1997	1998

Overview

In 1997, Dean Graham of California filed an ornamental design for a combined belay and rappel device with the U.S. Patent Office. In early 1999, they issued Patent Des. 406,048 for the design. His design featured two slots and a perpendicular carabiner hole in an arrangement is reminiscent of the Forrest Triton, the Russian Bukashka-3, and the Wild Country Raptor.

Looking at the design, I see a larger base than expected. I'm not sure why it is so large or what purpose the large hole serves.

In 1998, Graham filed a second design, for which he received U.S. Patent # Des. 406,048. The newer design turned the side perpendicular to the base while retaining the angled carabiner slot. The side was given two long belay holes in addition to the previous short slots on the top. There are many rigging combinations that jump to mind: not only is this reminiscent of the Triton, Bukashka, and Raptor like the earlier version, but some of the rigging ideas used for the Cassin #217, Kong Gi–gi, and New Alp Magic come to mind. Although it is bulky, this is a flexible piece of gear, and an improvement over the 1997 design.

As far as I know, Graham never produced these devices commercially, or at least not on a large scale. In 2005 decided to make copies for myself. Patent drawings do not include dimensions, so I estimated the dimensions by scaling to an assumed slot width. My copy of the earlier version is probably too short. I knew this at the time, but the block of 6061-T6 I had handy was just not quite large enough. I had a larger block that I used to make a copy of the latter version. That one is probably close to the correct size.

[ Top | 1998 | Return to Slot Blocks ]

1997
(#806)

Front	Rear	Top
Left	Right	Bottom

Technical Details

I made this in 2005 using Neil Graham’s 1999 U.S. Patent # Des. 406,048 (filed in 1997) as a guide.

Comments

Graham’s features two slots on the left side (as photographed) and a perpendicular carabiner hole. This arrangement is reminiscent of the Triton, Bukashka-3, and Raptor. I'm not sure what purpose the base serves, and the patent included artwork only, so there is no description.

Patent drawings do not include dimensions, so I estimated the dimensions by scaling to an assumed slot width. I believe that my device should be a bit longer, but the block of 6061-T6 I had handy limited the overall length that I could make this.

[ Top | 1997 | Return to Slot Blocks ]

1998
(#807)

Front	Rear	Top
Left	Right	Bottom

Technical Details

I made this in 2005 using Neil Graham’s 1999 U.S. Patent # Des. 413,786 (filed in 1998) as a guide.

Comments

The 1998 design turns the left side perpendicular to the base while retaining the angled carabiner slot. The base now has two long belay holes. There are many rigging combinations that jump to mind: not only is this reminiscent of the Triton, Bukashka-3, and Raptor, but some of the rigging ideas used for the Cassin #217, Kong Gi–gi, and New Alp Magic come to mind. Although it is bulky, this is a flexible piece of gear, and an improvement over the 1997 design.

Patent drawings do not include dimensions, so I estimated the dimensions by scaling to an assumed slot width. This time, I think that the block of 6061-T6 that I had available was large enough to make a reasonably faithful copy of the inventor’s intent.

[ Top | 1997 | 1998 ]