Abstract:
A hydraulic boat lift uses two hydraulic cylinders to pull/release cables attached to a boat cradle. The hydraulic cylinders are operated by attachment to a tandem pump to cause them to operate in a synchronized fashion. Furthermore a switch assembly has a switch associated with each respective hydraulic cylinder, the pair of switches being wired in parallel so that if one side of the boat cradle reaches its fully raised position before the other side, the one side will stop and the other side will continue to move up until it is also disposed in a fully raised position before stopping by turning off the electricity to the tandem pump.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    This invention relates generally to boat hoists and more particularly to a boat hoist for use on piling posts secured to the bottom of the body of water and/or boat houses built on such pilings. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Hydraulically actuated boat hoists are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,823,809 to Hey, 6,976,442 to Hey 7,246,970 to Hey, 7,413,378 to Way and 8,267,621 to Way, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
         [0003]    Southern U.S. States and coastal regions commonly use one of these three methods to store/moor boats: (1) Moor the boat to a fixed or floating pier using ropes. In this case, the boat remains in the water, (2) lift the boat using a platform or sling type lift mounted to a set of pilings or roof structure mounted on pilings, or (3) lift the boat using a floating lift system. The most common method used depends on the region and regulations governing the body of water. Many reservoirs do not allow private ownership of waterfront property. In these lakes, there tends to be large marinas or “dockominum” structures. In these structures in-water mooring is the most common. A small percentage of the boats are lifted using a floating lift. Floating lifts are usually the only type allowed on a large dock structure. Marina managers discourage any structure being fixed to these floating systems. 
         [0004]    Many lakes and waterways allow private waterfront ownership. In these cases, a permanent, fixed pier can be installed. Often a permanent roof structure is built over the slip intended for the boat commonly called a “boat house”. When these structures are present, a large percentage will have a mounted lift system. Some permanent docks do not have a roof structure. A lift is usually mounted on the top of large pilings when no roof is present. 
         [0005]    Pile and roof mounted lift systems have been around for decades. The lift designs are basically the same. Galvanized poles are mounted in bearings hanging from a beam in the roof or a beam mounted along the pilings. A “plate-gear” motor is connected to the end of the pole that causes the entire pole to turn. Cables are attached to the pole and wind as the pole turns. In lower capacity, roof-mount applications, one pole can be used, but in pile mount applications and higher capacity roof-mounts, two poles and motors are used. 
         [0006]    Some differentiation exists in the pole winding products. Some have improved on the motor and controls to included wireless operation. Some have added machined cable grooves to improve cable winding. There is even one company that uses a “level cable” technique to make a single motor/pole piling application. They also have some variation on the platform, bunks, and load guide features. Low-cost kits use a sling instead of a platform. 
         [0007]    Pole-winders have many weaknesses that present opportunities. Cable fatigue, motor synchronization, slow speed, poor corrosion resistance, and power supply issues are a short list of issues with current products. Cable fatigue is in a guaranteed failure mode if cables are not replaced every 2-3 years, depending on frequency of use. All of the designs on the market use wire rope. The galvanized poles used in these designs cause rapid fatigue of the cables because of the small winding diameter. Compounding the issue is the large lift height requirement for most installations. It is common to lift the boat 6-10′ to accommodate the fluctuating water heights. This requires many winds on the pole and in most cases, the cable winds over itself. This not only fatigues the cable, but also damages the individual wires with the wire rope. 
         [0008]    Cable failure modes are severe and cause the boat to fall in one direction endangering people and equipment. The most common approach to avoiding this failure is to replace cables often. 
         [0009]    Motor synchronization is also an issue in multi-pole/motor setups. Piling mount systems have at least two motors because there is no overhead structure to route cables to a single pipe. The speed of the motors will vary causing one to lift faster or slower than the other. Most systems require the user to use a switch to momentarily shut off one of the motors to allow the slower motor(s) to catch up. This requires constant user attention when lifting or towering the boat. Compounding this issue is the slow speed of the pole winding systems. Some lifts can take over 6 minutes to lift the boat to the needed elevation above the water. 
