Abstract:
A cradle assembly for moving and positioning a watercraft with respect to a support module. The cradle assembly comprises a plurality of horizontally varying cradle beams, a cradle wall extending upward from the cradle beams and a transportation track traversing the cradle beams. A transportation rail is slideably positioned on the transportation track to engage the bottom of the water craft as the cradle assembly moves the watercraft with respect to the support module. A positioning system is operatively connected to the transportation rail to extend a substantial portion of the transportation rail within the support module to place the watercraft in and retrieve it from the support module.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a Non-Provisional Utility application which claims benefit of co-pending U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 60/646,365 filed Jan. 24, 2005, entitled “Water Storage System For Watercraft of Varying Dimensions”, and a continuation-in-part application which claims benefit of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/899,384 filed Jul. 26, 2004, entitled “Improved Cradle For A Watercraft Storage System” which claims benefit of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 60/490,066 filed Jul. 25, 2003, entitled “Improved Cradle For A Watercraft Storage System”, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.  
         [0002]     All patents, patent applications, and publications described or discussed herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     The present invention relates generally to cradle assemblies for moving items into and out of storage, especially the movement of items with irregular bottoms, or lower regions, into which a cradle assembly engages. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to an improvement to an adjustable cradle assembly for the dry storage of watercraft.  
         [0004]     The current improvements to such cradle assemblies enhance the engagement between the cradle assembly and the bottom, or hull, of the watercraft. Additionally, the current improvements facilitate the transportation of multiple watercrafts by a single cradle. The current improvements also facilitate reduction in expensive construction features in the dry storage facility. The improvements include an adjustable width to the cradle and a safe extension of the watercraft into a dry storage bay from the cradle.  
         [0005]     It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that watercraft transportation devices have existed for many years. However, most of these transportation devices are in the form of trailers or land anchored platforms that use the watercraft&#39;s power and/or a crank to pull the watercraft out of the water by its bow. For example U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,612,602, 6,099,014, 5,882,170, 6,520,728, 6,189,909, 6,446,997, 6,719,317, 6,752,099, 6,644,231, 6,490,987, 6,327,990, and 6,263,820, all disclose such transportation devices.  
         [0006]     Additionally, the dry storage of watercraft is becoming increasingly popular over the years. This dry dock storage includes a stacked or vertical arrangement of watercraft storage slips, or bays. The watercraft is lifted from the water&#39;s surface and placed in the stacked arrangements. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,288 discloses one such watercraft storage system. However, the conventional art has a drawback based on the wide variety of watercraft that is currently popular and available. Currently, most watercraft at a given dray storage facility vary in over all length, depth and width between individual watercraft. As such, any lifting apparatus used to place the watercraft from the water surface into the storage system should be able to handle this variety. However, currently the conventional lifting apparatus that move the watercraft from the water surface to the dry storage area lack the capability and flexibility to vary their dimensions in order to adapt to the variance in the watercraft.  
         [0007]     The conventional dry storage facilities for watercraft also typically use long cantilever beams extending from a wall, or a vertical support structure, within the dry storage facility. These cantilever beams can be expensive to manufacture and assemble within the storage facility but are typically required due to the variance in length of the watercraft and the required interaction between the individual storage bay and the transport cradle that positions the watercraft in the individual bays.  
         [0008]     As such, what is lacking in the art is a cradle assembly that can vary its dimensions to substantially adapt to the variance in watercraft sizes in order to transport that watercraft to a storage area. Also, the art lacking a safe adaptation to cradle assemblies that interact with storage bays to position the watercraft in the bays while reducing the costs and assembly times associated with the storage facility.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     Disclosed herein is a cradle assembly for moving and positioning a watercraft with respect to a support module. The support module is in a watercraft storage assembly and the watercraft includes a bottom and a width. The cradle assembly comprises a plurality of cradle beams, a cradle wall extending upward from one of the cradle beams and a transportation track traversing the cradle beams. A transportation rail is slideably positioned on the transportation track to engage the bottom of the water craft as the cradle assembly moves the watercraft with respect to the support module. A positioning system is operatively connected to the transportation rail to extend a substantial portion of the transportation rail within the support module to place the watercraft in and retrieve it from the support module.  
         [0010]     The cradle assembly can include a padded support attached to the transportional rail opposite the transportational track wherein the padded support engages the bottom, or hull, of the watercraft.  
