Flexible guardrail for a sailing vessel

A guardrail system for providing safety to passengers and objects aboard a sailing vessel is constructed to be flexible. A flexible guardrail is provided to prevent passengers, crew, and objects from falling overboard by allowing the guardrail to bend. The flexibility also aids in preventing damage to the ship's surface or deck. The flexible guardrail bends and distribute externally applied forces evenly along the system.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed to a flexible device for providing safety 
to passengers and objects aboard a sailing vessel. More specifically, the 
present invention is directed to a flexible guardrail that provides a 
safety device for potential overboard passengers without having the 
guardrail break or damage the surface of the ship's deck. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
Conventional guardrails on typical sailing vessels have the problem of the 
guardrail breaking or damage being caused to the surface of the ship's 
deck when a passenger or object exerts a large force against the 
guardrails as in a situation where the object is falling overboard. The 
susceptibility to breakage and damage is due to the rigid construction 
found in conventional guardrails. This rigid construction can be readily 
seen in FIGS. 1a and 1b. 
FIG. 1a shows a conventional guardrail for a sailing vessel as seen from a 
side perspective. This conventional guardrail comprises three essential 
elements: a cable 3, a vertical post 2, and a postholder 4. The postholder 
4 is securely attached to the ship's deck 1 by a means of four screws 5. 
The postholder has a vertical projection which forms a cylinder. This 
cylinder is used to receive the post 2, as shown in FIG. 1a, and to 
prevent the post 2 from moving in a horizontal direction. The cylinder 
further has a screw 6 to secure the post in the cylinder. This screw 6 
prevents the post from moving in a vertical direction. Finally, cable 3 is 
fed through the post 2 to form the horizontal rail of the conventional 
guardrail. 
FIG. 1b shows the aerial view of FIG. 1a. The operation of the conventional 
guardrail will be described below. 
The cable is stretched around the periphery of the ship's deck at a tension 
which makes the cable solid and ungiving. The cable is held above the 
floor of the ship's deck by posts 4. These posts ensure that the cable 
remains at a height that is optimal in preventing passengers from falling 
overboard. 
When a pasenger falls against the conventional guardrail, the passenger 
exerts a force outwardly against the guardrail. This force is translated 
to the post and postholder. Depending upon the magnitude of the force, 
either the post will break or the post holder will rip away from the 
ship's deck causing expensive damage. If the magnitude is small, like a 
passenger slipping on a wet deck or a controlled fall, the conventional 
guardrail usually will remain in one piece. 
However, the most common sailing accidents involving a passenger or 
crewperson going overboard is when the boom is rotating around the mast. A 
swinging boom can cause the victim to fall overboard with great force. 
This force is enough to break the posts of the guardrail or to cause the 
guardrail to detach from the ship's deck, thereby resulting in damage to 
the ship. 
Another problem encountered with conventional guardrails is the stiffness 
of the guardrail. This stiffness causes the victim to come to an abrupt 
stop if the guardrail does not break. Such an abrupt stop will usually 
cause internal injuries, as well as external injuries, to the victim. 
Internal injuries out at sea, hundreds of miles away from the nearest 
medical facility, can sometimes be more dangerous than actually falling 
overboard. 
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
An objective of the present invention is to provide a guardrail for a 
sailing vessel which is flexible. 
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a guardrail for a 
sailing vessel which will not break or cause damage to the ship's deck 
when a force is exerted upon it by a falling pasenger or crewperson. 
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a flexible 
guardrail for a sailing vessel which will gradually stop a person from 
falling overboard, thereby preventing the possibility of internal 
injuries. 
According to the present invention, there is provided a guardrail having 
flexible means for allowing the guardrail to flex or move in a horizontal 
direction away from the ship and means for exerting a force on the 
guardrail in a horizontal direction that is opposite of the flexing 
direction. 
According to the present invention, there is further provided a guardrail 
having flexible means for allowing the guardrail to flex or move in a 
horizontal direction away from the ship, means for exerting a force on the 
guardrail in a horizontal direction that is opposite of the flexing 
direction, thereby causing the forces of the falling person to be 
distributed throughout the guardrail. 
An advantage of the present invention is that the flexible guardrail will 
not break and prevent damage to the ship's deck. 
Another advantage of the present invention is that the flexible guardrail 
will facilitate the prevention of internal injuries to the falling 
passenger.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
In the drawings, like reference numerals designate like parts throughout 
the drawing figures. 
FIG. 3a shows a side perspective of a flexible guardrail according to the 
present invention. In FIG. 3a, a postholder 16 is firmly attached to the 
ship's deck 1 with the use of screws 5 as seen FIG. 3(b). The postholder 
16 can also be attached by using bolts, rivets or other devices that will 
provide a strong and secure attachment. As seen in FIG. 3(b), the post 
holder has two vertical projections 24. These vertical projections 24 have 
a hole drilled in them to receive an axial bolt 12. The axial bolt 12 can 
also be a rod, rivet, or other device that will provide both support and 
rotatability. 
The axial bolt 12 holds the post 13 to the postholder 16 while allowing the 
top of the post 13 to move in an arc. The top of the post 13 may move to 
any point along a 90.degree. arc. The post 13 may move to any moving 
beyond the 90.degree. arc by the deck 1 and a stopper 11. The stopper 11 
may be integrally formed with the postholder 16 or attached to the 
postholder 16 by means that will ensure a strong and secure attachment. 
The stopper 11 is positioned inward from the center of the ship with 
respect to the post 13. Lastly, a cable 3 is threaded through the post 13 
to form the railing of the guardrail. 
FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, a 
postholder 14, similar to postholder 4 of FIG. 1, is attached to the deck 
1 via a hinge 15. The hinge 15 is securely fastened to the deck 1 and the 
postholder 14. Also, the axis of rotation of the hinge is positioned 
outward from the center of the sailing vessel with respect to the post 2. 
The postholder further has a securing device 6 which may be a screw or 
bolt to prevent the post 2 from moving in a vertical direction. It is also 
shown in FIG. 4 that the cable 3 is threaded through post 2 to form the 
railing of the guardrails. 
FIGS. 5a, 5b and 5c show a third embodiment of the present invention. In 
FIG. 5a, a postholder 18 is securely fastened to the deck 1 by the use of 
screws 5 as seen in FIG. 5c. The postholder further has a vertical 
projection forming a stopper 17. The stopper 17 is positioned inward to 
the center of the ship with respect to a post 20. FIG. 5b shows the post 
20 used in this preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
The post 20 has a ball 19 formed at its bottom end and has a hole 21 at its 
top end. The post 20 may be constructed of any suitable material such as 
hard wood, metal, a hard plastic or resin. The ball 19 of the post 20 
rests in the cavity 23, as seen in FIG. 5c, formed in the postholder 18. 
The ball can be lubricated to minimize the friction when moving. The 
postholder further has a groove 22, as seen in FIG. 5c, to allow the 
movement of the post 20 away from the center of the boat. Lastly, post 20 
has the cable 3 threaded through it to form the railing of the 
guardrailing. 
OPERATION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
The basic arrangement of the present invention allows flexibility and the 
even distribution of external forces. A more detailed description of the 
concept will be provided for each embodiment for illustrative purposes 
only. 
FIGS. 2a and 2b show the concept of distributing the forces evenly over the 
guardrail. The cable 3 is strung through posts 2 along the outer periphery 
of the sailing vessel. The cable is attached to fixed points 7. These 
points can be the strongest points along the foundation of the vessel. In 
between the fixed points and the first strung post 2 is positioned a 
tension device 8. The tension device 8 could be a strong spring or a 
cinch. This tension device applies a force to the cable as shown by arrow 
9 in FIG. 2a. This force 9 in turn creates a force on the cable to move 
inwardly as shown by arrow 10 in FIG. 2a. Thus, by relying on the natural 
curvature of the ship and applying a force as shown by arrow 9 at fixed 
points at either end of the ship the cable will have a natural tendency to 
move inwardly towards the center of the boat. 
As shown in FIG. 3a, the stopper 11 is provided on the inward side of the 
post 13 with respect to the center of the ship. This stopper 11 neutralize 
the post 13 from swinging inwardly due to the tension of the cable. 
When a person has been struck by the swinging boom and is in the process of 
falling overboard, the person's first reaction will be to grab hold of the 
guardrailing. This action by the victim will exert a force on the cable 3 
in a direction opposite of arrows 10 shown in FIG. 2a. This force will be 
distributed evenly along the cables to the fixed reinforced points 7. This 
action also causes the post closest to the victim to swing outwardly away 
from the ship which in turn causes the adjacent posts to swing outwardly, 
thus distributing the force of impact over the entire cable. The 
flexibility founded in the construction of the present invention allows 
the guardrail to band under pressure but not break. 
Also, by using a spring as a tension device, the guardrail can flex 
outwardly until the point where the spring constant will begin working to 
pull the cable back into place. This gives the guardrail an elastic 
characteristic. 
For example, when utilizing the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 3a and 3b, 
the guardrail will move along the arc path away from the center of the 
ship when a large force is exerted against it. This force will interact 
with the original force being exerted by the tension device 8 to cause the 
guardrail to flex back to the center of the sip or maintain an equilibrium 
position away from the ship. 
At its normal position, the guardrail will be in a perpendicular position 
with respect to the ship's deck because of the interaction of the force of 
the tension device 8 and the stopper means 11. The axial bolt 12 gives the 
vertical posts the flexibility to move in a horizontal direction (the arc 
path). The axial bolt is usually greased to allow greater flexibility. 
In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, the use 
of a hinge device 15 allows the guardrail to be flexible. The concept of 
exerting a force on the cable to pull the vertical posts inward is the 
same as shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b. Cable 3 exerts a force on post 2 in a 
direction toward the center of the ship. The postholder 14 prevents the 
post from moving all the way to the center by meeting the deck of the 
ship, as seen in FIG. 4. When a force is exerted by a falling person on 
the cable in an outward direction, the hinge 15 will cause one end of the 
postholder to detach from the deck of the ship. This detachable end is the 
end located closest to the center of the ship. The postholder will rotate 
on the hinge's axis of rotation located at the postholder's end that is 
furthest from the center of the ship. At the same time, the cable 3 will 
exert a force in the opposite direction causing the guardrail to either 
flex back to the center of the ship or to maintain an equilibrium position 
away from the ship. 
In the third embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 5a, 5b 
and 5c, the ball 19 and cavity 23 interact to give the guardrail 
flexibility. The concept is the same as described above except the ball 
rolls within the cavity as the cable's force and the external outward 
forces interact. The cavity is usually filled with lubricant to provide 
greater mobility of the post 20. 
The overall operation of the preferred embodiments of the present invention 
is to provide a device having a continuing force being exerted towards the 
center of the ship, a stopper to prevent the guardrail from reaching the 
center of the ship, and a device providing flexibility or mobility of the 
guardrail in a direction away from the ship. The present invention has 
designed a guardrail that will bend under great forces. 
While only certain embodiments of the present invention have been 
described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various 
changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the 
spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims 
below: