Abstract:
A square hollow and vertically extending pole having floor engaging and ceiling engaging structure on the opposed ends thereof and a plurality of vertically and horizontally spaced openings therein. An attachment having a pair of pegs thereon engaging a pair of vertically spaced openings in the pole and also having a supporting portion for supporting an item placed thereon and an overlying portion for closely overlying an item placed thereon.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to supporting poles with attachments generally and more particularly to such a pole which can be easily yet securely secured in an upright position in a rotatable manner between the floor and ceiling and wherein its attachments both overly and underly an item supported thereby. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Supporting poles with attachments are well known in the prior art as exemplified by the devices seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,903,227 and 5,050,746. However such prior art devices do not provide for easy yet secure securement for the supporting pole in a rotatable upright position either between the floor and the ceiling or between a wall and the floor and the attachments utilized therewith do not adequately secure an item supported thereon so that the overall arrangement does not adequately support the item on the attachment relative to the floor. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention includes a pair of releasable securing devices, one for rotatably securing the supporting pole to the floor and a second for rotatably securing the pole to the ceiling or one for securing the pole to a wall and the other for securing the pole to the floor. Pole attachments are secured to and carried by the supporting pole and both overly and underly an item carried thereby so that the item is adequately supported relative to the floor and, therefore, is not easily dislodged from the support to thereby fall on the floor and become damaged. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a pole made in accordance with this invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view, partially in section, of a pole with an attachment thereon and an item supported by the attachment; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the attachment shown in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a view like FIG. 2 of another embodiment of an attachment; 
     FIG. 5 is a fragmentary elevational view, partially in section, of an item supported directly by a pole made in accordance with this invention; 
     FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a wall mountable bracket usable to support the top of a pole in accordance with this invention; and 
     FIG. 7 is a modified top plate to be used with the bracket of FIG.  6 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings, a vertically elongated hollow pole is shown at  10  which is rectangular in cross section and has a top  12  and a bottom  14 ; it being understood that other circumferential configurations of the pole can be utilized by making minor modifications in the elements cooperating therewith. Additionally, a plurality of vertically spaced openings  16  are provided therein in paired relationship with a like plurality of vertically spaced openings  16 A, with the openings  16  and  16 A being circumferentially displaced from each other and disposed in the faces of the rectangular walls of the tube of the pole  10 . An annular top support  18  is provided with a first cylindrical portion  21  depending centrally from an enlarged second cylindrical portion  20 . The first cylindrical portion  21  is dimensioned so that it will enter the upper end of the pole  10  in a closely fitting and supporting relationship while allowing relative rotation to take place there between and is vertically elongated to provide for limited telescopic movement which is desirable for the assembly thereof, while the enlarged second cylindrical portion  20  is dimensioned so that it can abut the top  12  of the tube  10  to thereby be a physical stop in the event the tube is attempted to be moved upwardly too far; it being understood that the top support  18  can be modified to receive the periphery of the tube instead of fitting therein. An attaching screw  22  is provided centrally in the top support  18  and projects upwardly therefrom so that it can be directly screwed into the ceiling thereabove if it is aligned with a ceiling joist, or if it is located between joists, it can be screwed into and through a ceiling plate  23  to limit unit pressure on the usual ceiling elements (not shown) such as dry wall; it being understood that as it the usual case with drywall, if the ceiling between joists is drywall, then the screw  22  that would be used would be preferably be a toggle bolt. A support  24  is provided to rotatable support the pole  10  relative to the floor and includes a first annular shoulder  25  which is dimensioned so as to be telescopically and rotatably received in the lower end  14  of the pole  10 . A second annular shoulder  26  is formed integrally with the first shoulder  25 , and projects downwardly therefrom so as to be in position to engage the floor (not shown) and a screw  27  is dispose in the center of the shoulder  26  in a position to be screwed into the floor (not shown) to securely attach the lower end of the pole. Instead of the screw  27 , the support may be secured to the floor in other well know manners, as by an adhesive. 
