Mobile paint rack

• US 7,445,184 B1
• Filed: 05/01/2004
• Issued: 11/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Innovative Tools & Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Innovative Tools & Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Johnson, Bryan Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Wujciak, III; A. Joseph
• Application Number:
  US10/836,579
• Time in Patent Office: 1,648 Days
• Field of Search: 248/127, 248/158, 248/161, 248/157, 248/424, 248/176.1, 248/181.1, 248/181.2, 269/45, 269/17, 211/22, 211/24
• US Class Current: 248/176.1
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 13/0285 Stands for supporting individual articles to be sprayed, e.g. doors, vehicle body parts
• CPC Class Codes: B25B 5/006 Supporting devices for clamps
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 24/44017 with specific mounting means for attaching to rigid or semirigid supporting structure or structure-to-be-secured

Abstract

A mobile paint rack having a base and an upright mounted on the base, the upright receiving at least a pair of clamp arms releasably received by a pair of support carriages, each carriage for releasably receiving a clamp arm at a distal end thereof, one at each end of each carriage. A swivel clamp is mounted on each clamp arm to a swivel ball, the swivel ball in turn is mounted to the proximal end of each clamp arm. The swivel clamp on the clamp arm may be positioned in an extremely wide variety of positions on the end of the clamp arm. Once the swivel clamp is positioned in a desired manner, it is screw locked into place. Additionally, the clamp arms themselves may be adjusted such that where two swivel clamps are needed to securely position an article for spray painting, two swivel clamps may be positioned as close as 1 inch together and as far apart as 36 inches. Also, the clamp arms themselves may be adjusted such that where more than two clamps are needed to securely position an article for spray painting, the additional clamp arms may be positioned adjacent each other by adjusting the position of or even adding a support carriage.

Claims

1. A mobile paint rack apparatus for supporting one or more vehicle parts or accessories for spray painting, comprising:

a base;

an upright mounted on said base;

at least one support carriage adjustably mounted on said upright;

a plurality of adjustable clamp arms received by said support carriage;

means for positioning said adjustable clamp arms in a plurality of positions;

adjustable swivel clamp means, mounted to a proximal end of each adjustable clamp arm, for fastening items to be painted to said apparatus such that no exterior surface of the item to be painted is held by the apparatus, wherein each said adjustable clamp arm has a swivel ball formed on a proximal end thereof for mounting said swivel clamp means;

and

a second support carriage mounted on said upright and on top of the first support carriage, said second support carriage for receiving a second plurality of adjustable clamp arms.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said base further comprises four feet interconnected by a base plate, each foot having a roller mounted thereto to provide mobility to the rack apparatus.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said upright is of unitary construction.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said upright is of multiple sections that fit together with male ends received by female ends.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising screw fasteners with positioning knobs whereby said adjustable support carriage is positionable along the length of said upright.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a socket receiver mounted on said swivel clamp means for receiving said swivel ball for movement of said swivel clamp means in a full circle about said swivel ball.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising at least one screw fastener that fixedly positions said swivel clamp means in a desired position.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said socket receiver further includes an aperture formed therein on a side opposite said screw fastener, said aperture to receive and provide fixed position of said swivel ball of said swivel clamp means when torque is applied to said screw fastener.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising rollers attached to said base, for providing ease of moving said mobile paint rack apparatus for use and for storage.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of clamp arms is positionable such that an article to be painted is positionable by one clamp arm.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said plurality of clamp arms is positionable such that an article to be painted is attachable by two clamp arms, said two clamp arms positioned at a distance less than one foot apart.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said plurality of clamp arms is positionable such that an article to be painted is attachable by two clamp arms, said two clamp arms positioned at a distance of more than one foot but less than three feet apart and any distance therebetween.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said plurality of clamp arms is positionable such that an article to be painted is attachable by more than two clamp arms, said more than two clamp arms positioned at a distance of more that one foot but less than the length of the upright and any distance therebetween.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for shielding said means for positioning said adjustable clamp arms from paint over-spray.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for shielding said adjustable swivel clamp means from paint over-spray.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said adjustable swivel clamp means includes a clamp pin, mounted on the pinching end of said swivel clamp means, said pin extending from both sides of the swivel clamp means such that interior portions of the item to be painted is captured by the points of said pin such that no exterior surface of the item to be painted is touched by the apparatus.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said adjustable swivel clamp means, mounted to a proximal end of each adjustable clamp arm, fastens items to be painted to said apparatus such that the items to be painted are positioned in such a manner to enable painting in an upright position.

