Abstract:
A pontoon boat&#39;s cover system has includes a rib-cage structure to support a fabric cover formed by hollow poles flexed into low arches and anchored into opposite brackets on the left and right top (hand or side) rails of the pontoon boat. Each bracket has a zig-zag pin and a U-base. Each zig-zag link originates as a bottom axle changing into a central column changing into a cantilevered stake. Each U-based cups a top rail of the boat with a bottom axle inserted through holes in the U-base across and over the top rail it cups. The central column seats in a saddle of one of the U-base&#39;s arms to stabilize the zig-zag pin the front to back direction. A locking collar slides over the saddle with the central column seated therein in order to retain the zig-zag pin from unseating from the saddle.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
   This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/725,579, filed Mar. 19, 2007, now abandoned which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/784,507, filed Mar. 21, 2006, the disclosures of which are incorporated in full by this reference thereto. 

   BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is known to provide canopy or cover systems for boats to protect the interior from inclement weather. Few available cover systems are for pontoon boats. An example of one, however, is prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,505—Polidan. It comprises a frame assembly bearing resemblance to campground tents. The frame assembly comprises a series of A-framed rafters connected rigidly tied together at their crowns by a ridge pole, which ridge pole at its forward and rearward ends connects to fore and aft guy-poles. All of the bottom ends of the A-framed rafters and guy-poles are inserted into sockets provided by brackets attached to the gunwales (or top hand rails) of the pontoon boat. Every intersection between the ridgepole and any rafter is preferably connected by a four way fitting. Col. 3, line 1. The connections between the ridge-pole and guy-poles requires at least a two-way fitting. 
   Shortcomings with the prior art include the length of time and number of steps it takes to erect the framework assembly from a disassembled state. It appears if the A-framed rafters, ridge pole and guy-poles either have to be sized to fit at the factory for a specific model of boat or otherwise, at home, the job will certainly be a two person job. 
   It also appears if the A-framed rafters are not self-supporting on one leg alone:—that is, it appears as if each A-framed rafter requires both legs planted in the starboard and port socket therefor before it truly can be self-standing. It furthermore appears if the A-framed rafters are not independently strong enough to withstand the pontoon boat being trailered down the roadway at highway speeds. That is, the pressure on the textile cover over the bow of the boat at highway speed is likely to buckle the A-framed rafters over backwardly:—hence that is why there is inclusion of the ridge pole as well as the fore and aft guy poles. It moreover appears if the task of connecting up the ridge and guy poles with the spaced apart A-framed rafters would best be handled by two persons working together, and still take as long as one person along who is just setting up the A-frame rafters. 
   It appears if all the pressure required to keep any pole (ridge, guy or A-frame) inserted in its sockets is supplied only by lashing down the textile cover. In other words, until the cover is lashed down, it appears if any pole can readily be slipped out of its socket. That would tend to make the task of stretching the textile cover over the bare framework a harder job for one person than several. That is, one person working alone has to drag the cover over the bare framework just to get the cover in place for lashing. The act of dragging the cover over the bare framework unless done with some care appears to present a great chance of unseating some of the poles out of their sockets. 
   On boats with Bimini tops, the collapsed supports cover up the top rail along the starboard and port sides. Hence there is no room to attach brackets in accordance with the prior art under such a collapsed Bimini top. 
   It also appears if the prior art pontoon boat canopy system is a rather tall structure. That is, once erected, any pontoon boat covered by such might be taller than the standard eight foot ( ˜ 2.4 m) door openings common to most rental boat lockers. That is, for many homeowners, if their pontoon boat cover system is too tall, they can forget about pulling into town after vacation and immediately parking the boat in their rented boat locker. The first thing they will have to do is take down the cover system. 
   What is needed is a solution to the shortcomings of the prior art. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     There are shown in the drawings certain exemplary embodiments of the invention as presently preferred. It should be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed as examples, and is capable of variation within the scope of the appended claims. In the drawings, 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a ridgepole-less, pontoon boat cover system in accordance with the invention, as shown with a soft (eg., woven or non-woven fabric) cover stretched over not only the arches of the cover system but also a pontoon boat as well, as its sits on its trailer; 
       FIG. 2  is a partial sectional view taken in the direction of arrows II-II in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is an enlarged-scale partial sectional view of detail III-III in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  is an enlarged scale perspective view of FIG  3 ; and 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view comparable to  FIG. 4  except exploded. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1  shows a ridgepole-less pontoon boat cover system  10  in accordance with the invention, as shown with a soft (eg., woven or non-woven fabric) cover  12  stretched over not only several arches  14  of the cover system  10  but also a pontoon boat  16  as well, as it sits on its trailer  18 . The soft cover  12  is lashed down by lashing  22  as appropriate which, as shown, lashes around the trailer. 
