AU2013100979A4 - Trailer boat launch and retrieval system - Google Patents

Abstract

A trailer boat launch and retrieval system has a hook member mountable on the bow of a boat, and a catch assembly mounted on the boat trailer. The 5 catch assembly has a roller, engageable by the hook member, at the distal ends of catch arms hingedly mounted on a support, and urged by a spring towards a raised, "set" (retrieve) position adjustably set by a chain / spring assembly. The catch arms are rotatably mounted on a transverse axle received by the support and optional supporting a winch support roller and/or 10 boat guides. When the boat is driven onto the boat trailer for retrieval, the hook member rides over, and depresses the roller, which is then urged back to the "set" (retrieve) position to engage the hook member and prevent release of the boat from the boat trailer. 15 The catch arms have elongate slots adjacent their distal ends; and a transverse axle, supporting the roller, has respective non-circular extensions slidably received in the elongate slots; where a first of the extensions is longer than the other to enable the spacing of hubs at the proximal ends of the catch arms to be varied for monting on supports of different sizes.

Description

P/00/012 Regulation 3.2 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 ORIGINAL COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT Invention Title: "TRAILER BOAT LAUNCH AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 1 TITLE: TRAILER BOAT LAUNCH AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION: 1. Field of the Invention: 5 [0001] This invention relates to a trailer boat launch and retrieval system. [0002] The invention particularly relates, but is not limited to, a trailer boat launch and retrieval system, which can be provided at the time of manufacture of the boat trailer, or retro-fitted; and which enables the boat to driven off and onto, and secured to, the boat trailer while the driver remains 10 on the boat. 2. Prior Art: [0003] NB: The following discussion is by way of background information only, and is not to be considered as a statement of the common general knowledge (CGK) in the area of technology, any where in the world. 15 [0004]The retrieval of boats, such as dinghies or "tinnies", personal water craft (PWC), and other such watercraft, is always fraught with problems. [0005] These problems are exacerbated if only one person is available for the retrieval. [0006] The driver must place the bow of the boat adjacent, or on, at least the 20 rear rollers of the boat trailer, and then attach a cable or line e.g. attached to a winch, to pull the boat onto the trailer. While all of this is happening, wind and/or wave effects are trying to skew and/or push the boat away from the boat trailer. For example, when the driver exits the boat to get the cable for attachment to the bow, the boat may have started floating away e.g. into 25 water too deep to walk into. [0007] To overcome the problem, trailer boat launch and retrieval systems have been proposed in the past. While they may overcome some of the problems of retrieving a boat, as hereinbefore described, they usually create new problems. For example, they may not be suitable for retro-fitting to 30 existing boat trailers and/or not provide effective hooks or the like to be fitted to the boats. [0008] The problems with the prior art systems has been largely overcome 2 by my system disclosed in AU 2012100317 (POMPER); the disclosure of which is included in the present Specification by reference SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION: 5 [0009] It is an object of the present invention to overcome, or at least ameliorate, the problem of mounting trailer boat launch and retrieval systems on existing mounting locations of different dimensions. [0010] In one aspect, the present invention resides in a trailer boat launch and retrieval system including: 10 a catch assembly, releasably engageable a hook member mountable on a bow portion of a boat, including: a pair of spaced catch arms rotatably mountable on a support on the boat trailer; a hook-engaging member interconnecting distal ends of the catch arms; and 15 at least one spring mechanism mountable on the support and connected to at least one of the catch arms, operable to hold the catch arms, and thereby the hook-engaging member in a "set" (retrieve) position engageable by the hook member, while allowing the hook-engaging member to be movable downwardly to a "release" (launch) position; wherein: 20 the distal ends of the catch arms are provided with elongated slots which slidably receive non-circular end portions on the hook-engaging member; fasteners secure the distal ends of the catch arms to the non-circular portions; and a first of the non-circular portions is of increased length than the other of the 25 non-circular portions; so arranged that the proximal ends of the catch arms can be mounted on supports within a range of widths. [0011] Preferably, the support on the boat trailer includes a pair of winch support arms; 30 the catch arms are hingedly mounted, at their proximal ends, on a transverse axle which interconnects upper ends of the winch support arms; and the transverse axle also rotatably supports a bow roller and/or one or more 3 guide rollers engageable by the bow portion. [0012] Preferably, the proximal ends of the catch arms are received in moulded recesses in inwardly-directed faces of the guide rollers. [0013] Preferably, the hook-engaging member includes a transverse rod , 5 which rotatably supports a roller engageable by the hook member. [0014] Preferably, the spring mechanism is a clock-work type spring, mounted about the axle and having a distal end of a spring-arm connected to one of the catch arms. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS: 10 [0015] To enable the invention to be fully understood, preferred embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the trailer boat launch and retrieval system, in accordance with the present invention, with the catch 15 assembly in the "set" (retrieve) position prior to engagement with the boat; FIG. 2 is an "exploded" schematic view of the catch arms and hook-engaging member FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the catch arms and their respective guide rollers; and 20 FIG. 4 is an "exploded" view of a hook member suitable for mounting on a boat. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS: [0016] The present invention will now be described with reference to the 25 retro-fitting of the trailer boat launch and retrieval system 10 to an existing boat trailer 20. The skilled addressee will appreciate that the system 10 can be fitted at the time of manufacture of the boat trailer 20. [0017] The skilled addressee will appreciate the present invention contains improvements over the system disclosed in my earlier AU 2012100317 30 (POMPER); and detailed features of that system are application to the present invention; where the disclosure of AU 2012100317 is included by reference.

