US2720371A - Supports for garden hose - Google Patents

Description

Oct. H, 1955 F. G. CAMPBELL.

SUPPORTS FOR GARDEN HOSE Filed Feb. l5, 1952 7 s: y j

L6 F1a@ 6 a 2 FEEL@ INVENTOR.

United States Patent SUPPORTS FR GARDEN HOSE Frank G. Campbell, Arlington County, Va.

Application February 15, 1952, Serial No. 271,678

1 Claim. (Cl. 248-85) This invention relates to supports for garden hose, and it has for its object to provide a very simple and inexpensive device of this nature.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawing wherein,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of the device of the invention,

Figure 2 is a side view,

Figure 3 is a plan view of the single piece of wire from which the device of Figures l and 2 is formed,

Figure 4 is a plan view showing the single piece of wire, after being twisted to produce the device but before being bent to the form of Figure 2.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawing. In all of the figures, 5 designates the forward end portion of a section of garden hose, and 6 the conventional nozzle thereon. In carrying out the invention I take a single piece of stout wire and bend it upon itself to form the two runs 7 and 8. At a point adjacent the free ends of the wire,` the two runs are twisted together as at 9 to provide the two legs 10 and 11. At a point further back the wire is twisted at 12, and the portion lying between the twists is shaped to form a nozzle or hose embracing loop 13. From loop 13, rearwardly, the two runs are bent to form the convolutions 14 of very slow pitch and at the terminal rear end the wire is preferably bent downwardly to form a ground engaging leg 10a which, with legs 10 and 11, provide a standlike device to support the garden hose at an angle to the surface of the ground, indicated at 15.

The convolutions 14 of very slow pitch, extending rearwardly from the leg portions, constitute the essential and most novel feature of the invention. Referring to the drawing, Fig. 2, it will be seen that there are only about two and one-half convolutions of the wire between loop 13 and the downwardly directed leg 10a and that these convolutions extend along a substantial length of the hose. This is what is meant by the convolutions being of slow pitch and the result is that the hose may be wound into the convolutions of the wire, until the hose lies within the bore defined within the said convolutions. This is accomplished without twisting the wire itself around the hose. To merely provide downturned leg portions and a wire portion wound around the hose would be an obvious thing to do. However, in this invention the wire is not wound around the hose but upon the contrary the hose is wound into the convolutions 14. In other words, these convolutions are formed, in the manufacture of the device, and they are of such slow pitch that the hose may, within the limits of flexibility of garden hose, be wound into the convolutions. Thus the user does not have to twist this stout wire in applying it. If the user had to twist the wire in applying it to the hose, it follows that he would have to untwist it in removing the support from the hose. The convolutions 14 are in such number that, together with their slow pitch, they engage the hose along such a material portion of its length that the hose is held in alignment with the axis of the convolutions. The direc- 2,720,371 Patented Gct. 11, 1955 tion of the stream of water from the hose may, consequently, be controlled by shifting the support, as a whole, upon its legs 10, `10a and 11 to guide the stream in the desired direction. Further, by changing the inclination of legs 10 and 11 the nozzle 6 may be raised or lowered and thus the stream or spray of water may be additionally guided and controlled. The fact that the legs 10-11 are composed of single thickness wires facilitates their ready bending to positions of greater or less inclination to thereby facilitate the raising or lowering of the angle of nozzle 6, while the fact that those portions of the wire comprising covolutions 14 is of double and stiifer formation causes these parts to retain their form over long periods of use, as the hose is wound into or out of the convolutions. By making all of the foregoing parts from a single length of wire, bent upon itself and twisted as described, I am able to provide the convolutions and the attached spaced legs in a one piece structure having no welded parts. If, for example, the legs 1 011 were constructed as separate pieces, welded at their ends to loop 13, the flexing of the parts in use would soon cause these welds to break. As far as I am aware I am the first to provide a garden hose support made from a single piece of wire, bent upon itself with its free forward ends constituting single thickness, divergent, ground engaging legs and with its rear and bight portion formed into a plurality of double thickness convolutions, said convolutions being of such slow pitch that a garden hose may be wound thereinto without deformation of said convolutions.

In applying the support to the hose, the user passes the nozzle through loop 13 and then grasping loop and nozzle rmly in the left hand, winds the hose into the convolutions 14. Even though it is sometimes found desirable to press the convolutions about the hose, this is done without changing the set of the convolutions imparted to them in the initial manufacture of the device, and consequently the holder may be applied to or removed from the hose as frequently as may be desired without twisting the device out of shape.

Many lawn sprinklers, some of them water driven and capable of spraying water over large areas, have been devised. The device of the present invention is primarily designed for use over limited areas. For example, in times of severe drouth and where the shrubbery about the foundation of ones home is dying for lack of water, it is possible with a holder of this sort to discharge a line spray directly into the shrubbery over long periods of time and even all night to bring about the desired thorough soaking of the ground. A conventional lawn sprinkler could not be used in this fashion because it would throw too much of the water against the walls of the house and much of it would run down into the ground and to the foundation drain tile, and be lost.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth but that it includes within its purview whatever changes come within either the terms or the spirit of the appended claim.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

A holder for supporting and aiming the stream from conventional garden hose, which holder comprises a single piece of wire bent upon itself to form two strands, that portion of the two strands toward the bight portion of the wire lying close together and being complementally bent to form double strand convolutions constituting a spiral run, the free ends of the two runs being divergent to constitute single thickness angularly directed ground engaging legs, and the wire runs complementally including a part of open loop formation which connects the spiral run and said legs, the axis of the loop being substantially in alignment with the axis about which the convolutions are formed, the bore defined within the 3 spiral run being of such diameter as to permit the passage of a garden hose therethrough, and to guide and aim the hose and the pitch of the convolutions of the spiral being so gradual that the hose may be wound into the spiral without deformation of the wire which constitutes the 5 spiral. I

n References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 518,986 Cain May 1, 1894 10 4 Smith Dec. 23, 1902 Austin Nov. 18, 1913 Coleman Jan. 1, 1924 Gabrielson Feb. 26, 1935 Reiter Sept. 3, 1935 Miller Feb. 20, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Canada Jan. 15, 1942

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