AU607403B2 - Accessory support device for an upright pole - Google Patents

Description

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C0M M0N W E A LT H 'OF A U ST R A L A PATENTS ACTi 1952 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION EfAii a 1,

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(original) FOR OFFICE -USE Class Int. Class Application Number: '0/1Z -71' Lodged: Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority: Related Art: Thits document contains the aniendments made under Section 49 and is correct 1k pnnungj CCcL V C V

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C C .14ame of Applicant: 0 a PAUL EDWARD RYAN PA :ENT OFtCE, C: ddress of Applicant: 19 Hewitt Street, Warracknabeal C llecior of Public Mon-~ in the State of Commonwealth of Australia

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8 C V 88VC *'Actual Inventcr(s~:

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8 C Address for Service: 888CCE~ o 1 Applicant DAVIES COLLISON, Patent Attorneys, 1 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000.

.*.::Complete specification for the invention entitled: 0.81 "ACCESSORY SUPPORT DEVICE FOR AN UPRIGHT POLE" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me (a member of the firm of DAVIES COLLISON for and on behalf of the Applicant).

Davies Collison, Melbourne and Canberra.

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la "ACCESSORY SUPPORT DEVICE FOR AN UPRIGHT POLE" This invention relates to an accessory support device for an upright pole and is especially suited for I the support of a clothes basket with respect to the pole of a clothes line.

Devices for supporting clothes baskets in a raised position at a clothes line are disclosed in Australian patent 464059 and in Australian patent applications 81779/75 and 60232/80. The patent, to Hardy, describes an extensible arm which is supported in cantilever oo 10 fashion from a split-sleeve clamp fastened to the pole.

The arm includes a rack on which a laundry basket may be rested, and is pivotally attached to the clamp so that it may be retracted upwardly against the pole.

1 The Hardy arrangement has the disadvantage that the split-sleeve clamp is not a sufficiently positive attachment to the pole, and that the arm requires a bracing strut pivotally attached to the arm and to a second split-sleeve clamp below the first. A more satisfactory mounting arrangement is described in 20 application 81779/75 and illustrated in application S60232/80. In these two specifications, there is i-

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DAVIES COLLISON, MELBOURNE and CANBERRA 890428,gndat.018,ryan.1l 2 provided both an upper hook which engages about the pole and rests on its gear box, and'a U-brace against the pole below the gear box.

It is an object of the invention to provide an accessory support device for an upright pole which is of simple construction and is reliable in use.

The invention accordingly provides an accessory support device for an upright pole comprising: bracket means adapted for attachment to the pole; an accessory support arm pivotally mounted to the bracket means for adjustment between a retracted position against the pole and an operative position in which it projects cantilever fashion from the bracket means; and t 15 co-operable abutments on the bracket means and the arm which engage in said operative position of the arm to brace the latter when it is loaded with an accessory.

0 4 S°The accessory support arm is preferably 000 a 000 a telescopically extensible and advantageously includes a 0000 0 20 mesh, ring or frame secured to its outer end for Sretaining an accessory such as a laundry clothes basket.

The bracket means preferably comprises an upper hook adapted to extend about and behind the pole and a Slower brace defining a pocket to receive and abut the front of the pole. The aforesaid abutments may comprise an undersurface portion of the brace ind a topsurface portion of the support arm.

o The accessory support arm may be detachable from 0o0°° the bracket means and the bracket means is desirably 0 30 both detachable from the pole and rotatable, e.g.

through a full 360', about the pole.

