U.S. patent application number 11/350331 was filed with the patent office on 2007-08-09 for tie down stake, angle.
Invention is credited to Bruce Roberts.
Application Number | 20070181171 11/350331 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38332763 |
Filed Date | 2007-08-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070181171 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Roberts; Bruce |
August 9, 2007 |
Tie down stake, angle
Abstract
A tie down stake for anchoring portable shelters or other
objects at any angle to the ground in any soil conditions and which
consists of a central hub with an eyelet and arms which extend away
from the center of the hub. At the opposite end of each arm consist
of holes that serve as stake guides for directing a plurality of
anchoring rods at a fixed angle downward and into the ground. Thus
joined by the arms and hub, the anchoring rods cooperate together
to form a secure earth anchor. Also disclosed is a rod removal
tool.
Inventors: |
Roberts; Bruce; (Aptos,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Bruce Roberts
1562 Dolphin Dr.
Aptos
CA
95003
US
|
Family ID: |
38332763 |
Appl. No.: |
11/350331 |
Filed: |
February 9, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
135/118 ;
52/23 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04H 15/62 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
135/118 ;
052/023 |
International
Class: |
E04H 15/62 20060101
E04H015/62 |
Claims
1. A tie down stake comprising: a plurality of elongate anchoring
rods, each of said rods having a first end and a second end, said
first end being sharpened to penetrate the ground and said second
end being blunt to receive the blows of a blunt object such as a
hammer, said second end having a head means by which to grip said
rods such as a bolt head, and a central T shaped hub, said hub
having an upper surface and a ground-contacting lower surface, said
hub having an eyelet attached thereto and said hub having a
plurality of extensions, said extensions connecting said arms, each
of said arms having a first end and a second end, said first end
being attached to the hub, said second end having holes being
formed at an angle such that when said ground-contacting lower
surface of said hub and arms placed on the ground and said rods are
inserted through said arm holes, said holes being slightly larger
in diameter than said rods, said rods are directed downward at a
predetermined angle into the ground thereby cooperating to form a
secure, temporary earth anchor.
2. A tie down stake as in claim 1 wherein said solid central hub is
made of a polymer, metal, or other appropriate material.
3. A tie down stake as in claim 1 wherein said solid central hub
connecting the three arms contains three of said holes at the end
of each arm, and wherein there are three of said anchoring
rods.
4. A tie down stake as in claim 1 wherein said head means of said
elongate anchoring rods comprises a blunt end of said rods in order
to receive the blows of a blunt object such as a hammer.
5. A tie down stake as in claim 1 further comprising a rod removal
tool, said rod removal tool having a handle and a gripping means
for gripping said head means of said rods and applying torsion and
tensile force to said rods to aid in extracting said rods from the
ground.
6. A tie down stake comprising: three elongate metal anchoring
rods, each of said rods having a first end and a second end, said
first end being sharpened to penetrate the ground and said second
end being blunt to receive the blows of a blunt object such as a
hammer, said second end having a hexagonal shaped head by which to
grip said rods, and a solid central hub made of a polymer or metal,
said hub having an upper surface and a ground-contacting lower
surface, said hub having an eyelet attached thereto and having
three small extensions with which to attach said arms extending
away from hub, said holes on opposite ends of arms being slightly
larger in diameter than said rods, and said holes being formed at
an angle such that when said ground-contacting lower surface of
said hub and arms are placed on the ground and said rods are
inserted through said holes, said rods are directed downward at a
predetermined angle into the ground thereby cooperating to from a
secure, temporary earth anchor.
7. The tie down stake of claim 6, wherein said solid central hub is
of sufficient rigidity that when said lower surface of said hub is
placed on the ground and said arms and rods are inserted through
said holes, said hub, said arms, and said rods cooperate as an
essentially rigid unit to resist dislodgement of the tie down stake
from the ground when a force is exerted on said eyelet.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] Portable shelters (Tents) should be securely tied down to
prevent their being moved or damaged in a high wind. They almost
always require the force to be at an angle as opposed to straight
up or perpendicular to the ground. Sometimes portable shelters are
permanently tied down on pavement. But more frequently, a portable
shelter owner must provide his own tie down device for off-pavement
applications. This is especially true when the shelter is erected
at a remote site away from pavement.
[0002] The most common type of portable tie down anchor used by
portable shelters is either an auger-type stake that screws into
the ground or a single wood or steel rod. These devices suffer from
a number of drawbacks. Most notably that they are difficult to
deploy and they do not always hold securely. Auger-type stakes are
frequently difficult to screw into the ground and are nearly
impossible to use in hard or rocky soil. In addition, they are not
designed for forces that require holding an angle to the ground.
Furthermore, in soft, sandy or muddy soil auger-type stakes do not
always provide a secure hold since they only engage an area of the
ground as large as the diameter of the auger itself. Another
disadvantage to the auger-type tie down stake is that they tend to
pick up large amounts of dirt when they are removed from the
ground. Their complicated geometry makes them difficult to insert
and remove due to massive side loading.
[0003] Another type of stake used is the single stake. This type
provides little or no benefit in even the weakest of winds. Since
they have a high center of gravity. The constant tug of the ropes
in winds will work them loose and eventually fail.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The object of the present invention is to overcome the
drawbacks of the tie down devices in current usage. The primary
objective is to provide a tie down stake which is easy to deploy
while providing a secure hold for forces that require non-vertical
(angular) forces. For example, tents and portable shelters require
pullout resistance at an "angle" component instead of a "vertical"
component.
