WO1998056538A1

WO1998056538A1 - A multipurpose support stand

Info

Publication number: WO1998056538A1
Application number: PCT/AU1998/000454
Authority: WO
Inventors: George Lewin; Harry Szommer; Ian Christiansen; Warren Brown
Original assignee: Triton Technologies Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Triton Technologies Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1997-06-12
Filing date: 1998-06-12
Publication date: 1998-12-17
Anticipated expiration: 1999-12-12
Also published as: AUPO727597A0

Abstract

A support stand having a base (4), a stand body (3) and a height adjustable headpiece (2). Preferably the headpiece includes a base section (21) and two side sections (22, 23) extending from said base section (21) to form a substantially U-shaped channel (24) for receiving a work piece, at least one of said sections being provided with an adjustable head clamp member (26) for clamping said work piece when in the substantially U-shaped channel (24).

Description

A MULTIPURPOSE SUPPORT STAND

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a support stand for a variety of uses which is particularly suited to wood working in the home workshop and by tradesmen as well as domestic and recreational uses.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The applicant believes there are many professional, domestic and recreational situations where a portable height adjustable stand can find application. One domestic application for a portable height adjustable stand includes situations where a sole person performing a task where a work piece must be firmly held in position while performing some other operation involving a tool in the other hand. An example of such a situation is when a tradesman is hanging a door or fitting hinges to a door, a job normally requiring two hands to hold the door in position while attaching the screws or forming a rebate with the other.

There are other domestic and recreational situations where a support stand would be useful such as a base for a temporary work table, a support prop, or a pole mounting a spotlight, a microphone, a loudspeaker etc.

One particular professional and domestic workshop situation is as a replacement for a conventional roller support stand. A roller support stand is used to support a work piece while pera tting the work piece to move in the direction of travel of the roller. Typically a roller support stand can be used for in-feed and/or out-feed support of long work pieces passed through a rip saw bench, spindle molder or thicknesser. Other workshop applications include outboard support when handling wide sheets on a saw bench, or static support of the work piece and/or off-cut on one or both sides of a docking saw.

In all of these workshop applications, although a roller stand is the traditionally employed device, characteristics of the roller stand make it less than ideal for each of these uses. For example, a conventional roller stand is unable to clamp and retain auxiliary guides. More importantly a work piece moving over the roller is difficult to control due to the lack of friction between the work piece and the roller and due to the tendency of the roller stand to steer the work piece unless the roller is set up exactly perpendicular to the direction of travel of the work piece.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a support stand which is preferably portable and finds application in at least one of the above situations.

Accordingly the invention provides a support stand having a base, a stand body and a headpiece. In one preferred form, the headpiece includes a base section and two side sections extending from the base section to form a substantially U-shaped channel for receiving a work piece, at least one of the side sections being provided with an adjustable head clamp member for clamping said work piece when in the substantially U-shaped channel. "Work piece" may include lengths of wood or lengths of metal tubing supporting selected objects, or may include a cleat attached to an object which is desired to be clamped to the stand.

It is preferable that the head clamp member is provided with an adjustment mechanism for advancing the head clamp member towards the work piece when in the channel. At least the side of the substantially U-shaped channel opposite the clamp surface is provided with ridges or barbs extending into the U-shaped channel. These ridges or barbs enhance securing of the work piece when in the channel by adjustment of the clamp member. The side of the substantially U-shaped channel may be provided with upper flange surfaces. The upper flange surfaces may be provided with skid surfaces, having a low coefficient of friction. By providing upper flange surfaces with a skid surface on the headpiece, the support stand is able to function in a similar fashion to the previously mentioned roller support stands. Thus, if the invention is used in this application, the skid surface will allow the work piece to move smoothly over the stand without any tendency to steer the work piece as in the case of a mis-aligned roller support stand. As well, the frictional drag is much more controllable using a skid surface, eliminating unwanted movement of the work piece and the off-cut.

