Patent Application
20130239865
Drive-on watercraft floats that allow for a watercraft to dock are well known. The watercraft is driven onto the float within a watercraft receiving area to receive the hull of the watercraft. Drive-on watercraft floats lift the watercraft out of the water thereby reducing damage to the watercraft caused by the watercraft from being stored in the water, allowing for the watercraft to be more easily services, and allowing for the watercraft to be easily boarded and disembarked by the user. Watercraft floats are fitted to a single size watercraft and are not versatile allowing them to be used for multiple sized watercrafts. Launching the watercraft from the watercraft float is often difficult and can lead to injury of the user.
The present disclosure pertains to a glide assembly for a watercraft float having a base with a bottom surface and a cavity, a glide member, an axle, and a securing mechanism allowing for the glide assembly to be positioned at different locations on the float, where the cavity receives the glide member and axle. In one aspect of the disclosure, the bottom surface is substantially mated to a watercraft receiving area of the float. In one aspect of the disclosure, the contour of the bottom surface of the base has the shape of a multi-tiered angled protrusion, and the contour of the surface of a watercraft receiving area of the float has the shape of a multi-tiered angled recess. In one aspect of the disclosure, the contour of the surface of the glide member is concave towards the center of the glide member.
In one aspect of the disclosure, the securing mechanism has a threaded float cavity located within the float, an assembly tunnel located within the glide assembly, and a fastener. In one aspect of the disclosure, a plurality of threaded float cavities are located along the longitudinal axis of a watercraft receiving area of the float. In one aspect of the disclosure, the plurality of threaded float cavities are positioned between about 6″-48″ apart.
In one aspect of the disclosure, the surface of the glide assembly that contacts the watercraft is located above the surface of the watercraft receiving area thereby reducing the amount of force required to launch the watercraft.
In one aspect of the disclosure, the surface of the glide assembly that contacts the watercraft is located between about 1″-24″ above the surface of the watercraft receiving area.
With those and other objects, advantages and features on the invention that may become hereinafter apparent, the nature of the invention may be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, the appended claims, and the drawings attached hereto.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form part of the specification, illustrate various embodiments of the present invention and together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the invention. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.
The present disclosure pertains to a glide assembly 100 removably engaged to a drive-on watercraft float 200 for receiving a watercraft 300. As shown in
In one embodiment, as shown in
As shown in
The glide member 120 allows for the glide assembly 100 to rotationally support the watercraft 300. The glide member 120 can be any component that allows for the rotation upon contact with the bottom of the watercraft 300, for example, a roller, multiple rollers with spacers, or the like. The glide member 120 can be fixedly engaged to the axle 130 or rotationally engaged to the axle 130. In one embodiment, the contour of the surface of the glide member 120 is concave towards the center of the glide member 120 to allow for the structural keel of the watercraft 300 to be centered onto the glide member 120.
In one embodiment, as shown in
In one embodiment, the glide assembly 100 has a plurality of securing mechanisms 140 thereby allowing for the glide assembly 100 to be secured to the float 200 at various locations on the float 200 and allowing for the glide assembly 100 to support multiple watercraft 300 of various sizes. For example, as shown in
In one embodiment, the glide assembly 100 aids the float 200 in receiving the watercraft 300 by reducing the amount of friction between the bottom of the watercraft 300 and the surface of the watercraft receiving area 220. In one embodiment, the rotational function of the glide assembly 100 reduces the amount of force required to push or launch the watercraft 300 from the float 200 into the water. In one embodiment, the surface of the glide assembly 100 that contacts the watercraft 300 is located above the surface 221 of the watercraft receiving area 220 thereby reducing the amount of force required by the user to launch the watercraft 300 from the float 200. In one embodiment, the surface of the glide assembly 100 that contacts the watercraft 300 is located between about 1″-24″, 1″-18″, 1″-12″, 1″-6″, 3″-6″, 3″-12″, 3″-18″, 3″-24″, 6″-9″, 6″-12″, 6″-18″, 6″-24″, or the like, above the surface 221 of the watercraft receiving area 220. More specifically, the glide assembly 100 supports a portion of the watercraft 300 at a height above the surface 221 of the watercraft receiving area 220, and thereby provides for a portion of the watercraft 300 to be raised above the surface 221 of the watercraft receiving area 220. The portion of the watercraft 300 supported by the glide assembly 100 above the surface 221 of the watercraft receiving area 220 can be the bow 311, middle front 312, middle rear 313, or any combination thereof. This reduces the area of the bottom of the watercraft 300 that contacts the surface 221 of the watercraft receiving area 220 thereby which reduces the amount of resistance or friction between the surface 221 of the watercraft receiving area 220 and the watercraft 300, thereby reducing the amount of force required to launch the watercraft 300 from the float 200. In one embodiment, a plurality of glide assemblies 100 of substantially the same or various heights above the surface 221 of the watercraft receiving area 220 are positioned on the float 200.
As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “includes,” “comprises,” “including” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
The foregoing has described the principles, embodiments, and modes of operation of the present invention. However, the invention should not be construed as being limited to the particular embodiments described above, as they should be regarded as being illustrative and not as restrictive. It should be appreciated that variations may be made in those embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.
