US644323A - Carpet stretcher, tacker, and tack-puller. - Google Patents

Description

' No. 644,323. Patented Feb. 27, I900.

P. c. GBEENAWALT.

CARPET STRETCHER, TACKEB, AND TACK PULLEB.

(Application filed Dec. 1, 1899.)

(No Model.)

NITED STATES PATENT Prion.

PETER O. GREENAWALT, OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA.

CARPET STRETCHER, TACKER, AND TACK-FULLER.

S?ECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 644,323, dated February 27, 1900. Application filed December 1, 1899. Serial No. 738,873. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be'it known that I, P TER O. GREENAWAL'I, a citizen of the United States, residingat Reading, in the county of Berks and State of Penn-' sylvania, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Carpet Stretchers,Tackers,and Tack-Pullers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in a combined carpet stretcher, tacker, and tackpuller; and the objects of the invention are, first, to provide improved mechanism that will stretch the carpet and then tack it while "in such stretched condition; second, to provide an improved device that is adapted for use either as a stretcher alone, a tack-driver alone, or a tack-puller alone, and, third, to so construct the separable parts of v the device that they may be cheaply manufactured and readily replaced if broken. I accomplish these objects by the device described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the devices embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 rep resents a central vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 represents a top plan view of the cap for the operating-lever and the tack-cup cast integral therewith, and Fig. at represents a detail perspective view of the end of the claw arm or lever of the stretcher.

A in the drawings represents the grooved operating-lever, preferably divided longitudinally and forming the main portion of the stretcher and tack-driver. This operatingrod is composed, preferably, of two halves a a, respectively, which when placed together form a cylindrical structure. The fiat face of each of the respective halves is provided on each side of the central line with a semicircular groove, so that when the said parts are placed together two circular passages b b are formed, one for the tack-driving plunger 0 and the other for the passage of tacks, as herein de scribed. These two parts a a are preferably made of wood and secured together by screws. The cap 0 is secured to the upper end of the operating-lever and is provided with a tackcup 0, tack-passage c, and plunger-rod passage c*, said passages c and 0 corresponding in position with the respective passages 17 b, so as to form continuations thereof.

It will be observed that by constructing the operating lever or rod with the cap 0 it can be made of wood and its upper end protected by said cap, and also by constructing the cap and tack-receptacle in one piece and providing passages c c in the same a very cheap and durable device is provided and metallic entering-guides secured for the plunger-rod and tacks, and also that the tacks are within convenient reach of the operator.

The lower end of the operating-rod is provided with a dividing-casting B, which has grooves forming passages d d, which are continuations of the passages 12 b; but the passage d converges toward the passage d until it merges into the same, and thereby forms one passage 61 at the lower end of the device. Each portion of the lower end of the divided part B is provided with two arms e e, which extend at right angles to the operating-lever and have a claw-plate clamped or riveted between them. One portion of the casting Bis provided with two arms f, which have upturned ends adapted to receive journals of a claw-shod lever F. The other portion of the said casting B is provided with two arms f, which rest upon the upturned ends of the arms f, and thereby keep the journals of the said clawed lever B in position. This lever F is provided with a nose 9 near its journals, and this nose is adapted to strike against the portion B, and thus restrain the claw-lever from further movement in that direction. The outer end of the lever F is provided with a laterally-extending arm h, which has a clawplate I-I riveted to it. A step or toepiece H is also provided on said end, and. by means of this the claws on said lever may be forced into and held in secure engagement with the floor. The plunger-rod E is adapted to work in the passages 1), cl, and 61 which form one straight continuous passage therefor,and said rod is provided at its upper end with a handle or head e, which is formed with a claw e adapted to he slipped under the head of a tack, so as to pull the same from the floor. The operating-cord I is secured at one end to the said claw-lever and is passed through eyes 2 2' on the operating-lever and has a handle or knob h secured on its opposite end.

The operation of the device is as follows: The device is placed with the claws D H resting upon the carpet and with the operatinglever in an inclined position. Sufficient pressure is then exerted on the said lever to force the claws at its end into the fioor. Foot-pressure is then brought to bear upon the pressure-step H, which causes the teeth of the plate H to engage the carpet, and as the operating-lever is raised into a vertical position the claw H will be drawn toward the claw D and the carpet thus stretched across the entire width of the room. In this position the fullness just taken out of the carpet will be between the said claws. To do away with this fullness and allow the carpet to be tacked near the claw D, the claw II is forced into the floor and the operatingdever pulled backwardly, which will stretch the carpet between the two' claws. Now the operating-rod is again raised to a vertical position and a tack driven, as follows: A tack is slipped into the passage 1) and drops into the passage d When the plunger-rod is raised and is thus driven home by the descent of said rod.

When during the stretching operation it is necessary to raise the claw-lever irrespective of the operating-lever, the operating-cord is brought into use for this purpose, and it is thus not necessary to reach down and grasp the leveritself, which would be very tiresome.

The head 6 is of a weight sutticientto give the desired force to the stroke of the plungerrod when it descends.

When it is desired to use the device as a tack-driver alone, the claw-arm on lever F is fastened up out of the way by the cord I, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

When it is desired to draw tacks with the device, the operating-lever is reversed and the claw e brought into use.

All parts of the device are readily interchangeable, so that they may be cheaply manufactured and easily changed when broken or worn out.

It will be observed that by constructing the operating-lever with a plunger-rod b and a tack-passage b, which extend entirely to the top of the said lever, a tack can be inserted at the top of the lever and the plunger operated to drive said tack without the necessity of stooping or bending the body.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a combined carpet stretcher and tacker, the combination of an operating-lever provided with a claw at its lower end and having tack and plunger-rod passages which unite in one passage near the lower end of the lever, a cap, a tack-holding receptacle provided with passages which latter, when the cap is in position, coincide with the tack and plunger-rod passages, a plunger-rod provided on its upper end with a tack-pulling claw, a clawlever pivoted to the said operating-lever near its lower end, and an operating-cord attached to said claw-lever and terminating in proximity to the hand of the operator, whereby the device can be used to stretch a carpet and drive a tack in said stretched carpet, and also used to draw a tack Without changing the arrangement of the parts, substantially as described.

2. A combined stretcher and tacker, comprising an operating-lever made up of a body portion having two parallel passages formed therein, a cap at one end having apertures coinciding with the upper ends of the said passages, the said cap being also provided with a tack-receptacle, a carpet-engaging head secured to the other end of the said le ver which is provided with passages adapted to coincide and prolong the passages formed in the body portion of the lever, one of said passages converging into the other in the said head portion, whereby tacks inserted in one passage may be directed into the other, a tack-drivin g rod mounted in the straight passage, carpet-engaging teeth secured in the lower end of the head, and a pivoted engaging claw secured to the said head for assisting in stretching the carpet, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PETER O. GREENAlYALT. Vitnesses: I

WM. W. FETTER, J. H. LEEsER.

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