In another preferred form of the invention, the headpiece of the stand support is provided with a pivotal mounting for mounting the head to the stand body. The headpiece may be pivotal relative to the stand body, between a position substantially perpendicular with the stand body, to a position substantially parallel with the stand body. Thus, the pivotal movement of the headpiece relative to the stand body, is approximately 90°.

The preferred pivotal movement is provided by a pivotal mounting having a quadrant clamp secured to the substantially U-shaped channel. The quadrant clamp may include two clamp members which are positioned either side of the stand body, each having a quadrant guide track formed therein. An adjustment rod extends through the body and is located in the ahgned quadrant guide tracks of the respective quadrant members. The adjustment rod has a tensioning device which, when applied, fixes the position of the rod in the guide tracks, thereby securing the position of the U-shaped channel relative to the body.

The quadrant clamp may further include a fulcrum rod which extends through the stand body and about which the clamp members pivot relative to the stand body. Saddle members may be provided to bear against the body and provide a frictional surface on the body side of the clamp members, the adjustable rod and fulcrum rod extending through respective saddle members and the stand body.

The stand body more preferably takes the form of an elongate shaft. Saddle members associated with one clamp member are provided with arms which extend around said shaft to cooperate with saddle members associated with the other of said clamp members.

The quadrant clamp further includes outer quadrants having guide tracks corresponding to the guide tracks in the respective clamp members, The outer quadrants are locked to and rotatable with the quadrant members. Between the outer quadrant and respective quadrant members, spacers are preferably provided having surfaces contacting the clamp member and corresponding outer quadrant. These spacers provide additional clamping surfaces thus multiplying the locking force when the tensioning device is applied.

In another aspect of the invention, the adjustable stand body is received within the base mounting which in turn is provided with a variable fixing device to allow the height of the headpiece to be adjusted and secured relative to the base and in any axial orientation in relation to the base, further enhancing the utility and ease of adjustment. The variable fixing device may include a bush assembly having a collar for receiving the stand body, the collar having a fixed end and a variable end.

The fixed and variable ends of the collar extend through the bush assembly and the fixed end of the collar is secured to a clamp base. The collar extends around the stand body from the fixed end and the variable end of the collar is adjustably received within the clamp base for tensioning the collar against the stand body. The variable end may extend through the clamp base and be connected to a tensioning device for tightening and loosening the collar.

Thus, applying tension to one end of the clamping collar causes the stand body to be clamped against one wall of the bush assembly. This variable fixing device is able to provide a substantially increased clamping force compared to the tension applied by the threaded knob. Furthermore, the uniform contact of the collar minimizes surface damage to the stand body, and allows to a very significant extent a progressive or gradual release of the clamping force applied, thus preventing the stand and its supported load plummeting down-wards when the clamp is released.

In another preferred feature of the invention, the base includes at least three legs for supporting the stand body and headpiece. The legs may be pivotally received within a housing which permits only limited upward pivotal movement of the legs relative to the housing. This may be affected by the housing having a limiting edge spaced from the pivotal mounting of the leg within the housing preventing upward rotation of the leg beyond the limiting edge. A foot may be formed on each leg, having a means for securing the support stand to a supporting surface.

The support stand in accordance with the broadest aspect of the invention is able to fulfill the requirements of securely holding difficult shaped objects in position thereby freeing the hands of the operator. With the addition of the preferred features such as the skid surface, the support stand is able to perform any of the other applications envisaged by the applicant such as providing a superior replacement for a conventional roller support stand in workshop applications.

The features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment and accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a elevational view of an embodiment of a support stand in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view through line A-A of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional view through line B-B of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is an in-line for assembly drawing of the headpiece of the embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1, a portable and collapsible support stand 1 is shown, having a headpiece 2, a stand body 3 and a support base 4. The headpiece includes a section for receiving a work piece including a base 21 and sides 22, 23 to form a substantially U-shaped channel 24. At least one of the sides 23 is provided with an adjustable clamp member 26 which is adjustable by an adjustment mechanism 25 towards the other of the sides 22 of the U-shaped channel 24. The clamp member is preferably a pair of clamp arms extending through the side 23 of the U-shaped channel 24.

