Portable target assembly

An upright open frame formed by an inverted U-shape member having rigidly interconnected legs entering the earth to support the frame in an upright position. A target anchor bar having sufficient mass to normally hold a target taut within the frame is slidably supported by the legs. Fastener members connected with the bight of the U-shaped frame and the anchor bar are connected with respective end portions of a target to be supported within the frame.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to target practice and more particularly to an 
improved target support to be used preferably by shooters in practicing 
small caliber target practice. 
1. Field of the Invention 
Small caliber targets are usually formed from sheet material, for example, 
a sheet of paper or cardboard which may vary in size and is usually 
rectangular in overall configuration. 
Paper targets, usually rectangular, need to be supported, particularly at 
their top and bottom end portions, to maintain them in a generally 
vertical plane to prevent wind currents moving the targets. Further, when 
changing targets during target practice, it is desirable that the old 
target be easily removed and the new one installed without manually 
changing clamps and making other adjustments for the fresh target in the 
event the targets are not of the same size. This invention provides a 
target holder which will accommodate substantially any size target 
presently in use. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,601,353 issued Aug. 24, 1971 to Dale for Adjustable Target 
Holder discloses a target holder having a crossbar connecting pair of legs 
which may be inserted into the ground for support. One of the legs is 
extended upwardly and supports a lateral bar parallel with the crossbar of 
the legs, and receives clips which support a target in the vertical 
spacing between the lateral bar and crossbar. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,318 issued Jun. 14, 1977 to Boss for Portable, 
Adjustable Target Stand, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,593 issued Feb. 23, 1988 
to Wade for Portable Target Assembly are believed good examples of the 
further state-of-the-art. 
The Boss patent discloses a base formed by inverted U-shaped pivotally 
connected scissor legs which support an upright U-shaped target holder 
pivoted to the base and maintained in a generally upright position by an 
elongated brace rod adjustable connected with the other of the scissor 
connected base legs. Cross rods between the upright target holder are 
frictionally engaged with a respective leg of the target holder which must 
be vertically adjusted to the vertical length of the target to engage 
clips therewith supported by the cross rods. 
The Wade patent discloses upright laterally spaced-apart posts on a rigid 
base which supports a sheet target therebetween. A cross rod between the 
posts supports a swinging target in depending relation. This target 
holder, like many others, requires adjustment of the components when 
replacing targets, but has the added feature that it may be completely 
disassembled and stored in the base. 
This invention is believed distinctive over the above named and other 
patents by providing a rigid target holder having legs easily entering the 
surface of the earth for supporting the target holder in an upright one 
piece manner, with the exception of a horizontal crossbar, gravity moved 
downward by its sleeve ends surrounding the upright legs. 
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An upright open frame formed by an inverted U-shaped member having legs 
rigidly interconnected by a brace bar adjacent their ends opposite the 
bight portion which limit movement of the legs into the surface of the 
earth. A vertically moveable target anchor bar is provided with sleeves at 
its respective ends which slidably surround the U-shaped frame legs. A 
plurality (4) of snap fasteners and tabs are respectively secured to 
tubes, loosely surrounding the gravity actuated anchor bar and bight 
portion of the frame, and vertically support a target when disposed within 
the frame. 
The principal object of this invention is to provide a substantially 
unitary frame for tautly supporting targets of various sizes within the 
frame by simply attaching the respective target end portions to the upper 
and lower fasteners of the frame.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The reference numeral 10 indicates the target assembly as a whole formed by 
an open upright generally rectangular frame 12 supporting a target T 
within the boundaries of the frame by a plurality (4) fastener means 13. 
The frame 12 is principally formed from rigid rod-like material or piping 
and its inverted U-shape is defined by laterally spaced apart upright legs 
14 and 16 joined by a bight portion 18. The spacing between the legs 14 
and 16 is selected in accordance with the greatest width of a target T to 
be supported within the frame. A brace member 20 extends between and is 
rigidly connected with the legs 14 and 16 adjacent their end portions 
opposite the bight portion 18. 
In addition to being a brace, the member 20 also forms a means for forcing 
(as by foot force) the free ends of the legs 14 and 16 into the surface of 
the earth, indicated at 22, to maintain the frame 12 in an upright 
position. A target anchor bar 24 of selected mass extends transversely 
between the legs 14 and 16, and is provided at its respective ends with 
sleeves, such as a collar 26, which loosely surrounds the respective leg 
and permits the bar to be manually raised and gravity lowered to maintain 
the target T in the vertical plane of the frame as hereinafter explained. 
Downward movement of the anchor bar 24 is limited by a pair of stops 28 
formed with or secured to the perimeter of the legs in equal spaced 
relation with respect to the position of the brace 20. 
A pair of the fastener means 13 is mounted on the bight portion 18 and 
anchor bar 24 prior to assembling the frame 12. Each of the fastener means 
preferably comprises cooperating male and female snap fasteners 30 with 
one member of the snap fastener mounted on a tab 32, in turn secured, as 
by a screw, not shown, to a generally rectangular rigid support section 
such as a metallic plate 34. The other member of the snap fastener is 
mounted on a flap 36 for easily separating the snap fasteners in removing 
or securing a target. Each fastener mounting member 34 is secured, as by 
welding 40, to a tube 38, substantially equal in length with the width of 
the plate 34, and loosely surrounding the bight portion 18 and the anchor 
bar 24, respectively. The tubes 38 are easily moved manually in either 
direction along the length of the bight member 18 or anchor bar 24 for 
adjusting the spacing between the fastener means 13 for securing the 
target T. 
OPERATION 
In operation, assuming the frame 12 has been assembled with the fastening 
means 13 and supported by the end portion of the legs 14 and 16 
penetrating the earth 22. The target T is initially positioned within the 
opening of the frame 12 by separating the snap fasteners 30 at the 
uppermost pair of fastener means as viewed in the drawing, and positioning 
apertures in the target in position to rejoin the respective pair of snap 
fasteners in the upper pair of fasteners 13. The depending end of the 
target is similarly joined to the lower-most pair of the fastener means 
while manually supporting the anchor bar 24. Thereafter, the mass of the 
bar 24 is sufficient to hold the depending end portion of the target 
substantially within the plane of the frame 12 during target practice. 
Obviously the invention is susceptible to changes or alterations without 
defeating its practicability. Therefore, I do not wish to be confined to 
the preferred embodiment shown in the drawing and described herein.