Waterski tow rope retriever
First Claim
1. A waterski tow rope retriever, comprising:
- a) a frame for attachment to a rear section of a waterski boat;
b) a driveshaft rotatably mounted in said frame;
c) a motor operatively connected to said driveshaft;
d) at least one spool for storing, letting out, and reeling in a waterski tow rope attached to each said at least one spool;
e) a fluid drive associated with said at least one spool for transferring rotational power from said driveshaft to said spool;
f) whereby, when said driveshaft rotates, said fluid drive causes said spool to rotate with enough force to reel in the waterski tow rope after it has been released by a waterskier; and
g) whereby, when said driveshaft does not rotate, said fluid drive permits said spool to rotate independently of said driveshaft and thereby let out the waterski tow rope with little effort when a waterskier pulls on the waterski tow rope.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multiple-spool waterski tow rope retriever for reeling in a plurality of waterski tow ropes either together or independently. The device may include a housing for outboard mounting on the back of a ski boat, or it may be mounted inboard whereby the tow ropes would extend through holes in the transom of the boat. A motor drives a driveshaft inside a plurality of tow rope spools. The motor may drive the shaft directly or indirectly via a gear, chain, or belt apparatus. The driveshaft transfers rotational power to each spool through a fluid drive apparatus. For each spool, a sleeve is immovably mounted around the shaft within the center section of the spool. The spools rotate around the sleeve and shaft on bearings and are held in place longitudinally by thrust washers. A sealed void surrounding the sleeve within the center of the spool is filled with a high viscosity oil or other high viscosity fluid. When the shaft rotates at high RPM'"'"'s, the high viscosity oil transfers the rotational force to the spool. Only enough force is transferred to the spool to reel in an unattended tow rope, not a water-skier; therefore, only the spool or spools that are not towing skiers will be turned. This prevents unattended ropes from trailing behind the boat when a skier is still skiing. A locking device may also be included to lock one or all of the spools in place to allow less than a full length of a tow rope to be used by a waterskier. When the motor is not rotating, very minimal effort is required to unreel the tow rope from its spool, thereby enabling easy use by beginning waterskiers.
27 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A waterski tow rope retriever, comprising:
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a) a frame for attachment to a rear section of a waterski boat; b) a driveshaft rotatably mounted in said frame; c) a motor operatively connected to said driveshaft; d) at least one spool for storing, letting out, and reeling in a waterski tow rope attached to each said at least one spool; e) a fluid drive associated with said at least one spool for transferring rotational power from said driveshaft to said spool; f) whereby, when said driveshaft rotates, said fluid drive causes said spool to rotate with enough force to reel in the waterski tow rope after it has been released by a waterskier; and g) whereby, when said driveshaft does not rotate, said fluid drive permits said spool to rotate independently of said driveshaft and thereby let out the waterski tow rope with little effort when a waterskier pulls on the waterski tow rope. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A waterski tow rope spool for a waterski tow rope retriever that includes a frame for attachment to a waterski boat and a motor-driven driveshaft rotatably mounted in the frame for rotating said waterski tow rope spool, said waterski tow rope spool comprising:
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a) a central cylinder to which a waterski tow rope is anchored, said driveshaft extending longitudinally through said cylinder; b) a pair of flanges extending outwardly from opposite ends of said central cylinder, said flanges forming lateral barriers to maintain the waterski tow rope on said spool; and c) a fluid drive for transferring rotational force from the driveshaft to said spool, said fluid drive including; i) a sealed internal void within said central cylinder surrounding the driveshaft, and ii) a volume of fluid disposed within said internal void, said fluid of sufficiently high viscosity to transfer rotational force from the driveshaft to said spool; whereby, when the driveshaft rotates, said fluid drive causes said spool to rotate with enough force to reel in the waterski tow rope after it has been released by a waterskier;
however, when a waterskier wishes to unreel the waterski tow rope from said spool, said fluid drive permits said spool to rotate independently of the driveshaft and thereby let out the waterski tow rope. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A multiple waterski tow rope retriever, comprising:
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a) a frame for attachment to a rear section of a waterski boat; b) a driveshaft rotatably mounted in said frame; c) a motor operatively connected to said driveshaft for rotating said driveshaft; d) a plurality of spools disposed around said driveshaft immediately adjacent to one another for storing, letting out, and reeling in a plurality of waterski tow ropes, each tow rope attached to one of said spools, each said spool including; i) a central cylinder to which one of the waterski tow ropes is anchored, said driveshaft extending longitudinally through said cylinder, and ii) a pair of flanges extending outwardly from opposite ends of said central cylinder, said flanges forming lateral barriers to maintain the waterski tow rope on said spool; and e) fluid drive means associated with said spools for transferring rotational force from said driveshaft to said spools, said fluid drive means including; i) an internal void within each said central cylinder surrounding said driveshaft, ii) a sleeve within each said internal void immovably disposed around said driveshaft, iii) sealing means for sealingly enclosing the internal void within each said central cylinder, and iv) a relatively high viscosity fluid disposed within the internal void within each said central cylinder; whereby, when said driveshaft rotates, said fluid drive means causes said spools to rotate with only enough force to reel in the waterski tow ropes after they have been released by waterskiers;
however, when a waterskier wishes to unreel a waterski rope from a respective one of said spools, said fluid drive means permits the respective spool to rotate independently of the driveshaft and the other spools and thereby let out the respective waterski rope. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification