Patent Publication Number: US-6702130-B1

Title: Door painting rack

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a rack for holding doors that are painted while held by the rack. 
     2. Background of the Prior Art 
     During new construction, such as a house or office complex, a few doors to many dozen doors will need to be painted or otherwise finished. Typically, each door is finished prior to being installed within the opening which the door will serve. One method of door finishing commonly employed is to rest the door on one of its surfaces and finish the opposing surface. After the surface is painted, the door is flipped and the unfinished surface of the door is then finished. The problem with such a method is that it is time-consuming and requires excessive handling of the door. Additionally, as the door is generally slanted during the finishing process, excess paint or other finish can tend to collect in a particular location resulting in an uneven finish. 
     In order to address such problems, door painting racks have been proposed wherein the door is hung from a rack and is completely finished while held within the rack. While such prior art devices work with varying degrees of efficiency, they tend to suffer from one or more drawbacks. 
     Many door painting racks are unusually complex in design and construction, making the racks expensive to manufacture and time-consuming to assemble and use. Other devices have limited functionality, thereby making such racks of limited value to a painter. 
     Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a door painting rack that allows for relatively quick and easy finishing of a large number of doors. Such a rack must not be unusually complex in design and construction, so that the rack is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and is quick and easy to assemble and use. The rack must be versatile for use with a wide variety of doors and in various settings. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The door painting rack of the present invention addresses the aforementioned needs in the art. The door painting rack allows a painter to finish a large number of doors quickly and easily. The rack is relatively simple in design and construction, so that the rack is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and is quick and easy to assemble and use. The rack can be used with a wide variety of doors and can be used a variety of settings. 
     The door painting rack of the present invention is comprised of a base member having a first lower support pin attached thereto. An extension support extends upwardly from the base member while a first extension arm extends outwardly from the extension support. A first spring-loaded upper support pin is attached to the first extension arm and faces the first lower support pin. The base member can be comprised of a first leg and a second leg that extends outwardly from the first leg and is generally parallel with the extension arm such that the first lower support pin is attached to the second leg. The second leg may be telescopic. A third leg extends outwardly from the first leg in opposing direction relative to the second leg. The third leg can be telescoping. A second lower support pin can be attached to the third leg while a second extension arm extends outwardly from the extension support in opposing direction relative to the first extension arm. A second spring-loaded upper support pin is attached to the second extension arm and faces the second lower support pin. A first stop is attached to the second leg while a second stop is attached to the third leg. The first extension arm is fixedly attached to the extension support and the second extension arm is fixedly attached to the extension support. The extension support may be telescoping. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the door painting rack of the present invention configured to hold a single door. 
     FIG. 2 is an environmental view of FIG. 1, with the door painting rack holding a door. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the door painting rack of the present invention configured to hold more than one door. 
     FIG. 4 is an environmental view of FIG. 3, with the door painting rack holding a pair of doors. 
     FIG. 5 is a partially exploded view of the door painting rack of the present invention. 
     FIG. 6 is a partially sectioned view of the upper support pin used with the door painting rack of the present invention. 
     FIG. 7 is a close-up view of the height adjustment mechanism used with the extension support of the door painting rack of the present invention. 
     Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings, it is seen that the door painting rack of the present invention, generally denoted by reference numeral  10 , is comprised of a base member  12 . The base  12  can have any desired configuration such as the illustrated leg configuration wherein a plurality of legs extend outwardly from a central point. The illustrated base member  12  has a first leg  14  and a second leg  16  extend outwardly from a point in generally opposing directions (the first leg  14  and the second leg  16  can be viewed as a single long leg) while a third leg  18  and a fourth leg  20  (which can also be viewed as a single long leg) extend outwardly from the joinder point of the first leg  14  and the second leg  16 , or from any other point along either the first leg  14 , the second leg  16  or both. Various other leg configurations as well as other base member  12  configurations (a single flat base member  12 , for example) are possible in keeping within the scope and spirit of the present invention  10 , 
     In a leg-based base member  12  configuration, the base member  12  can be a single unit, or as seen, the base member  12  can be a single sub-base frame member  22  onto which each of the various legs  14 ,  16 ,  18 , and  20  are removably attached. Attachment of each leg to the sub-base frame member  22  can be accomplished in any standard fashion such as by providing openings  24  on the particular leg which openings  24  are aligned with openings  26  on a section of the sub-base frame member  22  and a pin  28  is passed through the aligned openings  24  and  26 . If desired, a washer  30  can be affixed to the pin  28  and a cotter pin  32  can be passed through the pin  28  so that the pin  28  is not easily removed. By providing more than one set of openings  24  on the particular leg (or on the sub-base frame member  22 ) that particular leg becomes telescoping, although only working legs—legs that receive a door D thereon—need to be made telescoping. An advantage of having removable legs attachable to a sub-frame  22  is that it allows the door painting rack  10  to be disassembled for ease in transport and storage. 
