US3332598A

US3332598A - Drapery pinhook tool

Info

Publication number: US3332598A
Application number: US503543A
Authority: US
Inventors: Adam P Niel
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1965-10-23
Filing date: 1965-10-23
Publication date: 1967-07-25
Anticipated expiration: 1984-07-25
Also published as: GB1130197A

Description

July 25, 1967 A. p. NlEL 3, 3

DRAPERY PINHOOK TOOL Filed Oct. 25. 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Afi/fM ,Q A//f/ wan/0.4.

I A. P. NIEL DRAPERY PINHOOK TOOL July 25, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 23 1965 July 25, 1967 MEL 3,332,598

DRAPERY PINHOOK TOOL Filed Oct. 23. 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. 4174M 2 M12 United States Patent 3,332,598 DRAPERY PINHOOK TOOL Adam P. Niel, Los Angeles, Calif, assignor to George F. McMurray, Glendale, Calif. Filed Oct. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 503,543 20 Claims. (Cl. 227-107) This invention relates to a magazine-loaded tool for dispensing and inserting drapery pinhooks into drapes, curtains, and similar fabric articles.

Drapery pinhooks have been used for many years as a convenient way of hanging a drape or curtain from a traverse rod or other conventional support. Such pinhooks are formed from heavy-gage wire in several standard sizes, and include a shank or pin portion with a sharp point for insertion into the upper edge of the drape. When so installed, the pinhook provides a hook portion in the general shape of an inverted U which is positioned over the traverse rod or through a conventional clip which is in turn slidably mounted on the traverse rod or other support.

While the pinhooks can be picked up by a worker and manually inserted in a drape, this practice is unsatisfactory for several reasons. Considerable force must be exerted to insert the pin portion into heavy fabrics from which drapes are typically constructed, and it is difficult to obtain an adequate grip on the relatively small pinhook. Furthermore, repetitious manual installation is uncomfortable or even painful for the worker, and is too cumbersome and slow to be an efi'icient production step in the manufacture of drapes.

To overcome these problems, a variety of tools have been developed to speed and simplify the installation of drapery pinhooks. Such tools provide some means for mechanically holding a pinhook during installation, and may include a magazine or holder to store a quantity of pinhooks which are individually dispensed for installation. The tools may provide a hand grip for manual operation, or may be bench mounted and motor driven.

A prime objective of such tools is to promote speed and efliciency of pinhook handling and installation. Known tools fail to achieve this objective because they are awkward and slow to load with a stock of pinhooks. Typically, pinhooks must be carefully oriented and loaded, one at a time, into a channel or spindle in the tool magazine. If the pinhooks, as obtained from the manufacturer, are strung together by some means, this stringing means must be carefully removed before the pinhooks are painstakingly fed into the magazine. The pinhooks are awkward to maintain in alignment during this process, and considerable time is wasted in carrying out the loading procedure.

The tool of this invention overcomes these problems and includes a housing into which a magazine loaded with many pinhooks may be installed in a few seconds. The pinhooks are locked on a magazine rack by a retainer. The tool is actuated after magazine installation to release the retainer. After retainer release, the pinhooks are confined within the housing and cannot inadvertently slide out of alignment or out of the tool. The wasted time and motion formerly involved in tool loading is thereby eliminated, and a convenient, easily operated tool is ready to dispense and install pinhooks.

Briefly stated, the drapery pinhook tool of this invention comprises an elongated rack adapted to store a plurality of drapery pinhooks along its length. Retaining means are releasably engaged with an end of the rack for retaining the pinhooks on the rack. Mounting means are adapted to engage the rack, and releasingmeans are movably secured to the mounting means. The releasing means are operable to release the retaining means after "ice the rack is engaged with the mounting means whereby the pinhooks may move off the end of the rack to be dispensed by the tool.

In a presently preferred form of the invention, the retaining means comprises a peg which is engaged in a hole at the end of the rack. The peg extends laterally beyond the rack to block movement of the hooks off the end of the rack. Preferably, the rack and peg which comprise the magazine are molded from plastic or a similar inexpensive material, and can be discarded after a single use.