[0005] Other objectives of the invention are to provide a tie down
stake which is easy to remove, lightweight, portable, compact, and
easy to clean. To accomplish these objectives the tie. down stake
of the present invention uses a central "T" hub working in concert
with arms with holes that act as stake guides to direct a plurality
of anchoring rods at a fixed angle downward and in a single
direction. Thus joined by the "T" hub, the rods work cooperatively
to engage a large area of the ground forming an earth anchor with
exceptional pullout resistance even in soft, sandy or muddy soil.
At the same time the tie down stake is easy to use because the
straight rods are easily driven into the ground even in hard or
rocky soils.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0006] The major components of the tie down stake include a central
"T" hub 1 with securing ring 3, a plurality of arms 7 connected to
hub, and a plurality of anchoring rods 2 to secure the hub to the
ground. In the preferred embodiment, the tie down stake includes
three rods 2, though it will easily be seen that two, three, four
or more rods may be used to advantage without departing from the
spirit of the invention.
[0007] The hub 1 should be made of a strong lightweight material.
Acceptable materials for the hub include polymers such as acetal,
nylon, polycarbonate or metals such as aluminum or steel. In the
preferred embodiment the hub generally has extensions from the
center to connect the arms 7, and is triangular in shape. But it
may be made in any shape convenient to the use and manufacture of
the tie down stake.
[0008] The hub 1 has a securing ring 3 extending from the body of
the hub 1 for attachment of a rope, cable, chain or other
attachment device. The eyelet may be made from an eyebolt or it may
be formed integrally with the body of the hub 1, extending from the
top or side of the hub.
[0009] Attached to the hub are arms 7. At the opposite ends of the
arms are three holes 8, equal in number to the number of anchoring
rods 2 and slightly larger in diameter than the rods themselves.
The holes 8 at the end of each arm are formed at an angle to direct
the rods 2 downward in use. The tie down stake has been found to be
most effective when the rod holes 8 are formed along a line that is
at an angle to the vertical axis of the hub 1 so that the rods take
advantage of both rotational force and sheer force as is apparent
from the top view. The advantage of this arrangement is that the
rods 2 do not interfere with the eyelet 3 or with one another when
they are inserted our withdrawn. They are far enough away from each
other to take advantage of virgin soil.
[0010] The rods 2 are elongate in shape and are sharpened at one
end for penetrating the ground and blunt at the other end for
receiving the blows of a blunt object such as a hammer. The rods 2
may be made of steel, stainless steel or any other material strong
enough to withstand being repeatedly driven into hard or rocky
soil. The rods 2 may be circular in cross section or made in any
other cross section that is convenient for their manufacture.
Proximate the blunt end, the rods include a head means that allows
the rods to be gripped for withdrawal by the rod removal tool
(FIGS. 3 and 4). The head means 9 may be a hexagonal bolt shape or
it may be any other geometry that allows it to be gripped for easy
removal. Other possible geometries envisioned for the head means 9
include a flattened head like a nail, an L-shaped bend, a T shape,
a hook or a loop. The rods 2 are of a sufficient length to provide
secure holding force for the application intended. Fourteen inch
rods have been found to provide adequate holding force for tying
down portable shelters, though rods of a few inches to a few feet
may be used in other applications.
[0011] Auxiliary components of the tie down stake include a rod
removal tool (FIGS. 3 and 4). The rod removal tool in the preferred
embodiment, a rod head nest 5 will cradle a standard hex head with
an inside diameter slightly larger than the rods hex head 9 that
has a handle 6 attached to engage the head means of the rod. This
can be a "T" configuration (FIGS. 3 and 4) or other means to
achieve operator comfort. The extraction tool is usually made of
steel, but can employ any material that meets the requirements of
removing the rod 2 from the ground.
DESCRIPTION
[0012] The present invention relates to a tie down stake, more
particularly, to a tie down stake that serves a need to secure all
types of equipment into the ground at an "angle" as opposed to
"straight up". Said tie down stake takes advantage of both
"rotational force" as well as "sheer force". The design allows for
each rod to be far enough away from each other to take advantage of
virgin soil. This furthers the effectively of the device.
[0013] Although this tie down stake was designed particularly for
securing portable shelters to the ground, the inventor envisions
many other uses for it wherever a secure ground anchor is needed to
hold equipment at an angle as opposed to force requirements
straight up as with most other ground stakes. Some of the uses
envisioned are as a tent stake, as a tether stake for
pets/livestock or antenna guy wires, as an anchor for temporary
structures or mobile homes, as grips for outdoor stage equipment,
as land anchor for boats and land vehicles or as a winching anchor
for off road vehicles equipped with winches.
Operation of Tie Down Stake
[0014] INSERTION--The tie down stake is deployed by placing the hub
and arms horizontal to the ground in the desired location; then the
rods are inserted through the angled holes at the end of the arms
and pushed into the ground or pounded in with a blunt object such
as a hammer. The rods need not be driven all the way in to provide
a secure hold. Once the tie down stake is secured to the ground,
one end of a rope, cable, chain or other attachment device may be
attached to the eyelet.
[0015] REMOVAL--To remove the tie down stake from the ground the
rod removal tool is slipped over the end of the rods one at a time;
the head means is engaged by the slots in the tool; then the rods
are removed from the ground with a twisting and pulling action by
the operator. Once the rods are out of the ground, they can easily
be cleaned and stowed in a heavy duty canvas tote bag or other
storage means for later use.
[0016] While there is shown and described a present preferred
embodiment of the invention, it is to be distinctly understood that
the invention is not limited thereto, but may be otherwise
variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following
claims.
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