Patent Publication Number: US-4649852-A

Title: Rowing attachment for a canoe or the like

Description:
This is a continuation application of Ser. No. 597,345 filed Apr. 6, 1984, now abandoned. 
    
    
     The present invention relates to rowing mechanisms for ready attachment to and removal from canoes, shells, sail and other boats, or simulated rowing or exercise platforms or the like, hereinafter sometimes generically referred to as a canoe or the like. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Racing and rowing shells are often provided with a removable rowing apparatus commonly comprising a base having a track, a seat slidable fore and aft on the track and a pair of riggers extending from the base out over the gunnels of the shell, with oar locks being mounted on the ends of the riggers. Numerous similar devices have been devised to insert within or attach to canoes, boats or other shells to convert those boats to rowing boats, the attachments providing a rowing seat or seats, sometimes footrests and some mechanisms for oar locks for the rowing user. 
     Generally, these devices involve supporting structures that rest on frames upon the bottom of the canoe or other boat and thus require the securing of the frame to the boat bottom in some manner. The &#34;Oar Master&#34; attachment for a sliding seat described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,898,950 and on page 38 of Rowing, U.S.A., August, 1983, is such a device with outrigger wings or arms for stabilizing purposes and for carrying the oarlocks and with the free ends laterally extending to the wings. A difficulty with such a form of stabilizing is the necessity for securing the support frame to the bottom of the boat and the instability in the freely extending outrigger wings. 
     Similarly the rowing rig as described in the 1982 catalogue of Mad River Canoe Company, Waitsfield, Vt., attaches to the canoe by means of aluminum beams expanded and secured into the hull of the canoe by pins, the pins remaining permanently affixed to the canoe. Additionally, this rowing rig device has no stabilizing mechanism. 
     Another example is the sculling attachment for canoes described in the November, 1983 brochure of Silver Fox, New Smyma Beach, Fla., where rubber strips are cemented to the bottom of the boat and the rowing device attachment is placed thereupon. Similar constructions, again requiring a permanent securing mechanism are described in the ReGrahm Corporation, Orange, Calif. flier of the &#34;Trimline.&#34; 
     The present invention, on the other hand, entirely eliminates the need for permanent attachment to the bottom or sides of a canoe, skiff, boat or shell or the like, as well as any requirement whatsoever for the permanent attaching devices such as rubber strips, pins or other special mechanisms associated with the installation of prior devices. In addition, with the present invention, considerable structural integrity and stability are imparted to outrigger wing attachments and to the canoe or other boat itself, both for securing the attachment in place in the boat and for providing improved structural integrity of the outrigger wing structure. The present invention is also capable of supporting both fixed and slidable seats, which are movable during rowing as in sculling, and may be adapted for multiple seats to accommodate a plurality of rowers, if desired. 
     It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved rowing attachment for a canoe or similar boat that shall not be subject to the above-described limitations of prior systems, but that, to the contrary, enables installation in a canoe or similar boat without requiring the installation of permanent attachment or supporting means. 
     A further object is to provide such a novel rowing apparatus that provides considerable structural integrity and stability to the outrigger wing attachments of the rowing attachment and to the canoe itself. 
     An additional object is to provide a rowing apparatus that can support single or multiple seats that may be either fixed or slidable during rowing. 
     Other and further objects are explained hereinafter and are more particularly delineated in the appended claims. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     In summary, however, from one of its important aspects, the invention embraces a rowing attachment for a canoe or the like having a longitudinal support extending a substantial distance along the longitudinal axis of the canoe and supporting a seat for the user; foot means disposed near each of the ends of the support and depending below the same for resting the support at its ends above the bottom of the canoe; outrigger wings extending symmetrically transversely of the support from an intermediate region thereof over the gunnels of the canoe and laterally to the sides thereof, said wings supporting oarlocks near their free ends and being provided in the region where they pass over the gunnels with depending adjustable clamps for securing the wings to the gunnels, thereby securing the attachment within the canoe, firmly resting upon said foot means at ends of the longitudinal support and providing additional structural integrity to the wings at the gunnels. Preferred details and other features are hereinafter set forth. 
    
