Trailer or lift with boat centering provisions

A boat trailer with boat centering provisions for assisting guidance and centering of a boat when being re-loaded onto the trailer;

• comprising:
• a trailer frame comprising laterally-spaced horizontally-elongated left and right side beams extending between front and rear ends, said side beams being spaced apart by not only a rear cross beam proximate the rear ends but also at least one mid-span cross beam disposed between the rear cross beam and the front ends;
• said trailer frame further comprising laterally-spaced elevationally-elongated left and right guide posts extending between top and bottom ends, said left and right guide posts mounted proximate the rear ends of the left and right side beams respectively by a given manner of mounting, said guide posts defining a passageway width therebetween that allows free passage of the boat during launching and re-loading operations;
• a left centering constrictor mounted with respect to the left guide post and left side beam, and a right centering constrictor mounted with respect to the right guide post and right side beam, by another given manner of mounting;
• one or both of (1) the given manner of mounting of the guide posts and/or (2) the other given manner of mounting of the centering constrictors comprise coupled structures that allow the centering constrictors to move between an OPEN state where the centering constrictors are relatively widely spaced apart, to, a CONSTRICTION state where the centering constrictors are relatively moved inward toward each other and define a constricted width that is narrower than the passageway width;
• a keel-driven lever drivable from an at-rest boat-offloaded position and an actuated boat-onboard position when driven over by the keel of the boat;
• and
• a drive system connected between the lever and the centering constrictors to actuate the centering constrictors between the OPEN and CONSTRICTION states therefor.

An improvement for the processes of either loading a boat onto a boat trailer or parking a boat onto a boat lift;

• wherein the boat trailer is characterized by laterally-spaced horizontally-elongated left and right side beams extending between front and rear ends, said side beams being spaced apart by not only a rear cross beam proximate the rear ends but also at least one mid-span cross beam disposed between the rear cross beam and the front ends, the left side beam comprising at least a pair of longitudinally-spaced left-side pivot-mount fixtures, the right side beam comprising at least a pair of longitudinally-spaced right-side pivot-mount fixtures;
• and
• wherein the boat lift is characterized by a base structure defining laterally-spaced horizontally-elongated left and right side fixture-mounting axes, said base structure comprising at least a pair of longitudinally-spaced left-side pivot-mount fixtures on the left-side fixture axis thereof and a pair of longitudinally-spaced right-side pivot-mount fixtures on the right-side fixture axis thereof;
• said improvement comprising:
• a pair of longitudinally-spaced elevationally-elongated left-side guide posts extending between top ends and bottom ends pivotally mounted with respect to the pair of left-side pivot-mount structures;
• a pair of longitudinally-spaced elevationally-elongated right-side guide posts extending between top ends and bottom ends pivotally mounted with respect to the pair of right-side pivot-mount structures;
• a horizontally-elongated left-side centering constrictor mounted across the left pair of guide posts proximate the top ends thereof so as to provide a port-side inboard rub-rail surface;
• a horizontally-elongated right-side centering constrictor mounted across the right pair of guide posts proximate the top ends thereof so as to provide a starboard-side inboard rub-rail surface;
• wherein the pivotal mountings of the guide posts afford the laterally-opposed centering constrictors to pivot between outboard extremes comprising an OPEN state and define a passageway width therebetween allowing free passage of the boat during launching and loading operations, and, inboard extremes comprising a CONSTRICTION state and define a constricted width therebetween that is narrower than the passageway width and further that the centering constrictors provide guidance and centering of the boat when being loaded onto the trailer or parked onto the lift by contact along the boat's rub rail, gunwale or sides at elevations lower than the top ends of the guide posts;
• a keel-driven lever drivable from an at-rest boat-offloaded position and an actuated boat-onboard position when driven over by the keel of the boat, thereby supplying power INPUT for the actuation of the pair of laterally-spaced opposed the centering constrictors;
• and
• a drive system connected between the lever and the centering constrictors to actuate the centering constrictors between the OPEN and CONSTRICTION states therefor.