US3110360A - Saw horse - Google Patents

Description

J. E. HEARN Nov. 12, 1963 SAW HORSE Filed Sept. 29, 1961 INVENTOR.

J0fl/1 192%? Uite States tet This invention relates generally to saw horses or work horses as they are sometimes known in the art, and more particularly to a saw horse which may be collapsed or folded into a relatively compact package, for ease and convenience in transporting arid/or storing the same.

Saw horses are well known in the art, but such articles of manufacture are generally or" more or less rigid construction, and due to the relative bulkiness of the article, transporting or storing thereof presents space problems.

The present invention provides a saw horse construc tion which is light in weight, and which is readily collapsed or folded for convenience in storing or transporting the saw horse, but which when unfolded into its conventional form, provides a generally rigid frame for work purposes.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an improved saw horse construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide a saw horse construction of light weight, but sturdy construction, and including means for readily folding or collapsing the saw horse into a relatively compact package.

Anot er object of the invention is to provide a saw horse construction of the above type which is easily folded or collapsed into a compact package for transporting or storage, but which is just as easily unfolded and set up for working purposes.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a saw horse construction including means for selectively varying the height of the saw horse.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a saw horse construction of the above type which is comparatively economical in construction, and which can be readily manufactured.

Gther objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a broken, side elevational view of a saw horse produced in accordance with the instant invention;

2 is an end elevational view of the FlG. 1 show- FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, sectional view taken generally along the plane of line 3-3 of PEG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, sectional, fragmentary elevational View of a modified form of retaining the legs of the saw horse in predetermined telescoped condition;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, side elevational View showing the component parts of the saw horse in folded condition.

Referring new again to the drawings, the saw horse may comprise a longitudinally extending rail or body element 1% with paired leg assemblies 14, 14, depending therefrom adjacent the ends of the body element it Each of the legs of each leg assembly 14 or 1 may comprise an upper portion in which is disposed in telescopin relation, a lower portion 13. The lower leg portion 13 may have a plurality of openings 2t) extending therethrough, which openings 29 are adapted for selective alignment with an opening 22. extending through the upper leg portion 16. A holding element 24, such as a bolt and nut assembly, may be disposed in the aligned of said openings 29, 22, for selectively holding the lower leg portion 18 in predetermined telescoped relation in the upper leg portion 16 to thereby provide for selective varying of the len th of each leg. A supporting plate or foot portion 25 may be provided at the lower end or" each lower leg portion 13, for steadying the saw horse when disposed in non-collapsed or working condition. Cross element 27 may be provided between the legs of each leg assembly, for rigidifying the latter. Each leg assembly 14, 14 is connected to the longitudinally extending body element id as by means of a hinged connecting plate 39.

Plate element 3d comprises an upper portion 32 secured to the body 1% of the work horse, and a lower portion 32 pivotally connected or hinged to the upper portion 32 and as at 33. The leg assemblies 14, 14,, may be connected to the low-er portion 32 of the respective plate element 39 by any suitable means, such as for instance, the threaded fastener means 34-, or, as for instance, by welds.

Abutment elements 36 are provided in secured relation to the underside of the body element iii, adjacent a corresponding end thereof, and adapted for abutting engagei cut with the lower portion 32, of the respective hinge plate for limiting outward pivotal movement of the corresponding leg assembly. The abutting face or portion 38 of each abutment element 36 is preferably disposed at a diagonal with respect to the body element it and as shown, so that the leg assemblies diverge outwardly in a downward direction, and with respect to one another, when the saw horse is in its non-collapsed or working condition.

A racket as is secured to the body element 16 generally centrally thereof, and brace assemblies 42 are pivotally mounted or connected, as at ed, to such bracket for swinging movement in a vertical plane. Each brace assembly comprises a paired arrangement of elongated strut elements 45, 45 which are pivotally coupled together as at 43 adjacent corresponding ends, and as by means of a pin, and with the strut ele i ents 46;, being preferably generally loosely pivotally connected as at 5%, to the respective cross member 27, for swinging movement in a generally vertical plane. A preferably tapered sleeve or collar member 52 is provided on each brace assembly 42 so that when the collar is slid down over the pinned adjacent ends of the strut elements 46, 45 such strut elements are held in generally rigid condition with respect to one another. ln this connection, the interior opening through the sleeve or collar is tapered divergingly in a downward direction so that the collar will be frictionally retained in place when in encircling or encompassing relation with the respective ends of strut elements 46, 46,.

Flexible bracket members ss, 56,, are secured to the underside of the body lu l, intermediate bracket 49 and each hinge plate 39, so that when the leg assemblies are swung inwardly to collapse the saw horse, the strut el ments as, do, can be engaged with the resilient legs 56 of a bracket and be releasably held or clamped in position, thus holding the leg assemblies in collapsed condition.

