Abstract:
A hanging device is provided to hold a workpiece, where the workpiece has a preformed hole therein. The hanging device has an expandable element, such as a cup, that is adapted to be selectively retained within the hold in the workpiece. A hook is connected to the expandable element for use in supporting the expandable element and workpiece affixed thereto.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    This disclosure relates to a tool and method of use therefor to support a workpiece for finish processing on the workpiece. When cabinet doors that have holes adapted for European-style hinges are finished by either a consumer or a cabinet maker, the doors are often sprayed with lacquer or paint. A common problem that is encountered in this process is finding a method of hanging a door in a manner so as to not leave a mark or drill a hole in the door&#39;s surface. Additionally, it is difficult to find an adequate method of hanging a cabinet door that will prevent the hanging system from blocking the pathway of the spray, leaving a spot on the door that will need to be touched up later. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0002]    In one aspect, a hanging device is disclosed that employs an expandable element that fits into a hole of a workpiece, such as a cabinet door designed for use with European-style hinges. The expandable element is adapted to be selectively retained within the hole of the workpiece. A hook is connected to the expandable element for use in supporting the expandable element and workpiece affixed thereto. 
         [0003]    In another aspect, a method of holding a workpiece in which the workpiece has a hole is disclosed. The method includes inserting an expandable element into the hole of the workpiece and then manipulating a hook structure that is pivotally connected to the expandable element in order to expand the expandable element within the hole. The method further comprises supporting the workpiece by engaging the hook structure. 
         [0004]    This summary is provided to establish a range of conceptions in a basic form that are described in greater detail below. This Summary is not intended to identify critical features of the claimed subject matter nor describe each embodiment of the present invention. The figures and description that follow provide more detail regarding illustrative embodiments. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0005]    The disclosed subject matter will be further explained with reference to the attached figures, wherein like structure elements are referred to by like reference numerals throughout the several views. 
           [0006]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a hanging device being utilized to support a workpiece. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is a sectional view of a workpiece having the hanging device affixed thereto. 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of a hanging device of the present disclosure. 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  is a sectional view of an expandable element of the hanging device, showing examples of its expanded position (phantom lines) and its contracted position (solid lines). 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  is a partial sectional view of a pivotal connection within a hook structure of the hanging device. 
       
    
    
       [0011]    While the figures contained herein present one or more embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, other embodiments are also considered. This disclosure is intended to be a representation and not a limitation of the disclosed subject matter. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other embodiments are possible without diverting from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0012]    This disclosure relates to a hanger that is used when finishing a cabinet door, where that cabinet door is adapted to receive European-style hinges therein. For each of such hinges, the door has a hole drilled or formed therein. Typically, the hole does not extend completely through the cabinet door material, so the front of the door shows no hole at all, and all of the hinge hardware is on the back of the door, and is not visible when the cabinet door is shut. The hanger disclosed in this patent application uses an expandable element or plug that fits into the cup hole (typically, a 35 mm hole) that is already present in a cabinet door for use in receiving a European-style hinge. The plug is expanded in the hole via operation of a cam, locking it in place. The hanger has a rod with a hook on the end of the rod for hanging the door while finishing it. While affixed to the door, the rod extends generally parallel to the surface of the door. When the finish applied to the door is dry, the hook is lifted relative to the door&#39;s surface, rotating the cam and releasing the plug, so that the expandable element can be withdrawn from the hold in the door. 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  shows a hanging device  100  engaged within a hole  306  of the workpiece  308 . In this illustrative example, the workpiece  308  is a cabinet door and includes the hole  306  and a second hole  309 . Each of the holes  306  and  309  is adapted to receive a disc-shaped body of a European-style hinge therein, and each hole does not extend completely through the workpiece  308 , as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . The hanging device  100 , once affixed to the workpiece  308 , can be used to support the workpiece  306  from a suitable hanging environment, such as a hook, rod, truss, etc. (or cable  402 , such as illustrated in  FIG. 1 ). When the workpiece  308  is supported on the cable  402 , the workpiece  308  can be sprayed with lacquer or paint with minimum interference of the hanging device  100  in the spray pathway. When coating of the workpiece  308  is finished and cured, so that the workpiece  308  can again be handled, the hanging device  100  detached from the workpiece for reuse. 
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the components of the hanging device  100 . The hanging device  100  comprises a hook structure  102  (having a hook  102   a  and a rod  102   b ), a cam body  104 , and an expandable element  106 . In one embodiment, the hook structure  102  contains a pivotal connection  108  disposed between the hook structure  102  and the cam body  104  which allows the hook structure  102  to be rotated with 360 degrees of freedom relative to the cam body  104 , about an axis of the rod  102   b . The pivotal connection  108  is described in greater detail below. In one embodiment, the hook structure  102  is releasably connected to (e.g., threaded into) the cam body  104  so it can be replaced with other hanging options (e.g., clamps, tethers, magnets, elastic straps, etc.), if desired by the user. The cam body  104  contains a cross dowel  110  that allows the expandable element  106  to be attached to the cam body  104  via a spreader rod (e.g., a threaded bolt  112 ). The cross dowel  110  is rotatably received within a cross-hole  111  in the cam body  104 , and itself has a threaded bore  113  for reception of the threaded bolt  112 . The expandable element  106  comprises a cup  114 , a spacer  116 , and a plug  118  which is slidable within the cup  114 . As seen in  FIG. 3 , the cam body  104  has a yoke  109  bearing cam surfaces  109   a  and  109   b  thereon, that are adapted to contact a top surface  114   a  of the cup  114 . The yoke  109  is sized to accommodate the threaded bolt  112  extending therein to access the cross dowel  110 . The cross dowel  110  is rotatable relative to the cam body  104  about a cross dowel axis, and the cam surface  109   a  is closer to the cross dowel axis than the cam surfaces  109   b.    
