Patent Publication Number: US-2006008886-A1

Title: Portable shooting house

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/585,864, filed 07-08-2004, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
      Not Applicable.  
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention relates to the field of hunting shelters and more particularly to a portable shooting house that requires minimum on-site assembly.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      As noted in U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,269 issued Sep. 11, 2001 to G. M. Marcum, it has long been recognized that hunters need some protection from inclement weather and should remain unnoticed as they await their prey. However, the Marcum &#39;269 hunting shelter come shooting house requires a lot of effort and time to assemble. For example, before using the Marcum &#39;269 house a hunter is required to: position four side panels, then affix three of the side panels to a floor and adjoining side panels, then position a top panel on top of the shooting house, then affix the fourth side panel to the floor and adjoining side panels; and then next affix the top panel to all side panels; wherein positioning the top panel includes: bringing the top panel through a door, then aligning the top panel along the body diagonal of the shooting house, then raising the top panel from the body diagonal to the top of the shooting house, and finally matching an attached lip on the top panel with an attached lip on each side panel. In addition, a hunter has to transport the Marcum &#39;269 shooting house in pieces and then unpack the pieces before assembling the pieces to provide the shooting house.  
      In some hunting areas the hunting management does not allow hunting or shooting houses to be left up overnight. Thus, there is a need for a shooting house that is easily transported to a hunting site and which does not require extensive effort to assemble on site.  
     SUMMARY  
      A hunting house, comprising: an elongated tongue  150 , a removable axle  350 , a framework  700 , and a camouflaged exterior  650 , fitted over said framework  700 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention relates to the field of hunting shelters and more particularly to a portable shooting house that requires minimum on-site assembly. The shooting house of the present invention is essentially towed in one piece to a hunting site by a motor vehicle with a hitch point; the shooting house is unhitched, a removable axle removed, and the shooting house raised to an upright position for immediate use. Only if there is a requirement to raise the shooting house above the ground is there a requirement to attach legs and optionally an anchoring system to anchor the raised shooting house to the ground. Attachments such as legs, ladders and anchoring system are towed with the shooting house. The terms “stand”, “shooting house”, “device  100 ”, and “hunting house” are hereinafter regarded as equivalent terms.  
      Referring to the attached FIGURES in general, and  FIGS. 1A, 1B ,  1 C,  1 D,  1 E, and  2  to  13  in particular, the shooting house of the invention is denoted by the reference numeral  100  as a whole. The hunting house  100  comprises an elongated tongue  150  with one end  200  configured to attach easily to a hitch point  250  on a vehicle  300 . A removable axle  350  enables the hunting house  100  to be towed; the axle  350  is typically removed and the hunting house  100  raised to an upright position ready for immediate use.  
      Optional sets of legs  400  and ladder  420  can be attached to the hunting house  100  to elevate the house  100  and facilitate entry thereto, respectively. The legs  400  and ladder  420  can be tied or otherwise attached to the house  100  as shown, for example, in  FIG. 1 . The sets of legs  400  can be of varying height such as about four and eight feet lengths; a set of integral legs (see, e.g.,  FIG. 2 ) are optionally incorporated into the design of the hunting house  100 .  
      Referring to FIGS. A, B, C, D, E, and F, an optional anchoring system  450  can be used to anchor the hunting house  100 . The preferred form of anchoring system  450  comprises at least one telescoping elongated member  500  with an auger  550  welded to one end  600  of member  500 . Member  500  is preferably a two-piece telescoping pipe. The auger  550  can be replaced with any suitable drill piece so long as the drill piece can be used to anchor the device  100  to the ground.  
      The legs  400  may be of varying length; in one embodiment a set of integral short legs are attached to the bottom  630  of the device  100  (see  FIG. 2 ). The legs  400  may be arranged in any manner so long as the device  100  is stable; for example, the legs  400  can be arranged in the form of an incomplete tripod (see, e.g.,  FIG. 3 ) or can be attached fitted to each corner of bottom  630 . Legs of varying length can be attached to the bottom  630  to raise the height of the shooting  100  above the ground (see, e.g.,  FIGS. 6, 8 , and  11 ). Alternatively, the legs can be absent so that bottom  630  rests on the ground. During manufacture of the shooting house  100  a suitable exterior  650 , preferably a camouflaged exterior (see, e.g.,  FIGS. 1 and 2 ), is fitted over a framework  700  (see, e.g.,  FIG. 21 ).  
      Each end of removable axle  350  is reversibly attached to the central portion of a leaf springs  750   a  and  750   b  (see, e.g., FIGS.  14  to  22 ); one end of the leaf springs  750   a  and  750   b  are shown attached to integral legs  400   a  and  400   b , respectively. Any suitable fastener or combination of fasteners can be used; for example, a U-bolt  800  fitted with threads and a nut at each end (see, e.g.,  FIGS. 14 and 18 ) and/or pin-bolt combinations  850  (see, e.g.,  FIG. 18 ); it will be understood that the kind of fastener can vary without detracting from the spirit of the invention.  
      One embodiment of the invention is described on pages 7 to 9 and associated  FIGS. 1X  to  13 X. With respect to this embodiment it will be understood that specific measurements and dimensions can vary; for example, while the preferred floor area of the shooting house is 4 foot by 4 foot area (i.e., about 16 square feet), the floor area is preferably in the range between about 6 square feet and about 50 square feet, and more preferably in the range between about 10 square feet and 30 square feet, and still more preferably in the range between about 10 square feet and 20 square feet.  
      Additional subject matter, which forms part of the Detailed Description, is found on pages 7A, 7B, and 7C. A parts list is provided on page 8. It is to be understood that the parts list is not intended to limit the invention.  
      It is also to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.  
      My invention is intended to fill a need for a portable shoot house that could be set up in a matter of seconds. This shoot house can be towed from your home to a hunting site then set up without any tools or preparation time. It puts the hunter In a warm, dry, 4 foot by 4 foot area instantly and without the need for assembly or preparation time. Most of the time a hunter will erect his stand before daylight and will leave after dark, this Is the reason I wanted to keep this house simple and easy to erect. Some hunting management areas will not allow any stands to be left overnight, this is why I wanted to build a stand that is truly portable and can be moved in a matter of seconds.  
      I completed a working prototype stand in January 2004 and this is the first and only stand of it&#39;s kind that I know of.  
      I have built the stand with the axle as far to the rear of the stand as possible. This axle arrangement allows for the stand to be towed on the highway safely. The axle arrangement also allows the user to raise the stand by hand with a minimum amount of effort because the weight of the stand pivots on the axle. The axle comes off the stand without any tools, just pull two pins and lift off. This protects the owner from theft of the stand if he does want to leave his stand at a hunting site. Although this stand is intended to be used at ground level, I have provided a means to raise the stand on either 4 or 8 foot legs. This is another reason I wanted the axle to be taken off easily, without the weight of the axle the stand is much easier to raise.  
      The stand is built with square tubing, 16 gauge. It is completely welded with very few moving parts. This makes the stand very quiet when used which is important to any hunter. The roof is light gauge roofing metal screwed over foam gaskets. The frame work is covered on all four sides with PVC sign board. The signboard resembles corrugated cardboard, but is PVC plastic. This material has air pockets that both insulate the house for temperature and noise. The material I have used make the shoot house strong, lightweight, weatherproof, easily transportable and easy to set up. The strength of the steel tubing allows for minimum wall bracing, thus allowing more area for windows. This stand gives you 360 degree windows with no blind spots. Windows are ¼″ plexiglass and all open and close.  
      When the stand is lowered in towing position it has a low stance that makes for less wind resistance, making it tow easy and with less drag on the towing vehicle. In towing position, the stand can also be used to store and transport hunting gear, clothes and supplies.  
      My intentions when I started this project, were to build a lightweight, portable, dry, warm, quiet and easy to use stand. The stand construction makes is very quiet while using the stand and also while towing through the woods to hunting site.  
      This stand fills the need for a stand that does what I Intended it to do. It is also versatile in that it can be raised at a total of three levels, is self contained and requires no set up time at ground level and just a few minutes at other levels.  
      Materials  
     
         
          16 gauge 2×2 square tubing  
          16 gauge ¾×¾ square tubing  
          16 gauge 1×1 square tubing  
          16 gauge 1×2 square tubing  
          4 sheets of 4×8 PVC sign board  
          4×4 12 gauge metal roofing  
          ½″ wafer board flooring  
          ¼″ plexiglass windows  
          2-500 lb. Springs  
          70 inch axle  
          13″ wheels and tires  
          2″ trailer coupler 
 
 Construction 
 
          Frame work-Welded  
          Roof, Floor and Siding-Screwed  
          Windows-Bolted w/nuts and bolts 
 
 TOTAL WEIGHT—455 LBS. 
 
 Parts List for 
 
       
    
      Title: Portable Shooting House  
                                                      100   shooting house 100           150   an elongated tongue 150 with one end 200 configured to               attach easily to a hitch point 250 on a vehicle 300           200   an elongated tongue 150 with one end 200 configured to               attach easily to a hitch point 250 on a vehicle 300           250   an elongated tongue 150 with one end 200 configured to               attach easily to a hitch point 250 on a vehicle 300           300   an elongated tongue 150 with one end 200 configured to               attach easily to a hitch point 250 on a vehicle 300           350   removable axle 350           400   Optional sets of legs 400 (includes integral legs 400a               and 400b) and ladder 420 can be attached to the               hunting house 100           420   Optional sets of legs 400 (includes integral legs 400a               and 400b) and ladder 420 can be attached to the               hunting house 100           450   anchoring system 450           500   anchoring system 450 comprises at least one               telescoping elongated member 500 with an Auger 550               welded to one end 600 of member 500           550   anchoring system 450 comprises at least one               telescoping elongated member 500 with an Auger 550               welded to one end 600 of member 500           600   anchoring system 450 comprises at least one               telescoping elongated member 500 with an Auger 550               welded to one end 600 of member 500           630   Bottom 630 of hunting house 100           650   camouflaged exterior 650           700   Framework 700           750   Leaf spring 750           800   U-bolt 800, fitted with threads and a nut at each end           850   Pin-bolt combination 850