U.S. patent application number 10/626135 was filed with the patent office on 2005-01-27 for ground stake with short vane.
This patent application is currently assigned to The Coleman Company, Inc.. Invention is credited to Holub, Timothy M..
Application Number | 20050016574 10/626135 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34080353 |
Filed Date | 2005-01-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050016574 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Holub, Timothy M. |
January 27, 2005 |
Ground stake with short vane
Abstract
Disclosed is a ground stake comprising a shaft defining a shaft
axis, the shaft further comprising a penetration end shaped to
facilitate forcing of the the shaft into soil and a driving end for
driving the shaft into soil, an attachment portion adapted to
securely fasten an object to the stake, a short vane depending
outward from the shaft axis, the short vane defining a backfill
space between the short vane and the shaft axis, and wherein the
short vane is effective in substantially resisting the removal of
the shaft from soil into which it has been driven.
Inventors: |
Holub, Timothy M.; (Cheney,
KS) |
Correspondence
Address: |
THE COLEMAN COMPANY, INC.
LEGAL DEPARTMENT - 702
3600 N. HYDRAULIC
WICHITA
KS
67219
US
|
Assignee: |
The Coleman Company, Inc.
Wichita
KS
|
Family ID: |
34080353 |
Appl. No.: |
10/626135 |
Filed: |
July 24, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
135/118 ;
248/156; 52/155 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04H 15/62 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
135/118 ;
052/155; 248/156 |
International
Class: |
E04H 015/62 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A ground stake comprising: a shaft defining a shaft axis, the
shaft further comprising a penetration end shaped to facilitate
forcing of the the shaft into soil and a driving end for driving
the shaft into soil; an attachment portion adapted to securely
fasten an object to the stake; a short vane depending outward from
the shaft axis, the short vane defining a backfill space between
the short vane and the shaft axis; and wherein the short vane is
effective in substantially resisting the removal of the shaft from
soil into which it has been driven.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the short vane is shaped so as
to provide less resistance to driving the shaft into soil than the
resistance to the removal of the shaft from soil.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the short vane lies a plane
parallel to the shaft axis.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the short vane lies in the same
plane as the shaft axis.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the short vane comprises an
insertion leading edge and an extraction leading edge.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein: the insertion leading edge
defines an insertion angle of attack; the extraction leading edge
defines an extraction angle of attack; and wherein the insertion
angle of attack is less than the extraction angle of attack.
7 The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the shaft comprises a wire
rod.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the short vane comprises a
shaped wire rod.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the shaft and the short vane
are made from a single shaped wire rod.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising at least one long
vane having a short vane portion.
11. A ground stake comprising: a shaft defining a shaft axis, the
shaft further comprising a penetration end shaped to facilitate
forcing of the shaft into soil and a driving end for driving the
shaft into soil; an attachment portion adapted to securely fasten
an object to the stake; a short vane depending outward from the
shaft axis, wherein the short vane comprises an insertion leading
edge and an extraction leading edge and wherein: the insertion
leading edge defines an insertion angle of attack; the extraction
leading edge defines an extraction angle of attack; and wherein the
insertion angle of attack is less than the extraction angle of
attack; and wherein the short vane is effective in substantially
resisting the removal of the shaft from soil into which it has been
driven.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the shaft comprises a wire
rod.
13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the short vane comprises a
shaped wire rod.
14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the shaft and the short vane
are made from a single shaped wire rod.
15. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said short vane is made from
sheet metal.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0001] 1. Field of the Disclosure
[0002] This disclosure relates to ground stakes, such as tent
stakes for securing tents to the ground. The ground stakes have one
or more short vanes shaped to resist pulling from the soil.
[0003] 2. Description Of the Related Art
[0004] Ground stakes per se are well known in the art and typically
have a shaft having a penetration end that is driven into the
ground and an attachment portion for attaching whatever object
(e.g., a tent or rope) is desired to be anchored to the ground.
