Patent ID: 7374388
Filing Date: 2008-05-20
Classification: B60P,B66C

Abstract:
1. A foldable game hoist for attachment to a trailer hitch of a vehicle, the game hoist comprising: a tubular attachment bar having an inner end and an outer end, the inner end being sized to be received within a mating opening provided in a trailer hitch of the vehicle so that the attachment bar forms a generally horizontal plane with respect to the opening; a two part, tubular boom having an upper boom section and a lower boom section and an upper end and having an oppositely arranged lower end which is fixedly connected to the outer end of the attachment bar, the two part boom forming an included angle with respect to the horizontal plane of the attachment bar which angle is determined to provide an adequate opening space for a tailgate of the vehicle in use and with the boom in place on the trailer hitch; a centrally located swivel bracket assembly which pivotally connects the two parts of the boom and which allows the boom to be positionable between an extended position for supporting game and a collapsed position for transport, the swivel bracket assembly including a pair of oppositely arranged device plates on either of two opposing sides of the upper boom section, the device plates each having a lower aligned slot, the assembly further including a first side plate carrying an upper retaining pin which is received within an opening provided in the upper boom section and which passes through an aligned opening in one of the device plates and having a lower retaining pin which engages the lower aligned slots of the device plates when the boom sections are in the extended position, the assembly further including a mating side plate attached to the upper boom section, the mating plate having an opening for receiving a sliding retainer pin which passes through an opening in the opposite device plate, whereby the upper and lower boom sections can be locked in the extended position; a support arm which is fixed to and which extends outwardly from the upper end of the boom section in a plane generally parallel to the plane of the attachment bar; a tubular stabilizer fixture having a joining end which removably connects the stabilizer fixture to the support arm and having a depending horizontal stabilizer bar; a winch attached to the boom section, the winch having a cable extending through at least one pulley on the support arm; wherein an outer extent of the cable is attached to a spreader bar for supporting a game animal in order to raise and lower the animal from the ground to facilitate dressing the animal; wherein the stabilizer bar on the stabilizer fixture has a C-shaped receiving channel for receiving at least a portion of the spreader bar once a game animal is hung from the spreader bar and the winch has been used to hoist the animal from the ground, engagement between the stabilizer bar channel and the spreader bar serving to prevent the game animal from twisting in the air; and wherein the tubular attachment bar and the support arm both form oppositely arranged included angles which are supplementary, whereby the hoist is foldable upon itself in a pivoting action to form an L-shaped profile by freeing the swivel bracket assembly which connects the two parts of the boom and moving the boom sections to the collapsed position, the tubular attachment bar and the support arm contacting and resting upon one another in the collapsed position.