         [0015]      FIG. 4  shows a sectional view of the expandable element  106  and the cam  104  in both relaxed and engaged states. In order to engage the expandable element within the hole  306  of the workpiece  308  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ), the cam body  104  is rotated relative to the expandable element  106  about the cross dowel axis until the expandable element  106  is enlarged to at least the same diameter as the hole  306  of the workpiece  308 . A lower portion  114   b  of the cup  114  of the expandable element  104  has a first contracted diameter  120  when the cam body  104  and the spreader bolt  112  are in a linear configuration, as indicated in solid lines in  FIG. 4  (and in phantom lines in  FIG. 2 ). When the hanging device  100  is in this first position, top surface  114   a  of the cup  114  is functionally abutted against the cam surfaces  109   a  of the yoke  109  on the cam body  104 . When the cam body  104  is rotated along arc  122  (approximately 90° in either direction, about the axis of the cross dowel  110 ), the cup  114  is forced into a second position that has a further distance from the axis of the cross dowel  110 . In this second position, the hanging device  100  has the top surface  114   a  of the cup  114  abutting one of the cam surfaces  109   b  of the yoke  109  on the cam body  104  (as illustrated in phantom in  FIG. 4 ). This causes the spreader bolt  112  to pull the plug  118  into the cup  114  against the bias of spacer  116 . The plug  118  has a frusto-conical shape in which sidewalls  118   a  thereof have a similar or more acute angle relative to the bottom of the plug  118  than inner sidewalls  114   c  of the cup  114 . When the cup  114  has expanded to fill the hole  306  and cannot expand any further, the cup  114  and plug  118  materials may deform and the spacer  116  may be further compressed to permit the hook structure  102  to be aligned generally parallel to the surface of the workpiece  308 . As seen in  FIG. 3 , the lower portion  114   b  of the cup  114  has a plurality of slots or cut-outs  114   d  therein, thereby defining a plurality of wall sections  114   e . Therefore, when the spreader bolt  112  pulls the plug  118  into the cup  114 , the wall sections  114   e  of the cup  114  spread outwards, thus assuming (at least adjacent a bottom of the cup  114 ) a second cup diameter  128 . The amount of cup  114  expansion can be adjusted by tightening or loosening the spreader bolt  112  in the threaded bore  113  in the cross dowel  110 . When the cam body  104  is pivoted back to the position shown in solid in  FIG. 4 , the spacer  116  urges the plug  118  away from the cup  114 , and the cam surface  109   a  again engages the top surface  114   a  of the cup  114 . 
         [0016]    In one embodiment, the spreader bolt  112  is adjusted so that the cup  114  can be freely rotated 360 degrees about the axis of the bolt  112  without tightening or loosening of the cup  114  on the spreader bolt  112 , as the bottom, tapered head of the spreader bolt  112  does not have nibs. A lock-tite or a nylon bushing system may be employed to allow the spreader bolt  112  to be adjusted while preventing it from loosening or tightening during use. In one embodiment, the cam body  104 , cup  114  and plug  118  are formed from polymer materials, and the hook structure  102  is formed from steel. As discussed above, relative surfaces of such polymer components engage, may deform, and slide or pivot relative to one another. In addition, the lower portion  114   b  of the cup  114  deforms to expand outwardly, as seen in  FIG. 4 . The components of the hanging device  100  comprise rounded edges so as to avoid excessive buildup of lacquer or paint within the device, improving the duration of utility of the hanging device  100  and minimizing the possibility that lacquer or paint will drip onto the workpiece  306 . 
         [0017]      FIG. 2  shows a side view of the hanging device  100  in its relaxed state (in phantom) and engaged state (in solid) within the hole  306  of the workpiece  308 . When the hanging device  100  is in the relaxed state, the cup  114  of the expandable element  106  has a first contracted diameter that is smaller than the hole  306  of the workpiece  308 . When in this state, the cam body  104  is rotatable relative to the expandable element  106 , about the axis of the threaded bolt  112 . When the hanging device  100  is in the engaged state, the cup  114  of the expandable element  106  has a second expanded diameter that is at least as large as the hole  306  of the workpiece  308 . The hanging device  100  is then able to support the workpiece  308  when the hook structure  102  is engaged with some other support structure (such as a user&#39;s hand or the cable  402  in  FIG. 1 ). An outer surface of the lower portion  114   b  of the cup  114  may contain ridges  310  to enhance the frictional engagement of the hanging device  100  within the hole  306  of the workpiece  308 . 
         [0018]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged partial exposed view of pivotal connection  108  on the hook structure  102 . Pivotal connection  108  employs an elongated ball and socket-t type joint that allows for 360 degrees of freedom of rotation about an axis  502  of the rod  102   b  of the hook structure  102 , without allowing bending of the hook structure  102 . The pivotal connection  108  allows a workpiece affixed to the hanging device  100  to be rotated once the hanging device  100  has been mounted on a support structure in order to conveniently access all surfaces of the workpiece. 
         [0019]    Although the hanging device disclosed herein has been described with reference to several embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure.