GB2092529A - Boat cradles - Google Patents

Abstract

A boat cradle for supporting a boat in an essentially upright position comprises a rectangular ground-support frame 1 having upright tubular members 10 at the corners. Members 10 are pivoted at pins 11 to enable collapsing of the cradle by removing pins 21 from apertures 20 and sliding of slides 18. A bow crutch 23 is provided to bear the bow of a cradled boat and is similarly collapsible by removal of pins 31. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in boat cradles The invention relates to boat cradles for supporting a boat when not in use.

According to the invention, there is provided a boat cradle comprising a plurality of hull-engaging support members for supporting a boat in an essentially upright disposition when not in use and a ground-supported base member for the support members, one and preferably all of said support members being mounted in pivotal fashion so as to be collapsible from a raised disposition in which a boat can be supported and a collapsed position in which the support members are preferably coplanar with the plane of the base member.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, the cradle includes a further support member preferably disposed to contact and support the hull at a point thereon proximate the bow or stern of the boat and intermediate the port and starboard sides, the support member preferably being mounted so as to be collapsible in the manner specified above in relation to the first-mentioned main hull-engaging support members.

The main hull-engaging support members preferably each comprise an elongate portion secured to the base at one longitudinal extremity thereof and a hull-contacting member disposed at the other longitudinal extremity thereof.

The further support member will preferably comprise an elongate portion and a hull-contacting member as specified above but in general will be of different longitudinal extent in order to facilitate fuifillment of a function to support the boat by contact with a lower surface of the hull.

The elongate portions of the hull-engaging support members will conveniently be of hollow tubular construction, for example of circular or rectangular cross section, and will conveniently be made of steel which in general should be surface treated on at least external surfaces of the member for resistance to rusting (eg. galvanized or painted).

Conveniently, the base member defines a ground-engaging plane and has nominal thickness, the base member preferably also defining an upwardly facing plane with one or more of the main hull-engaging support members and optionally also the further hull-engaging support member being collapsible to a position in which said members are received on or just above said plane or in said plane.

The base member will conveniently be of hollow tubular construction similar to or identical to the hollow tubular construction referred to above in relation to the elongate portions of the support members.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, a boat cradle comprises an endless elongate member defining an essentially planar, rectangular ground-support frame optionally having a reinforcing member connected to the elongate member between opposed sides of the rectangle, four or more hull-engaging support members each comprising an elongate portion pivotally mounted to the frame at the corners of the rectangle and a hull-contacting portion, preferably surfaced with a material to protect from damage the hull surface of the boat, said support members being hingable between an essentially upright position for supporting the load of a boat and a collapsed position in which the members are disposed in close proximity to the support frame.

The cradle as just described preferably includes a further hull-engaging support member of similar construction to the four hullengaging support members and pivotally mounted to the frame between two adjacent corners of the rectangle, the further support member being collapsible from an upright hull support position to a position disposed in close proximity to the frame and the further support member preferably being displacable in a plane parallel to the ground so as in use to be hull-engageable in different positions relative to the four other hull-engaging support members. Conveniently, the further support member will be slideable along a member serving as a track for such sliding movement and as a strengthening member for assisting maintenance of dimensional stability of the ground-support frame.

In any of the embodiments of the invention described above, the load-supporting disposition of any of the support members described may be maintained by means of a strut provided for connection between the ground support base of the cradle and an upper extremity of a support member.

The following is a description, by way of example only, of a particular embodiment of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a view of the cradle from one end; Figure 2 is a view of the cradle from one side; Figure 3 is plan view of the cradle; and Figure 4 is a partial perspective view showing in diagrammatic form the portion of the cradle encircled by chain lines A of Fig. 1.

The boat cradle shown in the drawings comprises a ground support frame 1 of rectangular form having sides 2, 3, 4 and 5. The frame is made of steel tube of hollow rectangular cross-section and the sides 2, 3, 4 and 5 are welded together at their corners 6, 7, 8 and 9.

At each corner of the frame 1, an upright tubular member 10 is secured to the frame by welding. The tubular members 10 are of rectangular hollow cross-section and made of steel. A pivot pin 11 is received in apertures through the walls of each upright 1 0.

A leg 1 2 having a pair of apertured plates 1 3 welded thereto is mounted to each upright 10 and pivoted by means of the apertures in plates 1 3 to the pivot pin 11.

Each leg 1 2 is made of steel tubing of hollow rectangular cross-section.

A hull-contacting pad 1 6 is provided at the top of each leg 1 2 by means of a stem 14 received telescopically and rotatably in the cavity of each leg 1 2 and having a pivot pin 1 5 to which the pad 1 6 is mounted for pivoting, for example about an axis parallel to the axis of the boat. Each pad 1 6 has a hullcontacting surface provided with a layer of plastics foam material in order to prevent damate to the hull of the boat.

A strut 1 7 is provided between each leg 1 2 and the the frame 1 between two adjacent corners. The strut 1 7 is mounted pivotally to a slide 1 8 on the frame and is mounted to the leg 12 by means of a pin 19. Apertures 20 in the sides 2 and 4 of frame 1 serve as fixing positions at which the slides can be secured by means of pins 21 at any desired position of the legs in relation to vertical.

A stainless steel wire 22 extends between adjacent legs 1 2 as shown in Fig. 2 and the wire passes through retaining loop 23 where a bottle screw is provided to enable tightness of the wire to be adjusted.

A further leg 24 is mounted to the fram between legs 1 2 at corners 6 and 9 of the frame. Leg 24 serving as a bow crutch is of the same tubular steel construction as the legs 1 2 but is shorter. A pad 25 is provided at the top of leg 24 to receive the hull apex and this is provided with a protecting plastics foam layer 26. The pad 25 has a stem 27 (Fig. 4) received telescopically in the tubular steel portion of the leg 24 and is retained by means of pins 28.