   It is an aspect of the invention that the work of spreading out the soft cover  12  and lashing it down is readily a one worker job with the ridgepole-less, pontoon boat cover system  10  in accordance with the invention. 
   It is another aspect of the invention that the one-time-only job of originally customizing to size the system of arches  14  to fit a specific pontoon boat (eg.,  16 ) is likewise—comfortably—a one worker job. 
     FIG. 2  shows that an arch  14  in accordance with the invention comprises a stiffly-flexible (hollow) pole  24  flexed in an arch between the spaced port and starboard top (hand or side) rails  26 , the opposite ends of which arch pole  24  are secured by a pair of identical bracket assemblies  30  in accordance with the invention. Accordingly, the bracket assemblies  30  are uniform among one another:—there is no difference between brackets  30  on the port side or starboard side of the boat  16 . Also, the arch poles  24  are stiffly-flexible tubeforms (ie., while they are not inflexible, they are far from being willowy pliant). Suitable tubeforms include without limitation PVC pipes commonly available from hardware stores and the like. 
   It is a design preference to utilize PVC pipes (or the like) that have an aspect ratio such that the outside diameter is relatively small in contrast to the sidewall thickness, which is relatively thick. That way, relatively elongated lengths of such PVC pipe behave somewhat like a longbow, which is straight and limber when unstrung, but flexes into a stiff arch when strung. Similarly with PVC pipes, they stiffen when flexed into service as arch pole  24  shown in  FIG. 2 , but when released from the squeeze supplied by the opposite brackets  30 , the PVC pipe (eg., pole  24 ) straightens out again, typically without much set. 
   A user can customize the degree of arch between extremes of flat (ie., zero arch) to high by trimming PVC pipe stock to size to produce a pole  24  having a length between corresponding extremes of short and long. That way, a user might prefer to customize things so that the arches  14  soar high, so that the cover  12  spreads over (eg.,) the superstructure of the helm. Or alternatively, given a different boat, the user might prefer to customize things so that the arches  14  are low, so that a low profile cover system  10  and trailered pontoon boat  16  can still be parked in a marine rental locker or the like, especially for even for marine rental lockers having a standard-size garage door opening of eight foot (“two-and-a-half meters). Some homeowners even have garages or outbuildings with garage doors that tall. Accordingly, it is an aspect of the invention that the user can customize the height of arch  14 , whether he or she want complete uniformity, or otherwise, like taller in the middle while lower fore and aft. 
   It is an aspect of the invention to dispense with any ridge-pole, as extending fore-to-aft and tying together all the beam-to-beam arches (eg.,  14 ). Among other reasons for this, some pontoon boats (unlike the one illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,505) lack a readily accessible back rail. That is, the back rail of the boat shown in  FIG. 1  of the priority U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/725,579 (filed Mar. 19 of 2007, and incorporated herein by this reference thereto) is covered by an upholstered cushion comprising a sun deck. Accordingly, that arrangement of a back rail is sort of eliminated from candidacy as a place to mount a rail bracket like Polidan&#39;s for Polidan&#39;s rear guy-pole. Even if a bracket could be wiggled into the tight space under the upholstery and onto the back rail, there is then no clearance to arc the rear guy-pole for its intended purpose. 
   Another advantage of the invention pertains more particularly to the configuration of the bracket  30 . For background, the pontoon boat shown in  FIG. 1  of the priority U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/725,579 has a Bimini top carried by a collapsible tower. With the tower collapsed, the top hand or side rail (eg.,  26 ) along the beam of the boat is covered up by the canvas of the Bimini top in some places, and by the tower&#39;s legs in others. 
   In consequence, the obstructions of the Bimini&#39;s canvas or the tower&#39;s legs eliminate those sections of top hand rail (eg.,  26 ) that they obstruct as candidate places for the bracket of U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,505—Polidan. But if the brackets could be squeezed in place, the Bimini top&#39;s tower&#39;s legs do not allow clearance for the legs of the A-framed rafters. It is no solution to fix Polidan&#39;s brackets not to the hand rail (eg.,  26 ) but to the legs of the tower. The tower&#39;s legs are not suitable places to attach brackets, especially if the pontoon boat is going to be trailered down the highway with the cover system in place. The tower&#39;s legs are too weak for that service, unlike that top (hand or side) rail  26  along the beam of pontoon boats  16 . 
