Abstract:
This invention relates to the sport of rock climbing. It is a device which is used in aiding the placement and removal of safety equipment on a rock face which would normally be out of the reach for the average person. The same device also facilitates the secure attachment of a hand held brush at various angles which is used for the removal of debris on climbing holds such as dirt or gym chalk from other climbers. Device for installing and removing carabiners and for the attachment of a handheld brush

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
       [0001]     Rock climbing has, inherently, always been a dangerous activity. The proper use of safety equipment significantly reduces the chance of injury when scaling a rock face. Equipment such as a harness, rope and carabiners are commonly used by most climbers.  
         [0002]     In order for a climber to be protected from a fall, he or she must wear a harness which has a climbing rope tied to it. As the climber ascends up the rock-face, he places a carabiner into a “hanger” which has been bolted or glued into the rock at regular intervals. A hanger is typically a formed piece of metal with a hole in it which allows a carabiner to be clipped into it. The carabiner which is clipped into this hanger typically has a high strength fabric loop attached to it which is then attached to another carabiner. This fabric loop is typically known as a “sling”. The two carabiners in combination with the sling are typically known as a “quick draw”. Once the quick draw is securely installed into the hanger, the climber then places the attached rope into the lower carabiner of the quickdraw. The rope is also attached to a person on the ground who is also wearing a harness and a device which controls the amount and the rate at which the climber receives the rope. In the event of a fall, the person on the ground would stop the rope from feeding through their device, consequently preventing the climber from hitting the ground.  
         [0003]     Before a climber can truly be safe on a climb, he must have his quickdraw and attached rope placed into the first hanger of a climb before ascending. Therefore a device was needed to place that quickdraw into that first hanger and in some instances the ability to remove quick draws from a hanger. U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,248 to AmRhein describes a device which is capable of accomplishing these tasks. Although effective, this device is relatively inefficient, large and somewhat cumbersome with it&#39;s moving parts.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device and method which is able to install a quick draw into a hanger which is beyond the reach of the user.  
         [0005]     It is another object of the present invention to provide a device and method for removing an installed quickdraw from a hanger which is beyond the reach of the user.  
         [0006]     It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a device which securely holds a hand held brush at various angles for the removal of debris from climbing holds which are beyond the reach of the user. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0007]      FIG. 1  is a frontal perspective view of the present invention.  
         [0008]      FIG. 2  is rear perspective view of the present invention.  
         [0009]      FIG. 3A  is a frontal view of the present invention supporting a carabiner with it&#39;s opening oriented to the right.  
         [0010]      FIG. 3B  is a frontal view of the present invention supporting a carabiner with it&#39;s opening oriented to the left.  
         [0011]      FIG. 4A  is a cross sectional side view of the present invention holding a brush at a diagonal angle.  
         [0012]      FIG. 4B  is a cross sectional side view of the present invention holding a brush at a near vertical angle.  
         [0013]      FIG. 4C  is a cross sectional rear view of the present invention holding a brush at a horizontal angle.  
         [0014]      FIG. 5A  is a perspective side view of the present invention inserting a quick draw into a hanger.  
         [0015]      FIG. 5B  is a perspective side view of a quickdraw disengaging from the present invention once it is installed into a hanger.  
         [0016]      FIG. 6A  is of a frontal view of the first step of the present invention removing an installed quick draw.  
         [0017]      FIG. 6B  is of a frontal view of the second step of the present invention removing an installed quick draw.  
         [0018]      FIG. 6C  is of a frontal view of the third step of the present invention removing an installed quick draw.  
         [0019]      FIG. 7A  is a side view of the first step of the present invention removing an installed quick draw.  
         [0020]      FIG. 7B  is a side view of the second step of the present invention removing an installed quick draw.  
         [0021]      FIG. 7C  is a side view of the third step of the present invention removing an installed quick draw. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0022]     Referring to  FIG. 1 a  device  10  is shown. The device  10  is used to install a carabiner  26  into a hanger  34  as shown in  FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b  as well as remove an installed carabiner  26  which is out of reach for the user as shown in  FIGS. 6   a ,  6   b ,  6   c ,  7   a ,  7   b  and  7   c . The device  10  is also used to securely hold a handheld brush  30  at various angles for removing dust and debris from climbing holds as shown in  FIGS. 4   a ,  4   b  and  4   c.    
         [0023]     The present invention  10  is comprised of a main body section  20  with a substantially flat rectangular face. The main body section  20  is internally threaded which facilitates the coupling of an extension device  29  such as a broom handle or telescopic painters pole. The substantially flat rectangular face is comprised of a top protruding member  11 , a bottom protruding member  12  and a protruding bolt with an extra wide head  18  in between the top protruding member  11  and the bottom protruding member  12 . The top protruding member  11  has two shallow grooves  13  and  14  which are at opposing angles to one another as shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 . The bottom protruding member  12  has two shallow grooves  15  and  16  which are at opposing angles to one another as shown in  FIG. 1 . A conical sleeve  19  is securely placed onto the protruding bolt  18  as shown in  FIG. 1 . A hole  24  is drilled at an downward diagonal angle near the top rear of the main body section  20  until it creates another hole  25  on the substantially rectangular face as shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 . The passageway created, partially intersects with the threaded area of the main body section  20  as shown in  FIG. 4   a.    
