Abstract:
Described is a boat mooring assembly and method for preventing a boat from being damaged during docking and mooring. The boat mooring assembly can be used to moor a boat while allowing the boat to adjust to rising and falling tides. The latter advantage is of particular benefit when a boat is being moored in bodies of water that experience large tidal changes.

Description:
The present invention relates generally to boat mooring, and more particularly to a floating boat mooring assembly. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Boat mooring assemblies are used by boaters to secure a boat to a dock, piling, etc., to prevent the boat from floating away. To do so, the boat may be moored by ropes, cables, or specially designed fastening devices. The boat mooring assemblies may be designed to allow the boat to move to adjust to changing tides, for example, by leaving slack in the rope attaching the boat to a piling. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     The present disclosure describes a boat mooring assembly and method for securely mooring a boat and preventing the boat from being damaged during docking and mooring. The boat mooring assembly can be used to moor a boat while allowing the boat to adjust to rising and falling tides. The latter advantage is of particular benefit when a boat is being moored in bodies of water that experience large tidal changes. 
     The foregoing and other features of the invention are hereinafter described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an environmental view of an exemplary boat mooring assembly in accordance with the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an exemplary cable; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a bottom bracket in accordance with the invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a top bracket in accordance with the invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a partial top view of the top bracket shown in  FIG. 4 ; and 
         FIG. 6  is perspective view of an exemplary floating roller. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The principles of the present invention have particular application to mooring boats in turbulent waters and areas with large tidal changes. It will of course be appreciated, and also understood, that principles of this invention can be applied to other watercrafts or floatation devices used in waters of varying turbulence and tidal changes. 
     The principles of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Referring now to  FIG. 1 , an environmental view of a boat mooring assembly  10  in accordance with the invention is shown. The boat mooring assembly generally includes top and bottom brackets  18  and  20  that are configured to secure first and second ends of a cable  22  to first and second ends of the piling, respectively. Also included is a floating roller  24  that is configured to be disposed over the cable  22  and interposed between the brackets  18  and  20 . The boat mooring assembly may be coupled to a structure such as a piling  12 , although it will be appreciated that the assembly may be secured to other structures such as docks, buoys, etc. A boat  14  can be secured to the boat mooring assembly by a fastener  16 , such as a rope, although it will be appreciated that other fasteners such as wire, chain, plastic cable, etc. may be used to secure the boat to the assembly. 
     In an exemplary embodiment, at least two boat mooring assemblies may be used, for instance, coupled to pilings that are substantially in parallel with one another, to securely moor both ends of the boat  14  to the at least two pilings. Once the boat  14  has been secured to at least one assembly, the at least one assembly allows the boat to be securely moored, for example on one side of a boat slip to save space, while allowing the boat to move due to turbulent waters and tidal changes. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2-5 , the boat mooring assembly  10  is described in detail. Referring now to  FIG. 2 , the cable  22  is shown, which can be made of any suitable material capable of being used in the water, for example, stainless steel. The cable  22  is shown including first and second ends  26  and  30 , wherein the first end  30  includes an eye  28 , such as a loop, that can be integrally formed at the first end  30  of the cable  22  or alternatively can include an eyelet that can be attached to the first end  26  of the cable  22 . The eye  28  allows the first end  26  of the cable  22  to be formed in a lasso-like shape around the piling  12 , thereby allowing the cable  22  to be positioned around a bottom of the piling. Alternatively, the cable  22  can be wrapped around the piling and fastened to itself using a suitable fastener to position the cable around the bottom of the piling  12 . The cable  22  can be held in position at the bottom of the piling  12  by the bottom bracket  20 , which acts to space the cable  22  from the piling and to cinch the cable to the piling. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the bottom bracket  20  is shown in more detail. The bottom bracket includes an L-bracket member  32  and a tubular member  34  that can be coupled to the L-bracket member  32  by any suitable means, such as by welding at bottom portions of the L-bracket member  32  and the tubular member  34 . A support member  36  can be provided that is configured to be coupled to both the L-bracket member  32  and the tubular member  34  by any suitable means, such as welding, to further secure the tubular member to the L-bracket member. The various members of the bottom bracket  20  can be made of any suitable material capable of being used in the water, for example, stainless steel. 
     To install the bottom bracket  20 , the second end  30  of the cable  22  can be threaded through the tubular member  34  of the bracket  20 , from the bottom of the tubular member to the top. The bracket  20  can then be positioned above the lasso-like first end of the cable  22  and abutting the piling  12  at a corner of the piling via the L-bracket  32  when the lasso-like first end of the cable  22  is in position at the bottom of the piling  12 . In this way, the bottom bracket  20  and cable  22  can be positioned and secured without an installer having to enter the water. 
     Once the bottom bracket  20  has been installed, thereby securing the first end  26  of the cable  22  to the bottom of the piling  12 , the second end  30  of the cable can be securely fastened to the top bracket  18 , which can be installed either before or after the bottom bracket  20  has been installed. The top bracket  18  can be installed on a top portion of the piling  12 , or any other portion of the piling that allows the floating roller  24  to move freely. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the top bracket  18  is shown in detail. The top bracket  18 , which can be made of any suitable material such as stainless steel, can include an attachment member  38  and an adjustment member  40  that are configured to be coupled to the piling  12 . The attachment member  38  includes a vertical member  42  and a horizontal member  46  that are configured to be coupled together, for example at a rearward portion of the horizontal member and at a top portion of the vertical member, to allow the vertical member to abut a side of the piling and the horizontal member to rest on the top of the piling. The vertical member  42  and the horizontal member  46  can coupled together by any suitable means, such as welding, or alternatively, the vertical member and the horizontal member may be integrally formed. 
