Bow Stop

Abstract

A bow stop including a Vee portion having a front, bow engaging concave surface and rear surface. The bow stop further having a connection portion for connection to a trailer. The Vee portion has a rigid body or chassis (hereinafter body) and a polymer cover, and the polymer cover overlies a front, Vee-shaped surface of the body. The connection portion is configured for positioning between a pair of spaced apart and generally parallel upstanding arms of a bow stop support structure of a boat trailer and the connection portion includes a connector for connection to the upstanding arms.

Claims

1. A bow stop, including a Vee portion having a front, bow engaging concave surface and rear surface, and a connection portion for connection to a boat trailer, the Vee portion having a rigid body and a polymer cover, and the polymer cover overlying a front, Vee-shaped surface of the body, the connection portion being configured for positioning between a pair of spaced apart and generally parallel upstanding arms of a bow stop support structure of a trailer and the connection portion including a connector for connection to the upstanding arms.

2. A bow stop according to claim 1, the rigid body being formed in a Vee shape.

3. A bow stop according to claim 1, the rigid body being formed of metal.

4. A bow stop according to claim 1, the polymer cover completely covering the front surface of the body.

5. A bow stop according to claim 1, the rigid body having upper and lower surfaces between the front and rear surfaces and polymer cover covering the front surface and the upper and lower surfaces of the body.

6. A bow stop according to claim 1, the polymer cover covering the rear surface of the rigid body.

7. A bow stop according to claim 1, the Vee portion and the connection portion being connected directly together.

8. A bow stop according to claim 7, the rigid body being formed integrally with the connection portion.

9-10. (canceled)

11. A bow stop according to claim 1, the concave front surface of the Vee portion having a substantially central apex and the front surface extending substantially symmetrically on either side of the apex.

12. (canceled)

13. A bow stop according to claim 1, the connection portion having a bolt or pin hole extending therethrough for accepting a bolt or pin.

14. A bow stop according to claim 1, the connection portion being formed as a block.

15. A bow stop according to claim 1, including an adjustment facility for adjusting the width of the connection portion.

16. A bow stop according to claim 15, the adjustment facility comprising one or more spacers, shims or washers that are employed to increase the width of the connection portion.

17. A bow stop according to claim 1, including an anti-rotation arrangement to prevent the bow stop from rotation once connected to a bow stop support.

18. A bow stop according to claim 17, the bow stop including a second connection portion in addition to the first connection portion with the second connection portion connecting to a different part of the trailer to the first connection portion.

19. A bow stop according to claim 18, the second connection portion including an opening to accept a bolt or pin to connect with a structural part of the trailer.

20. A bow stop according to claim 1, the front surface defining an included angle of about 120.

21. A bow stop according to claim 1, the width or span Vee portion being about 370 mm.

22. A boat trailer including a bow stop according to claim 1.

23. A boat trailer having a bow stop support structure that includes a pair of spaced apart and generally parallel upstanding arms, and a bow stop that includes a Vee portion having a front, bow engaging concave surface and rear surface, and a connection portion, the connection portion being positioned between the pair of upstanding arms and being connected to the pair of upstanding arms by a connector, the Vee portion having a rigid body and a polymer cover, and the polymer cover overlying a front, Vee-shaped surface of the body.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0038] In order that the invention may be more fully understood, some embodiments will now be described with reference to the figures in which:

[0039] FIG. 1 is a view of a boat in a loaded position on a trailer.

[0040] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a bow stop according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0041] FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the bow stop of FIG. 2.

[0042] FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate prior art bow stop structures.

[0043] FIG. 6 illustrates a bow stop according to the present invention fitted to a prior art bow stop support structure.

[0044] FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a bow stop according to the invention.

[0045] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a bow stop according to the invention.

[0046] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a body for use in a bow stop according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] FIG. 1 shows a boat 10 suitable for fitting with a bow stop according to the present invention. The boat 10 is shown in FIG. 1 loaded onto a trailer 11 which has been reversed into a shallow body of water along a boat ramp 12. The trailer 11 includes a winch 13, which can be secured to a first bow eye 14 (the winch is shown disconnected in FIG. 1), and the trailer 11 further includes a coupling 15 which is mounted on a structural member 16 of the trailer 11, and is coupled to a second bow eye (not visible in FIG. 1). The coupling 15 can be of the kind described in the Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 8,408,578 and can be operated by a cord 18 that extends from the coupling 15 to the boat operator 19.

