Positioning device for holding a hook screw

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6711974
  • Patent Number
    6,711,974
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, November 27, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, March 30, 2004
    20 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Shakeri; Hadi
    Agents
    • Baxley; Charles E.
Abstract
A positioning device for holding hook screws includes a tubular body with a passage defined longitudinally therethrough and two slots are defined through a wall of the body. One of the slots communicates a first open end of the body so that a hook portion of a hook screw can be slid in the first slot and a magnet is embedded in the wall of the body so as to attract the hook portion. A holding assembly is mounted to the body and includes a first piece movably mounted to the body and a second piece fixedly mounted to the body. A spring is mounted to the body and biased between the first piece and the second piece. The hook portion is engaged with the first piece. A rod is movably inserted into the passage via the second open end of the body and has a magnet connected to a distal end of the rod so as to attract the hook portion of the hook screw.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a positioning device for holding a hook screw which is inserted in a slot of the device and attracted by a magnet so that the user needs not to hold the hook screw by his hand.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




A conventional hook screw generally includes a hook portion and a shank portion which extends from the hook portion and includes threads defined in an outer periphery of the shank. The hook screw is fixed to a wall by the threaded shank and the hook portion is convenient for hooking an object. It is inconvenient to fix the hook screw on walls because the hook portion is flat and large that is not easily to be held by hand and the other hand of the user operates the tool to rotate or punch the hook screw on walls. The shank is not easily to be maintained perpendicularly to the wall not only because the length of the shank is short, but also the hook portion affecting the force applying on the hook portion. This is more obvious when the operation for fixing the hook screws at a distance from the floor, the users need to hold the hook screws by one hand and to use the tool by the other hand.




The present invention intends to provide a positioning device that holds the hook screw in the device so that the user simply holding the tubular device without problem of positioning the hook screws.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a positioning device for holding hook screws and the positioning device comprises a tubular body having a passage and a first slot is defined through a wall of the body and communicates a first open end of the body. A second slot is defined through a wall of the body and has two closed ends. A magnet is embedded in the wall of the body and located close to the first open end. A ring is received in a second open end of the body.




A holding assembly comprises a first piece movably mounted to the body and a second piece is fixedly mounted to the body. A spring is mounted to the body and biased between the first piece and the second piece. A rod is movably inserted into the passage via the second open end of the body and extends through the ring. A magnet is connected to a distal end of the rod and located in the body.




The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is an exploded view to show the hook screw positioning device of the present invention;





FIG. 2A

shows a side view of the body of the hook screw positioning device of the present invention;





FIG. 2B

shows the other side view of the hook screw positioning device of the present invention;





FIG. 3

shows a cross sectional view of the body of the hook screw positioning device of the present invention;





FIG. 4

shows a hook screw is positioned by the hook screw positioning device of the present invention, and





FIG. 5

shows another type of hook screw positioned by the hook screw positioning device of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to

FIGS. 1

,


2


A,


2


B and


3


, the A positioning device for holding hook screws


31


of the present invention comprises a tubular body


1


which has a polygonal passage


10


defined longitudinally therethrough and a first slot


11


is defined through a wall of the body


1


and communicates with a first open end


13


of the body


1


. A second slot


12


is defined through a wall of the body


1


and has two closed ends. A magnet


14


is embedded in the wall of the body


1


and located close to the first open end


13


. A grove


15


is defined in an inner periphery of the passage


10


and located close to a second open end of the body


1


. A ring


3


is received in the groove


15


.




A holding assembly


4


comprises a first piece


41


movably mounted to the body


1


and a second piece


43


fixedly mounted to the body


1


. The first piece


41


has a tapered opening


411


defined in a first end thereof and a groove


413


defined in a second end of the first piece


41


. The second piece


43


has a shoulder


431


extending inward from an inner periphery thereof. A spring


42


is mounted to the body


1


and biased between the groove


413


of the first piece


41


and the shoulder


431


of the second piece


43


. A length of the holding assembly


4


is the same as a length of the body


1


.




A rod


2


having a polygonal outer periphery


20


is movably inserted into the passage


10


via the second open end of the body


1


and extends through the ring


3


. A magnet


23


is connected to a first end of the rod


2


and located in the body


1


. A first groove


22


is defined in the rod


2


and close to the first end of the rod


2


. An outer diameter of the periphery of the first groove


22


is smaller than an inner diameter of the ring


3


so that once the rod


2


is inserted in the passage


10


by the first end that has the first groove


22


, the rod is not disengaged from the passage


10


. A second groove


21


is defined in outer periphery of the rod


2


and located at a second end of the rod


2


so as to be engaged with a tool which is not shown.




As shown in

FIGS. 4 and 5

, the hook screw


31


includes a hook portion


311


and a threaded shank portion


312


. A width of each of the first slot


11


and the second slot


12


is larger than a diameter of a hook portion


311


of the hook screw


31


. Therefore, the hook portion


311


can be slid into the first slot


11


and the second slot


12


with the shank portion


31


extending from the first open end


13


. In the meanwhile, the first piece


41


is pushed to compress the spring


42


so that a force pushes the hook screw


31


forward. The tapered opening


411


of the first piece


41


is engaged the hook portion


311


of the hook screw


31


which is then positioned relative to the body


1


. The magnet


14


attracts the shank portion


312


and the magnet


23


attracts the hook portion


311


. By the device, the hook screw can be well positioned so that the user can concentrate his attention on the operation of a tool that fixes the hook screw


31


on the wall.




While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.



Claims
  • 1. A positioning device for holding hock screws which includes a hook portion and a threaded shank portion, the positioning device comprising:a tubular body having a passage defined longitudinally therethrough and a first slot defined through an annular wall of the body and communicating with a first open end of the body, a second slot defined through said annular wall of the body and having two closed ends, a magnet embedded in the wall of the body and located close to the first open end, a ring received in a second open end of the body; a holding assembly comprising a first piece movably mounted to the body and a second piece fixedly mounted to the body, a spring mounted to the body and biased between the first piece and the second piece, and a rod movably inserted into the passage via the second open end of the body and extending through the ring, a magnet connected to a distal end of the rod and located in the body.
  • 2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a width of each of the first slot and the second slot is adapted to be larger than a diameter of the hook portion of the hook screw.
  • 3. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a length of the holding assembly is the same as a length of the body.
  • 4. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first piece has a tapered opening defined in a first end thereof so as to be adapted to engage the hook portion of the hook screw.
  • 5. The device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a first groove defined in the rod and an outer diameter of the periphery of the first groove being smaller than an inner diameter of the ring.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Number Name Date Kind
562041 Seymour Jun 1896 A
882937 Fegley Mar 1908 A
4724731 Onofrio Feb 1988 A
5335569 Rowley Aug 1994 A
5425290 Fought et al. Jun 1995 A
6230592 Hsiao May 2001 B1
6530299 Liu Mar 2003 B1