Pegboard container holder

Abstract

A Pegboard container holder for receiving, encircling and/or grasping jars or the like by a pair of opposed, spring loaded jaws. In one embodiment, the holder is formed from a length of spring metal wire bent to form resilient container jaws and a pair of hooks for mounting the holder in a Pegboard. In other embodiments, the holder includes a clothespin type clamp mounted on a hook inserted into a Pegboard or a sheet metal clamp secured on a Pegboard hook assembly.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There have been many attempts to successfully market a container holder for use with Pegboards or the like, but most devices presently known are undesirable because they require some modification of the container cap, the container usually being in the form of a small jar, and require suspension of the jar by its specially constructed cap. In either case, the only way to remove the jar from the Pegboard is to unscrew the jar from its cap while in place on the Pegboard, which at best is an awkward procedure. Additionally, known Pegboard jar holders are useful with only one type and size of container, which must have a threaded upper end conforming to the cap mounted on the Pegboard. Thus the holder is incapable of supporting a variety of different containers of varying dimensions and configurations.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,023 issued to Schweitzer discloses a plastic cap having integral, rear projecting pegs for interengaging mating apertures in a Pegboard. However, this cap is useful only with a jar having threads matching the cap, and the jar may be removed from the Pegboard only by unscrewing the jar from its cap. A similarly functioning holder is marketed by the Roman Products Company of Golden, Colorado which markets a line of "mini-brackets" comprising a Pegboard engaged hook having a laterally extending rod bent at the outer end to form an aperture for receiving a nut and bolt assembly for securing a jar cap to the rod and hook. This holder permits the user to select one jar from a variety he may have on hand, but once its cap is drilled and bolted to the holder, only that jar or one fitting that cap may be used with the holder.

Another prior art jar holder is disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,209,935. This holder comprises a length of wire bent upon itself for insertion into a Pegboard and two curved rod sections for interengagement with the screw cap closure of a Mason jar or the like for supporting the jar on the Pegboard. This holder requires no modification whatsoever of the jar or its cap, but has its disadvantages in that it is useful only with a jar having a segmented cap, such as a Mason jar, and, for removal of the jar from the Pegboard, requires unscrewing of the jar from its cap while in place on the Pegboard, an awkward procedure only a little easier than trying to screw the jar back into its cap on the Pegboard after use.

The following prior art patents are more remote, but indicative of other attempts to attach bottles, jars or the like to Pegboards or similar apertured vertical supports. U.S. Pat. No. 2,294,151 discloses a wire rack bottle holder having puncturing support legs for forced insertion into the kick panel of an automobile. There is no spring biased clamping of the bottle nor is the device adapted for use with a Pegboard. U.S. Pat. No. 2,868,489 discloses a spring fastener clip to secure a condenser to a plate in an electronic installation, but the clip is not suitable for use with a Pegboard. A bottle holder is disclosed in FIG. 2 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,045,961, but the holder must be disassembled to remove the bottles. A Pegboard attached tray for cylindrical objects is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,481,481 while in U.S. Pat. No. 2,950,011, elastic bands are disclosed for attaching objects to a Pegboard.

Nothing in the prior art suggests a useful jar or container holder mounted in a Pegboard utilizing a supporting shelf and opposed open jaw means to retain a jar or container or objects on the Pegboard whereby the container may be easily removed from its holder by simply lifting or pulling it loose and just as easily be replaced by placing or by pushing the container back into a snap-fit with its holder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a Pegboard container holder having opposed grasping jaws enabling the container to be easily removed from and reinserted into the container holder.

It is an object of the invention to provide a Pegboard container holder having a supporting shelf and opposed, encircling jaws enabling the container to be easily removed from and reinserted into the container holder.

It is another object of the invention to provide a Pegboard container holder formed from a single piece of convoluted steel wire to form a pair of container grasping jaws and, if desired, a supporting shelf.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a Pegboard container holder readily mounted on commercially available Pegboard hook means and having a pair of opposed grasping jaws for the container.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a Pegboard container holder having hook base means insertable into the Pegboard and a sheet metal stamping conformed into opposed grasping jaws to hold the container and a base portion fitted over the hook base means to mount the jaws on the Pegboard.

