Abstract:
A waterfowl decoy transporting device  10  for use on solid, semi-liquid and liquid surfaces wherein the device includes a four sided slatted enclosure member  40  which is releasably connected to a generally thick rigid flotation member  30  provided with a removable wheel assembly unit  11  including a pair of tall, thin wheel members  20 . The flotation member  30  is operatively associated with a towing bar member  50  for towing the decoy transporting device  10  over a variety of surfaces.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of wheeled transport devices in general, and in particular to a wheeled cart having flotation features that allow decoys to be floated out to a water blind. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,313,817; 5,492,346; 5,611,561; 5,660,296; and 5,660,403, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse wheeled cart constructions for transporting miscellaneous items. 
     While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practical device that can be used to transport waterfowl decoys to and from a place of use. 
     As most waterfowl hunters are all too well aware, the most labor intensive aspect of their pursuit is the hauling of a sufficient number of waterfowl decoys to and from a blind site to potentially insure a successful day of hunting. 
     Unfortunately, one of the practical realities of waterfowl hunting revolves around the fact that the larger the number of decoys employed, the greater the probability that the birds will come into the decoy set up. 
     As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need among water fowlers for a new and improved type of waterfowl decoy transporting device that is equally effective in traversing corn stalk stubble, marsh grasses, mud flats, and expanses of water, and the provision of such a construction is a stated objective of the present invention. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Briefly stated, the decoy transporting device that forms the basis of the present invention comprises in general, a wheel assembly unit, a buoyancy unit, a collapsible enclosure unit and a towing bar unit. The wheel assembly unit, the collapsible enclosure unit, and the towing bar unit are all releasably associated with the buoyancy unit. 
     As will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification, the wheel assembly unit includes a pair of narrow gauge large diameter wheels that elevate the remainder of the transport device at a sufficient height that the bottom of the buoyancy unit will not encounter substantial resistance from vegetation, such as cut corn stalks, and marsh grasses and the slim wheel profile will also facilitate the transport of the device over most mud flats with minimal resistance. 
     In addition, since the wheel assembly unit is removably attached to the buoyancy unit, the wheel assembly can be quickly detached from the remainder of the device when very shallow bodies of water must be traversed to get to a blind site. 
     As will also be explained in greater detail further on in the specification, both the buoyancy unit and the collapsible enclosure unit are provided with self-draining features so that water will flow freely through the device as it is being towed across a body of water to substantially eliminate fluid drag on the device. The handle unit comes in a variety of configurations to accommodate both manual and mechanized transport of the device. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other attributes of the invention will become more clear upon a thorough study of the following description of the best mode for carrying out the invention, particularly when reviewed in conjunction with the drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of two of the decoy transport devices linked together in a train fashion; 
     FIG. 2 is an isolated perspective view of the buoyancy unit; 
     FIG. 3 is a cross section view taken through line  3 — 3  of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is an isolated detail view of one version of the towing bar unit; 
     FIG. 5 is an isolated perspective view of another version of the towing bar unit; 
     FIG. 6 is an isolated perspective view of yet another version of the towing bar unit; 
     FIG. 7 shows the towing bar in a towing configuration; and 
     FIG. 8 shows the towing bar in a support configuration. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As can be seen by reference to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, the decoy transporting device that forms the basis of the present invention is designated generally by the reference number  10 . The device  10  comprises in general, a wheel assembly unit  11 , a buoyancy unit  12 , a collapsible enclosure unit  13 , and a towing bar unit  14 . These units will now be described in seriatim fashion. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the wheel assembly unit  11  comprises a pair of narrow width enlarged diameter wheel members  20  which are each mounted on an axle element  21  which may be formed integrally with the respective wheel members  20  or in the alternative formed as part of the buoyancy unit  12  as will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification. 
     In addition, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the wheel members  20  will have a minimum outside diameter of fifteen inches and a maximum width of two inches wherein the ideal diameter will be twenty inches and the ideal width will be approximately one and one quarter inch so that the wheel members will have a very slim profile to reduce drag created by the passage of the wheel members  20  through vegetation and over soft soil as would be encountered on mud flats or the like. 
     Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3, it can be seen that the buoyancy unit  12  comprises a generally thick and rigid rectangular flotation member  30  fabricated from buoyant material  31  such as closed cell foam or the like. The upper surface of the flotation member  30  is provided with a plurality of stake receiving recesses  32  and one or more drainage apertures  33 . 
     In addition, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, both the front and rear portions of the flotation member  30  are provided with generally U-shaped tow bar clamps  34  which are adapted to be engaged by a variety of towing handle units  14  as will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification. 
     As can be seen by reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, in both versions of the preferred embodiment of the buoyancy unit  12 , the opposite sides of the flotation member  30  are provided with downwardly depending axle support segments  35 . In one version of the preferred embodiment, the axle element  21  is formed integrally with and projects outwardly from each of the axle support segments  35 . In the other version of the preferred embodiment, each axle support segment  35  is provided with a lateral aperture  36  dimensioned to receive the axle element  21  which is captively engaged relative to the axle support segment by a conventional locking pin  26  or the like. 
     Returning once more to FIG. 1, it can be seen that the collapsible enclosure unit  13  comprises a slatted enclosure member  40  which includes four slatted panels  41 ,  42 ,  43 ,  44  wherein the bottom portion of each of the panels is provided with a pair of pegs  45  which are dimensioned to be received in the recesses  32  formed in the top surface in the flotation member  30 . 
     In addition, when not in use, each of the four slatted panels  41 ,  42 ,  43 ,  44  can be removed form the flotation member  30  and stacked thereon with the removable wheel members  20  resting on top of the slatted panels  41 ,  42 ,  43 ,  44  to produce a very compact storage profile. 
     Furthermore, the upper portion of at least some of the slatted panels  42 ,  44  are provided with fastening elements  46  which are adapted to releasably engage a camouflage netting element  47  which will cover the top of the enclosure member  40  to retain decoys within the enclosure member  40 . The openings  48  between the slats allows water to flow through the enclosure member  40  to reduce fluid drag when the device  10  is being towed across roiled bodies of water. 
     Turning now to FIGS. 4 through 6, it can be seen that the towing bar unit  14  comes in a variety of different configurations which include a straight towing bar member  50  which is used to trail one transport device  10  behind another transport device  10 ; a generally S-shaped towing bar member  51  having a vertical hitch post  52  for towing the transport device  10  with an ATV; and a generally L-shaped manual towing bar member  53  having a generally T-shaped handle element  54  formed on the outboard end thereof. 
     In addition, as can be seen by reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, the generally L-shaped manual towing bar member  53  and T-shaped handle element  54  can be disposed in the towing configuration depicted in FIG. 7 or rotated 180° as shown in FIG. 8 to form a three point support configuration for the combined buoyancy unit  12  and collapsible enclosure unit  13 . 
     Although only an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims. 
     Having thereby described the subject matter of the present invention, it should be apparent that many substitutions, modifications, and variations of the invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that the invention as taught and described herein is only to be limited to the extent of the breadth and scope of the appended claims.