Abstract:
A rotatable hook mount apparatus for suspending a utility light includes a first locking member attached to a light guard of the utility light and a second locking member attached to a shaft portion of a hook. The shaft portion is rotatably received in a bore formed in the first locking member. Adjacent faces of the locking members have cooperating teeth for preventing relative rotation. A spring biases the teeth into engagement and the second locking member with the attached hook can be moved against the spring bias to disengage the teeth for rotation of the hook relative to the light guard.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates generally to a mounting apparatus for a utility or trouble light and, in particular, to a rotatable hook mount adapted to be attached to a utility light guard for suspending the utility light.  
           [0002]    It is often desirable to suspend a body, such as a hand-held electric work or utility light, for any number of purposes. In these situations, it is common to attach hooks or similar devices to the body. It is often difficult, however, to find a suitable location for suspending the body and, once the body has been suspended, it is also often a challenging task to orient the body in a desired direction. In the example of an electric utility light, this task entails directing the illumination from the light bulb towards a work object or the like. The process of finding a suitable location for the hook and then attempting to orient the body in the desired direction can consume an inordinate amount of time.  
           [0003]    It is also common for two members having opposing coplanar mating faces, joined at their respective centers, to have a means for preventing relative rotation between the opposing faces. A typical means for preventing relative rotation between the opposing faces is to provide each face with a plurality of projections and grooves that engage with a corresponding plurality of projections and grooves on the opposing face.  
           [0004]    It is also often common to need the ability to reorient members having opposing coplanar circular mating faces, joined at their respective centers, relative to one other while still maintaining a means for preventing the rotation after the reorientation is complete. Typically, a means for disengaging the projections and grooves in the opposing faces is provided. The means for disengaging is typically arranged so that the members remain joined at their respective centers while they are disengaged. The disengaging means initially disengages the opposing faces, the members are next rotated to the desired orientation, after which the facing projections and grooves are engaged again.  
           [0005]    It is desirable to combine the above-mentioned features in order allow a body to be suspended from a hook or similar apparatus and then be oriented in various directions after it has been suspended.  
           [0006]    It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to combine a hook with opposing circular planar faces joined at their respective centers with a means for preventing rotation between the faces and with a means for disengaging and reorienting the faces in order to allow a body to be suspended from various places and be oriented in numerous directions after it has been suspended.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    The present invention concerns a rotatable hook mount for attachment to a portion of a utility or trouble light, such as a light guard, whereby the utility light can be suspended from a hook and oriented in numerous directions.  
           [0008]    The rotatable hook mount includes a hook member having a shaft portion and a hook portion. The hook portion of the hook member may be S-shaped, C-shaped, eye-shaped, or any similar shape, and is adapted to be assembled with an upper locking member. The upper locking member is preferably disk-shaped and includes upper and lower planar faces. A bore extends through the upper locking member, forming an aperture in each planar face. The bore receives the shaft portion of the hook member. During assembly, the hook member is press fit into the bore of the upper locking member, and a length of the shaft portion of the hook member extends axially beyond the lower planar face of the upper locking member. The lower planar face of the upper locking member also includes serrations, or a set of teeth.  
           [0009]    The combined hook member and upper locking member cooperates with and attaches to a lower locking member. The lower locking member includes a disk-shaped portion and a protrusion portion extending from the disk-shaped portion. The disk-shaped portion includes upper and lower planar faces. A bore extends through the lower locking member, forming an aperture in each planar face. The upper planar face of the lower locking member includes a set of teeth that cooperate with the teeth of the upper locking member to prevent relative rotation of the locking members. The shaft portion of the hook member also extends through the bore and axially beyond the lower planar face of the lower locking member. The lower locking member is adapted to be affixed, at its protrusion portion, to the body that is to be suspended on the hook member. The lower locking member thus remains stationary once it is affixed to the body.  
           [0010]    The portion of the shaft of the hook member that extends beyond the lower locking member extends through a preferably helical compression spring member. A retaining means is attached to an end of the shaft portion of the hook member to retain the spring member which biases the first locking member against the second locking member.  
           [0011]    In operation, when a force in an upward direction is exerted on the hook member, the spring member is compressed, the upper locking member moves away from the lower locking member to disengage the sets of teeth, and the combined hook member and upper locking member may be rotated relative to the lower locking member and the body. When the hook member is allowed to return in a downward direction with the aid of the spring member, the respective locking members reengage and prevent relative rotation. The spring member thus advantageously allows the locking members to be disengaged and rotated relative to each other without having to be completely detached.  
