GB2152804A - Support for tools and the like - Google Patents

Abstract

A support (11) for tools (10) and the like comprises a back plate (12) on which a plurality of arms (15) are pivotally or slidingly mounted in side-by-side disposition. The tool (10) pushes some arms (15) from their operative positions into their inoperative positions and is then supported by the arms (15) adjacent and to either side of the arms (15) which have been moved by the tool (10). On removal of the tool (10) the arms (15) in their inoperative position return to their operative positions. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Support for tools and the like The invention relates to a support for tools and the like and in particular to a support such as a rack for the purpose of supporting such items.

It is known to provide racks for tools and the like in which a plurality of slots or apertures are provided in order that the tools may be inserted in the slots or apertures and have a relatively wide upper part supported by the rack. Such racks are generally provided with slots or apertures of differing sizes so that small and/or large tools can be supported in the one rack. However it is often the case that a person has more large or small tools than can be accommodated in the appropriately sized slots or apertures and in such cases some tools may not be accommodated in the rack whilst some slots or apertures are left vacant.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a supportfortools or the like in which the above problem is avoided.

The invention provides a support for tools and the like having relatively wide and narrow parts, said support comprising a support member and a plurality of arm members mounted thereon in sideby-side disposition, each arm member being independently movable between an operative and an inoperative position, whereby one or more of said arm members may be moved to their respective inoperative positions by a tool or the like whilst adjacent arm members are in their respective operative positions to receive the relatively narrow part of said tool or the like therebetween and support said relatively wide part thereof.

Preferably each of said arm members, when in its operative position, provides an upper surface which is horizontal or slightly upwardly inclined away from said support member.

Said arm members may each be of a generally Lshaped form. Said support member may comprise a back plate against which one arm of an arm member abuts when that arm member is in its operative position. The other arm of an arm member may abut said back plate when that arm member is in the inoperative position.

Said arm members may be pivotally mounted on said support and said support member may comprise a common shaft attached to said back plate and on which each of said arm members is mounted.

Alternatively each arm member may comprise an attachment part and a flexible spigot having said attachment part at the free end thereof. Said attachment part may be received in a groove in said support member.

Alternatively each arm member may comprise a finger mounted for reciprocal sliding movement forwardly of and towards said support member.

Said arm members may be resiliently biassed towards said operative position and releasable catch means may be provided which are operable to retain an arm member in said inoperative position.

The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a first embodiment, Figs. 2 and 3 are sectional side elevations of the support of Fig. 1 respectively on lines Il-Il and Ill-Ill thereof, Fig. 4 is a sectional side elevation of a second embodiment, Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation of a third embodiment, Fig. 6 is a plan view of a fourth embodiment, Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the back plate of the embodiment of Fig. 6, Fig. 8 is a plan view of a fifth embodment and Fig. 9 is an end sectional view of the embodiment of Fig. 8.

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 3 there is illustrated in chain dashed lines a tool 10, such as a screwdriver supported by a support 11. The support 11 comprises an elongate back plate 12 which is secured to a wall 30 by means of screws, bolts or nails 13. The back plate 12 is of any desired length and is of any suitable material such as wood, metal, plastics material or the like. At each end of the back plate 12 is a bracket member 20 which may be attached to or integral with the back plate 12. The back plate 12 may be provided with holes for screws, bolts or nails 13to secure itto a wall 30 or like rigid support.

On a shaft 14, extending between and supported by the bracket members 20, are rotatably mounted a plurality of supporting members 15, spaced by spacers 16. Alternatively the members 15 may be formed on either side with spacing bosses 21 and a thin washer 22 may be located on shaft 14 between adjacent members 15 as shown in the right-hand half of Fig. 1. Each supporting member 15 is in the form of a generally L-shaped arm with a curved rear edge 17, and an upper edge 18. The components are so dimensioned that when the part of the curved rearedge below the shaft 14 bears against the back plate 12 (Fig. 2) the upper edge 18 is substantially horizontal or slightly upwardly inclined extending forwards from the back plate 12.The arms 15 can be separately pivoted about the shaft 14 between an operative position, as shown in Figs. 1,2 and 3, and an inoperative position in which part of the curved rear edge 17 above the shaft 14 bears againstthe back plate 12 as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The arms 15 may be stamped or otherwise formed of comparatively stiff sheet, for example of a plastics material, and the tips 19 thereof may be sharp (as illustrated) or rounded. When not in use the arms 15 all rest side by side in their forward operative positions as shown in Fig. 2.