Referring now in particular to FIG. 5, when it is desired to collapse the saw horse for transporting or storage purposes, each of the collar members 52 may be slid lengthwise in a upward direction along the respective brace assembly to thereby permit pivotal movement between the articulated ends of the strut elements of each brace assembly. The leg assemblies 1 14 are then swung inwardly about their respective pivots 33, which may cause inward collapsing movement of the strut elements 46, 46 with respect to one another, until such strut elements are received in held relationship in the respective bracket 56,

56,, thereby holding the leg assemblies in collapsed condition.

The brace assemblies d2 are preferably so arranged that they may also be collapsed or pivoted outwardly with respect to one another about their pivot points 43, whereupon the brace assembly on, for instance, the left hand end (with reference to 1 16. 1) of the saw horse would swing outwardly and upwardly about pivot point 44 and be received in held relation in bracket 56,, on the right hand side of the saw horse, while the brace assembly on the right hand end of the saw horse would pivot outwardly and upwardly and be received in held coaction in the br ckct 56 on the left hand side of the saw horse. Strut elements 45, 4-6,, are preferably disposed in side-by-side pivoted relation, as best shown in FIG. 2, so that in the event that outward pivotal collapsing movement of the bracing assemblies is effected, they will not interfere with one another during such outward and upward swinging movement.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a modified form of means for holding the leg portions 16, 18 in predetermined telescoped relation. in this embodiment, the outer or upper leg portion 1% is provided with a locking pin assembly 66 which includes a spring 62 secured at one end to the outer leg element 16 and at the other end to a reciprocable pin member 54. Pin member 6 3 may include a head portion 66, for convenience in gripping the pin, and moving it outwardly against the resistance of the spring and out of locking coaction with a selected opening 67 in the lower leg portion 13.

The saw horse may be constructed of light weight materials, such as for instance high strength aluminum, and can be produced from standard forms of tubular and/or rod configurations of such aluminum. The lightness of weight is desirable in facilitating handling and use of the saw horse device.

From the foregoing discussion and accompanying drawings, it will be seen that the invention provides a novel saw horse construction which may be readily collapsed into a compact easily transported or stored package, including means for selectively varying the length of the legs of the saw horse, for facilitating worizing operations. The invention also provides a saw horse construction which may be readily collapsed or folded and which can be just as readily unfolded and set-up into working condition, and which when in the latter condition, provides a substantially rigid frame for working purposes.

The terms and expressions which have been used, are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of any of the features shown or described, or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

1 claim:

In a saw horse comprising, a longitudinally extending tubular body of light weight material, leg assemblies depending from said body adjacent opposite ends thereof for collapse the saw house into a compact package, said attaching means including hinge-like members extending transversely of the body and each having a lower abut merit plate portion to which the legs of the respective leg assembly are attached, abutment means depending from said body in outwandly oriented relation to said hingelilre members and adapted for abutting coaction with the respective plate portion, for limiting the outward pivotal movement of the respective leg assembly with respect to the body, selectively collapsible bracing means extending between each leg assembly and said body for rigidifying said saw horse in the latters non-collapsed condition, said bracing means of both leg assemblies being generally co-p'lanar, with each of said bracing means comprising a pair of elongated strut elements, a bracket depending from said body centrally thereof, one of said strut elements of each bracing means being pivotally connected at one end thereof to said transverse connecting element of the respective leg assembly, and the other of said strut elements of each bracing means being pivotally connected at one end thereof to said bracket along a common transver-sely extending axis, said strut elements being adapted for swinging movement in a generally vertical direction, the other ends of said strut elements of each of said bracing means being disposed in generally laterally juxtaposed condition and being pivotally connected together along a transversely extending axis adjacent the juxtaposed ends thereof, collar means selectively movable along respective of said strut elements for selectively holding said juxtaposed ends thereof in non-pivotal relation with respect to one another in the non-collapsed condition'of the saw horse, and clamping means for each of said bracing means, including laterally spaced resilient fingers depending from said body inwardly of the respective hinge-like member and intermediate the latter and said bracket, adapted to receive in snap-fastening releasible relation the respective bracing means when the latter is in the collapsed condition and the respective of said leg assemblies is in folded condition, for releasably holding said leg assemblies in said folded condition, said resilient clamping means in the last mentioned condition of the sawhorse being adapted to extend intermediate the legs of the respective leg assembly, and with the distance between each clamping means and the pivotal connection of the respective leg assembly being less than the distance between said transverse connecting element and the last mentioned pivotal connection of the respective leg assembly.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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