Extensible handle bar

Claim 1

An extensible handle bar for tools comprising: (a) an inner cylindrical walled tube and an outer cylindrical walled tube, the outside diameter of said inner tube being smaller than the interior diameter of said outer tube and being slidably telescoping within said outer tube; (b) a cylindrical sleeve-shaped body comprising a resilient material and having one end thereof firmly mounted on one end of said outer tube, the cylindrical surface adjacent said one end of said sleeve-shaped body being provided with an external helical thread; an extension, comprising a substantial portion of said sleeve-shaped body opposite said one end thereof, extending beyond said one end of said outer tube and having a plurality of spaced longitudinally extending slots therein extending from the end of said sleeve-shaped body opposite said one end thereof to a position adjacent said one end of said outer tube, the exterior cylindrical surface of said sleeve-shaped body between said opposite end thereof and said position adjacent said one end of said outer tube having an external taper; and (c) a cylindrical sleeve-shaped internal helical threaded nut surrounding said sleeve-shaped body and being guided on said external helical thread of said sleeve-shaped body to move said sleeve-shaped nut axially between unlocked and locked positions, substantially the entire portion of said sleeve-shaped nut extending over said extension of said sleeve-shaped body having an internal taper cooperating with said external taper of said extension, the longitudinal length of the surface of said internal taper being at least the longitudinal length of said external taper; (d) the angle of inclination of said internal taper of said sleeve-shaped nut being less than the angle of inclination of said external taper of said extension of said sleeve-shaped body when said nut is in unlocked position such that, as said sleeve-shaped nut is screwed on said sleeve-shaped body to move said sleeve-shaped nut from unlocked position to locked position, the internal taper portion of said sleeve-shaped nut surrounding said extension of said sleeve-shaped body first contacts and compresses the portion of said external taper at said opposite end of said sleeve-shaped body and progressively compresses substantially the entire portion of said extension of said sleeve-shaped body between said opposite end of said sleeve-shaped body and said position adjacent said one end of said outer tube against the exterior surface of said inner cylindrical walled tube, and the surface of said internal taper of said sleeve-shaped nut engages the surface of said external taper of said extension of said sleeve-shaped body along substantially said entire surfaces thereof to securely lock said inner and outer tubes relative to each other.