Patent Grant
10035575
This invention generally relates to watercraft equipment, and more particularly to trolling motors.
Fishing boats and other vessels are often equipped with a trolling motor for providing a relatively small amount of thrust to slowly and quietly propel the boat or vessel. They advantageously provide for a finer adjustment of watercraft position than a main motor/propeller combination. One example of a contemporary trolling motor system may be found at U.S. Pat. No. 7,722,417 to Bernloehr et al. titled Trolling Motor Mount with Mono Main Arm, the entire teachings and disclosure of which are incorporated by reference herein.
As is readily understood in the art, such trolling motors incorporate a shaft with a propulsion unit at one end thereof. In a deployed position, the shaft is partially submerged in the water to situate the propulsion unit at a desired depth to provide thrust. To place the trolling motor in a stowed position, the shaft is pulled upwardly out of the water, and then rotated about a pivot point to secure it such that it is generally parallel relative to the surface of the water. While there are some designs which include an automated stow-deploy mechanism, many contemporary trolling motors are manually placed from the stowed position to the deployed position and vice versa.
In recent years, there has been a growing design trend in using larger motors in the propulsion unit to drive a propeller thereof. Such larger motors advantageously allow for a larger spectrum of applications of the trolling motor. In some cases, an ordinarily required outboard motor may be omitted entirely if the sizing of the motor on the trolling motor is sufficient enough to provide the required thrust. In other words, the larger more powerful motor of the trolling motor allows one to utilize only that device for propulsion of their watercraft, as opposed to a main outboard unit and a trolling motor.
Unfortunately, as a result of such larger motors, the overall weight of the trolling motor has significantly increased. This increase in weight has led to user difficulty in manually transitioning the trolling motor from the deployed position back to the stowed position. Indeed, the increased weight of the propulsion unit makes it difficult for a user to pull upwardly on the shaft to draw the shaft and the propulsion unit out of the water as there is a significant increase in the pulling force required. Such a weight increase is particularly problematic for younger or elderly users, as well as for those users which may have a persistent back injury limiting the amount of weight they can lift upwardly.
As such, there is a need in the art for a trolling motor system which, despite having a relatively large propulsion unit, may still be readily lifted out of the water to stow the same. There is also a need in the art for a lift assist device which may be retrofit onto an existing trolling motor with a relatively large propulsion unit so that it too may be readily lifted out of the water.
The invention provides such a system and device. These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.
In one aspect, a trolling motor system with a lift assist device is provided. An embodiment of such a trolling motor system includes a mount for mounting the trolling motor system to a watercraft. A steering module is mounted to the mount. The trolling motor system also includes a shaft assembly which includes a shaft, a head unit mounted to a first end of the shaft, and a propeller unit mounted to a second end of the shaft. The shaft extends through a steering collar of the steering module. The shaft assembly is linearly movable relative to the steering module along a trim axis. The trolling motor system also includes a lift assist device. The lift assist device is selectively coupled to the steering collar such that in a coupled position, a rotational torque acting upon the steering collar is transferred to the lift assist device, and in a decoupled position the shaft assembly and lift assist device are rotatable relative to the steering collar. The lift assist device is operably coupled to the shaft assembly to exert an upward pulling force against the shaft assembly along the trim axis.
The shaft assembly includes a stop collar mounted along the shaft. The lift assist device includes an engagement member. The stop collar biases an engaging end of the engagement member out of a housing of the lift assist device in the coupled position.
The engaging end of the engagement member seats in a receiving gap of the steering collar in the coupled position such that the rotational torque acting upon the steering collar is transferred to the engagement member of the lift assist device. The lift assist device also includes a guide member. The guide member includes a projection. The projection of the guide member seats in a channel of the shaft of the shaft assembly.
The lift assist device includes a biasing element which is extendable from a housing of the lift assist device. In one embodiment, the biasing element is a coil spring. An end of the coil spring is connected to the shaft assembly by a mounting collar. The mounting collar is mounted to the propeller unit of the shaft assembly.
