Abstract:
The folding sawhorse brackets are each formed of a single sheet of flat stock, formed to affix a rail therein and pivotally attach two legs thereto. All embodiments accept stock dimensions of lumber or other suitable materials for the rail and legs. A first configuration has two brackets, with one having its two leg pivots closer to the rail than the other. The closer legs fold immediately adjacent to the rail with the opposite legs folding outboard of the closer legs, with all legs and the rail lying in a compact parallel relationship when folded. A second configuration has two identical brackets, each bracket having one closer and one more distant pivot point from the rail. When two such brackets are assembled at opposite rail ends, they are in mirror image to one another with one closer and one more distant leg folding on each side of the rail.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates generally to carpentry and construction tools, and more particularly to folding sawhorse brackets that are used to form sawhorses having folding legs for compact storage. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Sawhorses formed of four legs supporting a single rail or crossmember have been used for decades, if not centuries, to provide temporary and semi-permanent support for various articles under construction or as support for makeshift tables, workbenches, and the like. Traditionally, sawhorses were constructed as rigid, non-folding devices with carefully mitered joints and gussets at all joints to form a sturdy structure. More recently, the value of disassembly for storage or transport has been recognized, as well as the value of the labor saved in the ability to rapidly assemble and disassemble a sawhorse. Accordingly, a number of different brackets have been developed to use legs and rails of standard lumber dimensions, e.g., the nominal “two by four” of 1.5×3.5 inches. Many of these prefabricated brackets allow the legs of the sawhorse to fold, as well. 
         [0005]    Prefabricated sawhorse brackets can generally be divided into two groups: (1) single piece brackets, and (2) multiple piece brackets. Heretofore, sawhorses with folding legs have nearly always required multiple piece brackets at each end of the rail or crossmember, if not a separate bracket for each leg. While some sawhorses with brackets formed as a single rigid component have permitted the legs to fold, these sawhorses were specially manufactured and could not be adapted to use lumber stock of standard dimensions. Other single-piece sawhorse brackets utilizing standard dimension lumber have been developed, but these do not permit the legs to fold. 
         [0006]    Thus, folding sawhorse brackets solving the aforementioned problems is desired. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The folding sawhorse brackets are each formed of a single sheet of flat stock sheet metal, bent to form the proper bracket configuration. The brackets are of generally triangular configuration, with extensions forming the attachment plates or ears for the rail or crossmember and the legs. Double plates or flanges are provided to capture the ends of all of the elongate elements (rail and legs) therebetween, for additional strength and rigidity. The brackets are adapted to use appropriate lengths of standard lumber stock, e.g., “two-by-four” studs or the like having nominal cross sectional dimensions of 1.5×3.5 inches. The brackets may be configured to accept other lumber dimensions, as desired. 
         [0008]    In a first embodiment, two different bracket configurations are provided, with each end of the rail or crossmember being supported by a bracket of different configuration than the other. One end utilizes a larger bracket, with the pivot points for each leg being farther separated from the end of the rail or crossmember than the smaller bracket at the opposite end. This allows the legs attached at the smaller bracket to fold more closely to the rail, while the legs extending from the larger bracket fold to lie immediately outboard of the opposite legs. This permits all of the legs to fold parallel to the crossmember or rail, to optimize compact storage. 
         [0009]    A second embodiment employs two identical brackets with each bracket having a short side and a long side, i.e., the leg pivot point on one side of the bracket is farther removed from the rail than the leg pivot point on the opposite side of the rail. When two such brackets are used in mirror image to one another at opposite ends of the rail, the short side of one bracket is disposed on the same side of the rail as the long side of the opposite bracket. Thus, the legs can fold to overlie and underlie one another parallel to the rail or main beam, just as in the first embodiment employing a different bracket at each end of the rail. 
         [0010]    These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment pair of folding sawhorse brackets according to the present invention, showing their installation to form a sawhorse. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a sawhorse assembled with the folding sawhorse brackets of  FIG. 1 , showing the folding operation of the sawhorse legs. 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the sawhorse of  FIG. 2 , showing its legs in a folded configuration. 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of folding sawhorse brackets according to the present invention, showing the folded configuration of the four legs less the crossmember for clarity in the drawing Fig. 
