The present invention is related to a versatile extension grip that may be affixed to the handle of a broom, shovel, paint roller, fruit picker or other type of tool having a lengthy cylindrical, cubed, or rectangular shaped handle. The versatile extension grip provides leverage, maneuverability and efficiency in using many different types of tools and provides for the tools to be manipulated using one hand.
Brooms, shovels, paint rollers and other hand tools that have long shaft shaped handles may require gripping of the handle with one or both hands in an awkward manner to drag or pull the base of the tool, reach with the tool or lift with the tool. When further holding a second item such as a dustpan with a broom the user must unnaturally grasp around the handle using a large portion of their arm to gain leverage to maintain the brushes of the broom to the ground to collect and sweep dirt into the dustpan. Similarly, when shoveling, the handle must be awkwardly held and supported along the handle by placing the arm underneath the handle to lift something heavy such as rocks, wet snow, or well packed earth to provide the strength to force the scoop of the shovel upward and maneuver the heavy object to another location. Maneuverability of the handle and leverage may further be required when directing a long handled object over a person's head and into the air to for example to pull a broom or mop to clean, dust, or maneuver a paint roller along a ceiling or upper area of a wall or to pull a piece of fruit from a high limb on a tree. The awkwardness of dragging, lifting and pulling may be taxing and when performed repeatedly may cause soreness or aches in muscles not normally used. The versatile extension grip of the present invention provides an ergonomic solution that reduces awkwardness and provides for a tool to be manipulated using only one hand.
The present invention provides a uniquely, versatile extension grip that may be affixed to the handle of a tool or other implement that provides increased leverage and maneuverability of the tool improving the efficiency and ease of use in using the tool. The handle of the tool may be cylindrical, cubed or rectangular in shape and may have an extended length such as the handle of a broom or mop. The extension grip of the present invention may comprise one or more hand grips, an attachment fixture to affix the extension grip to the handle of a tool and an arm support brace to provide leverage and allow the tool to be more easily maneuvered even using only one hand. The extension grip may be attached in either direction to pull the tool towards the user's body, extend the tool in the air to reach and maneuver the tool for example over the person's head, or push the tool away from the user. In using the tool in various ways, the user may insert their arm through the support brace with either the front or the rear surface of their forearm against the brace and grasp the hand grip in their hand to pull, lift, and/or push the head of the tool.
The hand grip has an extended bar for the user to hold on to and frame supports that attach the extended bar to an attachment fixture to affix the hand grip to the handle of the tool. The extended bar may be of any thickness and dimension to accommodate a person's hand. The extended bar may be positioned perpendicular to and at a distance from the handle or may extend around the handle in a circular shape. The support brace may also have a brace portion formed in a partial circular shape with a curvature to comfortably accommodate a user's arm. The support brace is attached to an attachment fixture using extension supports. In various embodiments, the extension grip of the present invention may have the hand grip and the arm support brace attached at a single attachment point using one attachment fixture positioned along the shaft of the handle. In other embodiments, two attachment fixtures may be used for the attachment with one for the hand grip and one for the support brace. The hand grip and support brace may each be pivotally attached to the attachment fixture so that the distance from either the hand grip in relation to the handle or the support brace in relation to the handle may be adjusted to accommodate the width and length of a person's arm.
The extension grip may be permanently or removably attached to the handle with either attachment providing for the attachment fixture to slide along the handle to adjust to the height of the user. The attachment fixture may have a compression clip, screws, nuts, bolts, or other fasteners. In an embodiment, a compression clip may be compressed to be opened and then be closed or snapped on around the handle or be otherwise affixed to the shaft of the handle. Upon completion of a task using the tool, the extension grip may be removed from the handle or be slid out of the way so the tool may still be used without the extension grip. The extension grip may be used with a broom, a mop, a shovel, a paint roller or other tools and in some embodiments, the extension grip may be manufactured with the tool or other implement to be permanently or adjustably affixed to the handle.
