Hands-free article holder and method

Abstract

A chest-mounted assembly for holding an article, the assembly comprising a chest plate, a plurality of indexing supports situated on the chest plate, an indexing bar pivotally connected to the chest plate by a pivot bar and supported by at least one of the plurality of indexing supports, and an article mount positioned on the indexing bar. A method for a user to adjust the height level of a hands-free supported article, the method comprising the steps of mounting a chest plate on the user, the chest plate having a pivot support and a plurality of indexing supports situated thereon, attaching the article to an article mount, the article mount being connected to the pivot support, positioning the article at a desired height with respect to the user, and selecting one of the indexing supports to thereby fix the article and the article mount at a desired height position.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A chest-mounted assembly for holding an article, the assembly comprising: 
 a chest plate;    a plurality of indexing supports situated on the chest plate;    an indexing bar pivotally connected to the chest plate by a pivot bar and supported by at least one of the plurality of indexing supports; and    an article mount positioned on a first distal end of the indexing bar.    
     
     
         2 . The assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the chest plate comprises: 
 at least one pivot support for securing the pivot bar to the chest plate; and    at least one strap removably attached to the chest plate.    
     
     
         3 . The assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the indexing bar comprises at least one of the following: 
 a pivot joint situated near the first distal end of the indexing bar;    a pin situated near a second distal end of the indexing bar; and    a handle situated near the second distal end of the indexing bar.    
     
     
         4 . The assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the indexing supports are selected from the group consisting of holes, a step-like structure, a slidable block, notched grooves, and ratchet teeth.  
     
     
         5 . The assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the pivot bar comprises a first pivot arm and a second pivot arm.  
     
     
         6 . The assembly of  claim 5 , further comprising a second pivot support.  
     
     
         7 . The assembly of  claim 6 , wherein the first pivot arm is removably secured to the first pivot support and the second pivot arm is removably secured to the second pivot support.  
     
     
         8 . The assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one strap is one of a torso strap and a neck strap.  
     
     
         9 . The assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the article mount removably supports one of a spotting scope, binoculars, a camera, and a video camera.  
     
     
         10 . The assembly of  claim 9 , wherein a universal screw mount is attached to the article mount.  
     
     
         11 . The assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the pivot joint pivotally supports the pivot bar.  
     
     
         12 . The assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the pin is supported by at least one of the plurality of indexing supports.  
     
     
         13 . The assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the handle is used to move the indexing bar between the plurality of indexing supports.  
     
     
         14 . A method for a user to adjust the height level of a hands-free supported article, the method comprising the steps of: 
 mounting a chest plate on the user, the chest plate having a pivot support and a plurality of indexing supports situated thereon;    attaching the article to an article mount, the article mount being connected to the pivot support;    positioning the article at a desired height with respect to the user; and    selecting one of the indexing supports to thereby fix the article and the article mount at a desired height position.    
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the steps of selecting an indexing support comprises grasping a handle on an indexing bar, the indexing bar being connected with the article mount, and raising or lowering the handle.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the indexing bar further comprises a pin situated on the indexing bar, wherein the handle is used to move the indexing bar and the pin is inserted into at least one of the plurality of indexing supports.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , further including the step of pivoting the article with respect to the article mount, after the desired height position is selected.