Patent ID: 8757321

Claim:
Long reach pole guide apparatus for guiding a lashing pole alongside a stack of cargo containers which includes a fitting and a bore adjacent thereto, the apparatus comprising: an elongated hollow flexible tube for reaching high on the container stack and including a medial section and, upper and lower extremities; a hanger device mounted to the medial section and including a hook device for hooking over the fitting and a locking pin to project therefrom to an extended position engaging the bore; a biasing spring biasing the locking pin to the extended position; a guide device mounted on the upper extremity and including a foot on the one side for bracing against the wall of one of the containers and a yoke on the opposite side for receipt of a lashing pole; an elongated handle device mounted pivotally to the lower extremity for rotating from an extended position to a retracted position and including on one end a handle and on the opposite end a brace for bracing against the side of one of a lower container; a catch on the handle device for, when the handle is in the extended position, latching with the pole to hold the handle device in the extended position; a biasing device for biasing the handle device to its retracted position; and a cable extending from the handle device through the interior of the tube and connected on one end with the locking pin and, on the other end with the handle device, the handle device being operable upon being rotated to its retracted position to retract the pin from its extended position.