Patent Publication Number: US-2010126803-A1

Title: Folding leg support assembly for a hunter&#39;s treestand

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present patent document claims the benefit of the filing date of earlier filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/149,198, filed on Feb. 2, 2009 and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/251,011, filed on Oct. 14, 2008, which is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/979,579, filed on Oct. 12, 2007, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to portable treestands used by hunters and more particularly to an improved leg support assembly that may be attached to treestands. 
     2. Background of the Related Art 
     Portable treestands for hunting have been used for many years. Such treestands are available in an extremely wide variety of types, providing a myriad of sizes, shapes, materials of construction, mounting mechanisms and other features. Generally speaking, treestands come in four main varieties: tripod stands, ladders stands, hang-on stands, and climbing treestands. Tripod stands do not require a tree in order to be erected. U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,283, issued to Prejean, is an example of a prior art tripod stand. Ladder stands incorporate a ladder with a platform attached to top end of the ladder. Ladder stands are leaned against a tree and secure with a straps and chains. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,630,314, issued to Bamburg, and 3,057,431, issued to George, are examples of prior art ladder stands. Hang-on stands are platforms that are strapped to the trunk a tree. Because hang-on stands do not include a ladder, the hunter must bring some other means to climb a tree to install the tree stand, such as tree spikes, for instance. U.S. Pat. No. 3,065,821, issued to Hundley, Jr., is an example of a hang-on tree stand. Lastly, climbing treestands are platforms configured to allow the hunter to install the treestand without the aid of a ladder by shimmying up the tree using the treestand itself as a climbing aid. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,460,649, issued to Baker, and 3,485,320, issued to Jones, are examples of prior art climbing treestands. 
     Because hunters may spend hours on end in a treestand, it is important that the hunter is comfortable. Many treestands include some sort of seat on the treestand platform. However, many portable treestands lack a seat or have a tiny seat in order to make them as lightweight as possible. Portable treestands that lack a seat are typically not intended to be sat on by a hunter. If the hunter sits on these platforms, however, the hunter&#39;s lower legs and feet dangle. If the hunter&#39;s lower legs and feet are allowed to dangle, however, the hunter&#39;s circulation to his feet becomes impaired because of the pressure exerted behind the knees of the hunter&#39;s legs by the mere weight of his lower legs and feet and boots restricts blood flow. This can result in the hunter&#39;s lower legs and feet “falling asleep” and becoming cold. Consequently, the hunter can become fatigued and risks succumbing to the effects of exposure. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide some structure to support the hunter&#39;s feet and prevent loss of circulation to the hunter&#39;s lower legs and feet, yet is lightweight for portable treestands. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The folding leg support assembly for a treestand described herein solves the problems of the prior art by providing an assembly to prevent fatigue and reduce restriction of blood circulation to the hunter&#39;s legs and feet, which enables the treestand platform to be comfortably used as a seat by the hunter. The folding leg support assembly also includes the added advantage of aiding the hunter to climb into the teestand by providing a handle and step (when the leg support is folded down) that the hunter can grab and step on as he ascends. The folding leg support includes a pair of mounting plates that permit the leg support to be coupled to a variety of platforms to permit the assembly to be attached to treestands that lack leg supports. 
     Specifically, the assembly includes a bracket adapted for mounting to a platform and a leg support connected to the bracket. The leg support is movable about the bracket between an open deployed position and a folded stowed position. The assembly may further include a mechanism to lock the leg support in it open and stowed positions, respectively. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the treestand will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where: 
         FIG. 1  shows a top view of an embodiment of the folding leg support of the present invention&#39; 
         FIG. 2  shows a top view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  coupled to an exemplary treestand platform; 
         FIG. 3  shows a left side view of an embodiment of the treestand platform of the present invention, it being understood the right side view is the mirror image thereof; 
         FIG. 4A  shows a top view of a left side support bracket and top mounting plate of the folding leg support of the present invention, it being understood that the right dies support bracket is the mirror image thereof; 
         FIG. 4B  shows a front view of the left side support bracket, top mounting plate and bottom mounting plate; 
         FIG. 4B  shows a left side view of the left side support bracket, top mounting plate and bottom mounting plate; 
         FIG. 5A  shows a perspective view of the entire right side bracket assembly couple to an end of the leg support; and 
         FIG. 5B  shows a cross-section view through line  5 B- 5 B of  FIG. 5A . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the folding leg support assembly of the present invention is shown generally at  10 . The folding leg support assembly  10  includes a leg support  12  pivotally coupled to a left support bracket  14   a  and a right support bracket  14   b  (collectively  14 ). Each support bracket  14  further includes a mounting plate assembly  16  including a top plate  18 , bottom plate  20  and a number of bolts  22  connecting the top plate  18  to the bottom plate  20 . Each of these assemblies  16  will be described in greater detail below. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the folding leg support assembly  10  is configured and arranged to be coupled to a treestand platform  24 . 
     Referring back to  FIG. 1  now, the folding leg support assembly  10  includes a foot portion  26  and arm portions  28  extending from each end of the foot portion  26 . The foot portion  26  may include grip tape on to enhance the surface traction of the foot portion  26  and prevent the hunter from slipping. Referring to  FIG. 3 , the folding leg support  10  may include rubber bumpers  30  to prevent rattling of the leg support  12  against the platform  24  while the leg support  12  if folded closed. 
     Each arm portion  28  is secured to its own support bracket  14  by a shoulder screw  32  secured by an acorn lock nut  34 . Near the end of each support arm  28  of the leg support  12  are spring-biased ball plungers  35 , which are used to selectively lock the leg support  12  in its open of closed position as desired. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 4A-C , each support bracket  14  includes a body portion  36  having a downwardly depending hook  38 . A rubber bumper  40  may be coupled to the hook  38  to prevent rattling of the leg support  12  against the platform  24  while the leg support  12  is deployed to the open position. Extending upwardly from the body portion  36  is a pair of spaced-apart support structures  42  configured to receive the free ends of a support arm therebetween, as shown in  FIGS. 5A and 5B . 
     Each support structure  42  includes an aperture  44  for receiving the shoulder screw  32  to retain the support arm  28  to the bracket  14 . Also included is a pair of additional apertures  46 ,  48  that are radially space-apart about the shoulder screw-receiving aperture  44  and are sized to receive the spring-biased ball plunger  35 . One aperture  46  is positioned to receive the spring-biased ball plunger  35  while the leg support  12  is in the deployed position, and the other aperture  48  is positioned to receive the ball plunger  35  while the leg support  12  is stowed upwardly against the top surface of the treestand platform  24 . 
     Each support bracket  14  is connected to a mounting assembly  16 . In particular the bottom surface of the support bracket  14  is welded to a top plate  18 . The top plate  18  includes a plurality if slots and holes formed therethrough. The mounting assembly  16  further includes a bottom plate  20  that also includes a number of apertures and slots formed therethrough that correspond to the same slots and holes formed in the top plate  18 . A number of bolts  22  and acorn nuts  50  couple the bottom plate  20  to the top plate  18 . 
     To attach the folding leg support assembly  10  of the present invention to a treestand platform  24 , a hunter follows a few simple steps. First, the hunter disconnects the bolts  22  and acorn nuts  50  retaining the top and bottom plates  18 ,  20  together. The hunter then places the top plate  18  over the top surface and near the front edge of the treestand platform  24  and the bottom plate  20  on the bottom surface and front edge of the treestand platform and carefully aligns the holes and slots in both plates  18 ,  20 . If necessary, the hunter may have to drill holes through the platform  24 . However, this is often not necessary because many prior art platforms already include holes therethrough already. The hunter then replaces the bolts  22  and nuts  50  through suitable unblocked holes or slots in the top and bottom plates  18 ,  20  and, therefore, also through the platform  24 , and tightens the acorn nuts  50  to secure the mounting plate assembly  16  to the platform  24 . 
     Because the mounting plate assemblies  16  are near the front edge of the platform  24 , the folding leg support  12  may be deployed downwardly. 
     Therefore, it can be seen that the folding leg support assembly  10  provides a unique solution to the problems of the prior art by providing a folding leg support assembly  10  that may be easily connected to a variety of treestand platforms  24  without extensive retrofit thereto. When used, the folding leg support assembly  10  of the present invention will prevent a hunter from becoming fatigued to the hunter&#39;s lower extremities through reduced circulation caused by sitting on the platform  24 . 
     It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention. All such modifications and changes are intended to be within the scope of the present invention except insofar as limited by the appended claims.