US2594835A - Wallpaper holder - Google Patents

Description

April 29, 1952 WORNSTAFF 2,594,835

WALLPAPER HOLDER Filed Dec. 15, 1950 Archie L. Warns/off INVENTOR.

Patented Apr. 29, 1952 WALLPAPER HOLDER ArchieL. Wornstafi, Portland, Orega, assignor of twenty-four per c n to James R. Wcrnstefi,

Portland, Oreg,

Application, December 15, 1950, Serial No. 200,991

Claims. 1

The present invention relates to ways and means whereby one end portion of a strip. of wallpaper may be mechanically held while the major portion of said strip is temporarily stuck against e wan surface, l ed up pr perl and. th nprecisely matched and butted with the, next adjacent strip. More specifically, the invention relates to a small instrumentality which is, in effeet, a mechanical aid and which, when it is clamped to an end portion of the strip of wallpaper and is anchored in an adjacent wall surface, the paperhanger then has both hands free for more aptly and satisfactorily hangingsaid strip in its final and permanently attached po-. sition.

Many and varied makeshift devices such as ladders, scalfold boards and the like, have been employed as props to hold up one end of a strip of ceiling paper to assist in properly and corrects 1y hanging same with the use of both hands Numbers of patents have beenissued on props which ar red n he flo r or insomeo her manner upp rte erp n ula ly. a d. which. have head means on the r upp ends to hold the free end. portion of the paper up Whilethe maior port n is .beinglined up and hun Therehas lo g existed a. ne d or a sim e and prac cal instrumenta ity whi h s c pa le of being carr ed. in cne's oo b x and which constitutes a sa sfac y dev e or. mply. and aptly holding th wallpaper in a manner to permit the paperhanger tovhave, both hands available forcfreedom of reliab e and satis actory work.

The object of the invention is to. structurally, functionally and otherwise improve on prior art wallpaperholders and, in so doing, to. provide a simple and efiicient device in which manufacturers and-users will find their essential needs .fully met and contained.

In carrying out a preferred embodiment of the invention, a simple structureis adopted. The latter is characterized, generally speaking, by longitudinally bowedhandle means with an anchoring prong or equivalent element at one end and with clamping jaws or the like at the opposite end.

More specifically, novelty is predicated on handle means made up of complemental curvate resilient limbs, clamping jaws on the outer ends of the complemental limbs and pointed prong mea s t be emb d d a a l sur Other objects and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the sheet of drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view showin a por, tionof a ceiling and side wall, showing the. por-. tion of a strip of wallpaper partly hung, with one end portion held in the improved holder herein under advisement;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the holder per e;

Figure -3 is an edge elevation, on a small scale, of a modified form of the holder;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view, taken at right angles to Figure 3 and on a slightly larger scale, looking in thedirection of the arrow A;

Figure 5- is a view on the same scale as Figure 3 and showing a further modification; and

Figure 6 is' an enlarged view taken at right angles to Figure 5 and observing the structure of same in a direction from right to left, looking in the direction-of the arrow B,

In all forms of the invention, the body structure i constructed to define What may be broadly characterized as handle means. There is a spur or; equivalent prong at one end to be anchored in a wall. Then, jaw means is provided at the opposi e d gra p a d hold the sheet or strip of paper,

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2 and to Figure 1 as a s artine' o nt. t e nu e al 8 de ates what may be identified as a ceiling in a room and i0 denotes a sidewall at right angles to the ceii.-. ing. The strip of wallpaper, partly hung, is do: noted at l2. It is the end portion I4 which is to be held and temporarily anchored to facilitate applying, matching and otherwise hanging the complete pasted strip. The handle means here is denoted generally by the numeral l6 and it is, ee fi al y cha t rized by a pair f utvate resilient limbs l8 and 20 having their converg mg en s r veted et er s a 2. One l mb has annext psien 2 ich is sha d to pr v e a -sha edpr g 2 i p g s. adapted to be. embedded sli ht y in the side w ll I l i the mannershown in the d aw n s- The limbs and 2 areof in eren res liency. othat they are normally spread apart Horizontal right-angl larly disposed jaw strips 28 and 30 are riveted at their intermediate portions, as at 30, to. the outer endsof'the limbs, and these jaw-strips have rubber pads or the like 32.xvhich are properly fluted to satisfactorily grip the end portion [4. of the paper.

It will be evident from the description so far that the end portion I4 is placed conveniently between the jaw surfaces of the gripping jaws 28 and 30. Then, the device, as a unit, is angled into the corner of the room at the juncture of the ceiling and side walls and is forced upwardly toward the ceiling so that it rides against the ceiling and binds the jaws against the paper. The prong 26 is stuck in the wall in the manner illustrated. By thus jamming the device into the corner, the jaws, which are normally open, are closed and grip the paper and the device, at the same time, is anchored in place. With one end of the paper thus clamped and anchored, the paperhanger will have both hands free to do his regular tasks with greater ease and efficiency.

