Abstract:
A quick release part holder comprising a housing having a part receiving opening therein and at least one finger mounted to said housing with the finger having a part engaging surface. The finger is positionable in either a part engaging position or a part releasing position with the part engaging surface movable from the part engaging position to the part releasing position by displacement of the finger.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates generally to parts holders and more particularly to a parts holder for temporarily holding parts while a task is performed on the parts and quickly releasing parts after the task is completed.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The concept of parts holder is known in the art, generally parts holders comprises some type of device for temporarily holding a part during a task. In some cases the task involves applying a finish or a coating to a part or in other cases the task may involve actual work in shaping the part. One finishing application is in the plating industry where a number of parts are mounted on a rail and then subject to a plating process. When the plating is completed, the parts are removed from the rail and a new set of parts are positioned on the rail and the process of plating the parts is repeated Other uses of parts holder can be to hold a part while machining is performed on the part and in still other applications the part holder can be used to hold a plurality of parts for viewing. In each case once the task is completed the part is released from the parts holder so the parts holder can be reused.  
           [0003]    The present invention provides a parts holder that can be used to temporarily hold parts for various tasks including viewing, working or finishing the part and once the task is completed the parts can be quickly released from the parts holder so that a new batch of parts can be temporarily secured to the parts holder.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    A quick release part holder comprising a housing having a part receiving opening therein and at least one finger cantileverly mounted to the housing with the finger having a part engaging surface. The finger is normally maintained in a part engaging position which frictionally holds the part in the parts holder but the finger can be positionable in either a part engaging position or a part releasing position. The finger is movable from the part engaging position to the part releasing position by cantileverly flexing of the finger. If a plurality of fingers are used, a release rod can be inserted into the housing to displace each of the plurality of fingers to release a part held therein. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0005]    [0005]FIG. 1 is a front view of the parts holder mounted in a support rail.  
         [0006]    [0006]FIG. 2 is an end view of the parts holder and support rail of FIG. 1.  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 3 is a partial sectional top view of the parts holder and support rail of FIG. 1.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 4 is an isolated view of the support rails and a pair of side-by-side resilient fingers.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 5 is an end view of the parts holder illustrating the resilient fingers in the part engaging position (solid lines) and the parts release position (dotted lines).  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 6 is a partial front view of a release rod for moving the resilient fingers from the parts engaging position to the parts releasing position.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 7 is a top view illustrating the part end of the resilient finger in the part engaging position.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 8 is a top view illustrating the part end of the resilient finger in a part releasing position. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a front view of a parts holder  10  mounted in an elongated support member  12 . Parts holder  10  includes a housing  11  having a set of parts  9  which are temporarily held in parts holder  10  so that a task can be performed to the parts  9 .  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is an end view of the parts holder  10  and support member  12  with the support member  12  having elongated ears  12   a  and  12   b  extending along support member for slidingly engaging the lower ends of housing  11 . Ears  12   a  and  12   b  prevent upward withdrawal of housing  11  from support member  12  while the parallel positioning of ears  12   b  and  12   a  with respect to the lower ends  11   e  and  11   f  allows housing  11  to be slid free of support member  12 . This feature allows support member  12  to be permanently mounted to a fixture and the parts holder housing  11  to be quickly attached or detached from the support member to enable the parts therein to be removed.  
         [0015]    Housing  11  has a general U-shape with a top rail  11   a  and a lower rail  15  which is mounted to housing  11  by spot welding or the like. In the preferred embodiment top rail  11   a  is formed by metal stamping as is lower rail  15  which is located in a spaced condition from top rail  11   a , as indicated by x. In the condition shown the rails  11   a  and  15  are parallel to each other with the openings in rail  11   a  being in alignment with the openings in rail  15 . The sidewalls of the openings in rail  11   a  and rail  15  provide a two position fixed support for positioning parts in a preferred orientation as the parts have a slightly smaller diameter than the openings to allow for ease in insertion or removal of parts. Although two rails are shown it is envisioned that only one rail of sufficient thickness could be used to provide the two position fixed support for maintaining parts in a preferred orientation. However, by using a separate rail  15  that can be attached to housing  11  it allows one to fabricate the parts holder  10  from sheet metal by a process of metal stamping thus reducing cost. On the other hand if desired one could form a thicker single rail having openings extending therethrough to provide guide surfaces for a part Located between lower rail  15  is a first resilient finger  15  and a second resilient finger  17  which coact with the rails  11   a  and  15  to provide the frictional resistance to removal of a part from the parts holder  10 .  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 is a top view of the parts holder  10  and support rail  11   a  showing a set of holes  13  located in a staggered position on top rail  11   a . A similar set of holes  15   a  are located in lower rail  15  as illustrated by the cut away section in FIG. 3.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of the components of parts holder  10  which are shown in isolated and exploded detail. The parts holder  10  includes resilient fingers  16  and  17  that are located in a side-by-side position. While only two resilient fingers are shown for a part holder to hold a plurality of parts a resilient finger having a part engaging end would be aligned with each of the set of holes  13  and  15   a . That is, a first row of resilient fingers can be mounted to one side of housing  11  and a second row of resilient fingers can mounted to the opposite side of housing  11  with the resilient fingers positioned in side-by-side position in housing  11 .  
         [0018]    Resilient finger  16  has a mounting end  24 , an intermediate section  20  and a part engaging end  21  angularly offset from intermediate section  20  with the part engaging end operable for frictionally engaging a part. Similarly, resilient finger  17  has a mounting end  28 , an intermediate section  25  and a part engaging end  26  angularly offset from intermediate section  25  for frictionally engaging a part.  
         [0019]    The top rail  11  is shown spaced from lower rail  15  with top rail  11   a  having a set of openings  13  and lower rail  15  having a set of openings  15   a . The set of openings  13  and set of openings  15   a  are maintained in a fixed orientation. Located below lower rail  15  is a part engaging end  21  having an opening  21   a  and similarly located between lower rail  15  is part engaging end  26  having an opening  26   a . In the view shown in FIG. 4 the resilient fingers  16  and  17  are in the part release position. In the part release position, a first central axis  18  extends through the center of each of openings  13 ,  15   a  and  21   a  which are located on the left side of the Figure. Similarly, a second central axis  19  extends through the center of each of openings  13 ,  15   a  and  26   a  which are located on the right side of FIG. 4.  
         [0020]    In order to appreciate the operation of the parts holder  10  reference should be made to FIG. 5, which is an end view of the parts holder  100 , illustrating the resilient finger  16  in the part engaging position (as indicated by solid lines  16 ) and the parts release position (as indicated by dotted lines  16 ′) and the resilient finger  17  in the part engaging position (as indicated by solid lines  17 ) and the parts release position (as indicated by dotted lines  17 ′).  
         [0021]    The end  24  of resilient finger  16  is shown cantileverly attached to elongated edge  11   e  of housing  11  by a process such as spot welding or the like. Resilient finger  16  extends upward into a cavity of housing  11  with a part  9  extending through the part engaging end  21 , which has an opening  21   a  therein. A central axis  42 , which is generally normal to part engaging end  21 , extends through opening  21   a  in part engaging end  21 . The central axis  42  is shown in misalignment with a central axis  48  extending longitudinally through part  9  as indicated by the angle ø. Similarly, end  24  of resilient finger  17  is shown cantileverly attached to elongated edge  11   f  of housing  11  by a process such as spot welding or the like.  
         [0022]    Resilient finger  17  extends angularly upward into the cavity of housing  11  and across resilient finger  16  forming a V-shaped region identified by reference numeral  40 . Finger  17  has part engaging end  26  with an opening  26   a  extending through the part engaging end with a central axis  43  which extends in a direction normal to part engaging end  26 . The central axis  43  is shown in misalignment with a central axis  49  extending longitudinally through part  9  as indicated by the angle ø. This misalignment of the axis produces frictional resistance to displacement of parts  9  along their respective axis. That is, in the part engaging position (shown by the solid lines of FIG. 5) the sidewall  21   b  (see FIG. 4) of part engaging end  21  and the sidewall  26   b  (see FIG. 4) of part engaging end  26  engage the sides of part  9  to hold the part in position.  