3 The device preferably includes means to releasably latch the support arm in its retracted position. Such means may comprise a catch mounted to said arm for rotation between an inoperative condition in which it clears the forward portion of the hook and an adjacent depending portion of the bracket means, and an operative position in which it extends about said forward portion of the hook but engages behind the depending portion of the bracket means to prevent movement of the support arm to its operative position. Alternatively the latch means may comprise a projection on the bracket means behind which the support arm locates in its retracted position.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying oo0 drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an accessory o o00 support device in accordance with a first embodiment of 0.0 the invention, shown attached to a pole of a rotary o0 oo0 20 clothes line, in its operative position; Figure 2 is a perspective view from a different angle showing the accessory support device in 0 o its retracted position; oooo oO Figure 3 is an enlargement of part of Figure 2, seen from another direction, and highlights the latch 0000 "0OOo and clip components of the device; Figures 4 and 5 are respective isometric views of an accessory support device in accordance with a 00 second embodiment of the invention, respectively shown 0 o 30 in its operative and retracted conditions; and 4 Figure 6 is a side elevation of an alternative arrangement for detachably mounting the support arm to the bracket.

The accessory support device 10 illustrated in Figures 1 to 5 includes a bracket 12 adapted for attachment to an upright pole 5 of a clothes line, a telescopically extensible accessory support arm 14 pivotally mounted at 16 to bracket 12 for movement between an operative condition (Figure 1) in which the arm projects cantilever fashion from the bracket and a retracted condition (Figure 2) adjacent pole Bracket 12 is an integral shaped length of rod and comprises an intermediate upright stem interconnecting an upper hook portion 22 and a lower brace portion 24. When bracket 12 is in situ, hook 0 portion 22 extends about and behind pole 5 and rests on a suitable support, which in the illustrated case 0 0i" comprises the gear box 6 of a rotary clothesline. In other applications, for example for a pole of a S 20 stationary straight clothesline, the support may comprise any suitable clip or other feature fixed to the pole.

0o0 Brace portion 24 of bracket 12 has a straight 0005 oo segment 25 integral with stem 20 and extending parallel 0 25 to the rear of arm 14, and an angled brace segment 26 o000 which has forward leg 26a beside and welded to segment boo.~ 25 and a rearward leg 26b which extends across the front ouaoos face of pole 5 and defines with segment 25 a pocket 23 oo0 00 which receives and abuts the pole.

o0 o 0 a The forward end of segment 26b is turned horizontally at right angles to form a capped pivot pin for arm 14 at mounting 16.

Since it will be appreciated that bracket 12 can rotate through 3600 about the pole, the terms "front" and "back" are used rather loosely to merely indicate respectively the side from which arm 14 projects and the opposite side.

An arm 14 comprises a pair of telescopically nested box section tubes 14a, 14b. It is the larger tube 14a which is pivoted to bracket 12 by means of pin Tubes 14a, 14b are closed by end caps 32. The top surface of the rear end of arm 14 and the undersurface of bracket leg 26b form a pair of co-operable abutments 15 which engage in the operative condition of arm 14 to brace the arm when it is loaded by an accessory such as a laundry basket rested on the outer end of tube 14b.

There is thereby a direct transmission of load to the pole 20 The outer end of tube 14b is provided with a rectangular wire mesh platform 34 which defines a horizontal support plane for a laundry basket. If desired, arm 14 may be also provided with any suitable device such as a simple hook or other secondary support for holding a peg receptacle.

By way of example, tube 14a is square section tube of external side about 22mm and wall thickness 1.4mm, while tube 14b is square section tube of external side 18mm and wall thickness 1.4mm. With tube of this gauge, 30 it is found that arm 14 may be extended at least 1.4 metres from pole 5 and loaded with a large basket of wet s00 0 0 o o 0 o oa ,oo o 9a 00 00o0 0 uo0004 0 0 0 o i a 600 0 0 0 0 0. So o 0 0 o o e ra o S0 0 i 040 00 0 0 00 0 04 t oo I 6 clothes without bending or deforming. A very important element of this stability is the positive cantilever support provided by the abutment between the top surface of arm 14 and the undersurface of angled brace segment 26.

Positive latching of bracket 12 to pole 5 may be provided by a clip 40. Clip 40 is a length of rigid rod bent at one end to form an eye 42 by which it is rotatably' held on hook 22 and at the other to form a downturned lug 44 to fit over the free return arm 23a of the hook. The arms 23a, 23b of the hook are slightly divergent and the length of clip 40 is chosen so that, with the hook about a standard pole 5, lug 44 snaps over hook arm 23a and remains firmly clamped in place against the pole.

0 Support arm 14 is latched into its retracted *000 position by a rotatable catch 50. Catch 50 is a rod of a a 0 oo broadly U-shape. At each end it is bent to define 00.0 respectively an oblique lug 54 and a capped 000 20 right-angular pin 52. Pin 52 is rotatably journalled in .900.a complementary aperture in the outer end of arm tube 14a. The mass distribution of catch 50 is such that 04-6 when the arm 14 is in its retracted position, catch "0 0 is biased to a position (Figure 3) in which lug 54 VOW 25 engages the side of arm tube 14a; the clip then passes 0::::around and under the forward end of hook 22 and behind the depending stem 20. The catch thereby latches the 0 0 support 12 against falling away from its retracted .00 position.

030 To unlatch the assembly, the arm should be moved back slightly, to allow lug 54 to clear stem 20, and the -1 7 catch rotated upwardly to move the lug from behind the stem. This position is defined by a stop pin 58 which protrudes from..the catch parallel to pivot pin 52 for engaging the side of arm tube 14a in the catch release position. When raising the support arm 14 to the retracted position, catch 50 strikes bracket 12 and is automatically raised to pass the corner of the bracket but then drops back into place behind stem It will be appreciated that the illustrated accessory support device is of especially simply construction and requires no additional braces for the support of the telescopically extensible arm. The arm may be retracted adjacent the pole in a position where it is safely latched and causes no obstruction, and when ic 15 in use may be rotated to any position about the pole.

The bracket may be readily dismounted from the pole and stored away if desired.

I0 Figures 4 and 5 shown a second embodiment of 0 0 0 2 accessory support device 10' provided with a combination .400 ooea 20 clip 40' for positively retaining bracket 12' on the pole and for latching the support arm 14' in its retracted upright condition. In this case, arm 14' is ,not telescopically extensible and has a ring 34' in *41r place of mesh platform 34.

Clip 40' is made in heavy gauge spring wire and includes a first transverse portion 41' with inturned ends 42', 44' which tightly bridges the two arms 23a', 23b' of upper hook portion 22' of bracket 12'. The shorter arm 23b' protrudes back past the pole 5' to receive clip end 44' in a snap-on fit. Arms 23a', 23b' of hook portion 22' are slightly divergent so that 8 transverse portion 41 of clip 40' is firmly clamped onto the hook portion hard against the pole, once snapped into place.

Clip 40' further has an outwardly projecting stem 46 which lies parallel to but spaced from arm 23b' to define a pocket 48 for support arm 14'. Pocket 48 is closed by an overturned but curved end loop 49 of stem 46. The retracting Lupport arm 14' engages end loop 49 and resiliently pushes it aside (away from bracket arm 23b') so that the support arm 14' can enter pocket 48.

In doing so, end loop 49 snaps back behind the support arm (Figure 5) to prevent outward return of the support arm without delibcrate deflection of the clip. The support arm is thereby releasably latched in its retracted condition.

°o0 The second embodiment has a somewhat different but more solid non-integral brace portion 24' which oo 0 4nevertheless still provides a pocket 23' to receive pole "ooa 05, and an abutment 18' to brace support arm 14' when in .0.0 20 its lowered and loaded operative condition. An 0 a0 Sadditional feature of the brace portion 24' .s an integral depending protrusion 52 to centre support arm 4, 14' and minimize any tendency it may have to wobble.

0o 2Figure 6 depicts an alternative arrangement by 2' 5 which support arm 14'' is detachably mounted to the bracket Pin 30'' has a flange 31 at its outer end. Arm 14'' has an aperture for pin 30'' of elongated 0 o cross-section, comprising a larger lower portion 61 of 0 o greater diameter than flange 31, and a smaller, higher 00 30 portion 62 of diameter greater than the body of pin but smaller than flange 31. The weight of the support arm 14'' keeps pin 30' in aperture portion 62 but the arm may be removed from the bracket by simply lifting at its rear end to bring aperture portion 61- about pin whereby the arm may be lifted off the pin.

The bracket 12 and support arm 14 may of course be each formed integrally, e.g. by moulding, in any suitable plastics material.

An alternative releasable latch means might comprise an integral lateral projection, e.g. a bead, a lip or a nipple, behind and against which the support arm rests in its retracted condition. This protusion is suitably on the side of hook portion 22 of bracket 12.

The bracket 12 may of course include means to positively but releasably clamp or otherwise fix the bracket to the pole.

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Claims (11)

1. An accessory support device for an upright pole comprising: bracket means adapted for attachment to the pole; an accessory support arm pivotally munteo to the bracket means for adjustment between a reStracte4 position against the pole and an operative position in which it projects cantilever fashion from the bracket means; and co-operable abutments on the bracket means and the arm which engage in said operative condition of the arm to brace the latter when it is loaded with an accessory.

2. An accessory support device according to claim 1 wherein the bracket means comprises an upper hook adapted to extend about and behind the pole and a lower brace defining a pocket to receive and abut the front of the pole.

3. An accessory support device according to claim 2 further comprising a clip rotatable on said hook to close the hook and thereby secure the bracket means to the pole..

4. An accessory support device according to claim 2 or 3 wherein said abutments comprise-a-.-13BdP4 R1J_ 0. portion of said brace and a top surface portion of the support arm. 0060 00 0 00oo0 0 0 0 00 00 0 0 0 4 000 0 0 0 a o a 0 00000S a .0 0 0 4 00 000* a 06 0 41 000 0 6 0 06 6041 0 0* 000000 0 a 00 0 00 00 0 O 00d 0 00 0 4t o o4r 00 u 00,1 0 0a 00 4 S 0 .1 1 0000 0 0,e ii. 11 An accessory support device according to any preceding claim further comprising means releasably latch the support arm in its retracted p(c-.tion.

6. An accessory support device according to claim 5 and claim 2, 3 or 4 wherein said latch means comprises a catch mounted to said arm for rotation between an inoperative condition in which it clears the forward portion of said hook and an adjacent depending portion of the bracket means, and an operative position in which it extends about said forward portion of the hook but engages behind the depending portion of the bracket means to prevent movement of the support arm to its operative position. 0o a

7. An accessory support device according to claim 6 wherein said latch is biased to its operative position, Se* for example by gravity arising from the distribution of oi its mass about the point of mounting to said support oo arm. ooc

8. An accessory support device according to claim o 0 wherein said latch means comprises a projection on the o bracket means behind which the support arm locates in a said retracted position. a c

9. An accessory support device according to any preceding claim wherein said support arm is 0o o telescopically extensive. 00 0 o 4 oa tar- A <0 _ft i1 -~S~L 12 An accessory support device according to any preceding claim further comprising a mesh ring of frame secured to the outer end of the support arm for retaining a laundry clothes basket.

11. An accessory support device according to any preceding claim wherein said support arm is detachable from the bracket means.

12. An accessory support device according to any preceding claim wherein the bracket means is rotatable about the pole.

13. An accessory support device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. *4'40 0 0 a 0.0 4 4.4.a00 4 0 0. o. 4*0. S09 0 44 C0 0 084 a a 4 a 00 a 4.404 0 00.4449 0 0 0 04o 00 0 O 44 4.4 0 00 D 00 1 A m- A4 1 A1 U 4 combination thereof e combination therenf- DATED this 28th day of PAUL EDWARD RYAN By his Patent Attorneys DAVIES COLLISON October 1986 r, AIy VA4 Zi4s i T iu i ;iY. -Y-