Land vehicles – Wheeled – Extensible
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-21
2003-12-09
Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Extensible
C280S415100, C280S789000, C296S181700
Reexamination Certificate
active
06659497
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates, in general, to an apparatus to transport transporting hunting and felled game processing equipment. In particular, the invention relates to an apparatus for combining separate hunting and felled game processing equipment into a mobile unitary holding structure. More particularly the invention relates to a mobile unitary holding structure that may be parsed into respective hunting equipment and felled game processing equipment at a hunting location.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Historically, game hunters did not have to venture far from home to fell game. As the human population increases game preserves became more restrictive i.e., more people to hunt fewer game. Progressively hunters have to travel farther from home to hunt due to the thinning game population in managed game preserves and overcrowding of hunters. Hunting game often necessitates spending a considerable amount of time in the countryside tracking the intended game and camping-out.
All of the factors surrounding hunting game and camping-out necessitate equipment i.e., a rifle, tent, cooking supplies and game processing equipment. Game processing equipment useful to the game hunter is generally transported by the hunter to the game hunting location. Generally, the game processing equipment includes an apparatus to remove the hide from the felled game and smoking or cooking utensils. Suitable apparatus to remove the hide from felled game having body weights from 80 lbs. to about 1500 lbs. may be quite large and heavy.
Attempts in the past have been focused on repackaging the game hunting equipment to make it more compact and transportable. However, game-processing equipment has remained relatively large, heavy and bulky. Transporting the game processing equipment is still unsuited for cross-country travel. The structural integrity of game processing equipment used at the hunting location is of paramount importance. Game processing equipment used at the hunting location has to function flawlessly because facilities to repair game processing equipment are generally unavailable in the countryside. Due to the cumbersomeness of game processing at the hunting location, felled game is transported to a commercial slaughtering house for processing.
When a hunter fells game during the hunting season, he must carry or drag the animal to a proper slaughtering place or slaughter the animal in the wild where the animal was felled. Transporting the felled animal to a slaughtering house can be a time consuming and strenuous operation.
Attempts have been made to provide the hunter with an apparatus to remove the skin from an animal felled in the wild. One such attempt is placing the carcass of the animal in proximity to a footed pole or member that has an overhead winch. A predetermined portion of the carcass's skin is secured to the footed portion of the apparatus and the hind legs are attached to the winch. The winch is activated and the skin is removed from the animal. While this apparatus may skin selectively sized animals, it does not lend itself to skinning all types and sizes of animals. For example, if an animal's girth is less than the distance between the footed portions of the apparatus, a larger portion of the skin has to be peeled from the meat to reach and be secured to the footed portion. This pre-skinning adds to the risk of contaminating the meat of the animal. Portability of such an apparatus is limited. If the apparatus is disassembled, the subassemblies of the apparatus must be retained or bundled in some manner to be transported in bulk. This attempt does not provide any structure to retain the apparatus after disassembly or means for easily transporting the apparatus once disassembled.
Another attempt to provide the hunter with an apparatus to remove the skin from an animal felled in the wild is a skinning apparatus that secures the antlers of the carcass to a tree and a portion of the skin of the animal is secured to a vehicle via a skin removal tool. The vehicle then moves in a direction opposite from the tree and the skin is removed from the carcass.
It would be desirable to have an apparatus that is easily transported to a hunting location regardless of bulk or weight. The apparatus would be self contained i.e., all felled game processing equipment and hunting equipment would be contained on the transportable apparatus. When the apparatus arrived at the hunting location the apparatus would be parsed into respective felled game processing equipment and hunting equipment to be utilized when needed by the user. Upon completion of hunting or felled game processing the parsed apparatus would be combined into a unitary apparatus ready to be transported to a subsequent location.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The preferred embodiment of the present invention is a mobile tri-modal trailer having a load bearing earth-traversing mode, a felled game processing mode and an equipment transport mode. The three aforementioned modes have distinct operational and supporting apparatus. When the three distinct modes are combined into the tri-modal trailer a user may, if desired, transport the present invention to a desired hunting location. Once the user has arrived at the hunting location, the tri-modal trailer may, if desired, be parsed into three distinct operational functions and supporting apparatus enabling the user to process felled game at the hunting location.
In operation the user of the present invention may, if desired, avail himself to one, all or any combination of the respective modes of the present invention. A typical operation of the present invention is to have all three of its distinct operational functions and supporting apparatus combined into the tri-modal trailer. The present invention's load bearing earth-traversing mode enabling the transport of substantial weight is towed to a game hunting location via any convenient vehicle. At the hunting location the present invention may, if desired, be unhitched from the vehicle.
The present invention is parsed into its respective modes: The felled game processing mode in concert with the equipment transporting mode's supporting apparatus i.e., the felled game processing equipment is removed from a substantially rectangular member and a retractable A-frame is removed from the confines of its storage compartment or chamber. The load bearing earth-traversing mode has self contained apparatus to facilitate the storage, transport and retrieval of the A-frame. The retractable A-frame is erected into a selected upright position. The felled game processing equipment is attached to the retractable A-frame. The A-frame is extended into a subsequent upright position suitable to suspend felled game thereon. Once the felled game is processed the renderings may, if desired, be transported via the load bearing earth-traversing mode. The parsed three modes of the present invention are recombined into the tri-modal trailer and if desired transported to a subsequent location.
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Johnson Brian L.
McComas Richard C.
Patent Focus, Inc.
Swenson Brian L
LandOfFree
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