         [0010]    The galvanized construction of the pole winding systems is adequate for most environments, but they eventually rust as the wound areas of the poles lose their zinc coating. The bearing locations are generally welded components. Aluminum or other naturally corrosion resistant materials are avoided because of the high stresses in these areas. Cable materials are often galvanized also due to the high replacement rate. The cable will be replaced due to fatigue before corrosion becomes an issue. 
         [0011]    Pole-winding systems are predominately A/C power systems. Piling mount systems require a long supply from the dock to the opposite motor. This can often be a 40-50′ length of cord to run down from the dock, tinder the water, and back up to the opposite motor. This length is too long for a DC (12-24V) power supply to run without extremely heavy wire. The length of the circuit from the supplying A/C panel to the motors is also very long. This often creates a large voltage drop along the circuit. The voltage drop can cause the system to malfunction and reduce the life of the motor(s) in the system. Often new installations require new circuits to be installed with heavier cable. 
         [0012]    A/C power can be dangerous system in wet environments. GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupts) are and absolute requirement on docks. Many lives have been lost due to damaged A/C circuits causing stray A/C currents in lakes and waterfronts with inadequate circuit protection. Pole winding systems are commonly used primarily because they can be easily installed in most existing structures with little modification and they are inexpensive when compared to floating or free-standing lift designs. 
         [0013]    The vast majority of floating lift systems are called “Air Displacement” systems. Air displacement systems raise and lower a lift structure using floats. The floats are filled with air that is evacuated to allow the structure to sink. The floats are then filled using vacuum pumps to raise the structure with the boat on it. 
         [0014]    Floating systems such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,823,809 to Hey have a few advantages over free standing and mounted lift structures. They can be used in very deep water where pile mounted systems are not an option. They can also be used in dockominium structures where a very limited structural connection is available. 
         [0015]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,823,809 to Hey shows a boat lift that mechanically lifts the boat using a unique linkage to lift the boat without requiring air evacuation. This hydraulic system is innovative, but expensive. The system also places critical hydraulic components at the waterline. This jeopardizes the durability of the system. Those boat hoists do not require any structural connection to the pier and can be moored similarly to the boat. 
         [0016]    But air displacement lifts require a mounted structure on the dock. As air is evacuated from the floats gravity will cause the structured to sink to the lakebed unless a structure is in place to limit the travel. This lift style does not work well in shallow areas because of the size of the floating structure. 
         [0017]    Lift capacity of floating lift systems is determined by the amount of flotation. The float structure is also designed to allow the structure to lift the boat sufficiently above the water. As the lift capacity increases, the number of air chambers increases. Larger structures require the user to evacuate the chambers at different rates to ensure a balanced movement. Users often complain about this requirement and the difficulty controlling it. 
         [0018]    U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,976,442 to Hey and 7,246,970 to Hey show boat lifts that use a cantilever method to lift the platform. The lift will be in the elevated position most of the time, so that in these systems, the rod surface spends most of its life exposed to the harsh marine environment. This can cause corrosion and pitting of the rod surface which will cause leaking of the hydraulic seals. 
         [0019]    Accordingly, there is a need for a boat lift for pilings and boat houses that will overcome the aforementioned problems. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0020]    The present invention relates to a hydraulic lift system is a roof or pile-mounted lift system. The unique design uses a pair of hydraulic cylinders to pull a system of lift cables. The cable system is strung through a tube with large diameter sheaves. This design totally eliminates the cable fatigue caused by winding cables. 
         [0021]    The hydraulic lift of the present invention is very fast 6-8 times faster than the equivalent pole winding system. The heart of the system is a tandem hydraulic power unit that creates an equal volume flow into both lift cylinders. This equal volume ensures level lifting no matter how the load is balanced on the tilt platform. 
         [0022]    One aspect of the hydraulic system of the present invention eliminates the need to run A/C power under water to other motors. The pressure from the hydraulic power unit can be delivered to multiple cylinders through hoses that can be run under water or overhead if a roof structure exists. This allows DC power to be used and eliminates the burden on the A/C supply circuit. Using a volume-leveling hydraulic system eliminates the user intervention required by multi-motor systems. Any out of synchronization that occurs is automatically corrected at the end of the lifting process with a unique pair of switches wired in parallel. This makes everyday operation fast and user friendly. 
