Drive for bow sprit

Abstract

A speed handle for use in combination with a strap winch on a flat bed trailer. The straps used to secure loads on trailers can be 30 to 40 feet in length. There is no good way to wind these straps onto their winch when they are not in use. Currently the job is done by hand which is very slow and tedious. The speed handle engages the lug of the winch and allows the strap to be wound back onto the winch very quickly. The speed handle allows the winding to occur with only one hand so that another hand is free to guide the strap onto the winch drum.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] In sail boating it is common practice to use a spinnaker pole suspended from the main mast of the boat to control the extension of a sail. The spinnaker poles rotate freely about the mast, these require well trained crews to deploy and fly, not infrequently resulting in serious accidents involving sails, rigging and crew. Because of these complications a few sailboats now come with an retractable pole or bow sprit, built into the hull of the boat. Currently extension poles of this type utilize a jack line. Extension of the pole from under the deck out the front of the boat is accomplished mechanically utilizing a jack line that loops over a front cleat and then back to a rope clutch located near the boat cockpit. As the pole is manually extended by pulling on the line, a bungee cord attached to the pole is stretched. When the jack line is released from the rope clutch, the bungee will retract the pole.

[0002] This method provides problems. Accidental release of the rope clutch allows the pole to catapult back into the vessel causing it to crash into the bulkhead. A further problem is that as the jack line passes through the deck sheave from the interior to the exterior of the vessel, a water leak following the line will be produced. The bungee cord and jack line approach is also messy, requiring an additional clutter of lines and rigging as well as additional labor to operate.

[0003] Thus it can be seen that there is a need for a safe, easily operated device for extending and retracting a bow sprit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The present invention relates to a device to extend and retract a pole (bow sprit) from the front of a boat. The present invention provides a method of automatically extending a pole, such as a bow sprit, from the deck of the boat. The device provides both a powered and manual drive to both extend and retract a pole.

[0005] Further benefits of the current invention will become apparent in the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] FIG. 1 shows a partial cross sectional view of the device as installed

[0007] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the drive

[0008] FIG. 3 shows the bow sprit and nut assembly

[0009] FIG. 4 shows the bow sprit retracted

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DEVICE

[0010] FIG. 1 shows a partial cross sectional view of a boat 10 with the retractable bow sprit 20 installed. The boat includes a deck 12 and bulkheads 14, 16 and 18 below the deck 12. The bow sprit 20 includes rigging 22 used to connect the sprit 20 to a sail (Not shown). The boat 10 also includes a receiver tube 28 that receives the bow sprit 20 and that allows the sprit to slide as it is extended or retracted. The receiver tube 28 includes a bleed pipe 30 that will drain any water that gets trapped in the receiver tube 28 back out of the boat 10, in this case through a chain locker 40 with a drain hole 42.

[0011] FIG. 1 also shows the bow sprit drive mechanism 50. The drive 50 includes a driven lead screw 52 the rotation of which extends and retracts the bow sprit 20. FIG. 1 shows the bow sprit 20 in the extended position. When the lead screw 52 rotates a nut collar 56 is driven by the threads of the lead screw 52. The nut collar 56 is attached to the bow sprit 20 so that it can be extended and retracted based on the travel of the nut collar 56. The lead screw 52 can be rotationally mounted in pillow block bearing 58. The drive mechanism 50 can be electric and can include an electric switch to trigger operation of the drive 50 such as foot switch 54 mounted on the boat deck 12.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 2 the details of the drive 50 includes an electric motor 100 which can drive the lead screw 52 through belt 102 and pulley 104 all mounted on a housing 106. The pulley 104 is connected to the lead screw 52 through a flexible joint 110 capable of compensating for slight misalignment between the pulley 104 and lead screw 52. The drive 50 also includes a hand wheel 112 mounted on the exterior of bulkhead 18 where it can be easily accessible from the interior of the boat 10. The hand wheel 112 can include a one way clutch 114 that disengages it when it is not needed. It would also be possible to remove the hand wheel when it is not needed. The motor 100 could also use a cog belt and gears or a chain drive to connect to the lead screw 52.