Further novel features and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, discussion and the appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Preferred structural embodiments of this invention are disclosed in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a Pegboard showing jars of different sizes mounted in preferred embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of two sizes of embodiments of the invention mounted in a Pegboard;

FIG. 3 is a section view taken along lines 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4 and 4A are detail section views taken along lines 4--4 of FIG. 2 drawn to an enlarged scale and showing two methods of attaching the base of a holder to a Pegboard;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are side elevation and top plan views, respectively, of another embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are perspective and exploded perspective views respectively showing yet another embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are perspective views of still another embodiment of the invention, mounted in a Pegboard with a container grasped therein and separately, respectively;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are perspective and exploded perspective views respectively of another embodiment of the invention; and

FIGS. 13 and 14 are perspective views showing further modifications of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A support board or Pegboard 10 includes evenly spaced rows of evenly spaced apertures 12 therethrough for convenient mounting of standard Pegboard hooks for suspending articles on the Pegboard, as is conventional and well known.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-4, the invention comprises a single length of spring metal wire having its distal portions twisted together at 14 and its ends bent at 16 to engage adjacent Pegboard apertures 12 for suspension of the invention on the Pegboard. The distal portions 14 may be spot welded or secured together by a clamp (not shown), if desired.

The central portion of the wire is convoluted to form a pair of opposed, encircling grasping jaws 18, preferably spaced apart a distance less than the diameter of a container or jar 20 so that the jaws 18 tightly frictionally engage jar 20 and retain the jar in a storage attitude on the Pegboard. However jaws 18 may be forcefully contracted or expanded by hand to accommodate any one of a wide variety of jars or containers of widely varying diameters.

Preferably, the portion of the length of spring metal wire between jaws 18 will be inversely bent as at 22 to form a shelf-like base support for the jar 20. As shown in FIG. 2, as few as two sizes of holders 24 and 26 will accommodate most every imaginable size of jar or container one would wish to store on a Pegboard. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates two holders 24 of the same size storing two jars, the jars being quite large but having different diameters. Two smaller holders 26, each being the same size, are shown having smaller containers therein, these containers also having different diameters. Additionally, the holders 24 and 26 securely hold the containers by grasping engagement of jaws 18, bias resiliency in jaws 18 being provided by the inherent spring characteristic of the wire forming the holder. The shelf 22 merely provides additional security for the jar when stored in its holder.

It should be noted that the holder illustrated and described performs its intended function without any modification whatsoever to the jar or container or the closure for the jar or container, an advantage not found in prior art holders. Additionally, the holder itself need not be disassembled or reassembled when used. All that is necessary is to drop in the object desired to be held or push on the container to snap it into engagement with jaws 18 when it is desired to store the container and an equally easy lift or pull on the container to disengage it from jaws 18 when the container is to be used.

The holder just disclosed has been found to be sufficiently stable but a more secure engagement of the holder with Pegboard 10 may be provided by a pair of knob anchors 28 projecting rearwardly from base 22, spaced apart to engage apertures 12 in a snug, snap fit (FIG. 4). Alternatively, the length of wire forming the holder may be doubled upon itself twice in the region of base 22 to form a similarly functioning pair of snap anchors 30, as shown in FIG. 4A.

The merits of the invention are significant as a variety of uses are possible. Since a wide spread is provided by jaws 18, and base 22 forms a shelf for further security, all sorts of objects, packages of any shape, and containers of greatly varying size may be held on the Pegboard 10. These objects, packages or containers may be round, square or even oddly shaped. As few as two sizes of holders are sufficient for use with most every conceivable shape and size of object, package or container.

It is understood that most anything imaginable may be stored in the holders of this invention, including but not limited to, jars with caps, open water glasses, small vials, large and small bottles, packages, objects, tools and pots, since the holder requires absolutely no modification whatsoever to the thing retained by the holder, in direct contradistinction to prior art devices. In some applications, such as holding small boxes of tacks or nails, or plastic bags with parts, side wings 19 may be formed centrally of jaws 18 as shown in phantom lines in FIGS. 2 and 3, for further security of the object placed in the holder. Alternatively, shelf 22 may be bent upwardly to secure small containers, as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 2, at the right. Of course, both wings 19 and the bending of shelf 22 may be employed, if desired.

These holders are very useful in a wide range of applications. Specifically in a modern drug store where several hundred preparations are needed, ready access to an individual preparation may be provided by a rotary Pegboard display assembly using holders 24 and 26 to store various sized bottles and jars containing the required preparations. The invention is readily useful in an automotive parts department for storage of small parts in various jars, each easily accessible by being conveniently stored on one or more Pegboards, in machine shops for the storage of dies, drills and other parts, conventionally placed somewhat inaccessibly in drawers, in upholstery shops for storage of tacks of varying size and color, and in ladies' sewing shops for visably displaying buttons of different colors and sizes. Other applications not specifically mentioned readily suggest themselves.

