Patent Publication Number: US-6910574-B2

Title: Portable, knockdown tack box with saddle rack(s)

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS. 
   This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/367,541, filed Mar. 26, 2002. 

   BACKGROUND 
   1. Field of Invention 
   This invention relates to tack boxes, which are used for the storage and safeguarding of saddles, bridles, grooming implements and other related gear by persons engaged in equestrian activities. 
   2. Background—Discussion of Prior Art 
   Currently, commercially available tack boxes, trunks, chests or lockers primarily consist of rectangular, box-like structures each with a single hinged lid or door. These structures are meant to be one-piece and are not capable of being collapsed or broken down into smaller segments, which would facilitate transporting them or storing them when not in use. With rare exception, most tack boxes that are currently marketed, as evidenced by a review of multiple equestrian-related periodicals and catalogs, do not contain saddle racks and, in any event, are not made large enough to comfortably hold even a single standard-sized Western-style saddle, which is larger than its English-style counterpart. 
   Within the United States, the majority of participants in recreational equestrian activities are women, reportedly as high as 80% of all participants and numbering in the millions. Additionally, a good percentage of these participants own or, in other cases, lease horses and board said horses at public or private stables owned by third parties. It is common, in such circumstances, for the boarder to keep what tack she owns at the stable facility, conveniently near her horse(s). The quality and extent of amenities available for the protection and security of such boarder-owned tack likely varies widely from facility to facility, and many boarders choose to augment that protection by use of lockable tack boxes. In such circumstances, tack boxes keep an owner&#39;s gear, including her saddle, protected from airborne dirt and dust, which are always kicked up in and around stable areas; from damage by rodents; and from unauthorized borrowing or theft. 
   Most commercially available tack boxes fall short in one way or another in terms of the typical boarder&#39;s needs or financial capacity. Most are not large enough to hold a full complement of gear and a Western-style saddle, or they don&#39;t have a saddle rack to properly support the saddle or, in the rare case where a saddle rack is included, the tack boxes are overbuilt, expensive and targeted toward the equestrian professional. As a result, many boarders make do with homemade wooden fixtures. And because few horse people, to the extent this group reflects the characteristics of the general population, are experienced in, or inclined to do woodworking, many boarders must rely on relatives or friends to help them design and build functional tack boxes. 
   Another need that warrants consideration in this area is portability. Intuitively, there will be many occasions when a horse boarder will want to relocate her horse(s) and gear from one stable to another. She may become unhappy with a change in circumstances at her existing stable location, or she may find a more attractive place to board, or she herself may relocate and want to find a new stable for her horse(s) nearer her new home. In any event, tack boxes currently on the market that are large enough to comfortably accommodate and protect both saddle and gear will be too heavy and bulky for one person to move, and at least a small truck or trailer would be needed to do the job. 
   SUMMARY 
   The invention is an improved tack box. The improved tack box is a box-like container for storing objects used by a person engaged in equestrian activities, comprising multiple detachable walls and at least one saddle rack mounted on one of the walls, wherein said container may be broken down into multiple pieces for ease of transporting said container or to facilitate storage of said container when not being used by said persons for its primary purpose of storing objects used in equestrian activities. The improved tack box incorporates in one package several features that the market would likely find highly useful, at least two of which are not available in the construction of any currently marketed tack box. Those two features are (1) the ability to knock down this relatively large tack box into several, easy-to-transport segments, and (2) greater access to the internal storage area, with a front panel that opens completely via two doors and a flip-up top panel, which when used together enable a user to step part way into the tack box to gain leverage in the handling of heavy and awkward gear, such as a Western-style saddle. These features are provided in a structure that can be completely closed up, secured and locked, and which is large enough to hold a typical horse boarder&#39;s full complement of gear, including one or even two saddles, each adequately supported by a detachable saddle rack. Moreover, the invention can be constructed in a straightforward, economical manner from readily available materials, in order to provide a reasonably priced and highly functional product to a significant yet, apparently, neglected target market. 

   
     DESCRIPTION OF RENDERINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective front-side view of a tack box, constructed in accordance with the invention, showing the following components before assembly: a base, a left-side wall with door attached, a right-side wall with door attached, a rear wall with an attached brace to support a removable saddle rack. 
       FIG. 2  is a close-up perspective, from above, of a metal draw latch with a strike. 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective, from above, of the base of the tack box of FIG.  1 . 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective, from above, of the base and the rear wall of the tack box of  FIG. 1 , where said base and said rear wall are to be fastened together by metal draw latches and strikes. 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective, from above, of the base and the left-side wall of the tack box of  FIG. 1 , where said base and said left-side wall are to be fastened together by metal draw latches and strikes. 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective, from above, of the base and the right-side wall of the tack box of  FIG. 1 , where said base and said right-side wall are to be fastened together by metal draw latches and strikes. 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective, from the front-right and above, of the base, the left-side wall and the rear wall of the tack box of  FIG. 1 , where said base, said left-side wall and said rear wall are fastened together by metal draw latches and strikes. 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective, from the front-left and above, of the base, the right-side wall and the rear wall of the tack box of  FIG. 1 , where said base, said right-side wall and said rear wall are fastened together by metal draw latches and strikes. 
       FIG. 9  is a perspective of the partially-assembled tack box, from in front and above, with the left-side wall, the right-side wall, the rear wall and the base all joined together with metal draw latches secured to strikes and the removable saddle rack resting on the brace, which is attached to said rear wall. 
       FIG. 10  is a perspective of the tack box of  FIG. 1 , from the front-left, of the left-side wall with door attached. 
       FIG. 11  is a perspective of the tack box of  FIG. 1 , from the front-right, of the right-side wall with door attached. 
       FIG. 12  is a perspective of the tack box of  FIG. 1 , from the front and below, of the underside of the hinged lid, the top of the inward side of the left-side wall and the top of the inward side of the rear wall. 
       FIG. 13  is a perspective of the tack box of  FIG. 1 , from the front and below, of the underside of the hinged lid, the top of the inward side of the right-side wall and the top of the inward side of the rear wall. 
       FIG. 14  is a perspective of the fully-assembled tack box of  FIG. 1 , from in front, with the base, the left-side wall with door attached, the right-side wall with door attached, the rear wall with brace attached, the saddle rack, and the hinged lid (in the open position). 
       FIG. 15  is a perspective of the fully assembled tack box of  FIG. 1 , from in front, with the door of the right-side wall in the open position and the hinged lid in the closed position. 
       FIG. 16  is a perspective of the fully assembled tack box of  FIG. 1 , from in front, with the door of the left-side wall and the door of the right-side wall both in closed positions and the hinged lid in the open position. 
       FIG. 17  is a perspective of the fully-assembled tack box of  FIG. 1 , from in front, with the door of the left-side wall, the door of the right-side wall and the hinged lid all in closed positions. 
       FIG. 18  is a perspective of the fully assembled tack box of  FIG. 1 , taken from in front, with the door of the left-side wall, the door of the right-side wall and the hinged lid all in open positions and said tack box loaded with a full complement of gear. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Reference Numerals: 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 20 
                 Left-side wall 
               
               
                   
                 22 
                 Right-side wall 
               
               
                   
                 24 
                 Rear wall 
               
               
                   
                 25 
                 Base 
               
               
                   
                 28 
                 Hinged lid 
               
               
                   
                 30 
                 Brace 
               
               
                   
                 32 
                 Saddle rack 
               
               
                   
                 34a 
                 Door (left-side wall) 
               
               
                   
                 34b 
                 Door (right-side wall) 
               
               
                   
                 36 
                 Raised frame 
               
               
                   
                 40 
                 Metal draw latch 
               
               
                   
                 42 
                 Strike 
               
               
                   
                 44 
                 Piano hinge 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
   

   DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
     FIG. 1  is a perspective front-side view of a tack box, constructed in accordance with the invention. A raised frame  36  is permanently mounted on the inward surface, near the perimeter, of each of: a left-side wall  20 , a right-side wall  22 , a rear wall  24  and a base  26 . 
     FIG. 2  is a close-up perspective, from above, of a metal draw latch  40  and a strike  42 . 
     FIG. 3  is a perspective of the base  26  from in front and above, with metal draw latches  40  mounted on the raised frame  36  of said base  26  at  60 ,  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68  and  70 . 
     FIG. 4  is a perspective of the base  26  and the rear wall  24  with a brace  30 , from in front and above, with metal draw latches  40  attached to the raised frame  36  of said base  26  at  64  and  66 , opposite strikes  42  on the raised frame  36  of said rear wall  24  at  84  and  86 . The bottom of the raised frame  36  on said rear wall  24  rests on the edge of said base  26  and abuts the raised frame  36  of said base  26 . When said rear wall  24  is so positioned on said base  26 , said metal draw latches  40  at  64  and  66  are secured to said strikes  42  at  84  and  86 , respectively. 
     FIG. 5  is a perspective of the base  26  and the inward surface of the left-side wall  20 , from in front and above, with metal draw latches  40  attached to the raised frame  36  of said base  26  at  60  and  62 , opposite strikes  42  on the raised frame  36  of said left-side wall  20  at  80  and  82 . The bottom of the raised frame  36  on said left-side wall  20  is made to rest on top of the left-edge edge of said base  26  and abut the raised frame  36  of said base  26 . When said left-side wall  20  is so positioned on said base  26 , said metal draw latches  40  at  60  and  62  are secured to said strikes  42  at  80  and  82 , respectively. 
     FIG. 6  is a perspective of the base  26  and the inward surface of the right-side wall  22 , from in front and above, with metal draw latches  40  attached to the raised frame  36  of said base  26  at  68  and  70 , opposite strikes  42  on the raised frame  36  of said right-side wall  22  at  88  and  90 . The bottom of the raised frame  36  on said right-side wall  22  is made to rest on top of the right-edge edge of said base  26  and abut the raised frame  36  of said base  26 . When said right-side wall  22  is so positioned on said base  26 , said metal draw latches  40  at  68  and  70  are secured to said strikes  42  at  88  and  90 , respectively. 
     FIG. 7  is a perspective of the base  26 , the left-side wall  20  and the rear wall  24 , from the front-right and above, with metal draw latches  40  attached to the raised frame  36  of said rear wall  24  at  72  and  74 , opposite strikes  42  on the raised frame  36  of said left-side wall  20  at  92  and  94 . 
     FIG. 8  is a perspective of the base  26 , the right-side wall  22  and the rear wall  24 , from the front-left and above, with metal draw latches  40  attached to the raised frame  36  of said rear wall  24  at  76  and  78 , opposite strikes  42  on the raised frame  36  of said right-side wall  22  at  96  and  98 . 
     FIG. 9  is a perspective of the partially-assembled tack box, from in front and above, with the left-side wall  20 , the right-side wall  22 , the rear wall  24  and the base  26  all joined together with metal draw latches  40  secured to strikes  42  at  60 ,  62 ,  64 ,  66 ,  68 ,  70 ,  72 ,  74 ,  76  and  78 . The removable saddle rack  32  rests on the brace  30 , which is mounted to the raised frame  36  of said rear wall  24  at  50  and  52 . 
     FIG. 10  is a perspective of the partially assembled tack box, from the front-left, with a door  34   a  permanently attached to the left-side wall  20 . 
     FIG. 11  is a perspective of the partially assembled tack box, from the front-right, with a door  34   b  permanently attached to the right-side wall  22 . 
     FIGS. 12 and 13  are similar perspectives of the tack box, from in front, looking up at the rear half of the underside of the hinged lid  28 , resting on the top edges of: the left-side wall  20 , the right-side wall  22  and the rear wall  24 . Said hinged lid  28  is in two sections, a front half and a rear half, joined together by a piano hinge  44 . 
   Operation: 
   In operation, one uses the tack box to store and protect saddle(s), bridle(s), various grooming implements and other tack associated with equestrian activities (FIG.  18 ). Hooks or other holding devices may be mounted on the inner walls in order to provide for storage the various grooming implements. The tack box can be completely closed up ( FIG. 17 ) and locked, so that all of the gear can be protected from dust and dirt, rodents and unauthorized borrowing or theft. 
   Two doors at the front of the box and an upward hinging lid can be opened simultaneously to allow maximum access to the interior of the box, which facilitates storage and retrieval of heavy and awkward objects, like a Western-style saddle (FIG.  14 ). Also, one or both of the doors or the hinged lid can be opened separately ( FIGS. 15 and 16 ) to access only the tack stored in certain areas of the box. Such limited, easy access would be useful, for example, at those times when only one activity, like grooming, is undertaken. 
   Finally, the tack box can be broken down, without any need for any tools, into five manageable pieces (FIG.  1 ), plus the removable saddle rack. Each of the two doors fold flush against the outer side of the side wall to which it is attached (FIG.  1 ). The five major pieces can be stacked on top or against each other for convenient and compact storage when not in use. And the pieces can be transported individually or together in most standard-sized sport utility vehicles and cars. 
   Assembly of the box requires no tools, is very simple and straightforward and takes only a few minutes:
     a. The base is first placed flat on the ground with the raised frame on top. The bottom part of the rear wall is placed into its slot at the rear of the base, and then it is secured to the base by two metal draw latches already attached.   b. The left-side wall (with door attached) is placed into its slot along the top of the left edge of the base and against the side of the rear wall. The left-side wall is then fastened to the base by two metal draw latches and to the rear wall by another two metal draw latches.   c. The right-side wall (with door attached) is placed and secured to the base and the rear wall in the same manner as the left-side wall.   d. Finally, the hinged lid is placed on top of the box and may be secured by latches and locks from the outside.