Abstract:
The present invention relates to a handle to aid in the connection of a grease gun coupler to a grease fitting. The handle generally includes a hollow body forming a longitudinally extending bore and an outer surface, wherein a grease gun hose passes through the bore allowing the handle to be slidably moved with respect to the grease gun hose. In operation, the handle is pressed against a grease gun coupler attached to a grease gun hose and the grease gun coupler is then positioned adjacent a grease fitting. By pushing on the handle, the grease coupler is urged onto the grease fitting.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of earlier filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/105,984, filed Oct. 28, 1998, entitled “Slidable Handle for Grease Gun Hose”, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of lubricating devices and, more particularly, to a handle which can be slidably attached to a grease gun hose and also to a grease gun having a handle slidable along the grease gun hose. 
     2. Brief Description of the Prior Art 
     Many pieces of machinery include bearings which must be lubricated on a predetermined schedule. This lubrication generally involves greasing the bearings by manually injecting grease or a similar lubricant from a lubricating device, e.g., a grease gun, through a grease fitting on the machine and into the bearing assembly. Conventional grease guns usually include a flexible hose with a coupler at one end. To lubricate the bearings, the coupler is manually attached to the grease fitting and the grease gun operated to push grease through the hose and into the bearing assembly. 
     While generally acceptable for lubricating bearings, there are limitations associated with such conventional grease guns. For example, after prolonged use, the grease gun hose tends to become greasy or oily to the touch. Therefore, anyone gripping or handling the hose to place the hose onto the fitting will get his hands or clothes greasy. Additionally, to engage the hose coupler with the grease fitting, it is not unusual for the coupler to have to be pressed rather forcefully against the fitting for the two pieces to engage. If the hose is slippery with grease, this can be rather difficult. Further, it is quite common for workers to grasp the hose near the middle and try to force the hose coupler onto the grease fitting. This causes the end portion of the hose near the coupler to flex and bend, leading to cracks and ruptures due to material fatigue and requiring frequent replacement of the hose. 
     Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a grease gun in which contact with a greasy or dirty hose can be avoided and also in which the grease gun hose coupler can be forced against the grease fitting without the bending and flexing problems associated with grease guns of the prior art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a handle which can be attached to a conventional grease gun hose and which is slidable along the hose, preferably between the coupler end to the end adjacent the grease gun. The handle includes a body forming a longitudinal bore that allows a grease gun hose to pass through the longitudinal bore. The handle is preferably one piece and substantially cylindrical in shape, but may also be formed by a plurality of pieces, e.g., two halves, which is preferably placed around the hose and fitted together in a conventional manner, e.g., snap fittings, to form the handle. The longitudinal bore is preferably larger at one end of the body than the opposite end of the body, allowing the handle to slide over a coupler connected to the hose and contact a coupler nut positioned adjacent the coupler. 
     One method of greasing a grease fitting involves sliding the handle along a grease gun hose toward a grease coupler positioned adjacent a second end of the grease gun hose. The next step is positioning the grease coupler over a grease fitting and pressing on the handle, forcing the grease coupler over the grease fitting. Once the grease fitting is seated, the final step is extruding grease from a canister connected to a first end of the grease gun hose, through the grease gun hose, through the grease coupler, and into an orifice formed by the grease fitting. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     A complete understanding of the invention will be obtained from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing figures wherein like reference numbers identify like parts throughout. 
     FIG. 1 is a broken side view of a grease gun with a first embodiment of a handle of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of a grease gun hose coupler attached to a machine grease fitting; 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a grease gun handle of the invention; and 
     FIG. 4 is a side view of a second, preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     For purposes of the description hereinafter, the terms “right”, “left”, “above”, “below” and similar spacial indicators shall relate to the invention as it is oriented in the drawing figures. However, it is to be understood that the invention may assume various alternative variations and step sequences, except where expressly specified to the contrary. It is also to be understood that the specific apparatus and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification, are simply exemplary embodiments of the invention. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics related to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting. 
