Abstract: The adjustable clutch hinge assembly includes a shaft, an adjustment member connected to one end of the shaft, a metal inner cone member, and a metal outer cone member. The end of the shaft to which the adjustment member is connected is inserted into an aperture in the inner cone member, which is split, to allow a decrease of the internal diameter thereof, and has protruding key features, such that a threaded portion of the adjustment member protrudes out the opposite end of the inner cone member. The inner cone member resides within the outer cone member, which has receptive features for the inner cone member and its protruding key features to prevent rotation of the inner cone member within the outer cone member. When the threaded portion of the adjustment member protruding out the end of the inner cone member is drawn through the outer cone member, an outer surface of the inner cone member is forced against an inner surface of the outer cone.

Abstract: A handle assembly having a one piece molded handle that is mounted to an extension tube and that has an integrated switch for use with a floor supported appliance is provided. The handle includes a loop-shaped grip portion, an elongated portion in which an extension tube is mounted, and a switch mounting port for mounting the switch in the handle. The handle includes a minimum number of parts and does not require fasteners for mounting it to the extension tube. A method for making the handle is also provided.

Abstract: A grommet assembly for sealingly mounting elongated elements in an aperture in a panel such as the dash panel of a motor vehicle. The grommet assembly includes inner and outer grommet members which are relatively telescopically arranged. The outer grommet member has a rearwardly opening cup shaped configuration, is formed of a resilient material, and includes a tapered forward portion sized to fit in the panel aperture. The inner grommet member has a forwardly opening cup shaped configuration, is formed of a rigid material, and includes an annular wall telescopically received within the annular wall of the outer grommet member and engaging a front wall of the outer grommet member at a location forwardly of the annular groove.

Abstract: A swivel caster method and apparatus including wheels rotatably coupled to a housing, wherein the wheels include a toothed cog on inner sides thereof. The housing is pivotally mounted to an article by a mounting stem having a keyed aperture. A brake lever bracket is pivotally coupled to the housing and includes a brake pin engageable with the toothed cog to prevent wheel movement relative to the housing. A swivel lever bracket is also pivotally coupled to the housing and includes a keyed shaft engageable with the keyed aperture of the mounting stem to prevent mounting stem movement relative to the housing. The brake pin of the brake lever bracket is engageable with the swivel lever bracket to pivot the swivel lever bracket to engage the keyed shaft with the keyed aperture when the brake pin is engaged with the toothed cog.

Abstract: The invention relates to the method of making a hinge joining rigid plastic pieces at least one fourth inch thick and includes machining a series of hinge knuckles along straight edges of first and second pieces of rigid plastic, machining keyhole shaped passages perpendicular to and across the width of hinge knuckles of the pieces, the keyhole shaped passages each having a tubular central portion and an outwardly extending slot of narrower width on one side of each knuckle, each hinge knuckle having a width less than the space between adjacent knuckles so that the knuckles of each of the two pieces may be assembled by interleaving the hinge knuckles, and inserting a hinge pin through the aligned tubular central portion to hinge together the first and second pieces. The invention also relates to the hinge structure as so manufactured.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a mounting plate (30) for an adjustable mounting of a hinge supporting arm on a cabinet. The mounting plate is made by punching and pressing operations from sheet metal, of a U-shaped cross section at least in an upper section facing the supporting arm to be mounted thereon. The mounting plate has in its cabinet-interior end area a threaded bore for a screw (38) locking the hinge supporting arm, plus an open-ended longitudinal slot (39) at its end pointing out of the cabinet interior. Along the margins of the web (52) of the mounting plate (30), which laterally define the slot, ridges are raised from the plane of the web (52), and the distance measured from one flat side of the undeformed web to the opposite boundary surface of the upturned ridges is greater than the material thickness of the web (52) in the undeformed area.

Abstract: An object may be easily moved across a surface by means of a rotatable roller mechanism, and may be secured in a desired location on that surface by rotation of the roller mechanism. The rotatable roller mechanism comprises a rigid plate containing a slot, a bar designed to seat within that slot, a holding mechanism allowing the bar to rotate in close proximity to the slot in the rigid plate, and a roller mechanism attached to the bar. The roller mechanism may consist of wheels or flat rollers surrounding an axle, which is attached to the bar by two connecting pieces. The rigid plate is attached to the underside of the object. When the object is lifted, the bar rotates in the holding mechanism to a position perpendicular to the rigid plate. The bar is held in this position when the object is lowered, by means of the bar fitting into the slot. In this manner the rollers are held against the surface, and the object may be easily moved across the surface.

Abstract: An assist strap is provided for attachment within spaced apart apertures on a vehicle body. The strap has mounting portions at the end thereof which space the strap from the vehicle body. Attaching legs are provided on each of the mounting portions and are adapted to extend through the apertures, each of the attaching legs having a foot at the end thereof projecting toward the opposite end of the strap so that the space between the feet is less than the spacing between the spaced apart apertures. The strap is constructed to permit flexure of the strap inwardly toward the body so that the feet of the attaching legs spread further apart than the spaced apart apertures of the body to permit insertion of the feet into the apertures whereby subsequent return of the strap to the normal spaced relation from the body causes the feet to engage with the body and thereby attach the assist strap on the body without the need for fasteners.

Abstract: A tilt-lock mechanism for a pivotable panel assembly incorporates a pivotable locking link biased into locking engagement with a curved cam surface on the panel assembly to lock the assembly at a selected tilted position. A slight force applied opposite the bias of the link releases the link to return the panel to an initial position.