The mounting means is preferably formed as a handle which includes a housing into which the magazine is inserted. A drive plate is secured to the handle, and is movable from a pinhook-engaging position to a pinhookdispensing position. A lug is secured to the drive plate and is engageable with the magazine peg after the magazine is installed in the housing. Moving the drive plate from the pinhook-engaging position to the pinhook-dispensing position causes the lug to engage and eject the peg from the magazine rack, freeing the hooks to move individually off the rack into engagement with the drive plate. Further cycling of the drive plate moves individual pinhooks into the pinhook-dispensing position for insertion in a drape.

The invention will be further described with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of the drapery pinhook tool of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the tood;

FIG. 3 is an elevation of a magazine rack for loading pinhooks into the tool;

FIG. 4 is a view on line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a peg for securing pinhooks on the rack;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view on line 6-6 of FIG. 3, with the peg installed in the rack;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of several components of the tool handle;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a magazine housing;

FIG. 9 is a view on line 99 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a view on line 1010 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a drive plate carrying a large-size pinhook;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the drive plate carrying a small-size pinhook;

FIG. 13 is an elevation of the handle, partly in crosssection, showing the relation of the magazine and drive plate in the tool;

FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 13, but showing the drive plate positioned to eject the peg; and

FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIG. 13, but showing a pinhook engaged with the drive plate after ejection of the peg.

A drapery pinhook tool 10 according to the invention is shown generally in FIGS. 1 and 2. The tool is adapted to accept and dispense conventional drapery pinhook 12, one of which is shown in FIG. 2 in a dispensing position ready for engagement with a drape.

A typical pinhook 12 is shown in detail in FIG. 11. The pinhook includes a pin portion 14 having a pointed end 15, and a generally U-shaped hook portion 17. The hook portion includes a first arm 18 adjacent the pin portion and connected to an end of the pin portion opposite pointed end 15 by a curved web 19. The end of the first arm opposite the curved web merges into a loop portion 20, which in turn merges into a second arm 21. The second arm curves first outwardly away from the first arm, then inwardly toward the first arm, and finally outwardly to a tip 22. Curved web 19 forms an eye or head disposed approximately opposite tip 22, and these two portions of the pinhook define a narrowed opening to the interior of the U-shaped hook portion.

The pinhook is installed on a drape (not shown) by inserting point in the drape and pushing the entire pin portion into the drape. The pinhook is formed of a relatively stiff fare to pinch or clamp the drapery securely between the pin portion and first arm 18.

Tool 10 will be described in terms of its two major subassemblies which are a magazine and a handle. A magazine suitable for use in the tool is shown in FIGS. 36, and includes pinhook rack 27 and a retaining peg 28.

The pinhook rack has an elongated base 30 to which is secured an elongated, upwardly extending member 31. An elongated lower rail 32 is secured to the upper part of member 31, and extends parallel to the base and laterally away (to the left as viewed in FIG. 4) from one side of the member to form a first channel 33 between the lower rail and base. A series of ribs 34 extend upwardly from the top of member 31, and an elongated upper rail 35 is secured across the tops of the ribs to extend parallel to the base.

An elongated intermediate rail 36 is secured to ribs 34, and extends parallel to the base between lower rail 32 and upper rail 35. The intermediate rail extends laterally away from the ribs to form an enlarged center section on the pinhook rack, and to form asecond channel 37 between the intermediate and lower rails.

An elongated stiffening rail 38 is secured to the ribs between the lower and intermediate rails. A series of stiffening ribs 39 are secured to and extend between

rails

32 and 38, and a stiffening web 40 extends between

rails

36 and 38. A series of gussets 41 are secured to base 30 and member 31 to stiffen the pinhook rack.

A stop plate or flange 42 is secured adjacent the rear end of the base, and extends upwardly from the base across and laterally beyond the ends of the several rails. An elongated arm 43 is secured to the base and the rear of the flange, and extends upwardly from the base to terminate in a hook or clip 44 which overhangs the top of the flange.

A boss 45 is formed laterally across the front end of intermediate rail 36, and includes a tapered hole 46 therethrough. As best seen in FIG. 6, the hole includes an annular shoulder 47 forming a region of reduced diameter at one end of the hole. Preferably, top and bottom portions 48 of the hole are flattened (see'FIG. 3) in the region extending away from the annular shoulder.

