Abstract:
An Interlocking Climbing Chock  10  is disclosed having at least one pair of opposing sides with complementary interlocking projections and recesses. Two instances of this Interlocking Climbing Chock  10  may be interlocked to form a larger interlocked climbing chock. The flexibility, provided by the subject invention, to form various sizes of climbing chocks while on a climb in order to meet the needs of that particular climb, offers the climber advantages both in safety and economy.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This invention relates to climbing aids, and specifically to a climbing chock capable of being interlocked with another such climbing chock to form a larger climbing chock.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     A great variety of climbing chocks are known. Possibly the most basic form of climbing chock is a simple wedge which is used, in a variety of sizes, to provide a support point for a climber. Earlier wedge shaped climbing chocks had flat sides. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,607 to Vallance, an improved wedge shape chock is illustrated comprising opposing concave and convex surfaces.  
         [0003]     Another popular style of climbing chock is the hexagonal chock, an example of which can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,485 to Chouinard et al. This climbing chock features a number of flat sides with provisions for a sling to be passed through the center of the climbing chock.  
         [0004]     Other examples illustrating the various forms of climbing chocks include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,082,241 to Burkey, and 4,083,521 to Greiner, II.  
         [0005]     Each of the above mentioned climbing chocks has limitations relating to the size of a rock crack or crevice into which it may fit effectively. Other, more complex climbing chocks have been invented to expand the range of crack or crevice sizes into which a climbing chock may fit and also to increase the gripping force of these climbing chocks. These more complex chocks usually have many parts, including some form of spring and cam, and are much more expensive to manufacture than the simpler chocks with no moving parts. Examples of these complex climbing chocks include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,781,346 to Banner et al., and 4,834,327 to Byrne.  
         [0006]     Many climbers prefer the simpler forms of climbing chocks, containing no moving parts. Typically these climbing chocks are relatively inexpensive and highly effective. When using these chocks, a climber will often take a complete set of chocks ranging in size from the smallest chock capable of supporting the climber&#39;s weight to one that is as large as the largest anticipated crack on the climbing route. The smart climber often takes an additional chock or two for each of the most common crack sizes expected to be encountered. Unfortunately, despite a climber&#39;s best efforts in planning before the start of a climb, many climbers find themselves on a climbing route having already exhausted the supply of a particular size of chock needed for the safest chock placement at their current position and with an excessive number of chocks of unneeded sizes. Not only does this mean that the climber hauls excess weight, it compromises the safety of the climber.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The climbing chock of the invention is simple in form and has no moving parts. It is generally wedge shaped and has one or more pairs of opposing surfaces with complementary projections and recesses. As such, the climbing chock of the present invention can be interlocked with another climbing chock, of similar shape but not required to be of the same size, to form a third larger climbing chock composed of two interlocked climbing chocks.  
         [0008]     It is an object of the invention to provide a climbing chock which offers the climber greater safety by increasing the likelihood that the set of such chocks that a climber takes on a climb will be sufficient to safely meet the needs of the climb.  
         [0009]     Another object of the invention is to provide a climbing chock which allows a climber the opportunity to decrease the weight of gear which the climber must haul on a climb, without compromising the sufficiency of the gear to provide safety. This, in itself, increases the safety of the climb by minimizing the fatigue of the climber.  
         [0010]     Another object is to provide a less expensive means for a climber to purchase a complement of climbing chocks sufficient to meet his or her climbing needs. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]      FIGS. 1A through 1C  illustrate different views of one embodiment of the subject invention with a single flexible line extending from its front face.  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  illustrates a second embodiment, similar to the first embodiment, but attached to a flexible line in the form of a loop.  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  shows the second embodiment properly positioned in a crevice of a rock.  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  shows two instances of the second embodiment interlocked to form a larger climbing chock, and properly positioned in a crevice of a rock.  
         [0015]      FIGS. 5A and 5B  show top and bottom perspective views of a third embodiment, illustrating another design of interlocking projections and recesses.  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  shows two instances of the third embodiment interlocked to form a larger climbing chock.  
