Patent Abstract:
A dock and dock kit suitable for shipping from a manufacturing site to an erection site where a dock can be erected having elongated dock beams with a length that is greater than the length of any of the beams in the dock kit and the mateable beams have surfaces that are mateable and securable to each other through fasteners to form elongated dock beams with each of the mateable beams having supports thereon for receiving and holding a plurality of dock planks thereon.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 13/373,641 filed Nov. 22, 2011 and a continuation in part of Ser. No. 13/317,624 filed Oct. 24, 2011. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to docks and dock kits and, more specifically, to a universal dock kit. 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     None 
     REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
     None 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The length and width of lake docks vary depending on the type of lakeshore as well as the preference of the lakeshore owner. The requests for various widths and lengths of docks usually requires that docks be made to order for each application sometimes in dock lengths which preclude conventional shipping methods. That is, most conventional carriers have a maximum length for goods that they will transport or if they do transport longer length goods the costs of the transport becomes so costly it becomes uncompetitive to make and ship the dock to a customer in a remote location. 
     While posts for supporting a dock can be located at different positions along the dock in order to have a stable dock surface it is desirable to have a set of at least two elongated dock beams that run the entire length of the dock for supporting the dock planks thereon. With the use of continuous elongated dock beams one is assured that the dock planks can be secured to the dock beams to form a stable walking surface. One such dock beam that is suitable for forming elongated dock beams is the Vee shaped dock beams used in docks sold by R &amp; D Manufacturing Inc. of Forest Lake Minn. 
     Aside from the difficulty in shipping docks in dock kit form another difficulty is that different length dock beams need to be fabricated for each different dock length that a customer orders, which results in requiring a large inventory of dock beams in order to anticipate the orders for different length docks. On the other hand additional dock planks can easily be added to the dock kit to accommodate requests for different length docks. Thus, there is a need for a universal dock kit that could be assembled in different lengths and also avoids the shipping problems when the length of the dock beams exceed the carriers standard capacity. 
     The invention described herein comprises a universal dock kit for in situ formation of dock beams of various length docks without incurring the costs and shipping restrictions on oversize items and without having an excessive inventory of dock beams. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A universal dock and universal dock kit suitable for shipping from a manufacturing site to a lake site where a dock can be erected using in situ formation of elongated dock beams wherein the elongated dock beams supporting the dock planks have a length that is greater than the length of any of the beams in the dock kit. The dock kit including mateable beams that include male and female beams that have surfaces that are mateable and securable to each other through fasteners to form the elongated dock beam with each of the shorter male and female beams having supports thereon for receiving and holding a plurality of dock planks thereon and for holding the mateable beams in an interlocked condition while stiffening the elongated beam. The use of dock beams that can be assembled into different lengths allows the same dock kit to be used for a range of different length docks by merely adding additional dock planks to the dock kit. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows an example of a dock kit of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of mateable beams in surface-to-surface engagement with each other; 
         FIG. 2A  is an end view of one of the mateable beams; 
         FIG. 2B  is an end view of a mateable beam for forming surface to surface contact with the mateable beam of  FIG. 2A ; 
         FIG. 3  shows two mateable beams located in an overlapping condition to form a dock beam; 
         FIG. 4  shows two mateable beams located in a different overlapping condition to form a dock beam longer than the dock beam of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  shows two mateable beams located in a further overlapping condition to form a dock beam longer than the dock beam of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the overlapping section of two mateable beams; and 
         FIG. 7  is a bottom view of two sets of overlapping beams forming dock beams for supporting a plurality of dock planks thereon. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       FIG. 1  shows a dock kit  10  including dock planks  23 - 26 , dock hardware  20 , dock posts  15 - 18 , a first set of mateable beams  11  and  12  and a second set of mateable beams  51  and  52 . Each of the set of mating beams can be overlapped and assembled to each other for forming an elongated dock beam which has a length longer than the length of the individual mating beams but less than the end to end length of the individual mating beams. The dock planks  23 - 26  can be secured to a pair of dock beams through the dock hardware  21 . The dock posts  15 - 18  can be used to support the dock above the water. 