         [0023]    The retracting motion of the hydraulic cylinder causes the lift to rise. Boats spend the majority of the time lifted in a stored position. The lift cylinders will be retracted most of the time, protecting the rod surface from the elements. This is unique compared to other hydraulic lift systems that extend the cylinder to cantilever a lift platform. In these systems, the rod surface spends most of its life exposed to the harsh marine environment. This can cause corrosion and pitting of the rod surface with will cause leaking of the hydraulic seals, but the preferred embodiment of the present invention is immune to this type of corrosion because of the lifting principle used with the hydraulic cylinders being retracted in the raised position of the lift. 
         [0024]    The hydraulic system is designed to allow fluid ‘bypass’ when a lift cylinder reaches the end of its stroke. This allows the lift cylinders to automatically ‘level up’. If one cylinder fully retracts before the other, the hydraulic power unit can continue to retract the other cylinder. This auto-level function eliminates the need for a user to manually level the lift using switches to control individual motors. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0025]    The above mentioned advantages are at least partially met through provision of the method and apparatus described in the following detailed description, particularly when studied in conjunction with the drawings, wherein: 
           [0026]      FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a hydraulic boat hoist constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention installed in a boat house with the boat hoist shown in a raised, boat storage, position; 
           [0027]      FIG. 2  is a side devotional view of the boat hoist of  FIG. 1 , but with the boat hoist in a lowered position for permitting a boat to be driven off of the hoist or loaded onto the hoist; 
           [0028]      FIG. 3  is a side elevational view like  FIG. 2 , but showing the boat hoist being raised to the boat storage position shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0029]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the boat hoist of  FIGS. 1-3  but not showing a boat house or pier system to which it would be attached to be operational; 
           [0030]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged view of a top front end of the preferred embodiment of the hoist with parts broken away from the circled part labeled “FIG.  5 ” in  FIG. 4  to shown an idler pulley and normally biased closed switch; 
           [0031]      FIG. 5A  is a view like  FIG. 5 , but showing the normally biased closed switch being opened when a button on a cable pivots a lever on the switch upwardly to open the switch; 
           [0032]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged perspective view of the top right portion of the hoist embodiment shown in  FIG. 4  looking from the side of the hoist where the remote control is shown in  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0033]      FIG. 7  is a top view of the right end of the hydraulic lift tube assembly as shown in  FIG. 6 , with portions thereof broken away to show moving parts therein; 
           [0034]      FIG. 8  is a view taken along lines  8 - 8  of  FIG. 7  with portions of the hydraulic lift tube assembly being broken away to show the moving parts inside thereof; 
           [0035]      FIG. 9  is a two part view taken along lines  9 - 9  of  FIG. 7 ; 
           [0036]      FIG. 10  is a front perspective view of a hydraulic boat hoist showing the right side of the boat lifting platform being slightly higher than the left side thereof and the button on the right front side cable hitting the closed switch on the right side to open that switch while the button on the left side cable has not yet gone up far enough to open the left side switch, which it will automatically do and that action will turn the power off to the tandem pump motor; 
           [0037]      FIG. 11  is a schematic view of a tandem pump arrangement in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0038]      FIG. 12  is a top view in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention shown attached to a pilings instead of in a boat house; 
           [0039]      FIG. 13  is a side view of the embodiment of  FIG. 12  showing the boat cradle in a raised position for storing a boat above the water level; 
           [0040]      FIG. 14  is a perspective view of the embodiment of  FIGS. 11 and 12  shown attached to four spaced apart piers adjacent to a dock; 
           [0041]      FIG. 15  is a view of what is inside of one of the top hydraulic lift tube assemblies, namely a hydraulic cylinder for moving a pulley block back and forth to cause cables trained over idler pulleys to pull cables up or allow them to be lowered; 
           [0042]      FIG. 16  is an enlarged view of the idler pulley assembly within the circle labeled “See FIG.  16 ” of  FIG. 15 ; 
           [0043]      FIG. 17  is an enlarged view of the pulley block assembly within the circle labeled “See FIG.  17 ” of  FIG. 15 ; and 
           [0044]      FIG. 18  is an enlarged view of the idler pulley assembly and switch assembly within the circle labeled “See FIG.  18 ” of  FIG. 15 . 