[0048] A bow stop 20 is mounted to one end of a further structural member of the trailer 11, which is a bow stop support structure or bow post 17. The bow stop 20 is centred on the apex 22 of the bow 23 of the boat 10 and extends to either side of the apex 22. The bow 23 rests against the bow stop 20 when the boat 10 is fully loaded onto the trailer 11 (in the position shown in FIG. 1) and remains in contact with the bow stop 20 during transport of the boat 10 on the trailer 11. The bow stop 20 forms a Vee configuration to extend to either side of the apex 22 and the Vee configuration operates to correct any misalignment of the bow 23 as the boat 20 moves onto the trailer 11 by causing the apex 22 of the bow 23 to shift to the centre of the bow stop 20. As described above, many existing bow stops have only a short or small catchment area to catch the bow 23 and so the boat operator needs to either be sufficiently skilled to align the bow with the bow stop as the boat is moving, or alternatively, the boat operator needs to use the 13 winch for the final part of the boat loading process.

[0049] The bow stop 20 is illustrated in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3. In those figures, the bow stop 20 includes a Vee portion 25 that has a flat front surface 26 and a rear surface 27. The bow stop 20 further includes a connection portion 28 for connection to a bow stop support structure of a trailer to which the bow stop 20 is to be installed.

[0050] The front surface 26 is Vee shaped and is formed on a pair of arms 29 that connect together at a central apex and extend in opposite directions. The arms 29 are the same length so that they are symmetrical about the central apex, although the arms could have different lengths if required. The rear surface 27 is also Vee shaped, but this is not essential. The height or depth of the arms 29 and the front surface 26 is greater towards the apex than at each of the opposite ends and the height or depth increases from the opposite ends to the apex at a constant rate.

[0051] The front surface 26 is a continuous surface, although in an alternative arrangement, the front surface could be discontinuous as shown by the broken lines in FIG. 2.

[0052] The bow stop 20 has a rigid body within a polymer cover, and the polymer cover overlies the front surface of the body. This arrangement will be described in more detail later herein.

[0053] Typical structural arrangements for connecting a bow stop to a trailer are shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5. In FIG. 4, a post 30 extends from a mounting plate 31 which is used to fix the post 30 to the chassis of a trailer. Attached to the post 30 by a pair of U-bolts 32 is a plate 33 which has a post connection portion 34 and an extension portion 35. The connection portion 34 includes openings for accepting the ends of the U-bolts 32 so that nuts can be applied to the ends of the U-bolts 32 to fix the plate 33 to the post 30. The extension portion 35 extends at an angle to the connection portion 34 away from the post 30.

[0054] Bow stop arms 36 are welded to the post 30 and to the extension portion 35 of the plate 33. The welding points that are visible in FIG. 4 are identified by the letter W.

[0055] The arms 36 connect to a bow stop 37 at the ends of the arms 36 remote from the post 30. The bow stop 37 is circular and has a Vee portion 39 that presents a pair of facing conical surfaces that define a concave or Vee shaped surface. The bow stop 37 connects via a bolt 38 that extends through the centre of the bow stop 37. The bow stop 37 is intended to be rotatable about the bolt 38 when engaged by the bow of a boat. The dimension D.sub.1 between the arms 36 (and thus the width of the bow stop 37) is in the order of about 75 mm.

[0056] FIG. 5 illustrates a different arrangement and a different form of bow stop to that of FIG. 4. The FIG. 5 arrangement includes a post 40 which extends from a mounting plate 41, which is used is fix the post 40 to the chassis of a trailer. Attached to the post 40 by a pair of U-bolts 42 is a plate 43. Welded to the plate 43 is an extension post 44 to which a pair of bow stop arms 45 extend. The bow stop arms 45 extend upwardly and connect to a bow stop 46 by a through bolt 47 that extends through the base of the bow stop 46.