     In the example shown in  FIG. 1  a first set of mateable beams  11  and  12  comprise a metal vee shaped male beam  11  having a fixed length L and a metal vee shaped female beam  12  having a fixed length L. Typically, beams  11  and  12  may be formed from a metal such as sheet aluminum, however, other materials may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Beam  11  includes a set of lateral flanges  43  and  44  with flange  43  having a first set of spaced apart holes  11   a  and flange  44  having a second set of spaced apart holes  11   b  with each set of spaced apart holes extending in a regular pattern along the flanges and a third set of spaced apart holes  11   c  extending in a regular pattern along the apex end of the beam  11 . Similarly, beam  12  includes a set of lateral flanges  33  and  34  with flange  33  having a first set of spaced apart holes  12   a  and flange  34  having a second set of spaced apart holes  12   b  a third set of spaced apart holes  12   c  extending in a regular pattern along the apex end of the beam  12  which each set of spaced apart holes extending in a regular pattern along the respective flanges and the apex end of beam  12  with the spacing between holes arranged so that a portion of the male beam  11  can be overlapped and secured to the female beam  12  through the extension of a set of fasteners  21 , such as bolts, through the aligned holes in the flanges and the apex of the beams  11  and  12 . 
     Similarly, the second set of mateable beams  51 ,  52  also comprises a first vee shaped male beam  51  having a first fixed length L and a second vee shaped female beam  52  having a second fixed length L. Beam  51  includes a set of lateral flanges  53  and  54  with flange  53  having a first set of spaced apart holes  51   a  and flange  54  having a second set of spaced apart holes  51   b  and a third set of spaced apart holes  51   c  extending in a regular pattern along the apex end of the beam  51  with each set of spaced apart holes extending in a regular pattern. Similarly, beam  52  includes a set of lateral flanges  55  and  56  with flange  55  having a first set of spaced apart holes  52   a  and flange  56  having a second set of spaced apart holes  52   b  and a third set of spaced apart holes  52   c  extending in a regular pattern along an apex end of the beam  52  which each set of spaced apart holes extending in a regular pattern along the respective flanges and the apex end with the spacing between holes arranged so that a portion of the male beam  51  can be overlapped and secured to the female beam  52  through the extension of a set of fasteners, such as bolts, through the aligned holes in the flanges and the apex end of the beams  51  and  52 . 
     While dock beams can be manufactured in longer lengths the limitation on the length of goods that can be shipped from place to place makes it unfeasible to manufacture longer dock beams since not only is the shipping more difficult the cost of shipping increases substantially if a dock beam exceeds a certain length. Typically, most shippers limit the length of an article to a maximum of 10 feet in length, however, homeowners often need dock lengths in excess of ten feet, which requires having dock beams in excess of 10 feet. 
     A feature of the beams of the dock kit  10  is the use of shorter beams that can be assembled to each other to form a longer dock beam without the need for separate gusset plates or other tie members. A further feature is the ability to assemble shorter beams into a longer beam without the need of distorting the beams during the assemble of the beams into an elongated dock beam since the beams are mateable with each other thus reducing stress points on the elongated beam. A benefit of the inventions is that even though the mating beams may not be identical that when assembled the beams so closely resemble each other in physical appearance and size that the dock beams have a similar visual appearance to an observer so that the assembled dock beam appears as a continuous beam. 
     To appreciate the feature of the mating beams reference should be made to  FIGS. 2 ,  2 A and  2 B which show one example of the mateable beams for use in dock kit  10 .  FIG. 2  shows a perspective end view of beam  11 , which is located within an internal cavity of beam  12 . In the example shown the beams  11  and  12  have a surface-to-surface contact between the inside surface  11   c  of beam  11  the outside surface  12   c  of beam  12 . 
       FIG. 2A  shows an end view of beam  12  and  FIG. 2B  shows an end view of beam  11 . The beam  11  includes angled sides  41  and  42  terminating in an internal apex  40  having an internal radius of curvature R 1  and includes an internal beam contact surface  11   d . Beam  11  includes a first lateral flange  43  and a second lateral flange  44  for supporting dock planks thereon and for securing beam  11  beam  12  to each other. 