           [0012]    The teeth of the locking members are preferably arranged with equal spacing and equal angles between the teeth so as to permit engagement at a number of positions of relative rotation. For example, in a preferred embodiment, each of the locking members contains fifteen teeth resulting in the same number of locking positions spaced twenty-four degrees apart. Those skilled in the art, however, will appreciate that any number of teeth formed can be used while still remaining within the scope of the present invention. A greater number of teeth, however, will provide a greater amount of flexibility in allowing the locking members to be engaged at more locations around their respective circumferences. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    The above, as well as other advantages of the present invention, will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when considered in the light of the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rotatable hook mount attached to a utility light guard in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the rotatable hook mount shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of the rotatable hook mount shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4 a  is a cross-sectional view of the upper locking member shown in FIG. 2;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 4 b  is a perspective view of the upper locking member shown in FIG. 2 looking at an upper face;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5 a  is a top perspective view of the lower locking member shown in FIG. 2;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 5 b  is a bottom perspective view of the lower locking member shown in FIG. 5 a ; and  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 6 is an elevation view of an alternate embodiment hook member in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0022]    Referring now to the drawing figures, a rotatable hook mount is shown generally at  2  and is attached to an inside surface at an upper end of a reflector portion  10  of a utility light guard, the cage portion not being shown. The rotatable hook mount  2  includes a hook member shown generally at  4  typically formed of wire or a rod having a cylindrical cross section. The hook member  4  has a generally straight shaft portion  6  connected to a bent hook portion  8  having alternating curved and straight sections. An alternative embodiment hook member  4 ′, having a curved, generally C-shaped hook portion,  8 ′, is shown in FIG. 6. The hook portion  8  of the hook member  4  may be bent into a suitable shape, such as an S-shape, a C-shape, an eye-shape, or any similar shape. The hook member  4  may be constructed of any material, such as steel, that is able to support, without deforming, the weight of the reflector portion  10  to which it is attached and the remainder of the utility light. A typical utility or trouble light is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,647 which is incorporated herein by reference. Alternatively, the hook member  4  may be tubular, and have a hollow cross-section (not shown.). The hook member  4  includes a pair of opposed projections  12  on its shaft portion  6  that assist in aligning the hook member  4  when it is assembled with an upper locking member  14  as described below.  
         [0023]    The generally disk-shaped upper locking member  14  has a planar upper face  16  and a generally parallel planar lower face  22  (FIG. 4 a ). A cylindrical axial bore  18  extends through the upper locking member  14  between the planar faces  16  and  22 . The bore  18  receives the shaft portion  6  of the hook member  4 . The bore  18  includes a pair of axially extending tapered grooves  20  formed in the wall of the bore  18  and open at the upper face  16 . The tapered grooves  20  extend downwardly only to approximately half the thickness of the upper locking member  14 . During assembly of the hook member  4  and the upper locking member  14 , a free end of the shaft portion  6  of the hook member  4  is inserted into the bore  18  from the upper planar face  16 . The projections  12  on the shaft portion  6  cooperate with the grooves  20  formed in the bore  18 , which helps to ensure the proper axial and radial alignment of the hook member  4  and the upper locking member  14 . An interference between the projections  12  and the grooves  20  also assists in securing the hook member  4  to the upper locking member  14 . After assembly, a length of the shaft portion  6  extends axially beyond the lower planar face  22  of the upper locking member  14 . The lower face  22  of the upper locking member  14  has a plurality of teeth  24  formed thereon extending radially from and equally spaced about the bore  18 .  
         [0024]    The assembled hook member  4  and upper locking member  14  are further assembled with a lower locking member  26 . The lower locking member  26  includes a disk-shaped body portion  28  and a protrusion portion  32  that extends radially from the disk-shaped portion  28 . The disk-shaped portion  28  includes an upper planar face  36  and a generally parallel lower planar face  42 . A cylindrical axial bore  30  extends through the lower locking member  26  between the faces  36  and  42 . The upper planar face  36  has a plurality of teeth  34  formed thereon extending radially from and equally spaced about the bore  30 . The size and spacing of the teeth  24  and the teeth  34  permit cooperative interlocking when the lower face  22  is positioned adjacent the upper face  36  thereby prevent relative rotation of the locking members  14  and  26 . The bore  30  of the lower locking member  26  is expanded at the lower face  42  with a counterbore  40 .  
         [0025]    The lower locking member  26  is adapted to be affixed at its protrusion portion  32  to the body  10  that is to be suspended by the hook member  4 . The protrusion portion  32  preferably includes at least one bore  48  through which a fastener  38 , such as a rivet, a bolt or the like (FIG.  1 ) extends to affix the lower locking member  26  to the body  10 . The protrusion portion  32  may be adapted to be affixed to numerous types of surfaces, depending on the profile of the body  10  to which it will be affixed. After assembly, the lower locking member  26  remains stationary once it is affixed to the body  10 . The protrusion portion  32  preferably includes a lip  50  to aid in aligning the lower locking member  26  to the body  10 , as well as preventing rotation of the lower locking member  26  with respect to the body  10 .  
         [0026]    A preferably helical compression spring member  44  is received on the shaft portion  6  of the hook member  4  that extends beyond the lower planar face  42  of the lower locking member  26 , and has an upper end preferably received in the counterbore  40 . A retaining means  46  is further attached to the shaft portion  6  of the hook member  4  below the spring member  44  to retain it in place in a rest position on the hook member  4  and in the second diameter  40  of the bore  30 . The retaining means  46  is shown as a speed nut, but can be any similar device that is attached to the shaft portion  6  of the hook member  4  by an interference fit, a threaded connection, rivet, or the like. The spring member  44  in its rest position thus biases the upper locking member  14  downwardly against the lower locking member  26 . Alternatively, the spring member  44  can be a flat spring, or another member that functions as a spring to bias the lower locking member  14  against the lower locking member  26 .  
         [0027]    In operation, when a force in an upward direction is exerted on the hook member  4 , the spring member  44  is compressed, the upper locking member  14  moves away from the lower locking member  26  to disengage the sets of teeth  24  and  34 , and the attached hook member and upper locking member may be rotated relative to the lower locking member and the body  10 . When the hook member  4  is allowed to return in a downward direction with the aid of the spring member  44 , the respective locking members  14  and  26  reengage and prevent relative rotation. The spring member  44  thus advantageously allows the locking members  24  and  34  to be disengaged and rotated relative to each other without having to be completely detached.  
         [0028]    In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the present invention has been described in what is considered to represent its preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope.