AU2002301702B2

AU2002301702B2 - Mechanism for supporting a folding clothes line

Info

Publication number: AU2002301702B2
Application number: AU2002301702A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John Liebert; John Raymond Prior
Original assignee: AUSTRAL CLOTHES HOISTS Pty Ltd
Current assignee: AUSTRAL CLOTHES HOISTS Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2001-11-02
Filing date: 2002-10-30
Publication date: 2007-09-13
Anticipated expiration: 2022-10-30

Description

P/00/01128/5/91 Regulation 3.2(2)

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Application Number: Lodged: Invention Title: MECHANISM FOR SUPPORTING A FOLDING CLOTHES LINE The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us MECHANISM FOR SUPPORTING A FOLDING CLOTHES LINE The present invention relates to improvements in mounting means enabling a cantilever type clothes line to be supported in an elevated clothes drying position and to be readily collapsed therefrom to a dropped substantially upright position.

Clothes line constructions of the aforementioned kind are well known in the industry with clothes line including clothes supporting frame with a plurality of spaced but substantially parallel lines traversing the frame from which clothes may be hung for drying when the frame is located in an elevated position. The frame is normally supported in the elevated position by brackets on either side that are pivotally connected via latch means to the frame and separately to an upright support which may be a purposely provided support post or alternatively may be a side wall of a building or the like. Conveniently the frame is also pivotally supported from the same upright support. In one known arrangement, the latch means are self engaging as the frame is manually moved towards its elevated position with the latch means being disengaged, when it is desired to drop the frame to its non use vertical position, by draw string or cord release mechanisms. Arrangements of this general type are shown in Australian Patent Specification Nos. 51896/79 (529270), 82958/82 (553302) and 11122/88 (591023). Such arrangements have worked satisfactorily for many years but the necessary release mechanisms provide an additional manufacturing cost in the overall cost of such clothes line assemblies. In an alternative arrangement, it has been proposed to produce the support brackets in a telescopic fashion with a novel internal catch arrangement that is engaged and disengaged by movement of the telescoping parts of the bracket members. Such an arrangement is disclosed in patent specification number 40442/95 (691055). Again, while such arrangements have worked well, it is believed that the complication of the catch mechanism and telescopic arrangements do increase the overall cost of the assembly and moreover, increase the likelihood of operational failure due to ingress of debris or corrosion and the mechanism has stood in external weather conditions for a reasonable period of time.

The objective therefore of the present invention is to provide a simple, effective latch structure for cantilever clothes lines of the aforementioned kind 2 which does not require the use of release cord string mechanisms or complicated internal telescoping latch mechanisms associated with the above described prior art arrangements.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a support means for supporting a cantilever frame pivotally supported from a support structure whereby the frame is selectively movable between a restrained elevated position extending transversely from the support structure and a dropped position disposed in a generally upright configuration, said support means including bracket assembly means, in use, being pivotally supported from said support structure and to said cantilever frame, said bracket assembly means including at least one strut member pivoted at one end region to the support structure and a latch member pivoted to said cantilever frame, said strut member being movable relative to said latch member while being retained therewith, said strut member including a first engagement element co-operable with a first engagement means of said latch member in the restrained elevated position of the cantilever frame to restrain said cantilever frame from moving downwardly from said elevated position, said strut member further including a second engagement element cooperable with a second engagement means of said latch member upon movement of said cantilever frame upwardly from said restrained elevated position to rotate said latch member about the pivotal connection to said cantilever frame whereby the latch member is held in sliding engagement with the strut member for at least sufficient time for the first engagement means of said latch member to not engage with the first engagement element of said strut member as the cantilever frame is lowered towards said dropped position.

Preferred features and aspects of this invention may be as defined in claims 2 to 9 as annexed hereto which are hereby made part of the disclosure of this specification.

