Patent Application
20110008139
The invention generally relates to and apparatus and method for launching, retrieving, moving, and unloading boats and boat lifts.
It is well known that boats and boat lifts need to be taken in and out of the water, transported on land, and be unloaded on land.
It is desirable to utilize boat launching ramps, since these are common in a shoreline region. Current designs exist for the above functionality using a boat ramp, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,628,564, 6,341,793 and 5,857,823, but require a high level of training, and are very expensive. Much of the cost and complexity is associated with the drive system integrated into the device, therefore, there is a need for a hydraulic trailer that utilizes a standard existing tow vehicle, and has simple controls that do not require much training. U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,859 discloses a device designed for launching, retrieving and moving boats, but it is designed for a specially designed dock verses a launch ramp.
Use of a boat ramp is often not possible for boats approximately 30 feet long or more, since a standard trailer can bottom out on the apex of the boat ramp. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,455,310 and 4,395,185 disclose the use of a pivoting trailer tongue, designed to lower the front of the trailer for shallow water loading, rather than raise it as required to get over the apex of the ramp. Keeping the boat level while extracting from a launch ramp is desirable since the boat does not need to be tied down, and the interior of the boat is less disturbed. U.S. Pat. No. 7,628,564 solves the apex clearance problem by having a pivot substantially in the middle of the frame, but requires significant hydraulic cylinders to operate. U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,153 also has a hinged middle of the frame, which is used for launching instead of apex clearance.
Boat lifts are currently launched and recovered from the water using a flatbed trailer. The boat lift would need to be loaded and tied down carefully, since a flatbed trailer has no positioning features. However, it has not been practical nor safe to remove a boat lift with a boat on the boat lift. U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,153 discloses a design for adding wheels to a boat lift, but requires the wheels to be removed, and cannot accommodate a boat on the lift while the lift is being removed from the water.
Operation in as shallow water as possible enables use of a trailer in more conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,823 discloses rear wheels straddling the frame of a trailer, which is shallower than having the wheels under the frame. Wheels mounted on the outboard side of the frame would also be as shallow, but would induce a torque load into the frame.
Positioning boats fore and aft using a bow stop greatly simplifies loading, but current designs are not easily adjustable for use with multiple boat designs. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,455,310, 7,614,635 and 4,801,153 disclose use of a fixed bow stop.
Protecting the hull of a boat requires proper bunks/bunk support to avoid damage during the harsh use of loading and unloading as well as abrasive sea life growth. It is desirable to have bunks compatible with many hull shapes but common design requires manual adjustment and a skilled operator. U.S. Pat. No. 7,628,564 discloses the use of air-pressurized bunks for universal use with little to no adjustment but is vulnerable to puncture and requires an air source to pressurize the bunks. Non-pneumatic rubber-capped bunks have been used on boat lifts such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,830,410.
A problem with the current universal boat hoisting trailer is that the bunks/bunk supports are not adjustable laterally, since certain boat hulls require different bunk widths. This is especially important for supporting catamaran hulls since the hulls are narrower than a V-hull. Many current bunk shapes are either flat, which isn't conducive to hulls with different deadrises, or round, which concentrates the pressure on the hull more than a properly-fitting flat shape. Pivoting flat bunks accommodate multiple deadrises, but their discreet pivot points can concentrate pressure on the hull and the pivots can require more maintenance. Pivots also take up valuable draft clearance for shallow water use.
This summary of the invention section is intended to introduce the reader to aspects of the invention and is not a complete description of the invention. Particular aspects of the invention will be pointed out in claims stated below—such claims alone will demarcate the scope of the invention.
The present invention is generally directed for moving, launching, retrieving, and placing a boat and/or a boat lift. More particularly, an open-forked trailer frame is raised and lowered using rear wheels mounted to a pivoting arm, and a pivoting forward trailer tongue.
