Patent Application
20070227432
Use of watercraft is a popular outdoor activity. There are a wide variety of watercraft on the market that appeal to the users need or taste, ranging from a small canoe or jet ski, to a mid-sized boat, to a large cabin cruiser. Many such vessels, hereinafter generally referred to as “watercraft”, generally up to a certain size, are stored out of the water and are transported for use over land using a trailer.
Trailers of various types and sizes have been used to transport watercraft to and from a boat launch, where the watercraft are placed into and removed from a body of water. The majority of trailers use a ball and hitch type connection to connect the trailer to a tow vehicle.
In general, a watercraft trailer is adapted to be attached to the tow vehicle directly using, for example, a standard hitch ball mounted to the rear of the tow vehicle. In this configuration, the distance between the tow vehicle and the trailer is minimal. Indeed, for stability and safety reasons, it is preferable that the distance between the tow vehicle and the trailer during the transportation is not too large.
A typical boat launch comprises a ramp that runs from an above-water access area down into the body of water. Ramps may be paved, such as concrete, or may have a natural bottom, such as dirt or gravel.
When launching a watercraft into a body of water from a ramp, often the rear portion of the tow vehicle ends up in the water. When the tow vehicle enters the water, it may be exposed to water damage to the springs, shocks, exhaust system, brakes and other vehicle components that get wet.
If the ramp is a natural bottom ramp, the tow vehicle may end up in the mud or soft bottom soil of the lake, pond or ocean. In addition to possible water damage, there may also be a problem if the tow vehicle does not have enough weight over its rear wheels, after the watercraft has been launched, to gain sufficient traction to move up the ramp.
If the ramp is a concrete ramp, there may be a growth of algae or moss on the concrete at the water level that likewise prevents the tow vehicle from getting sufficient traction to exit the ramp.
Therefore, it is often desirable that the distance between the tow vehicle and the trailer be large when the watercraft is being launched into the water.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a device that allows for a short distance between the tow vehicle and the trailer during transport, and further allows a longer distance when the watercraft is to be launched. For example, it is desirable to be able to extend the distance between the tow vehicle and the watercraft trailer, to allow the trailer to be backed down the ramp and into the water, where the watercraft is launched, without the tow vehicle having to enter the water.
An aspect of the present invention provides a watercraft launch extension, which includes a tow vehicle section, a watercraft trailer section, and fastening means for fastening the tow vehicle section to the watercraft trailer section. The tow vehicle section includes an elongated tube having one end configured and sized to fit a tow vehicle receiver, a hollow interior and holes bilaterally aligned in pairs at intervals along the major axis of the elongated tube. The watercraft trailer section includes an elongated tube having one end configured to attach to a watercraft trailer, and further includes an outer surface dimensioned to allow the end opposite the end configured for attachment to the watercraft trailer to be inserted into the hollow interior of the tow vehicle section's elongated tube at the end opposite the end configured to fit the tow vehicle receiver, the watercraft trailer section further having one or more pair of bilaterally aligned holes positioned to align with one or more of the pairs of holes of the tow vehicle section's elongated tube.
In one aspect of the invention, the elongated tubes of the tow vehicle section and the watercraft trailer section comprise metallic tubing.
In an aspect of the invention, the metallic tubing described above has a rectangular cross-section.
In an aspect of the invention, the metallic tubing described above has a square cross-section.
In an aspect of the invention, the metallic tubing is made of stainless steel.
In another aspect of the invention, the metallic tubing is made of galvanized steel.
In another aspect of the invention, the metallic tubing is made of a metal alloy.
In an aspect of the invention, the metallic tubing described above has an oval cross-section.
Another aspect of the invention includes a watercraft launch extension as described above, where the fastening means includes one or more hitch pins.
Another aspect of the invention includes a watercraft launch extension as described above, where the end of the tow vehicle section configured and sized to fit a tow vehicle receiver slides into the receiver and is secured by a hitch pin.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one having ordinary skill in the art, that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known features may be omitted or simplified so as not to obscure the present invention. Furthermore, reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in an embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
A watercraft launch extension 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is illustrated in
Further, in an embodiment, the tow vehicle section includes a tip 114 at one end. The tip 114 in an exemplary embodiment is dimensioned to fit a standard tow vehicle receiver (not depicted), into which it is slid, and it may be secured to the tow vehicle using a hitch pin 108 inserted through holes 116 on the tip 114 and holes in the tow vehicle receiver. Means and techniques of attaching a tip 114 to a tow vehicle receiver are well known to those of ordinary skill in watercraft usage.
The tip 114 may be welded to the tow vehicle section 112. Alternatively, any means of fastening the tip 114 to the tow vehicle section 112 may be employed.
Also, in an embodiment, the watercraft trailer section 102 is dimensioned to be at least partially slidably inserted into the tow vehicle section 112. When the watercraft trailer section 102 is thus inserted into the tow vehicle section 112, the overall length of the watercraft launch extension 100 is lengthened or shortened depending on the distance the watercraft trailer section 102 is inserted.
In an exemplary embodiment, the tow vehicle section 114 and water trailer section 102 includes holes 106 on opposing sides. The holes are sized and spaced to achieve various positions where pairs of holes 106 of the respective watercraft trailer section 102 and tow vehicle section 112 align. Once the water trailer section 102 is inserted into the tow vehicle section 112, and two or more of the holes 106 align, the respective sections 102, 112 may be secured in position using one or more hitch pins 108, such as by sliding the hitch pins 108 through the aligned holes 106 in the tow vehicle section 114 and water trailer section 102.
In a preferred embodiment, the hitch pins 108 are stainless steel, although it is recognized that any material with suitable sheer strength may be used.
Also in an embodiment, at the end 116 of the watercraft trailer section 102 opposite the end inserted into the tow vehicle section 112 is a standard hitch ball 104, for attaching the watercraft trailer (not shown) to the watercraft launch extension 100. Other embodiments of the invention may use different means of attaching the watercraft trailer to the watercraft launch extension 100. For example, a clamping device or other device may be used to attach the watercraft trailer to the watercraft launch extension 100.
In another embodiment, the tow vehicle section 112 may be dimensioned to fit into the watercraft trailer section 102. In such an embodiment, the interaction between the sections 102, 112 are similar to those depicted in the figures and the description herein, except that the watercraft trailer section 102 is larger in cross section than the tow vehicle section 112.
As previously described, the tow vehicle section 112 may include hole pairs 106 drilled along its length which line up with corresponding hole pairs 106 in the watercraft trailer section 102, as seen in
Also visible in
Although the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
