Geomatic pole support and foot therefor

Abstract

A support for geomatic equipment such as a geomatic pole has feet which facilitate stability of the pole. The feet are constructed to resist forces applied along legs of the support to which they are connected in both directions, including forces which tend to lift the feet upward. The foot is formed to readily penetrate certain surfaces and to resist withdrawal from the surfaces after penetration. In one embodiment, a fixed connection to the underlying surface may be achieved. The foot is also constructed to resist rotation of the foot and leg to which it is attached which could cause instability of the support.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A foot assembly for a portable support comprising a foot having a foot pad for use in pressing the foot downwardly to stabilize the portable support, and an adjustable ground contact capable of attachment to the foot in different selected positions of extension below the foot.  
     
     
         2 . A foot assembly as set forth in  claim 1  wherein the ground contact is constructed to inhibit ingress of debris that would inhibit the extension and retraction of the ground contact.  
     
     
         3 . A foot assembly as set forth in  claim 2  wherein the ground contact is a screw mounted on the foot pad for extension and retraction relative to the foot pad of a threaded portion of the screw whereby the screw is capable of making a threaded connection with a surface on which the foot assembly rests.  
     
     
         4 . A foot assembly as set forth in  claim 3  further comprising flat webs arranged under the foot pad generally edge on and intersecting each other for use in guiding the foot upon insertion, the screw being supported by the webs in the foot assembly for selective extension below the webs.  
     
     
         5 . A foot assembly as set forth in  claim 4  wherein the lowermost edges of the flat webs are blunt, the lowermost edges being arranged for engaging a supporting surface to inhibit penetration of the surface when the screw is not extended below the webs.  
     
     
         6 . A foot assembly as set forth in  claim 3  in combination with the portable support, the portable support comprising at least one leg having a longitudinal axis, the screw having an axis which is nonparallel and noncoaxial with the longitudinal axis of the leg.  
     
     
         7 . The combination as set forth in  claim 5  wherein the screw has a pointed end which is substantially coplanar with the longitudinal axis of the leg.  
     
     
         8 . A foot assembly for a portable support comprising a foot having a foot pad for use in pressing the foot downwardly into ground on which the portable support rests to stabilize the portable support, the foot having flat webs arranged to enter the ground generally edge on and intersecting each other at an angle for use in guiding the foot upon insertion.