Abstract:
A floating dock mooring article, which slidably fits around a watercraft dock pipe, comprising a flotation device attached to a mooring member and a flange generally located at the upper end thereof. A watercraft is moored to the dock, as by a rope, via the flotation mooring article. When the water level rises as due to a flood, the float will cause the mooring article to raise-up the dock pipe and maintain securement of the watercraft to the dock.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Heretofore, watercrafts such as boats, canoes, jet skis, rafts etc. have generally been moored to a dock pipe as by a rope. If tightly bound, the rope would prevent the watercraft from rising as the water level rises, thus causing the watercraft to tip and possibly sink. Alternatively, if the rope was loosely bound, the rope would rise with increasing water height and come off the dock pipe causing the watercraft to drift away and even be lost. 
   Prior art mooring devices are set forth in the following U.S. Patents: 
   U.S. Pat. No. Re 27,050 relates to a reportedly force absorbing system adapted to be used with a moored vessel including a base affixed to the dock, a pair of yielding elements extending from the base and a pair of vertically disposed bumper sections attached to respective yielding elements. The bumper sections are suspended in the water with clearance from the bottom and receive support from the dock from above the water line. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 3,001,371 relates to an offshore drilling rig mooring and more particularly to a floating mooring buoy especially adapted for a floating attachment to an offshore drilling rig support. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,342 relates to a mooring bumper device having a floatable base floating on a water surface and loosely surrounding a mooring pile for up and down movement thereon under the action of tide and wind. The bumper device has an axial opening through which the mooring pile extends and the upper terminal end of the bumper device is flat and horizontal. A metal hitch ring provided with a plurality of eyes to one or more of which a boat mooring line is attached is freely seated on the flat upper end of the bumper device in surrounding relation to the mooring pile providing relative rotation between the bumper device and the hitch ring. The eyes on the hitch ring lie inwardly of the peripheral edge of the flat upper end of the bumper device. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,576 relates to a boat mooring arrangement which reportedly permits the boat to rise and drop vertically with tides or wave action, but which constrains the boat from lateral movement relative to a fixed dock or pier. A pair of cylindrical posts are affixed to the dock or pier at spaced-apart locations and extend vertically downward therefrom for a predetermined distance below the surface of the water. Associated with each of these posts is a carriage assembly comprising a U-shaped collar having rollers journaled for rotation across the spaced-apart legs of the U-shaped collar. The carriage assemblies reportedly cooperate with the exterior surface of the posts and ride up and down with respect to the posts when the carriage assemblies are fastened to the boat to be moored by suitable tie lines and changes in water level are encountered. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,521 relates to a boat mooring apparatus to allow for ease of travel up and down dock piling posts in such a fashion that it is free to move vertically with changes in tide. It comprises a mooring line roller and chafe resistor which includes a ribbed tube and spools or rollers mounted on tube and fitted over the mooring lines. It is fitted on the dock lines and around the dock posts and tied to the cleats of a vessel to be moored. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,628 relates to a docking post which includes a tubular housing having a front wall, including an elongate slot directed through the front wall longitudinally aligned relative the housing and parallel to the housing axis, with the housing having a rear wall mounted to an associated mooring post. A first tube is mounted within the housing, having a securement ring thereon, with a second tube positioned below the first tube having a length adjusted to accommodate a predetermined length between a boat water line and a boat securement cleat. A third buoyant tube is mounted below the second tube to effect displacement of the first and second tube to reportedly effect displacement of the first and second tube relative to rising and lowering tides and water level relative to the tubular housing. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,727 relates to a hollow toroidal member of high-strength material for reportedly withstanding mooring loads and has a central opening which slips over a mooring pile. A reinforcing ring is preferably secured in the core of the member to provide additional load-bearing capability to the device. A pair of diametrically opposite mooring openings are formed in the member and ring each opening for receiving a boat mooring line, the openings in the member and ring being aligned. The member is preferably molded with its core in fluid isolation from the ambient atmosphere to provide buoyancy. In the alternative, the core is filled with flotation material. A pair of apertured legs may be used in place of the openings in the member for securing the mooring lines thereto. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,781 relates to a watercraft mooring device which reportedly permits the watercraft to rise and drop vertically with the water level and which provides both direct shock absorption between the watercraft and the fixed mooring point, such as the pier or piling, and protection against scraping between the watercraft and the fixed mooring point. A floating tube is provided, which is designed to loosely fit over and around the fixed mooring point and which provides one or more attachment grooves for holding an attachment rope, cord or cable in place. The provided floating tube includes one or more securing hooks for securing the attachment rope, cord or cable when it is not needed to moor the watercraft. By providing a floating mooring device, the watercraft is permitted to maintain the same relative distance between the watercraft and the fixed mooring point, providing a device for protecting a watercraft from undesirable contact with other mooring structures. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,045 relates to a device for dock storage and boat accessible retrieval of a boat docking line. The device generally comprises a pedestal that is fixedly attachable to a dock and an arm rotatably attached to the upper end of said pedestal, said arm including a hook disposed at the distal end of said arm for receipt of a docking line. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A floatable dock mooring article comprises a mooring member having a flange at the upper portion thereof and a floatation device located beneath the flange. The dock mooring member, which slidably fits around a dock pipe, rises and falls with the level of the water thus allowing a watercraft such as a boat to rise and fall with the water level and not tip, sink or be released from the dock. A leg extending downward from the flotation device accommodates excessively high water levels. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a side elevation view, in partial cross-section, of a floatable dock mooring article according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a side elevation view, in cross-section, of another floatable dock mooring article containing an inflatable float; 
       FIG. 3  is a partial side elevation view of another embodiment of the present invention showing only the floatable dock mooring article; and 
       FIG. 4  is a side elevation view, in partial cross-section, of the floatable dock mooring article having an extension pipe. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , a watercraft dock pipe  10  supports, in any conventional manner, dock  12  located above a body of water such as a lake, a river, a bay, etc. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a portion of dock pipe  10  generally extends a distance above the dock and mooring ropes, etc., have been connected thereto to retain a watercraft. Watercraft generally includes boats, canoes, jet skis, rafts, and the like. 
   Floating dock mooring article  1  is designed to be placed over and about dock pipe  10  which extends above dock  12 . Mooring article  1  comprises various types of mooring members  20  such as pipes, tubes, ducts, and the like with the requirement that they are generally in the form of an annulus having an inside diameter and an outside diameter spaced apart therefrom. While the shape of the annulus is generally circular, it is to be understood that any shape can be utilized, such as elliptical, egg-shaped, pear-shaped, square tubing, and the like. Mooring member  20  can be made out of any suitable material such as lightweight metal, e.g. aluminum or titanium, but desirably has a specific gravity of less than 1.0. Suitable materials include various types of wood, plastic, fiberglass, composites, and the like with plastic generally being preferred. Plastics include polyvinyl chloride, polyester, polystyrene, nylon, various polyolefins such as polyethylene or polypropylene, and the like with polyvinyl chloride being preferred. 
   Mooring member  20  naturally has an inside diameter which is greater than the outside diameter of dock pipe  10  so mooring member  20  can easily be inserted thereover and freely rotate and/or elevate thereabout. Generally mooring member  20  has a lower flange  23  which contacts dock floor  14  and permits the member to rest thereon. Upper flange  24  is generally located at the upper vertical end portion of the pipe and preferably at the very end thereof. Flanges  23  and  24  can be attached, secured, etc. in any manner, as by screws, bolts, and more desirably is adhered by an adhesive such as styrene, epoxy, or acrylate and the like. The length of mooring member  20  can vary as from about a foot to any desired length such as about 10 or 12 feet with generally from about 2 to about 6 or about 8 feet desired. Naturally, the mooring member can be cut to any desirable length to compensate for a rise in the level of a body of water. 
   An important aspect of the present invention is the utilization of a flotation device  30  attached to mooring member  20  at any desired location. The float is made of a material which is lighter than and preferably substantially lighter than water and can be wood, plastic, foam, composite materials and the like. Float  30  can be rigid, semi-rigid, resilient or semi-resilient, or flexible. If the foam is made from a polymer, it can be closed-cell, or if an open cell structure preferably contains a continuous layer of a skin thereon to prevent water from entering. Suitable flotation devices  30  include various foams of polyurethane, polystyrene and the like. As with the flanges, flotation device  30  can be applied or secured to mooring member  20  in any conventional manner as through the use of flanges located on the top and bottom of the float and secured to the mooring member, but preferably is secured to the mooring member through the use of an adhesive such as styrene, epoxy, or acrylate, and the like. 
   The shape of float  30  is generally not important so long as it has enough buoyancy so that when a rising water level of a lake, etc. contacts the float, it will raise up and cause mooring member  20  to float. While the float  30  is generally cylindrical as shown in  FIG. 1 , it can be in the form of a truncated frustum as shown in  FIG. 3 , wafer shaped, ball-shaped, and the like. 
   Another type of flotation device shown in  FIG. 2  is an inflatable device made out of rubber or some other strong flexible material such as plastic and filled with a fluid, preferably air. 
