Abstract:
The object of this disclosure is a tool retaining and carrying device where the tool to be carried has an elongated handle, and a head connected to the handle. The device has a head receiving portion that is generally configured to substantially encase and protect the head portion of the tool. A connector portion is provided and is operatively configured to rotate about a lateral axis and reposition the holder about a lateral axis. There is also provided a handle retaining portion configured to engage and retain the handle portion of the tool. The entire apparatus can be attached to a user by way of a belt or similar structure.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Ser. No. 60/891,910, filed Feb. 27, 2007. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0002]    a) Field of the Disclosure 
         [0003]    This disclosure relates to tool carrying devices adapted to be worn by workmen and, more particularly, to an improved hammer carrying device. In one form, this disclosure relates to a tool carrying device rotatably coupled to a user&#39;s belt. 
         [0004]    b) Background Art 
         [0005]    Since man started using tools he has tried to find a better way of carrying them. Workmen often find themselves in need of both hands while building and otherwise using tools, necessitating a handy place to set the tool, where it is readily available when it is needed again. This has resulted in many different designs of carrying devices from simple cloth loops sewn to a worker&#39;s pants or apron, to complex holders which are attached to a workman&#39;s belt. 
         [0006]    Several different designs have been utilized including U.S. Pat. No. 3,384,277 patented by J. J. Hodelka on May 24, 1968. This U.S. Pat. No. 3,384,277 necessitates a particular way of placing the hammer head within the tool pocket as shown in FIG. 2. Furthermore there is a retaining clip which is configured to use the neck of a hammer. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,384,277 is configured for coupling to a rear pocket of a pair of trousers. 
         [0007]    Another U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,317 B2 patented by James Timothy Borson on Dec. 9, 2003, includes a head retaining portion wherein the claw portion of a hammer and oftentimes the head portion of the hammer are exposed to a workman. Furthermore this patent does not allow the workman to reposition the angle of the holster upon attachment to an apron or a tool belt. In addition, this patent relies on the use of a magnet shown as 3 which would not be effective in hammers not of a ferrous material. Finally, the patent relies on an adjustable member 1 which connects to the neck of a hammer. 
         [0008]    One other patent of relevance is the U.S. Pat. No. 3,130,883. Patented to L. J, MacKool of Apr. 28, 1964. This patent is designed as a hatchet scabbard, and while it encases the entire head portion of a tool, it relies on several connective means to hold the head and the handle in place. Furthermore, an additional strap is provided to couple the head portion of the scabbard to a workman&#39;s thigh. 
         [0009]    One last patent of note is the U.S. Pat. No. 3,100,590 of an A. J. Bolson of Aug. 13, 1963. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,100,590 relies on the hammer being in a vertical position, with the handle pointing up. Furthermore, a very specific head retaining mechanism 9 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. This retention mechanism would not be very effective in hammers having an exceptionally large face, such as a framing hammer. In addition, should the hammer be of sufficient width between the faces it would not fit into the pouch as described. Finally the attachment mechanism between the hammer holster and the belt of a workman would seem to be somewhat permanent in nature in that it needs to be connected by lugs to the belt of the user. This attachment mechanism seemed to permit constant swaying of the hammer as the workman is moving. 
       SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0010]    Disclosed herein is a tool retaining and carrying device where the tool to be carried has an elongated handle, and a head connected to the handle. The device has a head receiving portion having a major axis that is generally configured to substantially encase and protect the head portion of the tool. 
         [0011]    There is further a support structure having a first and second ends. The support structure is coupled to the head receiving portion near the first end and substantially perpendicular to the major axis of the head receiving portion. 
         [0012]    A connector portion is provided and is attached to the support structure near the second end of the support structure and operatively configured to be coupled to a user. The connector portion also has in one form a positioning system whereby a first member is fixedly and movably attached to a base member and the first member is operatively configured to rotate about a lateral axis and reposition the support structure about the lateral axis with respect to the base member. 
         [0013]    Finally there is provided a handle retaining portion attached to the second end of the support structure and configured to engage and retain the handle portion of the tool. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is an environmental view of a user in the process of inserting a hammer into a holster; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is an environmental view of the disclosure; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the disclosure holding a hammer and connected to a belt; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a side view of the disclosure with a hammer removed and the sectional position of  FIGS. 5 ,  6  and  7  indicated; 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a top view of the handle retaining structure taken along line  5  of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  is an end view of the disclosure taken along line  6  of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  is a cutaway view of the belt connector portion taken along line  7  of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  is a side view of  FIG. 7  showing the teeth and groove portion engaged; 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  is a side view of  FIG. 7  showing the teeth and groove portion disengaged; 
           [0023]      FIG. 10  is a cutaway view of the teeth and grooves taken a long line  10  of  FIG. 9 ; 
           [0024]      FIG. 11  is a side view of the disclosure showing the rotational possibilities of the disclosure; 
           [0025]      FIG. 12  shows a sine wave embodiment of the teeth and groove portion; 
           [0026]      FIG. 13  shows a square wave embodiment of the teeth and groove portion; and 
           [0027]      FIG. 14  shows a triangle wave embodiment of the teeth and groove portion. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0028]    Before going into a more detailed discussion, shown in  FIG. 2  there is an axis system  10  utilized to help describe the drawings herein, and generally the axis indicated at  12  indicates a longitudinal direction and the arrow points in a headward direction. The axis indicated at  14  indicates a transverse direction and is at right angles to the axis  12 . The axis indicated at  14   a  of  FIG. 3  indicates a direction toward the face of the hammer, and a  14   b  indicates a direction toward the claw of the hammer. Looking at  FIG. 6 , a lateral axis  16  is shown with  16   a  indicating a leftward direction and  16   b  indicating a rightward direction. The axes described are for general reference purposes and generally describe directions for ease of description and general orientation of components described herein. 
