US3082729A - Anchor - Google Patents

Description

March 26, 1963 c. R. CHARD 3,082,729

ANCHOR INVENTOR. CZ/FFOED f3. CHARO,

A TTOENEIS.

nited tates This invention relates to an anchor, and more particularly to an anchor having a plurality of collapsible flukes.

It has heretofore been the practice in producing anchors to employ a shank having an annular fluke, or a plurality of flukes, extending radially outwardly from the lower end of the shank. The advantages of the use of such flukes are well known. They engage the bottom or objects on the bottom, such as rocks, to hold the anchor in a fixed position. This advantageous result produced by the flukes also creates certain difiiculties in that when the fluke-s become caught on the bottom it is difficult to raise the anchor, particularly if it is being raised manually.

It is the general object of my invention to provide an anchor having a plurality of radially extending flukes which will overcome the disadvantages and difiiculties described above. More specifically, it is an object of my invention to provide an anchor which will have excellent holding properties but whose flukes will be c01- lapsible to permit the anchor to be easily raised.

In carrying out my invention in its preferred form, there is provided an elongated shank having a longitudinally extending bore formed therein. Axially movable within said bore is a rod adapted to have one of its ends disposed above the shank and its opposite end extend downwardly into the bore for connection to a plug spring biased toward the lower end of the shank. A plurality of flukes are pivotally mounted on the shank adjacent its lower end, with the inner ends of each of said flukes being engageable with the plug so that when said plug is disposed in its lower position the flukes are held in a radially extended position, and when said plug is moved upwardly within the shank the flukes can pivot downwardly into a collapsed position extending downwardly from the bottom of the shank. An important feature of the invention concerns the manner in which the fiukes engage the plug, both in the extended and collapsed condition of the flukes. In the extended condition, the inner ends or noses of the flukes engage side surfaces of the plug "with the result that the forces exerted on the plug by those noses have no significant effect in tending to displace the plug from its fluke-locking position. In the collapsed position of the flukes, the noses engage the lower end of the plug in such arnanner that the downward bias exerted on the plug tends to urge the flukes toward extended positions.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention. In such drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partially in section, of an anchor embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the anchor shown in FIG. '1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a pivotal fluke connection; and

P16. 4 is a side elevation of the anchor shown in FIG. 1, but showing said anchor in collapsed position.

As illustrated in the drawing, my anchor comprises an elongated metal shank having a generally flattened upper face 12 and an eyelet 14 for connecting the shank to a boat by means of a line 16. Conveniently, the shank 10 has a tapered configuration, tapering outwardly from its upper end toward the crown portion 18.

Formed within the shank 10 is an axially extending bore 20, shouldered as at 22. A rod 24 is axially movable within the bore and is provided at its upper end with an expanded head 26 disposed above the upper shank face 12. An L-shaped lever '28 is loosely received on the upper end of the rod 24 and comprises a leg 30 interposed between the head 26 and the upper shank face 12, and a leg 32 extending downwardly along a side wall of the shank '10. Conveniently, an eyelet 34 is mounted on the leg 32 for interconnecting the lever 28, and thus the rod 24, to a boat by means of a line 36. A plug 38 is fixedly secured to the lower end of the rod 24 for axial movement with said rod within the shank bore 20. The plug 38 is biased toward the shank crown 18 by a spring 40 interposed between the upper face of the plug 38 and the'bore shoulder 22.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, two pairs of opposed flukes 42 and 44 are pivotally mounted on the shank 10 adjacent its lower end. Although any desired number of flukes of any convenient size may be employed, I prefer to use two pairs of flukes with each pair having a diiterent Width. As shown, the pair of flukes 42 are wider than the pair of flukes 44 to provide alternately broad and narrow flukes extending outwardly from the shank crown 18. This alternate arrangement of the ditterent sized flukes provides a relatively large bottom engaging area, while permitting the flukes to be collasped into a compact position in which they extend downwardly from the bottom of the shank with the faces of the opposed flukes being disposed in a substantially parallel relationship.