A boat and/or boat lift is retrieved from the water by backing the assembly down a launch ramp into the water with sufficient depth to float a boat and/or a boat lift on to support bunks mounted to the trailer frame. An adjustable bow stop is positioned to prepare for proper loading of a boat. For boat lift retrieval, a boat lift bow stop is positioned to do the same. The frame is at a lowered first position to load the boat and/or boat lift. Then the rear wheels are translated downward to a deployed second position to raise the rear of the trailer to securely rest the boat and/or boat lift on the bunks, and to keep the boat/and or boat lift more level. This eliminates the need to secure the boat/and or boat lift to the trailer. A towing vehicle tows the trailer to near the top of the launch ramp, and the tongue is rotated to a second raised position to lift the front of the trailer to give additional clearance between the apex of the launch ramp to the bottom of the trailer.
To remove the boat from the trailer, an operator sets out support blocks under the hull of the boat, and lowers the frame by retracting the rear wheels to a lowered first position, and rotating the tongue to a lowered first position. This lowers the boat onto the support blocks and retracts the boat supports of the trailer from the hull of the boat. The trailer is then towed from the location leaving the boat behind on the support blocks.
To remove the boat lift from the trailer with or without a boat on the boat lift, an operator deploys legs from the boat lift, and lowers the trailer frame by retracting the rear wheels to a lowered first position, and rotating the tongue to a lowered first position. This rests the legs of the boat lift on the ground and retracts the frame from the structure of the boat lift. The trailer is then towed from the location leaving the boat lift (with or without the boat on it) behind.
The hydraulic cylinders are powered by a hydraulic power unit mounted to the front of the trailer frame. A battery supplies power to the hydraulic power unit. A solar panel charges the battery. This system allows the trailer to be used by a standard tow vehicle, thus saving cost, space and maintenance.
The trailer is attached to a tow vehicle using a standard pintle hitch, or a 5th wheel hitch. To remove the trailer from the tow vehicle, a forward foot is lowered and secured, and the tongue is rotated upward until the load is eliminated from the hitch to allow uncoupling.
In the preferred embodiment, the boat supports comprise longitudinal bunks of a non-inflatable soft material, such as rubber, mounted directly to the frame of the trailer to minimize their height. The bunks are shaped to accept a V-hull or catamaran. In an alternative embodiment of the trailer, the lateral positioning of the bunk can be adjusted for additional flexibility by use of telescoping sections in the front of the forks of the frame.
The boat lift is secured to the frame fore and aft by a shallow index features on the frame that are positioned on either side of the boat lift cross frame member. The boat lift is secured laterally by indexing the side rails of the boat lift to the inside of the trailer frame forks.
In the preferred embodiment, the rear wheels comprise of a pair of wheels on each side, positioned to straddle the trailer fork structure to allow the trailer to lower to a minimum height, and to balance the applied load into the fork of the trailer.
In the preferred embodiment, the hydraulic cylinders are synchronized to simplify operation, and to prevent undesirable twisting loading of unsynchronized wheel positions. The hydraulics are controlled with a pendant controller or remote control with a first up/down control for the forward tongue, and a second up/down control for the rear wheels.
The present invention is generally directed to a trailer (13) and method for loading, launching, landing and retrieving a watercraft and/or watercraft lift to facilitate the transition between a body of water and land, and storage on land.
A trailer (13) of the present invention is shown in
In
As best illustrated in
It is preferred, although not required, to simultaneously operate the left and right side hydraulically actuated cylinders (34a and 34b) and synchronously rotate the left and right side wheel supports forward and rearward so as to keep the construction and operation of the controls for the trailer (13) simple and easy. This also minimizes costs and the risk of operator error that could cause the left and right side hydraulically actuated cylinders to individually extend and/or retract and thereby possibly result in one side of the frame structure of the trailer becoming so much lower than the other that the lateral tilting of the trailer causes the payload to shift laterally on the trailer or even slide laterally off of the trailer.
