IE45378B1 - Improvements in or relating to portable foldable workbenches - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to foldable workbenches. More specifically, the invention is directed to a foldable workbench which is portable and can be erected and collapsed easily and readily by an operator.

There have been portable foldable workbenches suggested before v/hich require a certain expertise of the operator when assembling the workbench for use because he must attach the legs individually and is often required to add additional supporting structure.

This assembly is a laborious effort and storage of the disassembled workbench often requires considerable storage space. Yet other workbenches have been suggested as, for example, the workbench in United States Patent No. 1,688,533 wherein there is disclosed a workbench having legs which translate with the aid of pivotally mounted parallel struts. However, here ths table top must first be disconnected and rotated before the workbench can be stacked into a flat package.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a workbench which is easily assembled by the operator and which takes up a minimum of storage space when not in use.

According to the invention there is provided a portable foldable workbench which, when assembled from its constituent parts, comprises a work table 4S378 - 3 top including two elongate bench boards having their upper surfaces lying in substantially the same plane to form a working surface, and a pair of leg assemblies for supporting the work table top at respectively longitudinal ends thereof, each leg assembly including: two legs pivotally connected to the work table top and pivotally movable from a collapsed position wherein the workbench is in a folded condition to an open position wherein the legs diverge from one another in a downward direction and the workbench is in an erect condition, and a linkage arrangement for fixing the spread between said two legs in said open position to a predetermined distance, the pivot axes of said two legs being at different elevations such that when the workbench is in said folded condition the wet?; table top and said legs of each of the leg assemblies are juxtaposed one to the other to form a stack of elements.

One of the legs of each leg assembly may be shorter than the other leg of the assembly by an amount selected such that the work table top lies in a substantially horizontal position when the workbench is in an erect condition standing on a substantially horizontal surface.

A plurality of bores may be provided in each of the bench boards and workpiece gripping means for mounting in the bores of the bench boards for gripping a workpiece may be provided. 45373 The workbench may include a step tread extending between like legs of the leg assemblies.

In one form of the workbench there is a gap between the elongate bench boards,and the like legs of the leg assemblies are inter-connected to define respective frames which are pivotally connected to the work table top, and in which said linkage arrangement of each leg assembly includes link means extending between said two legs and coupled thereto at respective points, the coupling allowing pivotal movement of the link means relative to said two legs. Said frames may be ’H* frames One bench board may be mounted for movement towards and away from the other bench board, means being provided for moving said one bench board towards and away from the other bench board.

A workbench embodying the invention is especially advantageous when equipped with an integral clamping vice. A suitable form of clamping vice is disclosed, for example, in United States Patent No. 3, 615, 087.

It is not, however, an essential feature of the invention to provide any integral clamping vice.

By way of example only a workbench embodying the invention will now be described in greater detail vzith reference to the accompanying drawings of which:25 Figure 1 is a perspective view of the workbench which is shown equipped with a tool tray, 4S378 Figure 2 is a side perspective view of the workbench of Figure 1 showing the workbench in the erected position and with the tool tray removed.

Figures 3A to 3D are a set of sequential views 5 showing schematically the articulating movement of the articulating linkages as the workbench is collapsed from the erected position to the closed position, and, Figure 4 is a side perspective view of the workbench in the collapsed position also with the tool tray removed.

Reference numeral 10 indicates the working surface of the workbench and is formed by two elongate bench boards 13, 14 conveniently of wood having their upper surfaces lying in the same plana II. The bench boards 13 and 14 are mounted at respective ends on two mutually spaced leg asseniblies, each leg assembly having a pair of legs 12, 12a each cf square cross-section hollow tubular steel.

The bench board 14 is mounted for movement towards and away from the bench beard 13. Bench board 13 is stationary and, when the workbench is assembled from its constituent parts, is bolted to lateral supports 15 that are in turn bolted to the fop member IS of respective elongate members in tne form of channel brackets 17 disposed transversely to the bench boards.

It will be appreciated that it may be convenient to sell the workbench with esse of its. constituent parts, for example the bench board .13 detached, leaving the user to assemble the parts. It should be understood that the provision of the workbench in parts for assembly by the user is within the scope of the invention. - 6 4-5 3 7 8 Bench board 14 which is movable is mounted on slider blocks 18 slidably mounted on the top member 16 of the same channel brackets 17. The connection between bench board 14 and each slider block 18 is achieved with a pivot pin 20 that allows for the rotation of the bench board 14 on the slider blocks 18 when these blocks are moved forward and not mutually aligned. fere specifically, when the bench board 14 is moved so as to be at an angle with respect to bench board 13, the pivots 20 permit the bench board 14 to rotate with respect to slider blocks 18, respectively.

The movement of the slider blocks 18 can be controlled independently by handles 21. Each handle 21 is connected to a threaded rod 22 which is rotated about its axis when the handle is turned. The rod 22 threadably engages a nut 23 fastened to the slider block 18 as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. The fastening between the slider block 18 and the nut 23 passes through an elongate slot 19 in the top member 16 of the channel bracket.

Bench boards 13 and 14 can be used conjointly as a plane of support while they also serve advantageously as jaws of a vice for tightly holding between them a workpiece to be worked upon. The two bench boards 13 and 14 have bores and plugs 50 can be located in the bores as shown in the drawings and used to grip the workpiece even when it is larger in dimension than the vice opening between bench boards 13 and 14 with bench board 14 at its outermost limit or when the shape of the workpiece is such that it cannot easily be gripped between the boards 13, 14. ^5378 - 7 The use of bores for locating plugs 50 is described and claimed in British Patent Specification No. 1,422,521.

The elongate bench boards 13, 14 provide the working surface of the bench. Normally, when a working surface,is required, the bench board 14 will be adjacent board 13, there then being no gap between the boards but this is not essential and a working surface adequate for many purposes is provided even with the boards 13, 14 spaced apart. If an integral clamping vice is not provided and the boards are not relatively movable it may be preferable for there to be a gap between the boards 13, 14.

The length of the boa.’ds 13, 14 enables them to clamp firmly workpieces sr'h as long pieces of wood, and tapered workpieces can also be firmly gripped because it is readily possible to adjust bench board 14 to a position appi ,·iata to the taper.

An alternative form of vice top is described in British Patent Specification No. 1,267,032.

Each of leg? 12a, 12 of each leg assembly is pivotally connected to the corresponding channel bracket 17 at points indicated by reference numerals 25 and 24, respectively. As shewn in the drawings, the pivot points 24 are at a higher elevation than the pivot points 25 when the workbench is in an erect condition with the work cable top horizontal. The legs 12a, 12 are mutually connected at their outer respective sides by a linkage arrangement consisting of links 26, 27 which are, in turn, pivotally connected to each other at pivot connection 28. The links 26 and 27 are pivotally connected to the supports 12, 12a 4S378 - 8 by pivot pins 29 and 30, respectively.

At the extreme end of link 26 avzay from pivot 29, there is also a prong 31 which engages and holds in a notch 32 (Figure 4) of the link 27 to lock the links 26 and 27 firmly when the workbench is in the open position as shown in Figures 1 and 2 and prevent the links 26, 27 pivoting downwardly. In this way, the supporting legs 12, 12a are held apart when the bench is in use with the spread between the legs 12 and 12a fixed at a predetermined distance.

Each of the channel brackets 17 also is pivotally connected to the legs 12, 12 a. of a corresponding leg assembly by articulating means in the form of three linkage arms 33, 34, 35. Linkage arms 34 and 35 are connected to legs 12 and 12a by pivot pins 47 and 39 respectively which may be simply extensions of the pins 29 and 30 respectively. These linkage arms are pivotally connected to each other at pivot connection 36.

The connecting arm 33 is also pivotally connected to bracket 17 at pivot 37 and is provided with a sidewaysextending tab 38 next to the pivot 36.

Each tab 33 engages a leg 12 when the workbench is in the erected position to enable the arms 33 to brace the table top with respect to the legs 12. When the table is erected, the tab 38 also stops the leg 12 from spreading any further away from leg 12a than a predetermined distance thereby augmenting the action of the links 26 and 27 discussed above. It should be noted that the links 26 and 27 do not duplicate the function of the tabs 38 because, in addition to limiting the spread of legs 12 and 12a in the erected position, links 26 and 27 impart to the bench legs a certain - 9 rigidity when the user of the bench lifts the erected bench to place it say in another part of the work area where the bench is in use. More specifically, in the erected position, the legs 12 and 12a are held spaced 5 apart by links 26 and 27 even when the bench is lifted when the prong 31 engages the notch 32.

The linkage arms 33, 34 and 35 co-act with each other and the legs 12, 12a as well as with bracket 17 to articulate tliu movement of these members when the 10 user erects cr collapses the bench. The articulated movement of tha members is shown sequentially in Figures 3A to 3D when the workbench is changed from the erected position of Figure 3A, where tab 38 of arm 33 engages leg 12 in Figure SA through Figures 3B and 15 3C, to the collapsed position shown in Figure 3D.

With this articulation of the pivotally connected members, the user of the bench can collapse the erected bench with a single movement after disengaging the prong 31 from the notch 32 of the link 27.

When collapsing the legs 12, 12a, the system of articulated linkage arms 33, 34 and 35 causes the channel brackets 17 to rotate until they reach a position in juxtaposition to the collapsed legs 12 and 12a shown in Figures 3D and 4. As can be seen from Figure 4, the provision of the pivot points 25 at a lower elevation than the pivot points 24 (when the workbench is in an erect condition with the work table top horizontal) enables the workbench to collapse into a particularly compact form.

As can be seen from Figure 2, the feet of the legs 12, 12a of each pair, when spread out to the limit permitted by the linkages described above. - 10 define an area within which lies the working surface thereby ensuring complete stability of the workbench when in normal use.

