Jerry Kirby of Pleasanton, Texas recently received U.S. Patent 8,151,934 for “Portable Observation Tower and System for Operation.”

Texas Business Patent of the Day:  An Atascosa County, Texas, man has devised a way to reach the high ground for observation, even if you’re on low ground.

Jerry Kirby of Pleasanton, Texas recently received U.S. Patent 8,151,934 for “Portable Observation Tower and System for Operation.”

Kirby applied for the patent about six years ago on April 11, 2006.

Kirby’s invention relates to an observation tower, according to the patent document.

More specifically, his invention relates to an observation tower that can be easily moved from once place to another and erected on site with minimal effort. 

Observation towers are useful because such towers permit a wide view of their surroundings. The typical observation tower is designed in a rigid manner requiring that the user take special efforts to find the ideal location for placement because moving such a tower can be cumbersome.

In addition, the typical tower requires a large amount of time to assemble and erect.

Unfortunately, most users are in need of observation towers that can be placed in less than ideal locations within a small time window. The present invention satisfies this need by providing a portable observation tower that can be moved from site to site easily and erected in less than ideal locations without a lot of time expended. 

 The preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a portable observation tower and a system of raising and lowering the portable observation tower. The tower has a tower box. There are two front legs attached in a fixed position to the tower box. There are two back legs attached on a hinge system to the tower box which allows the back legs to swivel in relation to the tower box.

Each leg of the tower has two sections. A first section of the legs is telescoped inside a second section to reduce the overall length and width of the legs and the tower as a whole. Once the desired length for the legs is acquired, a locking pin will fix the legs into the desired position. In raising the tower, the front legs are pulled toward the back legs with a winch system that is mounted on a front trailer hitch system on the front legs. By pulling in this manner, the tower will raise to a vertical upright position. 

More specifically, the angle between the front legs and the back legs is almost 180 degrees so rolling landing gear is used to be lowered and drawn by the a winch to a frontmost position. The rolling landing gear is installed adjacent the hinge system of the back legs. The rolling landing gear is attached by way of a winch line to a winch. By lowering the rolling landing gear and pulling it forward with the winch line to a locking position (slanted toward the front legs) the rolling landing gear raises the mid section of the tower box and thereby reduces the angle of the front legs to the back legs. Once this is completed a winch line is attached to an axle of the back legs to draw the back legs to the front legs by way of a winch. By drawing the front and back legs together the tower is elevated to its full upright position. 

There are trailer wheels mounted on the back legs which aid in forward movement of the back legs toward the front legs. There is also a screw type trailer jack mounted on the front trailer hitch system which has a rolling wheel that aids in the rearward movement of the front legs toward the back legs in the raising process. The lowering process occurs in reverse order of the raising process. The wheels and winch are also used in reverse order for the lowering process.