Abstract:
The present invention is directed to an improved door stop device, in particular an improved portable door stop device to handle different size doors and different size gaps between the door and floor. Further, the door stop device according to the present invention is configured to minimize or eliminate a user bending over to install or remove the door stop device.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention is directed to a door stop device, preferably a portable door stop configured to accommodate different doors.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     There exist a number of different types of door stops configured to maintain a door in an open position. For example, there exists a stand alone rubber wedge-shaped door stop that can be wedged between the floor and the lower edge of the door to maintain the door open. Further, there exists a door stop that is permanently mounted to the bottom of the door (i.e. not portable) and stays with the door throughout the life of the door.  
         [0003]     There exists a need for an improved door stop device, in particular a portable door stop device to facilitate cleaning and maintenance of commercial or institutional buildings. In a preferred embodiment, the door stop device can be easily and conveniently installed prior to cleaning, and then later removed after cleaning. Further, it is desirable that such a door stop can be installed and removed in a manner to minimize or eliminate the user bending over during installation or removal.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     The first object of the present invention is to provide an improved door stop device.  
         [0005]     A second object of the present invention is to provide an improved portable door stop device.  
         [0006]     A third object of the present invention is to provide a door stop having a substantially long handle to minimize or eliminate the user bending over to install or remove the door stop device.  
         [0007]     A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a door stop device including a handle having a lower door gripping finger, and a pivotable arm portion configured to secure the door stop device from movement with the floor.  
         [0008]     A fifth object of the present invention is to provide a door stop device including a handle having a lower door gripping finger combined with a pivotable leg portion, the leg portion being adjustable in length.  
         [0009]     A sixth object of the present invention is to provide a door stop device including a bent handle portion having a lower door gripping finger, and a pivoting leg portion, the pivoting leg portion being a telescoping leg portion.  
         [0010]     The present invention is directed to an improved door stop, preferably an improved portable door stop device.  
         [0011]     A preferred embodiment of the door stop according to the present invention includes a combined handle and pivoting leg. The handle preferably an elongated (i.e. long) handle having an upper gripping or handle portion and a lower handle portion having door edge gripping portion (e.g. door gripping finger). In a preferred embodiment, the handle portion is bent so that the lower portion can be positioned flat against the side of the door, and the upper portion of the handle portion bends away from the door to facilitate gripping by a user. The lower door gripping portion of the handle, for example, can be a door gripping finger or extension provided at the lower end of the handle portion. For example, the handle portion is made of a flat metal strip, and a short portion (i.e. one-half inch to two inch) finger portion is made by bending the metal strip near the bottom thereof. The finger portion can be provided with a resilient plastic or rubber cover to enhance the frictional engagement with the lower edge of the door.  
         [0012]     The door stop device includes a pivoting leg connected to the handle. The pivoting leg is preferably adjustable in length so that the door stop device can accommodate different doors throughout a building having different size doors or different size gaps between the floor and a lower edge of the various door. A lower end of the pivoting leg is preferably provided with a rubber stop or cover to enhance the frictional grip with the floor to facilitate locking the door stop device in place against the face of a door. For example, the pivoting leg can include an upper U-shaped bracket connected to the back of the plate handle (e.g. by welding) and a pin passing through an upper end of the pivoting leg and the bracket to provide a pivoting connection therebetween. The leg portion can be made as to be telescoping to make it adjustable in length. For example, the leg portion can be made of a lower tubular section slidably disposed within an upper tubular section. The upper tubular section can be provided with a series of vertical through holes and the lower tubular section can be provided with a spring biased pin configured so as to lock in one of the through holes in the upper tubular section. In this manner, the length of the pivoting arm can be adjusted and then lock in place.  
         [0013]     The door stop device according to the present invention can be made of metal, plastic, fiberglass, graphite, carbon, wood, wood filled, glass filled, composite, or other suitable material. In one preferred embodiment, the handle portion is made of a flat strip of aluminum plate. A lower end of the aluminum plate is bent at approximately ninety degrees (90°) to form the door gripping finger or portion, and the metal plate is bent approximately ten degrees to forty-five degrees (10° to 45°) at or near the center thereof so that the upper handle of the metal strip extends away from the door when the door stop is installed up against the face of the door to facilitate a user gripping the upper handle portion of the handle. The upper portion of the handle can be provided with at least one through hole for hanging the door stop from a wall or custodian cart. Further, to lighten the handle, the upper portion of the aluminum plate can be drilled with a plurality of through holes to reduce material and weight while still being sufficiently strong to serve as a handle. In this same embodiment, the pivoting leg can be made of an aluminum bracket, an upper aluminum tubing section, and a lower aluminum tubing section slidably disposed within the upper aluminum tubing section. A rubber foot can be provided at the bottom of the lower aluminum tubing section. The movable locking pin is preferably made of steel to increase the strength of the pivot connection.  
         [0014]     Another preferred embodiment of the door stop device according to the present invention can be made of plastic material, in particular plastic resin. This embodiment can be made by injection molding a portion or the entire door stop device. For example, the handle can be plastic injection molded as one piece, and the pivoting leg can be molded as two (2) separate piece assembled together as a telescoping leg. The assembled pivoting leg can then be assembled to the handle. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the door stop device according to the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of the door stop device shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is a front elevational view of the door stop device shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  is a rear elevational view of the door stop device shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  is a partial broken away longitudinal cross-sectional view of a portion of the pivoting leg of the door stop device shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0020]      FIG. 6  is a side elevational view of the door stop device, shown in  FIG. 1 , in operation against a door.  
         [0021]      FIG. 7  is a broken away longitudinal cross-sectional view of the door gripping finger provided with a resilient cover. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0022]     A preferred embodiment of a door stop device  10  according to the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 1-7 .  
         [0023]     The door stop device  10  includes a combined handle  12  and pivoting leg  14 . Specifically, the handle  12  is provided with an upper handle portion  12   a  and a lower handle portion  12   b . The pivoting leg  14  is configured to be a telescoping leg, and includes an upper leg section  14   a  and a lower leg section  14   b . The lower leg section  14   b  is slidably disposed within the upper leg section  14   a.    
         [0024]     The handle  12  is provided with a door gripping finger  16  located at the bottom of the lower handle portion  12   b . Further, the handle  12  is bent at axis or point  18  so that the upper handle portion  12   a  bends away from the door when mounted up against the door (see  FIG. 6 ). The upper handle portion  12   a  is provided with at least one through hole  18  to hang the door stop device  10  from a wall, door or custodian cart. Further, he upper handle portion  12   a  is provided with additional through holes  18  to reduce the amount of material and the weight of the handle  12 . The handle  12  can be made of metal, plastic, fiberglass, carbon fiber, composite or other suitable material. For example, the handle  12  is made from a flat plate of aluminum cut to shape and bent at axis or point  18  so that the upper handle portion  12   a  bends away from the vertical lower handle portion  12   b . The aluminum plate is also bent at axis or point  20  (e.g. 90 degrees) to form the door gripping finger  16 . Alternatively, the handle  12  is injection molded from plastic resin, in particular glass filled plastic resin to enhance strength, durability, and performance of the handle  12 .  
         [0025]     The pivoting leg  14  is connected to the handle  12  by a bracket  24  and pin  26  ( FIG. 2 ). For example, the bracket  24  can be a U-shaped aluminum bracket bent from a strip from aluminum plate, and welded to the back of the handle  12 . The bracket is drilled, and a pin  26  (e.g. steel pin) is inserted through both sides of the bracket  24  and secured in place (e.g. by forming head portions). The pin  26  serves as a pivot point for the pivoting arm  14  and in a preferred embodiment, the pivoting arm  14  freely pivots relative to the handle  12 . In a preferred embodiment, the pivoting let  14  is a telescoping leg to adjust the length thereof to accommodate different doors or different clearances between the floor and the lower edge of different doors. The pivoting leg  14  is provided with a rubber foot  28  to resiliently grip the floor and prevent slippage there between.  
         [0026]     For example, the pivoting leg  14  is made out of sections of aluminum tubing with the upper leg portion  14   a  having a larger diameter than the lower leg section  14   b  ( FIG. 5 ). Specifically, the inner diameter of the upper leg section  14   a  is slightly greater than the outer diameter of the lower leg section  14   b  so that the lower leg section  14   b  can be slidably disposed within the upper leg section  14   a  and telescope there from. To provide a length adjustment, for example, a movable pin  30  mounted on a U-shaped spring  32  ( FIG. 5 ) is disposed within the lower leg section  14   b . The head of the pin  30  fits into one of four through holes  34  in the upper leg portion  14   a  to allow the length of the pivoting leg  14  to be adjusted to four (4) different lengths. The spacing and number of through holes can be adjusted or varied for different designs or size door stop devices. Further, alternative locking device can be used for securing the lower leg portion  14   b  within the upper leg portion  14   a . The length of the pivoting let  14  can be adjusted by pushing inwardly on the head of the pin  30  until the upper leg portion  14   a  can slide relative to the lower leg portion  14   b , and then allowing the head of the pin  30  to come through a different through hole  34  selected.  
         [0027]     Alternatively, the bracket  24  is injection molded with plastic resin as part of the handle  12 , and the pivoting leg sections  14   a ,  14   b  are injection with plastic resin as separate pieces, and then assembled together. The assembled pivoting leg is then assembled to the handle  12 .  
         [0028]     As shown in  FIG. 7 , the door gripping finger can optionally be provided with a resilient cover  36  (e.g. made of plastic or rubber) to enhance the frictional engagement with the bottom edge of the door.  
         [0029]     During use the user installs the door stop device  10  against the door D to be maintained open, as shown in  FIG. 6 . Specifically, the door gripping finger  16  is slid under the lower edge of the door D in the gap between the door and the floor F. The user pushes the handle  12  against the side of the door until the lower handle portion  12   b  is flat against the side thereof, as shown in  FIG. 6 . The user then pushes the pivoting arm  14  (with users foot or toes) against the pivoting leg  14  until the rubber foot  28  firmly engages with the floor F causing the door gripping finger  16  to lift upwardly and firmly and engage with the lower edge of the door D. In this manner, the door D is firmly secured in place from movement. To remove the door stop device  10 , the user uses his or her foot or toes to push outwardly the pivoting leg  14  to release the grip by the door stop device  10  on the lower edge of the door D. The user then simply pulls the handle  12  away from the door D and lifts the door stop device upwardly.  
         [0030]     The length of the handle  12 , in particular the upper hand portion  12   a , is sufficiently long so that the user does not have to bend, or mininumally bends, to install or remove the door stop device from the door D. In this manner, the door stop device can be easily and quickly installed or removed with minimal effort and time by the user greatly increasing the convenience of the door stop device  10 .