The leg 24 is mounted to a slide 29 which is received for sliding movement in a track 30 which extends between sides 2 and 4 of the frame 1 to increase the rigidity of the frame.

As shown more clearly in Fig. 4, the bow crutch is moveable not only between the extremities of the frame but can also extend beyond the extremities.

The cradle shown in the drawings is shown in raised condition for receiving and storing a boat of particular size. To collapse the cradle, pins 21 are removed from apertures 20 enabling slides 1 9 to be moved inwardly towards the centre of sides 2 and 4 of frame 1 with consequent folding of legs 12, by pivoting about pins 11, onto the plane of frame 1. At the same time, the leg 24 of the bow crutch is folded by removal of pins 31 from apertures (not shown) through which pins 31 pass in the raised condition of the cradle to retain cradle struts 32.

In collapsed form, the cradle can be left unobtrusively on any reasonably flat surface and a number of cradles can be stacked one on top another enabling cradles not in use to be stored with the minimum of ground usage so enabling space to be left vacant for use as car parking space.

The cradle described with reference to the drawings can be transported on any flat deck transporter and in collapsed condition a plurality of cradles can be transported in stacked relationship.

The cradle shown in the drawings can also be transported whilst carrying a boat although preferably a cradle intended for such use will be provided with struts, one extending between corners 6 and 7 and one between corners 8 and 9 in order to increase fore and aft stability of the boat being transported.

Alternatively, four further folding legs will be provided to provide additional stability in the longitudinal direction of the boat to each of legs 12, such further legs being constructed and arranged in similar manner to the legs 1 2. Such additional means of support, whether struts of further legs may be instead of or additional to wire 22.

The cradles shown in the drawings may be provided with wheels, for example one wheel at each of corners 6, 7, 8 and 9 or one wheel at each of two corners and a third disposed between the other two corners. In such form of the cradle, struts or further legs as just described should desirably be provided.

The invention as defined earlier without reference to the drawings may be of a form having any one or more of the features specified above in the description with reference to the drawings.

It will be appreciated that in its broadest sense the invention provides an optionally wheeled boat cradle comprising ground supported means for supporting the load of the boat with the boat disposed in an essentially upright orientation, said means including members engagable with port and starboard hull surfaces of the boat (for example, at least one member engagable with each such portion), there being a transverse space disposed between the said members and extending longitudinally of the cradle so that the keel and downwardly extended hull portions of the boat are received between the said members and along the length of the cradle, and the cradle preferably including a bow crutch for supporting the boat by engagement with the bow thereof.

Claims (11)

1. A boat cradle comprising a plurality of hull-engaging support members for supporting a boat in an essentially upright disposition when not in use and a ground-support base member for the support members, one and preferably all of said support members being mounted in pivotal fashion so as to be collapsible from a raised disposition in which a boat can be supported and a collapsed position in which the support members are essentially coplanar with the plane of the base member.

2. A boat cradle as claimed in Claim 1 wherein a further support member is disposed to contact and support the hull at a point thereon proximate the bow or stern of the boat and intermediate the port and starboard sides.

3. A boat cradle as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the further support member is mounted so as to be collapsible in the manner specified in Claim 1 in relation to the said hull-engaging support members.

4. A boat cradle as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the said hull-engaging support members each comprise an elongate portion secured to the base at one longitudinal extremity thereof and a hull-contacting member disposed at the other longitudinal extremity thereof.

5. A boat cradle as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the elongate portion of the hull-engaging support members are of hollow tubular construction, and are made of steel surface treated on at least external surfaces of the members for resistance to rusting.

6. A boat cradle as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the base member defines a ground-engaging plane and has nominal thickness, the base member defining an upwardly facing plane with one or more of the said hullengaging support members and optionally also the said further support member being collapsible to a position in which said members are received on or just above said plane or in said plane.

7. A boat cradle which comprises an endless elongate member defining an essentially planar, rectangular ground-support frame optionally having a reinforcing member connected to the elongate member between opposed sides of the rectangle, four or more hull-engaging support members each comprising an elongate portion pivotally mounted to the frame at the corners of the rectangle and a hull-contacting portion, said support members being hingeable between an essentially upright position for supporting the load of a boat and a collapsed position in which the members are disposed in close proximity to the support frame.

8. A boat cradle as claimed in Claim 7 which includes a further hull-engaging support member constructed as defined in Claim 7 in relation to the four hull-engaging support members and pivotally mounted to the frame between two adjacent corners of the rectangle, the further support member being collapsible from an upright hull support position to a position disposed in close proximity to the frame and the further support member being displaceable in a plane parallel to the ground so as in use to be hull-engageable in different positions relative to the four other hull-engaging support members.

9. A boat cradle as claimed in Claim 8 wherein the further support member is slideable along a member serving as a track for such sliding movement and as a strengthening member for assisting maintenance of dimensional stability of the ground-support frame.

10. A boat cradle as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the load-supporting disposition of any one or more of the support members is maintained by means of a strut provided for connection between the ground support base of the cradle and an upper extremity of a support member.

11. A boat cradle comprising ground support means for supporting the load of the boat with the boat disposed in an essentially upright orientation, said means including members engageable with port and starboard hull surfaces of the boat, there being a transverse space disposed between the said members and extending longitudinally of the cradle so that the keel and downwardly extended hull portions of the boat are received between the said members and along the length of the cradle, and the cradle including a bow crutch for supporting the boat by engagement with the bow thereof.