The utility of the present invention is provided where the user may insert their arm and grasp the hand grip with the upper surface of their arm against the handle and the lower surface of their arm against the arm support brace. In this manner, the hand grip and arm support brace provides for a pulling motion of the tool for example to sweep using one hand and direct debris into a dustpan. The arm support brace provides the leverage needed against the arm and allows for a natural motion of pulling the arm towards the body which is very different from twisting the arm around the handle and trying to use the handle for leverage while holding the handle to push the broom brushes or bristles to the floor to sweep and direct debris into a dustpan. The leverage provided with the arm support brace of the extension grip may further provide for the tool to be extended over the head of the user and be pushed away from the user to remove dust or debris from an upper surface such as a ceiling, ceiling fan, the upper portion of a wall or window. When leveraging a tool over the head of a user or in other instances, the user may insert their arm between the arm support brace and the handle and grasp the hand grip with the lower surface of their arm against the handle to provide leverage in pushing the tool along a surface, such as in using a paint roller along the surface of a ceiling or wall. The extension grip may also be pulled down towards or across a user to maneuver and negotiate a tool such as a fruit picker to pull fruit from a tree.
The present invention is related to a versatile extension grip comprising a hand grip and a support brace and wherein the hand grip and support brace are attached to the handle of a tool to more easily maneuver the tool.
The present invention is also related to a broom handle extension grip comprising a hand grip, a support brace, and at least one attachment fixture, and wherein the at least one attachment fixture is attached to the handle of a broom to maneuver the broom with one hand to direct debris into a dust pan.
The present invention is also related to a paint roller extension grip comprising a hand grip, a support brace, and at least one attachment fixture, and wherein the at least one attachment fixture is attached to the handle of a paint roller to more easily maneuver the paint roller along the surface of a wall, floor or ceiling.
The present invention is also related to a shovel extension grip comprising a hand grip, a support brace, and at least one attachment fixture, and wherein the at least one attachment fixture is attached to the handle of a shovel to more easily lift heavy objects.
The present invention is also related to an extension grip, comprising a support brace; a hand grip; and wherein the support brace and handgrip are attached to the handle of a tool to provide leverage and maneuverability. The extension grip may have the support brace pivotally attached to the handle of the tool. The extension grip may have the hand grip pivotally attached to the handle of the tool. The extension grip may be removably attached to the handle of the tool. The extension grip may be permanently attached to the handle of the tool. The extension grip may slide along the handle of the tool. The tool that has the extension grip attached to it may be a broom, a mop, a paint roller, a fruit picker, a shovel, or other implement. The extension grip may comprise at least one attachment fixture to secure the support brace and hand grip to the handle of the tool. The attachment fixture of the extension grip may comprise at least one semicircular opening for the adjustment of an angle between the handle of the tool and the support brace. The attachment fixture of the extension grip may comprise at least one semicircular opening for the adjustment of an angle between the handle of the tool and the hand grip. The attachment fixture of the extension grip may comprise at least one cross shaped opening for the adjustment of an angle between the handle of the tool and the support brace. The attachment fixture of the extension grip may comprise at least one cross shaped opening for the adjustment of an angle between the handle of the tool and the hand grip. The attachment fixture of the extension grip may comprise a cylindrical body, extension tab, and flanges. The support brace of the extension grip may comprise a curved brace portion. The hand grip of the extension grip may comprise a cushioned grip.
The present invention is further related to a method of providing leverage and maneuverability to a tool comprising the steps of affixing a support brace to the handle of a tool, affixing a hand grip to the handle of a tool, inserting a hand through the support brace to grasp the hand grip to gain added leverage and more easily maneuver the tool. The method of providing leverage and maneuverability to a tool may comprise the step of pivotally attaching the support brace and hand grip to the tool to provide for adjustment to accommodate the length and size of a user's hand and arm.
These and other features, advantages and improvements according to this invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.
