BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a mason's tool made entirely of plastic and more particularly to a plastic trowel which is injection molded as a single unitary piece.

For the most part, mason's trowels have heretofore been formed from a metal blade used to apply adhesives, cement, etc. A metal post is affixed to the top of the blade, and a metal shank extends laterally from the post. A wooden or plastic handle is secured over the shank.

The cost to manufacture such trowels includes the cost for the separate components, of which the metal parts are the costlier. The metal post must be welded or otherwise affixed in place onto the blade and the wood handle must be secured to the metal tang. Often, a ferrule is placed at the juncture of the wood handle and tang. These several steps of assembly contribute to the time and thus the cost of manufacture.

It would be highly desirable to provide a mason's trowel which may be manufactured at a relatively low cost. It would also be desirable to provide a trowel at a cost which would make the trowel disposable.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved mason's trowel or implement.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mason's trowel that is easy to manufacture and is of a relatively low cost.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a mason trowel that is easily cleaned.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a lightweight and durable trowel that is easy to use.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a mason's trowel that is comfortable to grip during use.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a trowel at a cost which would make the trowel disposable after use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These and other objects of the invention are achieved in a trowel made entirely from a single plastic material. The trowel is injection molded to include a thin planar blade, a post extending from and formed integral to the blade and a handle. The handle likewise is formed integral to the post and extends laterally therefrom.

In one embodiment, a portion of the outer surface of said handle is molded to include a textured area having a coefficient of friction greater than that of the blade. The textured area is molded in alternating elevated and non-elevated portions to provide a rough surface.

In one embodiment, the handle includes a thumb rest area which is molded into the handle as a surface configuration. The thumb rest area is shaped and arranged to guide the user's hand to grip the handle in a prescribed orientation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a mason's trowel according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the trowel of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top view of the trowel of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the trowel of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is another embodiment of the blade of the trowel of Fig. 1, and includes a textured handle Fig. 6 is a side view of a portion of the trowel of Fig. 5.

Fig. 6A is a partial enlarged view of the textured handle of the trowel of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is another embodiment of the blade of the trowel of Fig. 1 Fig. 8 is a rear view of the trowel of Fig. 1 Fig. 9 is a front view of the trowel of Fig. 1.

Fig. 10 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 10-10 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 11 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 11-11 in Fig. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to Fig. 1, a trowel 11 is injection molded entirely from a single plastic material and is formed with a general uniform wall thickness throughout. Trowel 11 includes a flat planar blade 13, a post 15 extending upwardly from the rear of blade 13 and a handle 17 extending outwardly from the top of post 15.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, blade 13 is configured as a margin trowel blade. Blade 13 includes a rectangular shaped front portion 19 which extends forwardly of post 15 and a rear portion 21 which surrounds a substantial portion of post 15. As best seen in Fig. 2, blade 13 has a smooth planar bottom surface 27 for working the material to be smoothed or to be applied by trowel 11. Blade 13 also includes a top surface 29 which is flat (or horizontal) at the most forward end of the blade, as best seen in Fig. 10, where the top surface 29 is parallel with bottom surface 27. At the rearward end of the blade, however, top surface 29 is sloped outwardly, as best seen in Fig. 11. As shown in Fig. 11, the top surface 29 slopes downwardly from the longitudinal plane 30 of the trowel and toward the outer edges 32 of the blade. Referring again to Fig. 2, top surface 29 also gradually rises upwardly toward the post and eventually unites with post 15.

Blade 13 may take on various shapes other than a margin trowel shape, including a notched margin trowel shape as shown in Fig. 5 (other notch patterns may be used) or a pointing trowel shape as shown in Fig. 7. Also, a brick trowel shape may be used, as well as other shapes as might suggest themselves.

Referring again to Fig. 2, post 15 includes a hollow area 31 allowing the walls which form post 15 to be of a general uniform thickness. Post 15 includes a back 33, a front 35 and two sides 23,25 (Fig. 3). Sides 23,25, are formed integral to the back and front of the post.

