US2754792A - Mooring device for boats - Google Patents

Description

July 17, 1956 c. J. BAIRD 2,754,792

MOORING DEVICE FOR BOATS Filed Dec. 27, 1954 United States Patent 2,754,792 MOORING DEVICE FOR BOATS Calvin J. Baird, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Application December 27, 1954, Serial No. 477,696 6 Claims. (Cl. 114-230) The invention relates to a mooring device for boats, and is concerned particularly with automatic means for the mooring of small boats.

The present invention is concerned with avoiding the ditficulty of securing a boat to a landing structure in a position to permit the embarking or disembarking of passengers. If the prow of the boat is brought to the landing structure, as is usually done when using a rope to moor a boat, a considerable amount of further manoeuvring is required to get the boat alongside the landing structure for the convenience of the passengers. Also, a boat which is moored from the prow is subject to swinging by the action of water currents or wind, and under severe conditions may become damaged.

The present invention provides automatic means for the mooring of boats and for maintaining the boat sideways to a landing structure. A mooring device in accordance with the invention comprises a base plate adapted to be attached to the side of a boat, for example to the oarlock in the case of a rowboat, and an arm attached to the base plate extends outward to form a closed loop of which the forward section is adapted to be sprung inwardly of the loop. The landing structure is provided with a ver tical bar adapted to fit within the loop attached to the boat and when the boat is brought alongside the landing structure the bar acts as a bumper which passes along the side of the boat until it enters the loop of the mooring device.

A boat equipped with a mooring device in accordance with the invention can be brought alongside a landing structure and moored automatically to it with the boat sideways to the landing structure so that it is convenient for passengers to embark or disembark. The boat is prevented from swinging away from the landing structure by having the mooring device centrally located. The boat may be released from the landing structure by manually depressing the spring section of the loop thereby releasing the bar which is attached to the landing structure.

The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a boat moored alongside a landing structure by means of a mooring device in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective View of the bumper bar assembly which is attached to a landing structure;

Figure 3 is a plan View of the mooring device shown in Figure 1, attached to a boat; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of the mooring device arranged for attachment to an oarlock of a rowboat.

Referring to Figure 1, a boat is shown moored alongside a landing structure 11 by means of a mooring device 12, in accordance with the invention.

The mooring device 12 comprises two parts, one a bumper bar assembly 13 attached to the landing structure 11, and the other a spring arm assembly 1 attached to the gunwale of the boat 10. Details of the bumper bar assembly 13 are shown in Figure 2, and details of the spring arm assembly 14 are shwon in Figure 3.

As shown in Figure 2 the bumper bar assembly 13 comprises a double ended angle bracket 15 and a roller 16. The bracket 15 has two pair of slots 17 through which pass bolt and wing nut assemblies 18 for fastening the bumper bar assembly to a landing structure (Figure 1). The roller 16 may be covered with a resilient material such as rubber so that it can act as a bumper when bringing the boat 19 alongside the landing structure 11 (Figure 1) and prevent damage to the finish of the boat. The roller 16 may be engaged by the prow of the boat and as the boat proceeds the roller 16 will roll along the gunwale of the boat until it reaches the spring arm assembly 14 and becomes automatically engaged by it.

Details of the spring arm assembly 14 are shown in Figure 3. In this figure the gunwale of the boat, such as that of the boat 14 of Figure 1, is designated 20. The spring arm assembly 14 comprises a rigid arm 21 attached by the mounting bolts 22 to a base plate 23. The rigid arm 21 extends along and away from the abse plate 23 to form a loop which is closed by a member 24 attached to the arm 21 through a spring loaded hinge 25. The spring loaded hinge 25 is adapted to urge the member 24 against the base plate 23 and upon force being applied to permit the member 24- to rotate back toward the inner surface of the arm 21. This action takes place during the mooring of a boat (Figure 1) as the roller 16 comes against the outer surface of the member 24 forcing the member 24 back toward the inner surface of the arm 21 against the spring action of the hinge 25, thereby permitting the roller 16 to enter the loop formed by the arm 21. The member 24 is released when the roller 16 reaches the back of the loop formed by the arm 21 and the spring in the hinge 25 causes the member 24 to move out to its original position thereby automatically locking the roller 16 within the loop formed by the arm 21 and the member 24.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 4 a plate 30 having an arm 31 forming a loop 32 is arranged to be secured to the gunwale 20 of a boat by a bolt and wing nut assembly 33. The plate 30 is provided with a double flange 34 which fits along the outer edge of the gunwale 20 and is made double so that the mooring device can be used on either side of the boat by merely turning over the mooring device. A slot 35 is provided in the late 30 so that the flange 34 can be brought against the gunwale 2:) before tightening the bolt and wing nut assembly 33. The loop 32 is closed by a spring arm 36 which may be attached to the arm 31 by riveting or in any other suitable manner. The arm 36 is made sufliciently resilient so that upon its outer surface being contacted by the roller 16 the arm 36 will flex inwardly of the loop 32 permitting the roller 16 to enter the loop 32. The spring arm 36 will then snap back to its original position causing the roller 16 to be automatically locked within the loop 32.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A mooring device for a boat having oar locks, comprising a rigid base, means for attaching said base to an oar lock of the boat, an arm fixed at one end to said base and extending therefrom to form a hook, an extension of said arm extending back to said base at an angle exterior to said hook of substantially less than a right angle, said extension being adapted to be spnlng toward said arm.

2. A mooring device as defined in claim 1 in which the arm is rigid and the extension of said arm is made of spring metal.

3. A mooring device as defined in claim 1 comprising a spring loaded hinge connecting the extension to the arm, said arm being rigid.

3 4. A mooring device as defined in claim 1 comprising References Cited in the file of this patent a landing structure attachment, said attachment having UNITED STATES PATENTS a double ended angle bracket adapted to be attached in 2 447 45 K 1 A 4 1 4 upright position to the side of a landing structure, a bar 2 er A g8 1 5 extending between the ends of said bracket and adapted 5 2,652,694 521 ig 3 3 dt 11h 'd 1 I a the hook formed by the arm me O e 2,697,410 Anschutz 13m 21, 1954 5. mooring device as defined in claim 4 comprising FOREIGN PATENTS a reslhent covenng on the 649,913 Great Britain 7, 1951 6. A mooring device as defined in claim 5 in which 10 the resilient covering is rotatable thereby forming a roller.

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