To load the pinhook rack, a stack of pinhooks 12 is slipped over the front end of the rack and pushed along the rack to abut flange 42. As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the enlarged center section of the rack fits inside the hook portions of the pinhooks. The width of intermediate rail 36 is chosen to exceed the spacing between web 19 and tip 22 forming the narrowed opening to the hook por-' tion of the pinhook, and the pinhooks are thereby prevented from sliding upwardly off the rack.

Loop portions 20 of the pinhooks rest on upper rail 35, and webs 19 of the pinhooks fit within first channel 33 of the rack. The rack is also useful with small pinhooks (such as pinhooklfil shown in. FIG. 12) as the web portion of the small pinhooks will fit within second channel 37 of the rack. After the rack is fully loaded with a supply of pinhooks, retaining peg 28 is inserted in the hole to trap the pinhooks between the peg and flange 42.

Referring to FIG. 5, the retaining peg has a round head 50, and a round shaft 51 extends from the head to form an annular shoulder 53 where the shaft and head abut. The diameter of shaft 51 is substantially smaller than hole 46 in the pinhook rack, slightly smaller than the distance between flattened portions 48 in the hole, and substantially larger than the inside diameter of annular shoulder 47 in hole 46. The end of the shaft away from the head has a necked-down portion 54 having a diameter slightly smaller than the inside diameter of annular shoulder 47. An enlarged button 56 is formed near the end of portion 54, and has a diameter slightly larger, say

' 4 approximately 0.002 inch, than the inside diameter of annular shoulder 47.

The retaining peg is shown installed in the rack in FIG. 6, the peg and rack are formed of a resilient plastic material such as polypropylene, whereby the button can be forced past the annular shoulder by a gentle pressure on the peg head as thepeg is inserted in the rack hole. The peg is thus retained in the hole and will not be accidentally dislodged if the magazine is subjected to shock or vibration. As shown in FIG. 6, the peg head and button bloclt the egress of pinhooks off the leading end of the rack, and pinhooks installed on the rack are thus confined between the peg and stop plate 42. As the peg shaft is smaller than hole 46, the peg may rock fore and aft (parallel to base 30) between the flattened top and bottom of the hole.

The handle assembly of tool 10 is shown in exploded view in FIG. 7, and includes a base plate 60, a'cover plate 61, and a drive plate 62 which is slidably disposed between the base plate and cover plate. The base plate includes a hand-grip portion 64 which has an elongated recess 65 to receive a coil spring 66. Extending away from the hand-grip portion is an enlarged portion 67 which is relieved to form a recess 65 to receive the drive plate. As shown in FIG. I, a bottom surface 70 of the base plate is beveled to place the handle assembly at a convenient angle when in use.

Cover plate 61 includes a hand-grip portion 71 which has a recess 72 to enclose spring 66. A recess channel 73 in the hand-grip portion extends forwardly from recess 72 to engage and guide the drive plate. As best seen in FIG. 9, the hand-grip portions of the cover plate and base plate fit together to enclose the coil spring and to form a smooth, flattened handle which is canted to position the users wrist in a comfortable, natural position when the tool is'in use. Extending from the hand-grip portion of the cover plate is an enlarged portion 74 which includes a rectangular aperture 75. The sides of the upper part of the aperture are recessed inwardly to form a shoulder 76.

The front of enlarged portion 74 includes a sloping shelf 77. A retaining-peg ejection slot 78 extends forwardly from the front of aperture 75 through the shelf. A side wall 79 extends upwardly from the'forward end of the sloping shelf. A member 80 extends from the top of the side wall across a portion of shelf, and includes a viewing aperture 81.

As best seen in FIG. 10, sloping shelf 77 and member 80 define a slot through which a scale or spacing gage 82 may slide. The spacing gage has a number of spaced indentations 83 in its bottom surface to engage a raised detent' 84 on the surface of the shelf. The top of. the spacing gage is graduated as shown in FIG. 2 to show the spacing of the tool from the margin of a drapery in which pinhooks are to be installed. The graduation indi: cating the selected spacing is visible through aperture 81.

Drive plate 62 has a body portion 86 dimensioned to fit in recess 63 of the base plate. An arm 88 extends rearwardly from the body portion and terminates in a tip 89 which fits within coil spring 66 as best seen in FIG. 9. Arm 88 is dimensioned to be a slide fit in channel 73 of the cover plate. An operating knob 90 extends frombody portion 86 adjacent arm 88.

The top of the drive plate is relievedto'form a lug 93 shaped to engage two different sizes of drapery pinhooks. The forward or leading edge of the lug has a first cup-shaped depression 94 and a second cup-shaped depression 95. The lug has a curved trailing edge 96 and the leading and trailing edges are joined by a rounded nose 97. A ramp 98 slopes upwardly and forwardly from the bottom of the trailing edge to the top surface of the lug adjacent the leading edge.

FIG. 11 shows a large pinhook 12 engaged with the drive-plate lug. The pinhook drops on the lug from the top, the lug fitting inside the hook portion of the pin:

hook. Web 19 of the pinhook fits within cup-shaped portion 94 of the lug, whereby the pinhook cannot slide sideways off the lug unless force is exerted to spread first arm 18 and second arm 21 of the pinhook suificiently apart to pass off the lug. Fig. 12 shows a small pinhook 101 engaged with the drive-plate lug. Web 102 of the small pinhook engages second cup-shaped portion 95 of the lug to retain the pinhook on the lug in the manner just described.

The handle also includes a magazine housing 105, best seen in FIG. 8. The housing includes a top 106 and a pair of sides 107, which are joined by a third side 108. The third side has an opening 109 to engage clip 44 of the pinhook rack. The fourth side of the housing is open to accept the pinhook magazine.

The base of the magazine housing opposite top 106 has an outwardly extending flange 111 around the periphery of the housing. The flange includes an aperture 113 which will be in alignment with opening 78 when the magazine housing is engaged with the cover plate. Side 108 includes an elongated recess 115 to provide clearance for pointed ends 15 of pinhooks mounted on a magazine installed in the housing.

The handle is assembled by inserting the magazine housing through aperture 75 in the cover plate until flange 111 on the housing seats against shoulder 76 in the cover plate. Drive plate 62 and spring 66 are then sandwiched between the cover plate and base plate which are secured together by screws 120 threaded into holes 121.

To operate the tool, the magazine is first loaded by installing a supply of pinhooks on the magazine rack. Preferably, this would be the final step in the manufacturing process of the pinhooks, and they would be provided by the manufacturer to the user on fully loaded racks. The pinhook manufacturer would also insert peg 28 in the magazine rack to secure the pinhooks in place. The loaded magazine is then inserted by the user in the magazine housing 105, base 30 of the magazine rack forming the fourth side of the housing. Clip 44 of the rack passes through aperture 109 in the magazine housing and engages side 108 to secure the magazine in place.

Referring to FIG. 13, the weight of the pinhooks rocks head 50 of the retaining peg downwardly toward the floor of the relieved portion of the drive plate just behind the rear end of ramp 98. The drive plate is held in a forward position by spring 66. To eject the retaining peg, the drive plate is moved rearwardly against the spring to the full extent of the drive plate travel. As the drive plate is retracted, head 50 on the loosely secured retaining peg slides smoothly up ramp 98 on the drive-plate lug and finally drops downwardly so shoulder 53 on the retaining peg engages the leading edge on the drive plate. Relative positions of the retaining peg and retracted drive plate are shown in FIG. 14. When the drive plate is returned to its normal forward position, button 56 on the retaining-peg shaft is resiliently forced past shoulder 47 in hole 46 in the magazine rack, and the retaining peg is ejected from the tool through

openings

78 and 113,

With the retaining peg removed, pinhooks are free to drop downwardly off the magazine rack onto the driveplate lug each time the drive plate is actuated to its retracted or rearward position. The engagement of a pinhook and the lug is shown inFIG. 15. When the drive plate is returned to its forward position, the pin portion of the pinhook extends beyond the front of the tool through the slot formed by recess 68 as shown in FIG. 2.

Using the spacing gage to establish the initial penetration point of the pin portion into the drape, the pinhook is then forced into the drape. 'The pinhook is snugly secured to the drape by pin portion 14- and first arm 18, and a quick rearward motion of the tool disengages the pinhook from the drive-plate lug,

arms

18 and 21 of the 'pinhook spreading resiliently to pass over the lug.

Recycling the drive plate positions another pinhook for insertion in the drape, and this operation may be repeated until the magazine is exhausted. The magazine rack is then removed from the magazine housing and replaced with a fully loaded magazine. The magazine rack may be reused, but in most applications can be economically discarded after a single use as it is formed from inexpensive plastic.

Installation of the magazine in the handle takes only a few seconds in contrast to the time-consuming hand loading required in the past. The time wasted in replenishing the supply of pinhooks in earlier tools is thus completely eliminated, and the user of the tool is permitted to direct his attention and energy to productive activity.

The tool is particularly versatile in its capability to accept pinhooks of several different sizes without removal or replacement of the drive plate. The canted hand grip and beveled base plate puts the users hand at a natural, comfortable angle above the drape, and the tool may be used for long periods without strain.

The tool of this invention has been described with reference to a specific configuration which incorporates a retaining peg adapted for temporary engagement with a magazine rack. It is to be understood that the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims is not limited to this specific configuration. Other removable retaining devices which can be ejected by a drive member on the tool will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and are within the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, the inventive concept is not limited to hand-operated tools, and has utility in bench-mounted power-operated pinhook tools and other styles of pinhook tools which can be adapted for magazine loading.

I claim:

1. A drapery pinhook tool comprising an elongated rack adapted to store a plurality of drapery pinhooks along its length, retaining means releasably engaged with an end of the rack for retaining the pinhooks on the rack, mounting means adapted to engage the rack, and releasing means movably secured to the mounting means and operable to release the retaining means after the rack is engaged with the mounting means whereby the pinhooks may move off the end of the rack.

2. A drapery pinhook tool comprising an elongated rack adapted to store a plurality of drapery pinhooks along its length, retaining means releasably engaged with an end of the rack for retaining the pinhooks on the rack, a handle adapted to engage the rack, and a drive plate movably secured to the handle and operable to release the retaining means after the rack is engaged with the harglle whereby the pinhooks may move off the end of the rac 3. A drapery pinhook tool comprising an elongated rack adapted to store a plurality of drapery pinhooks along its length, retaining means releasably engaged with an end of the rack for retaining the pinhooks on the rack, a handle adapted to engage the rack, a scale slidably engaged with the handle, and a drive plate movably secured to the handle and operable to release the retaining means after the rack is engaged with the handle whereby the pinhooks may move off the end of the rack.

4. A drapery pinhook tool comprising an elongated rack adapted to store a plurality of drapery pinhooks along its length, a clip secured to the rack, retaining means releasably engaged with an end of the rack for retaining the pinhooks on the rack, a handle having a housing adapted to engage the rack, the housing including an aperture through which the clip extends to latch with the housing, and a drive plate movably secured to the handle and operable to release the retaining means after the rack is engaged with the handle whereby the pinhooks may move off the end of the rack.

5. A drapery pinhook tool comprising an elongated rack adapted to store a plurality of drapery pinhooks along its length, retaining means releasably engaged with an end of the rack for retaining the pinhooks on the rack,

a handle adapted to engage the rack, and a drive plate secured to the handle and movable from a pinhook-engaging position to a pinhook-dispensing position, the drive plate being operable to release the retaining means after the rack is engaged with the handle whereby the pinhooks may move one at a time off the end of the rack into engagement with the drive plate when it is in the pinhookengaging position.

6. A drapery pinhook tool as defined in claim 5, and further comprising a spring engaged with the drive plate and handle for urging the drive plate into the pinhookdispensing position.

7. A drapery pinhook tool comprising an elongated rack adapted to store a plurality of drapery pinhooks along its length, retaining means releasably engaged with an end of the rack for retaining the pinhooks on the rack, a handle adapted to engage the rack, a drive plate movably secured to the handle, a lug secured to the drive plate and positionable to release the retaining means after the rack is engaged with the handle whereby the pinhooks may move serially off the end of the rack, the lug being further positionable to engage individual pinhooks moving off the end of the rack.