The invention is further useful around the home. In the kitchen, a Pegboard with a number of holders could be mounted in space saving fashion inside a cabinet door and used to store spices and other condiments and articles. The home workshop, where Pegboards have been increasingly popular recently, could have one or more Pegboards with holders 24 and/or 26 for storage of nails, nuts, bolts screws and other small items now ordinarily stored on shelves.

Turning now to FIGS. 5 through 8, further embodiments of the invention are illustrated wherein the holder has the appearance of a modified clothespin which may be used with commonly available Pegboard hooks rather than requiring any special base for mounting the holder on the Pegboard.

The holder 32 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 includes a pair of jaws 34 forming a clothespin shaped assembly and having container grasping jaw portions 36 gently curved on their inner faces to securely grasp a container or jar 38. Jaws 34 are spring biased together by a simple bi-legged coil spring 40. Holder 32 is easily mounted on a common J hook 42 in Pegboard 10 by merely slipping the hook through the center of coil spring 40. The rear facing sides of jaws 34 are gently curved away from each other as at 44 so that jaws 34 may be spread a considerable distance apart to accommodate a larger container. It should be noted here that a common clothespin has only a limited range of separation and thus would not be suitable for the purposes of this invention.

Another variety of clothespin type holder is illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8. This holder 46 is the same as that shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 except that the rear legs of jaws 34 are abbreviated or stubbed at 48 so that holder 46 may be easily slipped over another common type of Pegboard hook 50 which has a vertical stem 52 located in close proximity to the Pegboard in which it is mounted (not shown).

The principal advantage of this embodiment of the invention is one of cost, as jaws 34 may be made of wood and are easily assembled with spring 40. Additionally, no special base is required to mount holders 32 and 46 on a Pegboard. Rather, conventional Pegboard hooks may be employed. Holders 32 and 46 have been found to be capable of holding a jar 38 up to several pounds in weight. Holders 32 and 46 are not limited to use with Pegboard hooks but may be used with any sort of projection to suspend jars, and even tools, rakes, hoes and flower pots. One method of using this holder for these latter described purposes is to merely drive an eight penny nail through a board, turn the board over and secure it to a suitable surface, place a holder 32 or 46 over the nail and then store the item desired by snap fitting a portion of it between jaws 34.

Attention is now directed to FIGS. 9 and 10 wherein a variety of the invention disclosed by FIGS. 1-4A is illustrated. A single length of spring metal wire is used to form the holder 54 but the distal ends of the wire are not twisted together and instead of a shelf-like base being found in the center, the metal wire is spiralled to form a coil spring 56 between jaws 18. A normal, unstressed attitude of this embodiment is shown in FIG. 10. A principal advantage of the provision of coil spring 56 is that a greater range of motion is imparted to jaws 18, thereby permitting holder 54 to be used with jars of greatly varying diameter.

Another embodiment of the invention is disclosed in FIGS. 11-14 inclusive. A double Pegboard hook assembly 58 receives a sheet metal stamping 60 bent to form container grasping jaws 62 to either side of a base 64 having inversely stamped slots 66 which are slipped over vertical stems 68 of hook assembly 58 to securely mount the holder.

Varieties in this embodiment of the invention are shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. In FIG. 13, a standard Pegboard hook 50 (FIG. 7) is inverted and welded to base 64. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 14, two upright hooks 50 may be used with base 64 merely slipped over stems 52 of hooks 50. In both of these varieties slots 66 may be eliminated, thereby reducing cost as well as permitting use of the invention with standard Pegboard hooks.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

Claims

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A holder for detachably mounting an article on a generally vertically disposed support board having a multiplicity of small apertures consisting of a length of spring wire bent to provide a laterally open article embracing section and a board attachment section, said article embracing section comprising laterally opposed complementary resilient spring loaded loop jaw means that extend away from said board attachment section for embracing and tightly grasping and receiving the article, whereby articles of widely varying diameter may be mounted in said holder on the support board, and said board attachment section comprising the opposite ends of said wire extending from said jaw means and conformed and spaced at the terminals to extend through a pair of selected board apertures and engage the rear side of the board, said laterally opposed complementary resilient spring loaded loop jaw means being interconnected at their lower ends to provide seating means for underlying an article embraced by said jaw means, said seating means comprising an intermediate loop in said wire adapted to extend from the lower edges of the respective jaw means toward the board and a pair of board attachment anchors spaced to extend through a pair of selected board apertures.

2. The holder as recited in claim 1 wherein said attachment anchors consist of bent extensions from that portion of said length of spring wire forming said intermediate loop.