       
    
    
       [0015]    Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0016]    The present invention relates to brackets for a folding sawhorse, and a sawhorse having folding legs and using the brackets. In each of the embodiments of the folding sawhorse brackets, the legs of the sawhorse pivot to lie parallel to the rail or crossmember of the sawhorse when folded, with two legs disposed immediately adjacent to the rail and the other two legs positioned immediately outboard of the first two legs. A sawhorse constructed using either embodiment of the brackets requires minimal storage space when folded. 
         [0017]      FIGS. 1 through 3  of the drawings illustrate a first embodiment of the brackets, respectively designated as first and second brackets  10   a  and  10   b , and the rail R and legs L 1  through L 4  forming a sawhorse when assembled with the two brackets. Each of the brackets  10   a  and  10   b  includes a generally triangular central web, respectively  12   a  and  12   b , with each web having an upper end, respectively  14   a  and  14   b,  a first edge, respectively  16   a  and  126   b , an opposite second edge, respectively  18   a  and  18   b , and a lower portion, respectively  20   a  and  20   b.  Most of these features are most clearly shown in  FIG. 1  of the drawings. 
         [0018]    Each of the edges of the central webs  12   a ,  12   b  has a leg attachment set extending therefrom, respectively first and second leg attachment sets  22   a  and  24   a  for the first and second edges  18   a ,  20   a  of the first bracket  10   a , and first and second leg attachment sets  22   b  and  24   b  for the first and second edges  18   b ,  20   b  of the second bracket  10   b . A first leg inner attachment flange, respectively  26   a  and  26   b,  extends from the first edge  16   a ,  16   b  of the two brackets  10   a  and  10   b  and is bent or folded to lie normal to the plane of the respective central web. Second leg inner attachment flanges, respectively  28   a  and  28   b , extend from the opposite second edges  18   a ,  18   b , in mirror image to the first leg inner attachment flanges. Each of these inner attachment flanges  26   a  through  28   b  extends downwardly from the upper end  14   a  or  14   b  of the respective bracket  10   a  or  10   b . Each of these inner attachment flanges has an upper end, e.g.,  30   a  and  30   b  for the first leg inner attachment flanges  26   a  and  26   b  as shown in  FIG. 1 , generally conterminous with the upper ends  14   a ,  14   b  of the two brackets. Each of the inner flanges, e.g.,  26   a ,  26   b , also has an opposite lower end, respectively  32   a ,  32   b  for the first leg inner attachment flanges  26   a ,  26   b , with the opposite ends of each inner flange defining an inner flange height, respectively  34   a ,  34   b  for the first leg inner flanges for the two brackets  10   a ,  10   b . The opposite second leg inner flanges are configured in mirror image to the first leg inner flanges. 
         [0019]    Each of the leg attachment sets  22   a  through  24   b  further includes a leg pivot limit flange, e.g., opposite first and second leg limit flanges  36   a  and  38   a  extending from the lower portion  20   a  of the central web  12   a  of the first bracket  10   a . (A portion of the second leg pivot limit flange  38   b  of the second bracket  10   b  is also visible in  FIG. 1 .) The upper edges of these leg pivot limit flanges are conterminous with the lower edges of the corresponding inner attachment flanges  26   a  through  28   b  and serve to limit both the extension and the folding of the sawhorse legs L 1  through L 4 , as explained further below. 
         [0020]    An outer leg attachment flange, respectively  40   a  through  42   b , extends respectively from each of the leg pivot limit flanges and normal thereto and to the plane of the respective central web to lie parallel to the corresponding inner leg attachment flange  26   a  through  28   b . Each of the outer leg attachment flanges includes an upwardly extending ear, respectively  44   a  through  46   b , with each ear overlying the lower portion of the corresponding inner attachment flange  26   a  through  28   b  to define a leg attachment receptacle, respectively  48   a  through  50   b , therebetween. Thus, each of the four sawhorse legs is pivotally captured between its inner leg flange and corresponding ear of the outer leg flange, i.e., the first leg L 1  is captured between the first inner flange  26   a  and corresponding first outer flange ear  44   a , the second leg L 2  is captured between the second leg inner flange and its outer flange ear  46   a , the third leg L 3  is captured between the third leg inner flange  26   b  of the second bracket  10   b  and its ear  44   b , and the fourth leg L 4  is captured between the fourth leg inner flange  28   b  and its corresponding ear  46   b.    
