Patent Publication Number: US-9902325-B1

Title: Portable climbing system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
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     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM. 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
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     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention. 
     (2) Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. 
     The disclosure and prior art relates to climbing devices and more particularly pertains to a new climbing device for mounting a tailgate. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a vehicle that has a tailgate. The tailgate has a front edge, a back edge and a first surface extending therebetween. The first surface is horizontally oriented when the tailgate is positioned in an open position. A climbing unit is removably coupled to the tailgate when the tailgate is positioned in the open position. The climbing unit facilitates climbing onto the tailgate from the ground. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a climbing unit of a portable climbing system according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of climbing unit of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a right side view of a climbing unit of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 4  thereof, a new climbing device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 4 , the portable climbing system  10  generally comprises a vehicle  12  has a tailgate  14 . The tailgate  14  has a front edge  16 , a back edge  18  and a first surface  20  extending therebetween. The first surface  20  is horizontally oriented when the tailgate  14  is positioned in an open position. Moreover, the vehicle  12  may be a pickup truck or other vehicle  12  having a tailgate  14 . 
     A climbing unit  22  is provided and the climbing unit  22  is removably coupled to the tailgate  14  when the tailgate  14  is positioned in the open position. The climbing unit  22  facilitates climbing onto the tailgate  14  from the ground. The climbing unit  22  comprises a strap  24  that has a first end  26  and a second end  28 . The strap  24  may have a length ranging between approximately 60.0 cm and 90.0 cm. 
     A grapple  30  is provided that has a front end  32  and a back end  34 . The grapple  30  is bent between the front end  32  and the back end  34  thereby facilitating the grapple  30  to engage the back edge  18  of the tailgate  14  having the grapple  30  being positioned on the first surface  20 . The grapple  30  has a slot  36  extending therethrough and the slot  36  is oriented collinear with the back end  34 . The first end  26  of the strap  24  is extended through the slot  36  such that the grapple  30  is slidably coupled to the strap  24 . Moreover, the strap  24  extends between the front edge  16  and the back edge  18  of the tailgate  14  when the grapple  30  engages the tailgate  14 . 
     A buckle  38  is provided and the buckle  38  may be manipulated. The first end  26  of strap  24  extends through the buckle  38  thereby facilitating the buckle  38  to be selectively slid along the strap  24 . The buckle  38  adjusts a length of the strap  24  between a minimum length and a maximum length. The buckle  38  is adjusted to facilitate the strap  24  to extend downwardly from the back edge  18  of the tailgate  14  having the second end  28  of the strap  24  being spaced a selected distance from the ground. 
     A step  40  is provided and the step  40  coupled to the second end  28  of the strap  24 . The step  40  may be stepped on when the grapple  30  engages the tailgate  14  thereby facilitating mounting the tailgate  14 . The step  40  comprises a panel  42  that has a first lateral edge  44 , a second lateral edge  46  and a top surface  48  extending therebetween. The top surface  48  may be stepped upon and the top surface  48  is textured thereby enhancing traction on the top surface  48 . 
     A support  50  is provided that has a plurality of intersecting members  52 . The intersecting members  52  are arranged to form a triangle. One of the intersecting members  52  extends through the first lateral edge  44  and the second lateral edge  46  of the panel  42  such that the panel  42  is rotatably coupled to the support  50 . The second end  28  of the strap  24  is coupled to the intersecting members  52  such that the panel  42  is retained on the strap  24 . Each of the intersecting members  52  may have a length ranging between approximately 25.0 cm and 30.0 cm. 
     In use, the tailgate  14  is positioned in the open position and the grapple  30  is manipulated to engage the back edge  18  of the tailgate  14 . The buckle  38  is manipulated to adjust the length of the strap  24 . In this way the strap  24  extends downwardly from the front edge  16  of the tailgate  14  and the panel  42  is positioned a selected distance from the ground. The panel  42  is stepped on to enhance mounting the tailgate  14 . The grapple  30  is removed from the tailgate  14  before the tailgate  14  is closed. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, system and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.