Extended support for adjustable boat accessory

Abstract

A rectangular shaped slide plate having undercurved opposite side edges for adjusting the front to back location of a boat accessory, a pair of elongated rigid, U-shaped members for supporting a boat accessory are mounted on the slide plate at the edges of the slide plate transverse to the curved edges.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed toward user-friendly accessories found on recreational boats such as slidably adjustable boat seats or tables or the like which are mounted on the boat deck by vertical posts or pedestals. More specifically the invention is aimed at providing additional support for the accessory with a minimum amount of added bulk or weight and without detracting from the appearance of the accessory or from its adjustability.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

U.S. Pat. No. 6,663,057 illustrates and describes a pedestal-mounted boat seat commonly found on recreational boats. U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,887 describes in detail how the boat seat is coupled to the supporting pedestal and is mounted onto a sliding mechanism to permit the user to adjust the position of the boat seat by turning it to a desired facing and to adjustably slide it forward or backward, sometimes referred to as “fore and aft”. For those reasons the aforementioned patents are incorporated herein for reference and for that purpose only. As described in the '887 patent, a boat accessory in the form of a boat seat is attached to a generally rectangular rigid slide plate with two opposite undercurved side edges slidably engaged with corresponding side edges on a rigid supporting plate member which is part of the yoke or spider coupled to the supporting pedestal. For comfort and added utilization boat seats and similarly mounted accessories are being designed with significant greater depth and added bulk and weight requiring greater supporting structure without interfering with the ease and ability of the user to adjust the seat position to his or her liking.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides support for added bulk and weight of a boat accessory, such as a boat seat or the like without increasing the bulk and weight or changing the design of the prior supporting and adjustment mechanisms while still maintaining the ease and ability to adjust the accessory's position. Also, the invention can be installed as a field modification As a further feature the invention achieves the foregoing without detracting from the esthetics and may even improve the overall appearance.

In a typical prior art pedestal mounted slidably adjustable boat seat a generally rectangular rigid slide plate having curved opposite side edges is slidably engaged with a plate member which is adapted to be supported on a pedestal attached to a boat deck. A rigid U-shaped elongated bracket is attached to the slide plate at each of its transverse edges and extends outward from the slide plate. The bracket is adapted to attach to the underside of the boat accessory and provide the support for the accessory. As a feature, the bracket can be made to any desired length or can be made at a uniform length and then cut down to the desired size in the field.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view of a typical pedestal mounted slidably adjustable boat accessory in which an embodiment of the instant invention is utilized;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an installation of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a bracket support utilized in an installation of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an end view of FIG. 2 with one of the support members deleted; and

FIG. 5 is a side view.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a side view of an elevated boat seat 13 (in phantom) utilizing the mechanism of the instant invention. Conventionally a rigid support post or column 10 extends vertically upward from a tubular supporting pillar or pedestal 11, which is attached at its base in some convenient fashion to the boat deck 12. Conventionally pillar 11 contains a suitable mechanism for adjusting the height of column 10 to permit a height adjustment of the boat seat 13, if desired. In some installations the boat seat may be at a fixed elevation.

A spider or yoke identified generally by reference numeral 14 has a downward projecting annular section 15 which is coupled to support post 10 and has an integrally cast horizontal plate member 16 (see FIG. 4) which has two elongate opposite side edges 16a and 16b slidably engaging corresponding respective tracks 17a and 17b formed by downwardly curving opposite side edges of a rigid generally rectangular slide plate member 17 for slidably moving slide plate member 17 along tracks 17a and 17b for slidably adjusting the front to back location of an attached boat accessory, such as boat seat 13. When the boat accessory is in the desired front-to-back location, handle member 19 is manually moved to releasably lock it in position by a suitable mechanism, not shown.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, a feature of the present invention is that the rectangular slide plate 17 includes an elongated rigid member 20, 21 mounted onto the rectangular slide plate 17 at each of the edges 25, 26 of the slide plate 17 transverse to tracks 17a and 17b with each of the elongated rigid members 20, 21 extending substantially outward beyond each track 17a and 17b of slide plate 17.

The elongated rigid members 20, 21 are adapted for attachment to the underside of a boat accessory and preferably are composed of suitable material that will rigidly and structurally provide suitable support, such as, but not limited to, metal, hardened rubber, polymer plastics or the like.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 each of the elongated rigid members 20, 21 comprises an elongated bracket having a general U-shaped cross-section (see FIG. 3) and the elongated brackets 20, 21 are mounted on the slide plate 17 with the ends of tracks 17a and 17b of the slide plate 17 located or resting in the U-shaped portion 23 of brackets 20, 21. More specifically, referring to FIG. 4, note that the elongated brackets 20, 21 are attached to the slide plate 17 by members 24 such as threaded screws, passing through openings 27 in the elongated bracket with the members 24 removably engaging aligned openings 25 at the ends of tracks 17a and 17b of the slide plate 17.

The elongated support members 20, 21 of FIGS. 2 and 3 are also shown as each having openings or fasteners 18 for use to attach the underside of various boat accessories such as boat seat 13 to secure the accessory in place to the support members 20, 21 and to slide plate 17. Preferably the underside or inward side of upper lips 20a and 21a of support members 20 and 21 rest on the top surface of slide plate 17. The support members 20 and 21 may also be dimensioned or configured to be press fitted over the slide plate 17 at the transverse edges.

Claims

1. An extended support for a slidably adjustable boat accessory such as a boat seat, a table or the like, comprising:

a) a rigid generally rectangular slide plate having downwardly curved opposite side edges forming parallel tracks;

b) a rigid plate member adapted for connection to a boat deck, said plate member having opposite side edges slidably engaging said slide plate tracks;

c) an elongated rigid member mounted onto said slide plate at each of the edges of said slide plate transverse to said curved edges extending beyond each of said curved edges;

d) said elongated members adapted for attachment to the underside of a boat accessory.

2. An extended support for a slidably adjustable boat accessory as described in claim 1, wherein;

a) said elongated member comprises an elongated bracket having a general U-shaped cross-section;

b) said bracket attached to the curved edge of said slide plate.

3. An extended support for a slidably adjustable boat accessory as described in claim 2, wherein said bracket is mounted on said slide plate with the transverse edges of said slide plate located in the U-shaped portion of said bracket.

4. An extended support for a slidably adjustable boat accessory as described in claim 3 wherein said bracket is attached to said slide plate by members passing through openings in said bracket removably engaging aligned openings in the ends of the curved transverse side edges of said slide plate.

5. An extended support for a boat accessory such as a boat seat or a table or the like with the underside of the accessory mounted onto a generally rectangular slide plate having opposite undercurved side edges slidably engaging corresponding opposite side edges on a yoke for supporting the accessory on a boat deck, said extended support comprising:

a) an elongated bracket having a general U-shaped cross-section mounted onto said slide plate at each of the edges of said slide plate transverse to said curved edges and extending beyond each of said curved edges;

b) said brackets adapted for attachment to the underside of a boat accessory.

6. An extended support for a slidably adjustable boat accessory as described in claim 5 wherein said brackets are attached to the ends of the curved edges of said slide plate.

7. An extended support for a slidably adjustable boat accessory as described in claim 6 wherein said bracket is attached to its corresponding slide plate side edge by members passing through openings in said bracket removably engaging aligned openings in the ends of the curved transverse side edge of said slide plate.