[0005] Most ground stakes are driven directly into the ground like
a nail, but there are also those designed to be screwed into the
ground, such as is described in Bennet et al., U.S. Pat. No.
4,543,972, for a LOCKABLE TENT STAKE, issued Oct. 1, 1985, among
others. These generally suffer the drawback of requiring a source
of simultaneous torque and downward driving force. They are also
expensive to produce as the shaft of the stake must either be
threaded or coiled. In coiled versions, such as disclosed by
Bennet, the coil is susceptible to distortion and damage in hard
soil conditions.
[0006] As for those tent stakes designed to be driven straight into
the ground, many have long vanes, that is to say that the shaft of
the stake has a plurality of vanes depending therefrom and
extending substantially along the entire length of the shaft, such
as is disclosed in Adams, US Des. 377,076 for a TENT STAKE, issued
Dec. 31, 1996 and a host of other utility and design patents. The
difficulty with such long vane ground stakes is that they are
costly to manufacture and difficult to drive into the ground. The
difficulty in driving a long vane stake into the ground arises from
the need to displace soil along the entire length of the shaft
while driving the stake into the ground.
[0007] Much more economical are wire stakes, such as described in
Vandiver, U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,719, for a TENT STAKE, issued Mar. 6,
1990. A problem with wire stakes is that they are more easily
pulled from the soil than many other types of ground stakes.
Nevertheless, there is no cheaper stake to manufacture, as
fabrication requires merely the bending and perhaps some minor
welding, of a length of cheap wire stock.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0008] Disclosed is a ground stake comprising a shaft defining a
shaft axis, the shaft further comprising a penetration end shaped
to facilitate forcing of the the shaft into soil and a driving end
for driving the shaft into soil;
[0009] an attachment portion adapted to securely fasten an object
to the stake;
[0010] a short vane depending outward from the shaft axis, the
short vane defining a backfill space between the short vane and the
shaft axis; and
[0011] wherein the short vane is effective in substantially
resisting the removal of the shaft from soil into which it has been
driven.
[0012] In another aspect of the apparatus the short vane is shaped
so as to provide less resistance to driving the shaft into soil
than the resistance to the removal of the shaft from soil.
[0013] In another aspect of the apparatus the short vane lies a
plane parallel to the shaft axis.
[0014] In another aspect of the apparatus the short vane lies in
the same plane as the shaft axis.
[0015] In another aspect of the apparatus the short vane comprises
an insertion leading edge and an extraction leading edge.
[0016] In another aspect of the apparatus the insertion leading
edge defines an insertion angle of attack, the extraction leading
edge defines an extraction angle of attack, and the insertion angle
of attack is less than the extraction angle of attack.
[0017] In another aspect of the apparatus the shaft comprises a
wire rod.
[0018] In another aspect of the apparatus the short vane comprises
a shaped wire rod.
[0019] In another aspect of the apparatus the shaft and the short
vane are made from a single shaped wire rod.
[0020] Another aspect of the apparatus further comprises at least
one long vane having a short vane portion.
[0021] Disclosed is a ground stake comprising a shaft defining a
shaft axis, the shaft further comprising a penetration end shaped
to facilitate forcing of the shaft into soil and a driving end for
driving the shaft into soil, an attachment portion adapted to
securely fasten an object to the stake, a short vane depending
outward from the shaft axis, wherein the short vane comprises an
insertion leading edge and an extraction leading edge and wherein
the insertion leading edge defines an insertion angle of attack,
the extraction leading edge defines an extraction angle of attack,
and wherein the insertion angle of attack is less than the
extraction angle of attack, and wherein the short vane is effective
in substantially resisting the removal of the shaft from soil into
which it has been driven.
[0022] In another aspect of the apparatus, the short vane is made
from sheet metal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] FIGS. 1a and 1b show a front and side view of a short vane
embodiment of the disclosure.
[0024] FIGS. 2a and 2b show wire vane backfill embodiments of the
disclosure.
[0025] FIG. 3 shows a barbed backfill embodiment of the
disclosure.
[0026] FIG. 4 shows a deviated shaft backfill embodiment of the
disclosure.
[0027] FIGS. 5a and 5b show vaned backfill embodiments of the
disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0028] Referring to FIG. 1a there is shown a side view of a short
vane embodiment of the ground stake 1 of the disclosure. The ground
stake 1 has a shaft, a penetration end 3 for penetrating soil
during insertion, a driving end 4 for driving the stake into the
ground by hand or with a tool (e.g., a hammer), and an attachment
portion 5 for attaching an object to the stake. Generally a tent or
other object will be attached via a tent loop, rope, or guy wire.
If desired, the attachment portion may b e adapted to attach an
object directly. For example, the attachment portion may be in the
form of a hose clamp for the purpose of anchoring hoses or pipes.
For simplicity, the attachment portion 5 in the drawings will be
shown as a simple hook.
[0029] Note that the penetration end 3 may be a pointed penetration
end 3' as in FIG. 1a or a simple flat penetration end 3 as in FIG.
1b, depending on the thickness of the shaft 2. For narrow gauge
wire (e.g., 1/8 to {fraction (1/4)} inch) for use in small loads,
such as tents, the wire shaft 2 will generally be narrow enough to
not require sharpening of the penetration end 3. For wire stakes
larger than 1/4 inch, it may be desirable to sharpen the
penetration end 3' as shown in FIG. 1a. From a functionality
standpoint, it is always desirable to sharpen the penetration end
3', but there are also cost considerations and it will generally be
found that sharpening is not very cost effective for shaft
diameters at or below {fraction (1/4)} inch.
[0030] Also provided is a vane in the form of a short vane 6 having
an insertion leading edge 7 and an extraction leading edge 8. The
insertion leading edge 7 is so called because it is the leading
edge of the vane 6 when the stake is driven into the ground, while
the extraction leading edge is the leading edge 8 of the vane when
the stake is being pulled from the ground. Each leading edge
defines an angle of attack to the soil through which it is being
driven. Preferable, the insertion angle of attack i will be less
than the extraction angle of attack e, thereby making it easier to
insert the stake in the ground than to pull it out.
[0031] Note that, unlike a long vane, the short vane runs only a
fractional length of the shaft, such that the extraction leading
edge is submerged into the soil. For this reason, long vanes have
no extraction leading edge. It is also desirable that the short
vane 6 runs along no more than about two-thirds or less, preferably
one half or less, of the length of the shaft and that it be
disposed nearer the penetration end 3 than the driving end 4.
Preferably, the short vane 6 will be disposed in the lower half of
the length of the shaft 2, such that the insertion leading edge 7
is closer to the penetration end 3 than the length of the short
vane 6 itself. A typical ground stake 1 for use with small and
medium size recreational tents might be made of about {fraction
(3/16)} diameter metal wire rod, unsharpened, with a total stake
length of about 7 to 8 inches, a shaft length of about 6 to 7
inches, and a short vane about 2 inches long starting 1 inch from
the penetration end and extending 12 to 1 inch out from the shaft
2. The vane will typically be a piece of sheet metal and may be
substantially the same width as the shaft or slightly wider or
thinner as desired. Alternatively, the stakes may be formed of a
strong plastic.
[0032] Of course, the drawing shows only one short vane 6, but
additional vanes may be added if desired, such as for heavier
loads. For simple loads, such as small or medium size tents, tarps,
and the like, one short vane will generally be found to be
sufficient and most cost effective.
[0033] Referring to FIGS. 2a and 2b there is shown a backfill wire
short vane 6 embodiment of the ground stake 1 of the disclosure.
