US3090065A

US3090065A - Scouring pad holder

Info

Publication number: US3090065A
Application number: US208484A
Authority: US
Inventors: Frank J Krieps; Harley H Mattheis
Original assignee: Container Corp
Current assignee: Container Corp; Smurfit Kappa Packaging Corp
Priority date: 1962-07-09
Filing date: 1962-07-09
Publication date: 1963-05-21
Anticipated expiration: 1980-05-21

Description

May 1963 F. J. KRIEPS ETAI.

SCOURING PAD HOLDER Filed July 9, 1962 fnz/eniors 3,G%,0 SCQURHJG PAD HQLDER Frank J. Krieps, Elmhurst, and Harley H. Mattheis, Des Plaines, 111., assignors to Container Corporation of America, (Shier-ago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed duly 9, I962, Ser. No. 208,484 14 (llaims. (Cl. -209) he present invention relates to holders for cleaning and scouring materials and more particularly relates to a form of holder to which such materials may be firmly attached and readily released.

An important object or" the invention is to provide an improved, relatively simple form of holder having opposed, normally open gripping jaws designed to close when the holder is pressed down upon any of various types of pads formed of gauze, cotton, cloth, plastic, copper or steel wool, whereby the jaw will be held in firm gripping relation to the pad, but easily released when it is desired to discard a used pad and replace it with a new one.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pad holder having opposed gripping jaws hingedly mounted within a frame member for movement toward and away from the general plane of the pad which is to be attached to the holder, and designed to grip the pad during the inward movement of the jaws in a direction away from the pad but releasing the pad when the movement of the jaws is reversed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a twopiece pad holder which may readily be molded from plastic or other suitable material to form a pad supporting section combined with a hollow holding section, the pad supporting section comprising a frame on which gripping jaws are supported on a pair of panels held within the frame, such panels being hinged to each other adjacent the jaws and having their outer portions hinged to the frame, the panels being normally disposed out of alignment in the open position of the jaws and movable past their aligned position toward the interior of the hollow holding section to an inner, non-aligned position to close the jaws and retain the panels in such position by a toggle action.

Additional and more specific objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the drawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the holder;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional View taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1, showing the gripping ja ws in closed or pad-gripping position;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 3, showing the gripping jaws in open position;

FIGURE 5 is a bottom plan view showing the gripping jaws closed; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken on line 6-6 of FIGURE 1, showing the manner of forming the gripping jaw frame and the hollow frame-holding section so that the two parts may be secured together.

The pad holder, as herein disclosed, is formed of two sections of plastic material, such as polypropylene or polyethylene, which may be separately molded and secured together to provide a unitary construction. One section is in the form of a hollow casing to provide a handle grip and the other section is in the form of a relatively flat frame arranged to be fitted with a snap action within marginal portions of the hollow casing. The frame section supports two centrally hinged panels each carry- 3,699,065 Patented May 21, 1963 ing extended teeth to provide cooperating jaws to grip a pad. The panels, in open position of the jaws, form a shallow angle below the plane of the frame. Pressure along the hinge line of the panels will cause such panels first to move toward a position where they are aligned with the plane of the fiat frame and afterward move to a non-aligned position above the frame, where they are held by a toggle action. In this position the teeth which form the gripping jaws are brought into pad gripping position and retained until forcefully moved to their original position.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the pad holder is preferably formed in two connected sections indicated as a whole at I and 2. The section 1 is in the form of a hollow casing having vertically disposed sides forming an oval hand-grip portion 3 terminating in a flaring, oval skirt 4 having what may be termed a downwardly directed flange part, indicated as a whole at 5, to provide marginal edge portions to which the edges of section 2 are secured. As herein shown, the flange part 5 includes relatively

narrow lengths

5a, 5a extending partway along the longer sides of the oval skirt portion, and wider lengths 5b, extending from the ends of flange parts 5a around the ends of the skirt portion. See FIG- URE '5. The top of the casing 1 preferably is a flat panel 6 integrally joined to the oval wall of the vertical handgrip portion 3.