A forwardly extending tongue (33) has a proximal end pivotally attached to a forward end of the V-shaped forward frame (16) and extends forward thereof. A distal end of the tongue (33) has a hitch (17) attached thereto which can be selectively connected to and disconnected from a mating hitch member of a tow vehicle (not shown). An upwardly extend post (40) is fixedly attached to the forward end of the V-shaped forward frame, and a hydraulically actuated cylinder (38) has one end attached to the post and an opposite end attached to the tongue (33), such that extension of the hydraulically actuated cylinder rotates the tongue downward to raise the forward end portion of the frame structure of the trailer relative to the ground when the hitch (17) is attached to the tow vehicle, and retraction of the hydraulically actuated cylinder rotates the hitch upward to lower the forward end portion of the frame structure of the trailer relative to the ground when the hitch is attached to the tow vehicle. The hydraulically actuated cylinder (38) has sufficient strength to vertically raise and lower the forward end portion of the frame structure of the trailer when attached to the tow vehicle trailer between a maximum raised position above an appropriate towing height at which the trailer is towed (typically with the tongue extending generally horizontally) and a minimum lowered position below the towing height while the trailer is loaded with its maximum rated payload, which typically would include the watercraft (11) and the floating watercraft lift (12).
The left and right side hydraulically actuated cylinders (34a and 34b) and the hydraulically actuated cylinder (38), as well as the construction of the frame structure of the trailer and other components, are designed to carry and operate under a payload where the watercraft (11) is 16,000 to 24,000 pounds or more and the watercraft lift (12) is 8,000 pounds or more, with a maximum payload rating of 40,000 pounds.
In
With the watercraft lift (12) of the design illustrated in
It is noted that while the trailer (13) is aptly suited for use to store the watercraft lift and/or watercraft on bocks and stands, and for use to store the watercraft lift on its adjustable legs, the trailer has a sufficiently simple design and thus low cost of construction that the trailer may be economically used as a platform for storage of the watercraft lift and/or watercraft. By storing the watercraft lift and/or watercraft on the trailer (13), extremely rapid deployment of the watercraft lift and/or watercraft is possible since it is not necessary to bring the trailer to the watercraft lift and/or watercraft and again position the watercraft lift and/or watercraft on the trailer before towing it to the launch ramp for launching the watercraft. This can be extremely important in military and security applications were deploying watercraft quickly can avoid damage to the watercraft from enemy fire and potential loss of life.
In
The operation of the left and right side hydraulically actuated cylinders (34a and 34b) and the hydraulically actuated cylinder (38) when the hitch (17) is attached to the tow vehicle also provides control of the forward/rearward pitch of the frame structure of the trailer (13) for towing and thereby allow achievement of an improved load balance since the wheels (31) and the wheel supports (32a and 32b) carry a majority of the payload weight.
The trailer (13) included a forward downwardly adjustable support stand (19) used to support the forward end of the trailer when the hitch (17) is not attached to the tow vehicle. While a conventional jack could be used to raise and lower the forward end of the trailer, in the illustrated embodiment the adjustable support stand (19) is a simple telescoping device with a fixed member fixedly attached to the V-shaped forward frame (16) and an extendible member telescopically received therein and adjustably held in place in any one of a plurality of extended positions by a pin. To raise and lower the forward end of the trailer so the support stand can be adjusted, while the hitch (17) is still attached to the tow vehicle, the hydraulically actuated cylinder (38) is operated to rotate the tongue (33) downward or upward to raise or lower, respectively, the forward end portion of the frame structure of the trailer relative to the ground. When the trailer is at the desired height, the support stand (19) is adjusted so that a foot at the lower end thereof contact the ground, and then the hitch (17) is unlatched so that it is free to be disconnected from the tow vehicle and the hydraulically actuated cylinder (38) is operated to rotate the tongue upward and disengage the hitch from the tow vehicle. The process can be reversed to reconnect the trailer to the tow vehicle. Thus, the expense of a manual jack and the time required to operate it when disconnecting or connecting the trailer to the tow vehicle are avoided. Further, when carrying the size payloads for which the trailer (13) is rated, operating a hand-crank jack to raise the frame structure of the trailer would be difficult, if not impossible, and would require use of large reduction gears in the jack and hence would be unacceptably slow and consume too much time and energy, especially where rapid and easy deployment of the watercraft lift and/or watercraft is important.