         [0021]    It will be seen that the first leg inner flange  26   b  of the second bracket  10   b  has a considerably greater height  34   b  than the height  34   a  of the first leg inner flange  26   a  of the first bracket  10   a . This results in the leg inner and outer pivot passages  52   b ,  54   b  of the second bracket  10   b  being somewhat farther below the corresponding leg pivot passages  52   a ,  54   a  of the first bracket  10   a , as all of the components of the leg attachment sets  22   b ,  24   b  of the taller second bracket  10   b  are displaced downwardly or farther from the respective apex or upper end  14   b  of the bracket  10   b , than is the case for the components of the leg attachment sets  22   a ,  24   a  of the shorter first bracket  10   a . The relative heights of these various components, i.e., their distances from the upper ends  14   a ,  14   b  of the two brackets  10   a ,  10   b , are predetermined to position the first and second leg inner and outer pivot passages  52   a ,  54   a  of the first bracket  10   a  so that the first and second legs L 1  and L 2  lie immediately adjacent the rail R when the two legs L 1  and L 2  are folded, as shown in broken lines in  FIG. 2  and in solid lines in  FIG. 3  of the drawings. The greater distance of the pivot passages  52   b ,  54   b  from the apex or upper end  14   b  of the bracket  10   b  results in those legs L 3  and L 4  folding to lie outboard of the first and second legs L 1  and L 2  extending from the first bracket  10   a,  as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
         [0022]    All of the legs L 1  through L 4  fold to lie parallel to the rail or crossmember R, which is secured between the respective first and second rail attachment flanges  56   a ,  58   a  of the first bracket  10   a  and  56   b ,  58   b  of the second bracket  10   b . It will be noted that the upper edges of the rail attachment flanges  56   a  through  58   b  are preferably somewhat below the top of the rail R. This precludes contact of a cutting blade (e.g., circular saw, etc.) with the rail attachment flanges when material placed upon the top of the sawhorse is being cut, even if the blade extends slightly below the workpiece and cuts into the upper surface of the underlying rail R. The rail R is easily replaced by removing two bolts or fasteners holding each end of the rail within the attachment flanges of each of the brackets  10   a  and  10   b . The additional height of the second bracket  10   b  also provides a greater area for the central web  12   b  thereof, permitting an accessory attachment passage  60  to be formed therein. The accessory attachment passage  60  allows the belt clip or similar attachment structure of a retractable steel tape, etc. to be conveniently hung on the lower edge of the passage. A similar but smaller passage (not shown) may be formed through the web  12   a  of the smaller bracket  10   a , if so desired. 
         [0023]    Conventional bolts and nuts  62 , the ends of which are shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , are used to pivotally secure the legs L 1  through L 4  in their respective leg receptacles  48   a  through  50   b  and to immovably affix the opposite ends of the rail R between the respective rail attachment flanges  56   a  through  58   b.  These bolt and nut assemblies  62  may be tightened as desired to adjust the friction of the legs L 1  through L 4  relative to the inner and outer leg attachment flanges. These fastener assemblies  62  also strengthen the entire sawhorse apparatus by tying each inner and outer leg attachment flange pair together, with the solid material of the upper end of each leg preventing the collapse of the two plates toward one another. The result is an extremely sturdy and solid structure. 
         [0024]    The leg attachment passages  52   a  through  54   b  formed through the various inner and outer leg attachment flanges  26   a  through  28   b  and ears  44   a  through  46   b  are precisely located to limit the legs L 1  through L 4  in both their extension and retraction. Actually, this is not so much a function of the precise positioning of the leg attachment passages as it is the precise positioning of the legs L 1  through L 4  when they are initially positioned for drilling attachment holes through the upper ends of the legs, using the various flange and ear attachment passages as guides. When properly attached legs L 1  through L 4  are extended, as shown in  FIG. 1  in broken lines and in  FIG. 2  in solid lines, the outboard edges of the legs contact the inner surfaces of the corresponding leg pivot limit flanges  36   a  through  38   b , limiting extension of the legs to an orientation normal to the rail R. Conversely, when the legs are folded, the outer edges of the legs contact the upper edges  64  of the corresponding limit flanges to prevent the legs from pivoting past parallel to the rail R. In some instances, it may be desirable to affix the legs L 1  through L 4  immovably in their brackets  10   a  and  10   b . This may be accomplished by driving locking pins (e.g., nails, wood screws, etc.) into preformed locking pin passages  66  formed through the outer attachment flanges  40   a  through  42   b  and leg pivot limit flanges  36   a  through  38   b.    