[0057] The dimension D.sub.2 shown in FIG. 5 is different to the dimension D.sub.1 shown in FIG. 4 because the bow stop 46 is of a different form to the bow stop 37. However, common to both of the arrangements of FIGS. 4 and 5 is the provision of a pair of bow stop arms that connect to either side of a bow stop via a through bolt. The benefit of the bow stop 46 of FIG. 5 compared to the bow stop 37 of FIG. 4 is that the catchment area of the Vee portion 48 of the bow stop 46 is greater than that of the Vee portion 39 of the bow stop 37. This means that the bow stop 46 provides a boat operator with a greater catchment area to manoeuvre the bow of a boat into, as compared to the bow stop 37. The dimension D.sub.2 is in the order of about 105 mm.

[0058] A disadvantage of the bow stop 46 is that the bow stop 46 can rotate about the axis of the through bolt 47 if the bow of a boat engages the bow stop 46 at a position other than within the Vee portion 48. For example, if the bow of a boat were to engage one of the inclined side walls 49 of the bow stop 46 at either of the points marked F, rather than engaging the Vee portion 48 between the side walls 49, then the bow stop 46 might be forced to rotate about the bolt 47 if the impact load is sufficient. Several different outcomes can arise from this, including that the bow will not nest within the Vee portion 48 and thus the boat will need to be reversed, the bow stop 47 repositioned and another attempt at loading the boat made. Alternatively, if the rotation of the bow stop 46 is only small, the bow may still enter the Vee portion 48, but with less than full contact with the Vee surface, so that the bow is not captured securely for transport. If this is not noticed, then transport of the boat might be made in a dangerous manner, while if it is noticed, then the bow stop 46 would need to be repositioned, potentially requiring the boat to be reversed and reloaded.

[0059] A further alternative outcome is that the impact load of the bow against the bow stop 46 could be such as to load the bow stop arms 45 unevenly and thus cause them to bend or otherwise distort, and thus requiring professional repair or replacement.

[0060] FIG. 6 illustrates a portion of the FIG. 4 arrangement, whereby the same parts are given the same reference numerals. However, in FIG. 6, the bow stop 37 had been replaced with the bow stop 20 that is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For this installation, the bolt 38 is released to remove the bow stop 37 and the new bow stop 20 according to the invention is fitted between the bow stop arms 36. The bolt 38 is then reinserted through the bolt hole 55 (as shown in FIG. 3) that extends through the connection portion 28.

[0061] For anti-rotation purposes a further bolt can be inserted through one of the four openings 56 that are formed in the plate section 57 of the connection portion 28 and through an opening formed one of the arms 36. Thus, with the bow stop 20 installed between the bow stop arms 36, the installer can select whichever of the openings 56 overlies the adjacent arm 36 and can insert a drill through that opening to drill a complementary opening through the arm 36. With the opening formed, a further bolt can be inserted through the selected opening 56 and the opening thus formed in the arm 36 and by that arrangement, rotation of the bow stop 20 can be prevented. As shown in FIG. 6, the upper two openings 56 overlie the adjacent arm 36, while the bottom two openings 56 do not. The provision of the four openings 56 provides flexibility for installation of the bow stop 20 where different mounting arm arrangements are provided. Thus, the opening 56 which is selected for receipt of the bolt 58 may be different if the bow stop 20 is to be installed between the bow stop arms 45 of the FIG. 5 arrangement.

[0062] It will be readily appreciated from a comparison between FIGS. 4 and 6, that the catchment area for the bow of a boat is significantly greater via the installation of the bow stop 20 as compared to the bow stop 37. As explained earlier, the width of the bow stop 37 is approximately 75 mm whereas the width of the catchment area of the bow stop 20 is about 370 mm.

[0063] Moreover, it will be evident that installation of the bow stop 20 to replace the bow stop 37 is simple and does not require any particular skill. Still further, given that the connection portion 28 of the bow stop 20 is a rigid portion (preferably metal), the structural rigidity of the bow post support structure is enhanced as compared to the fully plastic bow stops illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0064] As previously discussed, the width D.sub.1 between the arms 36 of the FIG. 4 arrangement is different to the width D.sub.2 between the arms 45 of the FIG. 5 arrangement, as the respective bow stops 37 and 46 are of different mounting widths. Accordingly, if the bow stop 20 according to the invention is dimensioned for close receipt between the arms 36 of FIG. 4, the connection portion 28 will not be appropriately configured for close receipt between the arms 45. Accordingly, the present invention provides an adjustment facility or an adjustment mechanism which is illustrated in FIG. 7.

