Holding device for holding a ship's boat or other additional component to be carried along, and use of said device

Abstract

The invention relates to a holding device for fastening, to the stem area of a ship, a ship's boat or an additional component to be detachably carried along, which device comprises a plurality of arms which have a hook-shaped coupling and are rigidly or detachably connected to the ship's boat or additional component, and a plurality of receiving portions which comprise at least one coupling shaft and are mounted on the stem or on an additional part of the ship permanently installed on the stem in such a way that the arms are hooked into the coupling shaft by the hook-shaped coupling and by a rotation of the arm or the receiving portion about the coupling shaft are locked in place when a defined angle of rotation is reached.

Claims

1. A holding device for fastening, to the stern area of a ship, a ship's boat or an additional component to be detachably carried along, comprising: a plurality of arms with a hook-shaped coupling which is firmly or detachably connected to the ship's boat or additional component, a plurality of receiving portions which comprise at least one coupling shaft and are mounted on the stern or an additional part of the ship permanently installed on the stern in such a way that said arms are hooked into the coupling shaft by the hook-shaped coupling, wherein said arms are configured to be arrested in the receiving portions by rotation around the coupling shaft when a defined angle of rotation is reached.

2. The holding device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving portions have, in addition to the coupling shaft, a locking device which engages in the hook-shaped coupling thus inhibiting the linear movement of each arm once it is arrested.

3. The holding device according to claim 1, wherein the ship's boat or additional component is retained in the arresting position during a journey via a rope winch mounted at a point away from the attachment point of the arms.

4. The holding device according to claim 1, wherein the arms are mounted at the starboard side and the port side of the transom of the ship's boat with the hook-shaped coupling pointing away from the ship's boat.

5. The holding device according to claim 1, wherein the arms are made of square-type material or rounded square-type material or square-type tubes made of plastic, carbon fiber material, aluminum, stainless steel or steel plates.

6. The holding device according to claim 1, wherein the arms comprise: an extendible arm comprising two shaped tubes which can be put together and fixated with each other and at the end of which the hook-shaped coupling is arranged and a fixation unit.

7. The holding device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving portions comprise a U-shaped basic component made of plastic, carbon-fiber composite material, aluminum, stainless steel or steel plate which is firmly connected or pivoted to the ship.

8. The holding device according to claim 7, wherein the U-shaped basic component has at least one coupling shaft and at least one locking shaft or at least one locking plate between two lateral parts, and wherein the arm with the hook-shaped coupling is pivoted in the coupling shaft.

9. The holding device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving portions are either attached at the outside of the stern or counter-sunk in the stern of the ship.

10. The holding device as in claim 1, wherein the device is configured for ships, and wherein the arms are used for holding device carriers for bathing platforms, barbecue platforms, solar panels, tables and similar devices.

Description

(1) Below, the holding device according to the invention is described on the basis of figures wherein equal reference numerals are used for equal components. The figures are only intended for explanation purposes without restricting the invention to special embodiments. The dimensions are also exemplary illustrations of the general principle of the invention.

(2) FIG. 1 shows an application option of the holding device according to the invention.

(3) FIG. 2 shows the lateral view of an arm.

(4) FIG. 3A shows the magnification of the hook-shaped coupling of the arm of FIG. 2.

(5) FIG. 3B shows the front view of the arm of FIG. 2.

(6) FIG. 4 shows the spatial illustration of a receiving portion.

(7) FIG. 5 shows the lateral view of the receiving portion of FIG. 4.

(8) FIG. 6 shows the receiving portion of FIG. 4 from below.

(9) FIG. 7 shows the receiving portion of FIG. 4 from the front.

(10) FIG. 8 shows the receiving portion when installed.

(11) FIG. 9 shows a lateral view of the arm in the receiving portion when being arrested.

(12) FIG. 10 shows the lateral view of an alternative receiving portion.

(13) FIG. 1 shows an application option of the holding device according to the invention. At the stern 18 of a ship 17, the receiving portion 19 is firmly attached as the first part of the holding device according to the invention. The receiving portion is detachably connected with the second part of the holding device according to the invention, i.e. the arm 20. The arm 20 is firmly attached to the transom of the ship's boat 16. The ship's boat is lifted by a rope which is not illustrated and retained in this arresting position (angle of rotation α approx. 80 degrees).

(14) The part of the holding device according to the invention to be attached to the ship's boat is referred to as an arm. FIG. 2 shows the lateral view of the arm and how it can be inserted in the holding device according to the invention. The arm is firmly or detachably attached to the stern of the ship's boat—the transom.

(15) The arm of this illustration consists of two parts. One part of the arm is an almost rectangular, L-shaped part consisting of two individual pieces put together. To this end, square (as shown here), round or rectangular tubes are used. This part is referred to as attachment leg 1.

(16) The second part of the arm extends one part of the L-shaped attachment leg 1. This part is also made of square (as shown here), round or rectangular tubes and is used for simple length adjustment. To this end, both parts of the arm are designed in such a way that they can be pushed into one another. The optional adjustment of the moving part of the arm can be used to adjust the distance to the yacht. The extending part of the arm is also referred to as long leg 2 and includes the hook-shaped coupling 3 at its end. Both parts 1 and 2 together form the arm.

(17) An enlarged lateral view of the hook-shaped coupling 3 is illustrated in FIG. 3A showing the shape of the cut-out. FIG. 3B shows a front view of the hook-shaped coupling with a clear view on the hollow basic element 4 of the arm.

(18) The receiving portion 6 corresponding to the arm is attached at the stern area of the yacht (see FIG. 4). The hook-shaped coupling 3 of the arm—here a hook-shaped cut-out—is hooked into the coupling shaft 7 of the receiving portion at the yacht.

