Patent Application
20200256079
The present invention relates to an installation tool, particularly useful for installing snow stakes.
Many commonly insert stakes partially into the ground to visually mark off areas. For example, one may use stakes to mark off areas to avoid when clearing snow. Such snow stakes may be partially inserted into the ground to mark off curbs along a street, the edge of driveways or sidewalks, sprinkler systems, or other areas. Often such stakes are flexible and can be broken if bent too far, thus making installation of the stakes more time consuming and difficult than desired. Holes can be dug to assist in installation, but this is also much more time consuming than is desired.
An embodiment contemplates a stake installation tool comprising: a rod having a lower end and an opposed upper end; a sleeve fixed to the rod around an outer surface of the upper end; and a support tube having channel extending therethrough, with the sleeve mounted within the channel adjacent to an upper end of the support tube and fixed thereto, and with the rod extending through the channel and extending downward from a lower end of the support tube, creating a gap between the channel and the rod configured to receive a stake in the gap while the stake also extends downward from the lower end of the support tube on the rod.
An embodiment contemplates a stake installation tool comprising: a rod having a tapered lower end and an opposed upper end; a sleeve fixed to the rod around an outer surface of the upper end; a hollow cylindrical support tube having channel extending therethrough, with the sleeve mounted within the channel adjacent to an upper end of the support tube and fixed thereto, and with the rod extending through the channel and extending downward from a lower end of the support tube, creating a gap between the channel and the rod configured to receive a stake in the gap while the stake also extends downward from the lower end of the support tube on the rod; and a handle mounted on the upper end of the support tube.
An advantage of an embodiment is that stakes can be relatively easily and quickly installed partially in the ground without breaking the stakes during insertion. Such quick and easy installation makes marking areas for snow removal or other uses more convenient, thus assisting those in the snow removal or other businesses where marking of areas with stakes is desired. Additionally, less expensive hollow snow stakes may be employed, thus saving money, particularly for commercial snow removal operations where many stakes are distributed at multiple properties.
The installation tool 22 may be assembled by telescopically sliding an upper end 42 of the rod 30 into the passage 28 of the sleeve 26, as best seen in
After securing the rod 30 to the sleeve 26, the lower end 31 of the rod 30 is telescopically slid into the channel 34 of the support tube 32, and then the sleeve 26 and rod 30 are slid into the channel 34, as best seen in
After securing the support tube 32 to the sleeve 26, and hence the rod 30, an upper end 44 of the support tube 32 may be slid into the aperture 40 in the handle 36, as best seen in
One will note that the diameter of the rod 30 is smaller than the diameter of the channel 34 in the support tube 32, creating a cylindrical shaped gap 46, best seen in
The following are non-limiting examples of possible dimensions for the various components of the installation tool 22. If one wishes to install thirty-six inch stakes 20, for example, then the rod 30 may be about thirty-eight inches long and have a diameter of 19/64 inch; the support tube 32 may be about thirty-four inches long, having an outside diameter of 9/16 inch and a diameter of 27/64 inch for the channel 34; the sleeve 26 may be about one inch long, having an outside diameter of 7/16 inch and a diameter of 19/64 inch for the passage 28; and the handle 36 may be about four inches long, having an outside diameter of ⅞ inch, a diameter of 27/64 inch for the duct 38, and an aperture diameter of 19/32 inch. The rod 30, then, extends about four inches past the lower end 50 of the support tube 32. This allows for the snow stake 20 to readily telescopically slide all of the way onto the rod 30 while still extending out of the gap 46 past the lower end 50 of the support tube 32.
As another example of possible dimensions for the installation tool 22 sized for installing twenty-six inch snow stakes 20, the dimensions may be generally the same but with the length of the rod 30 shortened to twenty-eight inches and the length of the support tube 32 shortened to twenty-three inches. Of course, other sizes of snow stakes and other sizes of the installation tool may be employed as well, if so desired.
The installation of the snow stake 20 employing the installation tool 22 may be as follows. One telescopically slides the snow stake 20 onto the lower end 31 of the rod 30 and slides the snow stake 20 into the gap 46 until the snow stake 20 abuts the sleeve 26. One then locates the lower end 31 of the rod 30 above the ground where one wishes to mount the snow stake 20, and then pushes downward on the handle 36 to cause the lower end 31 of the rod 30 to push into the ground the desired distance. While pushing down on the handle 36 to drive the rod 30 into the ground, one may use the lower end 50 of the support tube 32 as a guide to determine how deep the snow stake 20 has been driven into the ground. Upon reaching the desired depth, one pulls straight upward on the handle 36 to remove the installation tool 22 from the ground while leaving behind the snow stake 20.
While certain embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which this invention relates will recognize various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention as defined by the following claims.
The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/803,394, filed Feb. 8, 2019, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62803394 | Feb 2019 | US |