         [0029]    In general the disclosure recites an apparatus having four major structures. There is first shown a connector portion  22  as shown in  FIG. 3 , second is a support structure  24 , third is a head receiving portion/receiving structure  26 , and fourth is a handle retaining structure  28 . 
         [0030]    With the foregoing basic description of the main general components of the preferred embodiment in place, there will now be a more detailed description of the other various structures. Of course, it should be understood that the description is one form of carrying out the preferred embodiment whereas other methods and assemblies of componentry can be utilized. 
         [0031]    Looking at  FIG. 1 , it can in one form be seen in that the user  18  as shown is removing a hammer  30  from the holster  20  which is attached to a belt  21  which encircles the user  18 . As shown, the hammer  30  is being held by the user  18  in such a way that he need not change his grip on the hammer  30  before putting it into use as a striking implement. A person will normally utilize a hammer with their index finger and thumb in position nearest the head  32  of a hammer while using the hammer as a striking implement. Many of the prior art examples did not include this feature and could become a hazard if the user were to lose his grip on the hammer  30  upon repositioning their grip upon the hammer. 
         [0032]    Now referring to  FIG. 2 , it can be seen how the hammer  30  is inserted into the pocket  29  of the head receiving portion  26  of the holster  20 . The head  32  of the hammer  30  is set within the pocket  29  of the head receiving portion  26 , and rotated as shown by the arrow at  31  such that the handle  34  of the hammer  30  is positioned past the slot  42  of the handle retaining structure  28  and is held in place in the open region  44  of the handle retaining structure  28 . Looking at  FIG. 3  it can be seen how the hammer  30  is held in place within the head receiving portion  26  and handle retaining portion  28  of the holster  20 . Of special note is that the entire head  32  of the hammer  30  is encased within the head receiving portion  26 , and is generally aligned along a major axis  76  (shown in  FIG. 4 ) of the head receiving portion  26 . In this embodiment of the disclosure, the user, other individuals, and fragile aspects of the workplace are protected from the claw  36  and the face  38  of the hammer  30 . Some prior art examples do not include this protection and leave the user and others prone to injury upon coming into contact with the claw  36 . The claw portion  36  is potentially somewhat sharp and could cause damage, should it come in contact with a person, or portions of the workplace. Also shown in  FIG. 3  is one possible embodiment of the belt to holster connector portion wherein the belt  21  passes through a plurality of surfaces defining voids  51  in the connector portion  22 . In this way, the holster  20  is fixedly and movably connected to the belt  21  which is usually wrapped around a user and adjusted by way of a buckle. In this way the hammer is kept within easy reach of the user  18  as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0033]    Now referring to  FIG. 5  one possible embodiment of the handle retaining structure  28  is shown. In this embodiment a flexible member  40  is coupled to the support structure  24  which can be seen in  FIG. 3 . The support structure  24  as a major axis  78  should one form is substantially perpendicular to the major axis  76  of the head receiving portion  26 . Referring back to  FIG. 5 , the hammer handle  34  is positioned in the open region  44  of the handle retaining structure  28 . This is accomplished as shown in  FIG. 2  and described above. The slot is  42  is described previously and shown again in  FIG. 5 . The handle retaining structure  28  can also include a reverse curve  43  to ease in placement of the handle  34  within the open region  44 . The reverse curve  43  is comprised in one form by a retaining arm  45  which has a handle engagement surface  47 . In one form, the retaining arm  45  functions or operates as a cantilever-like spring, whereby it is operatively configured to rotate outwardly at the first end  49  in the laterally outward direction  16   b , thereby retaining the handle portion  34  of the hammer therein. Of course it should be noted that the slot  42  can be positioned facing in the rearward transverse direction, and could also could be orientated in the forward transverse region. In one preferred form the retaining arm  45  is a unitary structure with the base region  41 . 
         [0034]    One embodiment of the disclosure is especially useful for some designs of hammers which have an extremely thin neck portion. Several prior art examples include a retaining portion configured to hold the hammer by the neck  37  of the hammer  30 . 
         [0035]    For ease in positioning the head  32  of the hammer  30  within the head receiving portion  26 , a portion of the head receiving portion  26  is flared outwardly as a reverse curve  62 . This reverse curve  62  can also be seen in  FIG. 2 . In this embodiment the curved portion  62  does not extend the entire length of the receiving structure  26  but only encompasses a very small portion of the receiving structure  26 . This would also serve to protect the entire head portion of the hammer  30  from impact from the side. 