         [0017]      FIG. 7  shows two instances of the third embodiment, of different sizes, which can be interlocked with each other to form a larger climbing chock.  
         [0018]      FIGS. 8A and 8B  show top and bottom perspective views of a fourth embodiment, illustrating another design of interlocking projections and recesses, as well as showing a hollow passage through the device for weight reduction.  
         [0019]      FIG. 9  shows two instances of the fourth embodiment interlocked to form a larger climbing chock.  
         [0020]      FIGS. 10A and 10B  show top and bottom perspective views of a fifth embodiment, illustrating another design of interlocking projections and recesses.  
         [0021]      FIG. 11  shows two instances of the fifth embodiment interlocked to form a larger climbing chock.  
         [0022]      FIGS. 12A and 12B  show views of the fifth embodiment particularly illustrating two surfaces that come into contact to form a mechanical stop when the climbing chocks are interlocked.  
         [0023]      FIGS. 13A through 15B  show views of three embodiments, embodiments six through eight, similar to the fifth embodiment, but different either with respect to the locations of the projections and recesses or with respect to the locations of the surfaces that come into contact to form a mechanical stop.  
         [0024]      FIGS. 16A through 16C  illustrate top, bottom, and side perspective views of a ninth embodiment, demonstrating entirely flat surfaces and another design of interlocking projections and recesses in which the projections and recesses become narrower from front to back.  
         [0025]      FIGS. 17A through 17C  illustrate top, bottom, and side perspective views of a tenth embodiment, demonstrating hexagonal front and back faces, projections and recesses which become wider from front to back, the presence of two pairs of opposing surfaces with interlocking projections and recesses, and front and back faces that are not parallel.  
         [0026]      FIGS. 18A through 18C  illustrate three views of an eleventh embodiment demonstrating that the polygonal front and back faces do not have to be regular polygons, and that the polygonal front and back faces can each have an odd number of sides providing that two surfaces having recesses and projections are substantially opposing each other. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0027]     Referring now to  FIGS. 1A through 1C , an Interlocking Climbing Chock  10  of the invention is depicted of a shape generally following that posed by Vallance in U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,607. This InterlockingClimbing Chock  10  has a Front Face  12  directly across from a Back Face  14 . Both the Top Convex Surface  16  and Bottom Concave Surface  18  have multiple projections and recesses in a standard tongue and groove pattern. The recesses of the Bottom Concave Surface  18  are open at the Back Face  14 , but do not pass through the Front Face  12  thus providing a Mechanical Stop Surface  20 . A single Flexible Line  22  is attached to the body of the climbing chock and extends forward from the Front Face  12 . The end of the Flexible Line  22  has a Loop  24  to which a karabiner, not shown, may be attached.  
         [0028]     In use, the climbing chock of the invention can be used exactly as another chock, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,607 to Vallance, would be used. The climber simply positions the chock into a rock crevice such that the wedge shape of the chock serves to hold it in place, and clips the Loop  24  of the Flexible Line  22  to his/her climbing rope. In order to fit a larger rock crevice, the climber may interlock two instances of the climbing chock to form a larger interlocked climbing chock. For this Interlocking Climbing Chock  10 , in order to interlock two instances thereof, the climber positions the Front Face  12  of one instance behind the Back Face  14  of a second instance such that the projections and recesses of the Top Convex Surface  16  of the first instance line up with the complementary recesses and projections of the Bottom Concave Surface  18  of the second instance. The climber then moves the first instance forward inserting the projections of the Top Convex Surface  16  of the first instance into the recesses of the Bottom Concave Surface  18  of the second instance, until the end of the projections of the Top Convex Surface  16  of the first instance meet the Mechanical Stop Surface  20  of the second instance. After positioning the resulting interlocked climbing chock in a crevice, the climber must be careful to clip his/her rope into that instance which is held in place behind the Mechanical Stop Surface, in this case that being the first instance. Several examples of interlocked climbing chocks are shown in subsequent figures.  
