Holder assembly for hand-held device

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a holder assembly for a hand-held device, such as a tape measure.

2. Description of the Related Art

In order that a hand-held device can be readily carried and instantly used whenever necessary in a construction site or the like, hand-held devices are often provided with a resilient grip that can be resiliently engaged with, and disengaged from a belt worn by an operator. Since such a grip generally exerts a substantially constant gripping force, there is a problem in the case of a thick belt that the grip cannot be readily engaged with, or disengaged from the belt. Alternatively, in the case of a thin belt, the hand-held device tends to be readily dislocated along the belt or bodily removed therefrom, as the working posture of the operator changes significantly. Needless to say, removal of the hand-held device from the belt may be hazardous particularly when the operator is working at a high construction site.

For overcoming these problems, JP 5-45502U discloses a carrying case for a tape measure, wherein the case has a slit-like opening for passing therethrough a belt that is worn by an operator. The tape measure is accommodated within the case so that the grip is engaged with a flap that is provided for the case. Since the tape measure is retained with the case solely by the resilient force of the grip, the tape measure may be inadvertently removed from the case when a severe force is applied to the tape measure.

As another solution, JP 2756783B2 discloses a safety holder that includes a main body and an insertion piece fixedly secured to a hand-held device and adapted to be detachably inserted into the main body. Here also, the main body has a slit-like opening for passing therethrough a belt that is worn by an operator. The insertion piece is provided with a pair of resilient lugs that are opposed to each other so as to be engageable with corresponding recesses in the main body. In this instance, for removing the hand-held device retained by the main body, it is necessary to deflect the lugs out of the recesses, respectively, and simultaneously move the insertion piece out of the main body while holding the hand-held device. Thus, the hand-held device cannot be removed without complicated manual operations, beside that the resilient lugs tend to be readily broken when the hand-held device is inadvertently dropped.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved holder assembly for a hand-held device, which can be readily operated in a simple manner, and which positively retains the hand-held device when it is not in use.

According to the present invention, there is provided a holder assembly for a hand-held device, comprising: a main body for holding the hand-held device, and a bracket that can be fixedly secured to the hand-held device. The main body is formed with a groove having a closed end and an open end. The bracket has a first end region with a tapered shape and a second end region opposite to the first end region, and is accommodated in the groove of the main body when the bracket is slidingly engaged into the groove from the side of the first end. The main body comprises a retainer means engageable with the second end region of the bracket when it is accommodated in the groove, for preventing withdrawal of the bracket out of the groove of the main body. The retainer means is disengageable from the second end region of the bracket for allowing the bracket to be removed out of the groove in the main body.

It is preferred that the retainer means comprises a slider movably supported by the main body, and a resilient member for normally urging the slider to a first position where the slider is engaged with the second end region of the bracket when it is accommodated in the groove, wherein the slider is manually movable to a second position against the force of the resilient member so as to be disengaged from the second end region of the bracket.

In this connection, the slider may have a top edge formed with regular ridges for preventing slipping when the top edge is engaged by thumb of an operator.

The main body may have a guide surface for the slider, which is inclined with reference to a direction in which the bracket is engaged into, and disengaged from the groove. The slider may have a top edge formed with regular ridges for preventing slipping when the top edge is engaged by thumb of an operator.

It is preferred that the closed end of the groove and the first end region of the bracket are provided with first and second positioning means, respectively, which are engageable with each other.

It is preferred that one of the main body and the bracket has a resilient lug including a free end provided with a projection, and the other of the main body and the bracket has a recess that can be engaged with, and disengaged from the projection, wherein the resilient lug is resiliently deflectable in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the bracket is engaged into, and disengaged from the groove.

It is preferred that the main body and/or the bracket are comprised of plastic material.

The main body may have a slit-like opening for passing therethrough a belt that is worn by an operator.

The present invention will now be described in further detail hereinafter, with reference to a preferred embodiment shown the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a holder assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the main body shown in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a front view of the bracket shown in FIG. 1 as it is being inserted into the groove in the main body.

FIG. 4 is a front view similar to FIG. 3, with the bracket fully inserted into the groove in the main body.

FIG. 5 is a front view corresponding to FIG. 4, with a sub-plate removed.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the main body.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7 — 7 in FIG. 6 .

FIG. 8 is a front view of the bracket fixedly secured to a tape measure.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the holder assembly in use.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a holder assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention, which includes a bracket 1 that can be fixedly secured by an appropriate fastener (not shown) to a hand-held device in the form of a tape measure M, and a main body 2 for detachably holding the bracket 1 . The bracket 1 has a lower end region with a tapered shape, and is provided with a recess 1 a in its bottom edge, and a base portion 1 b on its one side. The base portion 1 b has a generally square contour, and can be brought into contact with the rear surface of the housing of the tape measure M.

