Abstract:
A support rack, such as for supporting automobile body parts during painting, may be supported entirely from overhead by a single vertical support tube received within an overhead mounting bracket. A central frame has a sidewardly projecting cross member, which supports side members which extend front to back. A front frame projects frontwardly of the cross member, and has adjustable side support arms. When a fender is supported on one of the side members by an upper edge, one of the side support arms can be adjusted to properly engage the fender. Alternatively, the rack&#39;s vertical mount tube can be supported from below on a wheeled support frame. Adjustable pin collars can be moved along the side arm to support parts which have mounting holes.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Not applicable. 
   STATEMENT AS TO RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE UNDER FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
   Not applicable. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to racks in general, and more particularly to racks for supporting objects for spray treatment such as in painting. 
   The modern automobile, as it comes from the manufacturer, presents a variety of exterior parts and body panels which are attractively finished to present an even and durable surface which resists the elements at the same time as it contributes to the public appearance of the vehicle. These body parts, formed of steel, aluminum, plastic, composites, or other material, are nonetheless subject to wear and corrosion by the elements, as well as structural damage by collision with other automobiles or objects. 
   In the event of damage, it is sometimes possible to repair and repaint a body part while it remains in place on the automobile. However, in many situations a superior result may be obtained by removing the distressed body part from the automobile and treating it while it is supported on a paint rack. The supported body part will usually be painted or otherwise coated by a paint gun utilizing compressed air to drive paint particles on to the exposed surfaces of the part. It will be observed that to obtain the best results, dust and other foreign particulate matter must be kept away from the applied paint while it is wet. To facilitate painting of automobile body parts, the painting is sometimes carried out on racks located within paint booths which may be enclosed, and which may employ positive pressure ventilation. 
   A variety of painting racks are known. These structures are typically adjustable arrangements of tubing which extend from the paint booth floor to support the parts in a convenient position for painting. Typically, a paint gun is supplied with compressed air from a hose which extends along the floor back to a source of compressed air, such as an air compressor. Floor mounted racks cannot help but present obstacles to the free movement of the paint gun, thereby restricting the convenient access of the operator to all faces of the part. 
   What is needed is an adjustable painting rack which supports parts above the floor, which permits ready cleaning of the floor beneath the rack, and which provides less interference with the movement of an air hose extending from a paint gun, which is at the same time compact and economically produced. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A support rack, such as for supporting automobile body parts during painting, may be supported entirely from overhead by a single vertical support tube received within an overhead mounting bracket. A central frame has a sidewardly projecting cross member, which supports side members which extend front to back. A front frame projects frontwardly of the cross member, and has adjustable side support arms. When a fender is supported on one of the side members by an upper edge, one of the side support arms can be adjusted to properly engage the fender. Alternatively, the rack&#39;s vertical mount tube can be supported from below on a wheeled support frame. Adjustable pin collars can be moved along the side arm to support parts which have mounting holes. 
   It is a feature of the present invention to provide a support for elements to be painted which is elevated above the floor of a paint booth. 
   It is another feature of the present invention to provide a rack for supporting elements to be painted which permits air hoses to pass unobstructed below the rack. 
   It is a further feature of the present invention to provide a paint rack which is compact, and which can be readily broken down for shipping into a minimum number of parts. 
   It is an additional feature of the present invention to provide a paint rack kit which has interchangeable parts to permit a variety of automotive body panels to be supported by substituting different parts of the kit on the rack. 
   Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded isometric view of the overhead mounted painting rack of this invention, with an automobile fender shown in phantom view. 
       FIG. 2  is an isometric view of an alternative support element for the rack of  FIG. 1 , with an automobile bumper cover shown in phantom view. 
       FIG. 3  is an isometric view of a caster mounted painting rack of this invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a fragmentary front elevational view of the rack of FIG.  1 . 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Referring more particularly to  FIGS. 1-4 , wherein like numbers refer to similar parts, a rack assembly  20  is shown in FIG.  1 . The rack assembly  20  is supported from overhead by an overhead mounting bracket  22  which is connected by fasteners  24  to an overhead element  26  such as a ceiling truss or bean. As best shown in  FIG. 4 , the mounting bracket  22  has a base plate  28  from which a cylindrical pipe  30  extends downwardly. Four ribs  32  extend from the paper  30  to the base plate  28 . The fasteners  24  extend through the base plate  28  to be secured within the overhead element  26 . A vertical support tube  34  is engaged within the overhead mounting bracket  22  and extends downwardly to engage a central frame  36 . The lower end of the mounting bracket  22  has two opposed inverted J-shaped slots  38  which open downwardly. The upper end of the vertical support tube  34  has two sidewardly protruding pins  40  which extend into the J-shaped slots  38  to enable the vertical support tube to be supported on the bracket  22 . This arrangement permits the vertical support tube  34  to be readily and conveniently engaged with the overhead bracket from below, without requiring a ladder. 
   The central frame  36  has a vertically extending mount tube  42  which is welded to a cross member  44  which extends in a side-to-side direction. The mount tube  42  has a pair of opposed holes which align with holes in the vertical support tube  34  to receive a bolt  46  therethrough. The vertical support tube  34  preferably has multiple holes  48  evenly spaced along its lower end to permit the central frame  36  to be positioned at the desired height beneath the bracket  22 . 
