches into the structure of the tool 10 from the longitudinal extremity of the distal end 14 thereof. As shown in FIG. 5, the slot 36 has a rounded bottom 37 with a concave curvature configured to receive and match the convex curvature of the depending crook portion 38 of the cup hook 40. At the longitudinal extremity of the distal end 14 the corners of cruciform arms 26, 28, 30, and 32 are chamfered, as indicated at 48, with a concave curvature corresponding to the mating convex curvature of the flange 46 of the cup hook 40.

The other pair of opposing cruciform arms 30 and 32 are both bifurcated by a transverse channel 50 that is preferably 0.210 inches in width, as viewed in FIG. 4, and 0.120 inches in depth, as viewed in FIG. 5. The channel 50 extends diametrically across the entire width of the distal end 14 of the tool 10 through the structure of the opposing arms 30 and 32, as illustrated in FIG. 1. In contrast, and as illustrated in that same drawing figure, the slot 36 is oriented perpendicular to the channel 50, but does not extend through the outboard ends of the arms 26 and 28.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tool 10 has a first indicia, which is a single longitudinal groove 52 defined in the outer side wall structure of its proximal end 12. The groove 52 is preferably about a sixteenth of an inch in width and resides in the same plane as the centers of the cruciform arms 26 and 28.

A second indicia in the form of a pair of mutually parallel grooves 54 is also formed in the outer wall structure of the proximal end 12 of the tool 10. The grooves 54 are angularly offset from the groove 52 by ninety degrees, so that the center ridge between the grooves 54 resides in coplanar relationship with the second set of cruciform arms 30 and 32.

To utilize the tool 10 to install and remove a series of cup hooks 40, the tool 10 is first oriented with its proximal end 12 facing the externally threaded tip 20 of a broomstick or other extension pole, as illustrated in FIG. 5. The threaded pole end 20 is then pushed into the socket 16 and the tool 10 is rotated in a clockwise direction relative to the broomstick 22, as viewed in FIG. 4, until the internal threads 24 within the socket 16 are firmly threadably engaged on the external threads 21 defined on the threaded tip 20 of the broomstick 22. The tool 10 is shown firmly but releaseably attached to the broomstick 22 in this manner in FIG. 9.

For installation of a series of cup hooks 40, each cup hook 40 is positioned in alignment with the broomstick 22 with the hook portion 38 thereof aligned in coplanar relationship relative to the hook receiving slot 36 in the distal end 14 of the tool 10, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 9. The cup hook 40 is then advanced toward the tool 10 so that the hook portion 38 of the cup hook 40 is pushed into and snugly received within the slot 36. Preferably, the convex extremity of the hook portion 38 resides in contract with the concave bottom 37 of the slot 36, while the convex face of the flange 46 resides in contact with the concave chamfered areas 48 at the inboard ends of the cruciform arms 26, 28, 30, and 32. With the hook portion 38 of the cup hook 40 seated within the hook receiving slot 36, the chamfered surfaces 48 bear against the edges of the cup hook base 46 so as to hold the cup hook shank 42 in coaxial alignment with both the tool 10 and the pole 22. A cup hook 40 is illustrated seated within the channel 36 and ready for attachment to an elevated box eave surface 56 of a building structure 58 in FIG. 6.

To install the cup hooks 40, the user merely stands on the ground vertically beneath the location at which the cup hook 40 is to be installed and raises the pole 22 to bring the pointed distal tip 44 of the cup hook shank 42 up against the horizontal surface 56. Once contact is made the installer rotates the pole 22 about its own axis in the conventional right hand screw thread direction to advance the threads on the shank 42 of the cup hook 40 into the wooden structure of the box eave 56. Once the shank 42 has been advanced until resistance is met by the flange 46 bearing against the horizontal surface 56, the cup hook 40 is fully installed. Typically, the installer will adjust the orientation of the cup hook so that the open hook portion 38 of the cup hook 40 faces outwardly away from the vertical wall of the building structure 58 so as to facilitate subsequent installation of the string of decorative lights 60. In FIG. 6 one of the cup hooks 40 is shown installed, while another cup hook 40 is shown ready for installation with its hook portion 38 still seated within the hook seating slot 36 of the tool 10 and with its externally threaded shank 42 projecting therefrom.

Once all of the cup hooks 40 have been installed in the downwardly facing surface 56 of the building structure 58, the light string 60 is thereafter installed, as illustrated in FIG. 8. The light string 60 is comprised of a multiplicity of electrical illuminating bulbs 62 joined together by a twisted pair of insulated electrical wires 64. To install the light string 60, the pole 22 is positioned so that the twisted pair of the wires 64 is seated in the channel 50 in the distal end 14 of the tool 10, as indicated in FIG. 7. The user drapes the light string 60 through the channel 50. Next, the user holds the loose end of the light string 60 with one hand and positions the twisted pair of wires of it into the channel 50, spaced far enough so that the tool 10 will be on the far side of the cup hook 40 relative to the immediately preceding cup hook 40.

The pole 22 is then raised, as illustrated in FIG. 8, and the twisted pair of wires 64 are lifted up to the next cup hook 40. The user then aligns the tool 10 next to a cup hook 40 to lay the wire in the crook of the cup hook 40. The wires of the light string 60 are then lowered through the openings in the hook portions 38 thereof so that the wires 64 are suspended from the hook portions 38 of all of the previously installed cup hooks 40.

The string of lights 60 and cup hooks 40 may be taken down in the reverse order. That is, to take down the string of lights 60 the pole 22 is raised with the channel 50 aligned and located directly beneath the wires 64 proximate a cup hook 40. Since it is difficult for the user to see the alignment of the channel 50 when the pole 22 is raised aloft, the user instead is able to use the grooves 54 to properly orient the tool 10 so that the electrical wires 64 reside in alignment with the channel 50 by sighting the tool 10 using the grooves 54 as indicators for the alignment of the cruciform arms 30 and 32 in which the channel 50 is formed.

With the channel 50 positioned directly beneath the wires 64, the pole 22 is raised slightly next one of the cup hooks 40, thus lifting the wires 64 out of the opening formed in the hook portion 38 of the cup hook 40 located immediately adjacent the pole 22. The user then proceeds from one cup hook 40 to the next, lifting the wires 64 out of each hook portion 38, one after the other.

Once the string of lights 60 has been removed from the cup hooks 40, the cup hooks 40 can either be left in position for subsequent reinstallation of light strings 60, or they can be removed. To remove the cup hooks 40, the reverse procedure from cup hook installation is followed. That is, the pole 22 is positioned so that the cup hook engaging slot 36 is aligned directly beneath and in coplanar alignment with the hook portion 38 of a cup hook 40. The pole 20 is thereupon raised, thereby engaging the hook portion 38 of the cup hook 40 in the hook receiving slot 36. The pole 22 is then counterrotated to unscrew the shank 42 of the cup hook 40 from the box eave surface 56. The frictional engagement of the threaded tip 20 of the pole 22 with the socket 16 is great enough so that the metal shank 42 will be threadably unscrewed while the socket 16 remains firmly engaged on the threaded tip 20 of the pole.

Undoubtedly, numerous variations and modifications of the invention will become apparent to those familiar with the installation and removal of decorative strings of lights and supports for those light strings from elevated structures. As such, while the present invention has been described with regards to particular embodiments, it is recognized that additional variations of the present invention may be devised without departing from the inventive concept.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

This invention may be industrially applied to the development, manufacture, and use of devices that facilitate the installation of hooks and the hanging of light strings, such as strings of Christmas lights, from those hooks on the eaves of a roof or some other elevated structure.

Claims

1. An installation and removal tool for a string of lights and a cup hook, the tool comprising: (a) a generally cylindrical body comprised of a molded, hard plastic, the body having a proximal end and a distal end;(b) a threaded socket at the proximal end of the body, the threaded socket having a size and pitch to receive an externally threaded tip of an extension pole;(c) a cruciform tip at the distal end of the body, the cruciform tip comprising an elongated slot in a first pair of opposing cruciform arms and a longitudinal channel in a second pair of opposing cruciform arms, the longitudinal channel being generally perpendicular to the elongated slot, and the cruciform tip having a chamfer where the longitudinal channel intersects the elongated slot;(d) the elongated slot having a width, length, and depth of size just sufficient to receive a hook portion of a cup hook, the elongated slot having a narrow, elongated, rectangular opening, and the bottom of the elongated slot being rounded to conform to a rounded hook portion of a cup hook;(e) the longitudinal channel extending diametrically across the distal end, intersecting the elongated slot, and being of a width just sufficient to receive a strand of twisted insulated wires of a light string;(f) indicia on an external side surface of the body, the indicia comprising a single longitudinal groove inline with the elongated slot and a pair of mutually parallel grooves inline with the longitudinal channel, providing a visual aide to ascertain the angular orientation of the installation and removal tool;(g) a plurality of longitudinally elongated corner cavities, each corner cavity being located between the first pair of opposing cruciform arms and the second pair of opposing cruciform arms at the distal end of the body; and(h) the body being connected to an end of an extension pole;wherein the tool facilitates installation or removal of the string of lights and cup hook on an elevated structure.

