GB2236292A - Boat towing arrangement - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for attachment of a towing line (39) to a lifeboat (10) or the like is disclosed. It includes a swivel eye assembly (15) at the bow of the boat below the water dine (20). Secured to the swivel eye assembly is a normally lower end of a towing cable (17). The second end of the towing cable (7) is releasably secured to a bracket (21) above the water line. When connected to a towing line (39), the pull of the towing boat releases the upper end of the towing cable (17) from the mount above the water line. The towing force is then applied to the hull well below the water line, at a level which is more favourable from the standpoint of stability of the towed craft compared with the usual location of the towing line near the top of the fore end-of the towed boat. The invention presents a simple, inexpensive and safe way of attaching to the boat a towing line. The swivel eye assembly can be secured to the skeg of the boat. In boats which do not have a skeg, an eye bolt is secured to the hull of the boat to form the securement point for the swivel eye assembly. <IMAGE>

Description

TOWING ARANGEMENT The present invention relates to a towing line attachment device, particularly suitable for use in but not limited to lifeboats.

A successful marine rescue operation often requires that a lifeboat or other craft be towed away from a particular point to a rescue ship or the like, Typically. a towing line secured to the rescue craft or to a towing boat has its free end hooked to a suitably arranged hook which is typically secured to the fore end of a boat, above the water line. The location of the hook above the water line is important because the hooking up of the towing line has to be done by manual handling of the end of the towing line by rods or the like. It is therefore very important that the hooking up of the tow line be as convenient as possible. At the same time, it is also desirable to make the towing itself be as safe as possible.One of the features tat increase the safety of towing of a water craft is that of applying the towing force to the vehicle at a point which is as close as possible to the level of the center of gravity of the boat, The importance of the attachment of a line to a point below the water line has been know for some time.

Thus, U.S, Patent 3,048,138 issued August 7, 1962 to S. tyan describes an anchor line holder which is arranged to secure an intermediate part cf a rope to a releasable hook disposed below the water line, in order to remove the danger of the rope being damayed by a craft moving in close proximity to the boat. U.S.Patent 3/380,090 issued April 13, 1987 presents an arrangement for towing a sled which includes a multiple-apertured beam made of rust resistant material and embedded in or otherwise secured to the forward prow of the sled. A tow rope has its end passed through and secured in one or the other of the apertures in the strip, In normal use, the rope ia taut in a straight line to the towing boat or skiff.The tow rope can be secured either to the multiple aperture beam or to.a hoDR in tbe forward extremity of the sled so that the tow rope may assume an upper position. above the water line, contrary to the first position which is below the water line and in which the towing rope is secured to the beam. Notwiths:znding the overall arrangement described in the above prior art, it is common to provide lifeboats or the like vessels with a towing hook near the fore end of the craft and well above the water line, usually at the deck. while such arrangement is sufficiently accessible for convenient securement of the towing rope to the hook, it does not provide the advantage of application of the towing force below the water line.

It ii an object of the present invention to further advance the art of. securement of towing lines to a towed water craft such as a lifeboat, which would provide, on the one hand, the convenience of relatively easy securement of the towing line to the boat at location above the water line, while securing. on the other hand, the possibility of applying the towing force to the towed craft at a point below the water line and close to or below the center of gravity of the towed boat.

In general tests, the present invention provides a towing line attachment device for the hull of a lifeboat or the like, comprising, in combination, a swivel eye assembly secured to the bow thereof; a towing cable arrangement having a first end and a second end, said first end being secured to said swivel eye assembly at a point below the water line of the boat, the second end of the towing cables arrange:nent being provided with a messenger ring fixedly but releasably secured to the bow of the boat at a point above the water line.

The releasable securement of the messenger ring to the hull is preferably of the type which releases the messenger ring when the ring is subjected to a predetermined pulling force. This is achieved, in a preferred embodiment, ty a breakaway pin holding the messenger ring to a bracket which itself is fixedly secured to the bow of the boat above the water line.

The invention will be described in greater detail by way of an exemplary, preferred embodiment with reference to the enclosed simplified drawings. Zn the drawings: FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic, simplified representation of-a sectional view of a lifeboat having a skeg, (not to scale) showing an exemplary arrangement of the towing line attachment device of the present invention; FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view of an upper bracket of the device of FIGURE 1 and of its arrangement relating to a messenger ring; FIGURE 3 is a front view, generally in the direction of arrow IzI in FIGURE 1.

