Patent Abstract:
A deployable stowable shotgun/rifle rest &amp; fishing rod holder includes a common lower section which may preferably be hollow tubular construction and having a pinched tip for resistance to any deformation upon being inserted into the soil, and two upper sections which are not expected to be simultaneously needed, one section for a shotgun/rifle rest and one section for a fishing rod support, enables greater utilization of the common lower section.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a safe, convenient, stowable and readily deployable structure for holding and stabilizing one or two long weapons such as shotguns or rifles for leisure and sport shooting, and more specifically a handy support system which will save lives, protect expensive and highly finished shotguns and rifles, and will not fall into disuse because the rest can be deployed and stowed in two easy steps. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Structures which support rifles and shotguns are typically employed at shooting ranges and other locations where a shooter is generally expected to stand in one place or near a fixed location for extended periods of time. Skeet ranges illustrate one example, where the shooter is either engaged in holding a shotgun during shooting or is not shooting, seeks to put the shotgun down and may usually have available a specialized rack for cradling and holding the shotgun. 
         [0003]    However, in more rustic settings no such specialized cradling structure will be available. As a result, shooters will tend to put the rifle or shotgun down by leaning it against some other structure, if available. Shooters typically will not lay the weapon flat on the ground unless necessity dictates. The dangers of the tendency to lean the weapon on an unstable object are well known. When the weapon is leaned upon a vertical object which is horizontally flat with regard to movement to either side, the resulting surface contact is quite small, usually a minute tangential contact between the circular outer portion of the barrel and a vertical planar surface, if available. Even worse, the barrel of the weapon may be leaned against a small tree or post. A gust of wind could cause it to fall and possibly discharge. 
         [0004]    The vertical storage position is generally safe, so long as the weapon will not shift or fall. Most structures which could provide adequate support are heavy and bulky. A shooter who might walk to a remote location would find it difficult to carry in a conventional base stand. 
         [0005]    In the most extreme cases shooters who backpack into remote areas have no commercially available device for supporting their weapons. For any device to be commercially viable for carriage while backpacking, it must be lightweight, stowable to a small volume, and readily deployable. The ability for any support device to find acceptance in this most severe environment where any additional weight and space must be justified, represents a challenge. 
         [0006]    One support for fishing rods which has been of some advantage is a fishing rod holder described in U.S. Pat. No. D 471,952 issued on Mar. 18, 2003 to John Cardenas and which is incorporated by reference herein. This single piece wire rod having a step shield was found to be advantageous for fishing. This structure was between four and five feet high and was suitable generally for carriage along with other fishing equipment in a vehicle, and possible attached to fishing rods and poles. The length of the fishing rod holder would cause it to be difficult to backpack for any amount of time and would probably not be as selectable for either backpacking or any trip which involved overland manual carriage of equipment. Further, the fishing rod holder was a one piece structure made of solid wire, and was structurally sound though somewhat heavy. However, the fishing rod holder solved many problems including (1) it avoided laying the fishing rod on the ground or mud while waiting for a fish take the bait, (2) it avoided causing the fishing rod holder to be pulled forward before recoiling back, since it was supported high, and (3) it avoided damage to the fishing rod from being pulled into the water where a makeshift support could not fully stabilize the rod. 
         [0007]    What is needed is a system which is lighter and which takes advantage of common structural components between a fishing rod support holder and a shotgun and rifle support which would encourage greater use and greater safety by providing such support structures in a form and configuration which facilitates their carriage. The needed system should recognize the fact that fishing and target practice or shooting is not generally expected to occur simultaneously. The needed structure should provide stowage and deployment capability such that both capabilities may be taken along, or that one capability may be taken along when it is known that the other capability will absolutely not be needed. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    A deployable stowable shotgun/rifle rest &amp; fishing rod holder includes a common lower section which may preferably be hollow tubular construction and having a pinched tip for resistance to any deformation upon being inserted into the soil. A triangular shaped symmetrical piece of sheet metal is attached to the lower section which includes upper angled portions for providing a step assist upon insertion into the soil. The triangular shaped symmetrical piece of sheet metal provides additional resistance to tipping and enables the user to generally avoid the necessity to apply a striking force to the structure. 
         [0009]    Insertable into the common lower section is an upper section deployable and stowable shotgun/rifle rest or a fishing rod support. The use of a common lower section enables a three piece system in which a user can (1) carry all three pieces either by backpack or by automobile, for ready deployment, or (2) simply select a lower section and one of the upper sections for carriage and deployment. Cleaning the deployable stowable shotgun/rifle rest &amp; fishing rod holder is a simple task. All a user would need do is brush off or tap lower section remove any soil present, and all of the structures can be wiped clean. The deployable stowable shotgun/rifle rest &amp; fishing rod holder can be made of stainless or carbon steel. The deployable stowable shotgun/rifle rest &amp; fishing rod holder can also be coated with powder coat, nickel plating, and chrome plating. All of the above make the deployable stowable shotgun/rifle rest &amp; fishing rod holder impervious to rust or corrosion. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    The invention, its configuration, construction, and operation will be best further described in the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an assembled shotgun/rifle rest; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a perspective of the assembled fishing rod holder, with a portion of a fishing rod shown in dashed line format; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the assembled shotgun/rifle rest seen in  FIG. 1  shown with a pair of weapons, a rifle  91  and a shotgun  93  supported by the rest; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is an exploded view of both upper sections and the lower section shown in the non-deployed state as a kit. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0015]    The inventive deployable stowable shotgun/rifle rest &amp; fishing rod holder is a three main component system which includes a lower section which can be driven into the ground, and an upper shotgun/rifle rest section which can be attached to the lower section to form a shotgun/rifle rest and an upper and fishing rod holder section which can alternatively be attached into the lower section to form a fishing rod holder. An explanation of the invention will be best initiated with respect to  FIG. 1  which illustrates an overall assembled view of the shotgun/rifle rest assembly  21 . 
         [0016]    Shotgun/rifle rest assembly  21  includes a lower section  23  which includes a lower tube  25  which is preferably a hollow metal tube having a lower tip  31 . Just above lower tip  31  is a flattened area  33  for hardening and reducing the cross section area near the lower tip  31  and for transitioning to a circular or oval tubular cross section which exists just above the flattened area  33 . A triangular shaped symmetrical piece of sheet metal  35  is attached to the lower tube  25 . The triangular shaped symmetrical piece of sheet metal  35  has a centerline which is generally parallel to the lower tube  25  and tapers in the direction of tip  31 . The upper edges of the a triangular shaped symmetrical piece of sheet metal  35  on either side of the lower tube  25  have angled portions  37  which present a slightly greater width than the thickness of the a triangular shaped symmetrical piece of sheet metal  35  to enable a user to use foot pressure to help push the tip  31  further into the ground. 
         [0017]    At the upper part of  FIG. 1 , an upper section  41  of shotgun/rifle rest assembly  21  is seen. Upper section  41  includes an upper tube  43 . The lower end of upper tube  43  is seen as having a smaller diameter than and is fitted into the lower tube  25 . It is equally possible to have the lower end of upper tube  43  to have a larger diameter than and be over fitted onto the lower tube  25 . At the top of the upper tube  43 , an “S” shaped fitting  45 . Each half of the “S” shaped fitting  45  provides an encircling horizontal shape to stably cradle a shotgun or rifle resting against the shotgun/rifle rest assembly  21 . As a result of the geometry of the “S” shaped fitting  45  and the moment about the upper tube  43 , the connection between the upper tube  43  and lower tube  25  should not allow the upper tube  43  to turn with respect to the lower tube  25 . Also seen is a plastic or rubber coating  49  which is shown covering the “S” shaped fitting  45  and partially downwardly over about two to three inches of the upper tube  43 . The plastic or rubber coating  49  helps to insure that expensive shot guns or rifles will not be marred by metal contact of the “S” shaped fitting  45 . 
         [0018]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , a fishing rod holder assembly  51  includes the same lower section  23  previously described. An upper section  53  of fishing rod holder assembly  51  is seen. Upper section  53  includes an upper tube  55 . Again, the lower end of upper tube  55  is seen as having a smaller diameter than and is fitted into the lower tube  25 . It is equally possible to have the lower end of upper tube  55  to have a larger diameter than and be over fitted onto the lower tube  25 . At the top of the upper tube  55 , a wire loop  61  preferably made of material having a smaller diameter than the upper tube  55  is shown. Where the upper tube may be around five eighths of an inch in diameter, the metal rod of the wire loop may be about three eighths of an inch in diameter metal rod, which has been discovered to work well. The wire loop  61  has a specialized shape to enable it to support the end of a fishing rod which is shown in dashed line format as fishing rod handle  63 . The wire loop  61  has a rear downward curving section  65  and a forward upward curving section  67 . The rear downward curving section  65  and forward upward curving section  67  are joined by a pair of parallel extending connector portions  69  and  71 . Thus, portions  69 ,  71 ,  67  and  65  form the loop  61 , perhaps with some small increment of upper tube  55 . The attachment of the loop  61  can be in any manner, and as is shown, the two ends of the loop  61  blend into the upper tube  55  closely adjacent but in a way which some what obscures the end points. The manner of attachment of the loop  61  to upper tube  55  may start with an open loop whose ends (not shown because they are blended into the upper tube  55 ) may be welded to the upper tube  55 , with some of the weld solder used to close the end of tube  55 , perhaps partially with some small length of the wire making up the formed loop  61 . 
         [0019]    Generally the curving section  65  is in a vertical plane and forward upward curving section  67  is at an angle with respect to a plane of the curving section  65  or a plane of the pair of parallel extending connector portions  69  and  71 . The curvature of the forward upward curving section  67  is more open to accommodate wider structures which might be at a more forward end of a fishing rod handle  63 . 
         [0020]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , the shotgun/rifle rest assembly  21  is illustrated with a rifle  91  and a shotgun  93  leaning into the an “S” shaped fitting  45 . As can be seen, shotgun/rifle rest assembly  21  is shown having been inserted into the ground. Both the rifle  91  and shotgun  93  are stably supported and within easy reach when needed. 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , a kit  101  includes the upper section  41 , upper section  54  and the lower section  23 , as a combined deployable and stowable shotgun/rifle rest and fishing rod support set or kit.. Also seen for the first time is an aperture  105  in the lower tube  25  into which a spring urged button  107  seen on the lower end of upper tube  43  of an upper section  41  of shotgun/rifle rest assembly  21 , and also on the lower end of the upper tube  55  of upper section  53  of a fishing rod holder assembly  51 . 
         [0022]    While the present system has been described in terms of a structural kit which provides some common structure to which is attachable alternative structures not expected to be utilized simultaneously in order to maximize utilization of the common structure, one skilled in the art will realize that the structure and techniques of the present system can be applied to many structures which utilize this attribute, including those not shown. 
         [0023]    Although the invention has been derived with reference to particular illustrative embodiments thereof, many changes and modifications of the invention may become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, included within the patent warranted hereon are all such changes and modifications as may reasonably and properly be included within the scope of this contribution to the art.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0