(19) FIG. 4 shows a receiving portion 6 usable according to the invention which has two shafts between the two parallel sides of the U-shaped arrangement—namely a coupling shaft 7 and a locking shaft 8. FIG. 5 shows a lateral view of the shaft the positions. The coupling shaft 7 is used to hook in the hook-shaped coupling at the arm and as a rotating shaft of the arm for arresting. The second shaft is referred to as locking shaft 8 and allows for the firm arresting of the arm after a rotation of approximately 30 degrees.

(20) Both shafts may be different in thickness and very specifically arranged. The coupling shaft 7 must carry the load of the ship's boat and is therefore three to four times as thick as the locking shaft 8. The locking shaft is used for arresting, this means that it inhibits the linear displacement of the arm when it is in the arresting position; it does not carry any load. Therefore, it may be thinner than the coupling shaft. The locking shaft 8 is positioned at a certain distance and angle to the main shaft so that it can be arrested when rotating the hooked-in arm. This will be explained in detail later on.

(21) FIG. 6 shows the receiving portion with both shafts 7 and 8 from below and in FIG. 7 from the front.

(22) FIG. 8 shows the receiving portion when installed. The U-shaped basic component of the receiving portion with both shafts is embedded in a left and a right protection and reinforcement element 11.1 and 11.2 in order to provide for additional stability for the construction and to ensure the safety of the coxswain and the passengers. In this example, both elements 11.1 and 11.2 are made of seawater-proof plastic, but wood, metal or composites would also be suitable for this purpose.

(23) FIG. 9 clearly shows the function and the interaction of the individual components of the holding device according to the invention.

(24) The arm (to be more precise the long leg of the arm which is hereinafter referred to as 2) is attached at the stern of the ship's boat (not illustrated). With its end—the hook-shaped coupling 3—it is hooked into the receiving portion 6 which is attached at the stern of the yacht. In doing so, the cut-out of the arm is located, on the coupling shaft 7 of the receiving portion 6 attached at the stern of the yacht (not illustrated). The yacht and the ship's boat are now stern by stern, and the arm 2 of the ship's boat is hooked into the receiving portion 6.

(25) The next step is to try to pull it upwards on the rope at the bow of the ship's boat by pulling at the bow rope of the ship's boat. To this end, the rope may be led from the bow of the ship's boat towards the mast top and from there via a winch in to the cockpit of the ship. There, the rotation position of the ship's boat can be determined with the help of the winch. For yachts without a topping lift, a rope winch tied up at the backstay can be used instead.

(26) When pulling the ship's boat up, the arm 2 on the coupling shaft 7 is at first pushed until the end of the cut-out due to the resulting forces and their directions and due to the arrangement of the shafts (pins) in the receiving portion 6 and due to the shape and type of the cut-out in the arm 2. Since there is no further space for this horizontal linear movement due to the end of the cut-out, the pulling movement at the bow of the dinghy is now turned into a rotating movement on the coupling shaft 7 of the receiving portion. The bow of the ship's boat is pulled upwards. In this process, the arm also moves upwards in a curve on the coupling shaft 7.

(27) The outer nose of the arm 2 is now pressed against the locking shaft 8 in the receiving portion 6. The larger the curved angle relative to the horizontal, the more the nose at the arm is now rotated into the locking shaft of the receiving portion. Once the dinghy has reached a position of approximately 30 degrees relative to the horizontal (approximate position in FIG. 8), the cut-out is pushed onto the locking shaft 8 to an extent that the arm 2 does no longer slide off the coupling shaft 7 of the receiving portion 6. Now the dinghy can no longer be removed from the holder by a linear movement. It still can be pull upwards until an angle of approx. 80 degrees. Then it is completely secured.

(28) The locking shaft 8 is to inhibit the linear movement of the arm 2 hooked into the coupling shaft 7 which can be transferred to the arm particularly in case of wind, waves, inclination of the ship or other impacts on the boat. This linear movement is, however, inhibited by arresting the arm by means of the locking shaft 8 so that safety is significantly increased with simple means compared to safety measures based on the principle of gravity only (e.g. without a second shaft).

(29) As an alternative to the holding device with two shafts—namely a coupling shaft and a locking shaft in the receiving portion—as mentioned above, the holding device according to the invention may have a plate instead of a locking shaft for arresting the arm. FIG. 10 shows such an alternative embodiment for a holding device according to the invention. Except for the alternative solution for the locking device, the structure of the holding device is analogue to the holding device as illustrated in the FIGS. 4 to 9, except for the S-shaped locking plate 9 for arresting the arm 2 in the arresting position (as illustrated). The S-shape of the S-shaped plate is bent upwards by the rear part of the receiving portion 6 and attached to the coupling shaft 7 in such a way that the nose of the hook-shaped coupling 3 is engaged in the arresting position behind the plate and thus prevents the arm from sliding off the coupling shaft due to a linear movement.

(30) The holding device illustrated in the figures can also be used to transport and secure other additional components such as bathing platforms or holders for solar panels etc. with the same principle of arresting being used. The exemplary explanations on the basis of a ship's boat were only used to describe the general principle of the holding device according to the invention in detail, and further embodiments and examples of use for this holding device would be apparent to one skilled in the art. In particular, it cannot only be used at the stern area of a yacht but also in other areas of a yacht. The invention is of significance for all owners of sailing yachts or motor yachts, in particular for yachts with a length, of up to approx. 20 meters. Due to the “stern by stern” arresting option, sailing yachts or motor yachts can be additionally retrofit with the holding device according to the invention at any time.