   The inventive bracket assembly  30  in accordance with the invention accommodates obstructions like Bimini tower legs by situating all its structure taller than the top rail  26  to a spaced position laterally away therefrom, including without limitation on the inboard side as shown. 
   The ridgepole-less pontoon boat cover system  10  in accordance with the invention is preferably marketed to the end-user/retail consumer as a kit of components that assemble together to make several brackets  30  (wherein  FIG. 5  shows better the components that constitute one bracket  30 ). Optionally, the kit of components is marketed with or without pipes. If not, the user supplies his or her own pipe out of which to fashion the poles  24  for the arches  14 . 
   With general reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the bracket assembly  30  in accordance with the invention comprises a zig-zag pin  32 , a U-shaped base (ie., U-base  34 ), and a locking collar  36 . The zig-zag pin  32  comprises a lower (and outer as shown in the drawing) axle portion  42 , a latching mid-span  44  that is also configured to protrude aside of and free from interference with directly overhead structure such as and without limitation legs of a Bimini tower (not shown), and a cantilevered stake portion  46 . In essence, it is an aspect of the invention that the zig-zag pin  32  merely “zigs” and “zags” around overhead things like the Bimini tower&#39;s legs. It is a design preference that the mid-span  44  is situated on the inboard side of the U-base  34  but this is a design preference without limitation. 
   The cantilevered stake portion  46  projects inwardly as well as upwardly, and is outfitted with a set of conveniences comprising a bulbous head  52  (eg., a mushroom-style cap as shown in the drawings) and a bushing  56 . 
   The U-base  34  is a channel comprising a web flanked by an inboard arm  60  and outboard arm  62 . Both arms  60  and  62  are sized to provide excess upper portions which project higher than the top surface of the top (hand or side) rail  26 . The outboard arm  62 &#39;s upper excess portion is formed with an outboard-arm hole  64 , as the inboard arm  60 &#39;s upper excess portion is formed with a corresponding inboard-arm hole  66 . One of the two arms  60  and  62  of the U-base  34  (eg., it is the inboard arm  60  as shown in the drawings) has its upper excess portion furthermore formed with a saddle  68  for purposes to be more particularly described below. 
   Whereas  FIG. 4  shows the assembled bracket assembly  30 ,  FIG. 5  allows better reckoning of the assembly steps. The first step is to cup the U-base  34  under a top rail  26  of the side of the boat  16  and orient the zig-zag pin  32  ready for coupling with the U-base  34 . The user then inserts the (lower) axle portion  42  of the zig-zag pin  32  through an inboard-arm hole  66  in the U-base  34 , over and across the top rail  26 &#39;s top surface. The locking collar  36  is free to slide and can be held in an “up” and “out-of-the-way” position.  FIG. 4  shows completion of the insertion of the (lower) axle portion  42  of the zig-zag pin  32  through not only the inboard-arm hole  66  in the U-base  34  but also the outboard-arm hole  66  as well. Again, the (lower) axle portion  42  is situated just clearing the top surface of the boat  16 &#39;s top (hand or side) rail  26 . Indeed, the (lower) axle portion  42  preferably rests in part on the top surface thereof. The U-base  34  is sized to cup the top rail  26  closely along the bottom and side surfaces thereof, and the U-base  34 &#39;s through holes  64  and  66  are positioned such that the zig-zag pin  32 &#39;s (lower) axle portion  42  rests closely upon the top surface of the top rail  26  as shown. In the industry, the size for rails (eg.,  26 ) of pontoon boats are fairly standard, at least among the product line of any given manufacturer. 
   The zig-zag pin  32 &#39;s latching mid-span  44  is nested (or seated, or “latched”) in the saddle  68  of the U-base  34  to provide positional stability for it in the front to back direction. The locking collar  36  is allowed to slide down, and around, the U-base  34 &#39;s saddle  68  in order to retain the zig-zag pin  32  from unseating out (eg, which corresponds to shifting out on the inboard side as shown in the drawings). 
