Abstract:
A case for holding a trowel which allows for safely and securely holding the trowel, protecting the user from sharp edges of the trowel, while conveniently presenting the trowel for ease of removal from the case. The case has an open configuration to allow for easy rinsing of the case itself and of the trowel when the trowel is sheathed inside the case.

Description:
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/736,177 filed Dec. 12, 2012. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This invention relates to trowels. More specifically, it relates to a case for housing a trowel which is easy to use, makes the trowel easier to carry and protects the user from the sharp edges of the trowel. 
     Trowels generally are used for smoothing or otherwise moving around small amounts of viscous material, such as fresh concrete, mortar, drywall mud, and other similar materials. Typically, a worker on a construction job will use more than one trowel, carrying another trowel in his rear pocket by sticking the handle of the trowel into the pocket. This leaves all the sharp edges of the trowel blade out in the open, where they can be damaged or can cut someone, similar to a knife cut. It is desirable to have a case that is lightweight, takes up little space, is easy to use and can securely and releasably hold a trowel in a safe manner, whether for transportation or on the job. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a case for a trowel; 
         FIG. 1A  is a section view along line  1 A- 1 A of  FIG. 1 , but with a trowel housed in the case; 
         FIG. 1B  is a section view along line  1 B- 1 B of  FIG. 1 , but with a trowel housed in the case; 
         FIG. 2  is a rear view of the case of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 2A  is a rear perspective view of the case of  FIG. 1 , showing the mounting hook being installed on the case; 
         FIG. 2B  is the same view as  FIG. 2A , but showing the case with the mounting hook fully installed; 
         FIG. 3  is a rear perspective view of the case of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , with the mounting hook removed; 
         FIG. 4  is side view of the case of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is side view of the case of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the case of  FIG. 1 , installed on the outside of a bucket and with a trowel in the process of being inserted into the case; 
         FIG. 7  is the same view as  FIG. 6 , with the trowel fully inserted into the case; and 
         FIG. 8  is an opposite-end, perspective view of the case, trowel, and bucket of  FIG. 7 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIGS. 1-8  show one embodiment of a case  10  for a trowel  40  (See  FIG. 6 ). The case  10  protects the user from the sharp edges of the trowel  40  while still being largely open, making it easy to rinse off the trowel  40  and the case  10  to remove mortar, mud, or other material that may be adhering to the trowel  40 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  4 , the case  10  is a substantially two-dimensional rectangular sleeve having a flat, planar front wall  12 , a flat, planar rear wall  14 , left and right side edges  16 ,  18 , a bottom edge  20 , and a top edge  22 . The front and rear walls  12 ,  14  are made up of a plurality of front retainers  24 , and rear retainers  26  respectively, as described in more detail later. These retainers  24 ,  26  are fixed to and cantilevered off of the left and right side edges  16 ,  18  of the case  10  and extend toward the opposite side, with the left retainers extending toward the right and the right retainers extending toward the left. Together, the front and rear walls  12 ,  14  define a thin, flat cavity between them. That cavity receives the flat portion or blade  50  of the trowel  40  (See  FIGS. 6 and 7 ). 
     Each front retainer  24  (See  FIGS. 1 and 1A ) resembles a frame defining a substantially rectangular through opening  28 , with the left side of the left front retainers  24 L fixed to the left side edge  16  of the case  10  and the right side of the right front retainers  24 R fixed to the right side edge  18  of the case  10 . In this embodiment, the case  10  is symmetrical about an imaginary vertical, bisecting plane, so that, for every left front retainer  24 L there is a corresponding right front retainer  24 R. There is a gap between the left and right retainers adjacent the imaginary vertical, bisecting plane. On the front side, that gap defines an elongated, longitudinal, slotted opening  30  (See  FIG. 1 ) that receives the beam  53  of the trowel handle  54 . This slotted opening  30  extends substantially the length of the case  10  and tapers outwardly at the top end  32  to facilitate the insertion of the beam  53  of the trowel handle  52  into the opening  30 , as explained in more detail later. 
     Another way to describe the front wall  12  is to say that it is made of left and right “ladders”, or open grids, set side-by-side and separated from each other by a gap  30 . Each ladder includes a plurality of rungs (the front retainers)  24  with a substantially rectangular through opening  28  between each adjacent pair of rungs  24 . The left side ladder is fixed to the left side edge  16  of the case  10 , and the right side ladder is fixed to the right side edge  18  of the case  10 . The gap  30  is the elongated, longitudinal, slotted opening  30 , which receives the beam  53  of the handle  52  of the trowel  40 . 
