US3843999A - Anchor caddy - Google Patents

Abstract

This anchor rope clamping or locking mechanism preferably provides a pivoted smooth edged clamp and an opposing smooth clamping surface between which a rope may be clamped repeatedly without abrasion. It includes a rope guide integral with the clamp coacitng with adjacent reverse bends in the rope for positively actuating the clamp into locking position and thereafter maintaining gravity energized locking pressure thereon when the free end of the rope is released.

Description

llnited States Patent Kramoski Oct. 29, 1974 ANCHOR CADDY 2,547,370 4/1951 Boyer 24/134 KB 2,938,491 5/1960 Scanlin 114 210 [76] Inventor- John 925 Mason Ave-1 2,955,560 10/1960 Howington et ul. 114/210 Aurora 60538 3,146,754 9/1964 Ohnsman 24/134 CP [22] Filed: Dec. 16, 1971 I pp NO: 208,976 Primary Examiner-Paul R. Gilliam Related US. Application Data A istant ExaminerDarrell Marquette Attorney, Agent, or FirmFrank .l. Foley [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 22,100, March 13,

1970, abandoned. [57] ABSTRACT [52] Us Cl 24/134 KC 24/132 AB 4/199 This anchor rope,clamping or locking mechanism 51 Irit. Cl. ..F1 6g 11/04 Preferably PmYideS a Pivmed edged clamp 58 Field ofSearchQ... 24/134 KC, 134 KB, 134 R, OPPOSmg smomh surface beiween 24/132 AB 134 182/5 188/65 which a rope may be clamped repeatedly without 112N199 abrasion. it includes a rope guide integral with the clamp coacitng with adjacent reverse bends in the [56] References Cited rope for positively actuating the clamp into locking position and thereafter maintaining gravity energized UNITED STATES PATENTS locking pressure thereon when the free end of the l89,l07 et Ell 24/l34 KC rope is released 1,692,640 ll/l928 Erickson 1,710,697 4/1929 Gilbert 114/210 3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 30 1 30 9 m P- 7 1 30b 3 7 2g 2g [11x c J:1

PATENTEUUBIZQ lav. 4 3.843.999

INVE N 70/? JOHN M KRAHOf/f/ PATENTEBumzs I974 318481899 EU '8 0f 4 INVENTOR 10m NL KRAMOSK/ Atty, WW4

1 ANCHOR CADDY This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 22,100, filed Mar. 13, 1970, now abandoned.

This invention relates to improvements in rope clamp-in devices especially suitablefor attachment to a boat for clamping anchor ropes in anchor raised or lowered positions. The device also includes a cradle into which an anchor may be retained snugly so that it will not bang against the boat when the anchor is raised.

The general object of the invention is to provide an anchor clamping device which needs no rope abradingsurfaces to be effective, and needs no springs, will lock automatically when it should lock, and is released by a mere tug on the rope.

Another object is to provide in a rope locking device a movable clamp and an adjoining rope guide operative to move and to hold the clamp in clamping position responsive to a gravity pull on the rope by an anchor suspended thereon.

Another object is to provide an anchor rope clamping device having a pivoted rope clamp and a rope guide control member positioned at and connected to the forward side of the clamp bar and adapted to coact with the rope and the clamp bar causing the rope to exert a downward pull on the clamp when the free end of the rope is released.

Other objects and advantages will be mentioned hereinafter, or will become apparent.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a central longitudinal sectional view through the anchor caddy.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the device.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the caddy.

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the caddy.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a portion of the caddy to show a modified form of anchor cradle.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the parts shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a view of the navigational light at the position of the vertical plane of the line 7-7 of FIG. 1.

Referring further to the drawings, the frame of the caddy comprises the angular members 7 and 8, surmounted by the flat sheet 9, all of which should be of steel or other suitable strong and durable material. The frame may be attached in any suitable manner to the bow of a boat, for example by screws 21a, extending through the members 7 and 8.

The legs of a U-shaped bracket 4 may extend downwardly through suitable slots inside of the vertical portions of the members 7 and 8, and be welded thereto as by welding 5a. An intermediate rope pulley 16 is supported on shaft 15, which extends through the legs of bracket 4 and whose ends may be retained by C clips 14 (FIG. 2).

The legs of a U-shaped bracket 3 may extend downwardly through suitable slots inside the vertical portions of the members 7 and 8 and be welded thereto as at 6b. A shaft 13 is supported between the legs of the bracket 3, and supports a rope pulley 11.

The legs of the U-shaped bracket 5 extend down through suitable slots inside the vertical portions of the angle members 7 and 8, and are welded thereto, as at 10. A shaft 12 is supported by the legs of bracket 5, and a clamp bar 17 having a width equal to the space between those legs (FIG. 3) is pivotally supported on shaft 12, the shaft being secured as by C-clips 14 (FIG. 2).

The legs of a U-shaped rope guide 19 are secured in any suitable manner to the opposite lateral sides of bar 17, extending forwardly therefrom at a position shortly above the lower end of the clamp bar. This guide 19 slidably receives the rope 18 coming back from under the pulley 16 and guides it as it passes under the free end of clamp 17.

As shown in FIG. 1, the under'surface of pulley 16 is lower than the top edge of guide 19, which assures that the rope 18 must bend downwardly substantially as it enters into the top of guide 19, and where the rope passes under the bottom of clamp 17 it bends in a reverse manner, generally upwardly. These succesive closely spaced reversed bends cooperate to produce a double snubbing action, whereby the rope, while subject to the pull of the anchor, acting on the guide 19, pulls the clamp downwardly into a tighter and tighter grip on the rope. This factor makes it unnecessary to provide teeth or serrstions on the clamp, and it may have, and preferably does have a smooth and somewhat rounded lower edge, as shown.

