Platform bracket

An improved platform bracket utilizes a two-piece construction that provides secure attachment of a swim board to a boat transom, while permitting quick and easy removal of the swim board from the boat when desired. One piece of the platform bracket is a wall portion that bolts directly to the boat transom with through-bolts. This wall portion includes a transom plate for attachment to the transom, and a hollow jacket or receiver member secured to the plate with the longitudinal axis of the receiver parallel to the plane of the transom plate, so that the receiver is oriented generally vertically when the transom plate is bolted to the transom. The other piece of the platform bracket is a separate shelf portion, which screws directly to the swim board itself. The shelf portion includes a support plate for attachment to the swim board; a longitudinal shaft or post, which is mounted to the support plate at an angle so that the plane of the swim board will be parallel to the water's surface; and, if necessary, a brace member triangulating the two. The post of the shelf portion is sized to fit within the hollow receiver of the wall portion, with a channel cut-out of the receiver to accomodate the post's brace member, if any. A cotter pin or other locking mechanism fits through a hole in the hollow receiver and solid post to lock the two in place, thereby securing the swim board to the boat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates generally to hardware and support apparatus, and 
more specifically to an improved bracket device for supporting a platform. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Many small boats are equipped with a wooden or plastic platform or swim 
board, typically bolted to the boat's transom, to assist swimmers and 
skiers into and out of the boat. Because of the significant stresses that 
can be applied to such a swim board due to passenger loading and 
unloading, as well as due to the contact with the water when the boat is 
underway, it is imperative that the swim board be securely fastened to the 
boat. Accordingly, many swim boards are simply (and essentially 
permanently) bolted to the transom. However, such attachment makes it 
difficult to remove the swim board from the boat when desired. Other 
existing brackets incorporate some form of release device to simplify the 
removal of the swim board from the boat, but these release devices 
regularly jam or break due to the applied stresses. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The improved platform bracket of this invention utilizes a two-piece 
construction that provides secure attachment of a swim board to a boat 
transom, while permitting quick and easy removal of the swim board from 
the boat when desired. One piece of the platform bracket is a wall portion 
that bolts directly to the boat transom with through-bolts. This wall 
portion includes a transom plate for attachment to the transom, and a 
hollow jacket or receiver member secured to the plate with the 
longitudinal axis of the receiver parallel to the plane of the transom 
plate, so that the receiver is oriented generally vertically when the 
transom plate is bolted to the transom. The other piece of the platform 
bracket is a separate shelf portion, which screws directly to the swim 
board itself. The shelf portion includes a support plate for attachment to 
the swim board; a longitudinal shaft or post, which is mounted to the 
support plate at an angle so that the plane of the swim board will be 
parallel to the water's surface; and, if necessary, a brace member 
triangulating the two. The post of the shelf portion is sized to fit 
within the hollow receiver of the wall portion, with a channel cut-out of 
the receiver to accomodate the post's brace member, if any. A cotter pin 
or other locking mechanism fits through a hole in the hollow receiver and 
solid post to lock the two in place, thereby securing the swim board to 
the boat. Thus, the swim board can be easily removed from the boat after 
installation by simply removing the cotter pin and lifting the swim board 
from the fixed transom. 
This improved bracket can be modified, if necessary, to fit practically any 
size and type of boat. For example, it is of course desirable to mount the 
swim board parallel to the water's surface. Because of the variation in 
the angle of different boat's transoms, it may be necessary to adjust the 
angle between the support plate and post so that the support plate, and 
thus the swim board, is parallel to the water. It has been found that an 
angle of between 80 and 140 degrees (relative to the transom) may be 
necessary for particular applications. Furthermore, this platform bracket 
can be used with non-planar (e.g., curved) transoms, by appropriate 
repositioning of the receiver's channel cut-out. 
This improved bracket is suitable not only as original equipment on a boat, 
but as an aftermarket item to add a swim board to a boat, or replace 
existing brackets on a boat already equipped with a swim board. In 
replacement applications, it is suggested that the bolt holes in the 
transom plate be made in the existing size and spacing of the previous 
bracket, and that the same through-bolts be used there. However, the screw 
holes in the support plate should preferably not be in the existing 
positions, so that new screw holes can be placed into the wood or plastic 
of the swim board.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIG. 1 illustrates a partially cutaway perspective view of a typical 
application of the platform bracket of this invention. In FIG. 1, a swim 
board 2 is attached to a transom 4 of a boat 6 by means of a series of 
three platform brackets 10. As can be appreciated from this illustration, 
it is important that the swim board be securely attached to the boat, and 
further that the swim board should be mounted so that its plane is 
parallel to the surface of the water W. 
Referring now to FIG. 2 with greater particularity, an exploded perspective 
view of a single platform bracket 10 is shown. Platform bracket 10 
comprises essentially two parts: a wall portion 20 and a shelf portion 30. 
Wall portion 20 includes a transom plate 22, which is through-bolted to 
the boat transom through bolt holes 23, 24. Mounted to the outside surface 
of transom plate 22 is a hollow jacket or receiver 26. Receiver 26 is 
preferably tubular in shape, but can of course be of other shapes. In the 
typical construction of the platform bracket, stainless steel or similar 
material is used, so these various components can be TIG (tungsten inert 
gas) welded together. The receiver 26 is oriented on the transom plate 22 
so that when the transom plate is mounted to the boat, receiver 26 is 
generally vertical. Receiver 26 includes a channel cut-out portion 28 to 
accomodate the brace member of the shelf portion, as described infra. 
Shelf portion 30 includes a horizontal support plate 32, which attaches 
directly to a swim board with screws through screw holes 33. A 
longitudinal shaft or post 34 is secured generally perpendicular to the 
plane of support plate 32. Post 34 is preferably cylindrical in shape, but 
should of course be of whatever shape necessary to fit within receiver 26 
of the wall portion. The angle A between support plate 32 and post 34 can 
be adjusted at manufacture to accomodate various angles of boat transoms, 
as needed, so that the installed swim board is parallel to the water's 
surface. A brace member 36, which can be flat bar or other common 
material, is fastened between support plate 32 and post 34, and serves to 
triangulate the structure and provide increased strength to the shelf 
portion 30. 
Once wall portion 20 has been bolted to the transom, and shelf portion 30 
has been screwed to the swim board, the two components are joined by 
aligning the post 34 over the receiver 26, and sliding the post into the 
receiver, so that the channel cut-out 28 of the receiver engages the brace 
36 of the shelf portion. The post can be slid down into the receiver until 
the top of the receiver contacts the base of the support plate 32. A 
hairpin cotter 40, or other locking mechanism, can then be inserted 
through the holes 29 and 39, drilled through receiver 26 and post 34, 
respectively, to lock the two parts in place, thereby securing the swim 
board to the boat. 
Removal of the swim board from the boat is simply the reverse of the 
mounting process: pin 40 is removed, and shelf portion 30 is lifted off of 
and away from wall portion 20, leaving the boat transom relatively free 
from protuberances. 
While this invention has been described in connection with preferred 
embodiments thereof, it is obvious that modifications and changes therein 
may be made by those skilled in the art to which it pertains without 
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the 
design of this improved platform bracket can be easily modified in size 
and shape to accomodate virtually any application where secure attachment 
and easy removal of a shelf, platform or other structure is needed. 
Accordingly, the scope of this invention is to be limited only by the 
appended claims.