Patent Publication Number: US-7722019-B2

Title: Portable vise

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims priority to U.S. National Phase patent application Ser. No. 12/438,002, filing date Jun. 5, 2009, entitled Portable Vise; to International Patent Application No. PCT/US2008/056644, International Filing Date Mar. 12, 2008, entitled Portable Vise; and to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/894,429, filed Mar. 12, 2007, entitled Portable Vise, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   While working with elongated materials or workpieces such as, lumber, plastic or metal pipe, conduit, unistrut, rebar, or dowels, it is often desirable to elevate or otherwise support and hold secure such materials above a work surface. Elevating the material allows for the unimpeded movement of painting utensils, saws, drills, welders, and other tools around the circumference of the material. For example, when cutting lumber with a circular hand saw, the circular saw blade will protrude through the backside of the lumber as the cut is being made. If the lumber is not elevated while sawing, the saw blade may bind or penetrate the surface upon which the lumber is situated. This may result in unwanted damage to the surface and potentially hazardous working conditions. 
   To avoid these problems, workers may support the workpiece with their own body, e.g. by placing their knee under the material or supporting the material in their hand, or they may use a make-shift support or surface, e.g. steps, tables, saw horses, or cement blocks. As illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the prior art method of holding or self-supporting the elongated material fails to provide a stable, secure support and poses a high degree of risk of personal injury. Make-shift supports may not be intended to support the forces exerted by such activities and are often unavailable, cumbersome to move and impractical for utilities requiring portability. What is needed in the field is a stable, portable support that is capable of elevating and holding an elongated material securely in place. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is the object of the present invention to address the aforementioned problems by providing a portable vise for securing, elevating and supporting end portions of elongated workpieces. An end portion of an elongated workpiece is inserted through an aperture in the vise body. The vise body and elongated workpiece are positioned such that one end of the elongated workpiece and one outside edge of the vise are situated upon a work surface and an end portion, or the working end, of the work piece is supported above the work surface. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of a rectangular device of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of a triangular device of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of a triangular device of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a device of the present invention being used to support a workpiece; 
       FIG. 5  is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of a triangular device of the present invention; 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a worker using a prior art method that does not properly support and secure an elongated workpiece; 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a device of the present invention being used to support a workpiece; 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a device of the present invention being used to support a workpiece; and, 
       FIG. 9  is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of a triangular device of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   For the sake of clarity, certain embodiments of the present invention are presented by reference to the figures. Where possible, like components present in different figures are referenced with the same number. 
   The present invention provides a portable vise for retaining and securing elongated workpieces or materials, such as a wood or metal beam, pipe, conduit, rebar, unistrut, and dowel. With reference to  FIGS. 1-5  and  7 - 9 , portable vise  10  includes body  20  with a plurality of apertures  30  and/or irregular apertures  35 . As best illustrated in  FIGS. 4 ,  7 , and  8 , in operation, an end portion  45  of an elongated workpiece  40  is positioned through an aperture formed in body  20 . An external edge  25  of the body  20  is rested upon the ground or other work surface such that the upper-most end of the body  20  is pointing or tilting away from the end portion  45  of the workpiece  40 . 
   In so tilting the body  20 , the counter forces exerted upon workpiece  40  by upper and lower inside surfaces  37  of aperture  30  or irregular aperture  35  serve to wedge and secure workpiece  40  such that workpiece  40  will not spin or otherwise move within the aperture. Stated differently, tilting the body  20  relative to the work surface employs an upward force on the bottom of workpiece  40  by an inside surface  37  of the aperture and a downward force on the topside of workpiece  40  by a second inside surface  37  defining the aperture. One skilled in the art will realize that this wedging effect will occur regardless of which way the body  20  is tilted. However, tilting the top of the body  20  away from the end portion  45  of the workpiece  40  better clears the space above the end portion  45  of the workpiece  40 . 
   To generate the maximal force for securing the working piece, a user may select an appropriately shaped aperture that is furthest from the edge  25  of the vise that is resting upon the work surface. The result is that one end of workpiece  40 , the end opposite to where the user will be working, rests upon the ground, floor or other work surface. The end portion  45  of the workpiece  40  is supported above the work surface and held securely by vise  10 . In this respect, the user can quickly and easily brace an elongated workpiece  40  in place for a variety of purposes, including cutting, drilling, welding or painting the member. As seen in  FIGS. 4 and 7 , when viewed from the side, the vise  10  and supported workpiece  40  form an X. 
   The body  20  may be constructed in a plate-like form, i.e., comprising two faces opposite one another and at least one outside edge. The faces need not be but are preferably planar to reduce manufacturing and shipping costs. The body  20  has a height and width that may be significantly greater than its depth or thickness of the edge. For example the thickness of the body  20  may measure between 2 to 6% of the length of one edge of the body  20 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 7 , there is shown an embodiment of the present invention having a body  20  that is rectangular or square. A square body  20  maximizes surface area through which apertures may be formed. One example of a device  10  that provides suitable results includes a square body  20 , approximately 12 inches in height by 12 inches in width by 0.5 inches in thickness. 
   Alternatively, as shown in  FIGS. 2-5  and  8 - 9 , the body  20  may be triangular. Though a triangular body does not have the surface area for apertures that a square body  20  does, a triangular body  20  is advantageous because the outside edge  25  resting on the work surface is necessarily horizontally the widest portion of the body  20 . Hence, stability is maximized by a triangular body  20 . Another example of a device  10  that provides suitable results has a triangular body  20  having equilateral edges measuring approximately 16 inches and have a thickness of approximately 0.5 inches. 
   Preferably, in all of the embodiments, any one of the outside edges  25  of the body  20  may be utilized to rest upon the work surface, thereby providing multiple orientations for securing various forms of workpieces  40 . As seen in  FIGS. 3 and 5 , the outside edges  25  may further be adapted for performance on uneven or unstable surfaces.  FIG. 3  shows an embodiment of a device  10  having a triangular body  20  with three straight external edges  25  that include protrusions or legs  50  extending therefrom. The legs  50  raise the external edge  25  slightly off the worksurface to accommodate debris or imperfections in the worksurface.  FIG. 5  shows an embodiment of a device  10  having a triangular body  20  with three inwardly-curved outside edges  25  that similarly accommodate debris or imperfections in the worksurface. 
   It is noted that the geometric shapes described above with respect to body  20  are by way of example only. Body  20  may be formed in any shape including a square, rectangle, triangle, circle, oval, non-regular or random shape so long as vise  10  employs some structure e.g. straight or curved external edge  25  or legs  50 , that sufficiently supports and stabilizes vise  10  during operation. 
   Body  20  is preferably made from a strong, rigid material such as aluminum or other metal alloy, composite, plastic, PVC, or other material which allows the user to exert downward force upon workpiece  40  while the workpiece is supported by vise  10 . Body  20  may be fabricated relatively thin such that it remains lightweight and portable, enabling the user to easily transfer and use the vise at any worksite. Utilization of a thin profiled body  20  may also improve the wedging or securing action of aperture  30  or irregular aperture  35  upon elongated workpieces  40 . Furthermore, a flat body  20  may be advantageous for stacking and packing such as to facilitate shipping and maximize shelf space. 
   Apertures  30  may be fabricated or cut through body  20  in the form of a square or rectangle which may ideally retain square or rectangular elongated workpieces, as well as similarly shaped materials. Alternatively, or in addition to, irregular shaped apertures  35  may be employed to retain a variety of differently shaped elongated workpieces having circular, square, rectangle or a nonsymmetrical cross sectional shape. For example, in the case of supporting and securing a pipe in vise  10 , utilization of a rectangular aperture  30  having a long side positioned parallel to the working surface may result in the pipe moving and spinning within the aperture. A user may benefit from inserting the pipe through an irregular shaped aperture  35  such as, a pentagon, other polygon or parallelogram, as illustrated in  FIGS. 2 ,  3 ,  5 ,  7 , and  9 . Irregular shaped aperture  35  may apply greater wedging or securing action from multiple directions on pipes and other forms of elongated work pieces  40 . 
     FIG. 9  is an example of a preferred embodiment of the device  10  of the present invention that illustrates the versatility of various apertures  30  and  35 . Beginning at the top of the device  10  and working clockwise, aperture  35   a  is sized and shaped to accommodate 3″ and 4″ pipe and conduit as well as 4″×4″ lumber and 4″ angle iron and tubing. Aperture  35   b  is sized and shaped to accommodate 2″ and 2½″ pipe and conduit as well as 2″ angle iron and tubing. Aperture  35   c  is sized and shaped to accommodate ½″ and ¾″ pipe and conduit. Aperture  30   a  is sized and shaped to accommodate 1″×2″ lumber and ⅞″ unistrut. Aperture  30   b  is sized and shaped to accommodate 1″ pipe and conduit. Aperture  35   d  is sized and shaped to accommodate 1¼″ and 1½″ pipe and conduit. Aperture  35   e  is sized and shaped to accommodate 2″×2″, 2″×4″ and 2″×6″ lumber and 1⅝″ unistrut. 
   In certain embodiments, the location or position of apertures  30  and irregular apertures  35  defined by body  20  may be off-centered towards the outside edges or corners of body  20  or centered with in body  20 .  FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment in which apertures are off-centered towards the sides of body  20 .  FIGS. 2 ,  3 ,  5 , and  9  illustrate an embodiment in which some apertures are off-centered towards the corners of body  20 . 
   In certain embodiments of the present invention, such as that illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the body  20  may contain at least one off-centered aperture  35  that has an apex  90  that points towards the outside edge  25  of the opposite side of body  20 . To maximize stability, the aperture  35  may be located such that a line  80  that is perpendicular to the body edge opposite the aperture and passes through the apex  90  passes through or near a center point  70  of the body  20 . 
   Although the invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments and applications, one of ordinary skill in the art, in light of this teaching, can generate additional embodiments and modifications without departing from the spirit of or exceeding the scope of the claimed invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the drawings and descriptions herein are proffered by way of example to facilitate comprehension of the invention and should not be construed to limit the scope thereof.