Automotive Hood Stand

The present invention relates to a painting stand for use in supporting vehicle body panels during the painting operation.automotive hood stand In particular, the invention provides a painting stand that permits adjustments in mounting of the body panel to accommodate disparities between the general center of the body panel and its actual center of gravity. This accommodation is facilitated by the presence of moveable attachments which can be altered substantially from one position to another with minimal effort.

Practitioners in the automotive body repair and painting field frequently encounter difficulties with existing painting stands that support vehicle body panels during the paint and body work operations.automotive hood stand This is due to substantial variation in size, weight and center of gravity location of such body panels. Such variations complicate the support of these panels on conventional painting stands as well as their movement and reorientation during such operations.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a painting stand in the form of an automotive hood stand is constructed to accommodate a wide variety of hinge mounted body panels such as doors, quarter panels and trunk deck lids of pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, etc.automotive hood stand The painting stand is characterized by the structure of pivot clamp 14 and spring bias mechanism generally referenced as 60 that enables a user to position and secure such a body panel as hood 50 upon the painting stand.

As depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, sleeve 40 is secured to section 22 of the vertical upright member 12 by an abutment provided at the inner end thereof. Sleeve 40 supports a moveable attachment arm 45 having hook 46 at the outer end of the arm.

To orient a body panel such as hood 50 in a selected position with respect to the painting stand, the user positions the T-bar and sleeve in a general plane with the hood and inserts hooks 38 and 39 of the attachment arms 35 and 25 into chosen apertures formed in the underside of the hood. The user then presses the sleeve inwardly with a gripping force to tighten sleeve attachment 41 thereby providing a downward force upon the hood and a clamping force on the attachment arm 45.

The operation of the spring bias mechanism 60 operates to counter balance this upward force to provide a predetermined neutral angular position of the pivot bar 13 and hood 50 with respect to the vertical upright member 12. The slender three point attachment to the hood also exposes the underside of the hood to facilitate the handling and manipulation of the hood during the spraying operation. Moreover, the slender nature of the attachment and support structure of the invention also eliminates the need for additional support apparatus which tends to block or shadow portions of the to be painted surface of the hood.

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