In using support 11 such as described above, a part of a tool (for example the handle of a screwdriver 10) is advanced to and pressed against the tips 19 of the line of supporting arms 15. As the tool 10 is advanced inwards its handle pivots one or more arms 15 about the shaft 14 to their inoperative positions, and the upper and wider part of the tool becomes located above the arms 15 adjacent, and on opposite sides of, the pivoted arms 15 to be supported thereby (Figs. 1 and 3). When the tool is removed the upwardly pivoted arms 15 fall forward to their supporting positions ready for subsequent use.

Between upper surface 18 and curved back edge 17 of each arm 15 is a forwardly facing step 23, these steps 23 serving to prevent a tool 10 from being pushed too far into the apparatus, i.e. as far as the shaft 14. The upper surface 18 of each arm 15 is also formed with a plurality of rearwardly facing steps 24 which serve to prevent the rotation about their longitudinal axis of tools such as open-ended spanners which being thin in one direction could otherwise rotate and fall between adjacent arms 15.

The steps 24 also provide that the upper part of each arm 15 is somewhat in the form of a hook so that certain items having a loop type of handle, or loop of string or the like attached thereto may simply be hung from the arms 15. Alternatively one or more, for example the end ones, of arms 15 may be formed with a hook-shaped end 25.

Referring now to Fig. 4 there is shown a tool 10 supported by a support 41 of generally similar construction to that of support 11 of Figs. 1 to 3.

However, in this case the bracket members 20 and shaft 14 of the previous embodiment are omitted, and the arms 45 are pivotally attached directly to the back plate 42. This is achieved by means of a flexible spigot 43 provided adjacent the apex of each Lshaped arm 15, the spigot 43 having an enlarged free end 44 which is received in a correspondingly shaped groove in the back plate 42. The operation of the support 41 is similarto that of support 11. In the case of support 11 the arms 15 return from their inoperative positions to their operative positions under gravitational forces. In the case of support 41 the arms 45 may effect such return under gravitational forces and/or due to the resilience of the flexible spigot 43.

Referring now to Fig. 5 there is shown a tool 10 supported by a support 51. in this case a back plate 52 has a forwardly extending housing 53 which has a slot 54 at its forward end. Contained within the housing 53 but extending through slot 54 are a plurality of fingers 55 in side-by-side disposition.

Each finger 55 has an enlarged inner end 56 and a saw-tooth shaped spigot 57 near to the outer end 59.

A spring 58 is disposed within the housing 53 between the enlarged end 56 of each finger 55 and the back plate 52. The tool 10 is advanced towards the support 51, thereby pushing backwardly one or more fingers 55 against the force of the respective springs 58 until the spigots 57 of those fingers 55 pass through the slot 54. The tool 10 is then supported by the fingers 55 adjacent and to either side of the retracted fingers 55, which are retained in the retracted position by their spigots 57 engaging the front wall of housing 53. When the tool 10 is removed, the ends 59 of the retracted fingers 55 may be lifted so as to release the spigots 57 and allow those fingers 55 to return to their operative positions.

Referring now to Figs. 6 and 7 there is shown an embodiment of support 60, generally of the type shown in Figs. 1 to 3, but in this case in the form of a conveyor. Whereas in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 3 the shaft 14 is supported by brackets 20 mounted on the back plate 12, in this embodiment the shaft 14 is replaced by an endless flexible band 61 which passes around pulleys 62 rotatably mounted on back plate 63. One pulley 62 may be driven by a motor (not shown) to move the band 61 in the direction of arrow A. The outer surface 64 of each pulley 62 is formed to a shape to accommodate the passage of the arms 65 therearound and the spacers 66 between arms 65 are chamfered to accommodate the curvature of band 61 as it passes around a pulley 62. In use of such a support 60 tools or other items may be loaded at one station and conveyed to another station for unloading.In order to facilitate loading and/or unloading the back plate 63 may be formed having a cam surface 67 as shown in Fig. 7.

