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United States Patent Application	20090188205
Kind Code	A1
White; Jasper	July 30, 2009

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Claims

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1. a tool to assist in aligning metal doors to door frames comprising at least two units, each unit comprising at least a first casing and a second casing, and a string extending from the first casing to the second casing;

2. the first casing of claim 1 comprises a means to retract and store the string;

3. the second casing of claim 1 comprises a means to retract and store the string;

4. the first and second casings of claim 1 comprise a means to retract and store the string;

5. the string of claim 1 is at least the length of a diagonal of a standard commercial or residential door;

6. the first casing of claim 1 comprises at least one magnet;

7. the second casing of claim 1 comprises at least one magnet.

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Description

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CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001]Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[0002]Not Applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

[0003]Not Applicable

BACKGROUND

[0004]In residential building projects, the door and frame are usually shipped as one unit (called pre-hung) and are installed as one complete unit. Because the door and frame are hung together, the craftsman can tell whether the door is on a flat plane by closing the door after installing. If the door is aligned, the craftsman knows that the plane is correct. Installation of doors in commercial settings is more difficult.

[0005]Generally, in commercial settings, the frames and doors are shipped separately and installed separately. The frames are set but the doors may not be set until much later. Consequently, there is no easy way for the craftsman to know whether the door will sit in the correct frame.

[0006]In this scenario, a craftsman puts a screw in the metal stud or a nail in a wood stud at all four corners of the frames. The screw or nail is left protruding so that the craftsman can wrap a length of string around the four screws or nails. For demonstrative purposes, FIG. 1 shows a door marked with the points A, B, C, and D. These points are used to represent the screw/nails on said metal/wood studs. Usually, the craftsman wraps the string around the screw/nail at A moving it towards point B, as shown in FIG. 2. The craftsman wraps the string twice around screw/nail at B moving the string to screw/nail at C, as shown in FIG. 3. From the screw/nail at C the craftsman moves the string to the screw/nail at D, as shown in FIG. 4. The string is wrapped securely at the screw/nail at point D. The string should form an "X" as shown in FIG. 4

[0007]If the two lengths of string touch at the focal point, shown as O on FIG. 4, the door will close top to bottom proving that the door is a true plane and no adjustment is needed. If the two lengths of string do not touch at O the jam is adjusted left or right until the two lengths of string touch at O.

[0008]Although the effectiveness of this method of aligning doors to door frames has proven itself over time, it takes time to position the nails or screws into the door frame and remove those same nails or screws after the task has been accomplished. Additionally, the holes made by the nails or screws on the door frame need to be repaired. The object of this invention is to provide a craftsman with a tool that with allow him to use the described time proven method efficiently.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009]This tool allows a craftsman to use an age old, proven method to align metal doors to door frames in an efficient fashion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

[0011]FIG. 1 is an elevation view of the a typical door;

[0012]FIGS. 2, 3, 4 are elevation views of a typical door showing a alignment method;

[0013]FIG. 5 is an expanded view of the current invention;

[0014]FIG. 6 is an expanded view of the current invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015]This tool allows a craftsman to use the age old, proven pluming method in an efficient fashion. The tool comprises of two units 10, 20 as Shown in FIG. 5. Each unit is comprised of a first casing 30 and a second casing 40, as shown in FIG. 6. The first casing and second casing have a top 50 and a bottom 60. At least one portion of the first casing 30 and one portion of the second casing 40 is further comprised of a magnet 70. In the preferred embodiment, the bottom 60 of the first casing 30 and the bottom 60 of the second casing 40 is comprised of a magnet 70.

[0016]The units are connected by a string 80. At least the first casing or the second casing has a means to retract the string when not in use (not shown). The string 80 can be manufactured from any sturdy material.

[0017]While preferred embodiments of the invention will be shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modification may be made therein without departing from the invention in its broader aspects. For example, the casings can be different shapes, sizes and can be composed of any durable material.

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