In accordance with another aspect, the present invention also provides a latch and strut member assembly which in use is intended to support a cantilever frame, the latch member being tubular or channel shaped in construction through which the strut member may freely pass, said latch member including pivot means for connecting the latch member to the cantilever frame, said latch member further including first engagement means being adapted, in use to engage with a first engagement element of the strut member, said latch member also including second engagement means spaced from the first engagement means of the latch member, said second engagement means being adapted in use to engage with a second engagement element of the strut member, said latch member further including gripper means adapted to engage with and release from said strut member upon pivotal movement of the latch member about said pivot means, said gripper means holding said latch member engaged with said strut member for sliding movement therealong for at least a predetermined distance of said strut member.

Preferred features of this aspect of the invention may be as defined in claims 11 to 13 as annexed hereto which are hereby made part of this disclosure.

According to a still further aspect, the present invention also provides a latch member for use with a strut member intended to support a cantilever frame, the latch member being tubular or channel shaped in configuration having an internal region adapted to permit the strut member to freely pass therethrough while said latch member and said strut member are retained together, said latch member including pivot means for connecting the latch member to the cantilever frame, said latch member further including first engagement means being adapted, in use to engage with a first engagement element of the strut member, said latch member also including second engagement means spaced from the first engagement means of the latch member, said second engagement means being adapted in use to engage with a second engagement element of the strut member, said latch member further including gripper means adapted to engage with and release from said strut member upon pivotal movement of the latch member about said pivot means, said gripper means being adapted to hold said latch member engaged with said strut member in use for sliding movement therealong for at least a predetermined distance of said strut member.

Preferred features of this aspect of the invention may be as defined in claims 15 to 17 as annexed hereto which are hereby made part of the disclosure of this specification.

3a The arrangements described in the foregoing paragraphs and hereinafter utilize a simple pivoting latch member that is engagable and disengagable from a conventional strut member in a reliable way without complex operating catch assemblies or separate release cords or strings.

4 Further preferred features and aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment given in relation to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side view of apparatus according to the present invention with the cantilever frame in a dropped or lowered position; Fig. 2 is a side view similar to Fig. 1 showing the cantilever frame in an elevated position; Figs. 3 to 5 are views similar to Figs. 1 and 2 showing the apparatus in differing positions; and Fig 6 is a perspective view of gripper means utilized in the latch member shown in Figs. 1 to Referring to the drawings, one end of a cantilever frame 6 is shown pivoted at 8 to a support structure 7 which for the sake of illustration in this case comprises a pair of posts (only one of which is shown). The frame 6 may be a rectangular frame with parallel spaced lines intended for hanging clothes to dry being extended between sides or ends of the frame. Any type of frame 6 may be utilized and the separate lines for hanging clothes have not been shown as they do not form part of the invention. The support structure 7 may also be a variety of features including stand alone posts, a wall of a building or other structure, a separate frame structure intended to be attached to stand alone posts or a building wall, or any combination of these.

The annexed drawings also show a latch member 1 and a strut member 3 as an assembly 10. The strut member 3 is pivotally mounted at pivot means 9 to the support structure 7 at a position below the pivot means 9 connecting the cantilever frame 6 to the support structure 7. The pivot means 9 is located adjacent one end 11 of the strut member 3. The strut member 3 is conveniently made from rectangular tube from a suitable material such as tubular steel or the like. Located towards the free end 12 of the strut member 3 are a pair of abutment members 4 and 5 spaced apart from one another with the abutment member 4 extending from an underneath surface of the strut member 3 and the abutment member 5 extending from an upper surface of the strut member 3.

The latch member 1 is formed from a length of rectangular tube having internal dimensions sufficient to allow the strut member 3 to pass freely there through. In a possible alternative, the latch member 1 might be channel or "C" shaped. Conveniently the channel or shaped cross-section may include short leg portions on the open face of the channel or so as to retain the strut member 3 within its cross-section in relative sliding engagement therewith. Any other form of latch member 1 might also be used so long as the latch member 1 is retainable in sliding relationship with the strut member 3. The latch member 1 is pivotally connected to the cantilever frame 6 at pivot means 2 which is located adjacent both to an upper surface 13 and an upper end 14 of the latch member 1.