4 [0018] The term "boat" is used to include dinghies, "tinnies", personal water craft (PWC), trailer-able sailing boats (i.e. "trailer-sailers"), and like watercraft which can be transported on boat trailers or like transport vehicles. [0019] In FIG. 1 the boat trailer 20 has a winch support 21 on which is 5 mounted a winch 22 provided with a cable or strap 23, the free end of which is provided with a hook 23A, engageable with the bow portion 31 of the boat 30 to enable the latter to be retrieved. [0020] The winch support 21, having a pair of winch support arms 25, is provided intermediate the winch 22 and the boat 30 to assist the cable or 10 strap 23 to be guided on the winch 22 as the boat 30 is retrieved. Respective guide rollers 26 are mounted at the tops of the winch support arms 25 to engage / guide the bow portion 31 when the boat 30 is being / has been retrieved. [0021] The hook assembly 40 is preferably for a fiberglass (or composite) 15 hull for the boat 30. The hook assembly 40 is fabricated with a substantially U-shaped body 41 and a substantially L-shaped rearwardly-directed tongue 42. A brace member 43 interconnects the body 41 and tongue 42 to form a smaller eyelet 44A to receive a D-shackle on a safety chain. The body 41 forms larger eyelet 44 to receive the hook on the cable or strap 23. 20 [0022] The catch assembly 50 has a pair of spaced catch arms 51, e.g. formed from corrosion-protected metal strip. A mounting hole 52 is provided centrally in a hub 53 at the proximal end of each catch arm 51, to be hingedly journalled on an axle 54 mounted on the support arms 25. As illustrated in FIG. 3., the hub 53 and adjacent portion of the catch arm 51 is 25 received in a moulded recess 27 in the inner face of the respective guide roller 26. [0023] The distal end 54 of one of the catch arms 51 is provided with an elongate slot 55 (with semi-circular ends). [0024] The hook-engaging member 56, in the form of an transverse axle 57, 30 has a roller 60 rotatably joumalled thereon, and is engageable by the hook member 40. [0025] The transverse axle 57 has first and second non-circular extensions 5 58, 59, each internally screw-threaded to receive respective studs 61 (and washers 62). The non-circular extensions 58, 59 have an external profile similar to the profiles of the elongated slots 55, but of shorter length, to enable radial adjustment of the axle 57 relative to the pivotal axis of the hubs 5 53 of the catch arms 51. [0026] The first non-circular extension 58 is of increased length relative to the second such extension 59, so that the location of the catch arm 51 engaged with the first extension 58, relative to the body of the axle 57, can be axially adjusted. This means that while the stud 61 secures the distal end of one of 10 the catch arms 51 in a fixed location relative to the axle 57, the distal end of the catch arm 51 engaged with the first non-circular extension 58 can move axially along the latter, a short distance (or be angularly inclined relative thereto) to accommodate variations in the distance between the hubs 53, due to variations in the distance between the winch support arms 25. 15 [0027] This means that a single unit can be used on boat trailers where the supports fall within a range of variable distances. A separate system need not be custom -made for each retro-fit installation. [0028] A winch support roller guides the cable or strap 23 as it is fed from, or wound onto the winch 22. 20 [0029] By this arrangement, the catch assembly 50 can be mounted on the winch support arms 25 without any modification to the latter; and without fouling, or otherwise compromising, the operation of the winch 22. [0030] One arm 68 of the clockwork-type spring 63 is anchored on the adjacent winch support arm 25, while the other arm 69 of the spring 63 is 25 fixed in the catch arm 51. [0031] The clockwork-type spring 63 urges the catch arms 51 upwardly so that the roller is in a raised "set" (retrieve) position. [0032] This "set" (retrieve) position is adjustable to suit the particular boat trailer 20 / boat combination. A chain 70 has one end 71 attached to one of 30 the catch arms 51, and the other end 72 attached to a hook 73 on a tension coil spring 74 anchored on a winch body 28 on the trailer 20. By selective engagement between the chain 70 and the hook 73, the roller 60 can be 6 raised or lowered to ensure correct engagement between the roller 60 and the hook member 40. The coil spring 74 will absorb, and counter-act, any forces applied to the catch assembly 50 by the boat 30 seeking to raise the roller 60. 5 [0033] In use, the hook member 40 will be mounted on the boat 30 and engaged by the roller 60. [0034] To launch the boat 30, the boat trailer 20 and boat 30 are reversed down the boat ramp until the rear of the boat trailer 20 is in the water. The spring arm 68 is manually moved rearwardly and engaged with the winch 10 support arm 25, urging the catch arms 51 (and roller 60) to the "set" (retrieve) position. [0035] The cable or strap 23 is paid off the winch 22 until the boat 30 moves rearwardly relative the boat trailer 20 and is held in place by the engagement of the hook member 40 with the roller 60. 15 [0036] The spring arm 68 is manually released from the winch support arm 25 and is moved forwardly to the "release" (launch) position, and the hook on the winch cable or strap 23 is released from the larger eyelet 44. [0037] The driver can now safely board the boat 30. [0038] To release the boat 30, the driver drives the boat 30 forward until the 20 roller 60 is released by the hook tongue 42 and gravity causes the roller 60 to drop free of the hook member 40. [00391 The boat 30 is then driven rearwardly off the trailer. [0040] To retrieve the boat 30, the boat trailer 20 is reversed down the boat ramp until the rear of the boat trailer 20 is in the water. 25 [00411 The spring arm 68 is engaged with the winch support arm 25, and the clockwork-type spring 63 urges the catch arms 51, and thereby the roller 60, to the "set" (retrieve) position. [0042] The driver can then board the boat 30 and drive the boat 30 all the way up the boat trailer 20 until the roller 60 is engaged by the hook member 30 40. [0043] As the driver drives the boat 30 onto the boat trailer 20, the hull is guided by the trailer guides until the bow portion 31 engages the roller 60.

7 The roller 60 is depressed from the "set" (retrieve) position, against the bias of the clockwork-type spring 63, and the tongue 42 of the hook member 40 rides over the roller 60. The spring 63 urges the catch arms 51 upwardly, until the roller 60 engages the boat 30. As the boat 30 moves rearwardly, the 5 roller 60 is engaged by the hook member 40 to secure the boat 30 to the boat trailer 20. The location of the bow portion 31, and thereby the hook member 40, relative to the catch assembly 50 is assisted by the guides 26 on the winch support arms 25. [0044] The driver can now safely exit the boat 30 and attach the winch cable 10 or strap 23, via the hook thereon, to the larger eyelet 44 and/or the safety chain to smaller eyelet 44A. [0045] The skilled addressee will appreciate that the trailer boat launch and retrieval system 10 of the present invention enables a single driver, in the boat, to drive the boat onto the boat trailer and secure it thereto before 15 having to exit the boat. [0046] In addition, the system 10 can be retro-fitted to existing trailers and boats e.g. without requiring any structural modification to the boat trailer such as relocation of the winch. [0047] The system 10 can be fitted to a boat trailer by a person with limited 20 skills or tools. [0048] The system 10 does not extend above the height of the winch support 21; and on initial contact between the roller 60 and the hook assembly 40, the catch assembly is deflected downwardly and inwardly, to minimise possible injury to any person adjacent the boat trailer during retrieval. 25 [0049] When the system 10 is not required to operate e.g. during transport of the boat 30 on the boat trailer 20, the arm 68 of the clockwork-type spring 63 is released from the adjacent winch support arm 25; and the catch arms 51 are permitted to swing downwardly to a substantially vertical position. The chain 70 can be adjusted to retain the catch arms 51 in this "transport" 30 position. In the "transport" position, the catch assembly 50 allows free access to the bow portion 31 of the boat 30. [0050] FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative hook member 140, with tongue 142, 8 formed from a single piece of stainless steel, where the body 141 of the hook member 140 is provided with a pair of holes 143 arranged to receive fasteners 144 securing the body 141 to a U-shaped mounting bracket fixed to (or mounting flange integral with) the metal hull of a boat. 5 [0051] The skilled addressee will appreciate: the selection of materials; relative dimensions of the components; and/or the relationships between the components, can be varied and selected to suit different intended applications. [0052] Various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments 10 described and illustrated without departing from the present invention.

Claims (5)

1. A trailer boat launch and retrieval system including: a catch assembly, releasably engageable a hook member mountable on a 5 bow portion of a boat, including: a pair of spaced catch arms rotatably mountable on a support on the boat trailer; a hook-engaging member interconnecting distal ends of the catch arms; and at least one spring mechanism mountable on the support and connected to 10 at least one of the catch arms, operable to hold the catch arms, and thereby the hook-engaging member in a "set" (retrieve) position engageable by the hook member, while allowing the hook-engaging member to be movable downwardly to a "release" (launch) position; wherein: the distal ends of the catch arms are provided with elongated slots which 15 slidably receive non-circular end portions on the hook-engaging member; fasteners secure the distal ends of the catch arms to the non-circular portions; and a first of the non-circular portions is of increased length than the other of the non-circular portions; 20 so arranged that the proximal ends of the catch arms can be mounted on supports within a range of widths.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the support on the boat trailer includes a pair of winch support arms; 25 the catch arms are hingedly mounted, at their proximal ends, on a transverse axle which interconnects upper ends of the winch support arms; and the transverse axle also rotatably supports a winch support roller and/or one or more guide rollers engageable by the bow portion. 30

3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein: proximal ends of the catch arms are received in moulded recesses in inwardly-directed faces of the guide rollers. 10

4. The system of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: the hook-engaging member includes a transverse rod, which rotatably supports a roller engageable by the hook member. 5

5. The system of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: the spring mechanism is a clock-work type spring, mounted about the axle and having a distal end of a spring-arm connected to one of the catch arms.