Patent Publication Number: US-2011048311-A1

Title: Personal watercraft transport

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This regular utility patent application claims the benefit under 35 U. S. C. § 119(e) of U.S. Ser. No. 61/239,543 filed Sep. 3, 2009. The disclosure of U.S. Ser. No. 61/239,543 is hereby incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to transports for personal watercraft such as canoes, kayaks, and the like. It is disclosed in the context of a transport for a kayak, but is believed to have other applications as well. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Personal watercraft transports are currently available. See, for example: “PaddleCart, The Ultimate Kayak Cart and Canoe Cart;” and, “The Wike Woody Wagon Canoe Trailer at Wike Bicycle Trailers Bike Trailers and Bike Joggers.” The disclosures of these references are hereby incorporated herein by reference. The above listing is not intended to be a representation that a complete search of all relevant art has been made, or that no more pertinent art than that listed exists, or that the listed art is material to patentability. Nor should any such representation be inferred. 
     DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the disclosure, an apparatus for towing a watercraft with a bicycle includes a pair of wheels. Each wheel is rotatably mounted to one end of a respective arm. The arms are pivotally mounted from a topside of the watercraft for movement of the wheels between stowed positions and ground-engaging positions. 
     Further illustratively, the apparatus comprises a crossmember mounted on the topside of the watercraft. The arms are pivotally mounted from said topside of the watercraft by being mounted on said crossmember. 
     Illustratively, the arms are pivotally mounted to said crossmember by clamps. 
     Illustratively, the arms are pivotally mounted by second clamps to the crossmember. 
     Further illustratively, the apparatus comprises a bicycle fork clamp adjacent said first clamp. 
     Further illustratively, the apparatus comprises a rear wheel bracket mounted to the watercraft such a distance from the fork clamp that clamping the bicycle&#39;s front fork into the fork clamp positions the bicycle&#39;s rear wheel in the rear wheel bracket. 
     Further illustratively, the apparatus comprises an axle which extends between the arms, and a towing tongue including a pair of flexible members extending from an end of the towing tongue for attachment to the axle. 
     Further illustratively, the apparatus comprises a third flexible member extending from the end of the towing tongue for attachment to the watercraft. 
     Illustratively, the towing tongue includes a plug for attachment to a rearward end of the towing tongue. The flexible members are attached to the towing tongue by the plug. 
     Further illustratively, the apparatus comprises a third flexible member positioned along the length of the towing tongue between the end of the towing tongue and a second end of the towing tongue. The third flexible member engages a region of the watercraft adjacent an end of the watercraft. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention may best be understood by referring to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a side elevational view of an apparatus for towing a personal watercraft; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a fragmentary perspective view of an apparatus for towing a personal watercraft; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a fragmentary side elevational view of a personal watercraft on the water; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a fragmentary sectional view of the apparatus illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3  taken generally along section lines  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a detail of the apparatus illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3 ; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a detail of the apparatus illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3 ; and, 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a detail of the apparatus illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS 
     The devices described combine cycling and personal watercraft enjoyment, for example, kayaking, by permitting the enthusiast to tow a personal watercraft with a bicycle. The described devices permit the enthusiast to attach the bicycle to the personal watercraft, for example, to the topside of the kayak just behind the seat. A cart portion of the described devices has retractable wheels. When retracted, the wheels are also located behind the personal watercraft seat. The described devices eliminate the need for a pickup vehicle at the terminal end, for example, the downstream end, of a personal watercraft cruise. The described devices include a tow arm that couples to the cart axle and runs under the personal watercraft, or across the topside of the personal watercraft, to the tow bicycle. The tow arm breaks down into multiple, for example, two, parts for storage on the personal watercraft while under way. In some embodiments, one or more parts of the tow arm may also be used as (a) component(s) of an outrigger for added stability of the watercraft, for example, in rough water. 
