Patents by Inventor Frederick E. Hood

Frederick E. Hood has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6796259
    Abstract: For eliminating the dynamic drag of the member which supports the ballast by completely enveloping it with a indispensable component of the sailing vessel, namely, the hollow rotatable monolithic rigid hydrodynamic fin, and thereby reducing the dynamic drag of the canoe body when it is sailing. The elongated four-sided symmetrical diamond shaped ballast support is adapted to be fixed to the interior of the canoe body. The top of the rotatable fin enters into the interior of the canoe body so that the water turbulence is substantially less than in the prior art when the top of the rotatable fin is spaced from the bottom of the canoe body. With sliding convex/concave contact, the rotatable fin is laterally supported by the stationary diamond shaped member. A first and second cylinder are fixed to the canoe body sole and canoe body cabin top to provide strong support to the rotatable fin and ballast.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2004
    Inventors: Frederick E. Hood, Bernard Olcott
  • Publication number: 20030106477
    Abstract: For reducing drag, the velocity of a tacking sailing vessel is increased by isolating the supporting member of the ballast bulb from the sea stream by a jacketing hollow rotatable fin.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 23, 2002
    Publication date: June 12, 2003
    Inventors: Frederick E. Hood, Bernard Olcott
  • Patent number: 6349659
    Abstract: A Rotatable Keel Appendage comprising a conical hollow support fixed to a sailboat hull into which is juxtapositioned a rotatable cone member which supports a fin keel carrying a heavy ballast bulb. The rotatable cone member has a threaded shaft at its peak which has a diameter greater than the thickness of the fin and is lockable to the fixed appendage conical hollow support by a nut on the threaded shaft. In another embodiment, the rotatable cone member carries two fins, in either spaced parallel relationship or in spaced aligned relationship. Mathematical Formulas for Energy Balance are developed to establish that a tacking sailboat with the appendages in the Specification will hydrodynamically generate forces to both decrease the leeward drift and increase the forward velocity of the hull. Methods for sailing more quickly to reach a windward destination are set forth using the appendages in the specification.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2002
    Inventor: Frederick E. Hood
  • Patent number: 4248281
    Abstract: In the roll-reefing job sail system disclosed herein, a luff foil, grooved to receive a bead on the luff edge of a jib, is employed to roll up the main portion of a jib sail. The head and tack, however, are not fixedly attached to the luff foil but, rather, are connected to attachment points which are journaled and freely rotatable with respect to the luff foil. Thus, both can freely lag in rotation relative to the central portion of the jib which wraps around the luff foil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 1979
    Date of Patent: February 3, 1981
    Assignee: Hood Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventor: Frederick E. Hood
  • Patent number: 4217845
    Abstract: In the trailerable sailboat disclosed herein, the provision of water ballasting enables the use of a V-bottomed displacement hull shape with substantial deadrise yielding a low-wetted surface are in relation to effective displacement. The water ballasting is provided by sealed structural elements which form, with the hull shell, a ballast tank space which is essentially entirely below the design waterline of the hull shape so as to permit self-filling of the tank space with seawater.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 1978
    Date of Patent: August 19, 1980
    Assignee: Little Harbor Boat Yard Corporation
    Inventors: Frederick E. Hood, K. Dietrich Empacher
  • Patent number: 4059063
    Abstract: In the roll-furling mainsail arrangement disclosed herein, the clew of the sail is trimmed to a boom by means of a car which is freely slidable along the boom. An outhaul line rigged to pull aft from the tip of the boom passes forward through a block on the car, thence through a block at the clew of the sail and then back to the car where it is secured. The balance of forces on the car automatically bias it to a position providing an advantageous drawing angle for shaping the mainsail, even at varying stages of partial furling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 1976
    Date of Patent: November 22, 1977
    Assignee: Hood Sailmakers, Inc.
    Inventors: Frederick E. Hood, Donald K. Mitchell, Gary S. Uhring
  • Patent number: 4057023
    Abstract: In the mainsail roll-furling system disclosed herein, the mainsail is roller-furled inside a tubular compartment in the mast itself, the sail being drawn out through an aft-facing slot in the mast. A swivel is utilized between the halyard and the luff of the mainsail and a guide is provided on the halyard side of the swivel which both positively prevents rotation of the halyard during furling of the sail and positions the upper end of the sail luff essentially in the middle of the sail storage compartment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 1976
    Date of Patent: November 8, 1977
    Assignee: Hood Sailmakers, Inc.
    Inventors: Frederick E. Hood, Donald K. Mitchell, Gary S. Uhring
  • Patent number: 4030439
    Abstract: The gooseneck fitting disclosed herein carries a reel adapted for roll-furling a mainsail along its luff edge, the reel being positioned within a hollow mast with which the gooseneck fitting is used so the mainsail can be rolled up within the mast. The gooseneck fitting incorporates also a sheave for turning a line being drawn horizontally off the reel in a downwardly direction to a point of exit from the gooseneck fitting beneath the boom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 1976
    Date of Patent: June 21, 1977
    Assignee: Hood Sailmakers, Inc.
    Inventors: Frederick E. Hood, Donald K. Mitchell, Gary S. Uhring
  • Patent number: 3948200
    Abstract: In the jib sail system disclosed herein, the luff edge of a jib is provided with a bead of relatively small diameter backed up by a rib of relatively large diameter. In operation, the small bead is retained in a grooved headstay member while the larger diameter rib is operated on by a guide, during the introduction of the bead into the supporting groove, but remains outside the groove after passing through the guide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 1975
    Date of Patent: April 6, 1976
    Assignee: Hood Sailmakers, Inc.
    Inventors: Frederick E. Hood, Donald K. Mitchell, Bruce H. Walton