US3463112A - Quick-release anchor - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 26, 1969 c, ZAKA|T|S ET AL 3,463,112

QUICK-RELEASE ANCHOR Filed April 19, 1968 INVENTORS ROBERT C. ZAKAITIS JOSEPH JACEVICIUS BY M $4 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,463,112 QUICK-RELEASE ANCHOR Robert C. Zakaitis and Joseph Jacevicius, both of 61 Arlington St., Worcester, Mass. 01604 Filed Apr. 19, 1968, Ser. No. 729,137 Int. Cl. B63b 21 24 US. Cl. 114-208 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Fluke anchor including a shank, a shaft crossing the shank, flukes pivotally mounted on the shaft, a fluke lock on the shaft with means for limiting its rotary motion with respect thereto, said lock being elongated and extending a substantial distance along said shank, a releasable latch for the lock, said latch having resilient means normally urging it towards the fluke lock and holding it in position with the flukes locked in an anchoring position, and means to easily relock the flukes.

Background of the invention Quick release fluke anchors have long been known and examples are shown in the following United States patents: 2,415,605, Newby, Feb. 11, 1947; 2,576,172, Burleson, Nov. 27, 1951; 2,709,980, Christie, June 7, 1955; 2,797,658, Doty, July 2 1957; 2,856,882, Raynor, Oct. 21,1958.

However, the present invention provides an anchor of this type which is safer and more easily actuated for the reason that the locking member for the flukes is elongated and extends a considerable distance along the anchor shaft, remote from the fluke axis. In the prior art the fluke locking means is located generally coexistent with the axis of relatively rotary motion of the flukes and this places a great strain on the lock such as to tend to cause damage to the parts, breakage, etc.

In addition, the lock is easily reset by moving the shank relative to the flukes while holding the latter; or the entire anchor may be set on the ground or deck, the flukes moved into the desired position, and then the latch is merely stepped upon to move the lock back to its latching position.

Summary of the invention The present invention provides a safety releasable fluke anchor construction including a shank having an axially movable latch member normally resiliently urged in a direction toward the fluke end of the shank, the flukes being mounted on a cross shaft having only a limited degree of rotation with respect to a member acting as a fluke lock, said fluke lock member being elongated and extending generally toward the axially movable latch, said lock having cammed edges at each side of a latch-receiving notch and being snapped into fluke-locking position simply by stepping on it, the latch being retractable against its resilient means, the elongated nature of the lock preventing damage to the anchor and especially to the fluke lock. Also, a simple pin lock which is removable can prevent retraction of the latch under all circumstances when it is not desired to permit unlocking of the flukes.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a top plan view illustrating the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section on line 22 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a View similar to FIG. 2 and illustrating the manner in which the fluke lock becomes latched.

Description of the preferred embodiment To illustrate the invention, there is provided a relatively elongated shank which may enclose most of the mechanism but it is preferred that it be open at the sides, having parallel walls 10 as shown in FIG. 1, an end 12, and an intermediate strut 14. A rotary shaft 16 passes through walls 10 at the fluke end of the shank opposite the rope or cable eye 18 at the end 12. By having most of the shank open as shown, it is much easier to clean of mud and the like.

The eye 18 is connected directly to an elongated axially movable latch generally indicated at 20, which latch may pass through a resilient member 22 shown as elastometric but which may of course be a spring if this should be desired. The latch 20 has a free end 24 and is guided in its motion in the strut 14 and end 12, there being appropriate apertures in these members for this purpose.

The shaft 16 has a limited rotary motion with respect to the ends 28 and 30 of the shank walls which are apertured to receive the same. Pivotally mounted on pins 32, 32 are a pair of more or less conventional flukes 34, 34 and on these flukes there may in turn be pivotally mounted as at 36, 36 a pair of spikes 38, 38 which have a limited motion between the positions shown in FIG. 1. The flukes themselves have a limited pivotal motion about the axes of the pins 32, 32 and as described they are also capable of a rotary motion together with shaft 16 for the purpose of engaging with the bottom.

Relatively rotatably mounted on the shaft 16 there is a barrel 40 located between the terminal ends 28 and 30 of the shank walls 10. This barrel has an elongated narrow radial projection 42 terminating in a latching notch 44 in the free end thereof, see particularly FIGS. 2 and 3, for the reception of the free end 24 of the latch 20. Projection 42 is the fluke lock. At the edges of the lock 42 adjacent to the notch 44 there are cam surfaces 46, 46 which facilitate the positioning of the lock 42 in latching relationship by simply pressing down in the direction of arrow 48 in FIG. 3 as by means of the foot When the anchor is lying on the ground or deck. This action will cause the latch 20 to be retracted against the action of the resilient means 22 to an extent to allow it to snap into notch 44. It will be noted that the lower edge 50 and the upper edge 52 of the lock 42 substantially coincide with the upper and lower edges of the shank walls 10, so that when the pressure is exerted on the lock 42 as indicated by arrow 48, it does not tend to pass the position of the latch 20 but is stopped by the ground or deck.

The barrel 40 which is integral with the lock 42 is provided with a pair of spaced, aligned, circumferential recesses generally indicated at 54 and 56. These recesses receive a cross pin 58 therein, this pin being mounted in the shaft 62 and extending into recesses 54, 56 preventing excess motion of the lock 42 as for instance past shoulders 60, 60 in the respective notches.