     FIG. 3  is a close up view of the bracket assembly, showing an end of one of the poles  24  over the zig-zag pin  32 &#39;s cantilevered stake portion  46 . The cantilevered stake portion  46  has a bulbous head  52  (eg., mushroom-shaped cap as shown in the drawings) with an outer diameter corresponding closely to the pole  24 &#39;s inner diameter for a close fit therebetween. Here the user has aimed the pole  24 &#39;s open end to slide over the bulbous head  52 .  FIG. 3  also shows that the cantilevered stake portion  46  carries a sliding sleeve on it that serves as a bushing  56 . Whereas it is preferred to produce the zig-zag pin and U-base  32  and  34  of corrosion-resistant metal, it conversely preferred to product the busing and probably the locking collar  56  and  36  out of plastic. 
   Hence, the plastic busing  56  is free to slide on the cantilevered stake portion  46  but it will normally come to rest at the bottom. The busing  56 &#39;s outer diameter is sized to correspond closely to the pole  24 &#39;s inner diameter for a close fit therebetween. Given the foregoing, once the inventive pontoon boat cover system  10  is customized to size for a specific boat, users can thereafter take down and put back up the arches  14  with much less fuss. 
     FIG. 4  shows bracket  30  affixed to the top rail  26  and supporting one end of arched pole  24  by the zig-zag pin  32 &#39;s cantilevered stake portion  46 .  FIG. 4  also shows completion of the positioning of the locking collar  36 . It slides around the U-base  34 &#39;s saddle  68  in order to retain the zig-zag pin  32  from shifting out (eg., inboard as shown in the drawing). The locking collar  36  merely provides double assurance that the zig-zag pin  34 &#39;s latching mid-span  44  will not unseat form the U-base  34 &#39;s saddle  68 . 
   That is, the pole  24 &#39;s inherent property of wanting to straighten out probably supplies sufficient pressure on the zig-zag pin  34 &#39;s latching mid-span  44  to not unseat from the U-base  34 &#39;s saddle  68 . Also, the seating (or “latching”) of the zig-zag pin  32 &#39;s mid-span  44  in the U-base  34 &#39;s saddle  68  further prevents the zig-zag pin  32 &#39;s (lower) axle portion  42  from rotating in the U-base  34 &#39;s through holes  34  and  66 . It is an aspect of the invention that the flexion of the poles  24  force a twist on the engagement of the U-bases  34  with the boat  16 &#39;s top rail  26 . The zig-zag pin  32 &#39;s (lower) axle portion  42  is rocked a little (not clearly perceptible in  FIG. 3 ) on the inboard bend such that the outboard end is a little kicked up, and spaced off the top rail  26 &#39;s top surface (again, none of this is clearly perceptible in  FIG. 3 ). This twist induces the U-base  34  and zig-zag pin  32 &#39;s (lower) axle portion  42  to bind or pinch on the top rail  26 , thereby promoting more secure positional stability of the bracket assembly  30 . 
     FIG. 2  shows one completed arch  14 . Such an arch  14  comprises a custom trimmed-to-size pole  24  flexed and staked between two opposing brackets  30 . 
   So for a new owner of the ridgepole-less, pontoon boat cover system  10 , there is one-time-only job to undertake with the first use the system  10  which comprises customizing the length of the poles  24 . Preferably a user starts with pipe stock that is longer than needed. To begin, the user sticks one end of the pipe on one bracket  30  then flexes the pipe to the desired degree of arch and measures where the pipe should be trimmed (this is not shown). Then the user relaxes the compression on the flexed pipe in order to trim it to size (eg., as with a hand saw or loppers). The cut-off end piece can be discarded. Given the foregoing, the user has produced one pole  24 . The user sticks one end of the pole  24  on one bracket  30 , flexes the pole  24  in an exaggerated arch in order to stick its opposite end on the other bracket  30 . The result is completion of one arch  14 , which comprises the trimmed-to-size pole  24  as flexed and staked between two opposed bracket assemblies  30 . 
   Wherein the poles  24  have been generally referred to as PVC pipe, this has been done so merely for convenience of this written description and in no way limits the invention to PVC material or tubeforms in particular, as users ordinarily skilled in the art would readily appreciate a wide array of suitable equivalents. 
   The invention having been disclosed in connection with the foregoing variations and examples, additional variations will now be apparent to persons skilled in the art. The invention is not intended to be limited to the variations specifically mentioned, and accordingly reference should be made to the appended claims rather than the foregoing discussion of preferred examples, to assess the scope of the invention in which exclusive rights are claimed.