WO1993021751A1

WO1993021751A1 - Attachable handle

Info

Publication number: WO1993021751A1
Application number: PCT/CA1993/000172
Authority: WO
Inventors: Philip J. Poetker
Original assignee: Poetker Dynamics Inc
Current assignee: Poetker Dynamics Inc
Priority date: 1992-04-24
Filing date: 1993-04-23
Publication date: 1993-11-11
Anticipated expiration: 1994-10-24
Also published as: AU4256893A

Abstract

An auxiliary hand grip (16) for attachment to a tool handle (14) includes a seat (18) that wraps around the handle (14) with two ends (26, 28) of the seat (18) projecting from the side of the handle (14). A saddle (20) slides over the seat ends (26, 28) to engage the handle (14) as well. A grip (22) is mounted on the saddle (20) and engages the ends (26, 28) of the seat (18) to force both against the handle (14). The seat (18) is preferably constructed with ends (26, 28) that engage one another side-by-side to form a threaded shank (38) onto which the grip (22) or a nut (16) is threaded to hold the components together on the tool handle (14). Both a straight cylindrical grip (22) and a D-grip (70) version of the handle (14) are disclosed.

Description

ATTACHABLE HANDLE FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to auxiiiary hand grips for manual tools having long handles, for example, shovels, rakes, brooms and so on. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With a long handled tool, the long straight handle is gripped with the hand or hands twisted, and often the user's back is bent during use. This may cause discomfort and undue stress. Often muscular efficiency is reduced. To address this problem, it has been proposed to provide auxiliary hand grips for mounting on such handles, so that the hands may grip an object at a more comfortable orientation. Such devices are generally designed to accommodate a single size of handle. Some are difficult to install, requiring the use of tools, and sometimes modifications to the handle. Where the auxiiliary grip is a D- grip, its orientation relative to the handle is often fixed, so that an optimum orientation cannot be achieved.

The present, invention is concerned with the provision of auxiliary hand grips which ameliorate one or more of the above problems. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a hand grip for attachment to a tool handle, comprising: a seat with a flexible center section and end sections extending therefrom, the center section being adapted to be wrapped around the tool handle, with the end sections extending side-by-side from the handle; a saddle siidable along the side-by-side end sections into engagement with the handle; and grip means including grip mounting means engageable wit the side-by-side end sections of the seat and with the saddle for mounting th grip means on the saddle and for pressing the saddle along the end section against the handle.

The flexible center section of the seat accommodates a wide rang of shank sizes. It forms a flexible loop around the handle that may be varied i size as the saddle moves along the seat. The grip is readily mounted at an position along or around the handle.

In preferred embodiments, the seat is an integrally molded plasti material part with a broad, strap-like center section and two semi-cylindrical threaded ends. The ends come together to form a threaded shank. The grip i either an internally threaded tubular grip or a D-handle with a mounting sleev and a nut threadable onto the shank, as will be described more fully in th following. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate exemplar embodiments of the present invention:

Figure 1 is an isometric representation of a rake with an auxiliar hand grip thereon;

Figure 2 is an isometric representation of the hand grip shown i Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is an exploded view of the hand grip of Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a cross section on-line 4-4 of Figure 2; Figure 5 is a side view of the hand grip showing the saddle a grip in axial section;

Figure 6 is an isometric representation of a shovel with a seco embodiment of the present invention attached thereto;

Figure 7 is an isometric of the second embodiment of t invention; and

Figure 8 is an exploded view of the second embodiment, and

Figure 9 is an elevation partly in section, of the secon embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated a to 10 in the form of a garden rake. The tool has a working head 12 and a elongate cylindrical handle 14. Mounted on the handle is an auxiliary hand gri 16 that projects laterally from the handle to the provide a more comfortable an convenient hand grip for the rake.

As illustrated most particularly in Figures 2 through 5, the auxiliar hand grip is a three component device including a seat 18 that is engage around the handle 14, a saddle 20 that engages the side of the handle opposi the centre of the seat, and a grip 22 that is mounted on the saddle.

As illustrated in the drawings, the seat 18 is an integral plasti material component. It has a broad, relatively flat center section 24 that wra around the handle 14. This center section is somewhat flexible and generall U-shaped. The center section converges at its opposite ends into tw semi-cylindrical end sections 26 and 28 that are generally parallel. End sectio 26 has a generally flat inner face 30 with a hemispherical recess 32 near the outer most end. The end section 28 has an inner face 34 with a hemispherical boss 36 projecting from adjacent the inner end. The boss 36 engages within the recess 32 to ensure alignment of the two end sections 26 and 28 when they are brought together. When an aligned and engaged, the end sections 26 and 28 form a generally cylindrical shank with an external thread 38.