The section 2 of the holder is preferably formed as an open uniplaner frame having a contour conforming at least in part with the inner contour of the depending flanges 5a and 517 (see FIGURE 5), so that the frame may be receivedinside the flanges with its lower face approximately fiush with the lower faces of the flanges. Within the frame is secured the pad gripping member formed from two

similar panels

8 and 9 hinged together centrally of the frame along a hinge line or strip 10. At their outer edges the panels are hinged to side bars 111 and i the frame along respective hinge lines or

strips

13 and 14.

By constructing the parts of the pad holder of suitable tough, resilient plastic material the hinge lines or strips Id, 13 and it may be provided by forming the connecting strips quite thin in the molding process. Thus the

panels

8 and 9, being of moderate thickness, may be only slightly bendable but the connecting strips are quite flexible due to their reduced thickness. For purposes of the

invention panels

8 and 9 may be considered relatively rigid as compared with the greater flexibility of

hinge strips

10, 13 and 14.

The

panels

8 and 9 are preferably constructed in a downwardly bowed arrangement, as shown in FIGURE4, in which positions they assume a shallow angular form disposed below or outwardly of the frame 2. The combined dimension of the

panels

8 and 9 and connecting hinge strip it which is readily apparent in FIGURE 4, exceeds the distance between the hinge lines of the panels. This combined dimension, however, is not sufficiently greater than the distance between the hinge lines to prevent the panels from being swungupwardly to the position shown in FIGURE 3. When the panels are swung upward it is necessary to apply a measure of force causing some distortion in the hinge areas and some degree of outward bulging of the sides'll and 12 of the frame.

When the panels have been swung past their middle position to upwardly inclined positions, as shown in FIGURE 3, the distortion effects diminish and the panels remain in this position due to what may be termed a toggle effeet. When the panels are again forced to their original position the same distortion effects occur while the panelsare passing through a plane aligned with the frame and upon returning to their original position the distortion is released.

As shown in FIGURE 4, each panel has formed thereon a jaw section comprising a group of spaced, downwardly projecting teeth indicated at 15, and I16, 16 on

panels

8 and 9 respectively. The teeth are staggered in the two rows so that one set interfits with the other. See FIGURE 5.

The teeth are positioned so that their facing edges, see FIGURE 4, are approximately in line with the edges of the thin hinge strip area 10, and such edges preferably extend normal to the general plane of the frame section 2 to facilitate penetration of the teeth into the pad to be gripped.

The lateral edges of the teeth are preferably tapered as shown in FIGURES 2 and 5 and when the teeth swing into intermeshing relation, as best shown in FIGURE 3, they reach an angle at which the inclined sides of one set contact and lock against the inclined sides of the opposite set.

In order to dock the frame section 2 firmly onto the hollow, recessed casing section 1, portions of the flange parts 512 are under-cut to provide overhanging

edges

56, 5c. Appropriate edges of the section 2, indicated at 2a are leveled so as to fit beneath the overhanging edges 50. Due to the resiliency of the two sections the frame edges may readily be snapped past the overhanging edges 50 to hold the frame firmly in place.

For the purpose of releasing the jaw teeth from an engaged pad a vertically movable element 17 is disposed within the recessed casing 1. The lower end of this element is preferably Y-shaped to form two panel

engaging parts

17a, 17a. See FIGURES 3 and 4. By moving the element 17 downward from the position shown in FIG- URE 3 to that shown in FIGURE 4, the

hinged panels

8 and 9 can be moved from pad gripping position to the release position.

The element 17 is preferably formed integrally with a displaceable part 6a of the top panel 6. The part 6a is provided by forming a pair of

slits

6b, 6b in the top panel. Downward pressure centrally of the part 6a will flex it downward, as shown in FIGURE 4, to move the panels to released position.

In order to engage the pad beyond the immediate area of the gripping jaws a plurality of pins 19, 19 are formed on the flanges 512.

