Patent ID: 7325777

Claim:
A portable articulating support apparatus for supporting a hand-manipulated power tool while allowing movement of the tool in three dimensions, the apparatus comprising: a tool holder capable of engaging and supporting a hand-operated power tool while allowing swivelling of said tool about horizontal and vertical axes, the tool holder having one end provided with a vertical load-bearing shaft configured for engaging and cooperating with a receptacle wherein the tool holder comprises a tool-mounting bracket equipped with a tool-clamping device, the bracket being pivotally attached to a bracket support that allows the bracket to swivel around a horizontal axis, the bracket support having the vertical load-bearing shaft pivotally held by the receptacle of said counterbalance element while permitting swivelling of said tool holder about a vertical axis; a counterbalance element having opposite ends, with one end detachably engagable with a double-axis hinge member and an opposite end provided with a receptacle configured for engaging and cooperating with the vertical load-bearing shaft, said opposite end being movable in a vertical plane while said one end is supported by said one hinge member, and having a balancing arrangement generating a force counteracting weight applied to said one end by said tool holder, at least one spacer element having opposite ends, wherein each end is detachably engagable with a double-axis hinge member; at least one double-axis hinge member having two opposed spaced-apart parallel bores therethrough for receiving hinge pins therein; and a mounting device for the apparatus capable of disengageable attachment to a support element, the mounting device configured to detachably and hingeably engage one end of the spacer element; wherein said counterbalance element, said at least one double-axis hinge member, said at least one spacer element, and said mounting device are arranged to form interconnecting parts of an articulating arm having said mounting device at one end of the articulating arm, said counterbalance element at an opposite end of the articulating arm, said at least one spacer element detachably and hingeably engaged with said mounting device, said at least one double-axis hinge member interposed said spacer element and said counterbalance element and detachably engaged therewith; and a plurality of vertically disposed hinge pins passing through vertically aligned bores, including said spaced, parallel bores of said at least one double-axis hinge member, in said interconnecting parts of said articulating arm to allow pivotal rotation of said parts around said hinge pins, at least one of said hinge pins being slidably removable from one said bores and having an enlarged head at an upper end thereof shaped to be graspable by hand to facilitate complete removal of said pin, thereby allowing at least partial disassembly of said articulating arm for ease of transportation of said apparatus.