Patent ID: 6152060
Filing Date: 2000-11-28
Classification: B63B,F16G,Y10T

Abstract:
A mounting connector for suspending articles from an elongate support in the form of a life line, life rail, pulpit or pushpit of a boat said connector comprising:a hook portion for engaging the elongate support and a body portion for connecting to a suspended article;said hook portion comprising two inverted U-shaped fingers spaced from each other by a slot, each finger terminating in a free end directed towards said body portion but separated from said body portion by an entry gap;each said finger defining a hook pocket that opens from said entry gap and extends away from said body portion to a closed end, each said hook pocket having a width sufficient to accommodate the elongate support, and each said hook pocket having a total length that exceeds the size of said entry gap;said slot separating said fingers apart by a distance corresponding to said width, said fingers extending generally parallel to each other and being oppositely oriented so that said hook pockets are in relative alignment but said entry gaps are not;the structure being such that said connector can be mounted by causing the elongate support to pass into said slot to a depth sufficient to align with said entry gaps, whereupon rotation of said connector relative to said elongate support brings the latter in alignment with said hook pockets so that the mounting connector can be fully engaged by moving it to position theelongate support in contact with the ends of said hook pockets, said mounting connector being configured to receive a blocking retainer in said slot to prevent unintended disengagement of said connector.