         [0025]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view similar in orientation to  FIG. 1 , but illustrating a different embodiment of folding sawhorse brackets than the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 . In  FIG. 4 , two identical brackets  110  are shown, but rather than being laterally symmetrical, as are the brackets  10   a  and  10   b  of  FIGS. 1 through 3 , the brackets  110  are laterally asymmetrical, with one longer and one shorter leg attachment side. Thus, when the two brackets  110  are arranged facing one another as shown in  FIG. 4 , they are oriented with one longer attachment side and one shorter attachment side on each side of the central rail. 
         [0026]    Each of the brackets  110  includes a generally triangular central web  112 , with each web having an upper end  114 , a first edge  116 , an opposite second edge  118 , and a lower portion  120 . The first edge  116  of the central web  112  has a first leg attachment set  122  extending therefrom, with the second edge  118  has a second leg attachment set  124  extending therefrom. A first leg inner attachment flange  126  extends from the first edge  116  of each bracket  110  and is bent or folded to lie normal to the plane of its central web. Second leg inner attachment flanges  128  extend from the opposite second edges  118  of each of the brackets  110 . Each of these inner attachment flanges  126  and  128  has an upper end  130  generally conterminous with the upper ends  114  of each bracket  110  and extends downwardly from the upper end of its bracket. Each of the shorter first leg inner flanges  126  also has an opposite lower end  132   a , with the opposite longer second leg inner flanges having opposite lower ends  132   b . The spans between the upper ends  130  and lower ends  132   a  or  132   b  of each inner flange define their inner flange heights, respectively  134   a  for the shorter first leg inner flanges and  134   b  for the longer second leg inner flanges. 
         [0027]    Each of the leg attachment sets  122  and  124  further includes a leg pivot limit flange, respectively first and second leg limit flanges  136  and  138  extending from the lower portion  120  of the central web  112  of each bracket  110 . The upper edges of these leg pivot limit flanges are conterminous with the lower edges of the corresponding inner attachment flanges  126  and  128  and serve to limit both the extension and the folding of the sawhorse legs L 1  through L 4 , as explained further below. 
         [0028]    Outer leg attachment flanges  140  and  142  extend respectively from each of the leg pivot limit flanges and normal thereto and to the plane of the respective central web to lie parallel to the corresponding inner leg attachment flange  126  and  128 . Each of the outer leg attachment flanges includes an upwardly extending ear, respectively  144  and  146 , with each ear overlying the lower portion of the corresponding inner attachment flange  126   a  and  128  to define a leg attachment receptacle, respectively  148  and  150 , therebetween. Thus, each of the four sawhorse legs is pivotally captured between its inner leg flange and corresponding ear of the outer leg flange, i.e., the first and third legs L 1  and L 3  are captured between inner flanges  128  and corresponding outer flange ears  146  and the second and fourth legs L 2  and L 4  are captured between their inner flanges  126  and corresponding outer flange ears  144 . The rail R is not shown in  FIG. 4  for clarity in the drawing Fig., but will be seen to be essentially the same as the rail R shown in  FIGS. 1 through 3 , affixed between the rail attachment flanges  156  of the two brackets  110  of  FIG. 4 . 
