Lifting and supporting apparatus

A lifting and supporting apparatus having a vertically oriented robe interconnected to a smaller, vertically oriented rod by a lifting device. A large bracket or the like is secured to the robe so as to provide a surface upon which an object can rest. The lifting device provides a means by which to move the rod downwardly with respect to the tube, thus allowing both the tube and the object to be easily raised and supported above the ground upon which the rod rests.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates generally to lifting devices, and more particularly 
to an improved lifting stand assembly designed to lift and support heavy 
equipment, particularly during the installation or repair of furnaces, air 
conditioning units and the like. 
2. Description of Related Art 
Invention and use of lifting stand devices is known to the public, as they 
are frequently used to aid in a variety of lifting procedures. For 
example, Meyer U.S. Pat. No. 1,516,616 discloses a means for lifting a 
high placed object. As disclosed, the device includes a jacking means at a 
lower distal end and a support means at an upper distal end. 
Reuter U.S. Pat. No. 3,017,174 discloses a jacking means which does not 
include a jacking device per se, but does include a work holder means at 
an upper distal end for holding and supporting a heavy object. Baron et 
al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,792 teaches a jacking device that includes a 
workpiece support attached to a vertical rod which may be telescopically 
jacked upward from a base structure. Van Santen U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,362 
discloses a tall jack providing screw thread jacking means and a top 
mounted support plate. The device includes two telescopic square section 
tubes and narrow top and bottom plates are provided for the post, the 
plates being of a size for insertion within one of the tubes, and a cross 
pin is provided for insertion transversely through selected bores in the 
telescoped tubes. 
Hobday U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,787 discloses an improved C-clamp that has a 
clamp body and a detachable setting mechanism. The clamp body has inner 
and outer legs with a hollow bore in the inner leg to allow passage of a 
stem having a work-engaging pad on its end therethrough toward an aligned 
fixed work pad on the outer leg. The setting mechanism for advancing the 
stem has a hand lever and hand grip that act in concert upon manual 
squeezing to step-by-step advance the stem. The setting mechanism 
removably attaches to the clamp body by a spring-biased lever that grips 
attachment pins on the body. A latch lever positioned on the inner leg of 
the clamp body causes a retaining lever to grip the stem when the latch 
lever is closed and to allow the stem to move freely when the latch lever 
is open. 
However, all of these devices are significantly flawed in that they require 
relatively complex lifting assemblies, which makes them more expensive, 
more prone to extensive repairs, and more difficult to easily, properly 
operate. Thus, there is a clear need for an improved lifting stand that 
utilizes a relatively simple, inexpensive lifting device that is sturdy 
and reliable. 
Chang U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,112 discloses a caulking gun assembly that 
provides means by which to easily move an elongate shaft through a housing 
unit with substantial force by means of a hand actuated trigger. This 
device has relatively few moving parts and is inexpensive to manufacture. 
However, as disclosed, the device is designed only for use as a caulking 
gun, and makes no provision for it to be used as a lifting device. 
All of the prior art devices are significantly limited in that they have a 
relatively large size that is not conducive to use in limited space 
environments, such as those typically associated with furnace room 
installations. Thus, there is a clear need for an improved device that is 
as narrow and compact as possible. Such a device would be less expensive 
and more effective at lifting and supporting heavy objects than prior art 
devices. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further 
related advantages as described in the following summary. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is an improved lifting, and supporting apparatus 
particularly useful in aiding in the installation, repair and removal of 
large or heavy equipment such as furnace or air-conditioning units, thus 
quickening the procedure and preventing injury to those performing the 
service. The apparatus consists generally of two vertical poles 
telescopically engaged with one another. A horizontally oriented bracket 
extends from the upper pole so as to provide a surface upon which the 
object to be lifted rests. A lifting device is secured to the lower pole 
so as to provide a means by which to easily and quickly raise or lower the 
pole assembly. The lifting device is of very simple construction, 
preferably similar to that of a standard caulking gun so that by simply 
pivoting a hand-actuable lever, the pole and bracket assembly, and thus 
the object resting on bracket, is raised further from the ground. It is 
therefore an object of the present invention to provide a lifting device 
that is strong enough to lift and support heavy objects, while still being 
a low cost, relatively simple item that is easily mass produced. It is 
another object of the present invention to telescopically interconnect the 
two poles so that the height of the pole assembly is easily adjusted, thus 
giving the user the ability to use the tool even when a given situation 
has limited height clearance. Still further, it is an object of the 
present invention to have a size that is considerably more narrow than 
prior art devices so as to allow the apparatus to be used in limited space 
environments, such in the close confines of many furnace rooms in which 
there is as little as four-inches of space between the furnace and the 
wall. These are considerable advantages of the present invention, as 
installers are frequently injured frown reaching out and lifting heavy 
objects from an awkward position due to space limitations. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a means by 
which to raise and lower the bracket on the upper pole, so that, when used 
in conjunction with the telescoping abilities of the two poles, the 
bracket can be easily positioned at a rather wide range of heights so as 
to precisely correspond with the height of any given object. It is another 
object of the invention to provide a bracket that can be rotated 
180.degree. around the pole so that the same apparatus can be used to 
support either the left side or the right side of an object, thus keeping 
production costs of the device down. It is yet another object of the 
present invention to provide an upfacing lip on the bracket for preventing 
an object from inadvertently sliding out of position on the bracket and to 
construct the bracket just thin enough to be wedged into place between two 
objects so that the top item can be easily lifted off the bottom one 
without requiring that the top object be slightly lifted off of the bottom 
one. Still further, the bracket is easily removable from the upper pole so 
that a variety of different shaped and sized brackets may be secured to 
the pole in accordance with the needs of a particular object. 
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent 
from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with 
the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the 
principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIGS. 1-3 show a lifting and supporting apparatus designed to aid in 
lifting and supporting heavy objects. 
The main structural element of the apparatus is an elongate, vertically 
oriented tube 20 that preferably consists of two or more telescopically 
inter-engaged first 22 and second 24 tube portions. The telescopic 
engagement of the tube portions allows the second tube portion 24 to be 
easily slid further into or out of the first tube portion 22 so as to 
increase the overall length of the tube as needed. The tube 20 also 
includes a means 25 for releasably securing the tube portions at a desired 
overall length. In one preferred embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 1, the 
securing means 25 consists of a single aperture in the end of the first 
tube portion 22 and a plurality of spaced apart, vertically aligned 
apertures positioned in the second tube portion 24. When the second tube 
24 is positioned within the first tube portion 22 so as to achieve the 
desired overall tube length, the appropriate aperture in the second tube 
portion 24 is aligned with the aperture in the first tube portion 22 and a 
securing means 25, such as a securing pin, is positioned through the 
apertures, thus preventing the tube portions from sliding out of position 
until the securing pin is manually removed. While this is one preferred 
embodiment of the securing means 25, it should be noted that the present 
invention is in no way limited to this particular embodiment, as there are 
many other possible embodiments of the securing means 25 well known in the 
art that may be also successfully incorporated within the present 
apparatus to achieve the same end. 
An object resting means 30 is positioned on the upper second tube portion 
24. The exact size and shape of the object resting means 30 depends upon 
the nature of the objects which the apparatus is designed to lift or 
support. In general, however, the object resting means 30 provides an 
upfacing surface 32 with an upfacing lip 34 positioned so that a portion 
of the object rests upon the upfacing surface 32 and is firmly engaged 
with an edge 36 of the lip 34 so that the object can not inadvertently 
slip out of engagement with the resting means 30. This configuration is 
best seen in FIG. 3. The object resting means 30 preferably includes a 
position adjustment means 35 that allows the resting means to be moved to 
and secured at any one of a plurality of positions along the tube 20. 
Preferably, the adjustment means 35 consists of an aperture in the resting 
means, the object resting means 30 being positionable along the length of 
the second tube portion 24 so that the aperture in the resting means is 
aligned with one of the apertures in the second tube portion 24 and a 
securing pin is used to secure the selected position of the resting means 
30. As with the securing means 25, however, there are many possible 
embodiments of the position adjustment means 35 well known in the art that 
may alternately be implemented within the scope and spirit of the present 
invention. 