Reference numeral 10 designates a hull of a lifeboat and in particular the bow of the boat. At the lower portion of the bow 10 is mounted a plate 11 which is welded to a skeg 12, as is well known in the art. The skeg 12 is fixedly secured to the bow by a set of bolts 13. The upper end of the skeg 12 is provided with a pivot stem 14 to which is pivotably secured a swivel eye assembly 15, also referred to as a "first eye assembly.

The swivel eye assembly 15, in turn, is connected through an eye 16 to a towing cable 17. The uper end of the cable 17 has a similarly arranged upper eye 18. The upper eye 18 is produced such that it connects the cable 17 to a messenger ring 19 Reference numeral 20 designates the water level o the boat. The elements of the pivot stem 14 through messenger ring 19 combine to form what is generally cefarred to as Xa towing cable arrahgement.

Its first end is below te water line 20 and its second end is above the water line 2D, as clearly seen in FIGURE 1.

The messenger ring 19 is fixedly but releasably secured to the front part of the bow at a point above the water line 20. Zt is mounted in a bracket 21 inc1udng a base plate 22 to which is welded a pair of side plates 23 and 24. The base plate 22 is provided with three bores, of which only bores 25 and 26 are visible in FIGURES 2 and 3. The bores 25 and 26 receive bolts 27. 28 (FIGURE 1).

The is a similar centrally disposed opening which receives a central bolt 29. The bolts 27, 28 and 29 are each provided with a nut engaging the respective bolt and the hull 10 via a backing plate 30, as is well known in the art.

The spacing between the side plates 23, 24 is such that the messenger ring 19 fits closely but the fit allows the ring to be moved by hand in and out oe the space between the plates. The space between the side plates 23 and 24 is swanned by a retainer member of the type of an arcuate plate 31. With the arcuate plate 31 fixedly secured to the sides 23 and 24 the arrangement forms a forwardly open, concavely curved slot or groove in which the arcuate plate 31 forms supporting means or bottom of the slot and in which the side plates slidably receive the ring. As seen in FIGURE 3, the side plates 23, 24 are parallel with each other.Each side plate 23, 24 defines a concavely shaped front edge 32 which generally resembles the letter C when viewed in the side view of FIGURE 1. The front edge has an upper curved portion 33, a lower curved portion 34 and a central, straight protrusion 35. The protrusion 35 is provided with a transverse passage receiving a breakaway pin 36 (FIGURE 3). The location of the edge portions 33 and 34 is such that they overlap the inside contour of the ring 19 when the assembly is viewed in a side view of FIGURE 1 or of FIr*URE 2.The arrangement of the forward edge 32 and in particular of its lower curved portion 34 is advantageous because it allows the engagement of the eye 18 over the bracket, without subjecting the ring 19 to undue stress when the device is in a standby condition shown in FIGURE 1, in which the uppermost part of the towing cable can be tied to the bow of the boat at 37.

The tying at 37, of course, is temporary and can be easily broken upon exerting of a particular pull at the towing ring 19 as will be described later on.

Turning back to FIGURE 1, reference should also be had to a towing hook 38 of a towing line 39. The towing hook 38 is provided with an integral sleeve 40 which is complementary with a handling rod 41.

The standby state of the device according to the present invention is shown in full lines of FIGURE lb At this stage, the ring 19 rests with its outer periphery against the retaining means formed, in the shown embodiment, by the arcuate plate 31. It is held in place by a breakaway pin 36. In the shown embodiment, the pin is a polypropylene pin having a diameter of 6 an and designed to break at a pulling force of about 1 tone. to set the ring 19 free.

