Handling: hand and hoist-line implements – Hand bars and hand barrows – Ball retriever
Reexamination Certificate
2002-11-25
2004-12-07
Kramer, Dean J. (Department: 3652)
Handling: hand and hoist-line implements
Hand bars and hand barrows
Ball retriever
C294S024000, C248S205300, C248S231810
Reexamination Certificate
active
06827379
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
Our invention relates generally to systems for suspending and supporting decorations including strings of Christmas lights or other miscellaneous objects from elevated structures including residential dwellings, office buildings, and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a system preferably used for hanging strings of decorative lights with multiple, resilient support clips that are remotely quick-fitted to structures such as gutters or the like, and which includes appropriate hand-operated installation apparatus for manipulating the clips and installing the wiring from the ground. Known prior art systems that are pertinent to the invention can be found in United States Patent Class 248, Subclasses 74.2, 223.41; Class 294, Subclass 24; Class 362 Subclass 396; and Class 428, Subclass 99.
2. Description of the Related Art
Outdoor lighting displays are quite popular during major holidays such as Christmas. Both commercial and non-commercial light displays involving diverse designs, colors and features are becoming increasingly common. Displays of multi-colored lights take on a variety of forms, and they may be applied to trees, shrubbery, exterior portions of buildings, signs, posts and other miscellaneous structures. Most residential, decorative lighting displays are temporary. Homeowners commonly install desired chains of colored lights before or slightly after the Thanksgiving Holiday, and then remove them after New Years Day. Many retail establishments, including specialty stores and smaller shops, also use temporary decorative lights on a seasonal basis. However, the popularity and complexity of vivid, colorful lighting displays is increasing—displays are often erected for other occasions, such as the Fourth of July, Halloween etc. Considerable electrical lengths of decorative wiring are frequently suspended along the roofline of residences. For example, it is common to attach strings of lights to gutters at the roof edges. Quite often, extension ladders are used by the installer to reach these elevated and otherwise inaccessible places. Installation can be difficult, time consuming, and vexatious. Possible detrimental weather conditions during the winter months aggravate installation problems.
Concurrently, large-scale light displays involving hundreds or thousands of lights are becoming increasingly popular. Gigantic displays, involving substantial creativity and artistic input, necessitate multiple electrical strands, each with bulbs of varying colors, sizes, and intensity. The installation of huge displays engenders extra effort, as lines of lights are often arranged and rearranged by “trial and error” methods to achieve the desired aesthetic impression. Where multiple, alternative configurations are deployed, the work effort increases dramatically, as strings of lights may be deployed, evaluated, and then taken down for adjustments and redeployment in alternative configurations. The efficiency of the installation and removal processes is critical.
Access to suitable support structures, including residential gutters, trees, and the like is often difficult. Extension ladders are heavy and cumbersome to handle. Commercial scaffolding arrangements are time consuming and often too expensive to use. Improper use of smaller stepladders or stools invite accident and injury. Not surprisingly, hand tools with elongated handles that facilitate installation of decorative lights from the ground or floor have previously been developed.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,975, issued Oct. 1, 1996, discloses a pole-operated system for installing decorative lights upon elevated structures while the operator stays on the ground. Decorative strings of lights are manipulated by an adaptor suspended from and controlled by an elongated pole. Resilient “hooks” are removably installed upon structure to be decorated to hold strands of bulbs. A finger projecting from the adaptor penetrates a ring that is integral with each hook to aid in handling and installation. Legs emanating from each hook ring facilitate engagement of the hook upon tree branches, roof gutter structure, or the like. Each hook has a curved, lower lip that removably supports the decorative wiring once the hook is deployed.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,489 issued Oct. 12, 1999 shows a pole-operated hook structure that facilitates the placement of decorations, including ornaments or decorative light strands. The pole controls a unique hook that enables manipulation of both the ornament and wire to be installed, and the elevated support structure that will hold it.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,291 issued Mar. 5, 2002 depicts another system for remotely affixing and removing decorative strands of lights upon a roof, a gutter, a tree, etc. An elongated pole-like implement supports a remote, U-shaped cradle that manipulates wire strands. A downwardly oriented hook facilitates proper positioning of the wiring. Temporary hangers or clips are used to support the wiring.
Other analogous pole-controlled systems for installing decorative lighting or other ornaments are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,713,617, 6,227,584, and 6,425,614. In addition, analogous pole-operative tools for mounting various items to suspended ceilings are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,135,692, 5,052,733, 5,188,332, 5,267,764, 5,247,725, 5,632,519, 5,938,255, and 6,048,010.
Finally, numerous resilient clips for supporting strands of decorative lights are known in the art. These diverse designs presumably may be manipulated and installed with or without special manipulating poles similar to those described above. In this regard attention is directed to U.S. Utility Pat. Nos. 3,181,827, 3,193,229, 3,438,604, 3,540,687, 3,599,916, 3,599,918, 4,905,131, 5,056,747, 5,388,802, 5,496,005, 5,566,058, and 5,581,956. Furthermore, resilient clips of this general character are illustrated in U.S. Design Pat. Nos. D325,866, D356,246, D376,535, D414,291, and D427,510.
Known installation tools for erecting strands of decorative lights have several disadvantages. For one thing, roof designs are of varying dimensions and configurations, and many differently shaped gutters exist. In other words, the vertical cross-sections of different residential gutters can vary, complicating the required design for any clip or hook that is to be snap-fitted to the gutter. While “universal” clips have been proposed in the art, some gutters are sufficiently different from the norm that available clips will not easily “snap-fit” to the gutter structure for a stable mount. Thus, even when affixed to available edge portions of the gutter or roofline, some clips do not assume a desired, uniform orientation. On the other hand, some buildings are not equipped with gutters at all. Clips designed with resilient fingers or prongs or legs that are designed to resiliently snap-fit to available structure often cannot be deployed upon available, flat surfaces. Furthermore, the efficiency of known application tools used to install prior art “clips” or “hooks” to irregular surfaces or structures is low. Another problem is that conventional, pole-operated clip-installation tools are insufficiently dexterous to remove clips or hooks that have been forcibly installed upon irregular structures or surfaces for which they were not designed. As a result, some clips cannot be easily removed while the user stands in a safe position on the ground.
Another problem is that the higher one tries to reach, the more difficult it can become to manipulate a hand tool. Tools having moving parts such as compressible jaws or the like require substantial activation forces. This makes it difficult to manipulate or remove a wire-mounting clip, or the wiring held thereby, when working at maximum elevations. Another problem is that some prior art tools are incomplete, forcing the installer to use various hand tools in addition to the clips and parts already required.
In a typical situation where the installer cannot reach the tallest part of the structure upon which the lights are to be ins
Burleigh David S.
Diehl Raymond
Dilday James
Due Wesley
Froit Harry R.
Carver Steven D.
Kramer Dean J.
Micro Plastics Inc.
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