Here, the wire short vane 6 defines a backfill space 10 between the
short vane and the wire rod shaft 2 into which soil may backfill
when the ground stake 1 is being driven into the ground. This is a
preferred improvement over the embodiment of FIG. 1 not only
because the backfill further increases the resistance of the stake
1 to being pulled from the ground, but also because it is much
easier, faster, and cheaper to manufacture. Note how another length
of wire may simply be shaped and welded onto the shaft at spot weld
points 11 as shown in FIG. 2a. The backfill wire short vane may be
made of the same gauge wire so as to simplify the logistics of
manufacture. An even more efficient embodiment is shown in FIG. 2b
wherein a single length of wire is bent around and spot welded back
to the shaft 2 at a single spot weld point 11, thereby forming a
rounded penetration end 3". Additional wire short vanes may be
added by spot welding shaped wire segments such as that shown in
FIG. 2a.
[0034] Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a half-protuberant, or
"barbed" embodiment of the backfill embodiment of the disclosure
wherein the wire short vane 6 fails to complete a loop. The result
is that the extraction leading edge 8 and the insertion leading
edge 7 are on opposite sides of the same wire segment and have
equal angles of attack. Here, it is not a differential in angle of
attack, but rather the resistance afforded by the backfill space 10
that causes the stake 1 to be more difficult to pull out of the
ground than to drive in. This is cheaper and easier to manufacture
than the previous embodiments, but provides lesser anchoring and is
suitable for lighter loads. More barbs may be provided by spot
welding shaped wire segments to the shaft 2.
[0035] Referring to FIG. 4, for the lightest loads, there is shown
a deviated shaft backfill wire short vane 6 embodiment of the
disclosure wherein the shaft 2 is shaped and deviated from it's
straight configuration so as to form the backfill space 10 and the
extraction 8 and insertion 7 leading edges. This embodiment shares
the cost advantages of using a single wire without spot welds just
as the embodiment of FIG. 3 does, but provides the differing angles
of attack for the leading edges that the embodiment of FIG. 3
lacks. Unfortunately, the backfill space is not as effective as
that of the embodiment of FIG. 3 because the backfill space is not
between the short vane and the shaft, but merely between the short
vane and the shaft axis, thereby losing much of the soil
compression that would have otherwise been attained during
extraction, so this version is for the lightest loads. Nevertheless
the embodiment of FIG. 4 has the advantage of being the cheapest to
manufacture because the deviation may be imparted to the wire in a
continuous rolling process.
[0036] Referring to FIGS. 5a and 5b, there are shown vaned backfill
embodiments of the disclosure. In FIG. 5a, one or more short vanes
6 are provided that define backfill spaces 10, hence this is a
backfill embodiment of the short vane embodiment described with
respect to FIG. 1.
[0037] In FIG. 5b, a ground stake having one or more long vanes 12
is modified so that one or more of the long vanes defines a
backfill aperture 10. Preferably, the long vane may be modified to
define an extraction leading edge 8 as well by expanding the long
vane outward near the penetration end 3 so as to form a short vane
segment 15. This modification to a long vane version of a ground
stake alleviates a major problem with long vane stakes, namely that
they are difficult to drive into the ground because the soil must
be displaced along the entire length of each long vane. By
providing a short vane segment with a backfill aperture, the
backfill relieves some of the soil pressure. Further, the expanded
short vane segment 15 permits the long vane portion 12 to be
narrower than in a comparable ground stake.
[0038] While various values, scalar and otherwise, may be disclosed
herein, it is to be understood that these are not exact values, but
rather to be interpreted as "about" such values, unless explicitly
stated otherwise. Further, the use of a modifier such as "about" or
"approximately" in this specification with respect to any value is
not to imply that the absence of such a modifier with respect to
another value indicated the latter to be exact.
[0039] Changes and modifications can be made by those skilled in
the art to the embodiments as disclosed herein and such examples,
illustrations, and theories are for explanatory purposes and are
not intended to limit the scope of the claims. Further, the
abstract of this disclosure is provided for the sole purpose of
complying with the rules requiring an abstract so as to allow a
searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of
the disclosures contained herein and is submitted with the express
understanding that it will not be used to interpret or to limit the
scope or the meaning of the claims.
* * * * *