Abstract: A device for resisting entry of an object into a space between the hinged edge of a door and associated door jamb includes an elongated sheet of material thin enough to be placed in this space without impeding the closing of the door. The sheet has first and second strips adapted to be fixedly connected within the space to the door and jamb, respectively. A third strip interconnects the first and second strips and coacts therewith to resist entry of objects into the space when the door and jamb are brought together.

Abstract: A wheel bracket assembly includes two separate, platelike bracket parts which each have a noncircular opening therein and are disposed on opposite sides of a wheel in angular alignment. The ends of the axle for the wheel extend through the noncircular openings and the bracket parts are fixed against axial and rotational movement with respect to the axle. A method of making the wheel bracket assembly includes the steps of stamping out from at least one metal plate the two bracket parts which are substantially mirror images of each other and have the noncircular opening therethrough, placing the bracket parts in angular alignment on opposite sides of the wheel so that the ends of the axle extend through the noncircular openings, and upsetting each end of the axle to retain the bracket parts in place and so that the material of the axle flows to fill the noncircular openings in the bracket parts and thereby prevent relative rotation of the bracket parts.

Abstract: A torsion spring assembly for counterbalancing overhead doors which includes an elongated helical torsion spring with coils that are normally spaced apart (when the spring is untensioned), a shaft extending through the spring, and a pair of spring-mounting collars carried by the shaft and provided with slotted neck portions operatively connected to pre-formed hooks at the ends of the spring. One of the collars is fixed against both rotational and axial movement upon the shaft; the other is rotatably mounted upon the shaft; and at least one of the collars is removable from the shaft for field disassembly and reassembly of the parts. The method for constructing the assembly, either during manufacture or in the field, is also disclosed.

Abstract: A bush element for supporting a rod or shaft in a side plate has portion for entry into a generally circular aperture in the side plate. The portion of the bush has tooth shaped projections extending radially outwardly such that the overall diameter of the portion exceeds that of the aperture. The aperture is enlarged at a position to receive the projections so that rotation of the bush in the side plate results in the extremities of the teeth being cut away by the side plate to ensure a precise fit of the bush in the side plate.

Abstract: A plastic covered fastening device and method of assembly wherein a rigid pin is first inserted into an elongated tube made of a resilient, plastic type material with memory, the tube then being stretched by an axial tension force to reduce its external diameter during installation of the tube and pin into coaxial apertures provided in a pair of elements to be operatively secured to each other, the tension on the tubing then being so that the pin is held firmly in place in one of the apertures as the tubing expands, excess tubing then being removed, as by cutting, at opposite ends of the pin.

Abstract: The swivel bearing comprises a cup secured on a part of the apparatus and provided with a cylindrical wall which is bent inwardly to hold the outer bearing against the flange on another member, which flange rests upon another set of bearings in the cup.

Abstract: A hinge has a pair of leaves, one of which has a spaced pair of knuckles and the other has a central knuckle disposed therebetween. Disposed in the single knuckle are a pair of tubular bushing inserts received in opposite ends of its passage and having radial flanges disposed between the adjacent knuckles. The two knuckle hinge leaf is engaged with a pair of hinge pin elements extending inwardly from the opposite end of the leaf so as to prevent relative rotation therebetween, while the hinge pin elements extend into and are freely rotatable in the inserts. In the method of assembly, the bearing inserts are placed in the single knuckle leaf, and the two knuckle leaf is then aligned therewith and the hinge pin elements are inserted and engaged with the two knuckle leaf to prevent relative rotation therebetween.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for attaching the wheels of a dual wheel caster to its axle with annular plastic bushings ultrasonically welded to the wheels that have three integral curved spring fingers that snap into annular recesses in the axle as the wheels are pushed onto the axle.

Abstract: A handle (1) for use on a bucket of plastic material and a fastening knob (2) are integrally moulded and interconnected by a moulded fin (4). The fastening knob (2) has a head (5), an elastically resilient flange (6) slanting outwards, and a shank (7). When the handle is to be attached to a bucket, the free end of shank (7) is connected to the bucket wall, preferably by ultrasonic welding, and handle (1) is pressed towards the wall. Head (5) is pressed through an aperture (3) in the handle to pivotably mount the handle on the shank (7), with flange (6) acting as a barb-like anchoring member preventing the handle from falling off. Simultaneous moulding of the handle and the fastening knob renders the use of lateral core removing openings superfluous and simplifies mounting of the handle and the knob.

Abstract: The manufacture of two hingedly connected components of a toggle latch by simultaneously press-forming two strips of metal feeding into a multi-phased die wherein the last operation comprises the folding of lugs on a component about an end portion of the other component so that oppositely projecting bosses on that end portion becomes homed in openings in the respective lugs.

Abstract: A method for assembling a handle to a cooking vessel, such as a pot or pan, wherein the use of conventional rivets having heads protruding from the inner surface of the cooking vessel is avoided. Studs are welded to the outer surface of the receptacle portion of the cooking vessel, and in the preferred embodiment, the openings in the handle are dimensioned much larger than the diameters of the studs so that the openings can clear the diverging studs. Step washers are then utilized to space the handle and studs so that a tight assembly results when the ends of the studs are expanded against the washers.

Abstract: A caster bracket is fabricated from a single flat metal plate deformed to define a caster stud receiving curl; a pair of side plates and a connecting plate. The side plates are formed integrally with the connecting plate and are arranged in an essentially right angular relationship relative to both each other and the connecting plate, whereas the curl is defined by curling an extension plate formed integrally with one of the side plates. Preferably, fabrication is completed by bonding a free edge of the curl to its associated side plate and by bonding a free edge of the other side plate to the curl.