       
    
    
       [0045]    Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0046]    Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or similar parts throughout the several views,  FIGS. 1-11  and  FIGS. 15-18  show a hydraulic boat hoist  10  constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention for connection to a boat house shown in dashed lines.  FIGS. 12 and 13  show the preferred embodiment attached to piers instead of to a boat house. 
         [0047]    The boat lift ( 1 ) shown in  FIGS. 1-4  is shown specifically installed in a boat house shown in dashed lines in  FIGS. 1-3 . The hydraulic boat lift ( 1 ) has a pair of lift tubes ( 10 ) and ( 11 ) which will be referred to herein first and second elongated members ( 10 ) and ( 11 ). These elongated members ( 10 ) and ( 11 ) are attached to structures within the boat house but can also be attached directly to piers for example in the manner shown in  FIGS. 12 and 13 . 
         [0048]    A boat lifting platform ( 12 ), shown in  FIG. 1  for example, has a front portion with a right front portion ( 12   rf ) and a front left portion ( 12   fl ), a rear right portion ( 12   rr ) and a rear left portion ( 12   rl ). The boat lifting platform ( 12 ) has a lowered position below a water line as shown in  FIG. 2  and a raised position above the water line as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3 . 
         [0049]    Flexible lines or cables ( 16 ), ( 18 ), ( 20 ) and ( 22 ) extend from the platform ( 12 ) upwardly to mechanisms within the elongated lift tubes/elongated members ( 10 ) and ( 11 ), the mechanisms being shown in detail in  FIG. 15 . The  FIG. 15  embodiment is showing the elongated member ( 11 ) but is to be understood that everything within the elongated member ( 10 ) is identical to that shown in the elongated member  11  of  FIG. 15  as well. 
         [0050]    A hydraulic cylinder ( 14   c ) is attached at one end to the elongated member ( 11 ) by a pin ( 11   p ) that extends through the tube ( 11 ), through openings in flanges ( 14   f ) of hydraulic cylinder ( 14   c ) and through an idler pulley ( 36 ). 
         [0051]    The rod ( 14   r ) of the hydraulic cylinder ( 14   c ) has a pulley block ( 34 ) attached thereto and flexible lines or cables ( 20 ) and ( 22 ) are trained around respective idler pulleys ( 34 ), ( 35 ) and ( 36 ) as shown in  FIGS. 15-18  as well as in  FIGS. 7-9 . The cable of flexible line ( 22 ) is attached to a pin ( 22   p ) that extends through the elongated member ( 11 ) as can best be seen in  FIG. 7 . The flexible line ( 22 ) then extends over and through a groove in idler pulley ( 34 ) before extending back over idler pulley ( 35 ) as shown in  FIGS. 8 and 15  for example. Another flexible line or cable ( 20 ) is attached to the elongated member ( 11 ) at pin ( 20   p ) shown in  FIGS. 9 and 15 , the pin ( 20   p ) extending through the elongated member ( 11 ). The flexible line ( 20 ) is also trained over pull block idler ( 34 ), around idler ( 35 ) and then over and downward over idler ( 36 ) as shown in  FIGS. 9 ,  15  and  18  for example. 
         [0052]    It will be appreciated by referring to  FIG. 15 , for example, that as the pulley block ( 34 ) moves to the left, the flexible lines ( 20 ) and ( 22 ) will be lengthened as well to thereby lower the boat lift platform ( 12 ) shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  4  and  14  for example and when the hydraulic cylinder ( 14   c ) is shortened, the pulley block ( 34 ) will move to the right as shown in  FIG. 15  to shorten the flexible lines ( 20 ) and ( 22 ) to eventually pull the boat cradle platform ( 12 ) up to the position shown in  FIGS. 3 and 13  for example. Additionally, it is important to note that in this stored position, the rod ( 14   r ) will be almost completely retracted inside of the cylinder ( 14   c ). This is important because that retracted position is the position in which the hydraulic cylinder remains for most of its life because the raised position is when the boat is being stored above the water and the boat will be stored the majority of the time. In most situations the boat itself is being operated on the water a much smaller portion of the time than it is being stored above the water using a boat lift. 
