Back to results
US 5,682,833 AGranted
Floating drive-on dry dock assembly
AssigneeJet Dock Licensing, Inc.
InventorsW. Allan Eva, III, David T. Faber
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeJet Dock Licensing, Inc.
InventorsW. Allan Eva, III, David T. Faber
Estimating the term…
A floating, drive-on dry dock assembly for a small craft is assembled from two kinds of hollow floatation units, tall units and short units. The units are interconnected so that their top surfaces are substantially coplanar. The units are arranged to form two arms which support the hull of the craft on each side of the longitudinal center line of the craft. The entire length of each arm is made up of tall units except the distal end portions of each arm which may be made up of short units. The short units are able to flex downward as a craft begins to ride up on the dock because of the location of the connection between adjacent units. The tall units, however, cannot flex relative to each other nearly to the same extent as the short units, and so they form a stable generally planar surface. The distal ends of the arms are connected to each other by an upside down short unit. The short units are proportioned so that the uppermost surface of each is out of the water both when the dock is empty and when a craft is "parked" on the dock.
A method of placing a floating craft having a hull with an upwardly curved bow onto a dry dock comprising the steps of:
A floating dock assembly for a watercraft having a hull, said assembly comprising a plurality of floatation units connected to each other to form a base and a pair of arms extending axially from the base, the units of the base and the arms being connected to each other for relative pivoting movement and spaced apart to support the hull of the craft on opposite sides of the axial center line of the craft when the craft is on the dock, and at least one member between the arms, the lowest point of the hull of the craft resting on the member when the craft is on the dock, the floatation units having top surfaces defining a common plane, and the member having a top surface positioned below the common plane, and wherein the units and the member are connected with flexible connections permitting the units and the member to pivot with respect to each other about an axis parallel to the axis of the arms.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.