In another aspect, a lift assist device for a trolling motor is provided which advantageously may be retrofit onto an existing trolling motor. Such a lift assist device includes a housing defining an opening configured for receipt of a shaft assembly of a trolling motor such that the shaft assembly is linearly movable within the opening along a trim axis. The lift assist device also includes a biasing element mounted within the housing. The biasing element is extendable from the housing. The biasing element has an end thereof configured for connection to the shaft assembly. The biasing element is configured to exert an upward force upon the shaft assembly along the trim axis.
In one embodiment, the biasing element is a coil spring. The coil spring is uncoilable through an opening in the housing. The lift assist device also includes a guide bar for guiding the coil spring through the opening in the housing. The guide bar includes a projection. The projection is configured to seat in a channel of the shaft assembly.
The lift assist device also includes an engagement member contained within the housing. A spring contained within the housing acts upon the engagement member such that the spring biases an engaging end of the engagement member into a recessed position within the housing. The engaging end of the engagement member is configured to protrude from the housing against a biasing force of the spring and is arranged to extend into a receiving gap of a steering collar of the trolling motor.
In another aspect, a trolling motor system is provided which advantageously reduces the amount of upward pulling force necessary to place a trolling motor into a stowed position. Such a trolling motor system includes a mount, a steering module mounted to the mount, a shaft assembly received by the steering module and movable along a trim axis relative to the steering module, and a lift assist device. The lift assist device is operably coupled to the shaft assembly to exert an upward point force against the shaft assembly along the trim axis.
The lift assist device is operably coupled to the shaft assembly by a biasing element. The lift assist device also includes an engagement member for selectively rotationally coupling and rotationally decoupling the lift assist device from a steering collar of the steering module.
Other aspects, objectives and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:
While the invention will be described in connection with certain preferred embodiments, there is no intent to limit it to those embodiments. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Turning now to the drawings, an embodiment of a trolling motor system 10 is illustrated therein which advantageously provides a lift assist device 20 for reducing the overall pulling force required to transition trolling motor system 10 from a deployed position as shown in
As can be seen in
To make the above transition between the deployed position shown in
Shaft assembly 18 includes an elongated shaft 30. A head unit 32 is connected to a first end of shaft 30. A propeller unit 34 is connected to a second end of shaft 30. Head unit 32 is connected through the hollow interior of shaft 30 to propeller unit 34 to provide thrust commands thereto. Additionally, steering commands may be communicated via a wired or wireless connection to head unit 32, and then communicated via a wired or wireless connection to steering module 16, ultimately to rotate shaft assembly 18 about trim axis 40 in rotational directions 42, 44. Alternatively, such steering commands may be communicated directly to steering module 16 via a wired or wireless connection. Furthermore, head unit 32 may include various automated steering control and navigation functions. Such steering commands may be communicated by a control device, which may be a stand-alone control device, or an integrated device such as a fish finder, mobile device, or the like.
Despite the above capability for automated steering and navigation of trolling motor system 10, trim adjustment, i.e. movement of shaft assembly 18 in linear directions 46, 48 along trim axis 40 is done manually. A stop collar 36 is utilized to limit the maximum linear travel of shaft assembly 18 relative to steering module 16 in linear direction 46. The abutment of propeller unit 34 with a bottom of steering module 16 limits the linear travel of shaft assembly 18 in linear direction 48.
As can be seen in
Indeed, and with reference now to
Lift assist device 20 has a coupled and a decoupled configuration. The coupled configuration is illustrated in
When in the coupled configuration, rotation of steering collar 66 results in a rotation of lift assist device 20 due to the positioning of engaging end 74 within receiving gap 72. Shaft 30 is extends through steering collar 66, but is not connected directly to steering collar 66. As a result, rotation of shaft 30 due to the rotation of steering collar 66 is made possible by lift assist device 20, when the same is in the coupled configuration.