     A lower support pin  34  is attached to the base member  12  at any desired location. If the door painting rack  10  is configured to receive more than one door D, then, one or more additional lower support pins  34  will be located on legs other than the leg to which the first lower support pin  34  is attached. If the leg configuration illustrated in FIGS. 3-5 is used, then a lower support pin  34  will be located on the first leg  14  and the opposing second leg  16 . If a multiple door holding configuration is desired, for example a four door configuration, then a lower support pin  34  will be located on each of the four legs  14 ,  15 ,  18 , and  20 . A stop  36  will be located on the base member  12 , one stop  36  for each lower support pin  34  that is located on the base member  12 . 
     An extension support  38  extends upwardly from the base member  12 . The extension support  38  may be either of fixed height or may be telescoping in any desired fashion such by providing an opening  40  on one of the sections  42   a  of the extension support  38  and providing an adjustment handle  44  that is threadably secured to this section  42   a  and that friction engages with the other section  42   b  of the extension support  38 . In order to adjust the height of the extension support  38 , the two sections  42   a  and  42   b  are positioned relative to one another to the desired height and the adjustment handle  44  is rotated until it engages the second section  42   b  of the extension support  38  and thereby friction holds the two sections  42   a  and  42   b  relative to one another. If a different height is desired, the adjustment handle  44  is counterrotated in order to disengage from the second section  42   b , the two sections  42   a  and  42   b  are repositioned, and the handle  44  is again rotated in order to once again engage the second section  42   b.    
     A first extension arm  46  extends outwardly from the extension support  38  and is secured to the extension support  38  in fixed fashion. If the door painting rack  10  is configured to hold more than one door D, additional extension arms  46  are provided, one extension arm  46  for each door D that the device  10  is designed to hold at one time. If the legs of the base member  12  are telescoping, then each extension arm  46  is telescoping to correspond with its respective leg. The telescoping nature of each extension arm  46  is accomplished in any desired fashion such as by providing a pair of openings  48  on a first section  50   a  of the extension arm  46  and providing a series of opening pairs  52  on a second section  50   b  of the extension arm  46  and aligning the openings  48  on the first section  50   a  with a pair of openings  52  on the second section  50   b  and passing a pin  54  through the aligned openings  48  and  52 . A washer  56  may be placed on the pin  54  while a cotter pin  58  may be passed through the pin  54  in order to hold the pin  54  in position. 
     A spring-loaded upper support pin  60  is attached to the each extension arm  46  and aligns with and faces the lower support pin  34  found on the base member  12 . The upper support pin  60  passes through corresponding openings  62  located on the extension arm  46  and has a shaft  64 , and a head portion  66 . The shaft  64  slides through the openings  62 , while a compression spring  68  biases the shaft  64  in a downward orientation. The spring  68  is located within the extension arm  46  and abuts the upper inner surface and the lower inner surface of the extension arm  46 , with washers  70  disposed between the ends of the spring  68  and the respective inner surfaces and of the extension arm  46 . A cotter pin  72  is passed through the shaft  64  under washer  70  and prevent the shaft  64  from being overextended through the openings  62 . 
     in order to use the door painting rack  10  of the present invention, the extension support  38  is adjusted to the desired height to accommodate the size of the door D to be held by the device  10 . Each leg that is to support a door D is adjusted to its desired length (if telescopic) and the corresponding extension arm  46  is also adjusted to a corresponding length so that the lower support pin  34  and the upper support pin  60  are vertically aligned. A door D is positioned within the door painting rack  10  by pushing on the upper support pin  60  upwardly causing the upper support pin  60  to move upwardly. The door D is then rested on the lower support pin  34  and the spring  68  of the upper support pin  60  biases the upper support pin  60  on the door D thereby holding the door D in position within the device  10 . The stop  36  located on the base member  12  prevents rotation of the door D. The door D is now ready to be finished in desired fashion. In order to remove the door D from the door painting rack  10 , the door D is lifted upwardly causing the upper support pin  60  to move upwardly. Once the door D is clear of the lower support pin  34 , the door D is removed from the device  10 . 
     For transport of the device  10 , the various components are disassembled, and the device  10  is transported and reassembled at the next location. 
     While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to an embodiment thereof, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.