     Referring now to FIG. 2, an attachment  28  is shown, which includes a vertical element  29  with an integral pair of vertically spaced peg portions, a lower portion  31  and an upper portion  31 A, which portions extend horizontally from the element  29  and into a pair of vertically aligned and spaced openings  16  in the pole  10 , to thereby support the attachment  28  relative to the pole  10 ; the inner end of the peg  31 A being deflected upwardly in a well known manner to removably, yet securely, hold the bracket  28  on the pole  16 . A horizontally extending bracket  33 , supporting an item  35 , includes a supporting attaching portion  32  formed integrally with the bracket  33 , which portion  32  extends first vertically in a welded relationship with the vertical element  29 , it alternatively can be formed unitarily therewith, and then horizontally to the right with a portion  32 A to spacedly overly a portion of the remainder of the bracket  33  and also to closely overly the item  35  to thereby intimately hold the item  35  on the bracket  33  and thereby securely support the item  35  on the pole  10  relative to the floor (not shown). The portion  32 A can also serve as an attaching point for a bungy cord (not shown) which can be stretched over an item to more intimately secure the same on the attachment  28 ; when serving as an attachment for such a cord, the portion  32 A can be formed in other configurations for better bungy cord attachment, such as a closed circle. In FIG. 3, it is seen that the attachment  28  can include a pair of laterally spaced horizontally extending brackets  33  and  33 A with a pair of vertical elements  29  and  29 A; with each of these elements having a portion  32 A thereon, while the latter portions also can serve as attaching points for a bungy cord to secure an item on the attachment  28 . A of pair of laterally extending horizontal brackets  33 B and  33 C, which extend between and connect the elements  33  and  33 A, provide a laterally wide supporting platform for an item, not shown, such as a VCR tape or the like. As seen in FIG. 3, the horizontal bracket  33 B has its left end formed in a loop  33 D around the bracket  33  so that it may rotate thereabout, while its right end is formed as a hook  33 E which can be releaseably secured to the bracket  33 A. It is also contemplated that the attachment  28  can be encased in a mesh material (not shown) which can supportingly receive small items, such as screw drivers and pliers. 
     Referring now to FIG. 4, another attachment  36  is shown including a vertically extending portion  37  with a pair of vertically spaced peg portions  38  and  39  which extend horizontally therefrom and into a pair of vertically aligned and spaced openings  16  in the pole  10  to thereby support the attachment relative to the pole  10 , the peg  38  having its inner end bent upwardly in a well known manner to secure the attachment  36  on the pole  10 . An annular member  40  is welded to or formed unitarily with the vertical portion  37  and is adapted to intimately support a cylindrical item (not shown) placed therein relative to the pole  10 ; it being understood that the member  40  and the portion  37  can be of one piece construction. Additionally, the bracket  37  can be a double bracket as is the bracket  28  seen in FIG. 3, in which case there would be a second loop (not shown) like the loop  40 , and a long rod shaped member(not shown) could be slid through both loops and be adequately supported thereby, and in turn, if desired, the rod (not shown) could have a variety of items hung thereon or otherwise supported thereby. Referring now to FIG. 5, a pair of rod shaped horizontally extending elements  42  are each inserted thru a pair of horizontally spaced and aligned openings  16  in the pole  10  and are operative to have a number of items (not shown) suspended therefrom. 
     Referring now to FIG. 6, an attaching bracket is shown generally at  44  and is adapted to be mounted to a wall (not shown) by a pair of hollow tubular “L” shaped brackets  60  and  62 . More particularly, the attaching bracket  44  has a pair of spaced openings  46  and  47  formed adjacent its outer end, and a plurality of spaced openings  48  formed adjacent its inner end. A pair of elongated rods  50  and  50 A overly the attaching bracket  44 , with the rod  50  having a plurality of axially spaced screw receiving openings  54  therein, and the rod  50 A having a plurality of axially spaced openings  52  therein. A pair of screws  56  pass through a pair of the openings  54  which are aligned with an opening  47  and one of the openings  48  to thereby attach the rod  50  to the bracket  44 , and a pair of screws  58  pass through a pair of openings  52  which are aligned with an opening  46  and one of the openings  48  to thereby attach the rod  50 A to the bracket  44 . The rods  50  and  50 A extend beyond the left extremity of the bracket  44 , with the rod  50  being telescopically received for relative axial adjustment in the tubular bracket  62  and the rod  50 A being telescopically received for relative axial adjustment in the tubular bracket  60 . A screw  64  in the tubular bracket  62  is receivable in a hole  54  in the rod  50  to secure the axial relationship thereof. Likewise, a screw  65  in the tubular bracket  60  is receivable in a hole  52  in the rod  50 A to secure the axial relationship thereof. The bracket  60  has a vertically upwardly bent leg  61  while the bracket  62  has a vertically upwardly bent leg  63 , and a plurality of screws  66  are received in the leg  61  for securing the latter to a wall (not shown) and a plurality of screws  68  are received in the leg  63  for securing the latter to a wall (not shown). The particular openings of the plurality of openings  48  which are chosen to receive the screws  56  and  58  is dictated by the horizontal space between the studs in the wall, as it is desirable that the screws  66  and  68  are screwed into studs. Thus, the horizontal space between the brackets  60  and  62  can be adjusted. The screw  22  in the top support  18  is receivable in an opening  45  formed medially in the bracket  44  to thereby support the top of a end of a pole, while the bottom end is supported on the floor as previously discussed; however, a bracket  44  could be reversed to support the bottom of the pole, while the top of the pole is supported by the ceiling or by a top bracket  44  as seen in FIG.  6 . The telescoping length of the rods  50  and  50 A is selected based on the desired space of the bracket  44  from the wall. Referring now to FIG. 7, the bracket  44 A is shown with a central opening  45 A which can directly receive the top of a pole or can receive the top of a top support  18 . 
     While only a single embodiment of a pole and several embodiments of attachment devices have been shown and described, it is understood that many changes can be made therein without departing from scope of this invention as claimed.