[0065] In FIG. 7, the bow stop 20 is illustrated facing downwardly, and the connection portion 28 is projecting upwardly. The adjustment facility is provided in the form of a series of spacers 60 and 61 that can be used as required on each side face of the connection portion 28 to take up any space between bow arms to which the bow stop 20 is to be connected. The spacers 60 are simply square spacers that include an opening through which the bolt 47 of FIG. 5 can extend, while the spacers 61 are configured to have a complementary shape to the plate section 57 of the bow stop 20 so that not only do the spacers 61 include an opening through which the bolt 47 can extend, they also include openings to align with the openings 56 of the plate section 57 in order to receive the bolt 58 as shown in FIG. 6.

[0066] The present invention thus covers a kit of parts which includes both the bow stop 20, bolts 47 and 58, spacers 60 and 61 and washers and nuts to connect with the bolts 47 and 58. By the use of the spacers 60 and 61, the connection portion 28 can remain centred between the bow stop arms that it is connected to while the arrangement provides great flexibility for the use of the bow stop 20 to replace many different sizes of existing bow stops.

[0067] Bow stops according to the invention have both a rigid body and a polymer cover. FIGS. 8 and 9 make a side by side comparison of the bow stop 20 as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the body 70 which forms part of the bow stop 20. The body 70 takes the same overall shape as the bow stop 20, and from FIG. 9, it can be seen that the body 70 is covered by the polymer cover 71 fully across the body arms 72. The polymer cover 71 also overlies other surfaces of the connection portion 73 other than opposite sides of the portion 73 including the plate section 57. The connection portion 73 includes a recess 74 through the rear surface 75 in order to locate the polymer cover over the connection portion 73 so that the polymer cover 71 will not shift relative to the rear surface and the other surfaces of the connection portion 73 over which it overlies. The recess 74 forms a keyway into which the polymer cover 71 extends.

[0068] The polymer cover does not overlie the side surface which is opposite to the plate section 57, as it is intended that the through bolt that is used to secure the bow stop 20 to a bow stop support structure, can engage against a metal surface on either side of the connection portion 28. Despite this, it is within the scope of the present invention for the polymer cover 71 to completely cover the connection portion 73, including the plate section 57, or to cover all of the connection portion 73 other than the plate section 57 as shown in the drawings.

[0069] It would be appreciated from FIG. 9, that the body 70 forms a major part of the bow stop 20 and that the arms 72 extend for substantially the full length of the arms 29 (FIG. 8). Thus, a boat bow which engages the arms 29 towards their distal or free ends, is nevertheless supported by the rigid arms 72 in order for the bow stop 20 to remain rigid and to support movement of the boat bow towards the apex of the Vee portion 25.

[0070] Moreover, the connection portion 73 forms a solid and rigid connector between the bow arms 36 or 45, thus providing for potentially greater structural rigidity of the bow stop support structure.

[0071] The polymer cover 71 can be moulded about the body 70 via any suitable moulding process and by completely enveloping the arms 72, the polymer cover can be firmly fixed in place as part of the bow stop 20. Extension of the polymer cover 71 about the connection portion 73 is optional, but there can be advantages in extending the polymer cover at least about the bottom rear and top surfaces of the connection portion 73.

[0072] The bow stop 20 as illustrated in the drawings provides various advantages over prior art bow stop as have been discussed above. Principally, the provision of a significantly greater catchment area and the ability for the bow stop 20 to be fitted to a variety of different and existing bow stop support structures, makes the bow stop 20 and other bow stops according to the invention easy and quick to install and provides boat operators with significantly improved likelihood of being able to drive directly onto the trailer and into a towing position.

[0073] Where any or all of the terms comprise, comprises, comprised or comprising are used in this specification (including the claims) they are to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components, but not precluding the presence of one or more other features, integers, steps or components.

[0074] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention described herein is susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specifically described. It is understood that the invention includes all such variations and modifications which fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention.