Patent Publication Number: US-2006000405-A1

Title: Marine bow hand rail mount removable ladder

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      Not applicable.  
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
      Not applicable.  
     REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING  
      Not applicable.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention pertains to the marine/boating industry. I found as a boat owner, it was nearly impossible and unsafe to get in and out of the front (bow) of the boat when at the beach or sand bar, or to retrieve a lure casted and hung up on the shore. Choices for exit or entry from the bow include leaping or crawling over the bow, all of which are difficult and can cause injury. The MARINE BOW HANDRAIL MOUNT REMOVABLE LADDER solves these problems.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Previous ladders manufactured for the purpose of exit and entry from the bow, were made of ropes or metal universal use hook ladders that proved unstable and difficult to use. Other choices were the more stable rear ladders or swim platforms, but were not feasible due to their placement on the vessel, in the deep water, when the bow was at the shoreline. Thus requiring the passenger to swim to the shore after exiting the rear ladder. The MARINE BOW HANDRAIL MOUNT REMOVABLE LADDER is a user friendly, safe exit and entry off the bow ladder, easily attached to the permanent rail mount and is removable for easy storage on board, leaving the permanent mount in place and ready for the next shore excursion.  
      The ladder and mount is a simple tongue and groove slide design that provides stabilization and simplicity for easy bow access. It can be adjusted to fit any vessel with a handrail. This can be 3 or 4 steps in length depending on the bow height.  
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Drawing 1 of 3 is my invention of the first ever Bow Ladder and Mount with hardware is securely attached to the hand rail on the bow (front) of the boat, either side (starboard or port). The ladder easily slides in and out of the mount for a secure fit by means of my own design I call a tongue and groove fit. The tongue is shown on Drawing 2 of 3 as part of the ladder and the groove is shown on Drawing 3 of 3 as part of the mount. All material is made of Marine Grade Aluminum and hardware is stainless steel. Drawing 2 of 3 shows the Removable Ladder. In  FIG. 1  at the top of the ladder is the tongue. One of the most critical parts of the claim, yet one of the simplest. In  FIG. 1 , a piece of ¼″×1″ flat stock radius on one end and with 3 holes drilled through and recessed for flat head screws. In  FIG. 1  the tongue ( 1 ) gets screwed to the ⅜″×2″ main frame ( 2 ) of the ladder. Each step is cut and filed from the same material, ⅜″×2″ flatstock, 10 inches in length, 5 inches on either side of the main frame. First step on ladder is 16″ from top, which means machining a ⅜″×1″ deep slot in the main frame on a 80 degree angle, center step within this slot and weld on both sides. Each following step is 9″ between steps with the same ⅜″×1″ deep slot per step, 4 steps, for a total frame length of 44″. All material is sawcut and machines on a bridgeport mill. This ladder was designed to handle a 300 pound capacity. Drawing 3 of 3 shows the mount, the most critical part of the claim. This is a one of a kind that makes this claim so patentable. In  FIG. 1  this mount has two very important purposes. A) It mounts to all ⅞″ or 1″ diameter bow hand rails. B) Has the groove machined on the other side to except and secure the tongue of the ladder.  
      This is actually 2 aluminum blocks cut from (1½″×2″ stock) 1-1  5 / 8 ″ long and 1  7 / 8 ″ long. Blocks are screwed together with two allen head screws (¼″-20×1″), ¼″ from top center and ¼″ from bottom center as shown in  FIG. 4 . The 1″ diameter handrail hole gets drilled through and centered between the two ¼″ screws 1″ from bottom and centered between the two blocks as in  FIG. 1A .  
      The Groove,  FIG. 1B  is now machined on the other end of the block which excepts and secures the tongue part of the ladder. The Groove is a 2 step process also done on a mill.  
      1) Center and cut, 12″ slot, ¼″ deep through block.  
      2) Using milling cutters—Center and cut groove 5/16″×1.015″ to accept ladder tongue, stopping ¼″ from bottom as seen in  FIGS. 2 &amp; 3 . This is what stops the tongue from falling thru the groove. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention pertains to the Marina/Boating industry. I found as a boat owner it was nearly impossible and unsafe to get in and out of the front/bow of the boat when at the beach or sandbar. Previous ladder manufacturers for the purpose of exit and intry from the bow were made of rope or metal universal use. Other choices are the rear ladder swim platform, but were not feasible due to their placement on the vessel, in the deep, cold water. Thus requiring the passenger to swim to the shore.  
      The Marine Bow Hand Rail Mount Removable Ladder is a user friendly safe exit and entry off the bow ladder. It is easily attached (with, to) the permanent rail mount and is removable for easy storage on board leaving the permanent mount in place and ready for the next shore excursion.  
      The ladder and mount is a simple tongue and groove slide design that provides stabilization and simplicity for easy bow access. It can be adjusted to fit any vessel with a handrail. This can be a 3 or 4 stepladder in length depending on the bow height. All material is made of a lightweight, high strength marine grade aluminum that is assembled with stainless steel screws. Only 3 different sizes of metal stock need be punched to assemble one complete design. (¼″×1″, ⅜×2″ flat stock, 1½″×2″ rectangle). All pieces are of saw cut, machine milling (CNC), welded and screwed for final assembly.