         [0011]     A cradle clamp can be positioned on the cradle wall to selectively engage a post of the support module during movement of the watercraft relative to the support module and restrict movement of the cradle assembly relative to the support module. The cradle clamp can be actuated by the movement of the transportation rail such that the cradle clamp will engage the support module after activation of the transportation rail. The cradle clamp can also include friction reducing devices that are positioned to engage the support module and that allow vertical movement of the cradle assembly relative to the support module while restricting horizontal movement of the cradle assembly relative to the support module.  
         [0012]     A securing bracket can be fixed to the transportation rail and slideably engage the transportation track. The securing brackets position to restrict vertical movement of the transportation rail with respect to the transportation track.  
         [0013]     The cradle beams can be horizontally adjusted, or telescoping, in nature. Various sections of the cradle beam can extend horizontally from other associated sections of the cradle beam. This movement can be controlled by a cradle beam adjustment system. The cradle beam adjustment system can be positioned to control this horizontal adjustment and can selectively space the transportation tracks located on the cradle beams. For example, the cradle beam adjustment system can space the transportation tracks a width that is less than the width of the water craft.  
         [0014]     As such it is an object of the present invention to provide a cradle assembly from moving and positioning items with respect to a support module and a support assembly or facility.  
         [0015]     Another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable and extending cradle assembly for watercraft.  
         [0016]     Still another object of the present invention is to provide a cradle assembly for moving and positioning watercraft wherein the cradle assembly can vary its dimensions.  
         [0017]     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a cradle assembly having expandable cradle beams.  
         [0018]     Still another object of the present invention is to provide a cradle assembly that reduces the need for cantilever beams in a dry storage facility.  
         [0019]     Another object of the present invention is to provide a cradle assembly that has extendable rails to position a watercraft in a storage bay.  
         [0020]     Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a cradle assembly that selectively engages the storage bay to restrict horizontal movement of the cradle assembly during placement of the watercraft in a storage bay.  
         [0021]     Other and further objects features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading of the following disclosure when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0022]      FIG. 1  is an end view of a prior art watercraft storage assembly shown with various support modules and watercraft types positioned therein.  
         [0023]      FIG. 2  is a side sectional view of a prior art storage assembly with various support modules stacked therein.  
         [0024]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a cradle assembly interacting with a support module in accordance with the current disclosure.  
         [0025]      FIG. 4  is a partial cross-sectional view taken at  4 - 4  in  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 4  shows an example of an interaction between the cradle clamp and transportation rail to secure the cradle clamp to the support module.  
         [0026]      FIG. 5  shows a partial detail view of an example of a horizontally expandable cradle beams.  
         [0027]      FIG. 6  shows an example of a positioning system used in accordance with the current disclosure. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0028]     Referring now to  FIGS. 1-2 , examples of a prior art storage facility are shown and designated by the numeral  100 . The storage assembly  100  is for the storage of items  114 , such as watercraft  114 , wherein the cradle assembly  10  moves and positions the watercraft  114  with respect to individual support modules  112 . The watercraft  114  includes a bottom  116  having undulations and a width of varying sizes. The storage assembly  100  can include a support wall  118  and at least two support modules  112  mounted and stacked in a relationship on a support wall  118  such that each support module  112  can store a watercraft  114 . These prior art storage facilities  100  use cantilever beams  120 , of which the current invention is designed to reduce, or eliminate, the need for such beams.  
         [0029]     Referring now to  FIGS. 3-6 , the cradle assembly  10  includes cradle beams  12  spaced along the length of the cradle assembly  10 . Cradle walls  14  extend from the cradle beams  12  in a preferably vertical manner while transportation tracks  16  traverse the cradle beams  12 . A transportation rail  18  is slideably positioned on the transportation track  16  to engage the bottom  116  of the watercraft  114  as the cradle assembly  10  moves the watercraft  114  with respect to the support module  112 . The slideable connection can be facilitated by friction reducing devices  17 , positioned on the transportation track  16  to support the transportation rail  18 . The friction reducing devices  34  can include those items known in the art to allow one surface to move transverse to another, such as rollers, castors, wheels, and the like.  
         [0030]     A positioning system  20  is operatively connected to the transportation rail  18  to extend a substantial portion of the transportation rail  18  into the support module  112 . The position system  20  can extend a substantially the entire transportation rail  18  into the support module  112  to position the watercraft  114  in the support module  112 .  