The adjustment mechanism may include a threaded knob 27 connected to a bolt 28 received in the side 23 such that tightening of the threaded knob 27 drives the clamp piece 26 towards the side 22 of the U-shaped channel. Turning the threaded knob 27 in the opposite direction enables compression spring 29 to move the clamp piece 26 away from side 22. The opposite side of the U-shaped channel 24 may be provided with ridges or barbs 60 to assist in securing the work piece in the channel.

The substantially U-shaped channel may be provided with upper flange surfaces 30, 31 which in turn are provided with skid surfaces 32, 33 respectively. The skid surfaces are produced from a material having a coefficient of friction sufficiently low to enable a work piece to slide across the top of the skid surfaces without sufficient resistance to topple the support stand.

The substantially U-shaped channel may be mounted by bolts 34 to a quadrant clamp 35 to enable pivotal movement of the U-shaped channel 24 relative to the stand body 3. The quadrant clamp includes clamp members 36 and 37 positioned either side of the stand body 3. The clamp members each have a quadrant guide track 38 formed therein. As best seen in Figure 2, there is also provided an outer quadrant 39 spaced from the body of the clamp member 37 by a spacer shown as a washer 40, 40a. The quadrant clamp further includes an adjustment rod 41 which extends through the stand body 3 and through the aligned quadrant guide tracks 38 of the respective quadrant members 36, 37.

The outer quadrants 39 and 39a are able to rotate with clamp members 36, 37 with respect to the adjustment rod 41. The spacers positioned between the clamp members 36, 37 and outer quadrants 39, 39a are retained in position relative to the adjustment rod and provide additional frictional locking surfaces which contact the inner surface of outer quadrants 39, 39a and the outer surfaces of clamp members 37, 36 respectively.

The adjustment rod 41 is provided with a tensioning device such as a threaded knob 42 for tightening and loosening the tension in the adjustment rod 41. A further spacer 57, 58 may be provided to spread the locking force over a broader area of the outer surfaces of outer quadrants 39, 39a respectively. A fulcrum rod 43 is provided extending through stand body 3. The pivotal movement of the clamp members relative to the stand body is provided about fulcrum rod 43. When adjustment rod 41 is substantially un-tensioned, the quadrant clamp 35 may be pivoted about fulcrum rod 43 into the desired position and alignment for the substantially U-shaped channel 24. Once in this position the tensioning device 42 is tightened to tension the adjustment rod 41 and thereby secure the position of the U-shaped channel 24 relative to the stand body 3. Because of the length of travel of the adjustment rod 41 in quadrant track 38, the U-shaped channel is able to pivot through a range from substantially parallel to the stand body to a position which is substantially perpendicular to the stand body.

Saddle members 44, 45 are provided respectively for the adjustment rod 41 and the fulcrum rod 43 which extend there through and in the case of saddle members 44 and 45, provide a flat locking surface for the inner surfaces of the clamp members 36, 37. When the adjustment rod 41 and the fulcrum rod 43 are fully tensioned the arms of saddle members 44, 45 meet with the arms of corresponding saddle member on the other side of the stand body 3 to provide a fixed and flat mounting relative to the stand body 3. The clamp members 36, 37 are able to rotate about fulcrum rod 43 relative to the saddle members 44, 45.

When tensioning device 42 is tightened, clamp members 36, 37, outer quadrants 39, 39a, spacers 40, 40a, 57 and 58 and saddle members 44 are all tightly clamped together. The applicant has found that by having a number of cooperating clamping surfaces along adjustment rod 41, the quadrant clamp is able to secure the position of the headpiece relative to the body by a hand tightenable tensioning device.

The stand body 3 which is preferably an elongate tubular shaft is received within a mounting 46 of base 4. The mounting 46 is provided with a variable fixing mechanism which includes bush assembly 59 with collar 47 therein. The collar 47 has a fixed end 48 and a variable end 49 extending through the bush assembly 59 and the fixed end 48 of collar 47 is secured to clamp base 50. When the shaft of stand body 3 is received within the base mounting, collar 47 extends around the stand body 3 with variable end 49 being adjustably received within clamp base 50.