Additional pins

20, 20 are preferably formed in the skirt portion 4 adjacent the

flange parts

5a, 5a. These pins pass through

apertures

21, 21 formed in the

sides

11 and 12 of the frame section and serve the dual purpose of centering the frame and engaging a pad.

In the use of the pad holder it may simply be picked up by the oval, straight walled part 3 and pressed upon a pad, such as indicated at 22 in FIGURE 2, while the jaws are in open position. Firm pressure on the pad causes the teeth first to penetrate the pad and then causes the panels to flex upward. The teeth then swing toward each other and at the same time engage the pad and draw the engaged portion upward, .thus firmly securing the pad against the frame section 2 and the flange surfaces of the recessed section 1. When it is desired to discard the pad the vertical wall portion 3 is held while pressure is applied downward on the part 6a of panel 6. This causes the jaws to move to open position and the pad will drop away or may easily be removed.

It is to be understood that reference to the parts of the holder as disposed or movable vertically or horizontally is for convenience of description and not in a limiting sense.

The vertical walled, oval part 3 of the holder may be suitably varied in shape, as desired, either for grasping by hand or for attachment of a special form of handle, without changing the principles of the operation of the holder.

While the present description sets forth a preferred form of the invention, numerous changes may be made in the construction disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is therefore desired that the present disclosure be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A pad holder having (a) a recessed hand-grip section including marginal edge portions;

(b) an open frame formed of resilient material carried by such edge portions;

(0) hingedly connected panels having their opposed edges hinged to opposite inner edge portions of the open frame, said panels having a combined effective dimension between their hinge connections to the frame greater than the distance between such hinge connections, whereby the panels normally assume a shallow angular position outside the frame in a direction away from the recessed section;

(d) said hinged panels being swingable toward the recessed section to bring such panels into positions inward of the frame; and

(e) jaw elements on each of the hinged panels located at the sides of their hinged connection;

(f) said jaw elements projecting outwardly in spaced relation when the panels are in their outer position to admit between them portions of the material to be gripped, and said jaw elements being brought into material gripping relation when the hinged panels are forced inwardly.

2. A pad holder (a) having an upstanding, recessed supporting section with vertical Walls terminating in outwardly and downwardly flared portions providing marginal supporting edges;

([1) a frame section secured to such marginal supporting edges;

(c) such frame including opposed side pieces defining an opening;

(d) a pair of relatively rigid, hingedly connected panels swingably mounted Within the frame opening and having their outer portions hinged respectively to the opposed side pieces, the hinge connection between the panels comprising a thin flexible element, the combined dimension of the panels and their hinged connection being slightly greater, measured in a direction normal to their outer hinge lines, than the distance between such outer hinge lines, whereby the panels normally assume a shallow angular position away from the recessed supporting section and are capable of being flexed inwardly above the plane of the frame side pieces where they are held by a toggle action; and

(e) spaced, outwardly projecting jaw elements on the respective panels at the sides of their flexible connecting element, the free edges of said jaw elements being swingable toward each other when the panels are swung inwardly to cause the jaw elements to grip material placed between them.

3. A pad holder, as defined in claim 2;

(a) in which the jaw supporting panels are formed of plastic material;

(b) and the thin, flexible hinge element between the panels is integral therewith.

4. A pad holder, as defined in claim 2;

(a) in which the jaw elements comprise a group of uniformly spaced teeth on each panel;

(b) the teeth on one panel being olfset with respect to the teeth on the other panel whereby the groups of teeth will interfit when the panels are swung inward.

5. A pad holder as defined in claim 4, in which the teeth are tapered from their base portions to pointed outer portions and the spacing between the two groups of teeth is sufficiently close to cause the tapered sides of the opposite groups to come into contact with each other when the panels are swung inward to close the gripping jaws.

6. A pad holder as defined in claim 2, in which the frame and the jaw supporting panels carried thereby are integrally formed of plastic material and the hinge connections between the panels and frame are provided by portions of reduced thickness.