Each of the flukes comprises a plate 46 rigidly supported on an arm 52. The inner end of each of the arms 52 is received in a slot 54 extending upwardly from the base of the shank crown 18. As illustrated in FIG. 2, I provide two such intersecting slots 54 normal to each other and formed in the shank crown 18. The arms 52 are pivotally mounted on the shank 10 by pins 56. To this end, a vertically extending groove 58 is formed in the shank 10 on each side of each of the slot openings 54 to permit the pins to be easily inserted through openings formed in the shank and the inner ends of the fluke arms 52. The inner end of each of the arms 52 extends into the bore 20 in the path of movement of the plug 38, and is provided with a nose 60 engageable with the sides of said plug for holding the flukes in extended position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

The anchor is illustrated in FIG. 1 in its operative position in which the flukes 42 and 44 are extended for engaging and catching on the bottom or objects disposed on the bottom. The line 36 is pulled upwardly to collapse the fiukes into the position shown in FIG. 4 so that they will not catch on any such objects and thereby permit the anchor to be raised easily. As this lifting force is first applied to the line 36, the member 28 fulcrums against the upper face 12 of the shank to provide a lever action against the head 26 of the rod 24 and move said rod upwardly with respect to the shank 10. Continued lifting effort on the line 36 causes the member 28 to exert a direct lifting elfort on the head 26, moving the plug 38 upwardly within the shank bore 20 with the side walls of the plug sliding against the noses 60 on the fiuke arms 52 until the bottom face of said plug reaches a position above the noses 60, thereby permitting the flukes to pivot about the pins 56 collapsing the flukes into the position illustrated in FIG. 4. In this collapsed position, the noses 60 are disposed against the side walls of the bore 20 and the fluke plates 46 on the opposed flukes are disposed in a substantially parallel relationship. After the flukes are collapsed, the anchor may be easily raised by pulling upwardly on the lines 16 and 36. Of course, when the flukes are not caught, the anchor may be raised by pulling upwardly on the lines 16 and 36 simultaneously. It

is possible to raise anchor by pulling upwardly on just one of the lines, but this creates the possibility of the other line becoming fouled.

By employing a plurality of alternately arranged fiukes having broad and narrow faces, the flukes can be collapsed into a compact position in which the narrow pair of flukes 44 are received between the wider pair of flukes 42. This permits the flukes to be fully collapsed to form a downwardly extending extension of the shank of relatively small cross-section, thereby giving the collapsed anchor a streamlined appearance of relatively small crosssection along its entire length and thus reducing the possibility of the anchor being caught as it is raised.

It will be noted from the dotted-line showing of FIG. 3 that in the collapsed condition of the flukes the noses 60 thereof lie within the bore 20 in a position to limit downward movement of the plug 38. The downward force exerted by the spring 40 on the plug 38 and trans mitted therethrough to the noses 60 tends to cause the fiukes to swing into their extended positions. However, with the anchor in a vertical position the fluke-extending effort exerted by the spring 40 is opposed by the weight of the fiukes, and if the anchor is lying on its side with the fiukes collapsed, such fluke-extending tendency is opposed by the Weight of the entire anchor, since no fluke could move into extended position without engaging the supporting surface and raising the entire anchor. If the downward effort exerted by the spring 48 is not sufficient to raise the fiukes into extended position when the anchor is held in a vertical position by the rope l6 preparatory to dropping anchor, the resistance of the water to downward movement of the anchor when the rope 16 is released Will exert on the fluke a fluke-extending effort which, added to the effort of the spring 40, will permit the fiukes to swing into fully extended position and the plug 38 to drop between the noses 6t and hold the fiukes extended until, as described above, the plug 38 is retracted by pulling on the line 36.

