Folding Target Stand

Folding Target Stand 10 consists of a rectangular base having a middle cross member to which a vertical stand assembly is bolted in place. The stand assembly is composed of two sections of PVC pipes connected by a PVC cross piece on the lower part of the stand assembly via PVC tee connectors. The short PVC pipe sections on either side of the stand assembly are fitted internally with threaded rod assemblies which are used to secure the stand assembly to the base. Diagonal support pieces provide additional stability to the stand assembly. Slotted arms allow for a corrugated plastic target plate to be adjusted for height. The target plate and stand assembly can be folded down onto the base so that the target stand can be either transported or stored as one piece.

PRIOR ART

There are numerous examples of the prior art of securing a target to a stand, with or without a base of some kind, whether for use in archery, dart throwing, pistol shooting or riflery. Reference is made to the prior art listed in US20120313324 A1. However, the following U.S. patents appear to be the most relevant to the present invention: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,503,356; 5,967,523; 20090315265A1; 20110175294A1; 8,695,985B2; 20160298942A1, 11,561,072B1, 0631175A and 0271647A. Of the foreign patents, the following appear to be the most relevant: GB560067A; GB2079164A and KR101610221B1.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With increased urbanization it is becoming more difficult to find a suitable place to practice marksmanship with either a handgun or rifle in accordance with all applicable state, county and city laws. Many private indoor ranges offer a venue for pistol shooting, but preclude most rifles due to distance limitations or caliber restrictions. That leaves us with outdoor ranges owned or managed by private or government entities.

Although some venues offer target stands and bases as part of a range fee, these are often heavy and unwieldy and may require the use of iron stakes to secure the target base to the ground. Without a shooting partner, all of this equipment, together with a 4-pound hammer, need to be carried downrange solo for set up. Stress levels increase in direct proportion to the distance that the equipment needs to be carried for set-up, and brought back after the range session.

This is the fertile ground from which a desire for a portable, lightweight, durable, stable and height-adjustable target stand is born. The design of the target stand must also account for the varied wind and soil conditions found at the range.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses all of the desired features of a target stand by incorporating design features which will make this possible.

The folding target stand has a rectangular base that is composed of lightweight wood and is proportioned to provide a wide enough footprint to insure stability against moderate wind conditions without the use of stakes.

The rectangular base has a middle cross-member on which a stand assembly is bolted into place by means of threaded rod assemblies inserted into each of the short pipe sections of the stand assembly.

The threaded rod assemblies have exposed portion of the threaded rods and these are inserted into two drilled holes, one on either end of the rectangular base cross-member. Each drilled hole is protected by a metal sleeve to prevent wear of the wooden base. The threaded rods are secured in place with hex nuts.

The stability of the stand assembly is reinforced by two diagonal support pieces which connect on either sides of the stand assembly and to the pivot anchors located on the rectangular base. Although the stand assembly is very stable when bolted to the middle cross-member of the base, the diagonal support pieces provide additional stability.

Above the area where the diagonal supports connect to the target stand there are also slotted arms for which one end is bolted to the target stand and the other end having a steel rod is inserted into a corrugated plastic target plate. The corrugated plastic target plate can thus be adjusted up and down by loosening the bolts on the stand and moving the slotted arms to the desired height.

Loosening the bolts holding the slotted arms will enable the slotted arms and target plate to fold down onto the stand assembly, and the stand assembly itself can be lifted up and folded onto the base after removing the hexagonal nuts securing the stand assembly. Thus, the folded target stand can be transported as one piece with no disassembly of any of the parts except for the two hexagonal nuts, which can be screwed back onto the threaded rods after the range session.

After the initial set-up of the folding target stand downrange, the target stand can be moved to another location by loosening the bolts of the slotted arms using a nut driver and folding the arms and target plate down on the stand assembly. Velcro pieces on the back of the corrugated plastic target plate and on the cross piece of the stand can secure the target plate from movement. The base, near the middle cross-member, can be grasped with one hand, and the target stand can be carried to the new location, taking care that the target plate is not dragged on the ground.

The fully assembled target stand is light enough that the whole stand can be lifted up over the head by grasping the long sections of the base and carried to the new location. However, this is not recommended since one can lose one's balance on the range, and dropping the stand can result in bodily injury and damage to critical parts of the stand.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG.1shows a schematic perspective view of the folding target stand10having a rectangular base consisting of short segments12and14and long segments11and13. There is a middle cross-member18which is wider than the other segments, but of equal thickness.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the rectangular base segments are composed of 2×2-inch lightweight wood such as pine and the wider middle cross-member is a 2×4-inch piece of pinewood. However, this is not to preclude the use of other materials or to restrict dimensional aspects such as thickness, or to use material that is hollow or solid when constructing the rectangular base.

