RETRACTABLE LADDER FOR PLEASURE BOATS

• US 3,862,670 A
• Filed: 09/25/1973
• Issued: 01/28/1975
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cecil C. Hovey
• Original Assignee: Cecil C. Hovey
• Inventors: Hovey, Cecil C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Machado, Reinaldo P.
• Application Number:
  US05/400,692
• Time in Patent Office: 490 Days
• Field of Search: 182/195,90,208,98,89 16/66
• US Class Current: 182/89
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 2027/141 telescopically extendable
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 27/146 Pilot ladders or similar outboard ladders, e.g. bathing ladders; Pilot lifts
• CPC Class Codes: E06C 9/00 Ladders characterised by being permanently attached to fixed structures, e.g. fire escapes movable stairways E04F11/04 ; means for facilitating access to swimming pools E04H4/144

Abstract

A boat ladder for pleasure boats to enable a user to easily get into or out of a boat when in the water and also get into and out of the boat when loaded on a transporting trailer, including a movable section and a stationary section supported from the boat hull, together with an interconnection with the movable section to move it from an extended position to a retracted position.

Claims

1. A boat ladder combined with a pleasure boat to facilitate a user getting into or out of a pleasure boat when in the water away from a dock and when on a transporting trailer or the like comprising a stationary section rigid with respect to the boat hull, a movable section movably mounted with respect to the stationary section for movement between extended and retracted positions, each of said sections including at least one transverse member defining a step with the step on the movable section being moved to a lower position below the boat hull when the movable section is in its extended position, and means interconnecting the stationary section and movable section to move said movable section in at least one direction of movement, said movable section being reciprocally mounted with respect to the stationary section for substantially vertical movement between extended and retracted positions, said stationary section including a pair of substantially vertically disposed guide members telescopingly engaged with portions of the movable section, said means moving the movable section in one direction including a spring member interconnecting the movable section and stationary section enabling movement of the movable section to an extended position when the weight of a user is placed thereon, said spring member moving the movable section to its retracted position when weight is removed from the movable section, said vertically disposed stationary guide members being in the form of cylinders having a closed upper end, said movable section including pistons telescopically movable in said cylinders, a spring member engaged with each of said pistons for biasing the pistons upwardly, and means controlling the rate of upward movement of the pistons in the cylinders thereby controlling the rate of movement of the movable section toward retracted position when weight is removed from the step thereon.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein each cylinder includes an abutment above the lower end thereof, said spring members each being in the form of a coil spring having an upper end engaged with the piston and a lower end engaged with the abutment.

3. The structure as defined in claim 2 wherein each piston includes a depending rod, each rod having a tubular member on the lower end thereof telescopic with respect to the lower end portions of the cylinders, said tubular members extending below the cylinders and being interconnected rigidly by a member defining said step, said abutment being disposed above the lower end of the cylinders and being in the form of an annular flange rigid with the cylinder and receiving the piston rod therethrough, said abutment limiting downward movement of the pistons and maintaining the tubular members within the cylinders.

4. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said control means includes an orifice in the upper end of at least one of the cylinders to control flow rate of air from the cylinder.

5. A boat ladder combined with a pleasure boat to facilitate a user getting into or out of a pleasure boat when in the water away from a dock and when on a transporting trailer or the like comprising a stationary section, means rigidly mounting the stationary section on the boat hull at vertically spaced points, a movable section movably mounted with respect to the stationary section for movement between extended and retracted positions, said sections being substantially vertical when the boat hull is in normal floating position, each of said sections including at least one transverse member defining a step with the step on the movable section being moved vertically to a lower position below the boat hull when the movable section is in its extended position, the step on the stationary section cooperating with the step on the movable section to span tHe distance from the top edge of the boat hull to the water when fully extended, said section being out of the water when the movable section is fully retracted, and resilient means interconnecting the stationary section and movable section to move and resiliently retain said movable section in a retracted position, and control means for controlling the rate of movement of the movable section toward the retracted position, said stationary section including a pair of parallel tubular members each having an abutment spaced downwardly from the upper end and above the lower end, said movable section including a pair of rods extending upwardly in said tubular members above said abutments, said resilient means including a resilient member mounted on each rod with the lower end operatively associated with an abutment and the upper end operatively associated with the upper end of the rod to bias the rods upwardly thereby retracting the movable section, each of said rods having a piston on the upper end thereof closely received in the tubular member, each tubular member having a closed upper end, said control means including an orifice communicating with the interior of at least one of the tubular members above the piston to restrict air flow thereby controlling the rate of movement of the pistons in the tubular members and the rate of movement of the movable section, each of said rods having a lower end connected to a cylindrical member telescopically received in the lower end of a tubular member with the position of the abutment maintaining the cylindrical members within the lower ends of the tubular members, said transverse member forming the lower step interconnecting the lower ends of the cylindrical members.