    
     DRAWINGS 
     The invention will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawings: 
     FIG. 1 of which is an elevated rear view of a preferred form of the invention attached to a canoe; 
     FIG. 2 is an elevated rear-side view similar to FIG. 1 showing placement of oars in locks; 
     FIG. 3 is an elevated front-side view similar to FIG. 2; and 
     FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view, facing rearward of the apparatus. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
     Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 wherein like numerals refer to like structures, the rowing attachment for a canoe or the like is shown generally at 1, constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The rowing attachment 1 is adapted to be readily and simply attached to and removed from a pair of gunnels 2 of a canoe 3 or the like, as will be described in more detail hereinafter, without the requirement of any alteration to the canoe or any permanent attaching mechanisms, and without leaving any residual evidence of the previous attachment of the structure, once removed. 
     The rowing attachment 1 is constructed in the form of a longitudinally extending support 6, such as a hollow square or rectangular cross-section tube or bar of rigid material, such as steel, intermediately provided with and carrying at its neck a U-shaped transversely extending support section 4, the arms of which terminate in outwardly extending outrigger wings 12. The section 4 may be lightened by introducing holes 5 to a degree that still preserves the structural integrity of the frame attachment 6,4,12. 
     The bar support 6 is provided at or near its front end 9 and its rear end 8 with depending feet 21-25. The feet support the bar 6 along the longitudinal axis of the canoe or the like, inboard and centered between the gunnels 2 of the canoe and spaced above the canoe bottom, resting thereupon only at the forward and rearward portions 25 of the feet. The support bar 6 is adapted to receive along its upper surface a seat 10 for a rower, shown attached nearer the rearwardly disposed end 8 in a manner later described in detail; and a pair of footrests 11 of any acceptable configuration is securely attachable, as by bolts, to the bar 6 near the forwardly disposed end 9. 
     With the U-shaped internal transverse section 4 secured substantially mid-way along the support bar 6 and transversely extending upwardly to opposite points of the gunnels 2, the before-mentioned outboardly extending outrigger wing members 12 extend symmetrically over the gunnels 2 of the canoe 3 laterally to the sides thereof, preferably substantially horizontally. In the preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the wings 12 are constructed as one piece with the section 4 and are attached to the gunnels 2 by brackets, such as C-clamps 13, more particularly shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, which may be padded to avoid damaging the gunnels 2. The clamps 13 are shown adjustably moveable by bolts 14 extending within slots 15 along the wings 12 to accommodate different width dimensions of the canoe; and when attached to the gunnels 2, the clamps provide rigid support of the rowing apparatus 1 within the canoe 3 and substantial outrigger stabilization. 
     The outboard wings 12 are provided with oar-holding devices, shown as oar locks 16, near the outermost portions thereof that are rotatably attached to the wings 12, as by bolts 17, to enable rowing with oars 18 inserted into oarlocks 16, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. Additionally, the standard open construction of the oarlocks 16 allows for upward and downward movement of the oars 18 while held in the oarlocks 16 to facilitate normal rowing operation. 
     While a fixed seat arrangement can readily be achieved by fixedly securing the seat to the support bar 6 in any convenient location along the length of the support bar, as by a threaded nut and bolt arrangement (not shown), it may be desirable in practice to employ a slidable seat, movable during rowing, as in sculling. Such a seat may be movably attached to the support bar 6 with the aid of a roller mounting slidable along the length of the bar 6, as by spindles 19 (FIGS. 1, 3 and 4) held in fixed relationship substantially surrounding a portion of the bar 6 by a rigid bracket assembly 20; the bracket, in turn, being attached to or an integral part of the seat 10, as more particularly shown in FIG. 4. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the support resting foot means 21-25 depending below each of the forwardly disposed end 9 and the rearwardly disposed end 8 of the the support bar 6 and holding the same along the longitudinal axis of the canoe and above the canoe bottom, are shown. The foot means are constructed of vertical support rods 21 having upper threaded ends 22 that extend into threaded nuts 23 in the support bar 6, and bottom resting foot portions 25, such as longitudinally extending bends in the bottom ends 24 of the vertical foot supports 21. If desired, padded or resilient resting members, such as rubber feet or the like, may be employed on resting foot portions 25 to minimize the possible puncturing or other damaging of the canoe when weight is applied to the support bar 6 by a rower sitting in the seat 10. The bottom support portions 25 may also conveniently act as handlegs to facilitate turning the rods 21 along their respective axes easily to facilitate height adjustment of the attachment 1 by varying the threaded height adjustment of rods 21 in conjunction with the adjustable nuts 23. 
     The resulting combination of the transverse and lateral support provided by the clamps 13 attached to the gunnels 2 of the canoe 3, the weight-bearing properties provided by the rigid support sections 6-4 and clamps 13 transmitting the downward weight forces are transmitted to the gunnels 2, and the longitudinal stability and additional weight support provided by the support bar 6 as its bottom support feet 21-25 contact the bottom of the canoe 3, provides a rigid structure 1 for withstanding the forces and mechanical moments involved in a rower&#39;s use of the same in the canoe or the like. 
     It should be noted that a plurality of seats 10 can be accommodated in a single boat either by attaching a plurality of individual rowing attachments 1 to the same or by elongating the support bar 6 and attaching additional seats 10, corresponding U-shaped supports and outboard wing members 12. Additional intermediate resting support rods 21, footrests, etc. may also be employed. 
     Further modifications will also occur to those skilled in the art, and such are considered to fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.