Extended use of this clamping action has revealed that it does not abrade even a soft cotton rope. This is important, as an abraded rope could cause loss of an anchor.

To permit rapid lowering or raising of the anchor, the the boatsman may elevate the free end of the rope to lift the clamping bar to a nearly horizontal position, which places the short passage through the guide 19 also nearly horizontal, whereupon the rope may pass through the device virtually free of friction. Yet, whenever the rope is released either intentionally or accidently, the clamping bar will instantly rotate downwardly by gravity, and produce the relationship of the parts as shown in FIG. 1, whereupon the aforesaid snubbing action will occur, and the rope will be automatically gripped and stopped.

A grommet 6a with smooth edges fixed in the web 9 guides the rope coming up from the anchor and extending over the pulley 11. Another grommet 20 may be fixed as shown for connecting the boat to a dock or other object.

An anchor cradle may be provided consisting of a sturdy rod 22 secured as by welding to block 10, which itself may be welded in the channel space provided in the frame. A ring 23 may be secured to the lower end of rod 22 for receiving the frustro-conical boss 24 of a conventional anchor 25 having a curved bottom surface 26 and the eye bolt 27. This cradle restrains a raised anchor from banging against the boat when the boat is in transit.

As a convenience, plate 28 may be secured on the top of the brackets 3 and 5 as by welding at 29, or otherwise, and a conventional navigation light 30 be provided with red and green lenses 30a and 30b, and a switch 300.

Another form of cradle is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, having a vertical post 34 and arcuate arms 32 and 32, for receiving various forms of anchors.

Abrasion of the anchor rope is avoided not only by the fact the the lower end of the bar is smooth and rounded but the surface of the web 9 against which the rope is pressed by the bar is also smooth, preferably.

As the rope guide 19 is secured to the clamping bar close to its lower end greater leverage is applied to the bar by the snubbing action of the rope guide means than would be the case if the guide were attached higher and nearer to the pivotal axis of the bar.

It should be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction shown herein, but embraces variations within the scope of the appended CLAIMS.

Having shown and described my invention, I claim:

1. An anchor rope clamping mechanism comprising,

an elongated frame having a downwardly opening longitudinal channel centrally thereof,

a U-shaped bracket having downwardly extended legs secured to the vertical sides of said channel in the forward portion of the frame,

a pulley mounted between said legs for guiding on its upper peripheral portion an anchor supporting rope,

a second U-shaped bracket having downwardly extended legs secured to the vertical sides of said channel in the rear portion of the frame,

a clamping bar pivotally mounted near its upper end between the legs of said second bracket to swing downwardly toward said frame,

means on the frame against which the lower end of the bar may pinch and clamp the rope,

said bar having a non-abrading lower edge portion engagable with the rope when in clamping position,

rope guide means secured to the forward face of the bar and near its lower end and positioned to guide the rope downwardly and rearwardly under the bar,

a third U-shaped bracket positioned between the pulley and the bar having downwardly extended legs secured to the vertical sides of said channel,

and an intermediate rope guide positioned within and supported on said third bracket and positioned to receive on its under side an anchor rope from the top of said pulley and guide it therefrom to a lower level closer to the frame and thence to a higher level at which it bends downwardly to enter the first aforesaid rope guide means.

2. An anchor rope clamping mechanism in accordance with claim 1, in which upon manual release of the rope the forward movement of the rope when subject to the pull of the anchor exerts a strong snubbing action on the rope guide means, pulling the clamp bar forwardly and downwardly into a tight clamping grip on the rope.

3. An anchor rope clamping mechanism in accordance with claim 1 in which, when the mechanism is moving into and attains full rope clamping position, the reversed curvatures of the rope extending from the top of the pulley, thence underneath the intermediate guide means, thence into the rope guide on the bar, subject to the pull of the anchor on the rope guide means imposes a tight lock upon the anchor rope.

Claims (3)

1. An anchor rope clamping mechanism comprising, an elongated frame having a downwardly opening longitudinal channel centrally thereof, a U-shaped bracket having downwardly extended legs secured to the vertical sides of said channel in the forward portion of the frame, a pulley mounted between said legs for guiding on its upper peripheral portion an anchor supporting rope, a second U-shaped bracket having downwardly extended legs secured to the vertical sides of said channel in the rear portion of the frame, a clamping bar pivotally mounted near its upper end between the legs of said second bracket to swing downwardly toward said frame, means on the frame against which the lower end of the bar may pinch and clamp the rope, said bar having a non-abrading lower edge portion engagable with the rope when in clamping position, rope guide means secured to the forward face of the bar and near its lower end and positioned to guide the rope downwardly and rearwardly under the bar, a third U-shaped bracket positioned between the pulley and the bar having downwardly extended legs secured to the vertical sides of said channel, and an intermediate rope guide positioned within and supported on said third bracket and positioned to receive on its under side an anchor rope from the top of said pulley and guide it therefrom to a lower level closer to the frame and thence to a higher level at which it bends downwardly to enter the first aforesaid rope guide means.

2. An anchor rope clamping mechanism in accordance with claim 1, in which upon manual release of the rope the forward movement of the rope when subject to the pull of the anchor exerts a strong snubbing action on the rope guide means, pulling the clamp bar forwardly and downwardly into a tight clamping grip on the rope.

3. An anchor rope clamping mechanism in accordance with claim 1 in which, when the mechanism is moving into and attains full rope clamping position, the reversed curvatures of the rope extending from the top of the pulley, thence underneath the intermediate guide means, thence into the rope guide on the bar, subject to the pull of the anchor on the rope guide means imposes a tight lock upon the anchor rope.

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