The short segments12and14are attached to the long segments11and13using wood screws of appropriate size. The middle cross member18is secured using corner braces and screws at the four intersections with the long segments11and13.

The rectangular base is about 25.5 inches wide and 39 inches long. Experience on the range suggests that these dimensions provide a wide enough footprint to insure stability against moderate wind conditions without the use of stakes to secure the base to the ground.

The middle cross-member18of the base has two drilled holes where hexagonal nuts22and27are located, as shown inFIG.1. Each drilled hole is protected by a metal sleeve201on one end and an identical metal sleeve on the other end of middle cross member18as shown inFIG.2andFIG.3to prevent wear.

All PVC pipe sections, couplings, tees and caps used in the present embodiment of this invention are Schedule 40 PVC pipes and fittings and ½-inch in size.

As shown inFIG.1, the stand assembly consists of PVC pipe26and PVC pipe31with each pipe fitted with tee connectors25and30respectively. The other end of PVC pipe26is connected to coupling piece51and the other end of PVC pipe31is connected to coupling piece49.

PVC pipe50is connected to coupling piece51on one end and to coupling pieces33and35on the other end. Similarly, PVC pipe48is connected to coupling piece49on one end and to coupling pieces46and47on the other end.

PVC cross piece28is inserted into the middle ports of the tee connectors25and30so that the cross piece is perpendicular to PVC pipes26and31. Short pipe23and short pipe29are inserted into each of the tee connectors so that the short pipes are in-line with the longer pipe sections.

All PVC pipe sections, tee connections, couplings and nipples are glued together with the exception of the caps which are friction-fitted on the nipples. However, in the event of damage caused by bullet strikes, it may not be possible to effect simple repairs depending on the location and extent of the damage.

An alternative method of securing the pipe sections onto the coupling pieces and tee connectors is to use ¼-inch bolts threaded into drilled and tapped holes at the appropriate locations of the joined pieces. The use of bolts will enable easy replacement of any pipe sections or fittings should they become damaged.

The use of threaded rod assemblies is a novel way to secure a vertical target stand to a horizontal base. Their manner of construction is described in the following narrative.

Referring toFIG.3, the threaded rod assembly consists of threaded rod204which is a ⅜-inch steel rod with 16 pitch threading and 9-inch length. Threaded rod204is inserted into brass sleeve205which is about 6 inches long.

Brass sleeve205is held in place by round nut206on one end of threaded rod204and a hexagonal nut22on the other end in such a way that there will be about 1 inch of exposed threading past round nut206and about 1.5 inches of exposed threading past hexagonal nut22.

Once the nuts have been adequately tightened against brass sleeve205, the threaded rod assembly is complete. It can then be inserted into short pipe23of the stand assembly.

The round nut206is large enough to hold brass sleeve205but small enough to be inserted into the short pipe23together with the brass sleeve205and threaded rod204. Since hexagonal nut22is larger than the inside diameter of the short pipe23, it will prevent further insertion into the pipe.

While keeping hexagonal nut22butted against the end of short pipe23, retaining hex bolt24, located on the lower part of tee connector25, is tightened to about 20 inch-pounds of torque which essentially crushes brass sleeve205against threaded rod204and thereby secures the threaded rod assembly firmly inside short pipe23.

The retaining hex bolt24is an 8 mm metric bolt with 1.25 pitch and 15 mm of thread length. It is threaded into place via a drilled hole with matching internal threads on the lower section of tee connector25as shown inFIG.3.

Since the internal threads for holding retaining hex bolt24is tapped into PVC material, a torque not exceeding 20 inch-pounds is recommended. Over-torquing may result in damage to the internal threads.

A threaded rod assembly identical to the one described above is inserted in short pipe29and secured in place with a retaining hex bolt503(seeFIG.7) located on the lower part of tee connection30and threaded in place via a drilled hole having matching internal threads. At this point, a complete stand assembly has been described.

The 1.5-inch lengths of the exposed threaded rods of the stand assembly are inserted into metal-sleeved drilled holes located on the middle cross-member18of the rectangular base. On one side of the stand assembly, hex nut22rests on top of metal sleeve201.

