AIDE A L'ACCOSTAGE

BOAT DOCK ASSIST ASSEMBLY

Abrégé anglais

A floating boat dock assist assembly has a frame
with a substantially V-shaped mouth which is truncated by a
flexible rubber tire supported by the frame.

Revendications

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THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A boat dock assist assembly comprising a frame
having a forwardly opening substantially U-shaped mouth
which is truncated by a rubber tire supported by said
frame.
2. A boat dock assist assembly as claimed in Claim 1,
including floatation means from which said frame is
elevated.
3. A boat dock assist assembly as claimed in Claim 2,
wherein said floatation means comprises a plurality of
floats including a pair of floats spaced from one another
to opposite sides of said assembly beneath said mouth of
said frame.
4. A boat dock assist assembly as claimed in Claim 1,
wherein said frame comprises metallic tubing and wherein
said mouth of said frame is padded.
5. A boat dock assist assembly as claimed in Claim 1,
wherein said frame is angled rearwardly downwardly.
6. A boat dock assist assembly comprising a plurality
of spaced apart floats for floating said assembly in a body
of water, a metallic tubing frame elevated from said floats
and a triangular array of rubber tires supported by said
frame, said frame having a substantially U-shaped padded
mouth which is truncated by one of said tires.

Description

CA 02255429 1998-12-10
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TITLE: BOAT DOCK ASSIST ASSEMBLY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a boat dock assist
assembly which substantially eases docking of a boat.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As anyone who has driven a boat will appreciate,
the docking of the boat can be quite awkward. This is
particularly true for large sized boats and/or boats which
are manned by only one person.
Currently, there are available different types of
boat docking assists. One such assist includes a frame
having an open region to receive the bow of a boat.
Elastic straps are suspended across the open region to
gradually slow the speed of the boat as it enters the
frame.
Although having some benefit, the above type of
construction also suffers from some drawbacks. For
example, if the straps are too tight, they can easily snap
under the weight of the boat and if they are made too loose
they don't have the desired slowing effect on the boat. In
addition, over time, elastic straps tend to weaken, losing
their effectiveness and/or completely breaking down.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention provides a boat dock assist
assembly which is simple in construction while being
extremely efficient in operation. More particularly, the
boat dock assist assembly of the present invention
comprises a frame which has a generally V-shaped mouth
which is truncated by a rubber tire supported by the frame.

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Unlike prior art constructions, no adjustments are
necessary for proper tensioning of the system but rather
the natural resiliency of the tire provides a long lasting
impact absorbing surface against which the bow of a boat is
guided by the V-shaping of the frame mouth.
According to an aspect of the invention, the frame
is supported by floats so that it is self supporting in a
body of water. It can either be free floating as its own
dock or it can be secured to a fixed dock.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above as well as other advantages and features
of the present invention will be described in greater
detail according to the preferred embodiments of the
present invention in which;
Figure 1 is a perspective view looking down on a
boat dock assist assembly as fixed to a permanent dock
according to a preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the
boat dock assist assembly of Figure 1;
Figures 3 and 4 are plan views showing the docking
of a boat using the assist assembly of Figure 1;
Figure 5 is a side view of the boat docking
assembly of Figure 2 with the bow of a boat located within
the assist assembly;
Figure 6 shows a boat dock assist assembly
according to a further aspect of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION ACCORDING TO THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
OF THE PRESENT INVENTION IN WHICH:
Figure 1 shows a boat dock assist assembly

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generally indicated at 1 which is secured by anchor ropes
to a fixed or permanent dock structure. In this particular
embodiment, the dock structure simply acts as an anchor but
does not provide buoyancy for the system.
As better seen in Figures 2 and 5 of the drawings,
the system is self-buoyant through the provision of a pair
of spaced apart floats 3 at the front of the system and a
further float 5 positioned generally centrally to the rear
of the system.
A rigid frame 5 is held in above water level by the
floats. This frame is preferably made from light weight
metals or aluminum with a substantially open construction.
This minimizes the weight of the frame on the floats
keeping the floats themselves relatively small in size.
The frame has a generally triangular front mouth
where it is covered by cushioned bumper material 13.
Provided atop the frame are three standard rubber
automobile tires set in a triangular pattern. Tire 23,
which is at the apex of the triangular pattern, truncates
the mouth 11 of the frame. The other two tires 25 sit
behind and cushion tire 23.
The frame is provided with a pair of upright posts
15 which prevent sideways motion of tire 23 which as noted
above, is blocked against rearward movement by, the two
tires 25. These two tires are held on the frame by a
plurality of posts 17, 19 and 21.
Figure 5 of the drawings shows that the frame 5 is
held above floats 3 by means of upright posts 7 and held
above float 5 by an upright post 9. Posts 7 are longer
than post 9 giving the frame and the tires atop the frame a
downward rearward tilt.

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Figure 3 of the drawings shows a boat as it
approaches the assist assembly 1. The mouth of the
assembly, which is wider than the prow of the bow of the
boat acts as a funneling guide as the boat enters the mouth
of the frame. Bumper material 13 avoids any contact with
the metal construction of the frame.
The bow of the boat is guided directly onto tire
23. This tire cushions the slowing and final stopping of
the boat. The cushioning effect of tire 23 is produced
both as a result of the rubber construction of the tire and
its resilient rearward support from the rubber tires 25.
As will be understood, the rubber construction of
all of the tires has an essentially unlimited life span.
Furthermore, the cushioning effect provided by the tires
does not have to be adjusted for large and small boat sizes
but rather is capable of handling the size of any boat that
would use the assembly.
Figure 4 shows how the system eases one man docking
of the boat. Once the bow of the boat has been fully
nested as seen in the figure, the operator turns the motor
so as to drive the stern of the boat towards the dock while
leaving the boat in a slow forward gear to maintain the bow
of the boat trapped in the assembly. The boat operator
then leaves the boat to tie up to dock which only needs to
be done at a single stern location of the boat. The
operator then simply shuts the engine down with the boat
now fully docked.
As will be appreciated from the above description,
the docking of the boat regardless of its size can easily
be accomplished by a single individual.

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As a result of the downward rearward tilt of the
frame and cushioning tires as earlier described, the prow
of the boat does not ride up and over tire 23. Rather, the
boat tends to push the assembly towards the dock and if the
anchoring ropes are not tight enough, the rear of tires 23
will impact in a cushioning manner with the dock.
As a result of the boat dock assembly having its
own floats, it travels up and down with the water level
rather than being held at a fixed height. In the
embodiment shown in Figures 1 through 5, the ropes are used
to anchor the assembly to the dock. Figure 6 of the
drawings shows that the dock itself can be provided with a
U-shaped bracket 27 with one leg of the U fitted through
the open frame of assembly 1. This allows the assembly to
move up and down with the water level without having to
anchor it by means of ropes or the like to the dock.
Although various preferred embodiments of the
present invention have been described in detail, it will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art that variations may
be made without departing from the spirit of the invention
or the scope of the appended claims.

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