         [0029]    It will be seen that the first and fourth leg inner flanges  128  of each bracket  110  have considerably greater heights  134   b  than the height  134   a  of the second and third leg inner flanges  126  of the brackets. This results in the leg inner and outer pivot passages  152   a ,  154   a  of the first and fourth leg inner flanges and ears, i.e., the inner flanges  128  extending from the second edges  118  of each bracket, being somewhat farther below the corresponding leg pivot passages  152   b ,  154   b  of the second and third leg inner flanges and ears, as all of the components of the leg attachment sets  122  of the taller inner flange sides of each bracket  110  are displaced downwardly or farther from the respective apex or upper end  114  of the brackets, than is the case for the components of the leg attachment sets  124  of the shorter inner flange sides of the brackets. The relative heights of these various components, i.e., their distances from the upper ends  114  of the brackets, are predetermined to position the inner and outer pivot passages  152   b ,  154   b  of the second and third leg attachment sets  122  so that the second and third legs L 2  and L 3  lie immediately adjacent the rail R when the two legs L 2  and L 3  are folded, as shown in broken lines in  FIG. 4  of the drawings. The greater distance of the pivot passages  152   a ,  154   a  from the apex or upper end  114  of each bracket  110  results in those legs L 1  and L 4  folding to lie outboard of the second and third legs L 2  and L 3  extending from the brackets  110 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0030]    Each of the brackets  110  illustrated in  FIG. 4  are identical to one another, and must have substantially the same height as the brackets  10   a  and  10   b  of  FIGS. 1 through 3  in order to provide the lower positioned first and fourth leg attachment sets  124  and their inner and outer pivotal leg attachment passages  152   a ,  154   a  of each bracket. Accordingly, the central webs  112  of the two brackets  110  each have sufficient area to allow an accessory attachment passage  160  to be formed in both webs. The accessory attachment passage  160  serves the same function as the corresponding passage  60  of the bracket  10   b  of  FIGS. 1 through 3 , i.e., it allows the belt clip or similar attachment structure of a retractable steel tape, etc. to be conveniently hung on the lower edge of the passage. 
         [0031]    Conventional bolts and nuts as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , are used to pivotally secure the legs L 1  through L 4  in their respective leg receptacles  148  and  150  and to immovably affix the opposite ends of the rail R between the respective rail attachment flanges  156  and  158 . These bolt and nut assemblies may be tightened as desired to adjust the friction of the legs L 1  through L 4  relative to the inner and outer leg attachment flanges. These fastener assemblies also strengthen the entire sawhorse apparatus by tying each inner and outer leg attachment flange pair together, with the solid material of the upper end of each leg preventing the collapse of the two plates toward one another. The result is an extremely sturdy and solid structure. 
         [0032]    The leg attachment passages  152   a  through  154   b  formed through the various inner and outer leg attachment flanges  126 ,  128  and ears  144 ,  146  are precisely located to limit the legs L 1  through L 4  in both their extension and retraction, or more accurately, the legs L 1  through L 4  are positioned precisely when they are initially positioned for drilling attachment holes through the upper ends of the legs, using the various flange and ear attachment passages as guides. When properly attached legs L 1  through L 4  are extended, the outboard edges of the legs contact the inner surfaces of the corresponding leg pivot limit flanges  136  and  138 , limiting extension of the legs to an orientation normal to the rail R. Conversely, when the legs are folded, the outer edges of the legs contact the upper edges  164  of the corresponding limit flanges to prevent the legs from pivoting past parallel to the rail R. In some instances, it may be desirable to affix the legs L 1  through L 4  immovably in their brackets  110 . This may be accomplished by driving locking pins (e.g., nails, wood screws, etc.) into preformed locking pin passages  166  formed through the outer attachment flanges  140 ,  142  and leg pivot limit flanges  136  and  138 . 
         [0033]    In conclusion, the folding sawhorse brackets provide an economical means of assembling a sawhorse that may be folded compactly for storage and transport. Each of the embodiments may be economically manufactured from an inexpensive blank of sheet metal stock, and cut and bent to form the finished bracket. While the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 through 3  requires two different brackets  10   a  and  10   b , it has the advantage of providing one smaller bracket of the two, thus requiring less material and perhaps providing certain advantages in packaging. The second embodiment of  FIG. 4  has the advantage of identical brackets for each end of the assembled sawhorse, with each bracket facing the other. While both brackets of the second embodiment are of the same size as the larger bracket  10   b  of the first embodiment, they both may include an accessory attachment passage and may also nest reasonably compactly for efficient packaging. 
         [0034]    It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.