8. A drapery pinhook tool as defined in claim 7 in which the lug comprises an elongated body having a leading edge and a trailing edge, the two edges converging together at an end of the body, the leading edge including a pair of cup-shaped depressions spaced from the end of the body whereby the lug is engageable within pinhooks of two difierent sizes.

9. A drapery pinhook tool comprising an elongated rack adapted to store a plurality of drapery pinhooks along its length, a retaining peg releasably engaged with an end of the rack for retaining the pinhooks on the rack,

mounting means adapted to engage the rack, and releasing means movably secured to the mounting means and operable to eject the retaining peg from the rack after the rack is engaged with the mounting means whereby the pinhooks may move off the end of the rack.

10. A drapery pinhook tool comprising an elongated rack adapted to store a plurality of drapery pinhooks along its length, one end of the rack having a hole therethrough, a retaining peg releasably engaged in the hole and extending laterally beyond the sides of the rack for retaining the pinhooks on the rack, mounting means adapted to engage the rack, and releasing means movably secured to the mounting means and operable to eject the retaining peg from the hole in the rack after the rack is engaged with the mounting means whereby the pinhooks may move off the end of the rack.

11. A drapery pinhook tool comprising an elongated rack adapted to store a plurality of drapery pinhooks along its length, one end of the rack having a hole therethrough, an annular shoulder formed on the rack in the hole to define a region of reduced diameter in the hole, a retaining peg having a shaft and an enlarged button formed at one end ofthe shaft, the button having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the annular shoulder whereby the peg shaft is retained in the hole when the button is resiliently forced past the shoulder, the peg extending laterally beyond the sides of the rack when installed in the hole whereby pinhooks are retained on the rack, mounting means adapted to engage the rack, and releasing means movably secured to the mounting means and operable to eject the retaining peg from the rack after the rack is engaged with the mounting means whereby the pinhooks may move oif the end of the rack.

12. A drapery pinhook tool as defined in claim 11 in which the retaining-peg shaft has a diameter substantially smaller than the diameter of the hole in the rack whereby the shaft is free to move within the hole within a limited range when the peg is installed in the rack.

13. A drapery pinhook tool comprising an elongated rack adapted to store a plurality of drapery pinhooks along its length, a retaining peg releasably engaged with an end of the rack for retaining the pinhooks on the rack, the peg having an enlarged head extending beyond the rack, mounting means in engagement with the rack, and releasing means secured to the mounting means and movable between first and second positions, the releasing means having a ramp adjacent the peg head arranged whereby moving the releasing means from the first to the second position causes the peg head to slide along the ramp into engagement with the end of the ramp, and returning the releasing means to the first position causes the engaged peg head and ramp to move away from the rack whereby the peg is ejected from the rack and pinhooks may move off the end of the rack.

14. A drapery pinhook tool conprising an elongated rack adapted to store a plurality of drapery pinhooks along its length, a retaining peg releasably engaged with an end of the rack for retaining the pinhooks onthe rack, the peg having an enlarged head extending beyond the rack, a handle adapted to engage the rack, a drive plate movably secured to the handle, and a lug secured to the drive plate and positionable to engage the peg head after the rack is engaged with the handle whereby motion of the drive plate causes the lug to eject the peg from the rack and the pinhooks may thereafter moveioft the end of the rack into individual engagement with the lug.

15. A magazine for storing a plurality of drapery pinhooks, the pinhooks having a pair of arms joined by a resilient loop portion, the arms converging toward each other to form a U-shaped hook portion having an opening which is narrower than its interior; the magazine comprising an elongated rack having first and second ends, the rack having an enlarged center section to fit in the interior of the hook portion, the center section being wider than the hook-portion opening, means secured at the first end of the rack for blocking egress of the pinhooks oh? the first end, and retaining means releasably secured at the second end for blocking egress of the pinhooks off the second end.

