Patent ID: 6240856
Filing Date: 2001-06-05
Classification: B25H

Abstract:
A vehicle tool tray for holding tools, fasteners and small parts, comprising:a) a base, the base being T-shaped, having a shaft and a crossbar, the base being mounted on a plurality of casters;b) a vertical post having an upper section and a lower section, the upper section having a plurality of spaced apart slots defined therein, the lower section being fixedly attached to said base, the lower section being a hollow tube and the upper section being T-shaped, having a shaft and a crossbar, the shaft of the upper section having an outside perimeter slightly smaller than the inside perimeter of the lower section so that the shaft of the upper section is slidably disposed in the lower section;c) a lock mechanism for temporarily clamping the upper section and the lower section of said vertical post in fixed relation in order to prevent sliding movement of the upper section, the lock mechanism having:i) a bracket fixedly attached to the lower section of said vertical post, the bracket having two side flanges extending normal to said vertical post and being joined by a web in order to define a U-shape, said vertical post having a rectangular opening defined therein disposed between the side flanges, the web having a hole defined therein;ii) a crank lever having a cylindrical handle and a flat lug extending substantially normal to said cylindrical handle, the flat lug having an aperture, a first hole, and a second hole defined therein;iii) a cam having wedge shaped body, a tapered edge and a blunt edge, the blunt edge having a notch defining a yoke, a bore being defined through the yoke, the body having a hole defined therein;iv) a pivot pin extending through the side flanges of said bracket, the bore defined through said cam, and the aperture defined in the lug of said crank lever, the lug being inserted into said bracket from below and disposed in the yoke of said cam, the handle protecting away from said vertical post, said cam being centered on said pivot pin by a pair of roll pins extending transversely through said pivot pin;v) a handle bias spring having a first end inserted in the second hole defined in the lug and a second end inserted in the hole defined in the web of said bracket, the spring biasing the handle upward; andvi) a cam bias spring having a first end inserted in the first hole defined in the lug and a second end inserted in the hole defined in the cam body; andvii) wherein the height of said vertical post is locked by inserting the tapered edge of said cam through one of said plurality of slots defined in the upper section of said vertical post, the height being adjusted by pulling the handle down while lifting said tray slightly, adjusting the height, and releasing the handle;d) a tray mounted on the crossbar of the upper section of said vertical post, said tray extending from said vertical post in a horizontal plane parallel to and in the same direction as the shaft of said base, the tray having a bottom surface; ande) a sliding drawer mounted on the bottom surface of said tray.