Patent Application
20080093403
Before the present invention is disclosed and described, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular structures, process steps, or materials disclosed herein, but is extended to equivalents thereof as would be recognized by those of ordinarily skilled in the relevant arts. It should also be understood that terminology employed herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting.
It must be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a” and “the” include plural referents, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to an “upright arm” includes one or more of such arms.
In describing and claiming the present invention, the following terminology will be used in accordance with the definitions set forth below.
As used herein, the term “article” is to be understood to refer to an object that can be mounted to at least a portion of an ATV in order to be transported by the ATV. Examples of articles include, without limitation, yard tools, such as shovels, rakes, picks, etc., guns, bows, camera equipment, scopes, and also intermediate structures, such as tripods, rests, etc., on which such devices can be mounted or rested.
Distances, forces, weights, amounts, and other numerical data may be expressed or presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such a range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and thus should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited.
As an illustration, a numerical range of “about 1 inch to about 5 inches” should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited values of about 1 inch to about 5 inches, but also include individual values and sub-ranges within the indicated range. Thus, included in this numerical range are individual values such as 2, 3, and 4 and sub-ranges such as from 1-3, from 2-4, and from 3-5, etc.
This same principle applies to ranges reciting only one numerical value and should apply regardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristics being described.
As illustrated in
Generally, the article holder 10 can include an attachment base 12 that can be attached to various structure (not shown) of the ATV, such as handlebars of the ATV, a cargo rack of the ATV, etc. A holding member (shown generally at 14) can extend from the attachment base and can be configured to receive and hold an article (shown schematically at 31 in
In one embodiment of the invention, one or more of the at least three containment arms 16a, 16b and 16c can each be biased toward to a neutral position such that the arms apply a securing force to the article 31 as the containment arms are displaced by the article from the neutral position. The biasing force applied by the containment arms can be generated in a number of manners. For example, in one aspect of the invention, at least a portion of one or more of the containment arms can be made resilient. Resiliency can be provided by way of forming the arms from a material that, when formed in an appropriate shape, has the tendency to return to a neutral position (e.g., the position illustrated in the figures) after being displaced from the neutral position. Examples of suitable such materials include, without limitation, Nylon 6, supertough nylon, etc.
In normal operation, one or more of the containment arms can be displaced from a neutral position, and will return to the neutral position after the displacing force is removed. Thus, normal displacement of the containment arms will not result in significant permanent damage being done to the containment arms. While the containment arms 16a, 16b and 16c may not be formed from a material classified as “resilient” (the material may be relatively rigid, for example), the overall configuration of the containment arms can result in resiliency being provided to the containment arms.
The at least three containment arms 16a, 16b and 16c provide advantages not found in conventional article holders that generally include only two bifurcated arms. When attempting to mount an elongate object or article, such as a rifle or a bow, to an ATV utilizing such conventional article holders, two or more article holders have been required to restrict the article from tending to “rock” or “teeter” in the holder. In other words, if a single, dual-arm holder is utilized to carry an elongate object, the object must be centered within the holder or one side or another of the object will tend to move downwardly while the other side tends to move upwardly. Even if the object is properly centered on (or in) the holder and prevented from teetering in a vertical plane, the object can be subject to teetering in a horizontal plane (e.g., the ends of the object can move backwardly and forwardly relative to the ATV on which the dual-arm holder is mounted). Thus, using only one conventional article holder to secure an article to an ATV has resulted in an unacceptable degree of instability in the article that is meant to be secured.
In contrast, the present holder 10 can include at least three containment arms that can be arranged with two containment arms, e.g., 16a and 16c, facing the containment area 18 on a first side, and one containment arm, e.g., 16b, facing the containment area on an opposing side. In this manner, when an article is held within the containment area by the biasing force of one or more of the arms, the object is contacted by each of the three containment arms and is thereby restricted from the tendency to “rock” or “teeter” backward and forward (and/or upwardly and downwardly) within the containment area by the three-point contact with the holder 10. Thus, a single article holder in accordance with the present invention can be used to secure relatively elongate objects to an ATV while limiting or eliminating any tendency of such objects to “rock” or “teeter” within the holder.
As best appreciated from
The article holder of the present invention can be formed from a variety of materials and in a variety of configurations. In one embodiment, the holder includes an inner, core material 26 that can be formed of a relatively rigid material such as supertough nylon. An outer, sheathing material 28 can be attached to, joined with, or formed around the inner core. The outer material can be formed of a relatively pliable material, such as the material sold under the tradename Sanoprene. Such a pliable material can have, for example, a Shore A hardness of around 65.
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As the locations 32 coincide with the area at which an object inserted into the containment area 18 will contact one or more of the containment arms 16a, 16b or 16c, it may be the case that the relatively pliable material 28 positioned on the arms at this location may serve to restrict or inhibit movement of the article past the locations 32 and into the containment area. The present invention addresses this potential problem by including sections of the relatively low-friction, inner material 28 on or in the restraining arms at the location where an object being inserted into the containment area will contact the arms. In this manner, the object can be relatively easily inserted into the containment area (while deflecting one or more of the containment arms from the neutral position as it travels into the containment area), yet can be firmly engaged by the outer, sheathing material once disposed in the containment area.
In addition to having the inner, core material 26 protrude through the outer, sheathing material 28 in the locations 32 shown, it is contemplated that the outer, sheathing material can provide full coverage over the locations 32 and that pieces or portions of the inner material (or another suitable material) can be applied to the locations 32 to provide a relatively low-friction interface at these locations.
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In addition to the structural considerations discussed above, the present invention also provides a method of storing an article on an ATV, including: positioning the article adjacent a containment area of an article holder mounted to the ATV; and inserting the article between three containment arms of the article holder to cause at least one of the containment arms to resiliently deflect, at least one of the containment arms applying a securing force to the article as it is held in the containment area.
In one aspect, the article is a bow, and inserting the article between the containment arms can include inserting a handle portion of the bow between the containment arms.
It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are only illustrative of the application of the principles of the present invention. Numerous modifications and alternative arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and the appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements. Thus, while the present invention has been described above with particularity and detail in connection with what is presently deemed to be the most practical and preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications, including, but not limited to, variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use may be made without departing from the principles and concepts set forth herein.