         [0029]      FIG. 2  presents a Second Embodiment Climbing Chock  26  which is otherwise similar to the Interlocking Climbing Chock  10  of  FIG. 1 , excepting that a Looped Flexible Line  28  replaces the Flexible Line  22  of the Interlocking Climbing Chock  10 . Two Flexible Line Passages  30  exist within the body of the climbing chock providing passage of the Looped Flexible Line.  
         [0030]      FIG. 3  shows the Second Embodiment Climbing Chock  26  properly positioned in a crevice of a rock surface. The end of the Looped Flexible Line  28  is not shown.  
         [0031]      FIG. 4  shows two instances of the Second Embodiment Climbing Chock  26  interlocked to form a larger climbing chock, and properly place in a crevice of a rock surface. The Looped Flexible Line  28  into which the climber should clip his/her rope is the one to the left in this figure.  
         [0032]      FIGS. 5A and 5B  present a Third Embodiment Climbing Chock  32  containing one Third Embodiment Projection  34  on a Third Embodiment Convex Top Surface  36  and one Third Embodiment Recess  38  on a Third Embodiment Concave Bottom Surface  40 .  
         [0033]      FIG. 6  presents two instances of the Third Embodiment Climbing Chock  32  interlocked to form a larger climbing chock. Because of the taper of both the Third Embodiment Projection  34  and Third Embodiment Recess  38 , a mechanical stop, preventing further relative movement, is established when the side walls of the Third Embodiment Projection  34  meet the side walls of the Third Embodiment Recess  38 . The proper flexible line into which the climber should clip is the lower of the two in this figure.  
         [0034]      FIG. 7  presents two climbing chocks,  32 A and  32 B, of the third embodiment type. These two climbing chocks are of different sizes but can be interlocked to form a larger climbing chock.  
         [0035]      FIGS. 8A and 8B  present a Fourth Embodiment Climbing Chock  42  illustrating yet another example of interlocking projection and recess. This embodiment also has an Opening  44  which passes through the body of the device, for weight reduction.  
         [0036]      FIG. 9  shows two instances of the Fourth Embodiment Climbing Chock  42  interlocked to form a larger climbing chock, and properly place in a crevice of a rock surface. The flexible line into which the climber should clip his/her rope is the lower one in this figure.  
         [0037]      FIGS. 10A and 10B  show top and bottom perspective views of a Fifth Embodiment Climbing Chock  46 , illustrating another design of interlocking projections and recesses. The Fifth Embodiment Projections  48  and Fifth Embodiment Recesses  50  are both primarily cylindrical in shape.  
         [0038]      FIG. 11  shows two instances of the Fifth Embodiment Climbing Chock  46  interlocked to form a larger climbing chock, and properly place in a crevice of a rock surface. The flexible line into which the climber should clip his/her rope is the lower one in this figure.  
         [0039]      FIGS. 12A through 15B  show the Fifth Embodiment Climbing Chock  46  and three other embodiments demonstrating minor variations to the Fifth Embodiment Climbing Chock. For visual clarity, the flexible lines are not shown. Collectively the four embodiments shown in these figures demonstrate differences in the relative placement of the complementary recesses and projections as well as differences in the locations of surfaces which provide a mechanical stop, so as to prevent interlocked climbing chocks from slipping free from each other.  
         [0040]      FIGS. 12A and 12B  present two views of the Fifth Embodiment Climbing Chock  46 . The projections are along the top surface and the recesses are along the bottom surface. The two surfaces forming the mechanical stop are the Fifth Embodiment Forward Stop Surface  52  and the Fifth Embodiment Rear Stop Surface  54 . Two instances of this embodiment are interlocked by placing the Fifth Embodiment Front Face  56  of one instance behind the Fifth Embodiment Back Face  58  of a second instance, then moving the first instance forward such that its Fifth Embodiment Projections  48  are captured within the Fifth Embodiment Recesses  50  of the second instance until the Fifth Embodiment Rear Stop Surface  54  of the first instance contacts the Fifth Embodiment Forward Stop Surface  52  of the second instance.  