     This embodiment is molded as a single piece, and the connection between the “ladders” and the edges  16 ,  18  of the case is thin enough to function as a live hinge, allowing the “ladders” to flex slightly relative to the edges  16 ,  18  of the case  10  to receive the thin, blade portion  50  of the trowel  40  and to provide a biasing force that presses against the flat face on the handle side of the blade  50  of the trowel  40 , which presses the opposite face of the blade  50  against the rear retainers  26 , to help hold the trowel  40  in place. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 8 , the rear wall  14  is made up of a plurality of rear retainers  26 . Each rear retainer  26  is a substantially flat plate or tab projecting inwardly from its corresponding edge  16 ,  18  of the case  10 . This is best appreciated in  FIG. 8  wherein the trowel  40  hides the front wall  12  so that the rear retainers  26  are clearly visible and resemble individual fingers, which contact the rear face of the blade  50  of the trowel  40 . The left side of each left rear retainer  26 L is fixed to the left side edge  16  of the case  10  and the right side of each right rear retainer  26 R is fixed to the right side edge  18  of the case  10 . For every left rear retainer  26 L there is a corresponding right rear retainer  26 R, but these corresponding retainers  26 L,  26 R do not meet, leaving a relatively large gap  42  in between the left and right rear retainers. 
     As can be seen best in  FIG. 2 , the rear retainers  26  are aligned opposite the frame openings  28  in the corresponding front retainers  24  (or front ladder). 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , at the bottom  34  of the front retainer ladders there is a bridge  36 , which connects together the lowermost left and right side front retainers  24 L,  24 R to close the bottom of the slotted opening  30 . This bridge  36  provides structural integrity to the case  10  and provides a shoulder to stop the downward motion of the beam  53  of the handle  52  of the trowel  40 . There is a second bridge  38  at the bottom edge  20  of the case  10 , which is part of the rear wall  14  and which includes tabs  38 A that wrap around the bottom edge of the trowel  40 , extending from the plane of the rear wall  14  to the plane of the front wall  12 . The blade portion  50  of the trowel  40  slides past the first bridge  36  (that is, the first bridge  36  only spans across the front wall  12  of the case  10 ), but is stopped by the tabs  38 A of the second bridge  38  as described below. 
     The central portion of the second bridge  38  extends upwardly, in the same plane as the rear wall  14  and rear retainers  26  of the case  10 . The tabs  38 A provide protection for the user against contacting the sharp bottom edge of the blade  50  and provide a stop that prevents the blade portion  50  of the trowel  40  from moving downwardly below the second bridge  38 . The second bridge  38  also provides structural integrity to the case  10 . See  FIGS. 6 and 7 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2A ,  2 B and  3 , there are two projections  44  extending rearwardly from the rear wall  14  of the case  10 . If the user wants to lay the encased trowel  40  down on the ground or on a table or other flat surface, the bottom edge  20  of the case  10  and these projections  44  will rest on the flat surface, keeping the trowel  40  and case  10  tilted at an angle to allow water to drain off the trowel and the case  10  (See  FIG. 5 ). 
     These rearward projections  44  may also be used to secure a hook or clip  46  (See  FIGS. 2A ,  2 B and  4 ) to the rear wall  14  of the case  10 . The hook  46  snaps onto the rearward projections  44 , as shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B . As shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B , the hook  46  defines two pairs of tracks  46 A, which wrap around the sides of the projections  44 , and two spring tabs  46 B, which spring into the respective openings  44 A in the projections  44  to lock the clip  46  onto the case  10 . 
     Once the clip  46  is installed, the user may use the clip  46  to mount the case  10  in a substantially vertical orientation, such as onto the rim of a bucket  48  (See  FIGS. 6-8 ). The hook  46  also may be used to attach the case  10  to a belt or a back pocket worn by the user. 
     The hook  46  may be removed from the case  10  to allow for more compact storage by pressing the spring tabs and sliding the clip  46  downwardly, opposite to the direction in which it was installed. 