7. A pad holder as defined in claim 2, in which the frame section for the jaw supporting panels is releasably carried by the recessed supporting section.

8. A pad holder as defined in claim 2,

(a) in which the frame section and recessed supporting section are formed of resilient plastic material;

(b) opposite marginal supporting edges of the recessed section having undercut grooved portions providing projecting edges;

() companion edge portions on the outer sides of the frame adapted to snap past the projecting edges and fit within the undercut, grooved portions to hold the frame section firmly upon the recessed supporting section.

9. A pad holder as defined in claim 8,

(a) in which the frame section is formed with small apertures;

(11) and the marginal supporting edge portions of the recessed supporting section have pad-impaling pins thereon interfitting within such apertures and serving additionally to center the frame in place on the recessed supporting section.

10. A pad holder as defined in claim 2, in which a downwardly movable release element is disposed within the recessed supporting section, such element being arranged to apply pressure upon the connected edge portions of the jaw supporting panels to swing the panels downward from their pad holding position.

11. A pad holder as defined in claim 10;

(a) in which the recessed supporting section is formed from plastic material;

(b) and include a top panel generally parallel with the panel supporting frame,

(c) such top panel being formed with a downwardly displaceable section arranged to bear upon the release element, whereby downward displacement of such displaceable section forces the release element against the connected panel edge portions to swing the panel downward from pad holding position.

12. A hand holder formed from a relatively resilient material for cleaning and polishing pads, comprising:

(a) a supporting section having a hand grip portion on one side thereof;

(b) a frame section detachably mounted on another side of the supporting section; and

(c) a pair of cooperating, toothed jaw elements having outer portions hingedly attached to opposite sides of the frame section for movement toward and away from said frame section and having inner portions hingedly attached to each other for movement into and out of said frame section in a toggle-like arrangement for releasably clamping a pad therebetween.

13. A hand holder formed from a relatively resilient material for cleaning and polishing pads, comprising:

(a) a supporting section having a hand grip portion on one side thereof;

(b) a frame section on another side of the supporting section; and

(c) a pair of cooperating toothed jaw elements having outer portions hingedly attached to opposite sides of the frame section for movement toward and away from said frame section and having inner portions hingedly attached to each other for movement into and out of said frame section in a toggle-like arrangement for releasably clamping a pad therebetween.

14. A hand holder formed from a relatively resilient material for cleaning and polishing pads, comprising:

(a) a supporting section having a hand grip portion on one side thereof; and

(b) a pad retaining section on another side of the supporting section;

(0) said pad retaining section including a pair of cooperating toothed jaw element having outer portions hingedly attached to opposite sides of said supporting section for movement toward and away from said supporting section and having inner portions hingedly attached to each other for movement into and out of said supporting section in a toggleli-ke arrangement for releasably clamping a pad there between.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,124,476 Spiewak July 19, 1938 2,296,133 Wolfe Sept. 15, 1942 2,794,201 Kutik June 4, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,064,981 France Dec. 30, 1953

Claims

14. A HAND HOLDER FORMED FROM A RELATIVELY RESILIENT MATERIAL FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING PADS, COMPRISING: (A) A SUPPORTING SECTION HAVING A HAND GRIP PORTION ON ONE SIDE THEREOF; AND (B) A PAD RETAINING SECTION ON ANOTHER SIDE OF THE SUPPORTING SECTION; (C) SAID PAD RETAINING SECTION INCLUDING A PAIR OF COOPERATING TOOTHED JAW ELEMENTS HAVING OUTER PORTIONS HINGEDLY ATTACHED TO OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID SUPPORTING SECTION FOR MOVEMENT TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID SUPPORTING SECTION AND HAVING INNER PORTIONS HINGEDLY ATTACHED TO EACH OTHER FOR MOVEMENT INTO AND OUT OF SAID SUPPORTING SECTION IN A TOGGLELIKE ARRANGEMENT FOR RELEASABLY CLAMPING A PAD THEREBETWEEN.