Assuming that is is now desired to tow the boat whose hull 10 is shown in FIGURE 1, a rescue boat or the like is brought to the vicinity of the front part of the hull. The towing line 39 is extended from the rescue vessel by manipulating the hook 38 (now secured to the anipuIating rod 41) such as to hook up the hook 38 to the ting 19. This is facilitated by the fact that close fit between the side plates 23, 24 of the upper bracket 21, surrounding both face. of the right 19 about an arc of approx. 180', contribute. to the eatable position of the ring 19. Once the hook is engaged, the manipulation rod 41 is withdrawn from the sleeve 40 of the hook 38. The rescue craft can now tow the boat by mean of the towing line 39.The towing force tends to displace the ring 19 to the right of FIGURE 1 or of FIGURE 2. The only force holding the ring 19 between the side plates 23, 24 of the upper bracket 21 is that of the breakaway pin 36. When the towing force reaches a predetermined value, the pin 36 snaps releasing the ring 19 from the upper bracket. The breaking of the tiedown 37 follows automatically as the force of holding of the cable 17 by the tiedown arrangement 37 is much lower than that of the pin 36.The towing cable 17 now assumes a towing position shown in broken lines of FIGURE 1. The point of transfer of the towing force to the hull 10 is now at the pivot point 14, below the water line 20 and close to the level of the center of gravity of the lifeboat. When the lifeboat is brought to its destination, the device is brought back to the standby position by raising the normally upper end and the ring 19 back into the upper bracket, between the side plates 23 and 24, then inserting a new breakaway pin 36 and tying the upper end of the cable 17 to the hull at 37.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the described arrangements will perform the same function even if modified. For instance, the breakaway pin arrangement is only one of many known mechansaD for release of elements such as the rig 19 under given conditions. The actual shape of the forward edge ot the upper bracket can also be modified. The exact securement oe the towing cable 17 to the hull can also be made in many other ways. Por instance, a suitably dimensioned eyebolt can be secured to the bow below the waterline, to provide mounting means for the swivel eye assembly, where the boat does not have a skew. These and other modifications, however, are within the scope of the present invention.

Accordingly, I wish to protect by a patent which may issue hereon all such embodiments as reasonably and properly fall within the scope of my contribution to the art.

Claims (1)

1. A towing line attachment device for a lifeboat or the like, comprising, in combination: (a) a first eye assembly adapted to be secured to the bow of the boat below the waterline of.the boat: (b) a towing cable arrangement having a normally upper end and a normally lower end, said lower end being adapted to be secured to aid first eye assembly: (c) the upper end of the towing cable arrangement being provided with a messenger ring adapted to be fixedly but releasably secured to the bow oe the boat at a point above the water line.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the releasable securement Or the messenger ring to the bow is of the type which releases the messenger ring when the ring is szubiected to a predetermined pulling force.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the messenger ring is adapted to be mounted in a bracket fixedly secured to the bow of the boat such that the ring is held in the bracket by a breakaway pin.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the messenger ring, when mounted on the respective boat, is coincident with a reference plane which is normally generally vertical and intersects the hull of the boat a longitudinal central line thereof.

5. A device as claimed .in claim 4, wherein the bracket forms a forwardly open, generally vertical retaining section formed by a pair of opposed side portions and by supporting moans, the spacing between the side portions being such that they slidably receive the ring by engaging opposed faces thereof, while the supporting means is adapted to engage an outer peripheral portion of the ring to limit the position of the ring in a rearward direction relative to the boat.

6. A device as claimed in claim S, wherein the opposed side portions are two generally parallel and planar ride walls of the bracket defining a pair of concavely curved forward edges, the spacing between the edges and the side wells being such that the inner surface of that part of the ring which is disposed between the side walls is within the limits of the bracket at a close spacing from the edges.

7. A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the pin is adapted to be mounted transversely of said bracket, in two coaxial openings in side walls of the bracket, said side walls being normally generally vertical.

8. A device as claimed in claim 7, wherein a retainer member is adapted to be disposed between said slde walls of the bracket to engage a part of outer peripheral rfare of the ri, while an inner portion of the ring is engaged by the breakaway pin.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the portion of each of the side plates normally surrounding the pin defines a concavely curved edge generally of a C-shaped configuration in a side view, said edges being disposed inwardly of the inner radius of the ring as seen in said side vttw. tha detrics ioa alo is.luding an eye connecting the upper end of the cable to the ring. the cable being so arranged and disposed that the eye is engaged with lower portions of said edges of the bracket when the messenger ring is fixed in the bracket in a standby state of the device.

1C. A device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the C-shaped configuration circumscribes about ieo0 such that, when the device is mounted to a respective boat, the lower part of the "C" points upwardly and forwardly of the boat, the pin being disposed generally centrally of the are of the "C".

1.1. A towing line attachment device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.