     Similarly,  FIG. 2A  shows an end view of beam  12  revealing the angled sides  32  and  36  terminating in an outside apex end  35  having an external radius of curvature R 1  and an external beam contact surface  12   d . A first lateral flange  33  for supporting dock planks thereon extends from side  42  and a second lateral flange  44  for supporting dock planks thereon extends from side  41 . The beam  12  includes angled sides  32  and  36  terminating in an external apex end  40  having an external radius of curvature R 1 . Beam  12  includes a first lateral flange  33  and a second lateral flange  34  for supporting dock planks thereon and for securing dock planks to beam  11  beam  12 . 
     As can be seem in  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2   b  the apex end of the female beam  11  has an inside radius of curvature R 1  and the apex end of male beam  12  has an external radius of curvature R 1  where the external radius of curvature of the male beam is equal or less than the inside radius of curvature of the female beam to enable beams  11  and  12  to mate in surface to surface contact with an inside surface  11   d  of female beam  11  with an outside surface  12   d  as illustrated in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 6 . 
     In the example shown the fixed length of the male beam and the fixed length of the female beam are each less than ten feet in order to accommodate carrier restrictions. In the in situ formation of an elongated dock beam described herein the lateral flanges of each of the male beam  12  and the female beam  11  have regular spaced holes, so the female beam  11  and the male beam  12  can be overlapped and secured to each other in a variety of different lengths as evidenced by dock beams  50 ,  51  and  52 , which are shown in  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 . 
       FIG. 3  shows that the male beam  12  fits in the cavity of the female beam  11  with the flanges and the apex end of each beam in contact with each other and a set of fasteners  21  extending therethrough with nuts  21   a  thereon to hold the flanges and the apex end of the beams proximate each other so that beam  50  has a length L 2 . 
     A further benefit from the mateable beams is that the overlapping section of the beams interlock with other in surface to surface contact so that the top fasteners and bottom fasteners  21  and  21   a , which secure the flanges and apex ends of the beams to each other enable one to form the elongated dock beam from the shorter mateable beams. A further benefit of the overlapped beams is that the overlapping of the beams produce an elongated beam that is stiffer than an individual one-piece beam of similar length since the overlapped regions reinforce one another. 
       FIG. 4  shows the mateable beams  11  and  12  which have been in situ formed into a dock beam  51  having a length L 3  and  FIG. 5  shows the mateable beams  11  and  12  which have been in situ formed to a beam  52  having a length L 4  through a set of fasteners  21   a  and  21   b . In each case the length of the beam formed by the overlapping beams  11  and  12  is greater than the length of either beam  11  or beam  12  but is less than the end-to-end length of beams  11  and  12  since a portion of each beam overlap each other. Although more material is required for fabricating a dock beam of given length if the dock beam is made of shorter beams the cost premium has been found to be insignificant in comparison to the costs and problems in shipping longer dock beams that exceed surface carriers normal size limit. In each case the spaced apart holes may be used to obtain the various lengths. If desired an operator may elect to form additional holes for additional fasteners if so desired. 
     In the example shown the fixed length of the female beam and the fixed length of the male beam in the dock kit are the same length although one may be longer than the other without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
     While dock kit  10  shows examples of four dock planks  23 ,  24 ,  25 , and  26 , which are to be fixedly mounted transversely to the dock beams  11  and  12  with the hardware fasteners  21  shown in box  20 . The actual number of dock planks included with the dock kit will depend on the ultimate length of the dock. Also included in dock kit  10  are a set of posts  15 ,  16 ,  17 , and  18  with post  15  having a footpad  15   a , post  16  having a footpad  16   a , post  17  having a footpad  17   a  and post  18  having a footpad  18   a . Similarly, the actual number of dock planks included with the dock kit will depend on the ultimate length of the dock. Thus a dock kit may contain more or less items with a basic dock kit generally including at least two sets of dock beams that can be assembled into longer dock beams. 
       FIG. 6  shows in perspective view an example of the overlapping of the first set of mateable beams  11  and  12  to form a single dock beam through the alignment of holes  11  a in beam  11  with holes  12   a  in beam  12  and the extension of a bolt  21  through the spaced apart holes in lateral flanges on each of the beams as well as through the apex end of each of the beams. 