         [0024]     A hole  23  is drilled at a near vertical downward angle near the top rear of the main body section  20  until it creates another hole  31  at the bottom rear of the main body section  20 . The passageway created, partially intersects with the threaded area of the main body section  20  as shown in  FIG. 4   b . The hole  23  also partially intersects with the adjacent hole  24 . A hole  21  is drilled at a horizontal angle on the side of the main body section  20  until it creates another hole  22  on the opposite side of the main body section  20 . The passageway created, partially intersects with the threaded area of the main body section  20  as shown in  FIG. 4   c . A hole  17  is drilled horizontally near the top of the main body section which facilitates the addition of a cord utility loop as shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 .  
         [0000]     Operation  
         [0025]     In order to install a carabiner  26  onto a hanger  34 , the device  10  must first be coupled to some form of extension device  29  such as a broom handle or telescopic painter&#39;s pole. A carabiner  26  must then be loaded into the device  10 . The spring-loaded gate  27  of the carabiner  26  is placed in between the top protruding member  11  and the protruding bolt  18 . The bottom of the carabiner  33  is placed in between the protruding bolt  18  and the bottom protruding member  12 . In this orientation, the spring-loaded gate  27  of the carabiner  26  is pressed into the groove  14  of the top protruding member  11 , while the bottom of the carabiner  33  is pressed into the groove  16  of the bottom protruding member  12  as shown in  FIG. 3   a . It is also possible to load the device  10  with a carabiner  26  facing the opposite direction. The spring-loaded gate  27  of the carabiner  26  is placed in between the top protruding member  11  and the protruding bolt  18 . The bottom of the carabiner  33  is placed in between the protruding bolt  18  and the lower protruding member  12 . In this orientation, the spring-loaded gate  27  of the carabiner  26  is pressed into the groove  13  of the top protruding member  11 , while the bottom of the carabiner  33  is pressed into the groove  15  of the bottom protruding member  12  as shown in  FIG. 3   b.    
         [0026]     The user would then raise the device  10  with a loaded carabiner  26  up to a hanger  34  and then place it within the hanger  34  as shown in  FIG. 5   a . The user would then pull the device  10  away from the hanger  34 . This action would cause the carabiner  26  to disengage from the device  10  while at the same time causing the spring loaded gate  27  of the carabiner  26  to close while on the hanger  34  as shown in  FIG. 5   b . It is also possible to install a carabiner  26  with its opening oriented in the opposite direction.  
         [0027]     In order to remove an installed carabiner  26 , the user must first align the conical sleeve  19  on the protruding bolt  18  along the inside of the spring-loaded gate  27 , just above it&#39;s pivot point  32  as shown in  FIG. 6   a  and  FIG. 7   a . The user must then lift the carabiner  26  at an upward angle using the protruding bolt  18 . The carabiner  26  is lifted until the spring-loaded gate  27  is parallel with the edge of the top protruding member  11  as shown in  FIG. 6   b . It is at this point that the spring-loaded gate  27  slides down the conical sleeve  19  and rests directly underneath the top protruding member  11  as shown in  FIG. 7   b . The user then pulls the device  10  down, thereby trapping the spring-loaded gate  27  underneath the top protruding member  11  and causing it to open while at the same time, the sling  28  is pushed aside as shown in  FIG. 6   c . When the bottom of the carabiner  33  rises above the edge of the bottom protruding member  12 , the carabiner  26  straightens itself into a vertical orientation directly above the bottom protruding member  12  as shown in  FIG. 7   c . The user then releases the downward tension exerted on the carabiner  26 . The spring mechanism within the gate  27  presses the bottom of the carabiner  33  into the groove  16  of the bottom protruding member  12  while at the same time it is pressing the gate  27  into the groove  14  of the top protruding member  11  as shown in  FIG. 3   a . With the carabiner  26  supported and the spring-loaded gate  27  held open, the user can now remove the carabiner  26  from the hanger  34 . It should be noted that the device  10  can remove an installed carabiner  26  facing the opposite direction as well.  
         [0028]     In order to securely attach a handheld brush  30  at a diagonal angle to the device  10 , the user must first insert the handheld brush  30  into the hole  24  with the end of the handheld brush  30  protruding from the hole  25  located on the rectangular face. The user then threads the extension device  29  into the device  10  until it binds the handheld brush  30  against the top corner of the threaded section of the device  10  as shown in  FIG. 4   a .  
         [0029]     In order to securely attach a handheld brush  30  at a near vertical angle to the device  10 , the user must first insert the handheld brush  30  into the hole  23  with the end of the handheld brush  30  protruding from the hole  31  located at the bottom rear of the device  10 . The user then threads the extension device  29  into the device  10  until it binds the handheld brush  30  against the inner wall of the device  10  as shown in  FIG. 4   b.    
         [0030]     In order to securely attach a handheld brush  30  at a horizontal angle to the device  10 , the user must first insert the handheld brush  30  into the hole  22  with the end of the handheld brush  30  protruding from the hole  21  located on the opposite side of the device  10 . The user then threads the extension device  29  into the device  10  until it binds the handheld brush  30  against the top of the threaded section of the device  10  as shown in  FIG. 4   c . The invention is not limited by the embodiments descried above which are presented as examples only but can be modified in various ways within the scope of protection defined by the appended patent claims.