US3716011A

US3716011A - Centerboard pivot for a sailboat

Info

Publication number: US3716011A
Application number: US00111525A
Authority: US
Inventors: F Butler
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-02-01
Filing date: 1971-02-01
Publication date: 1973-02-13
Anticipated expiration: 1990-02-13

Abstract

HEREIN DESCRIBED IS A PIVOT FOR LOWERING AND RAISING THE CENTERBOARD OF A SAILBOAT. PIVOT HOLDER MOLDS ARE FORMED INTO THE BOTTOM OF THE BOAT AND SECURED THERETO BY A PAIR OF NUTS WHICH ARE WITHIN THE MOLDS. A PAIR OF PIVOT HOLDERS INCLUDING THE PIVOT ROD AND THE CENTERBOARD OF THE SAILBOAT IS BOLTED TO THE NUTS WITHIN THE BOTTOM OF THE BOAT.

Description

Feb. 13, 1973 F. w. BUTLER I CENTERBOARD PIVOT FOR A SAILBOAT Filed Feb. 1, 1971 INVENTOR. FRANK W. BUTLER ATTO NEY 3,716,011 CENTERBOARD PIVOT FOR A SAILBOAT Frank W. Butler, Northridge, Calif. (3807 Weatherly Circle, Westlake Village, Calif. 91324) Filed Feb. 1, 1971, Ser. No. 111,525 Int. Cl. B6311 41/00 US. Cl. 114-132 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Herein described is a pivot for lowering and raising the centerboard of a sailboat. Pivot holder molds are formed into the bottom of the boat and secured thereto by a pair of nuts which are within the molds. A pair of pivot holders including the pivot rod and the centerboard of the sailboat is bolted to the nuts within the bottom of the boat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to boat constructions and more particularly to a .novel and improved pivot construction for raising and lowering the centerboard of a sailboat and the like.

'Discussion of the prior art Most all sailboats require a means to stabilize a boat in water to prevent it from tipping over while under sail. This means is oftentimes in the form of a centerboard which protrudes downwardly beneath the boat. There are at least two types of centerboards, those which are fixed to the bottom of the boat, and those which are removable. The removable type is often preferred in smaller boats when in shallow water or when being placed on a trailer for transporting to and from the water.

It has been found that a preferred form of retractable centerboard is one which can be raised and lowered from inside of the boat. This has been provided in some structures by use of a cable which protrudes through a small opening in the boat and is attached to the centerboard near the bottom end thereof. The centerboard is then pivoted on a pivot and is raised and lowered by suitable means inside of the boat, such a means being a crank and a pulley connected to the cable whereby winding of the crank will pull the centerboard up or lower it. Generally the centerboard is a type which is pivoted at a position somewhere other than the center of the centerboard so that it will be easily raised and lowered by its own gravitational weight.

A problem exists in this latter type of centerboard pivot by the fact that because in the past the pivots which secured the centerboard to the bottom of the boat always required that some sort of fastening means protrude through the bottom of the boat to secure the pivots to the boat. After a period of use of raising and lowering the centerboard and other stresses and strains upon the pivot, the bolts would work loose or the pivots themselves would work loose causing a leak in the bottom of the boat which of course has an undesirable effect. Further, at times the pivot holders and the centerboards have to be removed for maintenance and repair. This also caused leaks if the bolts which fasten the centerboard extend through the bottom of the boat. Thus continual patching to the bottom of the boat was necessary.

Thus it would be desirable to provide a means and method of securing the pivot holders to the bottom of the boat so that the centerboard could be effectively pivoted thereon which does not have an undesirable effect of continuously causing leaks around the fixtures which afiix the pivot holders to the boat.

United States Patent 0 3,716,611 Patented Feb. 13, 1973 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly described the present invention provides apparatus which overcomes the difiiculties encountered in securing the pivot to the bottom of the boat so that the centerboard can be effectively raised and lowered without excessive leaking therearound. In a described embodiment a pair of receiving molds are cast in the bottom of the hull of the boat and disposed on either side of a cavity. Fastening nuts are embedded within the receiving molds and a pair of pivot holders are constructed to conform to the molds, one of the pivot holders is positioned within one of the pair of receiving molds and the other pivot holder is positioned in the other one of the receiving molds. The pair of pivot holders includes holes therein which are aligned with the fastening nuts. A pivot rod is adapted to engage the centerboard and is pivotally mounted to either of the pivot holders whereby the centerboard can pivot between the pivot holders on the pivot rod. Fastening bolts are disposed through the holes in the pivot holders and threadably engage the fastening nuts embedded in the receiving molds.

By this embodiment the bolts which hold the pivot holders into the bottom of the boat and within the cavity are never secured completely through the bottom of the hull but only engage bolts which are embedded within the plastic material which forms the hull.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art when taken into consideration with the following detailed description wherein like reference numerals indicate like and corresponding parts throughout the several views and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a sailboat which includes a retractable centerboard;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the sailboat taken along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section view taken along the lines 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the centerboard pivot in accordance with the principles of this invention; and

FIG. 5 is a section view taken along the lines 55 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF ONE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now to a more detailed description of this invention, one preferred embodiment of this invention shows a sailboat 10 which has a retractable centerboard 12. The bottom of boat 10 includes a cavity 14 disposed along a portion of the length thereof which includes a somewhat deeper portion 16. Specifically the cavity is L- shaped with the deeper portion 16 extending a good distance into the bottom of the boat. Should the hull of boat 10 be comprised of fiber glass or other synthetic material which is easily cast, the cavity 14 could then be eifectively molded when the hull of the boat 10 is cast.