As particularly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the main body 2 includes a base plate 2 a and a sub-plate 2 b detachably connected to the base plate 2 a by means of a plurality of fasteners. The base plate 2 a has a substantially square contour while the sub-plate 2 b has a substantially U-shaped contour. The base plate 2 a and the sub-plate 2 b are arranged opposite to each other to define a groove 2 c into which the bracket 1 can be inserted. The groove 2 c thus defines a space S for accommodating the bracket 1 and thereby holding the tape measure M when it is not in use.

As shown in FIG. 2, the base plate 2 a is integrally provided with a positioning pin 3 at that position of the space S, which corresponds to the recess 1 a of the bracket 1 . Thus, when the bracket 1 is fully inserted into the groove 2 c , the recess 1 a of the bracket 1 is engaged by the pin 3 of the base plate 2 a for positioning the bracket 1 .

The main body 2 is provided with a retainer means 4 for retaining the bracket 1 when it is accommodated in the space S of the main body 2 . The retainer means 4 includes a slider 4 a that can be moved along an inclined guide surface 4 b against the resilient force of a compression coil spring 4 c accommodated in the slider 4 a . The guide surface 4 b extends obliquely downwards, with an inclination angle θ 1 relative to the width direction of the main body 2 . The slider 4 a has a top edge formed with regular ridges for preventing slipping when the top edge is engaged by thumb of the operator. The slider 4 a normally assumes a position where it is engaged with the top edge 1 c of the bracket 1 for preventing withdrawal of the bracket 1 out of the groove 2 c in the main body 2 and thereby retaining the tape measure M when it is not in use. When the slider 4 a is manually moved laterally, i.e., in the width direction indicated by a bold arrow in FIG. 1, against the resilient force of the compression coil spring 4 c , the slider 4 a is disengaged from the top edge 1 c of the bracket 1 to thereby allow withdrawal of the bracket 1 out of the groove 2 c.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the bracket 1 is inserted into the groove 2 c in the main body 2 , the tapered lower end region of the bracket 1 causes the slider 4 a to be moved laterally along the guide surface 4 b , against the resilient force of the compression coil spring 4 c , thereby allowing further insertion of the bracket 1 into the groove 2 c . In the fully inserted position of the bracket 1 , where the recess 1 a in the bottom edge of the bracket 1 is engaged by the pin 3 of the base plate 2 a for positioning the bracket 1 , the slider 4 a is returned to the original position under the resilient force of the compression coil spring 4 c and thereby engaged with the top edge 1 c of the bracket 1 . By this, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the bracket 1 is positively retained in the space S defined by the groove 2 c and prevented from being withdrawn from the main body 2 even when it is pulled upwards.

As further shown in FIG. 5, the top edge 1 c of the bracket 1 has a corner region that is inclined with an angle θ 2 , which is slightly larger than the inclination angle θ 1 of the guide surface 4 b . Such an arrangement makes it possible to provide an increased downward force generated by the compression coil spring 4 c and transmitted from the slider 4 a to the compression coil spring 4 c , for more positively retain the bracket 1 within the space S defined by the groove 2 c.

It is noted that the rear surface of the main body 2 is formed with a slit-like opening 2 d as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, for passing a belt (not shown) that is worn by an operator. Thus, it is possible to achieve a positive connection between the belt and the main body 2 .

In order to remove the tape measure M from the holder assembly, all what is necessary is to grasp the tape measure M by palm and press the slider 4 a downwards by thumb, as shown in FIG. 9 . On this occasion, the slider 4 a as guided by the inclined guide surface 4 b is moved laterally and disengaged from the top edge 1 c of the bracket 1 , thereby allowing withdrawal of the bracket 1 out of the groove 2 c together with the tape measure M as a reaction of the downward pressure applied to the slider 4 a . In this way, the tape measure M can be removed from the holder assembly with a very simple and natural manual operation.

It is noted that the base plate 2 a of the main body 2 is provided with a resilient lug 5 , as shown in FIG. 1, while the front surface of the bracket 1 is formed with a recess 1 d for receiving a projected end of the resilient lug 5 , as shown in FIG. 8 . Thus, when the bracket 1 is fully inserted into the groove 2 c and accommodated in the space S within the main body 2 , the projected end of the resilient lug 5 is brought into engagement with the recess 1 d in the bracket 1 and cooperate. In this instance, in addition to the engagement of the recess 1 a in the bracket 1 with the positioning pin 3 of the base plate 2 a , it is possible positively to prevent shaking motion of the bracket 1 in its width direction.

Incidentally, all the elements of the holder assembly, except some of the fasteners, may be made of an appropriate engineering plastic material.

It will be appreciated that the present invention provides an improved holder assembly for a hand-held device, such as a tape measure, which can be readily operated in a simple manner, and which positively retains the hand-held device when it is not in use.

While the present invention has been described above with reference to a preferred embedment, it has been presented by way of example only, and various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Thus, for example, the base plate 2 a and the sub-plate 2 b of the main body 2 may be formed as an integral element. Also, the hand-held device may be a tool, such as a cutter, or other portable device such as a cellular phone.