GB2218935A - Protective cover for a shave hook - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a plastics material guard 40 for a shave hook blade. The guard is of pliable plastics material and is shaped to the shape of the shave hook blade. It may be flexed and sprung into position covering the shave hook blade point and edges at 4 and 4 respectively and can be removed by a reverse procedure. Alternatively it may be a simple sheath (20, Fig 2A). A further form (50, Fig 4) is flexed and slipped onto two edges, the third edge being sprung on and retained at (58). A complete cover (60, Fig 5) has a hinged flap (62) retained by tabs (68). <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements Relating to Hand Tools This invention relates to hand tools, and in particular relates to hand tools known as shave hooks. A shave hook comprises essentially a handle from which extends a shank in the form of a metal rod of diameter in the order of 6mm and at the opposite end of the shank is provided a shave hook plate which is a flat plate lying basically transversely and usually at right angles to the shank. The hook plate is of tempered steel, and has bevelled edges. These hook plates may be triangular or of various other shapes, but each plate will have at least one sharp corner, because a shave hook is invariably required to be located in inaccessible corners in woodwork for the scraping of paint and other materials therefrom.

As will be understood from the above, or from one's own knowledge, a shave hook may be used for scraping worn paint and the like from doors, window frames, skirting boards and so on.

The present invention is concerned with rendering shave hook blades more safe and to avoid injury to the person which can result from impaling of the flesh on the or one of the sharp corners of the hook plate.

According to the present invention, a protective guard shaped to be fitted to a hook plate of a shave hook is provided, and the invention also provides the combination of the shave hook with the guard fitted to the hook plate.

Typically, the guard will be in plastics material, and suitably will be designed to cover all corners and edges of the hook plate.

In one embodiment, the guard is in the nature of a sheath which can be slipped over the hook plate, and in this connection the sheath will comprise two side sheet portions connected by an edge sheet portion and a side aperture by which the sheath may be slid over the hook plate. The sheath will have a slot in one of the side portions to provide for reception of the sheath hook shank. At said aperture, the side portions may have clips enabling the aperture effectively to be closed after the sheath is placed on the plate.

The sheath will be shaped to match the shape of the hook plate.

In a second form of the invention, the sheath comprises a side portion with a peripheral wall portion or peripheral wall portions, but which is open at the other side, so that the sheath or guard can be snapped over the face of the hook plate remote from the shank. The guard or sheath in this case will be of plastics material so that it can be flexed enabling the popping on of the sheath to the hook plate.

In another arrangement, which is somewhat similar to the second arrangement described above, the sheath or guard is initially slid over the hook plate and then an edge portion is clipped over the hook plate to retain the guard in the position. Again the guard is suitably of a pliable plastics material.

Several embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figs. IA, 1B and 1C respectively show three popular forms of shave hook plate; Figs. 2A and 2B show respectively protective guards for triangular and combination hook plates, whilst Fig. 2C shows a sectional elevation of the guard shown in Fig. 2A; Figs. 3A1, 3A2 and 3A3, and Figs. 3B1, 3B2 and 3B3 respectively show two forms of pop-on cap for triangular and combination hook plates, Fig. 3C showing in sectional elevation how the cap of Fig. 3A1 is flexed for the fitting of same to the hook plate; Figs. 4A, 4B, 4C and 4D show a slide and lock cap for a triangular hook plate and how it is fitted; Fig. 5 shows a hinged guard cap for a combination type hook plate.

Referring to the drawings, and firstly to Fig. 1, three hook plates 10 of shave hooks are shown. In each case the shank 12 is also shown, and the respective hook plates are described as combination as shown at A, triangle as shown at B and heart as shown at C. Each of these hook plates is in common use, and each it will be seen includes at least one corner 14 which in fact constitutes a safety hazard insofar as shave hooks are sold either loose or are packaged on display cards with shrink wrapping material applied over the shave hooks and cards to hold the shave hooks in position on the cards. Therefore the sharp corners 14 tend to project at right angles from the cards.