As shown in Fig. 2, back 33 includes a flat back surface 37 disposed relatively normal to the

plane of the bottom surface 27 of the blade."Relatively normal"herein means at an angle greater than 89° and less than 100° to the plane of blade 13.

Referring to Fig. 8, an opening 41 is formed in the back 33 of post 15. Opening 41 begins at the lowest point of back 33, i. e., in the plane of the bottom surface 27 of the blade, and extends to a top opening edge 43. Edge 43 is curved and semicircular in configuration, and disposed symmetric about the longitudinal plane 30. Two vertical edges 47,49 of opening 41 are disposed parallel to plane 30 and connect to curved edge 43.

As shown in Fig. 8, the hollow 31 of the post extends upwardly according to dotted line 51. Opening 41 provides an entry location of a sharp pointed instrument (such as a screw driver) to permit the user to pry debris from hollow 31. The two sides 23,25 of the post curve into blade 13 in areas 53,55 providing a smooth corner where the blade and the post meet.

Referring to Fig. 3, front 35 of the post is formed as a curved surface which is rounded to meet sides 23,25 of the post. The sides 23,25 are surfaces which flare rearwardly and outwardly to meet back 33 (Fig. 8) of the post. The large radius of the leading edge of the post helps prevent cracking or breaking of the post away from the blade.

Referring again to Fig. 2, handle 17 includes a hollow area 60 allowing the walls which form handle 17 to be of a general uniform thickness. Handle 17 is cylindrical in shape at its distal end and tapers at its proximal end to meet with post 15. The rear 62 of the handle is open communicating with hollow 60. This distal edge 64 of the handle may be beveled as shown.

As shown in Fig. 3, a flat thumb rest area 61 is molded in the top surface of the handle, to provide a resting area for the user's thumb. This area 61 is a configuration which is shaped to receive the user's thumb and is arranged on the top of the handle close to the

post to guide the user's hand to grip the handle in a prescribed orientation, i. e., with his or her thumb on the top of handle 17 and the remaining fingers curling to the underside of the handle. This provides a comfortable grip for the user.

As shown in Fig. 4, a flat finger rest area 63 is molded in the lower surface of the handle to provide a resting area for the first finger of the user. This area 63 is likewise shaped and arranged to guide the user's hand to grip the handle in a prescribed orientation.

Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, a textured pattern 64 may be molded in the plastic of the handle, to provide a rough plastic gripping surface, as compared to the smooth plastic surface of blade 13. Pattern 64 is comprised of small rectangular blocks or bricks 65 which are formed in the plastic. The bricks 65 are slightly elevated above the handle diameter, for example, by. 004 inches. The bricks are set in rows and offset spaced between rows to provide a conventional brick pattern, as shown.

Fig. 6A illustrates the textured pattern in more detail. Bricks 65 are spaced within a row and separated by a spacing area 67. Spacing area 67 is at the handle diameter, i. e., lower than the top surface of the bricks. Likewise, each row of bricks is spaced from another row by the spacing area 69. Spacing area 69 is at the handle diameter, i. e., lower than the top surface of this bricks. This alternating elevation provides a rough surface. The top surface of bricks 65 may include tiny bumps 68, as shown, to add further texture to the area.

The plastic material forming trowel 11 may be a polypropylene composite, i. e., polypropylene mixed with a filler to provide strength. The polypropylene composite provides a smooth surface to the trowel except in the area of textured pattern 64. The textured pattern 64 provides a coefficient of friction which is greater than the coefficient of friction of the smooth lower surface of the blade.

Referring again to Fig. 2, a pair of elliptical slots 71,73 are formed in the distal end of the handle to provide for the hanging of the trowel on a peg or the like. The handle may be molded to include trademark indicia on its surface, as will suggest itself.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, modifications such as those suggested above, but not limited thereto are to be considered within the scope of the invention.