Several embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
A shown in
The arm support brace 12 may be formed with a curved brace region 34 that extends from or is attached to semi-circular support extensions 36. Each end of the semi-circular support extensions 36 may have a flange 38 that has an opening 40. To attach the arm support brace 12, the wing bolt 30 or other hardware or fastener may be inserted through an upper opening 22 in the first tab 20 of the attachment fixture 16 and be inserted through the openings 40 in each of the flanges 38 of the arm support brace 12. The wing bolt 30 is then inserted through the opening 23 in the second tab 21. The wing bolt 30 is then inserted into a nut 31 and hand tightened so that the first tab 20 and second tab 21 are brought close together to tighten the cylindrical body 18 around the handle 8 to secure both the attachment fixture 16 and the arm support brace 12 to the handle 8. Similarly, the hand grip 14 may be formed with an extended bar 42 and a semicircular loop 44 having a flange 46 with an opening 48 on each end. The hand grip 14 is attached to the attachment fixture 16 using a second opening 26 in the first tab 20. A second wing bolt 30 is inserted through the lower opening 26 in the first tab 20, through the openings 48 in the flanges 46 of the hand grip 14 and through a second opening 27 in the second tab 21 of the attachment fixture 16. The second wing bolt 30 is hand tightened using a second nut 31 or other fastener. In further embodiments, the openings 23 and 27 may be threaded to tighten and secure the wing bolt 30 so that a separate nut 31 is not required.
In a further embodiment of the versatile extension grip 50 as shown in
The curved brace region 74 may be formed of a pliable material such as a soft plastic or of a fabric suspended over side frame pieces 76 or other support fixtures. A rigid curved base frame piece 78 may be pivotally or rigidly connected along a portion of the side frames 76 to provide support against the user's arm with the brace region 74 of soft plastic or fabric providing a cushion to comfortably support the arm when using the tool. The side frame pieces 76 may extend and curve with flanges 80 having openings 82 being formed at the end of each frame piece 76 for attachment of the support brace 52 to the attachment fixture 56.
The hand grip 54 may also have a cushioned grip 84 for comfort and a frame piece 86 that curves and has flanges 88 formed with openings 90 for the attachment of the hand grip 54 to the attachment fixture 56. The support brace 52 and hand grip 54 may be attached to the attachment fixture 56 using one or more rivets 92 to form a permanent attachment. In an embodiment, the rivets 92 may be closely dimensioned to the openings 94 of the extended surface 60 of the attachment fixture 56 and to the openings 82 and 90 through the flanges 80 and 88 of the support brace 52 and hand grip 54. By closely dimensioning the rivets 92 to the openings, the support brace 52 and hand grip 54 are rigidly attached and may be positioned at a specific angle A for the support brace 52 and specific angle B for the hand grip 54 to accommodate different arm lengths and widths of users manipulating a tool using the versatile extension grip 50, as shown in
As shown in
The versatile extension grip 10 and 50 may be manufactured from molded plastic, coated wire, metal, wood or other structurally adequate materials to provide for a user to support and more easily manipulate the tool. For example, as shown in a rear view in
The versatile extension grip 10 and 50 in various embodiments may be used with a number of different tools. A top view of the attachment of the extension grip 50 to a broom 100 is shown in
The distance D2 between the hand grip 54 and the handle 8 as shown in
In a further embodiment as shown in
The support brace 112 may have frame pieces 126 that extend to connect a curved brace portion 128 that provides an area for a user's arm to be pressed against to provide leverage while using the tool. The user's arm may also simply rest against the curved brace portion 128 to provide ergonomic support and reduce fatigue from repeated arm movements while using the tool. The distance Di as shown in
The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/187,520 filed Jul. 1, 2015 entitled VERSATILE EXTENSION GRIP which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in the entirety.
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5313735 | Latouche | May 1994 | A |
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8776648 | Lee | Jul 2014 | B2 |
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20100005607 | DelaBarre | Jan 2010 | A1 |
Entry |
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Trentco Innoventions, Pro Handle Advertisement 2009, SKU #677-932. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20170001296 A1 | Jan 2017 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62187520 | Jul 2015 | US |