The surface 67 serves to pivot the arms 65 about the band 61,therebyfacilitating automatic loading or unloading of the tools or the like onto orfrom the moving support 60.

Referring now to Figs. 8 and 9 there is shown a support 80 in which the arms 81 are readily detachable. The arms 81 have cylindrical spigots 82 to form a pivot when located in a T-shaped slot 84 in the back plate 83. A support 80 is particularly versatile since the back board may be cut to any desired length and if large tools or the like are to be retained therein one or more arms may be omitted as shown in Fig. 8.

In any of the above described embodiments the spacing of the arms and/or the size of the arms may vary along the support if desired. In addition, further support may be provided beneath the tools or the like, i.e. by making the back plate of L-shaped crosssection so as to provide a tray at its lower edge.

Claims (24)

1. A support for tools and the like having relatively wide and narrow parts, said support comprising a support member and a plurality of arm members mounted thereon in side-by-side disposition, each arm member being independently movable between an operative and an inoperative position, whereby one or more of said arm members may be moved to their respective inoperative positions by a tool or the like whilst adjacent arm members are in their respective operative positions to receive the relatively narrow part of said tool or the like therebetween and support said relatively wide part thereof.

2. A support according to claim 1 wherein each of said arm members when in its operative position provides a substantially horizontal upper surface.

3. A support according to claim 1 wherein each of said arm members when in its operative position provides an upper surface which is upwardly inclined away from said support members.

4. A support according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein each arm member is of generally L-shaped form.

5. A support according to claim 4, wherein said support member comprises a back plate against which one arm of an arm member abuts when that arm member is in its operative position.

6. A support according to claim 5 wherein the other arm of an arm member abuts said back plate when that arm member is in its inoperative position.

7. A support according to claim 5 or claim 6 wherein said arm members are pivotally mounted on said support member.

8. A support according to claim 7 wherein said support member comprises a common shaft attached to said back plate on which each of said arm members is pivotally mounted.

9. A support according to claim 7 wherein said arm member comprises an attachment part and a flexible spigot having said attachment part at the free end thereof.

10. A support according to claim 9 wherein said attachment part is received in a groove in said back plate.

11. A support according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein each arm member comprises a finger mounted for reciprocal sliding movement forwardly of and towards said support member.

12. A support according to claim 11 wherein each arm member is resiliently biassed towards said operative position.

13. A support according to claim 11 or claim 12 wherein releasable catch means are provided, operable to retain an arm member in said inoperative position.

14. Asupport according to claim 13 wherein said support member comprises a back plate and a housing extending forwardly therefrom, said fingers being mounted in said housing in side-by-side disposition and extending through a slot provided in the forward end thereof.

15. A support according to claim 14 wherein said catch means comprises a saw-tooth shaped spigot provided on each finger adjacent the outer end thereof.

16. A support according to claim 5 or claim 6 wherein each arm member is mounted on a flexible band which passes around a plurality of pulleys rotatably mounted on said back plate.

17. A suppott according to claim 16 wherein said back plate has a cam-surface disposed to be contacted by said arm members and operable to pivot said arms from said operative to said inoperative positions as they move therepast.

18. A support according to claim 5 or claim 6 wherein each arm member is retained in a respective slot in said back plate.

19. A support according to claim 18 where said slot is of T-shaped cross-section.

20. A support according to claim 19 wherein each arm is provided with cylindrical spigots adapted to be rotatably retained in said T-shaped slot.

21. A support according to any one of claims 1 to 20 wherein each arm member has a forwardly facing step on an upper surface thereof.

22. A support according to any one of claims 1 to 21 wherein each arm member has a plurality of rearwardly facing steps on an upper surface thereof.

23. A support according to any one of claims 1 to 22 wherein at least one arm member has a hookshaped formation at a forward end thereof.

24. A support for tools and the like substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, Fig. 4, Fig. 5, Figs. 6 and 7 or Figs. 8 and 9 of the accompanying drawings.