Indeed, lift assist device 20 includes a guide member internally therein which engages shaft 30 such that shaft 30 also rotates with the rotation of lift assist device 20 and steering collar 66. This configuration ultimately causes the steering functionality of trolling motor system 10.
Turning now to
Shaft 30 also includes a channel 86 formed along the length thereof. A guide bar 88 is mounted within housing 76 such that a portion thereof projects into channel 86. A portion of guide bar 88 projects into and keys with channel 86 such that it does not limit or interfere with the capability of shaft assembly 18 to linearly move along trim axis 40 relative to lift assist device 20. However, this projection of guide bar 88 into channel 86 is such that any rotation of guide bar 88 about trim axis 40 with the remainder of lift assist device 20 will also cause shaft assembly 18 to rotate about trim axis 40. This interface between guide bar 88 and channel 86 is what causes the above-described transfer of steering inputs provided by steering collar 66 to lift assist device 20 to shaft 30 (and correspondingly shaft assembly 18). Guide bar 88 also serves the function of guiding a biasing element 92 out of an opening 94 in outer housing 76. As will be explained in greater detail below, biasing element 92 is responsible for providing the above-introduced upward lift assist force which reduces the overall required force input by a user to pull shaft assembly 18 upwardly in linear direction 48 along trim axis 40. An end of this coil spring 92 is connected to propeller unit 34.
More specifically, and turning now to
It will be recognized by those of skill in the art that although the illustrated embodiment utilizes a biasing element in the form of a coil spring, other biasing elements are contemplated. For example, a spring loaded drum with a cable attached thereto could be utilized instead of a coil spring. Further, an elastic member could be utilized instead of a coil spring. Those of skill in the art will recognize that such examples fall well within the general description of a biasing element.
Advantageously, the trolling motor system 10 described above incorporates a lift assist device 20 which reduces the overall force required by a user to move a shaft assembly 18 upwardly along a trim axis 40. It is also envisioned within the teachings of the present invention that lift assist device 20 may be a stand-alone device which may be incorporated into an existing trolling motor system. Indeed, lift assist device 20 may be readily incorporated into an existing trolling motor system simply by replacing the existing steering collar thereof with a steering collar that includes a receiving gap as described above, and sliding the lift assist device 20 along the shaft 30 to install the same.
Thereafter, one need simply to attach an end of the biasing element of lift assist device 20 to the propeller unit of such an existing trolling motor. In other words, the invention herein may be embodied as an entire system which includes a trolling motor with a lift assist device, or alternatively, may be embodied as a stand-alone with the assist device which may be retrofit onto an existing trolling motor system with minimal modification necessary. In either case, the instant invention has the overall advantage of reducing the overall force input required to adjust the trim of the trolling motor system, as well as to transition the trolling motor system from a deployed position to a stowed position.
Additionally, although lift assist device 20 is described herein as operably connected to the steering collar, the inventive concept here is not limited to this embodiment. Indeed, lift assist device 20 need not necessarily be coupled to the steering collar. Lift assist device 20 could attach elsewhere on a trolling motor and include a biasing element which attaches to the shaft assembly thereof to apply an upward force similar to that described above. Further, lift assist device 20 could be embodied as a biasing element which is itself integrated into a steering module or elsewhere on the trolling motor and attached at an end thereof to shaft assembly. Accordingly, the invention herein contemplates any configuration in which a supplementary upward force is applied to a steering assembly of a trolling motor to reduce the overall user force input required.
All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.
The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) is to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.
Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/281,580, filed Jan. 21, 2016, the entire teachings and disclosure of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4634390 | Baird | Jan 1987 | A |
| 4966566 | Baird | Oct 1990 | A |
| 5112258 | Folsom | May 1992 | A |
| 7722417 | Bernloehr et al. | May 2010 | B2 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20170210455 A1 | Jul 2017 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62281580 | Jan 2016 | US |
