The invention relates to a watercraft utility harness and more particularly relates to a watercraft utility harness that may be attached to boat guardrail cables to carry supplies such as fuel containers.
Watercrafts, such as sailboats, fishing boats and yachts, are widely used for practical and entertaining purposes. It is desirable that the watercraft is capable of housing ample supplies such as fuel, drinkable water, and foodstuff to sustain a trip. However, due to limitations on board a watercraft, the ability to carry more supplies is in most occasions insufficient. In particular, having an extra supply of fuel, such as diesel, may enable the navigator to extend a trip and prepare for unanticipated conditions such as bad weather or accidents, thus improving the level of safety and enjoyment. Moreover, also due to the limited space on a watercraft, it is desirable to have a storing device that does not occupy too much space and that is easy to implement and access.
The current invention addresses such concerns by providing a watercraft utility harness that may be attached to the cables, especially the horizontal guardrail cables on a watercraft. Moreover, the utility harness introduced here may have broad usage aside from carrying supplies on a watercraft. With multiple advantageous designs in its attachment assembly and the materials used, the utility harness may be used in other environments as long as appropriate anchoring positions may be provided. In addition, the current invention provides the benefit of lightweight, portability, easy attachment, durability, and being inexpensive.
Some devices and systems have been developed for additional storage on a watercraft. These designs, however, show shortcomings in one aspect or another. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,455 discloses a utility saddlebag which has a top, sides, and ends and, of woven fabric attached together by seams of thread configured to cover the engine compartment enclosure of a jet-propelled watercraft. The saddlebag is held in place by the use of an elastic member sewn into a bead on the skirt or periphery of the device allowing it to be stretched over and held in place by tucking the ends under the edges of the housing. A number of pockets on the sides and on rear provide storage compartments, and strap assures closure on the sides. The invention provides storage for a watercraft, without any modification or alteration.
This design, however, requires the attachment of the saddlebag to the engine of the watercraft, making the usage of the saddlebag rather limited. Other various implements are also known in the art, but fail to address all of the problems solved by the invention described herein. The preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be described in more detail herein below.
The present invention discloses a watercraft utility harness having a hanging piece and a utility pocket. The hanging piece has an upper edge, a front side and a back side. The utility pocket has a top opening, a front piece, a back piece, and side pieces. The back piece of the utility pocket is attached to the front side of the hanging piece. There are one or more front straps attached to the front side of the hanging piece and releasably connect to the front piece of the utility pocket. There is a back top flap having a top edge and a lower portion, the top edge being permanently attached to the back side of the hanging piece and the lower portion releasably attached to the back side of the hanging piece. Moreover, there are one or more back straps each having an upper point and a lower part, wherein the upper point is permanently attached to the back side of the hanging piece and the lower part of the first back strap is releasably connected to the back side of the hanging piece. When the front strap is connected to the front piece of the utility pocket, it partially covers the top opening of the utility pocket, preventing the items stored in the utility pocket from falling out.
The watercraft utility harness may be attached to the horizontal guardrail cables on a watercraft. In almost all the watercrafts, guardrail cables are used to serve as a fence at the edge of the watercraft and prevent accidental falling of persons or items into the water. The guardrail cables are attached to the guardrails and form horizontal barriers. The structure of the guardrails is generally robust and the guardrail cables are strong and well-positioned. These are the ideal places to hang extra supplies, especially when the proper devices like the utility harness introduced in the current invention are available.
In most occasions, there are two guardrails cables attached to the guardrails and these two cables are aligned horizontally parallel to the floor of the watercraft, with one cable positioned higher than the other. The back top flap of the hanging piece of the utility harness may embrace the upper guardrail cable when the lower portion of the back top flap is connected to the back of the hanging piece. Similarly, the back straps may embrace the lower guardrail cable when the lower parts of the back straps are connected to the back of the hanging piece. The back flap and back straps provide the support to hang the utility harness or at least anchor the utility harness by preventing it from falling down or tilting over. The two-guardrail-cable design is particularly suitable for the latter purpose. It should be noted that with proper selection of materials that make up the hanging piece and proper design for the thickness and robustness of the back flap and back straps, it is possible to hang the utility harness on a single guardrail cable. However, it is preferred to utilize both upper and lower guardrail cables to hang the utility harness.
The utility harness may be used to store anything. It is particular useful for the carrying and storing of watercraft supplies such as fuel, drinkable water, food stuffs, and safety devices. The specific design of the hanging piece and utility pocket may vary according to the type of watercraft and the items and substances that will be carried. For example, the utility harness may be designed specifically to carry fuel containers with a fixed size. The extra fuel may enable the user of the watercraft to prolong a trip and deal with unanticipated events such as bad weather and accidents.
The utility pocket may be used as a unitary structure, or it may be divided by separators into sub-pockets that may be individually useful for storing the same or different items. For example, two separators may be disposed in the utility pocket to divide it into three sub-pockets, with each sub-pocket being sized to carry a fuel container. The fuel container may have a handle and the front strap may be threaded under the handle before being attached to the front piece of the utility pocket, ensuring that the fuel container is firmly placed in each sub-pocket.
The hanging piece and utility pocket may be made from various kinds of materials. Preferably, the hanging piece and the utility pocket are made from lightweight materials that are robust and durable. Such a design not only improves the portability of the utility harness and makes the implementation particularly easy, but also ensures that the utility harness is safe, reliable, and may be used for a long period of time. In addition, it is preferable that the utility harness is made from waterproof and porous materials, preventing the accumulation of water in the utility pocket and preventing damping of the utility harness.