[0013] FIG. 3 shows details of the bow sprit 20 including the nut collar 56. The nut collar 56 includes a delron nut 74 clamped between two split halves. Threaded holes 70 allow for attachment to the bow sprit 20. In the extended position of the bow sprit 20, the lead screw 52 just reaches into the nut 74. Aluminum tube section 62 provides a liner that prevents the long lead screw 52 from whipstocking as it rotates or from excess vibration as the boat 10 moves. The tube 62 can include a plastic liner 62(a) that prevents the lead screw from creating noise when it contacts the tube 62. Cap 76 closes off the bow sprit 20 and supports the end of tube 62.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 4, the boat 10 includes an exterior molding 60 through which the bow sprit 20 passes from the interior to the exterior of the boat 10. This view also shows the bow sprit 20 in its retracted position. A partial cutaway shows the bow sprit 20 retracted back almost to the drive 50.

[0015] In operation with the bow sprit 20 retracted as shown in FIG. 4, rigging for a sail (not shown) can be attached to rigging 22. A signal can then trigger the drive motor 50 to extend the bow sprit 20 to the position shown in FIG. 1. The signal to trigger the drive motor 50 can come from deck mounted foot switch 54 and/or remote controller (not shown). It would be desirable to primarily operate the bow sprit 20 from on deck 12. Under certain conditions, such as loss of electrical power, it may be necessary to extend or retract the bow sprit 20 using the manual crank 112. Under certain conditions it may be possible for a small amount of water to get into receiver tube 28, for example if the bow sprit 20 is wet when retracted. Under these conditions the water can drain back out through bleed pipe 30.

Claims

1. A bow sprit for use on a boat comprising;

rigging on a first end of said bow sprit for attachment of a line;

said bow sprit having a first position wherein it is located within the boat and a second position where the bow sprit is extended outside the boat;

a drive mechanism used to extend said bow sprit from said first position to said second position.

2. The bow sprit of claim 1 wherein the drive mechanism includes an electric drive motor.

3. The bow sprit of claim 2 wherein the drive mechanism includes a lead screw driven by said electric drive and a lead screw follower nut attached to said bow sprit.

4. The bow sprit of claim 2 wherein the electric drive motor is triggered by a deck mounted foot operated switch.

5. The bow sprit of claim 4 including a wheel attached to said lead screw to allow said lead screw to be manually driven.

6. A bow sprit and boat combination comprising;

rigging on a first end of said bow sprit for attachment of a line;

said bow sprit having a first position wherein a portion of said bow sprit is located within the boat and a second position where the portion of said bow sprit is extended outside the boat;

a drive mechanism used to extend said portion of said bow sprit from said first position to said second position.

7. The bow sprit of claim 6 wherein the drive mechanism includes an electric drive motor and an auxiliary hand crank.

8. The bow sprit of claim 7 wherein the drive mechanism includes a lead screw driven by said electric drive motor and a lead screw follower nut attached to said bow sprit wherein rotation of shaft of said electric drive motor turns said lead screw to cause linear motion of said lead screw follower nut and said bow sprit.

9. A bow sprit and boat combination comprising;

a boat hull;

a bow sprit having a first position wherein a portion of said bow sprit is located within the boat hull and a second position where the portion of said bow sprit is extended outside the hull of said boat;

an electric drive mechanism used to extend said portion of said bow sprit from said first position to said second position.

10. The bow sprit of claim 9 including an auxiliary hand crank.

11. The bow sprit of claim 9 a receiving tube passing through the hull of the boat and wherein the bow sprit is slidably mounted within the receiving tube.

12. The bow sprit of claim 11 wherein receiving tube includes a water bleed for bleeding off water trapped in the receiving tube.