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Portable apparatus for holding objects
| Details |
Inventors: Hoffman, Ronald W.;
Assignee:
Primary Examiner: Chin-Shue; Alvin C.
Assistant Examiner: Olson; Robert A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Flickinger; Don J., Meschkow; Jordan M., Gresham; Lowell W.
A holding device which clamps onto a wide variety of fixtures, such as furniture, pipes, counter tops, trees, rocks, fences, etc., and holds pole-shaped objects, such as billiards cues, gun barrels, fishing rods, measurement instruments, painting tools, etc., is disclosed. A C-clamp is formed from a plastic U-shaped member which movably couples to a plastic, pole-shaped member. The U-shaped member has a plurality of retained openings therein for selective installation of one or more retainers. A retainer press-fits into one of the retainer openings and is rotatable therein so that a wide variety of holding orientations may be achieved. The retainer includes an open, curved, resilient member which holds the pole-shaped object. The held object is installed by being pressed into the interior of the curved member at the opening thereof. Such pressing expands the curved member sufficiently so that the opening permits passage of the held object. Resilience of the curved member then urges the curved member to return to its quiescent shape. The held object is removed by being pulled out of the retainer through the opening therein. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION Accordingly, it is an advantage of the present invention that a holding device which is easily transportable separately from the object it is designed to confine is provided.
Thus, the present invention may be carried on the person of a user while the object is actively being used.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it easily and temporarily attaches to existing fixtures, such as furniture, pipes, counters, trees, rocks, fences, and the like.
Thus, it may be located in a wide variety of locations near where the object it is designed to confine is to be used.
Yet another advantage is that the present invention allows quick installation and removal of an object therefrom.
Thus, the present invention suitably confines the object for brief, intermittent inactive periods which occur while the object is being used.
Still another advantage is that the present invention is adjustable so that the object which it confines may be positioned in a desired orientation near the fixture to which the present invention attaches.
Thus, the object may be oriented to minimize the possibility of being damaged.
The above and other advantages of the present invention are carried out in one form by an apparatus which includes a first member, a second member, and a retaining device.
Each of the first and second members has a gripping surface, and the first and second members movably couple together so that the distance between the gripping surfaces may be varied.
Consequently, the first and second members collectively operate as a clamp which may be installed onto a fixture.
The retaining device couples to the first member so that it effectively confines an object to be held by the present invention.
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