GB2125750A

GB2125750A - Remotely releasable mooring device

Info

Publication number: GB2125750A
Application number: GB08304349A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jack Nixon Craigton
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-08-20
Filing date: 1983-02-17
Publication date: 1984-03-14
Also published as: GB8304349D0

Abstract

A remotely releasable mooring device (10) comprises a body member (11) provided with a first attachment point (13) and a second attachment point (14) for attachment to the device of a mooring line (15) and a release line (16) respectively and with a prong (12) insertable into the ground. The body member (11) also has a fulcrum surface portion (17) engageable with the surface (18) of the ground in which the prong is inserted. The second attachment point (14) is disposed above the fulcrum surface portion (17) in such a position that tensioning of the release line (16) enables sufficient leverage to be exerted on the body member (11) to pivot the member about the fulcrum surface portion for withdrawal of the prong from the ground and thus release of the device. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Remotely releasable mooring device The present invention relates to a remotely releasable mooring device and has particular reference to a device for mooring a boat or other floating body to the bank of a river or other waterway.

Existing mooring devices, of the type forming part of the equipment of a vessel as distinct from an on-shore fixture, generally take the form of a prong or spike which can be driven into the ground and to which a mooring line can be attached. This allows, for example, a boat owner to moor a vessel at any selected suitable site without having to rely on the presence of an existing on-shore tethering point for the mooring line.

A disadvantage of the known mooring devices, and indeed of mooring arrangements of this kind generally, is that, in the absence of an assistant on shore to release the mooring line, an occupant of the boat must leave the boat for this purpose and then, carrying the mooring device and mooring line, return to the boat while it is unsecured. Leaving the boat in these circumstances antails the risk, especially in the case of adverse winds or currents, that the unmoored vessel may be carried out of convenient reach before reboarding is safety possible. Risks also attach to the negotiation of possibly slippery banks where the mooring device may be anchored and to leaving the vessel unattended when perhaps the running of an engine requires constant monitoring.

The provision of a simple and conveniently usable mooring device which is remotely releasable from a boat or other moored body should serve to mitigate or completely avoid some or all of these problems.

According to the present invention there is provided a remotely releasable mooring device comprising a body member provided with first attachment means and second attachment means for attachment to the device of a mooring line and a release line respectively and with an anchoring prong which extends from the body member at a spacing from the second attachment means and which in a use position of the device is inserted into the ground to anchor the device in place, the body member having a fulcrum surface portion for engagement with the ground and spaced from the second attachment means and the prong, and the second attachment means being disposed, in the use position of the device, at a level above that of the fulcrum surface portion in a position enabling such a leverage to be exerted on the body member through tensioning of a release line attached to the device that the body member is pivotable about the fulcrum surface portion for withdrawal of the prong from the ground.

The body member preferably comprises an arm provided with the fulcrum surface portion at one of its ends. Other constructions of the body member are, however, possible, for example the body member may comprise a plate with the fulcrum surface portion at one of its corners, or an appropriately shaped framework or other structure.

The first attachment means is, with advantage, disposed at the same end of the arm as the fulcrum surface portion and thus is spaced from the prong, but if so desired the first attachment means can adjoin the prong or be disposed in any other position suitable for attachment of the mooring line, i.e. a position which will not normally result in the mooring line exerting on the body member any leverage likely to dislodge the prong.

For preference, the second attachment means is provided on lever means extending from the arm. The lever means may be provided at either end of the arm or in any position therebetween, with the sole proviso that the lever means should be arranged so that the second attachment means can be disposed in the specified position relative to the fulcrum surface portion when the prong is inserted in the ground.

Manufacture of the device may be simplified, and the strength of the device enhanced, if the prong or the lever means, or both, is or are formed integrally with the arm. This may be conveniently and economically achieved by a construction in which the arm is provided by one portion of a rod and the lever means or prong by another portion of the rod bent at a suitable angle relative to the first-mentioned portion. In addition, either or each of the first and second attachment means can be provided by a bent portion of the rod. The first or second attachment means can, however, equally well be provided by apertured or slotted brackets, rings or other suitable elements secured to the body member or by holes or other appropriately spaced openings formed in the body member itself.

