US3493080A - Portable tree seat - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 3, 1970 c, EHLERT ET AL 3,493,030

PORTABLE TREE SEAT Filed March 20, 1968 (I I .l .l I I I. I I II 1 I I I I lll I R summ MEM Mmw Em LC YY MR mm H United States Patent US. Cl. 182187 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE As one example of the invention disclosed herein, easily-transportable seating apparatus is provided with an outstanding horizontal plate having its forward edge adapted for engagement against one side of an upright tree or wooden post. A relatively-unstretchable cable or chain of sufficient length to encircle average-sized trees or posts is releasably secured to the rigid plate and at some distance to the rear of its forward edge. In this manner, by snugly encircling a wooden support with the chain while the seating apparatus is temporarily tilted upwardly, downward pivotal movement of the seating apparatus in relation to the wooden support will be effective to further tighten the flexible member so as to drive the forward edge of the plate against the support for reliably securing the seating apparatus in a generally horizontal position thereon.

It is fairly common for hunters to construct permanent platforms or so-called stands in trees and the like as convenient places for hiding within shooting range of areas believed to be frequented by game animals. As will be appreciated, the construction of such platforms is best done well before the hunting season to avoid frightening away wild game. On the other hand, where such prior construction is not feasible, many hunters resort to light-weight seats adapted to be temporarily secured in a selected tree. Although many seats of this nature have been proposed heretofore, no seat has yet been devised that can be quickly but reliably secured to even inclined trees as well as being of a convenient size and weight for easy transportation.

Accordingly, it is an Object of the present invention to provide light-weight, portable seating apparatus that can be quickly, but still unfailingly, secured to trees and other wooden upright supports irrespective of either their size or the inclination of those that might reasonably be selected.

This and other Objects of the present invention are attained by providing seating apparatus having an outstanding, generally horizontal, support-engaging member with a bifurcated forward end that is spatially disposed above a second outstanding support-engaging member. A flexible, but relatively unstretchable, support-encircling member is adapted for connection to the upper support-engaging member and at a distance to the rear of its bifurcated forward end. In this manner, once the seating apparatus is elevated to a desired position on the trunk of a tree, for example, the rear of the apparatus is tilted in relation to the tree so as to incline the upper supportengaging member downwardly with its bifurcated forward end engaged with one side of the tree. Then, after the intermediate portion of the flexible member has been looped fairly tightly around the tree and its end portions secured, the rear of the seating apparatus is lowered to bring the upper support-engaging member into a generally horizontal position and, in so doing, further tighten the'fiexible member so that it will cooperate with the forward ends of the support-engaging members to positively secure the seating apparatus to the tree. By pivotally mounting the seat and including a footrest on the lower support-engaging member, a hunter will be given added freedom of movement while safely seated thereon.

The novel features of the present invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation together with further objects-and advantages thereof, may best be understood by way of illustration and example of a certain embodiment as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of apreferred embodiment of seating apparatus incorporating the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE l; and

FIGURE 3 illustrates a portion of the apparatus as it is being secured in position on an upright wooden support.

Turning now to FIGURES 1 and 2, seating apparatus 10 arranged in accordance with the present invention is shown. In its preferred form, the seating apparatus 10 includes a centrally-located post or upright 11 carrying a seat 12 and outwardlyextending upper and lower rigid members 13 and 14 having their respective forward ends in generally vertical alignment with one another and adapted for cooperative engagement with one side of a tree, as at 15, or other wooden upright support. To minimize the overall weight of the seating apparatus 10, the intermediate portion of the upper support-engaging member 13 is formed from rigid light-weight members, such as a pair of paralleled rods or tubes 16, carrying on their outer ends a fiat rigid plate 17 of steel or such with a widely-diverging notch 18 in its forward edge. To further insure the rigidity of the upper support-engaging member 13, one or more depending braces '19 are extended to the lower support-engaging member 14 therebelow. In any event, it is essential to the present invention only that the upper and lower support-engaging members 13 and 14 be rigidly interconnected to one another as well as to the remainder of the seating apparatus 10.

The terminal portions of a generally unstretchable, but fairly flexible, member such as a cable or a chain 20 are adapted for connection to the support-engaging plate 17 and, for reasons that will subsequently become apparent, at a significant distance to the rear of the notch 18 therein. Although the chain 20 can be secured to a single point midway in the plate 17, greater stability against sidewise tipping is obtained by connecting the ends of the chain on opposite sides of the plate. Both ends of the chain can, of course, be releasably connected to the plate 17; but, to prevent loss of the chain, it is best permanently connected at one end, as by an eyebolt or fixed ring 21, along one side of the plate and releasably secured at its other end to an open ring 22 on the opposite side of the plate. In this manner, after the chain 20 is encircled around the tree 15, its effective length can be conveniently adjusted by hooking the best-suited link over the open ring 22.

In its preferred form, the lower support-engaging member 14 is arranged to be selectively adjustable over a limited range. To accomplish this, an elongated screw 23 is threadingly coupled to the lower member 14 and adapted for horizontal translation between an extended and a retracted position. In this manner, the forward end of the screw 23- can be selectively positioned to so engage even an inclined support that the seat 12 will be generally horizontal. For purposes of further safety, a generally horizontal, and preferably circular, footrest 24 is arranged at a convenient elevation below the seat 12 and dependently supported from the central post 11 by a plurality of struts 25.

