Abstract:
The watercraft accessory tower mount may be used for attachment of watercraft accessories to a watercraft tower structure. A clamp bracket may be attachable to a clamp base. An accessory attachment may have a rotational shaft disposed for insertion in a rotational aperture of the clamp base. An attachment device may be used to rotatably attach the rotational shaft to the clamp base.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates to devices used to attach watercraft accessories, such as, lights, speakers, wakeboard racks, tow lines and the like, to watercraft or boat towers, overhead tubular bars and the like. The new tower mount may be attached to a boat tower provided for accessory attachment and allow 360 degree rotation of the accessory. The tower mount may also provide for connection to the boat electrical power or other wiring in the boat tower without using exposed wiring. 
   Various tower mounts may currently be used for accessories that may allow attachment to boat towers. Such tower mounts may not allow simple rotation of an accessory such as a light to orient it in various directions. The wiring for connecting between an accessory and the boat tower may also be exposed rather than routed interior to the tower mount. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is directed to devices for attachment of watercraft accessories to a watercraft tower structure. A clamp bracket may be attachable to a clamp base. An accessory attachment may have a rotational shaft disposed for insertion in a rotational aperture of the clamp base. An attachment device may be used to rotatably attach the rotational shaft to the clamp base. 
   These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a side perspective view of the tower mount according to an embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective plan view of the rotational side of the accessory attachment according to an embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a side perspective exploded view of the tower mount according to an embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a plan view of the clamp base according to an embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a perspective view of a set screw according to an embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a perspective elevation view of a tower mount attached to a boat tower according to an embodiment of the invention: 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a side cross sectional view of elements of the tower mount according to an embodiment of the invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   The following detailed description represents the best currently contemplated modes for carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 6 , a watercraft accessory tower mount  10  may have a clamp bracket  12  attached to a clamp base  20  to form a generally circular opening  22  for attachment on a boat tower  80  that may be tubular in construction. An accessory attachment  40  may be rotationally attached to the clamp base  20  opposite the clamp bracket  12 . There may be a tower mount shaft element  42  for insertion interior to the boat tower  80  that may be used to route electrical wiring to an accessory and may prevent rotation of the tower mount  10  about the boat tower  80 . 
   Other shapes of the opening  22  may be constructed for boat towers  80  that may have forms that may not be circular in cross section, for example, rectangular, triangular, oval or other cross sectional forms of boat towers  80 . The attachment of the tower mount  10  in  FIG. 6  disposes the accessory attachment  40  at the bottom of the tower mount  10 . An accessory device  82  may be attached to hang from the boat tower  80 . Other mount orientations may also be used depending on the requirement of the orientation of the accessory. For example, the tower mount  10  may be rotated 180 degrees for attachment to the boat tower  80  with the accessory attachment  40  positioned upwardly or at the top of the tower mount  10 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 through 7 , the tower mount  10  may have clamp bolts  14  for insertion through clamp bores  16  to be threadably engaged with threaded holes  24  in clamp base  20  for attachment to the clamp base  20 . Clamp bores  16  may have clamp recesses  18 . The clamp base  20  may have a generally centrally disposed rotational aperture  26  that may also have a generally circular attachment recess  28  on the clamp side of the clamp base  20 . There may be one or more set screw apertures  30  for threadable engagement of a set screw  32  in the clamp base  20  to be positioned with a spring biased ball tip  34  in a groove  44  in accessory attachment  40 . 
   The accessory attachment  40  may have a rotational side  46  and an attachment side  48  that may be generally opposed sides of the accessory attachment  40 . The rotational side  46  may have groove  44  formed therein that may be generally circular in form. There may be detents  50  spaced apart in the base  52  of the groove  44 . The detents  50  may be disposed radial approximately 45 degrees apart. When the accessory attachment may be rotationally attached to the clamp base  20 , the spring ball tip  34  of the set screw  32  may serve to retain the clamp base  20  and accessory attachment  40  in a set position relative to each other when the spring ball tip  34  may be disposed in one of the detents  50 . 
   There may be an arm  54  disposed at a rotational end  56  on a pin  58  in a pin hole disposed in a limit recess  60  of the rotational side  46 . The limit recess  60  may be generally triangular in shape with pin  58  disposed in the proximal apex  62  of the limit recess  60  relative to the center of the accessory attachment  40 . The arm  54  may allow rotation of the set screw  32  in the groove  44  until the arm  54  may be forced against a side  64  of the limit recess  60 . This may allow a full 360 degree rotation between the clamp base  20  and the accessory attachment  40 , and allow the spring ball tip  34  to be disposed in the detent  50  located in the limit recess  60 . The arm  54  may also limit the rotation to approximately 360 degrees. 
   The accessory attachment  40  may have a threaded shaft bore  66  centrally disposed through the rotational side  46  and attachment side  48 . A threaded rotational shaft  68  may be threadably engaged in shaft bore  66  with a shaft element  42  protruding above the rotational side  46 . The rotational shaft  68  may be inserted through rotational aperture  26  in clamp base  20  to be secured by an attachment element, such as a nut  36 . To facilitate rotation of the accessory attachment  40  relative to the clamp base  20  a washer  70  that may be of TEFLON material or other low friction composition may be disposed between the accessory attachment  40  and clamp base  20 . The rotational shaft  68  may have a central bore  78  for routing electrical wiring between an accessory device  82  and the boat tower  80 . 
   There may be a nut washer  72  of low friction material disposed between the nut  36  and attachment recess  28  to facilitate rotation of the accessory attachment  40 . There may be accessory attachment holes  74  disposed in the attachment side  48  of the accessory attachment  40 . The attachment side  48  may be generally semicircular concave in form as illustrated or may be flat or other shape depending on the configuration of accessory device  82  to be attached. 
   While the invention has been particularly shown and described with respect to the illustrated embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.