         [0023]    To illustrate the frictional and non frictional engagement of part  9  with a part engaging end  21  reference should be made to FIG. 7 which shows an isolated top view of part  9  and part engaging end  21  in a part engaging position (frictional engagement) while FIG. 8 shows an isolated top view of part  9  and part engaging end  21  in the part release position (non frictional engagement).  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 8 shows part engaging end  21  has a diameter D 2  while the part has an opening of diameter D 1  with D 2  larger than D 1 . The diametrical difference is such that part  9  can be freely extended through hole  21   a . In the condition shown in FIG. 8 the part engaging end  21  is in the position indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 5. In this condition the part  9  is not frictionally restrained by the sidewall  21   b  of opening  21   a . With part engaging end  21  in the position shown with respect to part  9  the part  9  is held in axial alignment with axis  48  which allows for removal from parts holder  10  or insertion of parts  9  into parts holder  10 .  
         [0025]    Referring to FIG. 7, which shows the part engaging end  21  in the part engaging position, one notes part engaging end  21  has now been pivoted upward about mounting end  24  so that a view looking along part  9  shows that the opening  21  appears oblong with opposite circumferential faces of sidewall  21   b  engaging the outer surface of part  9  to frictionally hold the part  9  in position. That is, with all three openings in alignment the part  9  can be extended through all three openings but with one of the parts carrying an opening  21   b  tilted at an angle with respect to the part  9  the sidewalls of opening  21   b  bind against the outer surface of part  9  to frictionally hold part  9  in position while the sidewalls of the openings in rails  11  and  15   a  coact with the finger to provide for securement of parts therein.  
         [0026]    In the position shown in FIG. 4 the parts  9  are positioned in the openings of rail  11   a  and  15   a . The outer diameter of part  9  is slightly smaller than the openings in rails  11   a  and  15   a  to enable the parts to be inserted into the openings in the two rails. The Opening  26   a  in part engaging end  26  and opening  21   a  in part engaging end  21  are also larger than the diameter of part  9 . However, if the part engaging end  26  is tilted with respect to the central axis it presents an oblong shaped passage to the part. That is the resilient fingers which exhibit an upward bias flex upward to cause the part engaging end to frictionally hold the part  9  in position.  
         [0027]    One of the features of the present invention is the quick release of the parts held in the part holder  10 . FIG. 5 shows a portion of an elongated release rod  60  having a cylindrical section  61  with a tapered end  61   a.    
         [0028]    Referring to FIG. 5 the release rod  60  is shown in dotted lines with one portion of release rod contacting the under side of rail  15  and the other portion engaging the resilient fingers  16 ′ and  17 ′ at the cross junction  40  between the two resilient fingers. That is, release rod  60  has been inserted underneath housing rail  15  by inserting end  61   a  into the space between fingers  16  and  17  (shown in solid lines) and the underside of rail  15 . Continued extension of release rod  60  forces the resilient members  16  and  17  into the part release position as indicated by dashed lines  16  and  17 . Consequently, by extending release rod along the under side of rail  15  one can bend each of the side-by-side fingers downward into a condition where the openings in the part engaging end are in axial alignment with the parts  9  thus disengaging the sidewalls of the part engaging ends form the parts allowing the parts  9  to be quickly removed from the part holder. In practice the part holder can be turned upside down and the parts  9  allowed to fall into a bin as the task is completed.  
         [0029]    As can be seen in FIG. 5 a feature of my invention is the positioning of the row of resilient fingers  16  and  17  and rails  11   a  and  15  to form an open end parts holder which allows one to clean the parts holder  10  by flushing any foreign material out of the parts holder by directing water or the like endwise through the parts holder.