Boat fender bracket for a round piling

Ships – Fenders

Reexamination Certificate

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Details

Other Related Categories

C405S212000

Type

Reexamination Certificate

Status

active

Patent number

06327989

Description

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to boat fender brackets adapted for use on round pilings at boat docks for protecting a boat at a dock.
2. Description of Related Art
Dock bumper guard systems are known in the art. However, many have bumper guards that bolt directly into the dock itself thereby making the system permanent to a specific dock location. Other prior art devices, incorporate complex shock system between plates mounted to the dock side.
The most common and simplest method used by many boat owners is to purchase and bumper guards, which generally are elongate and cylindrically shaped and to tie the bumper guards to their dock posts which can be flat boards or rounded pilings. However, there are disadvantages to these types of installation. When a bumper guard is placed on a flat board, it is usually a 2×6 board for which the bumper guard is installed in a vertical orientation. Over time, the single bumper guard tends to want to rotate toward the edges of the board thereby subjecting the boat to possible damage if it comes in contact with the dock or post edge. When a bumper guard is placed on a rounded piling, again the bumper guard tends to rotate around the circumference of the piling thereby exposing the boat to contact with the piling or dock itself.
Known related art includes permanent installations such as that depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,760 to Hartman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,975,916 to Watson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,349 to McKinney, U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,953 to Matthews, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,926,904 to Erlbacher. Other known related shock absorbing systems include U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,371 to Sawaragi et al.
None of the devices in the above references solve the problem of providing a non-cumbersome, relatively light weight portable fender bracket for use with bumper guards, on dock pilings, which are useful both for commercial boats as well as for private recreational boats.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a fender bracket for a round piling. The fender bracket includes two elongate piling bracket members of predetermined length, each elongate piling bracket member having a generally concave-shaped longitudinal side for maintaining a generally contiguous face to face relationship along a length of a round piling.
Each elongate piling bracket member has a generally flat side forming an acute angle with the generally concave-shaped longitudinal side such that when the generally concave-shaped longitudinal side for each elongate piling bracket member is placed on the round piling, the generally flat side for each elongate piling bracket member substantially align with each other and a dock's edge and face away from said dock's edge.
Means for securing the elongate piling bracket members to the round piling are provided. The means for securing the elongate piling bracket members to the round piling typically has means proximate each end of the elongate piling bracket members for securing band means extending from each end of one of the elongate piling bracket members around a backside of the round piling to a corresponding opposite end of the other elongate piling bracket member. The band means is preferably a serrated band for providing a rotational frictional resistance against the surface of the round piling.
The present invention also includes at least one bumper guard support member of predetermined height and of predetermined width at least equal to a combined width of the round piling and the two elongate piling bracket members when assembled to the piling. The at least one bumper guard support member further has means for securing the at least one bumper guard support member to each of the elongate piling bracket members.
The at least one bumper guard support member has a generally planar surface such that when the at least one bumper guard support member is attached to the elongate piling bracket members, the generally planar surface substantially aligns with the dock's edge and faces away from said dock's edge.
Means for securing at least one bumper guard to the generally planar surface, in a longitudinal orientation generally parallel to a water surface is also provided. Typically, apertures or eyelets are incorporated at or near the ends of the bumper guard support members so that the bumper guards may be tied to the support members.
The generally concave-shaped longitudinal side for each of the elongate piling bracket members may have means for gripping the round piling, such as a ribbed or serrated surface.
Because pilings may have various diameters or obstacles may be attached to the pilings causing the elongate piling bracket members to spread apart differently at one piling then that at the previous installation, bumper guard support member(s) are preferably provided with means for adjustable engagement with the elongate piling bracket members. This can be done with at least one slotted aperture for adjustable alignment with and fastening to the generally planar surface of the elongate piling bracket members. Typically, one side of the bumper guard support member(s) simply has apertures for attaching bolts or screws into or through one of the elongate piling bracket members while the other side of the bumper support member(s) has one or more slotted apertures through which a bolt or screw can be inserted through or into the opposite elongate piling bracket member.
The means for securing the elongate piling bracket members to the round piling is preferably made such that it is readily detachable for facilitating the portability of the fender bracket.
One method of providing further adjustment to fender bracket is to incorporate with the means for securing the elongate bracket members, band means which are typically made in two parts or portions. At the end of each portion where the band means meet would be adjustable engagement means. For example, a T-bolt clamp type arrangement can be incorporated where a nut, preferably a wing nut, engages a threaded bolt at the end of the opposite band or strap. The length of the threaded engagement defines the extent of adjustment possible. A wing nut is preferred to facilitate a person manually disassembling or assembling the fender bracket. For stability reasons, it is preferable that at least two band means be used. Of course, there are also several other means known in the art for facilitating tensioning and at the same time facilitating the ease of assembly and disassembly, some which may be considered quick-connect and quick-disconnect hardware.


REFERENCES:
patent: 2926904 (1960-03-01), Erlbacher
patent: 3145685 (1964-08-01), Kulick, Sr.
patent: 3616126 (1971-10-01), Tungseth
patent: 3863589 (1975-02-01), Buienne et al.
patent: 3950953 (1976-04-01), Matthews
patent: 3975916 (1976-08-01), Watson
patent: 4267792 (1981-05-01), Kimura et al.
patent: 4554882 (1985-11-01), Lemmens
patent: 4641999 (1987-02-01), Korbuly
patent: 4650371 (1987-03-01), Sawaragi et al.
patent: 4773349 (1988-09-01), McKinney
patent: 4917039 (1990-04-01), Siero
patent: 4964760 (1990-10-01), Hartman
patent: 5018471 (1991-05-01), Stevens
patent: 5037242 (1991-08-01), Nill
patent: 5562364 (1996-10-01), Darder-Alomar

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