While the left and right side hydraulically actuated cylinders (34a and 34b) and the hydraulically actuated cylinder (38) may be operated by pressurized hydraulic fluid, such as hydraulic oil, the fluid may also be air or another gas supplied under pressure. An alternative embodiment could use other power mechanisms to provide the function supplied by the left and right side hydraulically actuated cylinders (34a and 34b) and the hydraulically actuated cylinder (38), such as another type of linear actuation device.
While the left and right side hydraulically actuated cylinders (34a and 34b) and the hydraulically actuated cylinder (38) could be coupled to a supply of pressurized hydraulic fluid supplied by a system on the tow vehicle, the illustrated embodiment of the trailer (13) utilized a self-contained and pressurized hydraulic fluid system (50) (illustrated in the block diagram of
The power module (52) is positioned in a box (22) attached to the post (40). The module (52) generally includes a hydraulic fluid pump (54) that exchanges a hydraulic fluid with a reservoir (55), and is capable of delivering the fluid under pressure to a selected on of the cylinders (34a/34b/38) through a solenoid-actuated up valve (56) when the selected cylinder is being extended. A solenoid-actuated down valve (57) may be actuated to release pressurized fluid from the selected cylinder when the cylinder is being retracted. A flow control valve (58) may be included to control the rate at which the cylinder is extended or retracted. The pump (54) is further coupled to a direct current (DC) motor (59) that receives current from a DC power source, such as a battery (60). The battery may be electrically coupled to the DC motor through a solenoid relay (61), or other power relay devices. The battery may further be electrically coupled to a solar panel (62) mounted atop the post (40) that is capable of recharging the battery when the solar panel is exposed to solar radiation.
The module (52) further includes a control unit (65) that is operatively coupled to the up valve (56) through an up solenoid (61a), the down valve (57) through a down solenoid (61b), and the solenoid relay (61) to control the operation of these elements. The hydraulic fluid system (50) includes a handheld controller (66), shown in
With the above-described arrangement, the left and right side hydraulically actuated cylinders (34a and 34b) and the hydraulically actuated cylinder (38) are powered by the self-contained and pressurized hydraulic fluid system (50) which is located onboard the trailer and operable independent of the tow vehicle and any external power source or source of pressurized hydraulic fluid. This allows the trailer (13) to be used by a standard tow vehicle, thus saving cost, space and maintenance.
An adjustable bow stop (36) has a pair of support members which are each pivotally attached at a lower end to the cross-member 15. The bow stop is shown in
As best illustrated in
As perhaps best illustrated in
As illustrated in
With the same cushioning member (35), the trailer (13) can carry both a catamaran hull boat (91) or a V-hull boat (100) and provide superior distribute of the pressure from the weight of the watercraft.
To facilitate a secure transport of the watercraft lift (12) on the trailer (13), the trailer includes an upwardly opening U-shaped member (114) affixed directly to and atop each of the left and right side frame members (14a and 14b) as shown in
A second embodiment of the adjustable bow stop (36) is shown in
The shape of the bow stop (36) is design to engage the bow of the watercraft (11), whether it be the bow of the hull of a catamaran hull boat (91) or a V-hull boat (100). As best illustrated in
An alternative frame design for the trailer (13) is shown in
The pair of wheels (31) attached to the distal end of the left side wheel support (32a) are spaced apart sufficiently such that when the left side hydraulically actuated cylinder (34a) is operated to rotate the left side wheel support fully rearward, the wheels will straddle the left side frame member (14a), and the pair of wheels (31) attached to the distal end of the right side wheel support (32b) are spaced apart such that when the right side hydraulically actuated cylinder (34b) is operated to rotate the right side wheel support fully rearward, the wheels will straddle the right side frame member (14b), as apparent from
An alternative embodiment of the trailer (13) is shown in
The foregoing described embodiments depict different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected,” or “operably coupled,” to each other to achieve the desired functionality.
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this invention. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is solely defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).
Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/186,881, filed Jun. 14, 2009.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61186881 | Jun 2009 | US |
