Turnable tightening device adapted to tighten and thereby facilitating screwing of a screw hook into a wall

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6230592
  • Patent Number
    6,230,592
  • Date Filed
    Monday, October 2, 2000
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, May 15, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Smith; James G.
    • Shakeri; Hadi
    Agents
    • Brooks & Kushman P.C.
Abstract
A turnable tightening device includes a stationary member having a lower end portion adapted to be actuated by a driving tool to turn about an axis, and an upper end portion with a slot of a dimension adapted to permit only a joining member of a screw hook to have access thereto. A movable member is disposed on the stationary member and is movable relative to the upper end portion longitudinally, and has a retaining groove formed away from the upper end portion and adapted to retain a hook body of the screw hook. A biasing member is disposed for biasing the movable member away from the upper end portion such that a shoulder portion of the screw hook abuts tightly against an upper wall of the upper end portion, and such that the hook body of the screw hook engages tightly the movable member.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




This invention relates to a turnable tightening device, more particularly to a turnable tightening device adapted to tighten a screw hook and adapted to be actuated by a driving tool for screwing the screw hook into a wall.




2. Description of the Related Art




Referring to

FIGS. 1 and 2

, a conventional turnable holding device


1


adapted to hold a screw hook


2


and to be driven by a screw driver


3


for screwing the screw hook


2


into a wall, is shown to be in the form of a plate, and has a rectangular slot


101


formed in an upper end thereof for receiving a hook body


201


of the screw hook


2


, and an actuating hole


102


formed in a lower end thereof such that an actuating end of the screw driver


3


can be inserted therein to turn the tightening device


1


and screw a threaded shaft


202


of the screw hook


2


into a wall. Since the hook body


201


of the screw hook


2


is movable in the slot


101


, the threaded shaft


202


tends to deviate from the rotating axis of the screw driver


3


so as to affect adversely the screwing operation of the screw hook


2


. In addition, the slot


101


of the fixed dimension cannot receive screw hooks of any size.




As shown in

FIG. 3

, another conventional turnable holding device has an upper forked end


301


which defines a V-shaped slot


302


adapted for accommodating screw hooks


2


of any size, and a lower hexagonal post end


303


adapted to engage a socket head of a screw driver


4


. This type of holding device is still disadvantageous in that the hook body of the screw hook


2


may deviate from the rotating axis of the screw driver


4


.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The object of the present invention is to provide a turnable tightening device which can position a screw hook thereto when being actuated by a driving tool for preventing deviation of the screw hook.




According to this invention, the turnable tightening device includes a stationary member, a movable member, and a biasing member. The stationary member has a lower end portion adapted to be actuated by a driving tool to turn about an axis, and an upper end portion disposed opposite to the lower end portion in a longitudinal direction which is parallel to the axis. The upper end portion includes a first upper wall, a first lower wall opposite to the first upper wall in the longitudinal direction, and a lateral wall extending in the longitudinal direction and joining the first upper wall with the first lower wall. The lateral wall is formed with a slot which extends in a transverse direction relative to the longitudinal direction and which is disposed to communicate the first upper and lower walls. The slot is adapted to permit only a joining member which is disposed between a hook body and a threaded shaft of a screw hook to have access thereto in the transverse direction. The movable member is disposed on the stationary member and is movable relative to the upper end portion in the longitudinal direction by guidance of a guiding member. The movable member includes a second upper wall which faces and which is spaced apart from the first lower wall in the longitudinal direction, and a second lower wall which is disposed opposite to the second upper wall in the longitudinal direction and which has a retaining groove of a profile adapted to retain the hook body of the screw hook. The biasing member is disposed for biasing the movable member away from the upper end portion such that a shoulder portion of the screw hook abuts tightly against the first upper wall and such that the hook body engages tightly the movable member.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:





FIG. 1

is an exploded perspective view of a conventional turnable tightening device;





FIG. 2

is a sectional view of the conventional tightening device in operation;





FIG. 3

is a side view of another conventional turnable tightening device in operation;





FIG. 4

is an exploded perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a turnable tightening device according to this invention;