Located within the latch member 1 is a U-shaped gripping member 15, the features of which are best seen in Fig. 6. The gripping member 15 is located adjacent a lower end 16 of the latch member 1 and on an inner surface of the lower wall 17 of the latch member 1. The gripping member 15 has upstanding spaced flanges 18, 19 each of which has inwardly directed lug members 20, 21 with inwardly facing gripping surfaces 22, 23 spaced apart a distance less than the outer width of the strut member 3. Chamfer surfaces 24, 25 are provided leading to the gripping surfaces 22, 23 to assist with engaging same with the outer side wall surfaces of the strut member 3.

Operation of the cantilever frame 6, particularly for use as a clothes line, described above may be as follows. From the lowered inactive position shown in Fig. 1, the frame 6 may be lifted to just beyond the position shown in Fig. 2. In doing so, the upper open end 14 of the latch member 1 passes over the abutment member 5 because of the natural configuration (as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2) of the latch member 1. Once the lower end 16 of the latch member 1 passes the abutment member 5, the frame 6 may be released and an abutment means 26, formed by the upper wall lower end edge of the latch member 1, engages the abutment member 5 whereby the frame 6 is retained in the position shown in Fig.

2.

When it is desired to lower the frame 6 to the position shown in Fig. 1, the frame 6 may again be lifted until an abutment means 27, formed by the lower wall upper end edge of the latch member 1, engages with the abutment member 4 as shown in Fig. 3. In so doing, the latch member 1 is caused to rotate about the pivot means 2 in the direction of arrow 28 whereby the gripping member engages the side walls of the strut member 3. The latch member 1 is held in this 6 configuration as the frame member 6 is lowered and the strut member 3 slides relative to the gripping member 15 while still engaged by the gripping surfaces 22, 23. In this configuration, the abutment means 26 on the latch member 1 rides over the abutment member 5 on the strut member 3 as shown in Fig. 4 and the frame 6 can continue to be lowered towards the position shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 5, the latch member 1 naturally drops or rotates about pivot means 2 in the direction of arrow 29 to return the latch member 1 to a position relative to the strut member 3, shown in Figs. 1 and 2. If it was thought necessary, a cam device positioned on the lower face of the strut member 3 might also be provided to ensure the latch member is returned to this position.

It will of course be appreciated that in a clothes line construction it would be normally the case that two latch and strut member assemblies as described above would be located, one on either side of the cantilever frame 6. In a possible alternative, it might be possible in a lighter weight construction to provide one latch and strut member assembly as described above centrally of the cantilever frame 6. Other variations and modifications are possible within the scope of the claims annexed hereto.

Claims

1. A support means for supporting a cantilever frame pivotally supported from a support structure whereby the cantilever frame is selectively movable between a restrained elevated position extending transversely from the support structure and a dropped position disposed in a generally upright configuration, said support means including bracket assembly means which, in use, is pivotally supported from said support structure and to said cantilever frame, said bracket assembly means including at least one strut member pivoted at one end region to the support structure and a latch member pivoted to said cantilever frame, said strut member being movable relative to said latch member while being retained therewith, said strut member including a first engagement element cooperable with a first engagement means of said latch member in the restrained elevated position of the cantilever frame to restrain said cantilever frame from moving downwardly from said restrained elevated position, said strut member further including a second engagement element cooperable with a second engagement means of said latch member upon movement of said cantilever frame upwardly from said restrained elevated position to rotate said latch member about the pivotal connection to said cantilever frame whereby the latch member is held in sliding engagement with the strut member for at least sufficient time for the first engagement means of said latch member to not engage with the first engagement element of said strut member as the cantilever frame is lowered towards said dropped position.

2. A support means according to claim 1 wherein the bracket assembly means includes two said strut members each being cooperable with a said latch member whereby the strut members and the cooperating said latch members are spaced from one another.

