Patent Application
20250058852
The invention herein disclosed relates generally to coverings employed on boats and the like for shade. More particularly, it relates to an expandable bimini top support frame which is easily adjustable for overall width to engage with and accommodate boats of different widths between gunwales and which is tiltable once installed to aid in positioning shade from overhead sun.
A Bimini top is an open-front canvas top for the cockpit of a boat or similar pleasure craft. Such bimini tops, conventionally, are formed of textile fabric to provide shade and wind protection to the occupants of the water craft. Conventionally, bimini tops employ the canvas or fabric portion which is supported by a metal frame.
Because there are times when shade and wind protection are desirable for water craft occupants and other times when such is not desirable, most conventional bimini tops are configured such that they can be collapsed when not in use and subsequently raised again if shade or shelter from rain is desired.
Conventional Bimini tops are employed primarily to provide protection from the sun. However, most once raised and secured, will offer some limited protection from wind, rain, or spray when the water craft is moving. Conventional Bimini tops are provided with frames which are customized as to size and configuration to only fit a atop.
With respect to the above, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the user configurable Bimini top frame system herein, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of employment and to the arrangement of the components or the steps set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The various components and construction of the disclosed folding Bimini top frame apparatus and methods and steps of employment thereof, are capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. All such variations will be obvious to those skilled in the art once the information herein is reviewed and thus are considered within the scope of this invention and which are considered within the scope of this application.
Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for other collapsible and size adjustable Bimini frame system. It is important, therefore, that the embodiments, objects, and claims herein, be regarded as including such equivalent construction, operation and methodology, insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The disclosed Bimini top frame system herein provides a significant advance in the utility and operation of Bimini tops, such as those employed on boats and other pleasure craft. The Bimini top frame herein is formed of metal in a tubular configuration such that, when deployed, the formed frame will support a canvas cover adapted to engage the frame above the cab or passenger area of a boat.
The frame herein provides for a virtually infinite onsite adjustment of the width of the overall frame between a maximum and minimum width. Currently, the minimum width is substantially 54 inches and the maximum is 102 inches in width, which has been found to allow fitment to the sliding assemblies mounted on the opposing gunwales of most ski and sporting boats. The frame can be manufactured with a lesser amount of adjustment, such as between 54-84 inches for smaller vessels to reduce cost. However, it is a particular object of this invention to allow for an easy sliding of the two side supports away from each other while engaged with center supports for the fabric top to allow for fitment to a large number of differently dimensioned boats.
Engaged to the lower end of each member forming each of the first and second side supports are mounts or feet that engage with the gunwales on each side of the boat. In one mode of the device, the feet or mounts are fixed in engagement to the gunwale, and in another mode of the device, the feet or mounts are configured to slide within a slide assembly engaged to the gunwale. In all modes of the frame device herein, it is adapted to allow the first side support and second side support to slide toward and away from each other in their respective sliding engagements with the center supports which support the fabric cover. This sliding engagement of each of the side supports with the center supports thereby allows for easy adapting of one frame to multiple sized boats with highly varying distances between the gunwales. The canvas cover or canopy can be ordered or manufactured to fit the expanded frame once the user or the manufacturer has determined the distance between the first side support and second side support in their mounted position on the gunwales of a boat.
Additional utility is provided by adjustable support side struts for the frame for the overhead fabric canopy. These telescopically adjustable vertical disposed struts allow the user to raise and lower the canopy section formed by the center supports which old the fabric cover and also to tilt the overhead frame and shade canopy thereon to angles which allow them to position the shady area provided thereby to different areas of the boat or water craft. This allows the user to change the angle of the supported fabric cover during the day to change the shaded area between the gunwales as the sun moves overhead.
As such, the frame may be adjusted by the user to fit the width of their boat or water craft and may be adjusted to position the top of the frame and the canvas supported thereon to differing heights above the deck of the boat and the supporting gunwales. Still further, angle adjustment of the supported awning or fabric is also provided to allow the user to position the provided shady area to different areas of the boat.
The width adjustments are provided by separate sliding engagements of respective side supports from a central section or support. A first side of each pivoting connector holding each of the three cross members in an adjustable engagement is connected to a respective first portion of each respective cross member and the pivot or hinge. A second side of each respective pivoting connector has a sleeve engaged thereon. Each such sleeve provides for a sliding adjustable engagement with each respective second portion of each respective cross member. Thus, each of the three cross members will pivot in a central area thereof and is slidably adjustable for the width of each respective cross member.