Variable end 49 of collar 47 may extend through the clamp base 50 to a collar tensioning device 51 for tightening and loosening the collar 47.

When tension is applied to the variable end 49 of collar 47, the shaft of stand body 3 is clamped against one wall of bush assembly 59 under the action of collar 47. Not only does this substantially increase the clamping force but the increase is obtained without any surface damage to the stand body. Once the stand body 3 is received vvithin the collar 47 and the height of headpiece 2 appropriately adjusted, collar tensioning device 51 is tightened to secure the relative position of the stand body 3 and the base mounting 46. The variable fixing mechanism in accordance with this prefeπed form allows gradual clamping and progressive release as well as a strong clamp which does not damage the stand body.

Base 4 may be provided with at least three support legs 52 preferably pivotally mounted within housing 53. Housing 53 may be provided with a lirniting edge 54 spaced from the pivotal mounting 55 of the leg 52 to the housing 53. Thus upward rotation of the leg 52 relative to the housing 53 will not be possible beyond the lirniting edge 54 and the weight of the support stand 1 and the supported work piece will thus lock the relative position of the legs in the base.

Each leg 52 may be provided with a foot 56 having a means such as a hole 57 formed therein to allow securement of the feet of the support stand to a supporting surface or to the ground.

The embodiment of the invention is able to provide a portable, height adjustable, support stand which is able to securely hold articles in position giving an operator two free hands to perform various tasks. The stand is also able to more than adequately replace a roller support stand in a workshop environment.

Claims

1. A support stand having a base, a stand body and a headpiece, said headpiece including a base section and two side sections extending from said base section to form a substantially U-shaped channel for receiving a work piece, at least one of said side sections being provided with an adjustable head clamp member for clamping said work piece when in the substantially U-shaped channel.

2. The support stand according to Claim 1 wherein the head clamp member is provided with an adjustment mechanism for advancing said clamp member towards the opposite side section of said substantially U-shaped channel.

3. The support stand accordmg to Claim 2 wherein the side of the substantially U-shaped channel opposite the head clamp member is provided with ridges or barbs extending into the U-shaped channel to enhance securing of said work piece in said channel.

4. The support stand according to any one of claims 1-3 wherein the sides of the substantially U-shaped channel are provided with upper flange surfaces, said upper flange surfaces having at least one skid surface.

5. The support stand according to Claim 1 wherein the headpiece is provided with a pivotal mounting for mounting said head to said stand body.

6. The support stand of Claim 5 wherein the headpiece is pivotal relative to said stand body between a position substantially perpendicular to said body to a position substantially parallel to said body.

7. The support stand according to Claim 5 or 6 wherein the pivotal mounting includes a quadrant clamp secured to said substantially U-shaped channel.

8. The support stand according to Claim 7 wherein the quadrant clamp includes two clamp members positioned either side of said stand body, said quadrant members each having a quadrant guide track formed therein.

9. The support stand according to Claim 8 wherein the quadrant clamp further includes an adjustment rod extending through said stand body and aligned quadrant guide tracks of the respective quadrant members, the position of said rod in said guide tracks being securable to fix the position of said U-shaped channel relative to said stand body.

10. The support stand according to Claim 9 wherein the quadrant clamp further includes a fulcrum rod extending through said clamp members and said body, said clamp members pivoting about said fulcrum rod.

11. The support stand according to any one of Claims 8, 9 or 10 wherein the quadrant clamp further includes saddle members for providing a fixed and flat mounting to said stand body and locking surfaces for respective clamp members.

12. The support stand according to Claim 11 wherein the adjustment rod and fulcrum rod extend through respective saddle members and said body.

13. The support stand according to Claim 12 wherein the saddle members have arms extending around said stand body, the saddle members of one clamp member cooperating with saddle members associated with the other clamp member to secure the headpiece to the stand body.

