Abstract: A tripod/telescope assembly including a tripod structure and optical tube-fork-base structure removably connected to one another by a conical central opening formed in an upper structure of the tripod and a complementary conical structure extending from a lower portion of the optical tube-fork-base. The tripod has three equally spaced legs pivotally extending downward from the upper structure of the tripod head. The tripod structure and optical tube-fork-base structure are disassembled and reassembled by a hand knob that has a central threaded fastening shaft extending through the complementary conical structures. The hand knob and complementary conical structures establish a stable, rotatable platform and allow the tube-fork-base structure of the telescope to be quickly separable from the tripod structure for transportation purposes.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
August 18, 2000
Date of Patent:
October 22, 2002
Assignee:
Celestron International
Inventors:
Richard L. Hedrick, Manishi Gupta, Jospeh R. Garrison