Floating moorage device for use with piles or dolphins

Abstract

A floating mooring device adapted to be used with one or more piles projecting upwardly in a body of water. The device includes a float which is fastened to a cylindrical collar loosely surrounding the piles so that the float can move upwardly or downwardly along the pile in response to tidal action. A conventional mooring cleat or ring is carried by either the float or collar to which a line extending from a moored vessel may be fastened. Since vertical movement of the vessel responsive to tidal action is matched by the vertical movement of the float, the line may be tautly fastened to the float in order to prevent excessive movement of the vessel, yet tension of the line remains constant responsive to tidal action. The embodiment of the device used with a single pile includes a cylindrical float extending around a cylindrical inner sleeve which loosely surrounds the pile. In one embodiment the float is formed by an outer sleeve concentrically surrounding the inner sleeve with the space therebetween being either hollow or filled with a buoyant material. In another embodiment the float is formed by a plurality of axially spaced tires filled with a buoyant material surrounding the inner shell. The embodiment used with a pair of spaced-apart parallel piles or dolphins includes three interconnected collars, two of which loosely surround the pile, with the remaining collar being tightly secured to an elongated, cylindrical float.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.