Climbing rocks with full outer grip

Abstract

The invention provides an imitation climbing rock that allows children to simulate rock climbing activity. The climbing rock is adapted to be attached to a wall to simulate a natural rock-like structure. The climbing rock includes a mounting surface, a body (e.g., a continuous side wall) and an endless grip that extends outwardly from the entire circumference of the body. The endless grip provides a hand / foot hold for children seeking to grasp the climbing rock as they attempt to negotiate a wall that includes several of the climbing rocks. The endless grip provides a hand / foot hold regardless of a climbing child's position relative to the climbing rock and no matter how the climbing rock is mounted to the climbing wall.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10 / 705,076 filed Nov. 10, 2003, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10 / 365,584 filed Feb. 12, 2003, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09 / 544,073 filed Apr. 6, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,645, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09 / 289,038 filed Apr. 9, 1999, now abandoned.BACKGROUND OF INVENTION [0002] The invention relates to a climbing rock, and more particularly, to an imitation climbing rock that allows children to simulate rock climbing activity. [0003] Using imitation climbing rocks to simulate outdoor rock climbing activity is well known (see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,877). Imitation climbing rocks provide rock climbing enthusiasts with the opportunity to simulate outdoor rock climbing activity at an easily accessible location. [0004] The climbing rocks are normally attached to a wall using a single bolt or threaded rod. The climbing ro...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013] A principal advantage of the invention is to provide a climbing rock that mounts to a climbing wall and includes hand / foot holds that allow children to grasp the climbing rock from any position on the climbing wall regardless of the orientation of the climbing rock on the climbing wall.

[0014] Another advantage of the invention is to provide a climbing rock that does not have a tendency to unscrew from a wall when a torque is applied to the climbing rock by a climber during climbing activity.

[0015] Other features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following drawings and claims.

Problems solved by technology

In particular, climbing rocks that have minimal hand / foot holds are harder to grasp and make the wall harder to negotiate.

This type of climbing wall is usually expensive to manufacture because of the large size and complex geometry of the wall.

One of the problems associated with known imitation climbing rocks is that they generally provide an inadequate number and / or type of hand / foot holds for children.

A child negotiating a climbing wall that includes conventional imitation climbing rocks may have trouble finding an effective hand / foot hold.

The letter and number climbing devices suffer from the same problem as the rest of the prior art climbing devices (i.e., a child negotiating a climbing wall that includes the disclosed climbing devices may have trouble finding an effective hand / foot hold).

Therefore, the Kompany climbing devices fail to provide a handhold for a child when the child seeks to grasp the climbing rock from every possible angle as the child maneuvers around on a wall filled with the climbing devices.

Another problem associated with the climbing rock illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is that it has a tendency to loosen as it is used by climbers.

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