This invention is directed toward providing an adjustable pedestal for a boat accessory such as a table or seat by a pair of rigid tubular members which are vertically slidably telescoped with one end of one of the members adaptable for resting on a support surface, such as the deck of a boat, and the other end of the other member adaptable for attachment to the underside of a table or boat seat so that the latter can be placed at a desired elevation and then releasably locked in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,323 in addition to describing earlier adjustable support devices or pedestals in which the support members are telescoped and which provide for the adjustment of the elevation of the attached device, describes a prior art device in which the inner telescoped tubular member has a series of spaced-apart grooves running parallel to its axis on its outer surface and the outer telescoped member having spaced-apart axially extending ribs on its inner surface for engaging respective grooves on the inner tubular member for use in supporting a boat seat. As mentioned in the ""323 patent the grooves and ribs are dimensioned so that they loosely fit together, when the two members are not frictionally locked together. This serves the purpose of allowing the members to be slidably adjusted with respect to one another while preventing them from rotating and allows sufficient space between the members so that foreign material will not likely adhere to the members in the inner spaces to interfere with the adjustability. While this has worked well with satisfactory results, there is a drawback. When the seat elevation is being changed, there is a wobbly feel to it so that the user, such as the boat owner, might consider this to be an inferior or not well-made product. In order to eliminate this problem, some table and seat pedestals have been made with telescoped tubular members with precision machined mating grooves and ribs so that they have a snug feel yet are slidably adjustable within one another. This of course adds considerable cost to the device and makes it subject to deterioration due to the elevation of the boat seat or table being repeatedly changed.
A pedestal for supporting a boat table or boat seat and providing an adjustable elevation for the seat or table is formed with a pair of telescoped tubular members. The inner rigid tubular member has a series of identically dimensioned grooves or slots which are spaced apart from one another on its outer surface and the outer member has a corresponding and identical set of matching lengthwise grooves or slots which are spaced apart along its inner surface. One of the members is adapted for attaching to the underside of a boat seat or boat table and the other member at its opposite end is adaptable for attachment to a supporting surface such as a boat deck. A set of elongated bearing rods dimensioned to fit snugly in the slots or grooves of the members are placed to rest in the opposite facing grooves of both members. The rods may be removable, if necessary. The rods in the grooves prevent the members from rotating with respect to one another yet allow a smooth but firm transition when the boat seat or table is being slidably adjusted to its desired elevation. A split collar is attached to the outer tubular members and a threaded nut and rod assembly is engaged with the collar and has a handle or knob at the end of the rod as a mechanism for releasably frictionally locking the tubular members together when the accessory has been placed at the desired elevation. The rods located in the slots of the telescoped members prevent the members from rotating with respect to one another while permitting them to be lengthwise movable with little or no wobble. Conventionally, if needed, a mechanism may be coupled to the underside of the accessory for adjustably rotating the seat or table to a desired direction.
As a further feature, the rods may be made long enough to rest on their bottom ends or, alternatively, the rods can be made shorter and held in place with a thin plastic sleeve between the two members having a series of through-slots generally corresponding to the dimensions of the shorter rods in the grooves of the telescoped members.