Patent Application
20140001138
This disclosure is related to an apparatus for lifting and moving marine vessels, and, more particularly, towards a crane assembly for use in attaching to a pier or dock and lifting marine vessels from a water body. The crane assembly may be portable in nature.
Residential and commercial marine vessels are many times stored along a dock or pier that extends from the shoreline of a body of water. The vessels may be stored on a platform that is liftable by use of a cable and pulley assembly that provides for movement of the platform and vessel in and out of the water. However, this platform model may be undesirable because of associated cost and expense in building the platform. Additionally, the platform may not be aesthetically pleasing. Furthermore, the platform is many times permanent and therefore occupies valuable water space about the dock.
The platform may be important for elevating the marine vessel out of the body of water, particularly in the winter and off-season months in order to reduce wear associated with being exposed to the winter and off-season elements. For vessel owners without such a platform, the vessel may have to be removed from the water on a trailer and taken elsewhere for storage. This represents a time intensive and cumbersome process.
A need therefore exists for a solution that addresses these disadvantages.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description of Illustrative Embodiments. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Disclosed herein is a crane assembly for lifting marine vessels. The crane assembly includes a sleeve having first and second clamps extending therefrom that are configured for engaging with a pylon of a dock, a boom pole slideably and rotatably received within the sleeve, and a winch assembly carried by the boom pole and configured for engaging with the marine vessel.
According to one or more embodiments, the sleeve further includes at least one bearing in which the outer race is engaged with an inner surface of the sleeve and the inner race is configured for engaging with the boom pole.
According to one or more embodiments, the at least one bearing is positioned inline with one of the first and second clamps.
According to one or more embodiments, the crane assembly includes ball bearings in a bottom portion of the sleeve.
According to one or more embodiments, the crane assembly includes an o-ring at a top portion of the sleeve for maintaining a moisture impervious enclosure within the sleeve.
According to one or more embodiments, the winch assembly includes a winch and a cable.
According to one or more embodiments, the boom pole further includes a roller assembly on an end thereof for providing translation movement to the cord of the winch assembly.
According to one or more embodiments, the winch is hand or electric operated.
According to one or more embodiments, the crane assembly includes a crossbar configured for receiving a cable of the winch assembly and for lifting a marine vessel.
According to one or more embodiments, the crossbar has a pair of adjustable supports carried along a length thereof that are adjustable to vary the space between the pair of adjustable supports. The adjustable supports are configured for engaging a cable for lifting the marine vessel.
According to one or more embodiments, a crane assembly for lifting marine vessels is provided. The crane assembly includes a sleeve having first and second clamps extending therefrom that are configured for engaging with a pylon of a dock, a boom pole slideably and rotatably received within the sleeve, a winch assembly carried by the boom pole and including a winch and a cord, and a crossbar that has a main support that receives the cord and that has a pair of adjustable supports being carried along a length thereof that are adjustable to vary the space between the pair of adjustable supports. The adjustable supports are configured for engaging a support strap that is configured for passing beneath the marine vessel.
According to one or more embodiments, a wheeled assembly to which the sleeve is configured to be carried by is provided for transporting the crane assembly.
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purposes of illustration, there is shown in the drawings exemplary embodiments; however, the presently disclosed invention is not limited to the specific methods and instrumentalities disclosed. In the drawings:
The presently disclosed subject matter is described with specificity to meet statutory requirements. However, the description itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent. Rather, the inventors have contemplated that the claimed invention might also be embodied in other ways, to include different steps or elements similar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction with other present or future technologies.
The crane assembly 10 may further include a boom pole 20. The boom pole 20 may be configured in the shape illustrated in
The crane assembly 10 may further include a winch assembly 22. The winch assembly 22 may be positioned on the boom pole 20 as illustrated, though the winch assembly 22 could be positioned elsewhere according to one or more embodiments.
As illustrated more closely in
The sleeve 12 may include a first bearing 32 positioned at an upwardly medial portion within the sleeve 12. The sleeve 12 may also include a second bearing 34 positioned at a downwardly medial portion within the sleeve 12. The boom pole 20 is received within bearings 32 and 34. In this manner, when using roller bearings, the inner race of each of bearings 32, 34 is engaged with the boom pole 20 and the outer race of each of bearings 32, 34 is engaged with the sleeve 12. The races of each bearing 32, 34 may be secured to the sleeve 12 by use of a threaded fastener, detent, press fit, or any other suitable manner. Bearings 32 and 34 may be roller bearings, ceramic bearings, bushings, or any other structure capable of providing rotational movement of the boom pole 20 relative to sleeve 12. The crane assembly 10 may further include additional bearings as needed. Additionally, in one or more embodiments, crane assembly 10 may not use any bearings such that the outer diameter of the portion of boom pole 20 received within sleeve 12 is about the same as the inner diameter of sleeve 12.
The first bearing 32 may generally aligned with the first clamp 14. Similarly, the second bearing 34 may be generally aligned with the second clamp 16. In this manner, torsional and shear forces applied to the crane assembly, particularly those about bearings 32, 34 and clamps 14, 16 are supported by the inline arrangement of the first bearing 32 about the first clamp 14 and the second bearing 34 about the second clamp 16.
Ball bearings 36 may be further provided in a bottom portion of the sleeve 12. The ball bearings 36 may be for providing support to the boom pole 20 when received within sleeve 12 and further to reduce frictional and other forces upon rotation of the boom pole 20 about sleeve 12. A seal 40 may additionally be provided about a top portion of the sleeve 12 for maintaining a moisture impervious enclosure within the sleeve 12. Seal 40 may be a gasket, o-ring, or similar structure.
A top view of the second clamp 16 is illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Attachment of the crane assembly 10 is accomplished by sliding the first clamp 14 over the pylon 3. The second clamp 16 is then opened so that it can receive pylon 3 therein. Second clamp 16 is then closed. Handle assemblies 17 are then turned until the associated shaft is in engagement with pylon 3. The boom pole 20 is then positioned by rotating about sleeve 12 until in a desired position or orientation. The operator then engages cable 26 with the vessel 1 or crossbar 42 and operates winch assembly 22 until the vessel is in a desired position.
While the embodiments have been described in connection with the preferred embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiment for performing the same function without deviating therefrom. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rather should be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims.
