Compact foldable bootjack with positive locking device

A compact, foldable bootjack including an elongated, planar front member and an elongated planar rear member, means for hinge connecting said front and rear members at abutting ends for folding bottom to bottom onto each other and about the hinge connection, a right angle leg member being hinge connected at its upper end to the bottom of the front member forward of the hinge connection between said members for pivoting from a first position overlying and against the bottom of the front member to a position generally at right angles thereto with its bottom end in contact with an underlying support surface for supporting the front and rear members when in extended position inclined upwardly and forwardly, said front member bearing a V-shaped opening at its end remote from its hinge connection to said rear member to receive the heel of a boot to facilitate removal of the boot from the user's foot, the improvement comprising:

• a leg member locking bar being pivotably connected at one end to said leg member intermediate of its ends and adjacent the lower end thereof in contact with the support surface and being pivotably connected at its opposite end to said rear member, rearwardly of the hinge joint between said front and rear members such that when the front and rear members are in extended position, the leg member is generally at right angles to the bottom of the front member, and the locking bar extends generally at right angles to the plane of the leg member to form a highly rigid, triangular support for the open, extended bootjack and to resist forces acting through the bootjack during removal of a boot inserted within the V-shaped opening of the front member, and wherein during folding of the bootjack front and rear members about the hinge axis connecting the same, the front and rear members, the leg member and the locking bar are all folded about their hinge axes into generally parallel coplanar position.