Emergency signal flag

Claim 1

A signal flag apparatus having a deployed condition and a storage condition comprising the combination of: an elongated tube having an open ended passageway extending there through; a shaft slidably housed in said tube; a flag secured along one end of said shaft; a cylindrical guide secured to said shaft midway between its opposite ends and occupying the diameter of said passageway in sliding relationship therewith; a plug having a tapered passageway secured to a selected end of said tube occupying said passageway and provided with an annular shoulder facing the underside of said guide; a coil spRing within said tube passageway expandable between said plug shoulder and said guide to normally urge said shaft out of said tube at its end opposite to its end secured by said plug; a collar secured to the end of said tube from which said shaft and said flag exists that restricts said tube passageway and that cooperates with said guide for limiting movement of said shaft through said tube whereby said flag is deployed externally of said tube; a spring loaded latch lever pivotally carried on said tube and releasable engagable with a conical shaped member carried on the end of said shaft; a pull cord carried on the end of said shaft in securement with said conical shaped member and having an effective length hanging from said tube passageway via said tapered passageway for gripping and pulling whereby said shaft and said flag are withdrawn into its storage condition; said conical member mating with said tapered passageway to seat said shaft in said tube passageway wherein said latch lever engages said conical member to retain said shaft and said flag in its storage condition; and said collar further having a tapered entrance leading into said tube passageway for allowing reciprocal movement of said shaft therethrough and for furling said flag upon withdrawal into said tube.