It is to be understood that the disclosed invention is not limited in its application to the details of operation nor the arrangement of the components or the steps set forth in the following description or illustrations in the drawings. The various structural configurations and implementation of the Bimini frame system herein are capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways which will be obvious to those skilled in the art once they review this disclosure. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description of the Bimini frame device and system and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for designing of other width and height adjustable Bimini top frame systems, methods, and device configurations for carrying out the several purposes of the disclosed device and system herein. Therefore, the objects and claims herein should be regarded as including any and all such equivalent construction, components, steps, and methodology insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is an object of this invention to provide a lightweight Bimini top frame which is infinitely adjustable for width between a widest point and narrowest point thereof to allow for operative engagement of the widest variety of separated gunwales of boats of differing widths.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a Bimini top frame which can be adjusted for the angle of the Bimini top canvas to the sun from the rear of the boat to the front of the boat.
It is a further object of this invention to provide side supports that are adjustable to allow adjustment of the height of the engaged center supports to thereby allow for height adjustment of the supported fabric above the deck and gunwales of the boat.
These, together with other objects and advantages which become subsequently apparent, reside in the details of the construction and configurations of the Bimini top frame system herein as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.
Also, further objectives of this Bimini top frame system invention will be ascertained by those skilled in the art as brought out in the following part of the specification wherein the detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing limitations thereon.
As used in the claims to describe the various inventive aspects and embodiments, “comprising” means including, but not limited to, whatever follows the word “comprising”. Thus, use of the term “comprising” indicates that the listed elements are required or mandatory, but that other elements are optional and may or may not be present. By “consisting of” is meant including, and limited to, whatever follows the phrase “consisting of”. Thus, the phrase “consisting of” indicates that the listed elements are required or mandatory, and that no other elements may be present. By “consisting essentially of” is meant including any elements listed after the phrase, and limited to other elements that do not interfere with or contribute to the activity or action specified in the disclosure for the listed elements. Thus, the phrase “consisting essentially of” indicates that the listed elements are required or mandatory, but that other elements are optional and may or may not be present depending upon whether or not they affect the activity or action of the listed elements.
Also, in the descriptions herein, it is to be understood that terms such as front, back, inside, outside, top, bottom and the like, are words of convenience only and are not to be construed as limiting terms. Terminology used herein is not meant to be limiting insofar as devices described herein, or portions thereof, and they may be attached or utilized in other orientations. The various aspects will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.
Finally, by the term “substantially” when used with regard to size or volume or mass, is meant plus or minus five percent, unless respectively otherwise defined, and by the term “substantially” with regard to alignment and positioning is meant plus or minus five percent.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate some, but not the only or exclusive examples of embodiments and/or features of the disclosed Bimini top frame system herein. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative of the invention herein, rather than limiting in any fashion.
In the drawings:
Referring now to the Bimini frame device 10 herein for supporting a fabric or textile Bimini top thereon. The frame device 10 is depicted in
This adjustment is accomplished by sliding the horizontally positioned and telescopically engaged center support members shown as the first center support 16 and second center support 22 and third center support 28. Each is in a sliding or telescopic engagement with a member forming the first upright assembly 30 and second upright assembly 32 on the opposite side. These sliding engagements of the center supports on opposing sides thereof to the first upright assembly 30 and second upright assembly 32 allows the frame device 10 to easily adjust in width to boats having gunwales 35 further apart or in narrower positions.
The sliding engagement 19 for the first center support 16 is provided on opposite sides thereof to respective first side supports 12 of the first upright assembly 30 and the second side support 14 of the second upright assembly 32. While shown as separate components, the first side supports 12 and second side support 14 may be included as part of the secondary side supports 40 by curing or forming horizontal sliding engagements 19 thereof.
The sliding engagements 19 for the second center support 22 are formed on opposing sides thereof by engagements to secondary side supports 21 which are both in respective rotational engagement to third side supports 15 of both the first upright assembly 30 and second upright assembly 32. These third side supports 15 are engaged at lower ends thereof to the secondary supports 40 of each of the first upright assembly 30 and second upright assembly 32.
Because the upright assemblies 30 and 32 are adapted to be engaged in a fixed position on the gunwales 35, when the device 10 is operatively engaged, the sliding engagements 19 of the first, second and third center supports 18, 22, and 28 may be freely engaged. By freely engaged is meant that no stops or screws or fixed engagements or the like are required at the sliding engagements 19 of the first center support 16 and second center support 22 and third center support 28. Instead, the sliding engagements 19 are held in place by the fixed engagements of the first upright assembly 30 and second upright assembly 32 to respective gunwales 35.