         [0036]      FIG. 6 , which is taken at a cross-section along line  6  of  FIG. 4 , shows a hammer  30  being held within a pocket  29  of the head receiving portion  26 . As shown, the head portion  32  of the hammer  30  has been positioned within the pocket  29  and is held in place by a hammer head retaining member  48 . The retaining member  48  can be a portion of spring material, such as spring steel, polymer, or the like, which creates a frictional force between the head  32  of the hammer  30  and the interior walls  64  of the receiving structure  26  as the hammer  30  is inserted or removed from the pocket  29  to maintain the hammer  30  from accidentally falling out of the pocket  29 . Further shown is the reverse curve  43  of the head receiving portion  26  previously described. This shows that the upper opening  66  of the pocket  29  can be wider than the lower portion  68  of the pocket  29  and thus create a larger opening and ease the positioning of the hammer therewithin. 
         [0037]    Now referring to  FIG. 7 , another aspect of the disclosure is shown wherein the support structure  24  is rotatable in respect to the connector portion  22 . Referring to  FIG. 11 , the solid line indicates a neutral position and the arrow of rotation  53  shows a possible forward  53 ′ or backward rotation  53 ″ as shown by separate ghost lines. Referring back to  FIGS. 7 through 10  the rotatable structure will be described in some detail.  FIG. 7  shows a cutaway view along line  7  of  FIG. 4 , revealing a belt connector portion  22  including the surfaces defining voids  51  which can be configured to the thickness and width of a standard belt. 
         [0038]    An elongated member  58  passes through a first portion  70  into the connection portion  22 , and in one embodiment, the elongate member  58  is a threaded rod such as a bolt or screw which is configured to fit within a surface defining a threaded void  57  of the belt connector portion  22 , and threads  59  of the elongate member  58  are configured to tension the first member  70  against the belt connector portion  22 . The belt connector portion  22  is designed to allow the user to configure the angle of the tool holster to a comfortable and useful position relative to a belt or other device. This is accomplished through several different portions of the belt connector including an elongate member  58  and a belt connector portion  22  in conjunction with the first portion  70 , which may be designed to be coupled to the support structure  24 . It also is conceived that the elongate member  58  could be a screw, a bolt, a rivet or any other similar connector portion. The head  74  of the elongate member  58  could be a knurled nut or similar device such that the elongate member  58  can be tensioned against the first portion  70  which is thus tensioned against the belt connector portion  22 . This is shown in  FIG. 8  wherein the first member  70  includes a set of teeth  54  and grooves  56  to a matching set of teeth and grooves in the belt connector portion  22 . In  FIG. 8 , the elongate member is tensioned and the teeth  54  are pressed tightly against the grooves  56 , thus preventing rotation of the first member  70  in respect to the belt connector portion  22  around a lateral axis  61 . 
         [0039]    As the support structure  24  is coupled to the first member  70 , the holster is fixedly and repositionably attached thereto. When the elongate member  58  is de-tensioned such that the compression spring member  60  expands and incurs an outboard force between the belt connector portion  22  and the first member  70 , the teeth  54  and grooves  56  disengage as shown in  FIG. 9 . As shown, the first member  70  is connected to the support structure  24  and can be rotated with respect to the belt connector  22  when the teeth  54  and grooves  56  are disengaged. This rotation is shown in  FIG. 11  as arrow  53 . 
         [0040]    Note that the pivotal mechanism used to rotate the holster  20  is not limited in its rotation, thus the hammer  30  can be held in a vertical, head down position, in a horizontal position, or an inverted position, wherein the head of the hammer  32  is positioned vertically above the handle portion. Any position, including a vertical position with the hammer head and the lowermost position and a vertical position with the hammer head in the upper position are possible. 
         [0041]      FIG. 10 , which is a cutaway view taken along line  10  of  FIG. 9 , shows the teeth  54  and grooves  56  of the first member  70 . Further shown is a surface defining a void  72  configured to the outer diameter of the elongate member  58 . 
         [0042]      FIGS. 12 through 14  show possible embodiments of the teeth  54  and grooves  56 . In  FIG. 12  the teeth  54   a  and grooves  56   a  have sinusoidal wave cross-section. In  FIG. 13  the teeth  54   b  and grooves  56   b  have a square wave cross-section.  FIG. 14  shows an embodiment of the teeth  54   c  and grooves  56   b  having a triangle wave cross-section. Each of these three separate embodiments has specific uses and varying degrees of adjustability. The number of teeth  56  and grooves may be increased or decreased, which will change the number of rotational positions possible. 
         [0043]    While the present invention is illustrated by description of several embodiments and while the illustrative embodiments are described in detail, it is not the intention of the applicants to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications within the scope of the appended claims will readily appear to those sufficed in the art. The invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details, representative apparatus and methods, and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of applicants&#39; general concept.