It will be understood that the particular form of anchor shown and above described is set forth merely by way of example and that the invention is not limited thereto. It is noted particularly that the means including the lever 3032 for raising the plug 38 from fluke-locking position forms no part of the present invention but rather is the subject of my prior application Ser. No. 793,097, filed February 13, 1959, now Patent No. 2,990,800, of which this application is a division.

I claim as my invention:

1. A collapsible anchor, comprising an elongated shank having a longitudinally extending bore, a plurality of fiukes pivotally mounted on said shank near the lower end thereof and swingable between extended, generally radial positions and collapsed positions in which they extend downwardly generally parallel to the shank, a locking member slidable in said bore, means for moving the locking member upwardly in said bore, and a spring urging said locking member downwardly, each of said fiukes having a nose which in the collapsed condition of the flukes lies beneath the lower end of said locking member in position to limit downward movement thereof, said noses being so constructed and arranged that as the flakes swing upwardly from collapsed to extended positions the noses move downward and finally outwardly to permit the passage between them of the lower end of the locking member, the noses, when the fiukes are extended, engaging the side exterior surface of the locking member whereby downward pressure on an extended fluke will cause the latter to exert an inward pressure on the locking member and movement of the flukes to their collapsed positions is prevented by the presence of the locking member between the fluke-noses.

2. A collapsible anchor, comprising an elongated shank having a longitudinally extending bore, a plurality of flukes pivotally mounted on said shank near the lower end thereof and swingable between extended, generally radial positions and collapsed positions in which they extend downwardly generally parallel to the shank, a locking member slidable in said bore, means for moving the locking member upwardly in said bore, and a spring urging said locking member downwardly, each of said flukes having a nose which in the collapsed condition of the fiukes lies beneath a downwardly presented surface on said locking member in position to limit downward movement thereof, said noses being so constructed and arranged that as the fiukes swing upwardly from collapsed to extended positions the noses move downward and finally outwardly to permit the passage between them of the lower end of the locking member, the noses, When the llukes are extended, engaging the side exterior surface of the locking member whereby downward pressure on an extended fluke will cause the latter to exert an inward pressure on the locking member and movement of the flukes to their collapsed positions is prevented by the presence of the locking member between the fluke-noses.

3. An anchor as set forth in claim 2 with the addition that there are first and second pairs of said fiukes, the two flukes of the first pair being pivoted to the shank on opposite sides thereof and on parallel axes, the two flukes of the second pair being pivoted to the shank on opposite sides thereof between the fiukes of the first pair and on axes perpendicular to the axes of the first pair, the first pair of flukes being wider than the second pair.

4. An anchor as set forth in claim 2 with the addition that there are first and second pairs of said fiukes, the two flukes of the first pair being pivoted to the shank on opposite sides thereof and on parallel axes, the two flukes of the second pair being pivoted to the shank on opposite sides thereof between the fiukes of the first pair and on axes perpendicular to the 'axes of the first pair.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,687,107 Evans Aug. 24, 1954 2,851,983 Hrivnyak Sept. 16, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 188,597 France Feb. 7, 1888 a

Claims (1)

1. A COLLAPSIBLE ANCHOR, COMPRISING AN ELONGATED SHANK HAVING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING BORE, A PLURALITY OF FLUKES PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID SHANK NEAR THE LOWER END THEREOF AND SWINGABLE BETWEEN EXTENDED, GENERALLY RADIAL POSITIONS AND COLLAPSED POSITIONS IN WHICH THEY EXTEND DOWNWARDLY GENERALLY PARALLEL TO THE SHANK, A LOCKING MEMBER SLIDABLE IN SAID BORE, MEANS FOR MOVING THE LOCKING MEMBER UPWARDLY IN SAID BORE, AND A SPRING URGING SAID LOCKING MEMBER DOWNWARDLY, EACH OF SAID FLUKES HAVING A NOSE WHICH IN THE COLLAPSED CONDITION OF THE FLUKES LIES BENEATH THE LOWER END OF SAID LOCKING MEMBER IN POSITION TO LIMIT DOWNWARD MOVEMENT THEREOF, SAID

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