The frame 10 is also infinitely adjustable for height to any position between a lowest height and a tallest height by expanding or contracting the telescopically engaged vertically disposed members of the first upright support 30 and second upright support which support the horizontally disposed center supports 16, 22, and 28. By lowest height and tallest height herein is meant that the tallest height is substantially three feet higher than the lowest height.
Shown in
The same sliding configuration for the second horizontal center support 22 for a cover 11 is formed by a third side support 18 which is part of the first upright assembly 30 and a fourth side support which is part of the second upright assembly 32, which are both telescopically collapsed in sliding engagements 19 into the second center support 22.
This same sliding configuration is found in a third horizontal support for the canopy formed by the fifth side support 24 which is part of the first upright assembly 30 and sixth side support 26 which is part of the second upright assembly, which are both telescopically collapsed in sliding engagements 19 into a the third center support 28. Thus, all of the center supports 16, 22, and 28 are telescopically engaged to the side supports 30 and 32 at telescopic engagements 19 where a respective portion of each side support 30 or 32 slides into the respective center support to which they engage in a sliding engagement 19.
The ability of the frame device 10 herein to expand from the narrowest configuration or width to a widest configuration or width is shown in
A first upright assembly 30, as noted, is mounted to the gunwale 35 on one side of the frame device 10 and a second upright assembly 32 is mounted to the gunwale 35 on the opposite gunwale 35 in
Each of the upright assemblies 30 and 32 has mounts 34 at lower ends of the members forming it which are configured to engage to the boat gunwale 35 to hold the device thereon operatively. In some cases, the gunwales 35 will have a slide rail thereon (not shown but well known) to allow for sliding positioning of the mounts 34 atop the gunwales 35. Such slide rails, when positioned atop the gunwales 35, are conventionality U-shaped. The mounts 34 in this configuration allow the lower ends of the first upright assembly 30 and second upright assembly 32 to slide, as needed.
In addition to being infinitely adjustable for width between the narrowest and widest configurations, the frame 10 is adjustable for tilt which is most important when boating in the sun which moves relative to the boat.
As shown in
A fixable sliding engagement component or sliding collar 39 is positioned at the distal end of a first support member 36 of the first upright assembly 30 and a second support member 38 of the second upright assembly 32. Other members forming both the first upright assembly 30 and second upright assembly 32 are also engaged with fixable sliding engagements such as a sliding collar 39 or other sliding connection forming a fixable sliding engagement. By fixable sliding engagement is meant that once slid to a desired position, the fixable sliding engagement component may be fixed in position by a screw, spring loaded pin, or other releasable fixable connection. However, in some cases they need not be fixed and will hold position once slid to position. Such sliding collars 39 are well known. They release by rotating an exterior collar portion which, once released, will frictionally engage the member within.
This fixable sliding engagement allows both the secondary supports 40 and the first support member 36 and second support member 38 to rotate in their engagements to the mounts 34 and thus to the gunwales 35. Each of the first support member 36 and second support member 38 are also telescopic in configuration and will lengthen as the collar 39 slides toward a mount 34 and will shorten as the collar 39 slides upward.
Thus, the translation of the frictional engagement or collar 39 and the rotation of the secondary supports 40 and first support member 36 and second support member 38 allows the first upright assembly 30 and second upright assembly 32 to rotate in their respective engagements to the gunwales 35. This is what is meant by rotation of the first upright assembly 30 and second upright assembly 32.
During this rotation of the first upright assembly 30 and second upright assembly 32, the secondary supports 40, by which all adjustable horizontal center supports 16, 22, and 28 are engaged, rotate on the mounts 34 engaging them to the gunwale 35.
Since the secondary supports 40, as shown, provide the support for the first, second, and third center supports 16, 22, and 28, when each of the first upright assembly 30 and second upright assembly 32 concurrently rotate in their respective rotating engagements to the gunwales 35, any canvas canopy cover 11 engaged over the cross members will tilt. This tilt, as each of the first upright assembly 30 and second upright assembly 32 are tilted during this rotation, can be seen in
While all of the fundamental characteristics and features of the disclosed width and angle adjusting Bimini frame system for supporting a Bimini top herein have been shown and described herein, with reference to particular embodiments thereof, a latitude of modification, various changes and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosure and it will be apparent that in some instances, some features of the frame system may be employed without a corresponding use of other features thereof, without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth. It should also be understood that various substitutions, modifications, and variations may be made by those skilled in the art upon their review of this specification, without departing from the spirit or scope of the Bimini top frame invention herein. Consequently, all such modifications and variations and substitutions are included within the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/533,000 filed on Aug. 16, 2023.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63533000 | Aug 2023 | US |