         [0041]      FIGS. 13A and 13B  present two views of a Sixth Embodiment Climbing Chock  60 . The Sixth Embodiment Projections  62  are along the top surface and the Sixth Embodiment Recesses  64  are along the bottom surface. The two surfaces forming the mechanical stop are the Sixth Embodiment Back Face  66  and the Sixth Embodiment Rear Stop Surface  68 . Two instances of this embodiment are interlocked by placing the Sixth Embodiment Front Face  70  of one instance behind the Sixth Embodiment Back Face  66  of a second instance, then moving the first instance forward such that its Sixth Embodiment Projections  62  are captured within the Sixth Embodiment Recesses  64  of the second instance until the Sixth Embodiment Rear Stop Surface  68  of the first instance contacts the Sixth Embodiment Back Face  66  of the second instance.  
         [0042]      FIGS. 14A and 14B  present two views of a Seventh Embodiment Climbing Chock  72 . The Seventh Embodiment Projections  74  are along the bottom surface and the Seventh Embodiment Recesses  76  are along the top surface. The two surfaces forming the mechanical stop are the Seventh Embodiment Forward Stop Surface  78  and the Seventh Embodiment Rear Stop Surface  80  located at the forward ends of the Seventh Embodiment Projections  74 . Two instances of this embodiment are interlocked by placing the Seventh Embodiment Front Face  82  of one instance behind the Seventh Embodiment Back Face  84  of a second instance, then moving the first instance forward such that its Seventh Embodiment Projections  74  are captured within the Seventh Embodiment Recesses  76  of the second instance until the Seventh Embodiment Rear Stop Surface  80  of the first instance contacts the Seventh Embodiment Forward Stop Surface  78  of the second instance.  
         [0043]      FIGS. 15A and 15B  present two views of an Eighth Embodiment Climbing Chock  86 . The Eighth Embodiment Projections  88  are along the bottom surface and the Eighth Embodiment Recesses  90  are along the top surface. The two surfaces forming the mechanical stop are the Eighth Embodiment Front Face  92  and the Eighth Embodiment Forward Stop Surface  94 . Two instances of this embodiment are interlocked by placing the Eighth Embodiment Front Face  92  of one instance behind the Eighth Embodiment Back Face  96  of a second instance, then moving the first instance forward such that its Eighth Embodiment Recesses  90  envelop the Eighth Embodiment Projections  88  of the second instance until the Eighth Embodiment Front Face  92  of the first instance contacts the Eighth Embodiment Forward Stop Surface  94  of the second instance.  
         [0044]      FIGS. 16A through 16C  present a Ninth Embodiment Climbing Chock  98  in which the Ninth Embodiment Projection  100  and Ninth Embodiment Recess  102  taper in the direction from Ninth Embodiment Front Face  104  to the Ninth Embodiment Back Face  106 . For visual clarity, the flexible line is not shown. All sides of this embodiment are flat. Just as was the case with the Third Embodiment Climbing Chock  32 , because of the taper of both the Ninth Embodiment Projection  100  and Ninth Embodiment Recess  102 , a mechanical stop, preventing further relative movement, is established when the side walls of the Ninth Embodiment Projection  100  meet the side walls of the Ninth Embodiment Recess  102 .  
         [0045]      FIGS. 17A through 17C  present a Tenth Embodiment Climbing Chock  108  with hexagonal front and back faces. For visual clarity, the flexible line is not shown. This embodiment has two pairs of opposing sides having complementary interlocking projections and recesses. The complementary recesses and projections all taper from back to front. This embodiment also illustrates that the front and back faces need not be parallel, the Tenth Embodiment Front Face  110  being in a plane which is not parallel to the plane of the Tenth Embodiment Back Face  112 .  
         [0046]      FIGS. 18A through 18C  present an Eleventh Embodiment Climbing Chock  114  demonstrating that the polygonal front and back faces are not required to be regular polygons. For visual clarity, the flexible line is not shown. This embodiment also demonstrates front and back faces of the subject invention need not have an even number of sides so long as two side surfaces, with complementary projections and recesses, are opposing each other. The Eleventh Embodiment Front Face  116  and Eleventh Embodiment Back Face  118  are both irregular pentagons.  
         [0047]     Although eleven embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, it will be appreciated that further variations and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.