The centerboard 12 is pivotally mounted by the pivot means 18. More specifically the centerboard 12 includes a hole 20 therethrough about one-fourth along the axis of the centerboard 12 and positioned near one edge thereof. As the centerboard 12 is pivoted from the retracted position 12a to the lower position, the longer end is extended into the water and the shorter end extends upwardly into the deep portion 12 of cavity 14 of the hull of boat 10.

To pivot the centerboard 12, the pivot mounting means 18 is secured to the hull of the boat 10. A pair of

cavities

24 and 26 are formed on either side of the cavity 14. The cavity 14 is best shown in FIG. 5. A pair of

pivot rod holders

30 and 32 are constructed to conform to the shape of their

respective cavities

24 and 26. Specifically the shape of pivot holder 30 includes an extending arm 32 which has a hole 34 therethrough. The other end of holder 30 includes a pair of extending

flanges

36 and 38 each hav ing a

bolt hole

40 and 42 in the ends thereof. Thus the pivot rod holders 30 as shown in FIG. 4 are adapted to be nested within the mold cavity 24 as best shown in FIG. 5.

Means are provided to secure the

pivot rod holders

30 and 32 into their respective molded

cavities

24 and 26. Specifically as shown in FIG. a pair of

nuts

42 and 44 are positioned within the material of

molds

24 and 26 and specifically as shown in FIG. 5 in mold 24. In the embodiment shown special nuts are casts which have a

flange portion

46 and 48 on

nuts

42 and 44 respectively which are embedded in the fiber glass material which forms the mold 24. The threaded ends of the nuts protrude upwardly and are exposed to

ledge portions

50 and 52 of the molds 24 as shown in FIG. 4. These special nuts are actually cast into solid materials which are, for example, comprised of a mat, a roving cloth and resin as an example which are used to build up a thick portion around the outside of the cavity which forms the mold 24. The

nuts

42 and 44, for example, have the hollow threaded shaft which are exposed to the

ledges

50 and 52 and include the plate or

flange

46 and 48. This provides that a large amount of pressure may be exerted to the shafts of the

nuts

42 and 44 and not pull them from within the mold material.

The pivot holders 30 are preferably cast of brass and a brass pivot rod 54 is adapted to be engaged through the hole 20 in the centerboard 12 and into the

holes

34 and 35 of the

pivot holders

30 and 32 respectively. The

pivot holders

30 and 32 are then inserted into their respective cavities and a pair of bolts are then inserted through the

bolt holes

40 and 42 and threadably engage the

nuts

42 and 44, thereby clamping the pivot holder into the hull of the boat and pivotally mounting the centerboard thereto.

In this embodiment a cable, not shown, can then be extended through the bottom of the boat using appropriate methods to prevent leakage thereof and engage the bottom end of the centerboard 12 and be cranked into and out of its retracted or lowered position.

By this invention there is never a problem with leakage around the nuts which hold the pivot holders into the bottom of the boat because they are always enclosed within the cavity mold material. Yet the centerboard can easily be removed for repair if necessary by simply removing the

bolts

56 and 58 which then effectively removes the pivot holders and the pivot rod 54, and thereafter the centerboard can be removed.

Having thus described one preferred embodiment of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. In combination with a molded hull of a boat having a centerboard, said hull having a cavity with said centerboard to be located therein, an apparatus secured to the bottom of said hull to support said centerboard for pivoting movement between the retracted and extended position, said apparatus including;

mold means molded into the bottom of said hull;

pivot holder means constructed to matingly fit within said mold means; and

pivot means connected to said centerboard and said pivot holder means to pivotally mount said centerboard relative to said hull.

2. The combination as defined in claim 1 wherein said mold means includes a pair of spaced apart recesses, said cavity being located between said pair of recesses, said pivot holder means includes a first pivot holder located within one of said recesses and a second pivot holder located within the other of said recesses.

3. The combination as defined in claim 2 wherein said pivot means being a rod disposed within an opening in said centerboard, said rod establishing a cylindrical interfitting relationship with said centerboard.

4. The combination as defined in claim 3 wherein:

each of said recesses includes a set of threaded nuts, each of said pivot holders includes means to facilitate engagement with a set of threaded bolts, said bolts of a said pivot holder to cooperate with a said set of threaded nuts which are embedded Within the hull of the boat in the area of a said recess.

5. A centerboard pivot holder for pivoting a centerboard during the lowering and retracting thereof into and out of a cavity in the bottom of the hull of the boat including:

a pair of receiving molds cast in the bottom of the boat, each of said pair being cast on either side of the cavity, each mold including a deep portion and a pair of extending ledge portions;

fastening nuts being embedded within said pair of receiving molds and having openings therein which extend into the ledges of said receiving molds;

a pair of pivot rod holders being constructed to conform to said molds each said mold having an extending arm, the extending arm having a pivot hole therethrough, the axis of said pivot hole being normal to the longitudinal axis of the cavity, each said pivot rod holder having a pair of flanges, each flange having securing holes therein being aligned with the openings of said fastening nuts, one of said holders being positionable in one of said pair of receiving molds and the other one of said holders being positionable in the other one of said pair of receiving molds;

a pivot rod being adapted to engage the centerboard and the ends of said pivot rod being pivotally mounted into associated pivot holes of said pair of pivot rod holders; and

fastening bolts being adapted to be disposed through the securing hole in the flanges of said pivot rod holder and into the ledge portion of said pair of pivot molds to threadably engage said fastening nuts embedded in said receiving molds.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,991,749 7/1961 Patterson 114 132 FOREIGN PATENTS 825,794 12/1959 Great Britain 114-1s2 TRYGVE M. BLIX, Primary Examiner