Abstract:
A simple, compact stand is designed to attach to various types of hand implements with an elongated handle, such as a rake, that employs a leg that folds down to support the hand implement in an upright position. The leg folds upright out of the way when the rake is being used. The leg includes a foot with two extending protrusion on either side of the foot, which provide stability on surfaces that are not flat, as well as flat surfaces.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/234,288 filed Sep. 29, 2015 “Rake Stand”, by Richard J. Zenda that is incorporated by reference as if set forth in its entirety herein. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a novel device for holding a rake upright, and more specifically for a compact, simple, and novel device for holding a rake upright. 
         [0004]    2. Discussion of Related Art 
         [0005]    When using a hand implement with a long handle, such as a rake, if the user has to stop using the rake and do some other task, (s)he may put the rake down until (s)he resumes raking again. This requires the user to bend down to pick up the rake. As the user gets older, bending over to pick up objects off of the ground becomes more difficult. 
         [0006]    Also, as the user gets older, there is a greater chance that the user will acquire arthritis causing back pain when the user bends over. 
         [0007]    When the user has to repeatedly pick up the rake from the ground, the user will become tired and possibly experience back pain. Therefore, even the easiest job, such as raking leaves can become tiresome if the user has to repeatedly pick up the rake from the ground. 
         [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 2,268,066 issued Sep. 19, 1940 shows a rake with an extension of handle  31  referred to as ‘a cutter  40 ’. This handle extension and cutter  40  is always extended and protrudes past the length of the spring tines  10  of the rake. The rake is leaned away from the user toward the back side of the rake and rests upon cutter  40  and is used to stand the rake up when it is not in use. Since the handle extension and cutter  40  are always extended and cannot be folded away, they can cause problems, especially when the rake is being used in tight places, such as between bushes. 
         [0009]    Another structure employed a rake with a wide folding stand. Again, this was bulky and causes problems when used in tight places. 
         [0010]    All of the above devices were built into the device and could not be removed and transferred to other devices. 
         [0011]    Currently, there is a need for a simple, compact, stand designed to be attached to various types of hand implements that is capable of holding the hand implement upright when not in use. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    The advantages of the instant disclosure will become more apparent when read with the specification and the drawings, wherein: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of a leaf rake having one embodiment of a stand device according to the present invention in its stored position, attached to the back side of the leaf rake. 
           [0014]      FIG. 1B  shows a perspective view of the stand device and leaf rake of  FIG. 1A  in its use position standing upright. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of one embodiment of the stand as it would appear as viewed from above. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention as it would appear as viewed from below. 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a plan view of the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-11  as viewed from below. 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  is a plan view of the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-11  as viewed from below. 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  is an end-on view of the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-11  as viewed from the foot. 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  is a side elevational view of one embodiment of the stand device. 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  is a plan view of the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-11  as viewed from above. 
           [0023]      FIG. 10  is a side view of the pivot end of the stand device as it would appear in the stored position. 
           [0024]      FIG. 11  is a side view of the pivot end of the stand device of  FIGS. 1-11  as it would appear in the locked position with the leg bar extended in the locked position. 
           [0025]      FIG. 12  shows an alternative embodiment of a locking pivot structure according to the current invention in its stored position. 
           [0026]      FIG. 13  shows an alternative embodiment of a locking pivot structure according to the current invention in its position holding the hand implement upright. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0027]    The present invention will now be described in detail by describing various illustrative, non-limiting embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings. The invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the illustrative embodiments set forth herein. Rather, the embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art. The claims should be consulted to ascertain the true scope of the invention. 
       Overall 
       [0028]    One goal of the present invention is to provide a simple, compact device for attaching to and holding a hand implement in an upright position when it is not in use. 
         [0029]      FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of a hand implement  3  (being a leaf rake here) having one embodiment of a stand device  100  according to the present invention in its stored position, attached to the back side of the leaf rake  3 . 
         [0030]      FIG. 1B  shows a perspective view of the stand device  100  and leaf rake of  FIG. 1A  in its use position standing upright. 
         [0031]    The novel stand device will now be described in connection with  FIGS. 1A and 1B . The side which is downward when the rake is being used will be referred to as the front side and the other side will be referred to as the back side. In this view, a leg  110  is shown folded up in a storage position adjacent to and substantially parallel to the handle  5 . 
         [0032]    The leg  110  is intended to pivot about a pin  123  to rotate downward toward a number of rake tines  7  at a lower portion of the rake  3 . The end of stand device  100  which has the pin  123  is referred to as the pivot end  120 . 
         [0033]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of one embodiment of the stand device  100  as it would appear as viewed from above. Here a leg bar  111  has a foot  113  which preferably has two protrusions  115  and  117  on either side of foot  113 . These help in limiting rocking on convex surfaces. A flat foot would have a point of contact with a convex surface and allow side to side rocking. 
         [0034]    A clamp  130  attaches to the handle  5  of a hand implement  3 , steadying and securing the stand  100 . In this embodiment, the clamp  130  has a clamp body  133  and a clamp cap  131 . These are held together by a first fastener  135  connected to a second fastener  137 . These fasteners may be conventional fastening means such as a screw and a wingnut, respectively. The clamp  130  is secured to an elongated handle support which is held against the handle  5  of the hand implement  3 . 
         [0035]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 . The structure of endpiece  125  can be more easily seen in this figure. The parts of the clamp  130  can also be seen here. 
         [0036]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention as it would appear as viewed from below. In this view, the endpiece  125 , housing  121 , clamp body  133 , leg bar  111  and foot  113  are clearly visible. The clamp  130  and handle support  141  may be collectively referred to as a securing structure  150 . 
         [0037]      FIG. 5  is an end-on view of the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-11  as viewed from the pivot end  120 . In this view, the curved end  127  of the endpiece is easily seen. Also the second part of the fastener  137 , implemented here as a wingnut is visible. 
         [0038]      FIG. 6  is a plan view of the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-11  as viewed from below. Here the handle support  141  which is attached to the handle ( 5  of  FIGS. 1A, 1B ) of the hand implement  3 . 
         [0039]      FIG. 7  is an end-on view of the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-11  as viewed from the foot  113 . 
         [0040]      FIG. 8  is a side devotional view of one embodiment of the stand device  100 . Here the clamp  130  is shown as a top portion  131  connected to a body portion  133  designed to clamp around a handle of a hand implement. 
         [0041]      FIG. 9  is a plan view of the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-11  as viewed from above. This shows the opposite side of the stand device  100 . 
         [0042]      FIG. 10  is a side view of the pivot end  120  of the stand device  100  as it would appear in the stored position. The housing  121 , pin  123 , and endpiece  125  may be collectively referred to as a pivot structure  160 . In this embodiment, handle support  141  is intended to be secured to the handle  5  of a hand implement  3 , which may be the leaf rake shown in  FIGS. 1A and 1B . Leg bar  111  and endpiece  125  falls downward until pin  123  reaches the end of slot  124 . If one tries to rotate leg bar  111  outward from its current position, it causes the portion of endpiece  125  below pin  123  to rotate in a direction indicated by the arrow “B”. The surface of endpiece  125  comes in contact with an inner surface  157  of the lower portion of endpiece  125 , stopping rotation of leg bar  111 . 
         [0043]      FIG. 11  is a side view of the pivot end  120  of the stand device  100  of  FIGS. 1-11  as it would appear in the locked position with the leg bar  111  extended. In this embodiment, the leg bar  111  has been lifted upward from its position shown in  FIG. 10 . It is then rotated to the angle show in  FIG. 11 . Leg bar  111  is then pushed along the direction marked “c” into the housing  121  and into a recess  159 . This causes endpiece  125  to move causing pin  123  to move to the end of slot  124 . Curved end  127  of endpiece  125  then enters recess  159  and becomes lodged between side surface  153  and top surface  155  securing endpiece  125  and leg bar  111  to become locked in a predetermined position and angle. 
         [0044]    Alternative Embodiment 
         [0045]    An alternative embodiment of a locking pivot structure  170  according to the current invention is shown in  FIGS. 12 and 13 . 
         [0046]      FIG. 12  shows an alternative embodiment of a locking pivot structure  170  according to the current invention in its stored position. In the stored position leg bar  111  is upright and stored adjacent to the handle support  141 . When in the stored position, a bump  177  on an inside surface of the housing  171 , extends slightly into the area which receives endpiece  175 . It has a height and width to allow endpiece to rotate in and out of this area, but causes some friction. There is a recess  179  on the outside surface of endpiece  175  which receives bump  177  such that they snap in place holding endpiece  175  in housing  171 . 
         [0047]      FIG. 13  shows an alternative embodiment of a locking pivot structure  170  according to the current invention in its position holding the hand implement upright, as shown in  FIG. 1B . 
         [0048]    Endpiece  175  has a round recess  174  which receives a pin  173 . Endpiece  175  is allowed to rotate around the pin  173 . 
         [0049]    When moving leg bar  111  from its stored position to its use position, it pivots in the direction indicated by arrow “A” around pin  173 . The force required to pull the leg bar  111  out of its storage position must be enough to pop bump  177  out of recess  179 . Once out, leg bar  111  rotates to the position indicated in  FIG. 13 . A rotation stop  181  is positioned at an angle and fixed within the housing  171  to stop the rotation of leg  111 . Since this device is intended to be used on different hand implements of different sizes and shapes, the leg angle is different for each of these. Therefore, rotation stop  181  is adjusted to one of several various positions, also shown as position  183  and  185  in  FIG. 13  during a setup phase to allow position rotation stop  181  at the proper angle to stand the hand implement upright. Once the rotation stop  181  is positioned, it does not have to be repositioned for this hand implement. 
         [0050]    Optionally, one or more additional bumps  178  can be implemented on the inside surface of housing  171  at the lower portion. Each of these bumps  178  may be used to lock the endpiece  175  so that it does not easily rotate back upward. These bumps must be coordinated with the locations of the rotation stops  181 ,  183  or  185 . 
         [0051]    In another alternative embodiment of the current invention, one or more additional bumps  178  may be used in place of the rotation stops  181   183  and  185 . 
         [0052]    In still another an alternative embodiment, the bump  177  can be on the endpiece or leg bar  111  with the recess  17   9  being on the housing  171 . 
         [0053]    In alternative embodiments, different shapes for the bump  177  and recess  179  can be used, as long as they mate together. Snaps, clips, fasteners and other temporary attachment devices may also he used. 
         [0054]    Since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operating requirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention is not considered limited to the example chosen for the purposes of disclosure, and covers changes and modifications which do not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of this invention.