FIG. 5

is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment;





FIG. 6

is a schematic view showing the preferred embodiment when used to tighten a screw hook of a smaller hook body;





FIG. 7

is a schematic view showing the preferred embodiment when used to tighten a screw hook with a larger hook body;





FIG. 8

is a schematic view showing how the preferred embodiment is released from a screw hook after the screw hook has been screwed into a wall; and





FIG. 9

is a schematic view of another preferred embodiment according to this invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Referring to

FIGS. 4

,


5


and


6


, the preferred embodiment of the turnable tightening device according to the present invention is shown to comprise an elongated stationary member


10


, a movable member


20


, and a biasing member


30


.




The stationary member


10


has a lower end portion


15


, and an upper end portion


13


which is disposed opposite to the lower end portion


15


in a longitudinal direction. In this embodiment, the lower end portion


15


is in the form of a hexagonal post that is adapted to engage an actuating end


51


of a driving tool


50


, such as a socket head of a screw driver, so as to be capable of being actuated to turn about an axis parallel to the longitudinal direction. The upper end portion


13


includes a first upper wall


131


, a first lower wall


132


opposite to the first upper wall


131


in the longitudinal direction, and a lateral wall


133


which extends in the longitudinal direction and which joins the first upper wall


131


with the first lower wall


132


. The lateral wall


133


is formed with a slot


14


which extends in a transverse direction relative to the longitudinal direction and which is disposed to communicate the first upper and lower walls


131


,


132


. The slot


14


is of a dimension so as to permit only a joining member


62


, which is disposed between a hook body


61


and a threaded shaft


64


of a screw hook


60


, to access thereto in the transverse direction, as shown in FIG.


6


. The slot


14


has proximate and distal ends relative to the lateral wall


133


and opposite to each other in the transverse direction. In this embodiment, the proximate end has a width which is larger than that of the distal end. Particularly, two guiding wall surfaces


141


are formed at the proximate end and diverge towards the lateral wall


133


so as to facilitate entry of the joining member


62


of the screw hook


60


into the slot


14


. An elongated guiding groove


11


is formed in the stationary member


10


between the upper and lower end portions


13


,


15


, and extends in the longitudinal direction. A guiding shaft


40


passes through the guiding groove


11


and two secured holes


12


which are respectively formed in the upper and lower end portions


13


,


15


, and extends in the longitudinal direction.




The movable member


20


includes a sliding block


21


and a retaining block


22


which extends from the sliding block


21


in a transverse direction relative to the longitudinal direction. The sliding block


21


engages slidably the guiding groove


11


so as to cooperate with the guiding groove


11


to serve as a guiding member for regulating the movement of the movable member


20


relative to the upper end portion


13


of the stationary member


10


in the longitudinal direction. A through hole


211


is formed through the sliding block


21


for slidable passage of the guiding shaft


40


. The retaining block


22


includes a second upper wall


222


which faces and which is spaced apart from the first lower wall


132


of the upper end portion


13


in the longitudinal direction, and a second lower wall


223


which is disposed opposite to the second upper wall


222


in the longitudinal direction and which has a retaining groove


221


of a profile that is adapted to retain a part of the hook body


61


of the screw hook


60


.




The biasing member


30


, such as a compression spring


30


, is mounted in the guiding groove


11


and around the guiding shaft


40


, and has two ends which abut against an upper wall of the guiding groove


11


and the sliding block


21


, respectively, for biasing the movable member


20


away from the upper end portion


13


of the stationary member


10


.




In use, as shown in

FIGS. 5 and 6

, a pressing force is first applied on the movable member


20


to move the latter towards the upper end portion


13


of the stationary member


10


against the biasing force of the compression spring


30


. Then, the hook body


61


of the screw hook


60


is retained in the retaining groove


221


, and the threaded shaft


64


and a shoulder portion


63


of the screw hook


60


extend outwardly of the upper end portion


13


through the slot


14


. Subsequently, the movable member


20


is released to move away from the upper end portion


13


by virtue of the biasing force of the compression spring


30


with the guidance of the guiding member so that the shoulder portion


63


of the screw hook


60


abuts tightly against the first upper wall


131


of the upper end portion


13


, and so that the hook body


61


engages tightly the movable member


20


.




The actuating end


51


of the driving tool


50


can be sleeved on the lower end portion


15


of the stationary member


10


to turn the latter about the axis so as to screw the screw hook


60


into a wall


7


(as shown in FIG.


8


). As shown in

FIGS. 6 and 7

, in view of the construction as such, the turnable tightening device according to this invention is suitable for tightening screw hooks


60


,


60


′ of any size.




Referring to

FIG. 8

, when the screw hook


60


has been screwed into a wall


7


, the stationary member


10


can be slightly rotated about the hook body


61


of the screw hook


60


to detach the joining member


62


from the slot


14


. Then, the hook body


61


is detached from the retaining groove


61


by a slight upward movement of the stationary member


10


, thereby detaching the turnable tightening device from the screw hook


60


.




Referring to

FIG. 9

, another preferred embodiment of the turnable tightening device according to this invention is shown to be similar to the previous embodiment, except that the lower end portion


15


′ of the stationary member


10


′ is secured to the driving tool


50


′, which is in the form of a handle.




While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalent arrangements.



Claims
  • 1. A turnable tightening device adapted to tighten a screw hook, and adapted to be actuated by a driving tool which includes a handle and a shank with an actuating end, for screwing the screw hook into a wall, the screw hook including a hook body, a threaded shaft, and a joining member interposed between the hook body and the threaded shaft and forming a shoulder portion with the hook body, said turnable tightening device comprising:a stationary member having a lower end portion adapted to be actuated by the driving tool to turn about an axis, and an upper end portion disposed opposite to said lower end portion in a longitudinal direction which is parallel to the axis, said upper end portion including a first upper wall, a first lower wall opposite to said first upper wall in the longitudinal direction, and a lateral wall extending in the longitudinal direction and joining said first upper wall with said first lower wall, said lateral wall being formed with a slot that extends in a transverse direction relative to the longitudinal direction and that is disposed to communicate said first upper and lower walls, said slot having a dimension adapted to permit only the joining member of the screw hook to have access thereto in the transverse direction; a movable member disposed on said stationary member and movable relative to said upper end portion in the longitudinal direction, said movable member including a second upper wall facing and spaced apart from said first lower wall in the longitudinal direction, and a second lower wall disposed opposite to said second upper wall in the longitudinal direction and having a retaining groove of a profile adapted to retain the hook body of the screw hook; a guiding member disposed to regulate movement of said movable member relative to said upper end portion in the longitudinal direction; and a biasing member for biasing said movable member away from said upper end portion such that the shoulder portion of the screw hook abuts tightly against said first upper wall and such that the hook body of the screw hook engages tightly said movable member.
  • 2. The turnable tightening device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said guiding member includes a guiding groove formed in said stationary member between said upper and lower end portions and extending in the longitudinal direction, and a sliding block extending from said movable member in the transverse direction and away from said retaining groove and disposed slidably in said guiding groove.
  • 3. The turnable tightening device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said biasing member is a compression spring mounted in said guiding groove and having two ends abutting against said upper end portion and said sliding block, respectively.
  • 4. The turnable tightening device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said guiding member further includes a guiding shaft mounted in said guiding groove, extending in the longitudinal direction, and slidably extending through said sliding block such that said sliding block is slidable along said guiding shaft, and wherein said compression spring surrounds said guiding shaft.
  • 5. The turnable tightening device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said slot has proximate and distal ends relative to said lateral wall and opposite to each other in the transverse direction, said proximate end having a width which is larger than that of said distal end so as to facilitate entry of the joining member of the screw hook into said slot.
  • 6. The turnable tightening device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lower end portion of said stationary member is formed as a hexagonal post that is adapted to engage the actuating end of the driving tool.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
882937 Fegley Mar 1908
1271365 Reynolds, Jr. Jul 1918
3342090 Martin Sep 1967
4689881 Fall Sep 1987
5335569 Rowley Aug 1994
6101906 Tai Aug 2000