         [0031]     A padded support  22  is positioned on the transportation rail  18 , which can be various beams known in the art to support the weight of a watercraft, such as I-beams, rails and the like. The padded support can be space rollers or other friction reducing members that favor certain types of boats, such as pontoon boats and catamarans. The padded supports  22  can also be foam padding or a bladder having captured air, wherein the supports  22  are laid out parallel to the transportation rails  18  as shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0032]     A cradle clamp  24  is positioned on the cradle wall  14  to selectively engage a stanchion  26  of the support module  112 . The cradle clamp  24  restricts horizontal movement of the cradle assembly  10  with respect to the support module  112  during movement of the watercraft  114  relative to the support module  112 . The cradle clamp  24  can include top and bottom braces  28  and  30  and an actuating arm  32 . The actuating arm  32  is positioned to engage the transportation rail  18  in order to engage the cradle clamp  24  to the stanchion  26  of the support module  112  after activation of the transportation rail  18 .  
         [0033]     In a mechanical example, horizontal movement of the transportation rail  18  can cause a cam  33  to strike the actuating arm  32  to press the bottom brace  30  into engagement with the stanchion  26 . Alternately, sensors and automation can be used to activate the bottom brace  30  to engage the stanchion  26  concurrently with the movement of the transportation rail  18 . The bottom brace  30  is preferably pivotably attached to the cradle wall  14  proximate to one of the cradle beams  12  while the top brace  28  is positioned on the cradle wall  14  opposite the attachment of the bottom brace  30 . This positioning facilitates a proper restriction of horizontal movement of the cradle assembly  10  relative to the support module  112 .  
         [0034]     A mechanical example of the interaction between the actuating arm  32 , bottom brace  30 , and stanchion  26  of the support module  112  is shown in  FIG. 4 . As the transportation rail  18  moves along the transportation tracks  16 , the actuating arm  32  is activated by the cam  33  such that the bottom brace  30  is moved from position  30 ′ to position  30 ″, as shown as phantom lines and solid lines, respectively in  FIG. 4 . The actuating arm  32  and cam  33  can be designed such that reverse movement of the transportation rail  18  can reactivate the bottom brace  30  to disengage the bottom brace  30  from the stanchion  26 .  
         [0035]     The top and bottom braces  28  and  30  can also include friction reducing devices  34 , such as rollers, castors, wheels, and the like known in the art to allow one surface to move transverse to another. These friction reducing devices  34  allow vertical movement of the cradle assembly  10  relative to the support module  112  while facilitating the restricted horizontal movement of the cradle assembly  10  relative to the support module  112 .  
         [0036]     The positioning system  20  can be numerous positioning systems known in the art. For example, the position system  20  can be motor or engine driven, as indicated by  17  in  FIG. 6 . Other positioning systems can include hydraulic pistons, hydraulic motors, pneumatics, and other drive systems known in the art. Other examples of positioning systems can be threaded systems known to linearly displace two objects relative to each other.  
         [0037]     The transportation rail  18  can also include a securing bracket  36  fixed to the transportation rail  18  and slideably engaging the transportation rack  16 . This securing bracket  36  restricts vertical movement of the transportational rail  18  relative to the transportational tracks  16  during placement of the watercraft  114  in the support module  112 . Additional securing brackets  36  can be employed on opposite ends of the transportation rail  118  to facilitate loading and unloading on both ends of the cradle assembly  10 .  
         [0038]     In one embodiment, the cradle beams  12  are horizontally adjustable. The cradle beams  12  include first and second sections  38  and  40 , which can be described as left and right sides  38  and  40 , and a middle section  42 . The first and second sections  38  and  40  can extend from the middle section  42 , either from within the middle section  42  or around the middle section  42 , as desired.  
         [0039]     A cradle beam adjustment system  44  is positioned to control the horizontal movement of the cradle beams  12 . The adjustment system  44  can be positioned along the length of the cradle beams  12  and can selectively space the transportation tracks  16  and of the associated transportation rails  18  a desired width to correspond to the width of the watercraft  114  in order to support the watercraft  114 .  FIG. 5  shows an example of the horizontally extendable cradle beams  12  and an associated cradle beam adjustment system  44 .  
         [0040]     Thus, although there have been described particular embodiments of the present invention of a new and useful “Adjustable and Extending Transport Cradle for Watercraft”, it is not intended that such references be construed as limitations upon the scope of this invention except as set forth in the following claims.