     An apparatus  20  for towing a personal watercraft  22 , such as a kayak, behind a bicycle  24  is illustrated in  FIGS. 1-4 . The apparatus  20  includes a pair of wheels  26 , each rotatably mounted to one end of a respective arm  28 . Arms  28  in turn are pivotally mounted by clamps  30  to a crossmember  32  which extends through a clamp  34  mounted on the topside  36  of the watercraft  22 . A fork clamp or fork block  38  of known configuration is combined with, or mounted on or adjacent, clamp  34 . A rear wheel bracket  40  is mounted to the topside  36  of the watercraft rearwardly from fork block  38  an appropriate distance so that clamping the bicycle  24 ′s front fork  42  into the fork block  38  places the bicycle  24 ′s rear wheel  44  in the rear wheel bracket  40 . 
     A towing tongue  46  includes a plug  48  insertable into a rearward end  50  thereof and lockable in end  50  by, for example, a threaded fastener, a split pin, a hairpin-type cotter pin, a split ring, a bowtie locking cotter of the type illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,693, or other suitable type of fastener. The plug  48  has one end of each of three straps  52 - 1 ,  52 - 2 ,  52 - 3  constructed from, for example, natural or synthetic webbing or belting, attached thereto. The lengths of straps  52 - 1 ,  52 - 2 ,  52 - 3  are adjustable, for example, by respective buckles  54 - 1 ,  54 - 2 ,  54 - 3 , along the lengths thereof. 
     Center strap  52 - 2  has a hook  55  at its end  56  opposite plug  48  for hooking over the lip  58  of the cockpit  60  of watercraft  22 . Outer straps  52 - 1  and  52 - 3  have additional buckles  61  permitting them to be drawn tight around an axle  62  which extends between clamp blocks  64  by which wheels  26  are mounted to arms  28 . Another strap  66  is attached to towing tongue  46  forward along its length at a location near where the bow  68  of watercraft  22  will be located when the apparatus  20  is in towing configuration. 
     Tongue  46  may be constructed in the form of two substantially equal lengths  70  of tubing or the like with adjacent ends  72 ,  74  of any suitable complementary configuration to permit joining them together, end  50  for receiving plug  48  and an end  78  including a towing coupler  80  for coupling to a complementary coupler on the bicycle  24 . Strap  66  is provided with a buckle  82  at one end thereof. When it is desired to tow the watercraft  22  behind the bicycle  24 , the tongue  46  is assembled from its disassembled, stowable configuration. Clamps  30  are released, permitting them to be slid outward along crossmember  32  and pivoting of arms  28  with their wheels  26  downward into ground-engaging orientation, at which point the clamps  30  are reclamped to crossmember  32  fixing wheels  26  in ground-engaging orientation. The watercraft  22  is then ready to tow with the bicycle  24 . 
     Adjacent ends  72 ,  74  can be, for example, provided with a smaller or larger diameter length of tubing which is insertable into, or slides around one or the other or both of ends  72 ,  74  and is fixed to ends  72 ,  74  by a threaded fastener, split pin, hairpin-type cotter pin, split ring, bowtie locking cotter or the like. Alternatively, ends can be provided with internal or external threads and a threaded coupler can be provided to thread onto the outsides or insides of them. 
     Clamps  30 ,  34 ,  64  illustratively are split block- or slotted block-type clamps of the general type illustrated in  FIGS. 5 ,  6  and  7 . These are tightened to clamp tubes  28 ,  32 ,  62  by tightening socket head threaded fasteners  84  into the threaded passageways with which respective clamps  30 ,  34 ,  64  are provided. Fork block  38  and rear wheel bracket  40  illustratively are of types available from a number of sources such as, for example, Thule (http://www.thule.com/en/US/), Hollywood Racks (http://www.hollywoodracks.com/), or Rocky Mounts (http://www.rockymounts.com/). Axle  62  and tongue components  70  illustratively are sufficiently short that they can be stowed in watercraft  22  when it is on the water.