A tray 40 for holding work tools can be placed between mutually adjacent linkage arms 35 of respective leg assemblies. for added stability, the legs 12 and legs 12a are mutually connected with respective cross members 41, 42 so that the legs 12 and cross member 41 define a first Ή’ frame pivotally connected to the work table top and the legs 12a and cross member 42 define a second Ή' frame pivotally connected to the work table top.

The cross member 42 has a step tread 43 mounted thereon at pivot connections 45. The step tread 43 is nestled in recess 44 of the cross member 42 in such a way that it can rotate about the pivot connections 45.

The step tread 43 is also connected to linkage 2o arm 35 of the articulation means by bracing links 46. Specifically, the ends of the bracing links 46 are respectively pivotally connected to the step tread 43 and to the arm 35. When the bench is collapsed to the position shown in figures 3D and 4, the step tread 43 is compelled to rotate into a position so that its flat dimension lies in the plane of legs 12a by the co-action of bracing links 45 and linkage arms 35.

The workbench disclosed above is a folding metal structure which is very strong and sturdy when in use and, at the same time, is made of a minimal number of very light parts which facilitate handling and movement of the bench. dS378 - 11 The workbench shown in the drawings is also described and claimed in Patent Specification No. 45377 entitled Improvements in or relating to Foldable Workbenches. Specification No. 45377 includes the following claims: A foldable workbench having a work table top provided with an integral clamping vice, and further having a pair of leg structures, each leg structure comprising a pair of legs pivotally connected at one end thereof to the work table top, and in which there is a set of articulated linkages pivotally interconnecting, respectively, the structures to each other and at least one of the leg structures to the work table top, said articulated linkages being connected so that the work table top and leg structures are stacked in juxtaposition tc each other when the workbench is in its folded position, and so that the other ends of the legs of ort .eg structure are spread apart from the other ends of the other leg structure with the work table top substantially horizontal when the workbench is in the normal erected position; and A portable, foldable workbench comprising a pair of elongate vice members disposed in side-by-side relationship and having their upper surfaces lying in substantially the same plane to form a working surface, a structure supporting the vice members of which at least one is supported by the structure in such manner that only movement of the one vice member towards and away from ths other vice member is permitted, two spaced, independently-operable vice operating members operatively connected to the vice raembera in such manner as to effect such movement by - 12 215378 operation of one or both of the vice operating members, front and rear leg structures having ground engaging ends and connection ends, the connection ends being pivotally connected to the supporting structure to enable the front and rear leg structures to be angularly separable between a folded condition in which the leg structures are adjacent one another and an erected position in which the leg structures are angularly separated to form a stable support for the structure, the leg structures being interconnected by links which, in use, limit the extent to which the leg structures are angularly separable and which, in the erected condition, provide further support for the support structure from the legs of one of the support structures.

Claims (7)

1. Ι. A portable foldable workbench which, when assembled from its constituent parts, comprises a work table top including two elongate bench boards having their upper surfaces lying in substantially the same plane to form a working surface, and a pair of leg assemblies for supporting the work table top at respective longitudinal ends thereof, each leg assembly including:two legs pivotally connected to the work table top and pivotally movable from a collapsed position wherein the workbench is in a folded condition to an open position wherein the legs diverge from one another in a downward direction and the workbench is ir. an erect condition, and a linkage arrangement for fixing the spread between said two legs in said open position to a predetermined distance, the pivot axes of said two legs being at different elevations such that when the workbench is in said folded condition the wc:k table top and said legs of each of the leg assemblies are juxtaposed one to the other to form ?. stack of elements.

2. A portable foldable workbench as claimed in claim 1 in which one of the legs of each leg assembly is shorter than the other leg of the assembly by an amount selected such that the work table top lies in a substantially horizontal position when the workbench is in an erect condition standing on a substantially horizontal surface.

3. A portable fcliable workbench as claimed in claim 1 cr 2 in which a plurality of bores are provided in each of the bench boards and further including work- 14 4-S378 piece gripping means for mounting in the bores of the bench boards for gripping a workpiece.

4. A portable foldable workbench as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3 when appended to claim 2 in which a step tread extends between like legs of the leg assemblies.

5. A portable foldable workbench as claimed in claim 2 or 4 or claim 3 when appended to claim 2 in which there is a gap between the elongate bench boards, and the like legs of the leg assemblies are interconnected to define respective frames which are pivotally connected to the work table top, and in which said linkage arrangement of each leg assembly includes link means extending between said two legs and coupled thereto at respective points, the coupling allowing pivotal movements of the link means relative to said two legs.

6. A portable foldable workbench as claimed in claim 5 in which said frames are Ή' frames.

7. A portable foldable workbench as claimed in any preceding claim in which one bench board is mounted for movement towards and away from the other bench board and in which means are provided for moving said one bench board towards and away from the other bench board.