By this means the flukes may rotate to a limited extent with respect to the lock 42, and this extent is indicated by the dotted lines in FIG. 2, these dotted lines being identified as at 62. When the parts are latched as in FIG. 2, the lines 62 indicate the extent of motion of the flukes, but when the lock '42 is released, the flukes as well as the lock may extend to the opposite direction, i.e., they have a full 360" capability of revolution with respect to the axis of shaft 16. Assuming the broken line positions of the flukes in FIG. 1, the anchor can of course be withdrawn from whatever kind of obstacle that it is engaged with, as the direction of tension thereon is in the direction of the cable secured to eye 18, see arrow 64, FIG. 2.

At the same time however there is not an excess force capable of being applied to the locking means, i.e., to the free end 24 of the latch 20 and to the parts of the lock 42 which comprise the edge portions of the notch 44, so that damage to these parts is extremely unlikely even in the event of considerable pressure being exerted by the flukes when in their positions illustrated by the lines 62 in FIG. 2.

The invention operates as follows: The flukes are normally locked in anchoring position as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 by the latch and lock described. The resilient means 22 opposes normal forces against rearward motion of the latch 20 to maintain the flukes locked in anchoring position under a given pull or load on an anchor cable attached to eye 1-8. If the anchor cable however is subjected to an overload, such overload will retract the latch 20 sufliciently to allow the lock 42 to become free thereof and of course this immediately swings the lock 42 and the flukes into the broken line position of FIG. 1 because the anchor line is being pulled upon. This action takes place even under conditions of extreme pitching or deliberately by the use of manual strength on the eye 18.

If it is not desired to allow the lock to become unlatched, as at times when the boat is unattended, a pin 66 is thrust through holes 68 in the walls and corresponding hole 70 in the lock 42, thereby holding the lock in place whether released by the latch 20 or not. A cotter pin, or a solid pin, can conveniently be used for this purpose.

Nipples or pins 72 on the latch 20 provide for assembling the same and the resilient device 22. Appropriate diametrical slots are provided in the latter to slide the latch through it, and then the latch is turned to misalign the nipples or pins and the slots so that the former bear on the washer 74 but are not connected to it.

The eye 18 has a ball or conical member 76 secured to it seating in a like socket in the end portion 12 of the shank. By this means the latch can be retracted even at an angle to the axis of the latch and does not stick.

The angles of the flukes and the shape thereof are capable of being changed, depending on conditions likely to be encountered. The resilient member 20 can be varied by adding washers to latch 20, e.g. at the left side of washer 74.

We claim:

1. An anchor comprising a shank, means for attachment to an anchor cable adjacent one end of the shank, a relatively rotatable transverse shaft at the opposite end of the shank, flukes on the shaft,

a fluke lock rotatably mounted on the shaft, means limiting the degree of rotation of the lock with respect to the shaft,

said lock being elongated and extending radially with respect to said shaft and normally having a position aligned with the shank, said lock extending a substantial distance along said shank and having a free end, a notch in the free end,

a latch mounted for longitudinal motion on said shank,

resilient means normally holding said latch in latching position with respect to said notch in the lock but being retractable against the resilient means to 4 release the lock, whereby the shaft is free to rotate on its axis and the flukes are free to rotate therewith, and

cooperating means on the corresponding ends of the latch and the lock for retracting the lock so that it snaps into the notch upon alignment therewith.

2. The anchor of claim 1 wherein the last named means includes cam surfaces on the lock at the sides of the notch, said cam surfaces being adapted to retract the latch against the action of the resilient means to allow the latch to engage said notch upon alignment therewith.

3. The anchor of claim 1 wherein the last named means includes cam surfaces on the lock at the sides of the notch, the lock having a width substantially equal to that of the shank.

4. The anchor of claim 1 wherein the last named means includes cam surfaces on the lock at the sides of the notch, the lock having a width substantially equal to that of the shank, and an opening in the shank to receive the lock.

5. The anchor of claim 1 wherein the last named means includes cam surfaces on the lock at the sides of the notch, the lock having a width substantially equal to that of the shank, and an opening in the shank to receive the lock from either side thereof.

6. The anchor of claim 1 including means transverse of the shank to lock the lock to the shank.

7. The anchor of claim 1 wherein the means limiting the respective rotation of the lock with respect to the shaft comprises a barrel on the lock, the barrel surrounding the shaft, a partial circumferential opening in said barrel, a pin in said shaft extending into said opening, the ends of the opening forming shoulders limiting the respective relative rotation of the lock on the shaft.

8. The anchor of claim 1 including means transverse of the shank to lock the lock to the shank, said last-named means being manually removable.

9. The anchor of claim 1 including means transverse of the shank to lock the lock to the shank, said last-named means being manually removable and comprising a pin extending through corresponding holes in the lock and shank.

10. The anchor of claim 1 including a tapering member on the latch seated with respect to a like socket on the shank allowing for operating the anchor by a pull on the latch at an angle to the axis thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,709,980 6/ 1955 Christie 114-208 2,856,882 10/1958 Raynor 114-208 2,887,980 5/ 1959 Madden 114-208 TRYGVE BLDQ, Primary Examiner

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