Retractable column and method of forming

#This invention relates generally to support columns, and more specifically, to an improved retractable support column for use in supporting overhead structures that can be extended from a portable or fixed in place platform.

#Link structures that can be linked together to form a rigid structure are well known in the art. Structures of this kind may be used to form a platform to elevate a person or equipment, to form a bridge to permit a user to pass over an obstacle, or to form a dock. Additionally, such structures have been used in space applications to extend a flexible sheet of material or to form a tower as a structure in space. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,661,082, 3,397,546, 4,024,595, 4,089,147, and 4,237,662.

#Retractable towers of this kind may be further utilized as a portable telecommunications tower, wherein various sights can be tested without constructing a costly test tower at a location to discover it was not effective for the intended purpose. Retractable towers may also be used as a temporary lighting systems for sporting events, emergencies, or on ships. Other applications may also be present in a variety of other fields and a variety of other situations.

#FIG. 1a is an elevational rear view of a portion of the section chain of the present invention.

#FIG. 1b is an elevational rear view of one of the sections of the section chain of the present invention.

#FIG. 2 is a front view of a chain connection member.

#Additional features of the apparatus of the present invention will become more fully apparent and understood with reference to the above-referenced drawings, this description, and the appended claims, including the described embodiments of the extendable support column, and the description of erecting the device.

#The accompanying Figures and descriptive material depict and describe embodiments of the present invention, including features and components thereof. With regard to fastening, mounting, attaching or connecting the components of the present invention to form the device or apparatus as a whole, unless specifically described otherwise, the invention may incorporate or use conventional fasteners such as screws, nut and bolt connectors, etc. Unless specifically otherwise disclosed or taught, materials for making components of the present invention are selected from appropriate materials such as metal, metallic alloys, fibers, fabrics, plastics and the like, natural or synthetic, and appropriate manufacturing or production methods including casting, extruding, molding and machining may be used. Furthermore, the members and components of the present invention may be constructed of solid formed pieces or hollow pieces, depending on the weight placed upon the tower while in use and the structural strength of the material used to make the tower.

#Any references to front and back, right and left, top and bottom, and upper and lower are intended for convenience of description, not to limit the present invention or its components to any one positional or spatial orientation. As used herein, the terms “tower,” “extendable tower,” or “retractable tower” are intended to mean and/or encompass structures and/or apparatuses raised or raisable above a surface for providing a support column. Furthermore, each repetitive unit of the extendable tower may be referred to as a “section” or “link.” Each section or link may be of increasing length for reasons described further herein. The strip of sections placed together may be referred to as a section chain.