Ships – Towing or pushing – Towing by means of cable
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-12
2003-01-14
Sotelo, Jesus D. (Department: 3617)
Ships
Towing or pushing
Towing by means of cable
Reexamination Certificate
active
06505573
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
This invention relates generally to water sports and specifically relates to water skiing and wakeboarding.
Wakeboarding is a water sport that is becoming increasingly popular worldwide. As more enthusiasts take up the sport, the demand for a greater variety of equipment is continuously growing. By attaching their towrope to a 5-10 foot support member such as a tower or pylon mounted on the watercraft, wakeboarders can jump higher and perform more challenging aerial tricks. Different towrope lengths are required for various wakeboard/water ski tricks, styles, and skill levels.
Towers are patented under the name “water sports towing apparatus” and are available in many configurations and applications. The tower normally has a towrope attachment means mounted to the uppermost, rearmost portion of the structure, commonly called a “knob.” Pylons are a pole of various sizes, mounted in the watercraft in various positions with the axis of the pole vertically oriented, and may or may not be supported by cables attached to the watercraft to support the load. The pylon also has a knob on the uppermost end of it. The knob on the tower or pylon may be as high as ten feet from the floor of the watercraft, requiring someone to climb on the watercraft to reach it. The towrope, in current practice, has a loop at the end of it, and loops in several places along its length, which are secured to the watercraft by placing the desired loop over the knob on the tower or pylon.
In the current practice of wakeboarding and/or water skiing, the tow towrope is released, retrieved or adjusted in length or stored manually by a person in the watercraft. The purpose of this invention is to simplify and improve the safety of the towrope handling, storage, reeling out, reeling in tasks by automating these tasks and allowing the remote operation of a device by the driver or other designated operator of the device.
Towropes are made in various configurations, with various materials, and various constructions. Loops are normally provided in the towrope at various lengths to allow the performer to do tricks of various kinds and levels of difficulty, requiring different lengths, at the performer's discretion. Typically, the towrope will have length indicators of some kind, markers or colors, to assist the operator in selecting the desired length of towrope from the knob to the performer. When a towrope length change is desired, the watercraft must be stopped, the operator must climb to reach the top of the tower/pylon, remove the loop currently in use, select the loop at the desired length, and put that loop on the knob. This may be required in water conditions that cause the watercraft to be rocking, representing a danger to the person doing the towrope adjustment. When the towrope is adjusted to a shorter length, the unused portion of the towrope is left hanging from the knob, which may cause entanglement, or other inconveniences.
Between sessions of performer use, the towrope typically is pulled into the watercraft by one of the occupants, and must be temporarily stored until the next performer's use. Typically, this is done by piling the towrope on the floor of the watercraft, leading to kinks, knots, and other entanglements in the towrope, which cause inconvenience when the towrope is later used. Additionally, the towrope laying around on the floor of the watercraft can become entangled with the people in the watercraft, and when released for towing use can cause injury to those people. (There are recorded accidents where this was the cause of injury.) When a towrope with knots and tangles is being released from the watercraft, with a skier on the handle end, and the watercraft pulling on the other end, sometimes a person in the watercraft is attempting to untangle the towrope at the same time as the towrope is being pulled tight between the watercraft and the skier. There are recorded incidents of injuries involving the severing of fingers that result from this unsafe condition.
After the day's activities, the towrope must be stored for future use. Normally this is done by coiling the towrope manually by one of the watercraft occupants and putting it into some storage compartment or location. Improper coiling can also lead to kinking and knots during future use.
Water sports towing operations regulations require that there be a watercraft driver and a separate observer to notify the driver when the performer has fallen or wants a change of speed, towrope length, etc. In addition someone in the watercraft is normally assigned to handle the duties of towrope management—pulling the towrope in, adjusting the length, letting out the towrope, etc. There is also a regulatory requirement in many states for an assignment of the duty to raise a flag when the performer is in the water to warn other watercrafts of the dangers of the performer in the water and the tow towrope trailing the watercraft in the water. These various tasks for the occupants/operator/driver, combined with the normal fun of the sport, lead to confusion and mistakes in the handling of the towrope leading to unsafe conditions and actions.
If a more automated method of handling the towrope were used, it would reduce the work load on the watercraft crew and reduce the probability of towrope kinks and entanglements, trips and falls and other injuries while adjusting towrope lengths, etc. and allow the driver and crew to focus more on other duties.
At the beginning of an activity, the performer enters the water from the back or side of the watercraft when the watercraft is stationary in the water and the engine is off or in neutral so there is no danger of contact with the propeller. Once the performer is in the water, someone in the watercraft will hand the towrope end to him/her, and the performer will swim away from the watercraft, carrying the towrope with him/her. A flag must be raised at this time. When a safe distance is established, the driver will engage the propeller and move the watercraft slowly away from the performer until the towrope is fully extended at the desired, preset length. The towrope is released from the storage location (mainly a pile on the floor of the watercraft) as the distance from the watercraft increases and someone in the watercraft must manage this to eliminate any kinks, tangles, knots, etc. When the towrope is fully extended, and the performer is ready, the driver applies power and the performer is pulled out of the water to begin the performance. If there are knots and tangles in the towrope, and someone in the watercraft attempts to straighten them out at this time, there is a high probability of their injury.
The performer will continue doing tricks until tired or until a fall occurs. When the performer is back in the water, the flag must be raised, and the watercraft occupants must manage the towrope. The towrope will be 1) pulled in, if the performance is over; 2) adjusted in length if performer requests it; 3) pulled back into position by the watercraft if the performer wishes to continue with the towrope at the existing length. If a change in length is requested, the towrope loop currently engaged on the knob must be removed, the towrope pulled in or released out to the desired length, and the new loop engaged on the knob. If the performance of that performer is finished, the towrope will be pulled into the watercraft and the performer picked up.
Problems related to the towrope length adjustment, manually pulling in and letting out the towrope, and storage of the towrope on the floor of the watercraft, have been noted throughout the history of the sport. People become entangled in the towrope, the towrope becomes kinked and knotted, and towrope length adjustment is an inconvenient and unsafe task in the watercraft during the practice of the sport.
A number of towrope retrievers have been devised but never successfully marketed for both water skiers and wakeboarders. The majority of retrievers were designed with the water skier in mind and thus failed to meet the differing needs of
Hayduk Matthew T.
Schoening Jerry M.
Sheikholeslam Sherwin
Hashimoto Takashi
Intellectual Property Law Group LLP
Lee Otto O.
Sotelo Jesus D.
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