Threaded rod204is fitted with large washer202and hex nut203as shown inFIG.3, andFIG.4. Hexagonal nut203is then finger-tightened to secure that part of the stand assembly. The large drilled hole401as shown inFIG.3andFIG.4accommodates large washer202, hexagonal nut203and threaded rod204.

For that part of the stand assembly where a threaded rod assembly is housed in short pipe29, hex nut27rests on top of a metal sleeve, identical to metal sleeve201. Also, the threaded rod501(seeFIG.7) is fitted with a large washer and hex nut502that is finger-tightened to secure that part of the stand assembly. A large drilled hole identical to large drilled hole401houses the portion of the threaded rod that is fitted with a large washer and a hex nut.

The stand assembly is reinforced by two diagonal support pieces15and21which connect on either side of the stand assembly and specifically on the lower parts of PVC coupling pieces51and49. As shown inFIG.6, diagonal support piece15is loosely bolted onto PVC coupling piece51using an 8 mm×1.25×25 mm bolt32via a threaded drilled hole in coupling piece51. Diagonal support piece21is similarly connected to coupling piece49on the other side of the stand assembly using hex bolt506(seeFIG.7).

Diagonal support pieces15and21each have 6-inch slotted sections to allow hex bolts32and506to connect the diagonal support pieces to PVC coupling pieces51and49respectively. The slotted sections also allow each diagonal support piece some degree of leeway during folding and unfolding of the stand assembly.

Diagonal support pieces15and21are connected to pivot anchors17and20respectively. As shown inFIG.1, the pivot anchors17and20are located on the short segment14of the rectangular base and secured using wood screws of appropriate size.

Machine bolts16and19fitted with wing nuts loosely connect diagonal support pieces15and21to the pivot anchors17and20to allow for rotational movement of the diagonal support pieces during the folding and unfolding of the stand assembly.

Although the stand assembly is very stable when bolted to the middle cross-member18of the rectangular base, it is envisoned that the nuts securing the stand assembly be finger-tightened only to eliminate the need for additional tools for set up. The diagonal support pieces will provide additional stability.

Referring toFIG.1, above the area where the diagonal supports connect to the target stand, there are also slotted arms37and42. As shown inFIG.5, slotted arm37is about 15 inches long with rounded ends. The slot which measures 12 inches long, begins at about one inch from one end of slotted arm37and 2 inches short of reaching the opposite end.

The end having 2 inches of unslotted area has a drilled hole about 1.75 inches deep into which steel rod38is inserted and glued in place. The other exposed section of steel rod38is about 7 inches long. Slotted arm42is identical to slotted arm37and equipped with steel rod41.

As shown inFIG.6, slotted arm37connects to the stand assembly at the bottom portion of coupling piece35via the 8 mm×1.25 hex bolt504which has 25 mm of thread length. Hex bolt504is threaded into a drilled and appropriately tapped hole in coupling piece35.

Slotted arm42connects to coupling piece47of the stand assembly and is secured with hex bolt44which is threaded into an appropriately sized drilled and tapped hole located on the lower part of coupling piece47.

The steel rods38and41, of slotted arms37and42respectively, are inserted into corrugated plastic target plate40via the square channels which comprises the corrugated plastic plate and which runs down the length of the plate.

When the stand assembly is in its vertical position, loosening hex bolts44and504will allow slotted arms37and42to be moved up or down to adjust corrugated plastic target plate40to the desired height. At this point, folding target stand10has been described.

On a fully assembled target stand, the procedure for folding the target begins with loosening hex bolts44and504holding slotted arms37and42using a socket driver.

The arms and the corrugated plastic target plate40can then be rotated in the direction where the diagonal support pivot anchors17and20are located and allowed to contact PVC cross piece28of the stand assembly.

Velcro pieces on the back of corrugated plastic target plate40and on PVC cross piece28can immobilize the target plate.

The rectangular base can then be tilted up from one end of middle cross member18to gain access to hex nut203and its counterpart hex nut502on the other end of middle cross member18. The two nuts can be removed and set aside.

Again, from the direction of the diagonal support pivot anchors17and20, short pipes23and29of the stand assembly can be grasped using both hands and lifted up so that the threaded rods204and501clear the top of middle piece18of the base.

While still holding on to short pipes23and29, the stand assembly can then be slowly rotated in the direction of the of the diagonal support pivot anchors, and as the stand is slowly lowered, diagonal support pieces15and21can also be grasped to finally bring the stand assembly to its folded, resting position.

Velcro strips can be used to secure the stand assembly to the rectangular base. Threading nuts203and502back onto the threaded rods completes the folding process.