Abstract:
This invention provides for an apparatus for securing corners or edges of a piece of fabric that is used for covering ground surfaces. The apparatus includes a clip for gripping the piece of fabric and a stake with a spike for anchoring the apparatus into the ground surfaces. When a user presses rear ends of the clip, the stake and the spike would be released such that the apparatus could be anchored to the ground surfaces.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to the field of creating a new and improved apparatus for securing a piece of fabric or material covering porous ground surfaces. 
     2. Background Art 
     Lying on a towel or blanket on the ground, lawn or sandy beach has been common practice for people. The problem has always been that the movement of the towel or blanket on porous ground surfaces caused by the wind, general movement of the person lying on the towel or blanket, or by people walking on the article. It is not uncommon to see people using paperweight like objectives on all four corners or edges of the towel or blanket to keep it in original position. 
     Manufacturers have produced and marketed beach towel holding and anchoring devices. Some have used spikes to secure the corners or edges of the towel or blanket, but the devices damage the towel or blanket by punching holes in it or fraying. Others made the devices with clamps and spikes to secure the towel or blanket, but the spikes are not small in size and are not easy to carry inside a handbag or carrier and are piercing. None of these devices have been very satisfactory to enable a cover, such as a towel or blanket to be held in an upright relation along its side edge portions to thus restrict the blowing-in of sand, upon the surface of the cover. 
     A portable holding device to secure a piece of fabric or material on porous ground surfaces is capable of other embodiments and being practiced and carried out in various ways. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present fabric holding apparatus. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is the object of this invention to provide a new and improved holding apparatus, which may be easily and efficiently to maintain a piece of fabric or material in its original position with flexibility and resiliency to accommodate variances in the depth of the porous ground surfaces and a reasonable movement of the fabric or material. The apparatus in this invention is comprised two major portions, which would include a stake portion and a clip portion. The clip would be affixed to the top of the stake portion of this invention. The clip would normally be in a closed position, but could be opened by pressing the rear handles of the clip portion together, placing an edge of the desired fabric or material within the clip, and then releasing the handles of the clip to effectively secure the fabric or material to the apparatus. The stake portion is collapsible and extendable via a spike, which allows the stake to be pushed down into the porous ground surfaces. The elongated anchor is relatively stiff and when locked in place, which provides for the resilience necessary to hold the clamp in place in relation to where is it anchored. 
     Additionally, another object of this invention is the changeable shapes of the clip, a means to display advertising and/or a symbol of the user&#39;s personal interests. This additional functionality is accomplished by replacing the clip with a different shape, which is discussed in the specification. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a side elevation view of the apparatus with the stake and the spike in vertical axis position. 
         FIG. 2  shows a side elevation view of the apparatus with the stake and the spike in a closed position folded into the embedded space within the bottom of the base. 
         FIG. 3  shows the apparatus with a clear top view of the top base. 
         FIG. 4  shows the apparatus with a clear bottom view of the bottom base. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  which show the side view of this invention, the apparatus comprises a clip  10 , a stake  18 , a spike  20 , a stake locking mechanism  22 , a conjoined fulcrum  30 , and a spike locking mechanism  34 . The clip  10  may differ in size, shape, color or other characteristics of appearance. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the clip  10  a top base  12  and a bottom base  14 , wherein each of the top base  12  and the bottom base  14  includes two ends, i.e., a front end and a back end. The back ends of the top base  12  and the bottom base  14  contain grooved grip  16  to provide for easy opening and closing of the top base  12  and the bottom base  14  without slippage. The front ends of the top base  12  and the bottom base  14  contain grooves and teeth  36  to provide for maximum gripping of an article. When a user places pressure simultaneously on the back ends of the top base  12  and the bottom base  14  together, the clip  10  would open such that an edge or a side of a fabric or material may be placed between the front ends of the top base  12  and the bottom base  14 . This action will in turn release the stake  18  and the spike  20  via a torsion spring  28  to a 90° angle and lock the stake  18  into place. Releasing pressure of the back ends of the top base  12  and the bottom base  14  would allow the clip  10  to tightly grip the edge or the side of the fabric or material with the grooves and the teeth  36  due to the pressure of the torsion spring  32 . The edge or the side of the fabric or material would only be released when the user squeezes the top base  12  and the bottom base  14  together, and the fabric or material can be removed without any damage to the article that was attached. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the stake locking mechanism  22  comprises a stake release lever  24 , and a stake lock  26 , and a torsion spring  28  connected to the pivotal fulcrum by a pin to join the bottom base  14  and the stake  18 . The stake release lever  24  extends downwardly from a lower surface of the top base  12  beyond the conjoined fulcrum  30  and into an empty space formed within the bottom base  14 . Moreover, as seen in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the stake release lever  24  includes a lever portion extended from the top base  12 , wherein the lever portion includes a top end attached to the top base  12  and a bottom and narrower than the top end. The stake release lever  24  further includes a pushing portion extending laterally from the bottom end of the lever portion of the stake release lever  24 . As seen in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the bottom base  14  includes a stake locking portion positioned below the stake release lever  24  and extending into the empty space formed within the bottom base  14 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the stake  18  includes an elongate main stake portion having two ends, i.e., an upper end and a bottom end. The upper end of the stake  18  is pivotally connected to the bottom base  14  of the clip  10  with a pivot joint. The bottom end of the stake  18  is pivotally connected to the upper end of the spike  20 . When the stake  18  and the spike  20  are extended and lowered to a 90° angle to the clip  10 , the stake  18  and the spike  20  can be inserted into porous surfaces to anchor each corner edge of the fabric or material. The elongated main stake portion further comprises a middle portion between the upper end and the bottom end, wherein the stake lock  26  extends from the middle portion of the elongate main stake portion of the stake  18 . The stake lock  26  includes a projecting portion extending from the middle portion of the elongate main stake portion of the stake  18 . The stake lock  26  further includes a locking portion extending from the projecting portion and having an inclined end surface. When the back ends of the top base  12  and the bottom base  14  are squeezed together, the stake release leaver  24  would laterally push the locking portion of the stake lock  26  to release the stake  18  and the spike  20  into a 90° vertical access position such that the stake  18  and the spike  20  may be used to anchor the apparatus into porous surfaces. When not in use, the stake  18  and the spike  20  may be folded and retracted into the bottom base  14  with the stake lock  26  directly engaging the stake locking portion formed within the bottom base  14  such that the stake  18  and the spike  20  are securely locked in place within the bottom base  14 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the spike  20  includes an upper end and a bottom end, wherein the upper end of the spike  20  is pivotally connected to the bottom end of the stake  18 . The bottom end of the spike  20  is tapered longitudinally to a point at a free end to insert the spike  20  into porous surfaces. The spike  20  would be extractable and extendable to prolong the stake  18  providing a vertical tolerance for variances in the depth of porous surfaces into which the stake  18  in the spike  20  can be driven. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4 , the stake  18  and the spike  20  are collapsible under the bottom base  14 , thereby providing a means of flexibility to store safely the apparatus in a pouch inside a handbag or a carrier without snagging or piercing any items where it is stored. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  which shows a side elevation view of the clip  10 , the top base  12  is joined to the bottom base  14  by a resilient conjoined fulcrum  30 . As shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the conjoined fulcrum  30  contains a torsion spring  32 , which is connected to the pivotal fulcrum by a pin to join the top base  12  and the bottom base  14 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the spike  20  is locked with the stake  18  using a locking mechanism  34  for prolonging the stake  18 . By this arrangement, the stake  18  and the spike  20  would be secured in a locked vertical axis position to anchor the clip  10  apparatus into porous surfaces.