14. The support stand according to claim 13 wherein the quadrant clamp further includes outer quadrants having guide tracks corresponding to the guide tracks in the respective clamp members, the outer quadrants being rotatable with said quadrant members, and - spacers provided between said outer quadrants and respective clamp members, said spacers having surfaces contacting the respective clamp member and corresponding outer quadrant, said clamp members, outer quadrants, spacers and saddle members through which said adjustment rod extends being clamped together by a tensioning device on said rod.

15. The support stand according to Claim 1 wherein the adjustable body includes an elongate shaft.

16. The support stand according to Claim 1 to 14 wherein the stand body is received within a mounting in said base, said base mounting having a variable fixing mechanism to allow the height of said headpiece to be adjusted and secured relative to said base.

17. The support stand according to Claim 16 wherein the variable fixing mechanism includes a bush assembly having a collar therein for receiving said stand body, said collar having a fixed end and a variable end, extending through said housing, said fixed end being secured to a clamp base, said collar extending around said stand body and said variable end being adjustably received within said clamp base for tensioning the collar against the stand body.

18. The support stand according to Claim 17 wherein the variable end of said collar extends through said clamp base to a tensioning device for tightening and loosening said collar relative to said stand body.

19. The support stand according to Claim 1, 5 or 16 wherein said base includes at least three legs for supporting said stand body and headpiece, said legs being pivotally received within a housing in which only limited upward pivotal movement is permitted.

20. The support stand according to Claim 19 wherein each leg is pivotally mounted within said housing, said housing having a limiting edge spaced from said pivotal mounting providing an upper limitation on the rotation of said leg relative to said housing.

21. The support stand according to Claim 19 or 20 wherein each leg has formed therein a foot having a means for securement to a supporting surface.

22. A support stand having a base, a stand body and a headpiece pivotally mounted to said stand body, said headpiece being provided with a quadrant clamp including two clamp members positioned either side of said stand body, said quadrant members having a quadrant guide track formed therein, a fulcrum rod extending through said clamp members and said stand body, said clamp members being pivotal about said fulcrum rod, and an adjustment rod extending through said stand body and ahgned quadrant guide tracks of the respective clamp members, the position of said adjustment rod in said quadrant guide tracks being securable to fix the position of said headpiece relative to said stand body.

23. The support stand of Claim 22 wherein the quadrant clamp further includes saddle members for providing a fixable mounting to said stand body and locking surfaces for the inner surface of respective clamp members.

24. The support stand according to Claim 23 wherein the adjustment rod and fulcrum rod extend through respective saddle members and said stand body.

25. The support stand according to Claim 23 and 24 wherein the quadrant clamp further includes outer quadrants having guide tracks corresponding to the quadrant guide tracks in the respective quadrant members, the outer quadrants being rotatable with said quadrant members, and spacers provided between said outer quadrants and respective clamp members, said spacers having surfaces contacting the respective clamp members and corresponding outer quadrants, said clamp members, outer quadrants, spacers and saddle members through which said adjustment rod extends being clamped together by a tensioning device on said rod.

26. A stand support having a base, a stand body and a headpiece, said stand body being received within a mounting base, said base mounting having a variable fixing mechanism to allow the height of said headpiece to be adjusted and secured relative to said base, said variable fixing mechanism including a housing having a collar therein for receiving said stand body, said collar having a fixed end and a variable end extending through said housing, said fixed end being secured to a clamp base, said collar extending around said stand body and said variable end being adjustably received within said clamp base for tensioning the collar against the stand body.

27. The stand support according to Claim 26 wherein tensioning of the collar against the stand body clamps the stand body to said housing.

28. The support stand according to Claim 26 or claim 27 wherein the variable end of said collar extends through said clamp base to a tensioning device for tightening and loosening said collar relative to said stand body.

29. The stand support according to Claim 26 wherein the base includes at least three legs for supporting said stand body and headpiece, said legs being pivotally received within a housing in which only limited upward pivotal movement is permitted.