   A mount tube  42  is approximately centered on the cross member  44 . The cross member  44  has an upturned segment  50  at each end which is terminated by a front-to-back extending side member  52 . The side member  52  is fixed to the upturned segment  50  such that about one third of the side member extends frontwardly and two thirds of the side member extend rearwardly. Each side member  52  serves to support the upper edge  54  of a vehicle body part such as a fender panel  56 . Most vehicle fender panels may be supported directly on the side member. Some double-walled fender panels may be more readily mounted on the side members  52  by connecting adjustable pin collars  58  to the side members, and inserting the upwardly extending pins  60  of the pin collars into vertically extending holes normally found on some fender panels. Each pin collar  58  is a short length of tubing which slides over the side member  52 , and which may be fixed in place by an adjustable eyelet screw  62 . When not in use, the adjustable pin collars may be stored on a storage arm  64  which is fixed to the cross member  44 . Two pin collars  58  may be stored on the storage arm  64  in front of the cross member, and two behind the cross member. 
   Typically, a fender panel  56 , when supported along its upper edge  54 , will tend to hang such that the lower portions  66  of the fender panel will tip towards the interior of the rack  20 . When struck by the compressed air of the paint gun, the fender panel can sway. For optimal painting results it is desirable that the panel being treated be fixed in place as much as possible. A front frame  68  is adjustably received within a front tube  70  which is fixed to the cross member  44  alongside the mount tube  42 . The front frame has a frontwardly extending front arm  72  which is received within the front tube, and which can be slid to a desired position, and then clamped in place by the adjustment of the eyelet screws  74 . The front arm  72  has a front down arm  76  which extends downwardly at the forward end of the front arm  72 . A forward bracket  78  is mounted to the front down arm  76 . The forward bracket  78  is composed of a vertically extending tube  80  to which are attached two parallel sidewardly extending square tubes  84 , each with an adjustable eyelet screw. The vertically extending tube  80  of the forward bracket  78  also has an adjustable eyelet screw to permit the bracket to be positioned as desired vertically. 
   An adjustable side support arm  82  extends through each of the sidewardly extending tubes  84 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the side support arms  82  may thus be extended to engage the lower portions  66  of a fender panel  56 . To limit the retraction of the support arms  82 , they may be provided with a pin  86  at their outward ends. 
   It will be noted that the entire assembly  20  is supported from overhead in a position adjustably spaced above the floor. This spacing permits an operator to pass around the rack and the workpiece with minimal impediment to moving the air hose connected to the paint gun. To facilitate temporary storage of the paint gun, two U-shaped wires may be fixed to the cross member to define a gun support  88 . The two side members  52  permit two fenders to be mounted to the rack assembly  20  at once. Likewise the two side support arms  82  engage the two fenders when mounted on the side members  52 . The rack assembly  20 , with its support from a single point is thus compact, and because of its minimal structure, is economical to produce and relatively lightweight. 
   The rack assembly  20  may be provided with additional frame elements to permit it to be configured to support other structures for painting. For example, the bumper cover frame  90 , shown in  FIG. 2 , has a vertical mount tube  92  which mounts to the vertical support tube  34 . A forward arm  94  extends frontwardly from the vertical mount tube  92  and has a front member  98  which extends sidewardly, and which has an adjustable side member  100  telescopically received within each end. Eyelet screws are adjustable to retain the side members  100  at the desired extension. Two bracket elements  102  are mounted to the front member  98  inwardly of the side members  98 . Each bracket element  102  has a horizontal tube  104  which is positionable along the front member and held in place by an adjustable eyelet screw, and a vertical tube  106  which receives a vertical member  108  and which also has an eyelet screw to permit the vertical member to be positioned at the desired height above the front member  98 . By adjusting the vertical members  108  and the side members  100 , the frame  90  can be configured to support an automobile bumper cover  110 . The degree of adjustment possible takes account of the wide variety of shapes of automobile bumper covers. 
   In some circumstances, it may not be possible or desirable to support the rack assembly from overhead, for example where the vertical distance is too great, or where it is desired to be able to move the rack. In such circumstances, the wheeled rack assembly  112  shown in  FIG. 3  may be employed. The rack assembly  112  is similar to the rack assembly  20 , with the difference that the overhead mounting bracket and the overhead vertical support tube are replaced with a wheeled support frame  114  having four casters  116  with brakes (not shown). The wheeled support frame  114  has an H-shaped base  118  with two side members  120  which are connected by a single connecting member  122 . A vertical support tube  124  extends upwardly from the connecting member  122 , and has multiple mounting holes  126  to permit the central frame to be positioned at the desired vertical elevation. The support tube  124  may be a square tube. The central frame  128  and front frame  130  of the wheeled rack assembly  112  may be substantially the same as those of the rack assembly  20  described above, except that the mount tube  132  extends downwardly to be pinned within the upwardly extending support tube. Both the mount tube  132  and the support tube may have multiple holes to receive the pinning bolt  134  to permit a greater range of heights. The wheeled rack assembly  112  functions to support fender panels in the same manner as the rack  20 . 
   It should be noted that the eye screws can also be used as tiedown points for the connection of wires or bungee cords to the part being treated. It should be noted that where eyelet screws or fastening bolts are disclosed, other means of adjustably fastening one part to another may be employed. 
   It is understood that the invention is not limited to the particular construction and arrangement of parts herein illustrated and described, but embraces all such modified forms thereof as come within the scope of the following claims.