     To couple the attachment member  38  to the piling  12 , the vertical member  42  includes a fastener hole  44  for receiving a suitable fastening device, such as a screw, bolt, or nail, which can be advanced into the piling  12 . To receive the adjustment member  40 , the horizontal member  46  includes a cavity  48  and has a plurality of holes  50  on both sides of the horizontal member  46  for receiving a pin or other suitable device. Alternatively, the attachment member  38  can be sized to be received in between bars  58  of the adjustment member  40 . 
     Referring now to the adjustment member  40  in more detail, the adjustment member  40  includes a vertical member  52  and a horizontal member  56  that are configured to be coupled together by any suitable means, such as welding, or alternatively may be integrally formed. The vertical member  52  includes a fastener hole  54  for receiving a suitable fastening device, such as a screw, bolt, or nail, which can be advanced into the piling  12  to couple the adjustment member  40  to the piling  12 . 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the horizontal member includes bars  58 , each having a plurality of holes  60  for receiving a pin or other suitable device. The bars  58  can abut the vertical member  52  on each side of the vertical member and be coupled thereto by any suitable means. Although shown as two pieces, it will be appreciated that the horizontal member  56  can be made of one piece, for example similar to the attachment member  38 , and sized to be either larger or smaller than the attachment member  38  to either fit over the attachment member  38  or slide inside the cavity  48  of the attachment member  38 . 
     Also included on the adjustment member  40 , on an outer end of the horizontal member  58 , is a ratchet device  62  that is configured to receive the second end  30  of the cable  22  and secure the cable to the top bracket  18 . The ratchet device is also configured to tighten the cable  22  until the cable has reached a desired tension, at which time a pin  64  can be moved to position across teeth  66 , thereby preventing the ratchet from releasing. Should the cable  22  need tensioned further, the ratchet  62  and pin  64  can be adjusted accordingly. The ratchet device  62  can be any suitable ratchet device to allow the cable  22  to be easily tightened, thereby minimizing give in the cable  22 . Alternatively, the ratchet device  56  can be replaced by any other suitable means for securing the cable to the bracket, for example, by winding the cable  22  around a spindle and securing the second end  30  of the cable  22  using a suitable fastener. 
     To install the top bracket  18 , the attachment member  38  is abutted against a back side of the piling  12 , opposite a front side of the piling that faces the boat  14 . The attachment member  38  is coupled to the piling  12  by advancing a fastening device through the fastener hole  44  in the vertical member  42  of the attachment member  38  and then advancing the fastening device into the piling  12 . The adjustment member  40  is then secured to the attachment member  38  by inserting the horizontal member  56  of the adjustment member  40  into the cavity  48  in the horizontal member  46  of the attachment member  38 . 
     The adjustment member  40  can then be coupled to the attachment member  38  by inserting at least one fastener, for example a pin, through holes  50  and  60 , which are configured to be lined up when the adjustment member  40  is inserted into the attachment member  38 . The holes  50  and  60  allow the bracket  18  to be used with pilings of varying sizes by allowing the adjustment member  40  to be adjusted based on the thickness of the piling  12 . The adjustment member  40  may then be attached to the front side of the piling  12  by advancing a fastening device through the fastener hole  54  in the vertical member  52  of the adjustment member  40  and then advancing the fastening device into the piling  12 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6 , the floating roller  24  is shown in more detail. The roller  24  includes a through hole  64  configured to receive the cable  22 , and can be made of any suitable material, such as plastic, to allow the roller  24  to float while also protecting the roller from water damage. In an exemplary embodiment, the roller  24  can be a plastic pipe, for example, a PVC pipe. For added buoyancy, the roller  24  can be lined with a waterproof foam or other suitable material. Alternatively, if the roller it too buoyant, weight can be added to the roller to reach a desired buoyancy. 
     Once the top and bottom brackets  18  and  20  have been installed, or alternatively prior to the top bracket being installed, the cable  22  can be threaded through the roller  24 , and then the second end  30  of the cable  22  can be secured to the top bracket  18 . The second end  30  of the cable  22  can be secured to the top bracket by feeding the second end  30  through the ratchet device  62  and ratcheting the device  62  until the cable is at a desired tension. 
     Upon installation of the mooring assembly  10 , the roller  24  will be interposed between the brackets  18  and  20  and be disposed over the cable  22 , thereby allowing the roller  24  to adjust its position based on the changes in tide level, turbulence of the water, etc. To moor the boat  14  to the mooring assembly  10 , the fastener  16  can be looped around the roller  24  and tied down to the boat  14 . As will now be appreciated, the foregoing construction allows the boat  14  to be securely moored in a manner that allows the boat to adjust to the changes in tide level, turbulence of the water, etc., while also allowing the boat to be moored in a manner that saves space in a boat slip, for example by being secured to one side of the boat slip. Still further, the foregoing construction allows the roller  24  to act as a bumper for the boat  14  when the boat moves due to wave action, weather conditions such as wind, etc., thereby preventing the boat  14  from slamming into the piling, dock, etc. 
     Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to a certain embodiment or embodiments, it is obvious that equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described elements (components, assemblies, devices, compositions, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such elements are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any element which performs the specified function of the described element (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary embodiment or embodiments of the invention. In addition, while a particular feature of the invention may have been described above with respect to only one or more of several illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other embodiments, as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.