US1549151A - Takedown steel square - Google Patents

Description

Uatented Aug. il, lg.

time tra HANS H, RASMUSSEN, OF EDMONDS, WASHINGTON.

TAKEDOVN STEEL SQUARE.

Application led August 6, 1923.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HANS H. RAsMUssnN, a subject of the King of Denmark, residing at Edmonds, county of Snohomish, and State of lVashington, have invented a new and useful Takedown Steel Square; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact specification, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention is thc hinging of the members of a steel square so that they may be folded together, and the providingV of a positive lock for holding them rigid when o en.

1@The object of the invention is to provide a steel square that may be folded when not in use, or for shipping, in which the parts are inseparable.

Another object of the invention is to provide a steel square that may be folded, in which the sides of the hinge are flush with the sides of the square.

And a further object of the invention is to provide a square in which the members are hinged together, with a positive lock for holding them apart.

llVith these ends in view the invention embodies a steel square having a portion of the ends of the members at the v-ertex halved, and pivotally attached together by a pin; and a lock having a rack and pinion for operating it, for holding the two members together.

@ther features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front view.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail, showing the hinge and lock.

Figure 3 is an end view, looking in the direction of the arrows 3-3 shown on Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail, taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a detail on line 5 5 of Figure 2.

In the drawings l have shown my square as it would be constructed wherein numeral 1 indicates the body, numeral 2 the tongue, numeral 3 the pin upon which they are hinged, and numeral 4 the lock.

It will be seen that the main part of the body 1 is made in the usual manner, and at the head end it is provided with a projeeT Serial No. 655,930.

tion 5, the thickness of which is about half of that of the body. A triangular shaped section of half the thickness of the body is omitted adjacent the point at which is the projection 5, so that a fiat plate of about half the thickness of the body, will extend from the point 6 to the point 7 at the outer edge, and from the point 8 to the point 9 at the inner edge. The edge extending between the points 7 an-d 9 as shown in Figure 2, is beveled from the edge that is midway between the upper and lower surfaces of the body backward or toward the body, as shown at the point 7 in Figure 3; and the edge between the points 6 and 8 is beveled from a point midway between the surfaces of the body outward or away from the body. The tongue 2 is provided with a projection 10, that is similar to the projection 5, and its edges are beveled in a similar manner so that as the two are placed together their edges will coincide. The projection 10 of the tongue 2 is pivotally attached to the projection 5 of the body 1 by the pin 3, the outer edges of which are peened so that it will remain in place. It will be seen that as the tongue 2 is twisted about the pin 3, its inner edge will engage the inner edge of the body, so that the square may be handled as a straight bar.

The look 4 may be constructed as shown, with a sliding plate 11, having a rack 12 on one side mounted in a slot 13. One side of the plate 11, as indicated by the numeral 14, may be straight, and the other side and one end, as indicated by the numerals 15 and 16, may be beveled as shown in Figure 5, so that the plate cannot fall out of the slot. The teeth of the rack 12 mesh with the teeth of the pinion 17 in a hole 18 in the body, and the pinion has a slot 19 through it by which it may be rotated by a key. The pinion may have a shoulder 2O below it, and a sleeve 21 below the shoulder so that it may be rotatably held in a slot 22 in a washer 23, that may be held in a recess 24 in the body by rivets 25. It will be seen that the pinion may first be inserted in the hole 18, and then the washer 23 placed over it and into the recess 24. The rivets 25 may then be riveted in place, which will hold both the washer and pinion.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the construction without departing from the spirit of theinvention. One of which changes may be in the design of the key or in the means for holding the plate and pinion in place, another may be in the shape of the projections through which the pivot pin passes, and still another may be in the location of the pivot pin.

The construction may be readily understood from the foregoing description. To use the device it may be opened to the position shown in the drawing, where it will be rigidly held by the lock 4, and when it is desiredto take the square down or fold it, a rectangular shaped key may be placed in the slot 19 'and the pinion rotated in a clockwise direction so that it will draw the plate l1 backward. After the end of the plate 11 has passed the line between the point 6 and `8 the tongue 2 maybe twisted about the pin 3 and folded as hereinbefore described.V Then when it is desired to use the device as a square the tongue 2 may be opened and the pinion rotated in the opposite direction, so that the key will slide toward the large end of the slot and hold the tongue rigid in relation to the body It will be observed that have made the width of the ltongue exactly one and fiveeig'hths inches, which is the actual thickness ofi Ajoists, as by providing a square with a tongue of this size it will be possible to lay the squareon the base member and by drawing a pencil along each side of it mark lines for both sides of the joists or stud without moving the square; and I have placed a hole on the inside of the body at the point 26, which is exactly 16 inches fromthe outer surface of the tongue, as practically all studding is placed 16 inches apart,and by making a special mark of this type at the point in the square which is most commonly used it will be possible to save considerable time in laying out a large number of studs. After a square has been used for some time, the numbers which are only slightly indented in the surface, disappear, and after they disappear a notch is often filed at a point that is supposed to be sixteen inches from the end. However, as this is often done in a hurry the actual distance is generally more or less than sixteen inches, and the square is therefore rendered inaccurate, whereas, by placing this hole through the edge this dimension will be accurate and permanent.

Having thus fully described the invention what I ,claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

In a folding square, a body portionhaving a projection at one end, a tongue pivotally att-ached to the projection at the end of the body port-ion, the said projection of the body portion and a portion of the tongue being halved from points adjacent to pivot points diagonally outward with the diagonal edges bevelled, a lockingplate, with teeth in one side and the other side and one end bevelled, slidably mounted in a slot in the body and adaptable to engage a slot in the tongue, and a small pinion with an opening for a locking plate 11 in the center rotatably mounted in' said body in such a position that it will engage the teeth inthe said locking plate 11.

HANS H. RASMUSSEN.

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