   Regardless of the size, shape or type of flotation device, it can also generally serve as a bumper guard as to protect the side of a boat from striking a dock and being damaged. 
   The float  30  can generally be located in any position on mooring member  20  but desirably the bottom portion of the mooring member is avoided in order to prevent damage to the float by contact with the dock and also to allow a mooring device e.g., a rope to be attached thereto. Similarly, the float is not located at the top portion of the mooring member so when desired a mooring device can be attached thereto. Desirably, the float is located from about 10% to about 90% and more desirably from about 20% to about 80% of the mooring member height. Naturally the height of the float is generally small in comparison to the height of the dock mooring member  20  and is from about 1 or about 2 inches to about 6, about 8, or about 10 inches or even about one foot. Regardless of where the float is attached or adhered to mooring member  20 , the portion below float  30  is referred to as lower leg  21  whereas the portion above the float is referred to as upper leg  22 . 
   A mooring device such as a rope secures the watercraft to dock mooring member  20  which in turn freely rotates and/or elevates about dock pipe  10 . In use, as the water level rises as in a flood, the water will generally contact float  30  and cause the mooring member to rise. Thus, the mooring device such as a rope will also rise and generally maintain an even relationship with the watercraft and thus does not cause it to tip and/or sink. If the rope is secured to upper leg  22 , upper flange  24  prevents the rope from coming off the upper end of mooring member  20 . Alternatively, if the rope is attached to lower leg  21 , lower flange  23  will prevent the rope from being disengaged from mooring member  20 . In order to gain an additional height advantage, float  30  is desirably located in an intermediate vertical portion of mooring member  20  or can be located near the top portion of a mooring member. The higher location provides an additional safety factor in that the water level must rise the additional distance to the upper float location before the pipe will commence rising up along dock pipe  10 . For example, if flotation device  30  is located three feet above lower flange  23  or the bottom of mooring member  20 , the water level must rise an additional three feet before it contacts flotation device  30  whereupon mooring member  20  commences rising. It should thus be apparent that floatable member article  1  of the present invention can accommodate large rises in the water level of a lake, river, etc. 
   Another embodiment of the invention relates to floatation device  30 , which is not secured to mooring member  20 , but rather freely slides up and down the mooring member. Such a floatation device can simply have an internal diameter which is larger than the external diameter of mooring member  20 , but smaller than the outer diameter of flange  24  as in  FIG. 3 . Alternatively float  30  can be secured to sleeve  40  (see  FIG. 2 ) preferably made out of light-weight material such as a composite or plastic as in the form a cylinder. While the entire outer portion of the sleeve could have the same radius, desirably the upper and lower portions of the sleeve have projections or flanges so that a rope, etc., can be secured thereabout. Since sleeve-floatation device  40  freely rotates and/or elevates about mooring member  20 , it will normally reside on dock floor  14 . However, upon a rising water level, the sleeve-flotation device will rise upwardly on dock pipe  10  until the top portion of the sleeve contacts upper flange  24  at which time mooring member  20  will commence rising. 
   Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 4  which allows an even further rise in the height of dock mooring article  1 . Mooring member  20  can be any of the various arrangements as shown in  FIG. 1 ,  2 , or  3 . An extension pipe  50  generally having a hollow or solid cylindrical shape is inserted or resides inside dock pipe  10  which has an internal opening therein. The extension pipe can be made of the same types of materials as set forth above with respect to dock mooring member  20  such as lightweight metal, but preferably is plastic. The top of extension pipe  50  has flange  52  secured thereto and the same can be in the form of any shape such as a disk or a handle as shown in  FIG. 4 . However, extension pipe  50  is desirably longer than the length of mooring member  20  which resides on dock  12 . That is, the extension pipe in being located within the dock pipe can extend several feet beneath the dock. Thus, as the water level rises and contacts float  30  and causes the same to raise, dock mooring member  20  will contact top flange  52  of the extension pipe and cause the extension pipe to rise. Even though the bottom end of dock mooring member  20  can rise above the top dock pipe  10 , extension pipe  50  can still be located within the dock pipe, thereby maintaining a secure engagement of the watercraft. 
   In view of the above description, it should be apparent that floating dock mooring article  1  of the present invention is very versatile. For example, flotation device  30  can be located in any position along the length of dock mooring member  20  provided that a mooring line can be located either above or below the float. Multiple flotation devices can be utilized although a single float is generally preferred. The length of dock mooring member  20  can be long or short and optionally, can be utilized in association with extension pipe  50  to further extend the vertical range of usefulness of the dock mooring member. Moreover, couplings can be utilized to join one portion of mooring member  20  to another portion and/or to enlarge or reduce the diametrical size thereof.