Although a single prong has the advantage of facilitating on-board stowage of the device, the body member may be provided with more than one such prong to enhance anchorage of the device to the ground. In the case where the body member comprises an arm, a plurality of such prongs can, for example, be mounted on a crossbar which is attached to the arm and forms part of the body member.

Other arrangements and methods of mounting the prongs are equally possible.

The invention also embraces a mooring system comprising a mooring device as broadly described above and a mooring line and release line attached to the device at the first and second attachment means respectively.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example with reference to the accom panying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a mooring device embodying the invention, the device being shown in its use, i.e. anchored, position; and Figure 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the device in the process of being released from its anchored position.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a mooring device 10 for mooring a boat or any other floating body to, for example, the bank of a river or other waterway. The mooring device comprises a body member 11 provided with an anchoring prong 1 2 for anchoring the device to the ground and with first and second attachment points 1 3 and 14 respectively for attachment of a mooring line 1 5 and a release line 1 6. The mooring and release lines 15 and 16, which may be ropes, cables, chains or any other suitable connecting elements, are schematically represented in the drawings by dotted lines.

The body member 11 comprises an arm 11 a and an integral lever 11 b, the arm and lever being provided by two portions of a metal rod bent relative to each other. Further portions of the rod, at the mutually remote ends of the arm and lever, are bent around to define openings serving as the attachment points 13 and 14, the mooring and release lines 1 5 and 1 6 being, for example, threaded through these openings and tied or otherwise secured.

At the end of the arm 1 a with the first attachment point 13, the body member 11 defines a ground-engaging fulcrum surface portion 1 7. This surface portion co-operates with the surface 1 8 of the ground to provide a fulcrum for pivoting of the body member as will be subsequently explained in connection with Fig. 2.

At the other end of the arm 1 a, thus at the end conjoining the lever 11 b, the prong 1 2 extends in a direction generally opposite to that of the lever. The prong 1 2 can be formed from a metal rod the same as or similar to that of the body member 11 and secured to the body member by, for example, welding.

In the illustrated embodiment, the prong is secured to the body member at the junction of the arm 11 a and the lever 11 b, but it may equally well be secured to the arm between the lever and the first attachment point 1 3.

The rod forming the prong is pointed, and optionally also flattened, at the free end of the prong.

In addition, the prong 1 2 is for preference curved, with its centre of curvature being disposed in the region of the fulcrum surface portion 17.

The use position of the mooring device 10 is shown in Fig. 1. In this position, the prong 1 2 is inserted into the ground to anchor the device in place, the arm 11 a of the body member extending along the ground and the fulcrum surface portion 1 7 engaging the surface 1 8 of the ground. Insertion of the prong into the ground may be assisted, if necessary, by hammering or stamping on the body member.

With the device thus anchored in place, a boat or other vessel can be moored by way of the mooring line 1 5 attached to the body member 11 at the first attachment point 1 3.

As can be seen in Fig. 1, any pull exerted on the body member by way of the mooring line will be transmitted to the prong with a main component of force generally perpendicular to the direction of insertion, and thus withdrawal, of the prong 12. Tensioning of the mooring line due to the drag of a moored vessel thus will not normally be effective to dislodge the device.

Release of the device 10 may be effected by tensioning the release line 1 6 as indicated by the arrow A in Fig. 2. The disposition of the attachment point 14 for the release line in relation to the fulcrum surface portion 1 7 is such that tensioning of the release line is translated into a leverage of the body member 11 tending to pivot the member about the fulcrum surface portion, as indicated by the arrow 8 in Fig. 2. As the body member pivots, the prong 1 2 is progressively withdrawn from the ground, withdrawal being facilitated by the curvature of the prong. Once the prong is fully withdrawn, the thus released mooring device may be pulled aboard the vessel by way of the mooring line 1 5 and/or release line 1 6.

In the case of firm engagement of the prong in the ground and a relatively light vessel, a sharp pull on the release line 1 6 may be needed to ensure that the body member 11 is pivoted for withdrawal of the prong rather than the vessel drawn towards the mooring device.

It is not, of course, necessary for the release line 1 6 to be constantly attached to the mooring device while the vessel is moored. The release line can be attached immediately prior to the intended departure of the vessel from its mooring. Moreover, the release line may simply be a continuation of a rope or cable which is secured to the attachment point 1 3 and which serves as the mooring line.

Remote release of the mooring device by way of the release line 1 6 provides the advantage that it is not necessary to rely on an assistant on shore to release the mooring device or to leave the vessel for this purpose when an assistant is not available. The difficulties connected with boarding an unmoored vessel are thus avoided by use of the mooring device 10. Remote release of the mooring device also avoids the need to renegotiate difficult slopes or banks while trying to control the vessel by hand.

Use of the remote release facility is not of course obligatory; the mooring device can equally well be released at the anchorage site by lifting the lever 11 b by hand.

The basically single plane shape of the mooring device of the described embodiment is convenient for on-board stowage and the risk of accident is minimised by this shape and by the employment of a single prong. In cases where, for example, terrain is less firm or vessels of greater weight are to be moored, it may be appropriate to construct the device with an additional prong or additional prongs and this is completely feasible.

The embodiment hereinbefore described represents only one possible construction of the mooring device as defined in the appended claims and some alternative constructions and modifications have already been suggested. If, for example, the body member comprises an arm and a lever, the lever may extend from the end of the arm with the fulcrum surface portion, in which case the prong, arm and lever can be conveniently formed by appropriately bending a single length of rod. Other methods of manufacture, such as casting, are of course possible.

Claims

1. A remotely releasable mooring device comprising a body member provided with first attachment means and second attachment means for attachment to the device of a mooring line and a release line respectively and with an anchoring prong which extends from the body member at a spacing from the second attachment means and which in a use position of the device is inserted into the ground to anchor the device in place, the body member having a fulcrum surface portion for engagement with the ground and spaced from the second attachment means and the prong, and the second attachment means being disposed, in the use position of the device, at a level above that of the fulcrum surface portion in a position enabling such a leverage to be exerted on the body member through tensioning of a release line attached to the device that the body member is pivotable about the fulcrum surface portion for withdrawal of the prong from the ground.

2. A mooring device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body member comprises an arm provided with the fulcrum surface portion at one end thereof.

3. A mooring device as claimed in claim 2, the first attachment means being disposed at said end of the arm.

4. A mooring device as claimed in either claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the body member comprises lever means extending from the arm, the second attachment means being provided on the lever means.

5. A mooring device as claimed in claim 4, wherein at least one of the prong and the lever means is formed integrally with the arm.

6. A mooring device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the arm is provided by one portion of a rod and the lever means by another portion of the rod bent relative to said one portion.

7. A mooring device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the arm is provided by one portion of a rod and the prong by another portion of the rod bent relative to said one portion.

8. A mooring device as claimed in either claim 6 or claim 7, wherein at least one of the first attachment means and the second attachment means is provided by a bent portion of the rod.

9. A mooring device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the body member is provided with a plurality of such anchoring prongs.

10. A mooring device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

11. A mooring system comprising a mooring device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, a mooring line attached to the device at the first attachment means, and a release line attached to the device at the second attachment means.

CLAIMS (23 Jun 1983)

1. A remotely releasable on-shore mooring device comprising a body member provided with first attachment means and second attachment means for attachment to the device of a mooring line and a release line respectively and with an anchoring prong which extends from the body member at a spacing from the second attachment means and which in a use position of the device is inserted into the ground to anchor the device in place, the body member having a fulcrum surface portion for engagement with the ground and spaced from the second attachment means and the prong, and the second attachment means being disposed, in the use position of the device, at a level above that of the fulcrum surface portion in a position enabling such a leverage to be exerted on the body member through tensioning of a release line, when attached to the device and extending generally horizontally, that the body member is pivotable about the fulcrum surface portion for withdrawal of the prong from the ground.