A means for lifting the tube vertically 40 is positioned at the lower first 
tube portion 22. The lifting means 40 includes an elongate rod 45 that is 
positioned adjacent to, and in parallel alignment with, the elongate tube 
20. The rod 45 is slidably engaged within a drive means 50 which 
interconnects the tube 20 and the rod 45. The rod 45 preferably has a foot 
47 pivotally engaged at a downward end of the rod, the foot 47 designed to 
contact a floor or ground surface (not shown) upon which the apparatus 
rests. A non-skid means (not shown), such as a high friction coefficient 
rubber covering, is preferably positioned on the foot 47 so as to be in 
contact with the ground surface and prevent the apparatus from sliding 
across the ground surface. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the drive means 50 is 
preferably contained within a housing unit 52 preferably having two 
congruent side walls 53 and an upfacing and downfacing wall, 54U and 54D 
respectively. 
The drive means 50 provides a hand manipulation means 60 to draw the rod 45 
through the drive means housing 52 in a downward direction. When the foot 
47 of the rod 45 is firmly positioned against the ground surface, the 
downward movement of the rod 45 forces the tube 20 to move upwardly, thus 
increasing the tube's overall height from the ground surface. In one 
preferred embodiment, the hand manipulation means 60 includes a lever 62 
with an end 63A contained and secured within the drive means 50 so as to 
pivot around the rod 45 and an end 63B that extends outwardly from the 
drive means 50 so as to serve as a hand-actuable trigger. An elongate 
washer 64 is positioned on the rod 45 adjacent to the secured end 63A of 
the lever, and a bias means 65 is positioned between the washer 64 and the 
housing's downfacing wall 54D so that when the outwardly extending end 63B 
of the lever 62 is drawn toward the upfacing wall 54U of the drive means 
housing 52, the secured end 63A of the lever 62 pivots into contact with 
the washer 64 and pushes it downwardly toward the downfacing wall 54D of 
the drive means housing 52, thus compressing the bias means 65. The 
pivotal motion of the lever 62 causes the washer 64 to move both 
downwardly and inwardly toward the rod 45. Therefore, as the outwardly 
extending end 63B of the lever is drawn toward the upfacing wall 54U, the 
washer 64 is forced into contact with the rod 45, thus driving the rod 45 
to move downwardly with respect to the drive means 50 and tube 20. When 
the outwardly extending end 63B of the lever is released, the bias means 
65 forces the lever 62 back into its original position and the washer 64 
moves out of contact with the rod 35. While this is one preferred 
embodiment of the hand manipulation means 60, there are other similar 
embodiments known in the art that may also be implemented within the scope 
of the present invention. 
A clutch means 70 is provided for maintaining the rod 45 at a selected 
linear position within the drive means 50. In one preferred embodiment, 
the clutch means 70 consists of an elongate clutch plate 72 having an 
aperture 73 sized for receiving the rod 45 and a bias means 74 positioned 
between the aperture 73 and the lever 62 of the hand manipulation means 
60. A first end 72A of the clutch plate 72 is in pivotal contact with the 
upfacing drive means wall 54U and a second end 72B of the clutch plate 
extends through the upfacing wall 54U and outwardly from the drive means 
50, as seen in FIG. 2. Normally the clutch plate 72 is biased so that one 
or more of the plate edges surrounding the aperture 73 firmly engage the 
rod 45, thus preventing the rod 45 from moving until the hand manipulation 
means 60 is actuated. The second, outwardly extending end 72B of the 
clutch plate 72 forms a release means 80. When the second end 72B of the 
clutch plate is pushed toward the upfacing housing wall 54U, the first end 
72A of the clutch plate 72 pivots against the upfacing wall so that the 
plate is moved out of its normal position and the edges 75 surrounding the 
aperture are moved out of contact with the rod 45, thus allowing the rod 
45 to slide freely through the drive means housing 42. 
While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred 
embodiment, it is to be clearly understood by those skilled in the art 
that the invention is not limited thereto. Rather, the scope of the 
invention is to be interpreted only in conjunction with the appended 
claims.