16. A magazine for storing a plurauity of drapery pinhooks, the pinhooks having a pair of arms joined by a resilient loop portion, the arms converging toward each other to form a U-shaped hook portion having an opening which is narrower than its interior; the magazine comprising an elongated plastic rack having first and second ends, the rack having an enlarged center section to fit in the interior of the hook portion, the center section being wider than the hook-portion opening, a flange secured at the first end of the rack and extending laterally from the rack for blocking egress of the pinhooks ofi the first end, and retaining means releasably secured at the second end for blocking egress of the pinhooks off the second end.

17. A magazine for storing a plurality of drapery pinhooks, the pinhooks having a pair of arms joined by a resilient loop portion, the arms converging toward each other to form a U-shaped hook portion having an opening which is narrower than its interior; the magazine comprising an elongated rack having first and second ends, the second end having a hole, the rack having an enlarged center section to fit in the interior of the hook portion, the center section being wider than the hook-portion opening, means secured at the first end of the rack for blocking egress of the pinhooks 013? the first end, and a retaining peg releasably engaged in the hole and extending laterally beyond the rack for blocking egress of the pinhooks oif the second end.

18. A magazine for storing a plurality of drapery pinhooks, the pinhooks having a pair of arms joined by a resilient loop portion, the arms converging toward each other to form a U-shaped hook portion having an opening which is narrower than its interior; the magazine comprising an elongated rack having first and second ends, the second end having a hole therethrough, an annular shoulder formed on the rack in the hole to define a region of reduced diameter in the hole, the rack having an enlarged center section to fit in the interior of the hook portion, the center section being wider than the hook-portion opening, means secured at the first end of the rack for blocking egress of the pinhooks 0135 the first end, and a retaining peg having an enlarged head and a shaft extending from the head, the shaft having an enlarged button formed at the end of the shaft opposite the head, the button having a diameter slightly larger than diameter of the annular shoulder whereby the peg shaft is retained in the hole when the button is resiliently forced past the shoulder, the peg head extending laterally beyond the rack when the peg is installed in the hole for blocking egress of the pinhooks off the second end.

19. A magazine as defined in claim 18 in which the retaining-peg shaft has a diameter substantially smaller than the diameter of the hole in the rack whereby the shaft is free to move within the hole within a limited range when the peg is installed in the rack.

20. A magazine for storing a plurality of drapery pinhooks, the pinhooks having -a pin portion, a pair of 10 arms joined by a resilient loop portion, the arms converging toward each other to form a U-shaped hook portion having an opening which is narrower than its interior, and a web portion joining the pin portion and hook portion; the magazine comprising an elongated rack having first and second ends, the rack having an enlarged center section to fit in the interior of the hook portion, the cent-er section being wider than the hookportion opening, the rack having first and second elongated channels to provide clearance for the web portions of the pinhooks, the channels being spaced apart whereby the web portion of a large pinhook fits within the first channel and the web portion of a small pinhook fits within the second channel, means secured at the first end of the rack for blocking egress of the pinhooks ofi? the first end, and retaining means releasably secured at the second end for blocking egress of the pinhooks ofi the second end.

No references cited.

GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, JR., Primary Examiner,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,332,598 July 25, 1967 Adam P. Niel It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below Column 2, line 56, for "pinhook" read pinhooks column 3, line 4, for "fare" read wire column 8, line 40, for "plurauity" read plurality Signed and sealed this 23rd day of July 1968.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD J. BRENNER Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer

Claims

7. A DRAPERY PINHOOK TOOL COMPRISING AN ELONGATED RACK ADAPTED TO STORE A PLURALITY OF DRAPPERY PINHOOKS ALONG ITS LENGTH, RETAINING MEANS RELEASABLY ENGAGED WITH AN END OF THE RACK FOR RETAINING THE PINHOOKS ON THE RACK, A HANDLE ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE RACK, A DRIVE PLATE MOVABLY SECURED TO THE HANDLE, A LUG SECURED TO THE DRIVE PLATE AND POSITONABLE TO RELEASE THE RETAINING MEANS AFTER THE RACK IS ENGAGED WITH THE HANDLE WHEREBY THE PINHOOKS MAY MOVE SERIALLY OFF THE END OF THE RACK, THE LUG BEING FURTHER POSITIONABLE TO ENGAGE INDIVIDUAL PINHOOKS MOVING OFF THE END OF THE RACK.