     The preferred embodiment of the present invention is generally shown in FIG.  4 . However, FIGS. 1-3 are discussed first, to provide any necessary background about auxiliary parts, such as a grease gun, and the general design of the present invention. 
     The grease gun  10 , generally shown in FIG. 1, includes a canister  12  as a source of lubricating material, such as grease. A trigger or lever  14  is connected to the canister  12  and serves to pressurize the canister  12  to force grease out of the canister  12  and into a flexible hose  18  in a conventional manner. The hose  18  is made of pliable material, such as rubber or plastic. The hose  18  has a first end  20  adjacent the canister  12  and an outer or second end  22 . The first end  20  is attached to the canister  12  in a conventional manner, such as by a threaded fitting. A coupler  24  is mounted on the outer end  22  of the hose  18  opposite the canister  12 . The coupler  24  has a tip, e.g., a male threaded tip, configured to engage a grease fitting  25 . The structure and operation of such a grease gun  10  will be readily understood by one of ordinary skill in the art and, hence, are not discussed in detail herein. 
     A first embodiment handle  26 , as shown FIGS. 1-3, is formed by a body  27 . The handle  26  is mounted on the hose  18  and is preferably slidable from the first end  20  to the second end  22  of the hose  18 . As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the handle  26  is preferably substantially cylindrical and has a longitudinal bore  28  through which the hose  18  passes. The handle  26  has a first end  29  and a second end  30  and may include an ergonomically contoured outer surface to make it easier to grip by a user. The handle  26  may be of any conventional material, such as wood, plastic, composite material or metal, e.g., aluminum. As shown in FIG. 3, the handle  26  may be formed by a plurality of pieces, such as a first handle piece or half  32  and a second handle piece or half  34 . Each handle half  32 ,  34  has a substantially U-shaped profile when seen in end view with a longitudinal groove  35  extending along the inner surface of one of the handle halves  32 ,  34 . The two handle halves  32 ,  34  are engagable, preferably reversibly engagable, to form the handle  26 . For example, the first handle half  32  may include a plurality of engagement elements  36 , such as projections or snap fittings. The second handle half  34  may include a plurality of engagement members  38  configured to releasably engage the engagement elements  36  on the first handle half  32  to hold the first and second handle halves  32 ,  34  together around the hose  18  to form the handle  26 . Alternatively, other conventional coupler systems, such as screws, metal bands, nuts and bolts, etc., may be used to hold the two handle halves  32 ,  34  together. 
     As shown in FIG. 4, the preferred embodiment of the handle  26 ′ generally includes a body  27 ′ forming a longitudinally extending bore  28 ′. The bore  28 ′ preferably has a greater diameter  42  at one end  29 ′ of the body  27 ′. The body  27 ′ further includes an ergonometric outer surface having gripping elements, such as a plurality of raised ribs  44  to help grip the handle when greasy. Like the first embodiment, the handle  26 ′ slides along a hose  18 . However, as shown further in FIG. 4, the handle  26 ′ can be used in two ways. End  29 ′ can be pressed against the coupler  24  or a portion thereof or, preferably, end  30 ′ can slide over a portion of the coupler  24  and contact the coupler nut  40 . Sliding over a portion of the coupler  24  is preferred because the hose  18  and coupler  24  are better supported during pressing of the coupler  24  onto a grease fitting  25 . The handle  26 ′ can be reversed on the hose if desired. 
     Operation of the grease gun  10  with handle  26 , shown in FIGS. 1-3, will now be described. For a conventional grease gun  10 , the first and second handle halves  32 ,  34  are placed around the hose  18  and fitted, e.g., snapped together, to form the handle  26 . The bore  28  formed by the two grooves  35  has a diameter which is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the hose  18  so that the handle  26  is slidable along the length of the hose  18  from the first end  20  to the second end  22 . When the grease gun  10  is needed, a user can grasp the canister  12  in a conventional manner and grip the handle  26  to position the coupler  24  as required. Thus, the user&#39;s hands need not actually come in contact with the hose  18 . 
