Rope retaining stake

Claim 1

A stake for driving into the ground and for being anchored within the ground, including an elongated shank, said shank having opposite faces, a head for receiving impact forces at one end of the shank, a ground-penetrating point at the opposite end of said shank, a flange extending along the length of one edge of said shank, an opposite flange extending along the length of the opposite edge of said shank, said flanges at the opposite edges of the said shank extending to the opposite faces of said elongated shank to define a channel on each side of said shank, a plurality of louver elements along each face of said shank and enclosed within the respective channel thereof, said louver elements being linearly aligned along said shank and said louver elements along one face of said shank being in staggered relationship with respect to said louver elements disposed along the opposing face of said shank, each louver element having a flat surface substantially normal to a face of said elongated shank and a downwardly and inwardly tapered surface which terminates at the base of the shank, a cleat member on the upper one-half of said shank and disposed below said head, said cleat member having an elongated body, and an intermediate connecting portion adjoining said body to said shank, a rope passageway between said elongated body and said shank on one side of said connecting portion, said rope passageway having a dimension sufficient to allow a rope of selected size to pass therethrough and a tapered passageway between said cleat member and said shank on the other side of said connecting body portion, said tapered passageway having a dimension sufficient to allow a rope of selected size to be wedged in a smaller dimension toward the bottom of said tapered passageway when said rope is turned through said passageway, abutted against said connecting body portion, and moved through said tapered passageway.