US2873712A

US2873712A - Boat mooring apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2873712A
Application number: US694967A
Authority: US
Inventors: Martin J Gossen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1957-11-07
Filing date: 1957-11-07
Publication date: 1959-02-17
Anticipated expiration: 1976-02-17

Description

1959 M. J. GOSSEN BOAT MOORING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. '7, 1957 I INVENTOR.

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United States-Pa i BOAT MOORINGAPPA'RATUS Mania .1. Gas-tantra; Wis. m App-nation Novemuerzrys'l, smu No. 6535665 6'Claims. (Cl.114--230) The invention relates to boat mooring apparatus.

2,873,712 Patented Feb. I 17,

' at 19. Bumper-strips of neoprene or other suitable In many rivers and estuaries leading to the sea the rise and fall of the tide presents the problem of securing a boat to its dock or pier to accommodate changing conditions. The object of this invention is to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive mooring apparatus that will hold the boat up to its dock and permit the up and down movement of the boat incident to tide changes.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pair of vertically disposed guide rails, spaced to receive mooring tackle adapted to be connected to opposite end sections of the boat to be mored, this tackle including a slide member slidably mounted in each upright and normally urged upwardly to exert a pulling force on a mooring line connected to the boat, but adapted to move downwardly under the action of the weight of the boat as the tide falls, the mooring lines acting to hold the boat against yieldable bumpers mounted on said rails.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter set forth and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a front elevational view of a mooring apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a detailed vertical sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged elevational view of one of the guide rails, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of one of the rails.

In the drawings, the numeral 8 designates generally a boat dock or pier including a platform 9 and spaced wooden piles or supports 10 which are preferably spaced so that a boat 11 can be moored alongside of them.

To each support 10 I secure by screws 10a or otherwise suitably secure a wooden two by four plank 12 extending down to the lowest water level that may be encountered, the boat being indicated in Fig. 2 as riding on an intermediate water level 13.

The planks 12 serve as foundation members where supports 10 are large round piles but may not be necessary in some installations.

To each foundation member 12 I secure a metal rail 14 of suitably cast aluminum or other suitable metal. By forming the back side of the rail as a channel to fit over a portion of the member 12, the rail may be secured to said member by a series of vertically spaced screws 15 extending through the legs of the channel and anchored in the member 12.

Each rail 14 has a centrally disposed vertically extending cylindrical guide bore 16 therein opening at its front into a vertically extending slot 17 narrower than the diameter of said guide bore. The rail 14 also has a pair of dovetailed guide grooves 18 disposed on opposite sides of said slot 17 and may be cored out as indicated cushioning material have base portions ZIfitting' in the groves 18. Each rail has a metal top plate 22 secured thereto by screws 23 and having aneyed springan'chor member 24 mounted therein and depending in'to' th centralportion of the upperend of the bore 16.

A cylindrical metal'slide member 25of, brass or other suitable non-corrosive material is slidably mounted in the bore 1 6' and has an eyed spring fastener 26 mounted in its top end and an eyed member 27 mounted and projecting laterally from its central portion through the slot 17.

A mooring line 28 has an eyed end 29 swivelled or universally connected with the eye of the member 27 and at its other end carries a releasable snap hook fastener 30 adapted to be hooked onto an eyed anchor bracket 31 mounted on the boat 11. As previously noted, the supports 10 with the rails 14 mounted thereon are appropriately spaced apart so that the brackets 31 located adjacent one side and the opposite end portions of the boat 11 will line up more or less with them.

A tension spring 32 is connected at one end to the anchor member 24 and at its other to spring fastener 26 of each rail assembly.

With the above construction, the springs 32 provide means constantly acting to move the slide member 25 upwardly in the bores 16 and thus act to create an upward tension in the mooring lines 28 which because of their angled or canted relationship with the rail and the boat act to draw or hold the side of the boat against the bumpers 20 on the rails, the members 25 moving up and down in the bores 16 as the water level rises and falls, the weight of the boat acting through the lines 28 and the member 25 to extend or expand the springs 32 as the water level drops and to keep the lines taught as the water level rises under the action of the tide.

I desire it to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to any particular form or arrangement of parts except in so far as much limitations are included in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a boat mooring apparatus, the combination of a pair of appropriately spaced upright supports, a vertically extending metal rail mounted on each support and extending along the same within the limits of tide variation of the water level, a slide member slidably mounted in each rail, a mooring line connecting each slide member to the boat to be moored, and means acting on each slide member to tension its associated mooring line for varying positions of said boat relative to said uprights under varying water level conditions.

2. Boat mooring apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the slide member is a cylindrical block having a swivelled connection with its associated mooring line.

3. Boat mooring apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the mooring line has a swivelled connection with the boat and is normally canted upwardly and outwardly to its connection with said slide member.

4. Boat mooring apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the swivelled connection of the mooring line with the boat is a releasable snap hook on said line and an eyed fastener on the boat.

5. In a boat mooring apparatus, the combination of a pair of appropriately spaced upright supports, a vertically extending metal rail mounted on each support and extending along the same within the limits of tide variation of the water level, a slide member slidably mounted in each rail, bumper strips of cushioning material mounted in and projecting from the front side of each rail on opposite sides of tis slide member mounting, a mooring line connecting each slide member to the boat to be moored extending outwardly and downwardly to its connection with said boat, a spring means acting on each slide member to tension its associated mooring line for varying positions of said boat relative to said uprights under varying water level conditions and acting on said slide member and its associated mooring line to hold the boat against said bumper strips.

6. In an apparatus for mooring a boat at a dock the combination comprising: an extended rail arranged for vertical mounting on a dock; a slide member supported by said rail and being longitudinally slidable thereon, said slide member having a connection for a boat mooring line; and tensioning means acting upon said slide member 4 urging the same longitudinally upward along said rail to tension an associated boat mooring line for varying posi tions of a boat relative to said rail under varying water level conditions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,155,043 Gorskey Apr. 18, 1939 2,808,016 A lam otrn Oct. 1, 1957 HFOREIGN PATENTS 1,031,969 France Mar 25, 1953