Patent ID: 6470816
Filing Date: 2002-10-29
Classification: B63C,B66C,B66F,F16G

Abstract:
A watercraft lift assembly for selectively lifting a water craft into and out of a waterway, said assembly comprising:a. a support structure installed within said water way, said support structure comprising first and second vertical pilings positioned on a proximal side of said watercraft and a third vertical piling positioned on a distal side of said watercraft; b. a first transverse beam mounted between said first and third pilings and a second transverse beam mounted between said second third pilings, said beams configured for carrying said watercraft; c. two winch assemblies, wherein each of said winch assemblies is attached to one of said first and second pilings, each of said winch assemblies further including a rotatable spool and a motor for turning said spool; d. a first cable wound about said spool, said cable having one end fixedly secured to said spool and a second end fixedly secured to either said piling or a portion of said winch assembly; e. a pulley assembly secured to said support structure and one of said beams, said pulley assembly including a first pulley wheel housed between two parallel plates and rotatably mounted onto a first bolt connecting said parallel plates, and wherein said first cable is movably mounted on said first pulley wheel for longitudinal movement upon activation of said motor; f. said pulley assembly further including a second pulley wheel housed between said two parallel plates and rotatably mounted onto a second bolt connecting said parallel plates, said second pulley wheel positioned subjacent to said first pulley wheel, g. said pulley assembly further including a third pulley wheel positioned subjacent to said second pulley wheel and mounted within a bracket by a third bolt, wherein said bracket is further secured to a first end of said beam; h. a second cable having a first end fixedly secured to one of said first and second pilings below said first end of said beam, and a second end fixedly secured onto and near a top end of said third piling, and wherein said second cable is further aligned, in succession, over said second pulley wheel, beneath said third pulley wheel, along a top surface of said beam, and beneath a fourth pulley wheel, said fourth pulley wheel mounted within a bracket by a bolt, wherein said bracket is further secured to a second end of one of said elongated beams; whereby when said motor is selectively actuated to raise or lower a water craft carried on said elongated beams, said winches on each of said first and second pilings are activated to synchronistically wind said first cable about said spool, thereby moving said first and second pulleys longitudinally along said second cable.