US2973933A

US2973933A - Foldable tripod easel

Info

Publication number: US2973933A
Application number: US805543A
Authority: US
Inventors: David S Howell
Original assignee: Arlington Aluminum Co
Current assignee: Arlington Aluminum Co
Priority date: 1959-04-10
Filing date: 1959-04-10
Publication date: 1961-03-07
Anticipated expiration: 1978-03-07

Description

March 7, 1961 D. s. HOWELL FOLDABLE TRIPOD EASEL Filed April 10. 1959 I N V EN TOR.

DAV/06114014221. I BY flM/ffla United States Patent 2,973,933 roLnABLaTmronrAsnL David S. Howell, Royalour, Mi'clit, as'slgn'or to Arlington Aluminum Company, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed Apr. 10, 1959, Ser. No. 805,543

4 Claims. (Cl. 248-166) This invention relates to easels and, in particular, to foldable easels.

One object of this invention is to provide a foldable tripod easel wherein the supporting legs are pivotally held within a cup-shaped cap of approximately triangular cross-section without the use or need of fasteners, pivot pins or the like, with the result that there are no'loose parts to become aocidentially detached and lost'during transportation or use. I

Another object is to provide a foldable tripod easel of the foregoing character in which the upper ends of the legs are hollow and are yieldably held in the cup-shaped cap by a three-armed spring leg-holder which not only provides a pivotal connection with the cap but also resiliently urges the legs outwardly toward the pockets formed at the inside corners of the cap.

Another object is to provide a tripod easel of the foregoing character wherein the legs may be quickly and easily pushed toward one another int-o parallelism with one another and their lower ends fastened together by a suitable connector, such as a rubber band, cord, chain, ring or the like, so as to be held in compact form for storage or transport; removal of the connector releasing the legs to fly outward into unfolded positions in response to the urge of the three-armed spring leg holder.

Another object is to provide a foldable tripod easel of the foregoing character wherein the three-armed spring leg holder has twin-pronged pointed ends which firmly engage the inner wall of the upper end of each leg and hold it firmly against accidental dislodgment while permitting unimpeded and instant folding, yet enabling the legs to be withdrawn from the spring arms by a spiral unscrewing motion with sufficient resistance to prevent unintended displacement or removal.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a foldable tripod easel, according to one form of the invention, showing in solid lines the easel in its unfolded position and in dotted lines two of the supporting legs swung into folded parallel engagement with the other leg and secured thereto by a cord or elastic band;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken along the line 22 in Figure 1, with portions of the legs broken away to conserve space;

Figure 3 is a cross-section taken along the line- 3 -3 in. Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a top planview of the flat stamped blank from which the three-armed spring leg-holder is made by a subsequent'bending operation; and

Figure 5 is a vertical section, partly in side elevation, through the spring leg holder of Figure 4 after it has been bent into its final but relaxed shape prior to installation in the cap.

Hitherto, foldable tripod easels have had folding legs, the upper ends of which were inserted in sockets in a base and held there by means of screws or other fasteners.

Thesefasteners wereeasily dislodged and lost in transit or subsequent storage or us ther'eby rendering the 3 inoperative until they could be replaced. The present invention provides a foldable tripod easel which eliminates these defects of prior eases and by having its legs held in a eup shaped cap and urged against internal cor rie'r' pocketsthereof by a three-armed spring" leg lio'ld'ef, elinii' nates thepreviouslydis'ed l fasteners yet permits 1 instant folding and unfolding, as desired. The foldable tripod easel of the present invention is especially well adapted for use as a display easel although it is not confined to that particular use.

Referring to the drawings in detail, Figures 1 and 2 show a foldable tripod easel, generally designated ,10, adapted to be held in a folded condition by a cord, elastic band or other suitable holding member 12 encircling the lower portions of its hollow tubular legs 14. The legs 14 are constructed preferably of aluminum or other lightweight metal. The upper ends of the hollow tubular legs 14 are inserted in pockets 15 formed inside the rounded corners 17 of a cup-shaped cap 16 of the shape of a frustum of of a hollow triangular pyramid with the rounded corners 17, upper end wall 18 and flared side walls 20. Secured to the inside of the end wall 18, as by a fastener 22, is a three-leaved spring leg-holder, generally designated 24, shown in Figures 4 and 5. This spring member 24 has a central base 26 with a hole 28 for the fastener 22 and with tapered spring arms 30 inclined downward and outward at circumferentially-spaced intervals of degrees, and terminating in outwardlybent fishtail ends 32 with sharp double prongs 34. The fishtail ends 32 are bent (Figure 4) so that they are approximately parallel to the base 26 in the relaxed condition of the spring leg-holder 24. The legs 14 have rubber 7 tips 38 and two have display supporting pins 40 inserted therein. The pins 40 consist of bolts 42 (Figure 2) passing through tubular spacers 44 and holes 46 into nuts 48.

In assembling the device,'the upper ends of the legs 14, which have bores 36 therein, are forced over the fishtail end portions 32 of the arms 30 of the spring leg holder 24 and pushed upward against the lower surface of the top wall 18. Since the side walls 20 of the end cap 16 are inclined at steeper angles to the top wall 18 than the spring arms 30 are inclined to the base 26, the arms 30 are in a tensed condition against the inside of the side walls 20 when they are secured within the cap 18 by the fastener 22. As a consequence, the outward spring of the arms 30 causes the prongs 34 on the fishtail ends 32 to bite into the walls of the tubular legs 14, holding them firmly against direct withdrawal (although they can be withdrawn, with some difliculty, by

a spiral unscrewing motion).

The easel 10 is quickly unfolded for the purpose of displaying placards or the like and after such use is as quickly capable of being folded, as shown in Figure 2, with its legs parallel and held together by the string or elastic band 12.

What I claim is:

1. A foldable easel comprising a cap structure having a central support and a plurality of radially-disposed circu-inferentially-spaced pockets extending outwardly from said support, a resilient leg holder having a central base connected to said central support and a plurality of resilient leg-holding arms connected to said base, said arms being spaced circumferentially around said base in radial alignment with said pockets .and extending downwardly and outwardly from said base in the relaxed condition of said leg holder, and a plurality of tripod legs having Paitented Mar. 7,19er

4 of said arms has a plurality of pointed elements thereon grippingly engaging the internal upper end portions of said legs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 312,363 Lewis Feb. 17, 1885 2,488,849 Churchill Nov. 22, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 156,823 Sweden Nov. 6, 1956