3. A support means according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the or each said latch member is formed by a tubular or channel shaped member having an internal zone through which the said strut member extends.

4. A support means according to claim 3 wherein said internal zone has an upright dimension greater than an upright dimension of said strut member.

A support means according to claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the first engagement means of the or each said latch member and the first engagement element of the or each said strut member is formed on an upper side of the bracket assembly means.

6. A support means according to claim 5 wherein the second engagement means of the or each said latch member and the second engagement element of the or each said strut member is formed on a lower side of the bracket assembly means.

7. A support means according to any one of claims 3 to 6 wherein pivot means is provided connecting the or each said latch member to the cantilever frame, the pivot means being located above the second engagement means of the or each said latch member whereby the associated said strut member passes through the latch member between said pivot means and said second engagement means of the latch member.

8. A support means according to claim 7 wherein the or each said latch member includes a gripper means adapted to frictionally engage with and grip the associated said strut member when the latch member is rotated about said pivot means such that the gripper means moves towards the strut member whereby the gripper means slides along the strut member for a predetermined distance.

9. A support means according to claim 8 wherein the or each said strut member includes release means to release the frictional engagement of the gripper means from the strut member.

A latch and strut member assembly which in use is intended to support a cantilever frame, the latch member being tubular or channel shaped in construction through which the strut member may freely pass, said latch member including pivot means for connecting the latch member to the cantilever frame, said latch member further including first engagement means being adapted, in use to engage with a first engagement element of the strut member, said latch 0 member also including second engagement means spaced from the first Nengagement means of the latch member, said second engagement means being adapted in use to engage with a second engagement element of the strut member, said latch member further including gripper means adapted to engage N with and release from said strut member upon pivotal movement of the latch member about said pivot means, said gripper means holding said latch member 0 engaged with said strut member for sliding movement therealong for at least a predetermined distance of said strut member.

11. A latch and strut member assembly according to claim 10 wherein said first and second engagement means of said latch member are spaced apart a distance less than the distance between said first and second engagement elements of said strut member.

12. A latch and strut member assembly according to claim 11 wherein said gripper member includes inwardly projecting lug members having end surfaces facing towards one another and spaced apart a distance less than a width dimension of said strut member whereby said end surfaces frictionally engage outwardly facing surfaces of said strut member.

13. A latch and strut member assembly according to claim 12 wherein said lug members include chamfer surfaces leading to said end surfaces.

14. A latch member for use with a strut member intended to support a cantilever frame, the latch member being tubular or channel shaped in configuration having an internal region adapted to permit the strut member to freely pass therethrough while said latch member and said strut member are retained together, said latch member including pivot means for connecting the latch member to the cantilever frame, said latch member further including first engagement means being adapted, in use to engage with a first engagement element of the strut member, said latch member also including second engagement means spaced from the first engagement means of the latch member, said second engagement means being adapted in use to engage with a second engagement element of the strut member, said latch member further including gripper means adapted to engage with and release from said strut member upon pivotal movement of the latch member about said pivot means, said gripper means being adapted to hold said latch member engaged with said strut member in use for sliding movement therealong for at least a predetermined distance of said strut member.

A latch member according to claim 14 wherein said first and second engagement means of said latch member are spaced apart a distance less than the distance between said first and second engagement elements of said strut member.

16. A latch member according to claim 14 or claim 15 wherein said gripper member includes inwardly projecting lug members having end surfaces facing towards one another and spaced apart a distance less than a width dimension of said strut member whereby said end surfaces frictionally engage outwardly facing surfaces of said strut member.

17. A latch member according to claim 16 wherein said lug members include chamfer surfaces leading to said end surfaces.

18. A clothes line structure including at least one latch and strut member assembly according to any one of claims 10 to 13.

19. A clothes line structure including support means for supporting a cantilever frame according to any one of claims 1 to 9. AUSTRAL CLOTHES HOISTS PTY LTD WATERMARK PATENT TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS 290 BURWOOD ROAD HAWTHORN VICTORIA 3122 AUSTRALIA