18. A mobile paint rack apparatus for supporting one or more vehicle parts or accessories for spray painting, comprising:

a base;

an upright mounted on said base;

at least one support carriage adjustably mounted on said upright;

a plurality of adjustable clamp arms received by said support carriage;

means for positioning said adjustable clamp arms in a plurality of positions;

adjustable swivel clamp means, mounted to a proximal end of each adjustable clamp arm, for fastening items to be painted to said apparatus such that no exterior surface of the item to be painted is held by the apparatus;

wherein said adjustable clamp arms further comprise tubular structures that are received by receiver tubes of said support carriage, such that said adjustable clamp arms are rotatable within the receiver tubes 360 degrees which enable said adjustable clamp arms to be positioned in an extremely wide variety of positions on said support carriage.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the adjustable swivel clamp means includes a clamp pin, mounted on a pinching end of said swivel clamp means, said pin extending from both sides of the swivel clamp means such that interior portions of the item to be painted is captured by the points of said pin such that no exterior surface of the item to be painted is touched by the apparatus.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said adjustable swivel clamp means, mounted to a proximal end of each adjustable clamp arm, fastens the items to be painted to said apparatus such that the items to be painted are positioned in such a manner to enable painting in an upright position.

21. A mobile paint rack apparatus for supporting one or more vehicle parts or accessories for spray painting, comprising;

a base;

an upright mounted on said base;

at least one support carriage adjustably mounted on said upright;

a plurality of adjustable clamp arms received by said support carriage;

means for positioning said adjustable clamp arms in a plurality of positions;

adjustable swivel clamp means, mounted to a proximal end of each adjustable clamp arm, for fastening items to be painted to said apparatus such that no exterior surface of the item to be painted is held by the apparatus;

each said adjustable clamp arm has a swivel ball formed on a proximal end thereof for mounting said swivel clamp means;

a socket receiver mounted on said swivel clamp means for receiving said swivel ball;

at least one screw fastener that fixedly positions said swivel clamp means in a desired position;

said socket receiver further includes an aperture formed therein on a side opposite said screw fastener, said aperture to provide fixed position of said swivel clamp means with a generally lesser amount of torque applied, and

wherein said adjustable clamp arms further comprise tubular structures that are received by receiver tubes of said support carriage, such that said adjustable clamp arms are rotatable within the receiver tubes 360 degrees which enable said adjustable clamp arms to be positioned in an extremely wide variety of positions on said support carriage.

22. A mobile paint rack apparatus for supporting one or more vehicle parts or accessories for spray painting, comprising;

a base;

an upright mounted on said base;

at least one support carriage adjustably mounted on said upright;

said support carriage having at least a pair of receiver tubes;

at least one pair of clamp arms, tubular structures, are received by the receiver tubes of said support carriage, such that said clamp arms are rotatable within the receiver tubes 360 degrees which enable said clamp arms to be positioned in an extremely wide variety of positions on the support carriage;

means for positioning said clamp arms in a plurality of positions; and

adjustable swivel clamp means, mounted to a proximal end of each clamp arm, for fastening items to be painted to said apparatus such that the items to be painted are positioned in such a manner to enable painting in an upright position such that no exterior surface of the item to be painted is held by the apparatus.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the adjustable swivel clamp means includes a clamp pin, mounted on a pinching end of said swivel clamp means, said pin extending from both sides of the swivel clamp means such that interior portions of the item to be painted is captured by the points of said pin such that no exterior surface of the item to be painted is touched by the apparatus.

24. A mobile paint rack apparatus for supporting one or more vehicle parts or accessories for spray painting, comprising:

a base;

an upright mounted on said base;

at least one support carriage adjustably mounted on said upright;

a plurality of adjustable clamp arms received by said support carriage;

means for positioning said adjustable clamp arms in a plurality of positions;

means for shielding said means for positioning said adjustable clamp arms from paint over-spray;

adjustable swivel clamp means, mounted to a proximal end of each adjustable clamp arm, for fastening items to be painted to said apparatus such that no exterior surface of the item to be painted is held by the apparatus; and

a second support carriage mounted on said upright and on top of the first support carriage, said second support carriage for receiving a second plurality of adjustable clamp arms.

25. A mobile paint rack apparatus for supporting one or more vehicle parts or accessories for spray painting, comprising:

a base;

an upright mounted on said base;

at least one support carriage adjustably mounted on said upright;

a plurality of adjustable clamp arms received by said support carriage;

means for positioning said adjustable clamp arms in a plurality of positions;

adjustable swivel clamp means, mounted to a proximal end of each adjustable clamp arm, for fastening items to be painted to said apparatus such that no exterior surface of the item to be painted is held by the apparatus;

means for shielding said adjustable swivel clamp means from paint over-spray; and

a second support carriage mounted on said upright and on top of the first support carriage, said second support carriage for receiving a second plurality of adjustable clamp arms.