Turning now to FIGURE 3, a partial view is shown of the support-engaging plate 17 and the chain 20 to illustrate the initial and final positions of these members as the seating apparatus is being secured to the tree 15. As shown in the phantom-lined portion of the figure, the seating apparatus 10 is initially tilted upwardly in relation to the tree with the notch 18 in the plate 17 against a selected side of the tree. Then, as shown by the arrow 26, once the chain has snugly encircled the tree 15 and its free end is safely hooked into the open ring 22, the rear of the seating apparatus 10 is moved downwardly. It will be appreciated, therefore, that the downward movement of the seating apparatus 10 will be effective to further tighten the chain 20 as the rings 21 and '22 move in a generally arcuate path further away from the face of the tree trunk 15. In this manner, movement of the seating apparatus 10 into the full-lined position will insure that the chain 20 and support-engaging members 13 and 14 cooperate to so tightly secure the seating apparatus in the tree 15 that the seating apparatus cannot be loosened or even shift under any reasonably anticipated load while in use.

It will be understood, of course, that the spacing of the rings 21 and 22 from the forward edge of the supportengaging plate 17 determines how tightly the chain 20 will be drawn as the seating apparatus 10 is moved into its seating position. The most-effective toggling action provided by the cooperative relation of the connecting rings 21 and 22 to the forward edge of the plate 17 is, of course, realized where the center of the chain 20 on the backside of the tree 15 is just below or about on the plane defined by the support-engaging plate in its final position. In this manner, when the seating apparatus 10 is moved downwardly, the chain 20 will be tightened; and then, when the plate 17 is horizontal, the chain will be pulling along a plane lying slightly below the points where the forward edge of the plate 17 contacts the tree 15. Thus, the chain 20 will still be in its further-tightened state and will now oppose upward movement of the rear of the seating apparatus 10. This will, of course, positively immobilize the seating apparatus 10 to provide complete stability of the apparatus. Moreover, the added weight of a hunter on the seat 12 will tend only to further tighten the chain 20. It will be appreciated, therefore, that the lower support-engaging member 14 and the lateral screw 23 prevent the seating apparatus 10 from moving so far downwardly that the rings 21 and 22 are again so close to the tree 15 as to loosen the chain 20.

In practice, it has been found that the chain 20 as well as the notched edge of the support-engaging plate 17 will tend to be embedded into the bark of the tree 15. If this is not accomplished, it is, of course, quite simple to restore the seating apparatus 10 to its initial inclined position and slip another link of the chain 20 over the open ring 22 as required to have the seat 12 fairly horizontal when the chain is fully tightened. The lateral screw 23 is, however, useful for insuring that the seat 12 comes to rest in a horizontal position even where the tree 15 is inclined from the vertical.

Once the chain 20 and adjusting screw 23 have been appropriately arranged, it will be recognized that by virtue of the notch 18, the support-engaging plate 17 will be contacting the tree 15 at at least two horizontallyspaced points along the forward edge of the plate. Simultaneously, the single point of contact made by the forward end of the adjusting screw 23 suflices to prevent the seat 12 from tipping further downwardly. Thus, with the contact of the plate 17 preventing sidewise tilting of the seating apparatus 10 as well, cooperative action of the chain 20 and plate will be pulling these three points of the contact against the tree 15 to securely fix the seating apparatus to the tree.

Since the seat 12 is preferably pivotally mounted on the central post 11, a hunter seated thereon can easily traverse his body about the pivotal mount. Moreover, in view of the footrest 24, safe support is given to the feet of the hunter so that he will feel secure in his perch and be able to devote his full attention to his hunting activities.

While a particular embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it is apparent that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects; and, therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Seating apparatus adapted for mounting on an upright wooden support and comprising: upper and lower rigid members respectively extending along vertically aligned and spaced upper and lower lateral axes; bracing means rigidly interconnecting said upper and lower rigid members to one another; upper support-engaging means on the forward end of said upper rigid member and having a bifurcated forward edge defining a horizontal fulcrum surface transverse to said upper lateral axis adapted to engage a first surface along one side of such a support; lower support-engaging means on the forward end of said lower rigid member and adapted to engage a second surface along one side of such a support and below such a first surface thereof; a seat pivotally mounted on the rearward end of said upper rigid member; a footrest mounted around the rearward end of said lower rigid member and below said seat; and means for securely coupling said seating apparatus to such a support including a flexible and relatively unstretchable member adapted to extend around the opposite side of such a support and having end portions, first connecting means secured to an intermediate portion of said upper rigid member between said fulcrum surface and said seat and dividing said upper rigid member into rearward and forward portions, and second connecting means on said flexible-member end-portions adapted for coupling to said first connecting means when said seating apparatus is inclined downwardly with said fulcrum surface of said upper support-engaging means against such a first surface on one side of such a support and said flexible member is snugly extended around the opposite side thereof so that a downward force on said rearward portion of said upper rigid member will be effective to further tighten said flexible member as said seating appanatus is pivoted about said fulcrum surface to carry said first connecting means further away from such a support and bring said lower support-engaging member also into engagement with such a second surface thereon.

2. The seating appaartus of claim 1 wherein said flexible member includes a plurality of interconnected chain links providing said second connecting means, and said first connecting means are first and second hooks secured to said upper rigid member on opposite sides of said upper lateral axis and respectively adapted for coupling to selected ones of said chain links.

3. The seating apparatus of claim 1 wherein said lower support-engaging means include: an adjusting screw threadingly coupled to said lower rigid member and adapted for translation along a lateral axis to position said lower rigid member in relation to an upright wooden support and said upper rigid member as required to orient said seat in a desired position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,206,574 11/1916 Miller 182-187 1,993,320 3/1935 Dozier 182-187 2,074,586 3/1937 Heinrich 182-187 3,065,821 11/1962 Hundley 182187 3,358,789 12/1967 Laun 182187 3,368,725 2/1968 Martin 182-187 3,392,802 7/1968 Moore 182-187 3,396,818 8/1968 Moragne 182187 REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner

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