A portable, universal, hand rail apparatus that can be easily and quickly attached or detached to any dock that has cracks between adjacent dock boards.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates generally to a hand rail for use on boat docks and more particularly to a universal one that can be easily attached and detached to any dock that has cracks between adjacent dock boards. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Many boat docks do not have hand rails for providing stability for a person getting onto or off from a boat tied up at a dock. Part of the problem of installing hand rails is that the best place for them to be can change depending upon the size of the boat or where the boat is with respect to the dock at the time that a person wants to get on or off of the boat. 
     Often people go on fishing trips for days or weeks in places far from home. These people usually do not know the dock configuration before they arrive at their destination. So if they want to use a hand rail for getting between a boat and the dock, it is not a reasonable option to ask the dock owner to install a permanent one. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for a way to provide portable dock rails that can be used almost anywhere and which will not damage the dock itself during installation, use or removal. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above needs 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: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a boat tied to a boat dock and having portable rails of the present invention attached to the boat dock to allow a person to hold on to the rails while moving between the boat and the dock; 
         FIG. 2  is another perspective view of a person, shown in dashed lines, stepping from a boat to a dock between two of the rails of the present invention attached to the dock; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of one of the portable rails of the present invention shown separated from a dock an flanges turned to the pivotal position they would be in when attached to a boat dock; 
         FIG. 4  is a side elevational view of the portable rail of  FIG. 3  with the flanges turned to a position they would be in during installation wherein the flanges could pass through cracks between dock boards; 
         FIG. 5  is an end elevational view of the portable rail of  FIG. 3  with the flanges turned to a position they would be in when attached to a dock; 
         FIG. 6  is an enlarged perspective view of the portable rail shown during installation to a dock when the flanges are turned to the  FIG. 4  position and moved from above the dock boards to a position below the dock boards, the directional arrows showing how the flanges can be turned 90 degrees from the position shown to the  FIG. 3  in a later step to connect the portable rail to the dock; 
         FIG. 7  is an enlarged perspective view from the top showing over center cams which can be threadably adjusted to accommodate dock boards of different thicknesses and yet quickly attached or disconnected when desired; and 
         FIG. 8  is an enlarged view of one of the cam members, showing how the preferred embodiment works in combination with a flange member having a threaded member on it that threads into the axle pin of the over center lever of the cam member. 
     
    
    
     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 
     Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate identical or similar parts throughout the several views,  FIGS. 1 and 2  show the portable hand rails  10  shown attached to a dock  11  that has a boat  12  tied thereto. 
     Each of the hand rails  10  have a plate  13  with a U-shaped rail  20  attached thereto, such as by welding for example. 
     The plate  13  has a pair of flanges  14  and  15  welded to the underside thereof that are aligned along a vertical plan so that they can slide between dock boards on a typical boat dock. Of course they could be attached in other ways. The plate  13  has a pair of apertures  13   a  disposed there through as can be seen best in  FIG. 8 . 
     Threaded members  17  extend through the apertures  13   a,  through washer  20 , and is threaded into a threaded opening  18   t  in pin  18  while pin  18  is disposed in the openings  19   a  of cam  19 . The bottom of each threaded member  17  has a moveable flange  16  on it. Directional indicator knobs  22  are optionally threadably attached to the top of threaded members  17  for reasons which will be discussed below. 
     Looking to  FIGS. 7 and 8 , a jam nut  22   a  is threaded onto each threaded member  17  followed by threading the directional knob  22  onto the shaft  17 . The purpose of the directional indicator knobs  22  is to be able to tell the position of flange  16  even when it is out of sight under the dock  11 . So before installation, each directional indicator knob  22  is threaded onto the threaded shaft  17  so it is in alignment with the flange  16 . After that, the jam nut  22   a  is screwed in a direction to go upwardly into abutment with the directional indicator knob  22  to hold it firmly in the position selected. Essentially a plane extending through the moveable flange  16  will extend through the widest part of the directional indicator knob  22  that is shown. If a symmetrical knob was to be used instead of the directional indicator knob  22 , then a line or other indicia could be placed on such round knob to be aligned with the flange  16  to indicate to the user the position of the moveable flange  16  when it is out of sight under dock boards. 
     Looking to  FIGS. 3-8 , to use the portable hand rails  10  the moveable flanges  16  would be aligned with the fixed flanges  14  and  15  so that the these flanges  14 - 16  can be pushed down between adjacent boards  11   a  and  11   b  of dock  11  as shown in  FIG. 6 . The next step for the installation to put the hand rails  10  in the position shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , would be to turn the threaded rod 90 degrees from the position shown in  FIG. 6  to the position shown in  FIGS. 3 and 8 , using the directional indicator knobs  22  as an indication of when the flanges  16  are in the position shown in  FIGS. 3 ,  5  and  8  in solid lines and in the position in dashed lines as shown in  FIG. 6 , noting that the knob  22  in dashed lines in  FIG. 6  is also turned 90 decrees from the solid line position thereof. 
     Then, while pulling up on the directional indicator knobs  22  and thereby on threaded members  17  while the moveable flange  16  against the bottom of the dock boards  11   a / 11   b,  the pin  18  of the cam handle  19   h  would be turned sort of like you would thread a nut (like the threaded pin  18 ) onto a bolt (like the pin  17 ). This would be done by turning the handle  19   h  while in the up position, kind of like using a wrench and spinning the cam  19  around the threaded rod  17  in a rotary direction to move the rod  17  and flange  16  upwardly until it is tightened to the dock board thickness generally. After that, the handle  19   h  is just pushed down about the longitudinal axis of pin  18  to cause the final tightening of the flange  16  against the bottom of the boards  11   a / 11   b.  In this way, the boards  11   a / 11   b  are clamped tightly between the flange  16  and the plate  13 . 
     Once one side is clamped, i.e. the boards are clamped between one flange  16  and the plate  13 , the same procedure is used to tighten and clamp the boards  11   a / 11   b  between the other moveable flange  16  and the other half of the plate  13 . This will produce the hand rail structure  10  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , noting that two hand rails  10  can be used instead of just one if desired. 
       FIG. 2  shows a person in dashed lines moving from the boat  12  to the dock  11  while using the handrails  10 , by grasping the top parts  20  of the handrails  10 . Obviously the handrails  10 / 20  can be used to go from the dock  11  to the boat  12  in the same manner. 
     Once the user of the handrails  10  decides not to use them on the dock  11  anymore, the user merely reverses the installation steps described above to remove the handrails  10  from the dock  11 . For example if the user were to go on a fishing trip for a week, then the portable handrails  10  could be used on a dock where the user is boating/fishing, whether using the user's own boat or someone else's boat. But then when the vacation is over, the handrails  10  can be removed from the dock and taken home for storage and be ready for a future use at a different location. Because the handrails  10  do not harm the dock itself, there should be no objection by the dock owner to their use. 
     Those skilled in 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.