Abstract:
A tie down stake for anchoring small aircraft or other objects to the ground in any soil conditions and which consists of a central hub with an eyelet and arms which extend away from 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 inward 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 extraction tool.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application is related to application Ser. No. 09/734,604, filed Sep. 20, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,795. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    One or more aspects of the present invention relate generally to tie-down stakes and more specifically to tie-down stakes used to secure stored aircraft.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Small aircraft, when they are not in use and stored on the ground, should be securely tied down to prevent their being moved or damaged in a high wind. Sometimes commercial airports provide permanent tie down which are secured to the ground. More frequently, though, an aircraft owner must provide his own tie down device. This is especially true when landing an aircraft at a remote landing field far from an airport.  
           [0004]    The most common type of portable tie down anchor used by most small craft pilots is an auger-type stake that screws into the ground. 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. 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 auger-type tie down stakes is that they tend to pick up large amounts of dirt when they are removed from the ground, and their complicated geometry makes them difficult to clean.  
           [0005]    Therefore, what is needed is a tie-down stake that is simple to deploy and provides superior tie-down performance.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    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 in any kind of soil conditions. 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 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 inward. Thus joined by the 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 soil.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of the tie down stake in the deployed position.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the tie down stake in the deployed position.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 3 illustrates the rod extraction tool assembly being used to remove the tie down stake from the ground.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 4 illustrates how the extraction tool opens to release the rod head.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 5 illustrates how the extraction tool closes to engage the rod head. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0012]    The present invention relates to a tie down stake  100 , more particularly, to a tie down stake  100  that serves as a secure earth anchor for tying down small aircraft.  
         [0013]    Although this tie down stake  100  was designed particularly for securing small aircraft to the ground, the inventor envisions many other uses for it wherever a secure ground anchor is needed. Some of the uses envisioned are as a tent stake, as a tether stake for pets or livestock, as an anchor for temporary structures or mobile homes, as a land anchor for boats and land vehicles or as a winching anchor for off road vehicles equipped with winches, and other similar uses.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of the tie down stake in the deployed position. Major components of the tie down stake  100  include a central hub  6 , with securing ring  7 , a plurality of arms  8 , connected to hub  6 , and a plurality of anchoring rods  10 , connected to arms  8 . In the preferred embodiment, a tie down stake includes three anchoring rods  10 , though it will easily be seen that a plurality of anchoring rods  10  may be used to advantage without departing from the spirit of the invention.  
         [0015]    The hub  6 , should be made of a strong lightweight material. Acceptable materials for a hub include polymers such as acetyl, nylon, polycarbonate or metals such as aluminum. In the preferred embodiment the hub  6  generally has extensions from the center to connect the arms  8 , and is triangular in shape. But it may be made in any shape convenient to the use and manufacture of the tie down stake  100 .  
         [0016]    Hub  6 , has an eyelet  7 , extending from the body of the hub  6 , for attachment of a rope, cable, chain or other attachment device. An eyelet  7  may be selected from a plurality of different attachment devices such as an eyebolt, as illustrated in FIG. 1, or it may be formed integrally with the body of hub  6 , extending from the top or side of a hub  6 .  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the tie down stake in the deployed position. Attached to a hub  6  are arms  8 . At the opposite ends of the arms  8  are three holes  9 , equal in number to the number of anchoring rods  10 , and slightly larger in diameter than anchoring rod  10  itself The holes  9 , at the end of each arm  8  are formed at an angle to direct the rods  10 , downward and inward in use. The tie down stake  100  assembly has been found to be most effective when the arm holes  9 , are formed along a line that is offset and inward to the vertical axis of the hub  6 , so that the anchoring rods  10  approximate a downward direction as is apparent from the side view in FIG. 1. The advantage of this arrangement is that the anchoring rods  10 , do not interfere with the eyelet  7 , or with one another when they are inserted our withdrawn.  
         [0018]    Anchoring rod  10 , is elongate in shape and may be formed as with a sharpened end  19  for penetrating the ground and blunt end  17  for receiving an external force from hammer or other object. Rod  10 , may be made of steel, stainless steel, titanium or any other material strong enough to withstand being-repeatedly driven into hard or rocky soil. Anchoring rod  10 , may be circular in cross section or made in any other cross section that is convenient for their manufacture. Proximate the blunt end  17 , a rod  10 , include a head means  11 , that allows a rod  10 , to be gripped for withdrawal by the rod removal tool assembly  15  illustrated in FIG. 3 described below The head means  11 , 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  11 , include a flattened head like a nail, an L-shaped bend, a T shape, a hook or a loop. Anchoring rod  10 , is configured to have a length adapted to provide secure holding force for the application intended. For example, anchoring rods  10  about twelve inches in length have been found to provide adequate holding force for tying down small aircraft, though rods of a few inches to a few feet may be used in other applications.  
         [0019]    As illustrated in FIG. 3, auxiliary components of a tie down stake  100  assembly include a rod extraction tool assembly  15 . A rod extraction tool assembly  15 , in the preferred embodiment, comprises a standard hex socket  16 , with an inside diameter slightly larger than a rod hex head  17 , that has a slide bar  18 , attached to it to engage the head means of a rod much like a bayonet connector for easy withdrawal of a rod  10 , from the ground. The operator is able to engage the extraction tool assembly  15 , using the T handle  19 .  
         [0020]    The extraction tool assembly  15  employs a slide bar  18  that is able to freely slide back and forth perpendicular to the socket  16 . The slide bar  18  has two positions. The release or open position, and the latched position. In the released position the slide bar  18 , is open and the rod  10  is able to drop out of the rod extraction tool assembly  15 , with ease. Conversely, in the latched position the slide bar  18 , slips under the rod head  17 , and prevents the rod head  17 , from dropping out of the socket  16 . Thus, an operator can remove the rod  10 , from the ground by using a pulling and twisting motion with their hand.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 illustrates how the extraction tool opens to release the rod head  17 . In the released position the rod head  17  has nothing to prevent it from disengaging from the socket  16 .  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 illustrates how the extraction tool slide bar  18  closes to engage the rod head  17 . In the closed or latched position the narrow slot in the slide bar  18  is moved under the rod head  17 . This position locks the rod head  17  into the socket  16  and is now prevented from dropping out of the socket  16 .  
         [0023]    Operation of the Tie Down Stake  
         [0024]    INSERTION—The tie down stake  100  is deployed by placing the hub  6  and arms  8  horizontal to the ground in the desired location; then the anchor rods  10  are inserted through the holes  9  at the end of the arms  8  and pushed into the ground or pounded in with a hammer or other object if required. The anchor rods  10  need not be driven all the way in to provide a secure hold. Once the tie down stake  100  is secured to the ground, one end of a rope, cable, chain, or other attachment device may be attached to the eyelet.  
         [0025]    REMOVAL—To remove the tie down stake  100  from the ground the rod removal tool is slipped over the end of the rod heads one at a time. The head means  11  is engaged by the slot in the extraction tool assembly  15 . Then the anchor rods  10  are removed from the ground with a twisting and pulling action by the operator. The parts of the tie down stake can easily be cleaned and stowed in a tote bag for later use.  
         [0026]    While the foregoing describes exemplary embodiment(s) in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention, other and further embodiment(s) in accordance with the one or more aspects of the present invention may be devised without departing from the scope thereof, which is determined by the claim(s) that follow and equivalents thereof. Claim(s) listing steps do not imply any order of the steps.