In general, the present invention succeeds in conferring the following, and others not mentioned, desirable and useful benefits and objectives.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a watercraft utility harness that is safe and easy to use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a watercraft utility harness having multiple sub-pockets or compartments for storage.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a watercraft utility harness that may be easily attached to cables.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an embodiment of a watercraft utility harness that may be easily attached to the guardrail cables on a watercraft.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a watercraft utility harness that may be used to house one or more fuel containers.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a watercraft utility harness that does not cause water accumulation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a watercraft utility harness that is robust and durable.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a watercraft utility harness that is inexpensive.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide watercraft utility harness having different sizes and dimensions to fit the needs for different watercrafts, different storing requirements and different conditions.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a watercraft utility harness that is easy to manufacture.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Identical elements in the various figures are identified, as far as possible, with the same reference numerals.
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention. Such embodiments are provided by way of explanation of the present invention, which is not intended to be limited thereto. In fact, those of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate upon reading the present specification and viewing the present drawings that various modifications and variations can be made thereto without deviating from the innovative concepts of the invention.
“Permanent attachment,” as used herein, refers to the type of attachments that may not be broken without damaging the integrity of the basic structures of the connecting mechanism or the parts being connected. On the other hand, a “releasable attachment” refers to an attachment that may be broken without the destruction of the connecting mechanism or the connected parts.
In
In addition to the back top flap 90 and the back straps, there are anchoring holes 125 on the hanging piece 10, wherein attachment cords 180 may be used to thread through the anchoring holes 125 to provide more stability to the watercraft utility harness 1. Preferably, the anchoring holes 125 are located on the corners of the hanging piece 10, allowing easy access by the attachment cords 180, which may be connected to the guardrails or other stable structures on the watercraft.
In
It should be noted that the utility pocket 20 does not necessarily have to be separated, nor is it paramount that the utility pocket 20 be divided into three sub-pockets. The utility pocket 20 may be a single pocket or it may be divided into two or more sub-pockets having similar or different sizes and locations. The compartmentalization of the utility pocket 20 may be adjusted according to the size and weight of the supplies to be carried, the durability of the guardrails and cables, and the actual necessities of the user.
The key function of the front straps is to prevent whatever that is stored in the utility pocket to fall out. The possible tumultuous environment a watercraft may encounter, such as storms and heavy rain, requires that some enclosing mechanism be employed to secure the storage in the utility pocket. However, the design shown in
In terms of materials, the hanging piece 10 and the utility pocket 20 may be made from the same or different materials. More particularly, the various components of the watercraft utility harness may be made from the same or different materials. The materials that may be used include but are not limited to: metal, rubber, and plastic such as, but not limited to, polyethylene (PE), high-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyesters, vinyl, (HIPS) and polycarbonate (PC), mesh fabric, or paperboard coated with a suitable waterproof coating such as, but not limited to, polyethylene, or some combination thereof. The material is preferred to be safe, strong, flexible, and waterproof. Moreover, it would be desirable that the material is inexpensive and easy to manufacture.
It is preferred that the utility pocket 20 is made porous so that water does not accumulate in the utility pocket 20. Due to waves, splashes, and rain, it is very likely that water may get access to the utility pocket 20 when the utility harness is installed on a watercraft. However, the accumulation of water may cause deterioration of the substances stored in the utility pocket 20. Moreover, the accumulated water adds to the weight that needs to be sustained by the hanging piece, making it more likely to collapse. Therefore, it is preferred that the utility pocket 10 is made from porous material. The preferred material for the hanging piece and utility pocket is Phifertex® mesh fabrics.
The dimension of the utility harness may be adjusted according to the supplies being carried, the necessities of the user, and the actual conditions likely to be encountered. The variations for the dimensions of the components of the utility harness are almost limitless. As shown
As to the size of the hanging piece 10 and the utility pocket 20 as a whole, there are also many variations. It is preferred that the width of the hanging piece 10 is similar to, but not smaller than the width of the utility pocket 20. In the preferred embodiment, the width of the hanging piece 10 and the utility pocket 20 may range from 5-100 inches (12.5 to 1250 cm), with the preferred width to be approximately 50 inches (127 cm). The space between the back strap and the back flap is another essential dimension of the utility harness. In particular, it is preferred that the distance between the top edge 93 of the back flap 90 and the first point 121 of the back straps is similar to the distance between the top guardrail cable 150 and the bottom guardrail cable 160. With such a design, both the back straps and back flap structures are put to use when the hanging piece is properly attached to the guardrail cables.
It should also be noted that although the preferred embodiment is designed to hang from guardrails cables on a watercraft, it is still possible that the utility harness introduced by the current invention may be hung on other structures on a watercraft. Moreover, it is also possible that the current invention be used in other settings not a watercraft. As long as the key structures are the same, the use of the utility harness may vary according to the user's needs.
As shown in
Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of illustration and that numerous changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.
This application claims priority from U.S. provisional application 61/624,669, filed on Apr. 16, 2012, the contents of which are fully incorporated by reference.
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Blue Perfomance Bags (20 pgs). |
RacerX Mariner Bags (5 pgs). |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20130269587 A1 | Oct 2013 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61624669 | Apr 2012 | US |