The saddle 20 has a cylindrical inner end section 40. Along the inner end face 41 of section 40 are two pairs of diametrically opposed notches 42. The notches are smoothly concave with an increasing radius from the center towards the ends so as to conform with handles of different diameters. At the outer section of the portion 40 is a radial shoulder 44 leading to an outer end section 45 with an outer end 46. The saddle has a bore 48 from outer end 46 to inner end 4 . The bore is cylindrical in the outer end section while in the inner end section of 40 of the saddle, the bore has a flared inner end 50.

The grip 22 includes a grip tube 52 with an outer, rounded end 54. Adjacent the inner end 56, the grip tube has a counterbore 58 that engages slidably over the outer section of the saddle so that the inner end 56 of the grip tube will come into abutting engagement with the shoulder 44. Outwardly of the counter bore 58, the tube has an internal thread 60 that matches the thread 38 on the composite shank of the seat 18.

The hand grip is assembled onto the handle 14 by engaging the seat 18 around the handle, urging the end sections 26 and 28 together and passing the saddle 20 over the end sections. The grip 22 is then placed over the saddle and turned to engage the threads 60 and 38, thus urging the saddle along the seat into engagement with the side of the handle 14, whil simultaneously pulling the seat 18 against the handle so that it will wra snuggly about the handle to form a firm grip thereon. The auxiliary hand gri can be placed anywhere on the handle 14 and projecting from any desire position thereabout.

Figure 6 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the inventio attached to the handle of a shovel 62. The shovel has a shovel head 64, handle 66 with a D-grip 68 on the end of the handle and an auxiliary D-grip 7 according to the invention, mounted on the handle 66. As illustrated mos particularly in Figure 7,8 and 9, the auxiliary D-grip 70 has a seat 72 and saddle 74 that conform with the seat 18 and saddle 20 of the grip 16. In thi case, however the grip 76 includes a sleeve 78 with an inner end 80, an oute end 82 and a cylindrical bore 84 from end-to-end that engages over the oute end of the saddle 74. An annular groove 86 is formed in the inner end 80. This accommodates an O-ring 88 that is compressed against the shoulder o the saddle.

Two curved arms 90 and 92 extend from opposite sides of th sleeve and are joined at their outer ends by a cross tube 94 that serves as hand grip. The grip 76 is held in place along the saddle by a nut 96 tha threads onto the threaded ends of the seat 72. The nut has an inner sleeve 9 that engages in the bore 84 and a head 100. The shoulder 102 between th head and the sleeve engages the outer end 82 of the grip sleeve 78 so that as the nut is screwed onto the ends of the seat 72, the sleeve 78 compresses th O-ring 88 against the shoulder on the saddle so that the grip 76 will be held in place against rotation. This provides for adjustment of the orientation of the grip 76 about the saddle 74.

The outer surface of the nut 96 is preferably formed with finger grip fluting 104.

Two alternative embodiments of the present invention have been described in the foregoing, it is to be understood that other embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention. It is, for example, possible to use a different grip configuration where this is desired. In another embodiment the inner most end of the saddle is flexible to assist in gripping handles of different sizes.

The present invention is to be considered limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A hand grip for attachment to a tool handle, comprising: a seat with a flexible center section and end section extending therefrom, the center section being adapted to be wrapped aroun the tool handle, with the end sections extending side-by-side from the handle; a saddle slidable along the side-by-side end sections int engagement with the handle; and grip means including grip mounting means engageable wit the side-by-side end sections of the seat and with the saddle for mounting th grip means on the saddle and for pressing the saddle along the end section against the handle.

2. A grip according to Claim 1 wherein the end sections of the se are engageable side-by-side to form a shank, and comprising external thread on the shank, the grip mounting means comprising an internally threade member threading onto the shank.

3. A grip according to Claim 2 wherein the seat comprises an integr plastic material member with the end sections being externally threaded an substantially semi-cylindrical and the center section comprising a substantiall U-shaped band.

4. A grip according to Claim 3 wherein the end sections of the sea have inter -engaging formations on the opposed faces thereof for engaging th end sections and aligning the threads.

5. A grip according to any preceding claim wherein the saddle has center bore slidable along the end sections and diametrically opposed notche in the inner end for non-rotatably engaging the side of the handle.

6. A grip according to Claim 4 wherein the center bore of the saddle is flared at the inner end thereof.

7. A grip according to claim 2, 3 or 4 wherein the grip means comprise a grip tube engageable over an outer section of the saddle.

8. A grip according to Claim 7 wherein the grip mounting means comprise internal threads in the grip tube engageable with the external threads on the seat end sections.

9. A grip according to any one of Claims 1 through 6, wherein the grip means comprise a sleeve engageable over an outer end section of the saddle, a grip handle mounted on the sleeve and a nut threadabie onto the end sections of the seat.

10. A grip according to Claim 9 wherein the sleeve is rotatable with respect to the saddle.

11. A grip according to Claim 10 including means engageable between the sleeve and the saddle to resist rotation of the sleeve on the saddle.

12. A grip according to Claim 11 wherein the means engageable between the sleeve and the saddle comprise an O-ring.

13. A grip according to any one of Claims 9 to 12 wherein the grip handle comprises a D-grip.