In the modification shown in Figures 3 and i, the handle means or body structure as a unit is denoted by the numeral 34. Here, a longitudinally bowed strip member of suitable resilient material is denoted by the numeral 3'0 and this has a right angular jaw member 38 at its outer end and has its opposite end fashioned into a pointed anchoring prong 40 to stick into the side wall in the manner already described. The intermediate portion of the member 35 or limb is provided with a rectangular aperture 42 to accommodate the reduced lower end portion 44 of the complemental spring bowed limb :86. So, here again we have diverging, normally spaced resilient limbs and the limb 45 has a jaw 68 opposed to the jaw 38. The difference is in having the limb 46 shorter and having one end passing through the slot 42 and terminating in a finger piece or trip 50 with a spring between the latter and limb 36, said spring being denoted at 52. The spring forces the trip outwardly and normally spreads the jaws and limbs apart. By pressing the finger piece against the tension of the spring, the jaws may be closed and the device may be properly rammed into the corner so as to anchor the device and at the same time press the jaws closed against the end of the wallpaper.

In the modification shown in Figures 5 and 6, the handle or body means is denoted broadly by the numeral 54. In this arrangement, there is a longitudinally bowed limb 56 with a pointed prong 58 at one end and with a right angularly disposed gripping jaw 50 at the opposite end. This jaw is opposed to the jaw 62 on the corresponding end of the shorter longitudinally bowed complemental limb 64. The limb 64 is hinged between ears 65 on the longitudinal edge portions of the first-named limb 56. The portion of the limb 64 between the ears is narrowed for convenience of operation, as at 68, and the'free end portion of the limb is fashioned into a finger piece H! with a coiled spring 12 between the finger piece and the main limb. In the modifications of Figures 3 and 5, there are main and auxiliary limbs, finger pieces, and spring means and coacting opposed parallel jaws. In Figure 5, the jaws are normally closed, and in Figure 3 they are normally open. So, it is necessary to press the finger piece 10 toward the limb to spread the jaws and 62 apart to catch hold of and retain the end of the strip of paper.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

Minor changes in shape, size, materials and arrangement of parts may be resorted to in actual practice without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as claimed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A mechanical aid to assist a paperhanger in hanging a strip of wallpaper comprising portable holding means embodying a pair of longitudinally bowed resilient limb members operatively connected with each other at corresponding portions, one of said limbs being provided with a pointed anchoring prong adapted to be embedded in a wall surface, spaced parallel jaws secured to corresponding end portions of said limbs and disposed at right angles to the longitudinal axes of the limb members.

2. A wallpaper holding device of the class described comprising a pair of longitudinally bowed resilient limbs superimposed one on the other and riveted together at corresponding ends, one of said limbs having an extension projecting beyond the riveted ends and terminating in a pointed prong and the point of said prong being adapted to be anchored in a wall surface, and spaced parallel opposed jaws connected to the outer ends of said limbs, said jaws being disposed at right angles to the longitudinal axes of said limbs.

3. A wallpaper holding device of the class described comprising a pair of longitudinally bowed resilient limbs overlapping one another and riveted together at corresponding ends, one of said limbs having an extension terminating in a pointed prong and said prong being adapted to .be anchored in a wall surface, the opposite ends of said limbs being spaced apart, and spaced parallel opposed jaws connected to the lastnamed ends of said limbs, said jaws being normally spaced apart and provided with resilient jaw surfaces to minimize injuring. the paper gripped therebetween.

4. A wallpaper holding device of the class described comprising a longitudinally bowed resilient limb having a jaw at one end and a pointed anchoring prong at the other end, an auxiliary longitudinally bowed resilient limb having a jaw at one end opposed to the first-named jaw, means hingedly attaching the opposite end of said auxiliary limb to the intermediate portion of the first-named limb, and a spring-pressed finger piece for opening and closing the auxiliary limb.

5. A device of the class described comprising a longitudinally bowed resilient limb with a jaw at one end and a pointed anchoring prong at the opposite end and ears intermediate its ends and a curved auxiliary resilient limb having a jaw at one end, having its intermediate portion hinged-between said ears and having its end portion formed into a finger-piece opposed to the intermediate portion of said first-named limb, and a coil spring interposed between said fingerpiece and first-named limb.

ARCHIE L. WORNSTAFF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,051,544 Bohm Jan. 28, 1913 1,754,219 Alexander Apr. 15, 1930

Images