Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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~ACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This lnvention constltutes an improvement upon my u.s.
patent No. 3~835g804~ issued September 17, 1974, and relates to
sailing cra~t wherein a sail rolls up inside the mast on a wind-
up member for infirlite reefing and for storage.
The invention of said patent contemplates that a sail
be permanently attached to the wind-up member, thus making it
essential that both sail and wind-up member be removable together
from the mast when necessary to change sails or make repairs.
The wind-up member is normally a relatively stiff, resllient cable~
and is difficult to remove and store. Hence, lt has been pro-
posed, rather than to try to remove an already mounted sail while
1~ underway that the mast be provided with one or more external, con-
ventional tracks, permitting the holsting of another sail while
the mainsail remains furled, thereby providing a makeshift solu-
tion to the problem of changing sails on a sailboat of this type.
The obJect of the invention is to provide means for
permitting ready interchange or removal of sails ~rom the wind-
up member ltself without removing the la~ter from within the
mast, thereby overcoming the problem ~uat described.
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I SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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According to the invention I provide~ in a sailing
¢raft wherein a sail rolls up within a recess in the mast on a
vertical wind-up member and is hauled out and retracted through
~- a lufr slot in the mast, the slot edges supporting the sail at
various set~$ngs and wind pressures, an improvement permitting
,3 ~ ready interchange or removal of sails without removing the wind-
up member, comprising a wind-up member having a longitudinal -
track, a portion along the luff of the sail being adapted to be
threaded into and held by the track, the mast having an enlarged
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1 openlne near its b~se for access to the track and the latter
¦~havin~ near the opening, an entry-way to permlt threading of
the sail luff; and a two-part swivel surrounding khe wind-up
¦member and slidable vertically therealong, the upper part o~
the swivel having a portion engaging the mast so as to be held
rotationally stationary and being attachable to a halyard for
hoisting and lowering, and the lower part of the swivel being
rotatable with the wind-up member and attachable to the peak of
the sail, so that the sail may be hoisted or lowered by means
of the halyard.
In pre~e-Pred embodiments, the track comprises a length-
wise channel in the wind-up member and the sail is provided with
a bead running along its luff which may be slid into and out of
said channel, the bead is provided with an enlargement at its
bottom end to engage the edges o~ the channel and act as a stop
to limit upward movement o~ the bead in the channel; the wind-up
member is in two parts detachably connected to each other at a
, location accessible through the aforesaid enlarged opening, mast
.~ engaging portion of the swivel comprises a pro~ection en~aging
3~ 20 the edges of the luff slot, to prevent rotation while permitting :~
., vertical movement of the swivel; the lower part of the swivel 1s
; provided with a pro~ection engaging a portion of the wind-up
member, preferably the channel therein, so that lower pa~t will
rotate therewith while being vertically movable thereon; the
wind-up member comprises a ~lexible rod and means are provided ~or
. holding it in tension; the rod being in two parts detachably con-
I nected to each other at a location accessible through the above-
mentioned enlarged opening; and at least the bottom of the wind-
up member is mounted for ad~ustment in a fore and aft direction :
. and means are provided for effeoting such ad~ustment.
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1~5897~
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
l Fig~ l is an elevation, partially in section, of por-
tions of the mast and boom of a sailboat embodying the invention~
Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 - 2 of Fig. 17 .
Fig. 3 ls a section on line 3 - 3 of Fig. l, showing
the sail fully extended through the slot in the mast;
Fig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. 3, showing the
arrangement of the parts with the sail partially wound-up in
the recess in the mast;
Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale
on line 5 - 5 o~ Fig. l;
Fig. 6 is an elevation~ partially in section, on a
further enlarged scale of the wind-up mechanism itself, showing
how a sail is threaded onto the wind-up member; and
Fig. 7 is a section on line 7 - 7 of Fig. 6.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION ()F PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Re~erring to the drawings, a mast lO is shown extending
upwardly from a deck 12 of a sailboat (not shown), as best seen
in Fig. l. A boom 14 is connected for pivotal movement both
horizontally and vertically to the mast lO by gooseneck 16 which
provldes pins 18 and 20 for the necessary hinging. The outer end
of the boom is supported by topping lift 22 at desired elevation.
Rotatably mounted within the mast is the novel wind-up
member in the form of luff rod 24 provided with a longitudinally
extending channel 26 ~Figs. 6 and 7). The rod is held at the
top by bearings 28 suitably supported near the top of the mast
permitting it to revolve in either direction. The rod terminates
near the bottom of enlarged opening 48 ~ust above gooseneck 16
and there joins on extension 25 by means of a clevis connection
j 27 for a purpose hereinafter described. The rod thus is in two
1 Iparts detachably ~oined to each other at a location accessible
through the enlarged opening 48 ln the mast as described below.
The extension 25 revolves in suitable lower bearing 30. Near
its base, the extension member 25 carries a gear 32 which meshes
Iwith gear 34 on winch 36. ~urling line 38, leading to the cock-
pit, rotates the extension and hence the luff rod 24. The rod
may be rotated by other suitable means if desired as long as such
means are convenient to the cockpit.
The mast 10 is divided by reinforclng web 40 into two
chambers; one chamber 42 encloses the luff rod 24 and has an
aft-facing luff slot 46 which is enlarged just above the goose-
neck 16 to provide an opening 48 for access to the slokted luff
rod 24; the other chamber 44 accommodates the halyard 50 and
forms an enclosed conduit for electrical cables and any other
devices which need to be run to the top of the mast. The line
50 runs over shieve 51 held at the top of the mast.
The sail 52 is loose-footed and has its clew 54 attach-
able to a ball-bearing traveler 56 which travels on track 58 on
the top of the boom 14 under the control o~ outhaul 60 which also
leads to ~he cock~it. The luff of the sail is provided with a
continuous bead in the form of a l'bolt rope'l 62 which slidably
fits channel 26 in luff rod 24. The peak 64 of sail 52 is adapt-
ed for hoisting by attachment to ring-like swivel 66 through the
center of which passes luff rod 24. The apertured swivel 66 can
A 25 sllde up and down the luf~ rod 24 and is hoisted by the halyard
: 50, attached to eye 68 thereby pulling the bead 62 ~ on the luff
of sail 52 up into channel 26 into which it is fed as the halyard
is hauled~ The bead is provided with enlargement 104 at its
I bottom end which provides a stop engaging the rims of slot 26
where the slot narrows at 69.
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1 ¦ The swlvel 66 is comprised o~ an upper part 70 and a
~lower part 72 (Fig. 6). The upper part has a portion extending
into the lower part forming a race 74 for ball-bearings 76 to
provide an anti-friction bearing between the upper and lower
parts when held in tension by halyard 50. The upper part 70 of
swivel 66 should be held against rotation wlth luff rod 24 by
suitable means, such as projection 78 which slides up and down
in slot 46. The lower part 72 of the swivel, on the other hand,
must be provided with means for affirmatively causing it to ro-
tate with the luff rod 24, and this is accomplished by tooth 80
which projects into and slides up and down within channel 26.
Arm 81 provides an eye 83 for attaching the peak 64 of sail 52
by any suitable means so that raising swivel 66 will hoist the
sail, pulling bead 62 up into slot 26.
The channel 26 in rod 24 is enlarged, as at 85, in the
vicinity of the opening 48 to permit the beaded luff of the sail
to feed into the slot 26 as the halyard 50 is hauled. When the
; sail ~s fully raised the haly~d m~y be made ~ast to cleat 82
mounted on the mast.
The beaded luff, fitte~ into slot 26, provides a smooth
continuous connection between sail and wind-up member so that the
sail is supported evenly along the entire length of its luff,
thereby improving the trim and evenly loading the mast, and also
providing wrinkle-free furling when the sail is wound up within
25 the chamber 42. The edges Or the luff slot 46 are desirably pro-
vided with smooth, anti-chafing padding 84.
It is desirable to provide some means for tensioning
the luff rod 24 as well as means for shifting it in a fore and
aft direction. The second function may be performed by anchoring
the lower end of the rod extension 25 to a suitably mounted in-
ternally threaded mounting block 86 which is slidably held in a
member 88 in turn anchored to the deck 12 or other suitable part
; of the boat. The bottom of block 86 is cut to fit into a slot in - 5 -
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ithe top of member 88 and will withstand both compressional and
¦tensile forces. The worm 92 may be revolved by crank 94 and, sinc~
~the forward end of the worm is held -ln suitable bearing 96, the
worm will drive the block 86 forward or aft as the sailor wishes,
and this in turn will correspondingly shift the bottom of the
luff rod extension thus bringing the rod closer to or further
from the slotted opening 46.
The function of tensioning the rod 24 ls performed by
a turn-buckle type of take-up 98 to which access may be had
through hole 100 in the mast. By adjusting the take-up 98 ten-
¦sion on the rod 24 may be increased or decreased. The upper
¦bearing 28 is suitably anchored to the top of the mast 10 by
mounting 102 so that it too will withstand tensile forces exerted
when the rod 24 is tensioned.
In operation, when it is desired to fit a sail to the
mast, the sail is spread out sufficiently on the deck of the boat
to permit the peak 64 to be attached to the eye 83 in the part 81
of the swivel 66 which has been lowered to a position opposite
the enlarged opening 48 and the bead 62 fed in through such open-
, 20 ing as the swivel is raised by halyard 50. The enlarg~ment 104
retains the bottom corner of the sail against sliding up into the
channel by engagement with the edges of channel 26 at 69. By
reason of the clevis connection dividing the wind-up member into
two parts, luf~ rod 24 and extension 25~ it is possible in some
circumstances to remove a partially or fully wound-up sail from -
within the mast without also removing the wind-up member. It
will be seen that if the rod extension is disconnected from the
bottom of the resilient rod itself, the latter may be flexed in
an aft direction in the opening 48 and then, if the sail is not
too tightly wound, the latter may be slid of~ the rod and out of
the mast in partially wound condition.
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1058977
; 1 The novel arrangement po:sesses all of the advantages
of that shown in my prlor patent No. 3,835,804 with the added
feature of permitting ready changlng of sails while under way
without removal of the wind-up member to which the sail is no
longer permanently attached~ The mountlng of the novel luff rod
in such a way as to permit fore and aft ad~ustment permits fine
sail-trimming and likewise the resiliency of the rod may be selec-
ted so that under wind pressure it will yield to engage and be
supported by the inner surfaces of the mast ad;acent t~e slotted
opening 469 thereby transferring the strain produced by wind
pressure from the rod itself to the mast whlch is designed to
accept the lo~ .
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