     Additionally, as discussed above and shown in FIG. 2, sometimes the coupler  24  must be strongly pressed against the grease fitting  25  to engage the coupler  24  with the fitting  25 . With the preferred embodiment of the present invention, shown in FIG. 4, handle  26 ′ can be slid along the hose  18  until the first end  29 ′ passes over the inner end of the coupler  24  and contacts the coupler nut  40 . Alternatively, the handle  26 ′ can be slid along the hose  18  until the second end  30 ′ of the handle  26 ′ abuts the inner end of the coupler  24 . Thus, either handle  26 ,  26 ′ can be used to strongly press the coupler  24  against the fitting  25 . Moreover, since the outer portion of the hose  18  is inside the handle  26 ,  26 ′, this eliminates the bending and flexing problems common in the currently available devices, helping to reduce or eliminate the material fatigue and cracking problems associated with known grease gun hoses. 
     If the fitting  25  is at a difficult position to reach, e.g., behind obstructing piping or in a well on the machine, either handle  26 ,  26 ′ can be slid toward the first end  20  of the hose  18  to allow the outer end  22  of the hose  18  with the coupler  24  to be bent or maneuvered into position to engage the fitting  25  in a conventional manner. Thus, the handles  26 ,  26 ′ do not interfere with bending the outer portion of the hose  18  if needed to maneuver the hose  18  around an obstacle to engage the coupler  24  with the fitting  25 . If the handles  26 ,  26 ′ become worn or damaged, handle  26  can be slid, halves  32 ,  34  can be separated and the handle  26  replaced with a new handle  26  of the present invention. Handle  26 ′ can be separated from the hose  18  by sliding the handle  26 ′ off the hose  18  in a conventional manner and replaced with a new handle  26 ′. If either handle  26 ,  26 ′ is not desired for a particular lubricating operation, e.g., if the hose  18  must be inserted through a restrictive or confined opening, the handles  26 ,  26 ′ can be temporarily removed and then replaced when needed again. 
     While one embodiment of the handle  26  is formed by two handle halves  32 ,  34  fitted together around the hose  18 , the preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, is a handle  26 ′ with a one-piece body  27 ′ construct, wherein the body  27 ′ has a longitudinal bore  28 ′ which can be slidably carried on the hose  18 . For example, the first end  20  of the hose  18  can be disconnected from the canister  12 , the one-piece handle  26 ′ slipped onto the hose  18  and the first end  20  reconnected to the canister  12 . The longitudinal bore  28 ′ can also be enlarged at one end, allowing the handle  26 ′ to slide over a coupler  24  and contact a coupler nut  40 . 
     Although the handles  26 ,  26 ′ of the invention are shown in use with a conventional lever-type grease gun, the handles  26 ,  26 ′ are not limited to such lever-type grease guns but may be used with any conventional lubricating device having a flexible hose. Additionally, the handles  26 ,  26 ′ can be packaged as a kit with a conventional grease gun, with other handles  26 ,  26 ′ individually packaged as replacements. 
     Thus, the present invention provides handles  26 ,  26 ′ which can be used with conventional lubricating devices, e.g., a conventional grease gun, to reduce or eliminate the limitations associated with known grease guns. The handles  26 ,  26 ′ allow a user to grip and manipulate the grease gun hose without physically touching the hose. The handles  26 ,  26 ′ may also be slid to the outer end of the hose to generally press against the coupler  24  to help engage the coupler  24  with a machine grease fitting without the bending and flexing problems associated with known grease gun hoses. 
     It will readily be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the concepts disclosed in the foregoing description. Such modifications are to be considered as included within the scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, the particular embodiments described in detail hereinabove are illustrative only and are not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any and all equivalents thereof.