The present invention is concerned with providing protective guards or caps for shave hook plates, and Fig. 2A show a triangular hook plate 10 and the associated shank 12 and also a plastic sheath 16 having two triangular side portions 18, 20 connected by an integral wall 22. One side of the sheath is open as shown at 24 so that the plate 10 can be inserted in the sheath as shown by arrow 26. Side 20 is provided with a slot 28 to receive the shank. There may be securing tabs 30 which fit resiliently over the hook plate for securing the sides 18 and 20 together over the opening 24 to retain the sheath in position on the hook plate 10. In Fig.

2B a similar arrangement is illustrated except that the hook plate 10 is of the combination shape and the sheath 16 fits over the plate 10 in similar fashion. In Fig. 2C, the sheath is shown in cross section, and it will be seen that the interior 34 may be of wedge shaped section so as to be a slide or push fit on the plate so as to grip the plate frictionally.

Fig. 3 show pop-on type caps which as shown at Figs. 3A1 and 3A3 comprises a base sheet portion 40 with a wall portion 42 and corner tabs 44. The cap shown in Fig. 3 is popped onto a triangular hook plate 10 (shown on its own in Fig. 3A2) as shown at Fig. 3A3. In Fig. 3C, the pop-on cap is shown as being capable of being flexed to a curved configuration to render is suitable for receiving the plate 10. At Figs. 3B1 and 3B3 is shown a cap similar to that shown at A except that it is configured for a combination hook plate. The caps of Figs. 3A1 and 3B1 are filled by flexing the caps and by filling the corners one at a time.

In the arrangement of Fig. 4A a triangular cap is shown and comprises a base portion 50 with a wall 52 and a ledge 54.

The hook plate is slipped into position whilst the cap is flexed as shown at Fig. 4C, so that the edges of the hook plate 10 engage under the ledge portion 54. The third side 56 is then clipped over the remaining edge of the hook plate and a retaining buttress 58 holds the cap in position as shown at D in Fig. 4. Again the cap is of plastics material which can be flexed into the position shown at Fig. 3C enhancing the capability of insertion of the hook plate. Fig.

4B is a sectional view of the cap, whilst Fig. 4D is a sectional view showing the cap fitted to the hook plate.

Fig. 5 finally shows a plastic, flexible cap 60 which has a hinged flap portion 62. The cap is designed for a combination hook plate, and to cover the plate with the cap 60, the hinge portion 62 is hinged clear of the remainder, and then the hook plate is inserted in the cavity 64. The hinge portion 62 is then hinged down over the hook plate so that the shank of the hook plate passes through slot 66, and the hinge portion edge is clipped under the retaining tabs 63 on the remainder of the cap thereby retaining the cap in position covering the hook plate.

The configurations shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5 can of course be adapted for all shapes of hook plate, and as mentioned herein, the caps pereferably are of pliable plastics material which can be flexed in order to spring or clip the caps onto the hook plate.

The sheath hooks can be sold with the protective caps in position and shrink wrapping applied over the shave hooks with the caps covering the dangerous points or corners of the hook plate.

The sheaths or caps can be removed for the use of the shave hooks and can be refitted when the hooks are to be stored.

Claims (12)

1. A protective guard shaped to be fitted to a hook plate of a shave hook.

2. A protective guard according to Claim 1, wherein the guard is in plastics material.

3 A protective guard according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the guard covers all corners and edges of the hook plate.

4. A protective guard wherein the guard is in the nature of a sheath which can be slipped over the hook plate.

5. A protective guard according to Claim 4, wherein the sheath comprises two side sheet portions connected to an edge sheet portion and a side aperture by which the sheath may be slid over the hook plate.

6. A protective guard according to Claim 5, wherein the sheath has a slot in one of the side portions to provide for reception of the sheath hook shank.

7. A protective guard according to Claim 5 or 6, wherein at said aperture, the side portions have clips enabling the aperture effectively to be closed after the sheath is placed on the plate.

8. A protective guard according to Claim 4, wherein the sheath comprises a side portion with a peripheral wall portion or portions, but is open at the other side, so that the sheath can be snapped over the face of the hook plate remote from the shank.

9. A protective guard according to Claim 4, wherein the sheath is adapted to be initially slid over the hook plate and then an edge portion is clipped over an edge of the hook plate to retain the guard in position.

10. A protective guard according to any preceding Claims 4 to 9, wherein the sheath is shaped to match the shape of the hook plate.

11. A protective guard for a shave hook, substantially as any embodiment hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. The combination of a shave hook and a guard as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.