Abstract:
A miter measuring tape, for allowing a workman to readily and quickly measure a section of window or door frame casing stock from the inside point of a miter cut end of said stock section, having a tape measure with a hooking member of adjustable and fixable length pivotally connected to one end of said tape measure at the proximal end of said hooking member, with said hooking member having a hook at the distal end of said hooking member, said hook being used to secure the miter measuring tape to the outside point of said miter cut end of said stock section.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention pertains generally to carpentry measurement devices, more specifically to measurement of interior frame casing stock sections used in window frames and door frames, and in particular allows improved speed and accuracy of such measurement in cases where the stock has mitered ends, typically with 45 degree angles of the end edge of each stock section. 
   For measurement and cutting of framing material for a window or door of given desired dimensions, where each section of frame casing is to have mitered ends, so that each finished framing section has a longer outer length and a shorter inner length, the inner shorter length of each section of frame casing will equal a given desired dimension of the window or door opening. So there is a need to accurately and quickly measure the inner shorter length of a piece of frame casing stock, to make it equal to the corresponding desired window or door aperture dimension. 
   Current carpentry measurement devices known to applicant do not allow a workman to quickly attach an end of a tape measure at the end point of the inner length of a frame casing stock section, at a mitered end of the section. So after cutting a mitered end, the workman needs to manually align the tape measure end at that inner length end point, then stretch the tape measure out to the desired inner framing section length, lock the tape measure, and mark the other end, in order to measure the needed inner length of the section. This procedure is slow and causes inaccuracy particularly in measuring long pieces of stock. 
   The present invention deals with these problems by the general approach of providing a hooking member, pivotally attached to one end of the tape measure, with the hooking member having a hook at the outer end which the workman readily hooks to the outer point of the typically 45 degree mitered end which has previously been cut by the workman in one end of a framing casing stock section, and with the hooking member having a length equal to the length of the mitered end of the stock section, so that the end of the tape measure is automatically aligned at the end point of the inner length of the framing stock section. The hooking member may be adjustable to various fixed lengths for use with framing stock of varying size, or of fixed length for use with stock of a particular size. 
   It is not the intent of this application, by stating that certain embodiments of the present invention are suited to certain purposes or to dealing with certain problems, to necessarily limit the scope of the invention to only embodiments which are useful for said purposes or problems; it is instead the intent that the scope of the invention be determined by the claims as more fully stated below. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   As a summary, this section of course does not explicate the invention in all the detail of the subsequent detailed description and claims. It is intended that the relative brevity of this summary shall not limit the scope of the invention, which scope is to be determined by the claims, properly construed, including all subject matter encompassed by the doctrine of equivalents as properly applied to the claims. 
   In one broad aspect the invention is a miter measuring tape, for allowing a workman to readily and quickly measure a section of interior frame casing stock which may for example be frame casing stock used in window frames, from an inside point of a miter cut end of said stock section, said section end also having an outside point, comprising: a tape measure; and a hooking member of adjustable and fixable length, pivotally connected to one end of said tape measure at a proximal end of said hooking member, with said hooking member having a hook at a distal end of said hooking member, opposite said proximal end, said hook of a form allowing said workman to secure said miter measuring tape to said outside point of said end of said stock section. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the drawings, in which  FIGS. 1–4  depict the same embodiment, and  FIGS. 5 and 6  both depict an alternate embodiment, 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the invention in an initial, stored configuration. 
       FIG. 2  is an enlarged perspective view of the end of the tape measure and the hooking member unfolded into a typical orientation for measurement of a framing stock section. 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the invention aligned at one end of a framing stock section, in use of the invention. 
       FIG. 4  is an elevational view of the invention in use in measurement of a framing stock section. 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment in which the hooking member is detachable from the end of the tape measure. 
       FIG. 6 . is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   Those familiar with the art will understand that the invention may be employed in varied embodiments, for various specific purposes, without departing from the essential substance thereof. The description of any one embodiment given below is intended to illustrate an example rather than to limit the invention. This section is not intended to indicate that any one embodiment is necessarily generally preferred over any other one for all purposes, or to limit the scope of the invention by describing any such embodiment, which invention scope is intended to be determined by the claims, properly construed, including all subject matter encompassed by the doctrine of equivalents as properly applied to the claims. 
   Referring now to the drawings, in which like reference numbers denote like or corresponding elements, a workman desires to measure a framing stock section  10  from a miter cut end  12  thereof which the workman has already cut. When miter cut at both ends, the stock section  10  will have a longer outer side  14 , ending in an outer point  16 , and a shorter inner side  18 , ending at the miter cut inner point  20 . 
   The workman needs to measure the stock section  10  so that, when miter cut at both ends, the length of inner side  18  will equal the desired window or door aperture dimension. The problem is that there is nothing at the inner point  20  of the miter cut end  12  of stock section  10 , to which to hook the tape measure  22  so that the zero length end  24  of tape measure  22  will be fixed exactly at inner point  20 , the point from which measurement is to be made. 
   The present invention allows the workman to easily avoid this problem, using the hooking member  26 , pivotally connected to tape measure  22  at a proximal end of hooking member  26 , and having a hook  28  at the opposite, distal end of hooking member  26 . As detailed below, the workman may adjust and fix the length of hooking member  26  to be equal to the length of miter cut end  12  of stock section  10 . Then, simply by hooking hook  28  to the outer point  16  of stock section  10 , and grasping tape measure  22  and pulling hooking member  26  down along miter cut end  12  of stock section  10 , and then pulling tape measure  22  taught along inner side  18  of stock section  10 , the tape measure  22  will automatically be aligned with its zero length end  24  located at inner point  20  of the miter cut. 
   In a typical operation the workman will be doing equal angle miter cuts on multiple stock pieces of the same width, and will only need to adjust the length of hooking member  26  once at the beginning of mitering operations for all pieces of stock sections  10  of the same width. Then he can readjust the hooking member length before switching to framing stock of a different size. 
   In one embodiment of the invention, the length of the hooking member  26  is readily adjustable to a suitable fixed length by means of having the hooking member  26  formed of two slidably engaged sections  30 , which may be slid relative to one another in a direction parallel to a long axis of the member, and a set screw  32 , threaded through one of the sections  30 , and pressing against the other of the sections  30 . One of the sections  30  may be an outer housing, and the other of the sections  30  may slide within said outer housing. 
   The pivotal connection of the hooking member  26  and the tape measure  22  may be accomplished in a variety of specific forms. For example, and not by way of limitation, a wire type hinge pin  34  may be used to allow pivoting motion of hooking member  26 , with hinge pin  34  having a hinge-to-tape connector  36 , with a base  38 , secured to tape measure  22  by means of screws  40 , though rivets could of course be used instead of screws  40 . 
   Some Possible Variations of Embodiments 
   Those familiar with the art will understand that various embodiments of the invention may usefully be employed for various purposes. The variations described below are by way of example, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. 
   For example, the invention may be fabricated using a variety of materials, since no great mechanical strength is required. A variety of metals, plastics or wire type construction may be used. 
   Although the invention will perhaps most often be employed in a form allowing adjustment of the length of hooking member  26 , for use with framing stock of varying width, the invention could of course be of a form in which hooking member  26  is of fixed length, for use with framing stock of only one width and for only one desired miter cut angle. This form of the invention might be made of cloth, except for the hook  28 , which would be of metal or plastic. 
   Although the hooking member  26  may be attached to tape measure  22  in the manner already described, alternate means of attachment might be used instead. For example, a spring clip  42  might be used to secure hooking member  26  to a slot  44  in the connector  36  of an existing tape measure, as best seen in  FIG. 6 . 
   Similarly no particular form of set screw  32  need be used in fixing the length of the hooking member  26 : One may employ friction grip or wing nut hand-tightened screws, or allen key type screws, for example. 
   Though the most common use of the invention will likely be in connection with miter cuts inclined at a 45 degree angle with respect to the framing stock, i.e. the angle between the outer side  14  and the miter cut end  12  of stock section  10 , as best seen in  FIG. 4 , there is of course nothing to preclude use of the invention in connection with making miter cuts of other angular orientations. For framing stock of a given width, the needed length of hooking member  26  will of course need to be suitably adjusted if the miter cut angle is changed from 45 degrees to some other angle, so that the length of hooking member  26  will equal the different length of the differently-angled miter cut end  12  of stock section  10 . 
   For whatever framing stock width and miter cut angle may be involved, the workman will be able to simply adjust the length of hooking member  26  to correspond to the length of miter cut end  12 , and fix it at that length, for all adjustable hooking member embodiments, and will have no need to do any calculation taking into account the length of miter cut end  12 , as would be necessary if the zero length end  24  of tape measure  22  were to be hooked directly to stock section  10  at outer point  16  of the miter cut.