2. A tool for hanging and removing a light string and a mounting hook, the tool comprising: (a) a body having a proximal end and a distal end;(b) a socket at the proximal end of the body; and(c) a cruciform tip at the distal end of the body, the cruciform tip comprising an elongated slot in a first pair of opposing cruciform arms and a longitudinal channel in a second pair of opposing cruciform arms;(d) the elongated slot having a width, length, and depth of size to receive a mounting hook;(e) the longitudinal channel extending diametrically across the distal end, intersecting the elongated slot, and being of a width to receive the light string;wherein the tool facilitates installation or removal of the light string and mounting hook on an elevated structure.

3. The tool of claim 2, the body being generally cylindrical.

4. The tool of claim 2, the body being comprised of a molded, hard plastic.

5. The tool of claim 2, the socket being internally threaded.

6. The tool of claim 5, the socket having a thread size and pitch to receive an externally threaded tip of a pole having a threaded end.

7. The tool of claim 2, the width, length, and depth of the elongated slot each being of a size to releaseably receive a mounting hook.

8. The tool of claim 2, the longitudinal channel being generally perpendicular to the elongated slot.

9. The tool of claim 2, the cruciform tip being chamfered where the longitudinal channel intersects the elongated slot.

10. The tool of claim 2, the elongated slot having a narrow, elongated, rectangular opening, and the bottom of the elongated slot being rounded to conform to a rounded hook portion of a mounting hook.

11. The tool of claim 2, the width of the longitudinal channel being of a size to releaseably receive a strand of the light string.

12. The tool of claim 2, the tool further comprising indicia to provide a visual aide to ascertain the angular orientation of the tool.

13. The tool of claim 12, the indicia comprising a single longitudinal groove inline with the elongated slot and a pair of mutually parallel grooves inline with the longitudinal channel, the single longitudinal groove and the pair of mutually parallel grooves each being on an external surface of the body.

14. The tool of claim 2, the tool further comprising a plurality of longitudinally elongated corner cavities, each corner cavity being located between the first pair of opposing cruciform arms and the second pair of opposing cruciform arms at the distal end of the body.

15. The tool of claim 2, the socket being connected to an end of an extension pole.

16. A method of installing hooks for a string of lights on an elevated structure, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a tool having a body having a proximal end and a distal end; a socket at the proximal end of the body; a cruciform tip at the distal end of the body, the cruciform tip comprising an elongated slot in a first pair of opposing cruciform arms and a longitudinal channel in a second pair of opposing cruciform arms; the elongated slot having a width, length, and depth of size to receive a mounting hook, defining a hook receiving slot; the longitudinal channel extending diametrically across the distal end, intersecting the elongated slot, and being of a width to receive the light string, defining a light string receiving channel;(b) attaching the socket onto an extension pole tip;(c) gripping a mounting hook having a hook portion and a threaded shank;(d) placing the hook portion of the mounting hook into the hook receiving slot, such that the threaded shank projects in general longitudinal alignment with the axis of both the tool and the extension pole;(e) raising the extension pole with the hook portion of the mounting hook nested into the hook receiving slot of the tool and the threaded shank projecting therefrom, until the tool resides proximate the elevated structure;(f) pushing the pole until the threaded shank is pressed against the elevated structure;(g) rotating the extension pole with light pressure about a longitudinal axis of the extension pole, thereby advancing the threaded shank of the mounting hook into the elevated structure; and(h) retracting the extension pole from the mounting hook, thereby sliding the hook out of the hook receiving slot.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of continuing to install a series of mounting hooks at longitudinally spaced intervals by following the steps of that claim.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of suspending a string of lights from the series of mounting hooks by: (a) lowering the extension pole and orienting the extension pole so that a strand of the light string is in alignment with the light string receiving channel;(b) raising the pole to lift the light string upwardly, past the hook portion of the mounting hook;(c) manipulating the extension pole to move the light string laterally into the hook portion of the mounting hook; and(d) lowering the extension pole, leaving the strand resting in the hook portion of the mounting hook.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of uninstalling the light string by (a) positioning the light string receiving channel in alignment and directly beneath the strand of the light string and adjacent a mounting hook;(b) lifting the light string and moving the extension pole laterally, thereby disengaging the strand from the adjacent mounting hook;(c) continuing to take the light string down from each hook by steps (a) and (b) until the light string has been removed from each mounting hook.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of removing each mounting hook by (a) positioning the hook receiving slot to be in alignment with the hook portion of the mounting hook;(b) raising the extension pole so that the hook portion of the mounting hook resides within the hook receiving slot;(c) rotating the pole about the longitudinal axis in a direction to unscrew the threaded shank of the mounting hook from the elevated structure until the entire length of the shank of the mounting hook has been unscrewed;(d) lowering the extension pole to the ground, with the hook portion of the mounting hook remaining within the hook receiving slot; and(e) removing the mounting hook from the hook receiving slot.