         [0053]    Referring again to  FIGS. 1-4 , attention is directed to a hydraulic control unit ( 30 ) mounted on elongated member ( 11 ) and having a pair of batteries ( 45 ) for powering the unit ( 40 ). This unit ( 40 ) is shown generally in  FIG. 11 . The schematic of  FIG. 11  includes tandem pumps ( 201 ) turned by a motor (M). This tandem pump arrangement shown in  FIG. 11  is similar to the system shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,371,055 to Ohashi, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This Ohashi device is but one example of a tandem pump of the type used in this invention which drives two hydraulic motors, each of which pumps in the case of Ohashi drives a wheel whereas in the present invention the tandem pumps ( 201 ) are driving two hydraulic cylinders ( 14 ) as shown in  FIGS. 11 and 15 . 
         [0054]    The hydraulic lines ( 43 ) and ( 44 ) shown in  FIG. 4 , for example, are merely to operate the lift cylinder ( 14 ) that is inside the lift tube elongated member ( 10 ) on the opposite side of the control device ( 14 ) shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0055]    In operation, the hydraulic boat lift would be in the lowered position shown in  FIG. 2  so that a boat like that shown in dashed lines in  FIG. 2  could be positioned over the top of the boat cradle ( 12 ). Once that occurs, then a remote control ( 32 ) can be utilized to actuate the tandem pump motor (M) shown in  FIG. 11  to shorten the cylinders ( 14 ) by use of the tandem pumps ( 201 ) which pump pressurized hydraulic fluid into what would be the left side of a piston ( 14   p ) within the cylinder ( 14   c ) as viewed from  FIG. 15  while evacuating the hydraulic fluid in the right side of the piston ( 14   p ). Of course rather than having a double acting hydraulic cylinder ( 14 ) a single acting one could be used instead using the weight of the cradle ( 12 ) to cause the pulley block ( 34 ) to move to the right when fluid is evacuated from the chamber ( 14   c ) to the left of the piston ( 14   p ) when viewed in  FIG. 15 . 
         [0056]    As the boat cradle ( 12 ) is raised by shortening the hydraulic cylinder ( 14 ), a button ( 20   b ) will move upwardly towards a normally closed switch ( 50 ) as shown in  FIGS. 5 ,  5   a  and  18 . This normally closed switch ( 50 ) which are shown as sw1 and sw2 in  FIG. 11  and which also have the reference numerals ( 50 ) and ( 51 ) thereon permit the pump motor (M) to continue to turn the tandem pumps ( 201 ) for shortening the cylinders ( 14 ). Once a button ( 20   b ) on rope ( 20 ) pivots a lever ( 52 ) from the position shown in  FIGS. 5 and 18  to the position shown in  FIG. 5   a , the switch ( 50 ), which is identical to the switch ( 51 ) sw2 in  FIG. 11  as well, will cause the switch ( 50 ) to be open and cut off the flow of electricity therethrough. The controller will turn on the motor in the up direction if the limit switch circuit is closed. The switches have to be moved from the  FIG. 5  to the  FIG. 5   a  position for the circuit to be open, thereby shutting off the motor (M) because these two switches sw1 ( 50 ) and sw2 ( 51 ) are wired in parallel and are normally closed because of the spring ( 53 ) which biases the lever ( 52 ) to the  FIGS. 5 and 18  position. Once both of the buttons ( 20   b ) and ( 16   b ) shown in  FIG. 4  have moved from the  FIG. 5  to the  FIG. 5   a  position, then the pump motor (M) will be off and the boat in its storage or lifted position shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  3  and  13  for example. 
         [0057]      FIG. 10  shows the situation where the button ( 20   b ) hits the lever ( 52 ) before the button ( 16   b ) hits the lever on the other side of the lift. In this case, the pump would still be on until the button ( 16   b ) moves to the  FIG. 5   a  position. Of course the opposite could occur where the button ( 16   b ) hits the lever ( 52 ) and moves it to the  FIG. 5   a  position before the button ( 20   b ) moves to the  FIG. 5   a  position. This wiring and switching arrangement does help to synchronize and keep the cradle ( 12 ) as level as possible. 
         [0058]    Those skilled the art will recognize that a wide variety of modifications, alterations, and combinations can be made with respect to the above described embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, and combinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventive concept as expressed by the attached claims.