US3041996A - Water ski towing gear - Google Patents

Description

Jul 3, 1962 E. E. ROBERTS 3,041,996

WATER SKI TOWING GEAR Filed April 9, 1959 FIG.|

INVENTOR. EDWIN E. ROBERTS ATTORNEYfi United States Patent 3,041,996 WATER SKI TOWING GEAR Edwin E. Roberts, 14312 11th SW., Seattle, Wash. Filed Apr. 9, 1959, Ser. No. 805,234 1 Claim. (Cl. 114- 235) The present invention relates to improved gear for dragging and retrieving a water ski tow line.

It has been common practice in the water ski towing art to transfer the load from the tow line to the boat via a sheave working on a bridle which is mounted at the stern. The sheave travels back and forth on the bridle as the skier traverses the wake of the boat and thus smoothly shifts the tow load accordingly. This towing gear has heretofore had the disadvantage that the tow line was retrieved to the boat by hand and often became tangled while being stored or played out. The present invention aims to provide improved gear whereby a reel can be conveniently used with bridleand-sheave tackle for storing, retrieving and playing out a water ski tow line.

Furthermore, the invention aims to provide such improved tow line gear in which the reel is relieved of the towing strain and there is virtually no possibility of the tow line becoming tangled or fouling the bridle.

Other more particular objects and advantages will, together with these general objects, appear and be understood in the course of the following description and claim, the invention consisting in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a boat with the improved water ski towing gear of the present invention in operation.

FIG. 2 corresponds to FIG. 1 and shows the gear when the skier has swung to starboard.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the sheave and related socket and tow line assemblies.

FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 3 and showing a modified embodiment; and

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the stop assembly of the first embodiment together with a portion of the tow line.

FIG. 6 is a detail of the elastic takeup means.

Referring to the drawings, the invention is shown in opeartive position on a boat 10 which may be either inboard or outboard powered. A conventional bridle 12 formed with terminal eyes 13 is mounted on the boats transom 11 as by J-bolts 14 and has a sheave 15 working thereon. This sheave is journaled on the cross-pin 16 of a clevis 17 which in turn is swivel-connected at its web to a socket fitting 18 by a headed pin 19. This fitting has an internally tapered through-socket 20 with its longitudinal axis at cross-angles to an integral prolongation 21 which fixedly receives the shank of the pin 19. The ski tow line, denoted 22, threads through the socket 20 and passes therefrom forwardly through a tubular guide insert 23 in the transom for connection to a reel 24. This guide has its opening purposely larger in diameter than the minimum internal diameter of the socket 20.

To limit playout of the tow line without strain on the reel I provide a tow line with a stop which can pass through the insert 23 but not through the socket 20. This stop may take the form of a tapered plug 25 locked on the tow line and adapted to seat in the socket 20 as best shown in FIG. 3. The tow line is commonly of hollow braided nylon construction in which case I introduce a rigid tapered core 26 therein by inserting it between strands. This can be readily accomplished by longitudinally compressing the line such that the strands thereof bulge outwardly and thereby spread further apart as represented at the left of the core in FIG. 5. When in operation the plug wedges over the core and radially compresses the tow line so that the plug and core are locked against lengthwise movement relative thereto.

The reel 24 for the ski tow line has its spool journaled in a shaft 27 which cantilevers from a mounting bracket 28 and has a wing nut 29 for adjustably friction tensioning the spool. The bracket is screwed or otherwise secured to the side or a rib of the boat in a position to give convenient use of the folding-type handle 30 of the reel and far enough forward to permit functioning between the reel and guide 23 of a length 31 of rubber tubing or some other suitable elastic material for slack take-up of that portion of the two line between the sheave 15 and the reel. The takeup means 31 is tied or otherwise secured at its ends to the spool and tow line and is represented by a single heavy line in FIGS. 1-2 to clearly distinguish it from the tow line.

In the operation of the gear to play out the tow line for the skier it is only necessary to loosen the wing nut 29 so that the spool of the reel is free to unwind and thread through the guide 23 and socket 20 responsive to the skiers pull on the terminal handle 32 of the line. This is usually done at low boat speed with the skier dead in the water or seated on a dock. Then, just as the stop 25 is observed approaching the socket 20 the boat engine is usually immediately opened up to skiing speed. By this time the stop 25 is seated in the socket 20 and takes the full pull of the skier on the tow line, thereby relieving the reel. As before mentioned, the purpose of the elastic member 31 is to constantly take up slack between the socket 20 and the reel so that the bridle 12 cannot be fouled thereby. The maximum stretch of the takeup means occurs when the sheave 15 has traveled to the end of the bridle opposite from the reel side of the boat as shown in FIG. 2, and the takeup means can be substantially relaxed when the sheave occupies a position at the other end of the bridle. Thus the member 31 has to have a stretch capacity corresponding to the travel range of the sheave. Actually, therefore, the stop 25 does not seat at the end of the line play out when the sheave is centered (FIG. 1) until the takeup means is partially stretched.

When it is desired to retrieve the tow line as when the skier has fallen, the boat operator merely turns the handle 30 to rewind the line on the spool. The elastic member 31 is made strong enough to resist the slight pull of the tow line and its handle 32 in the water during the initial part of the reeling operation, or a coiled stretch limit cord 33 is provided within the elastic tube as shown in FIG. 6. This cord 33 is anchored at its ends in terminal plugs 34. The tow line end of the member 31 can be inserted into the hollow tow line and secured by tape or winding 35. It is preferred to have the outer end of the bore of the guide 23 flared so that the stop 25 can readily pass therethrough and so that the tow line will not be subjected to a sharp edge. At the close of skiing the tow line can be reeled in to the point that the tow line handle engages the socket 20 and pulls the sheave 15 along the bridle 12 until it is pulled against the mouth of the guide 23. The thumb nut 29 is then tightened to lock the reel whereupon the tow line is not only compactly stored, but the sheave and its related assembly together with the tow line handle are held against the transom so that they cannot flop around.

In FIG. 4 I have shown a modified embodiment wherein the tow line stop is provided by knotting the tow line at 36 and the socket therefor is provided by an eye 37 swiveled by the pin 19. This eye has its opening large enough to pass the tow line but smaller than the stop knot 36.

The advantages of the invention, it is thought, will have been clearly understood'from the foregoing detailed description of the illustrated prefered embodiment. Minor changes will suggest themselves and may be resorted to Without departing from the spirit of the invention, wherefore it is my intention that no limitation be implied and that the hereto annexed claim be given a scope fully commensurate with the broadest interpretation to which the employed language admits.

What I claim is:

Water ski towing gear comprising, be mounted at the stern of a boat, a sheave working on said bridle, a through-socket defining member carried by said sheave, a Water ski tow line threaded through said socket, an elastic member connected by one of its ends to said line, line reeling means operatively connected to the other end of said elastic member, and a stop on said a bridle adapted to line between said socket and said elastic member for seating in said socket while said line is towing a water skier whereby said reeling means is relieved of ski towing strain on said line, said elastic member taking up any slack in said line between said stop and said reeling means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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