     Adjacent the top edge  22  of the case  10 , a locking tab  54  (See  FIGS. 1 and 4 ) with a ramped front surface projects forwardly from the rear wall  14 . This locking tab  54  flexes rearwardly to allow the trowel  40  to slide into the slot between the front and rear walls  12 ,  14  and then, once the trowel  40  has passed downwardly past the locking tab  54 , the locking tab  54  returns to its original position, which now is directly above the top edge of the blade portion  50  of the trowel  40 . In this position, it presents a shoulder, which prevents the trowel blade  50  from accidentally sliding upwardly out of the top edge  22  of the case  10  (as may be appreciated in  FIG. 7 ). In order to remove the trowel  40  from the case  10 , the user manually flexes the locking tab  54  rearwardly, until it is to the rear of the plane of the trowel blade  50 , and then slides the trowel  40  upwardly out of the case  10 . 
     Several corrugations or teeth  56  are molded into the outer surface of the left and right side edges  16 ,  18  to provide a grip for the user to facilitate grabbing the case  10  while sheathing or unsheathing the trowel  40 . 
     When the trowel  40  is inside the case  10 , all the sharp edges of the blade  50  are recessed in from the edges of the case  10 , which protects the user against contact with those sharp edges. The sides  16 ,  18  of the case enclose the sharp side edges of the trowel  40 . The top edge of the trowel is recessed below the shoulder of the locking tab  54 , and the bottom edge of the trowel is recessed upwardly, above the lower bridge  38 . This is true for any shape of trowel, whether the blade portion of the trowel is rectangular, triangular, or has another shape. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 6-8 , the case  10  may be mounted onto the rim of a bucket  48  using the hook  46 . Of course, this mounting arrangement may be used in a number of different applications, such as hooking onto the inside of the bucket, hooking onto the rear pocket or a belt of a user, hooking onto a piece of equipment, etc. The case  10  is preferably mounted in a substantially vertical orientation to promote draining of the case  10  and of the trowel  40  through the “open” structure of the case  10 . The case  10  with the trowel  40  inside may be hosed off or dipped into a bucket of water to rinse off any material that may be adhering to the trowel. 
     As the trowel  40  is inserted into the case  10  (See  FIG. 6 ) the user orients the trowel  40  so that the flat underside of the trowel  40  faces the rear wall  14  of the case  10 , and the handle beam  53  and handle  52  project through and slide downwardly along the slotted opening  30  on the front wall  12  of the case  10 . The tapered end  32  of the slotted opening  30 , which has a wide top opening, facilitates the insertion of the beam  53  of the handle  52 . The lower portion of the slotted opening  30  has a width that is just slightly larger than the width of the beam  53  of the handle  52 , which helps keep the trowel  40  vertically oriented within the case  10 . 
     The flat underside of the trowel blade  50  rides along the ramped surface of the locking tab  54 , pushing the locking tab  54  rearwardly to enable the blade  50  to slide into the space between the front and rear walls  12 ,  14 , until the leading edge of the trowel blade  50  is stopped by the bridge  38  along the bottom edge  20  of the rear wall  14  of the case  10 , or until the leading edge of the beam  53  of the handle  52  of the trowel  40  is stopped by the bridge  36  along the bottom edge  34  of the front wall  12 , as shown in  FIG. 7 . 
     When the trowel  40  is sheathed in the case  10 , the flat blade portion  50  of the trowel  40  is fully encased inside the case  10 , with all its sharp edges recessed inwardly from the edges of the case. This protects the blade  50  from being damaged and protects the user from being cut by the blade  50 . The flat blade portion  50  of the trowel  40  fits tightly inside the case  10 , with the handle  52  projecting out through the slotted opening  30 . The user may grip the case  10  at its corrugations  56  while he pulls up on the handle  52  to unsheath the trowel  40  from the case  10 . 
     When the trowel  40  is sheathed in the case  10 , whether the handle of the trowel is put into the user&#39;s rear pocket or whether the clip  46  is used, the sharp edges of the trowel blade are all recessed and protected. This protects the trowel blade from damage and prevents the trowel blade from cutting someone. When the user wants to switch trowels, he easily can pull the new trowel out of its case  10  and put the trowel he has been using into the same or another case  10 . 
     As may be appreciated, the case  10  may handle a large variety of sizes and shapes of trowels. The open configuration of the case  10  allows for easy rinsing of the case  10  and of the trowel  40  even when the trowel  40  is sheathed in the case  10 . 
     It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the scope of the present invention as claimed.