     Thus, in one mode the invention comprises a dock kit  10  including a set of dock planks  23 - 26 , a female beam  11  having a first fixed length L 1  and an apex end  40  having a set of regular spaced openings  11   c  with an inside beam contact surface  11   d  and a pair of opposite extending lateral flanges, a male beam  12  having a second fixed length and an apex end with an outside beam contact surface  12   d  and a pair of opposite extending lateral flanges  43 ,  44  where the outside beam contact surface  12   d  of the male beam  12  engages the inside contact beam surface  11   d  of the female beam when the female beam and the male beam are overlapped to thereby form an elongated dock beam such as dock beam  50 ,  51 , or  52 , which is of greater length than the length of either the female beam  11  or the male beam  12  but less than the end-to-end length of the female beam  11  and the male beam  12 . 
       FIG. 3  is a side view of beam  11  and beam  12  and illustrates how beam  11  and beam  12  which each have a length L 1  can be assembled into a single dock beam having a length L 2  which is longer than either the dock beam  12  or dock beam  11  but less than an end-to-end length of beam  11  and beam  12 . The dock beam  11  and dock beam  12  are secured to each other through a set of fasteners  21  and  21   b , which may be bolts with nuts. 
       FIG. 4  is a further side view of dock beam  11  and beam  12  and illustrates how beam  11  and dock beam  12  which each have a length L 1  can be assembled into a single dock beam having a length L 3 , which is longer than the dock beam  12  or dock beam  11  but less than an end-to-end length of beam  11  and beam  12 . The dock beam  11  and dock beam are secured to each other through a set of fasteners  21  and  21   b.    
       FIG. 5  is a side view of dock beam  11  and dock beam  12  and illustrates how beam  11  and beam  12  which each have a length L 1  can be assembled into a single dock beam having a length L 4  which is longer than the dock beam  12  or dock beam  11  but less than an end-to-end length of beam  11  and beam  12 . The dock beam  11  and dock beam  12  are secured to each other through a set of fasteners  21  and  21   a . Typically when the beams are secured to each other the beams include an overlap of at least two feet. However, the length of the overlap will depend on the material that the beams  11  and  12  are made from as well as the thickness and the shape of the mating beams. While mating beams  11  and  12  are shown as Vee shaped beams it is envisioned that other beams of other mateable shapes may also be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described herein. While the mateable beams are secured with fasteners on the flange and preferably on the apex end of the beams in some cases the fasteners may be located on the sides of the beam to provide for securing the beams in another location other than the apex of the beam. For example, the spaced apart holes may be located in sides  12 ,  36  and  42 ,  41  without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
       FIG. 7  shows a view of the underside of a dock having a first set of dock beams  11  and  12  located in an overlapped condition and a second set of dock beams  51  and  52  which are also located in an overlapped condition with each of the beams located parallel to each other and extending transverse to a set of dock planks  23 - 31  which are fastened thereto to form a dock  53 . 
     Thus one aspect of the invention includes a method of manufacture of a dock kit  10  for shipment for on site assembly where the assembled dock has a length L 3  by forming a male beam  12  of a first length L 1  and a female beam  11  of a second length L 2  where the length L 1  or L 2  is less than L 3 , forming a further male beam  51  of a further length L 1  and a further female beam  52  of a further length L 2  where the length L 1  or L 2  is less than L 3 , forming a set of mating features such as a vee shape with an apex end in each of the male beams and each of the female beams. One then prepares customer instructions on assembly of the first male beam and the first female beam to form a first dock beam of length L 3  where L 3  is greater than L 1  and for assembling the further female beam and the further male beam to form a second dock beam of length L 3  where L 3  is greater than L 1  or L 2  including overlapping the first male beam to the first female beam to form the first elongated dock beam and securing the male beam to the female beam through fasteners  20  extending through aligned holes in flanges formed in the female beam and flanges formed in the male beam and through an apex end of the male beam and an apex end of the female beam and overlapping the further male beam to the further female beam to form the second dock beam and securing the further male beam to the further female beam through fasteners extending through aligned holes in the flanges and the apex end of each of the further male beam and the further female beam. 
     While the examples show the spaced apart holes located in the male and female beam in some cases the spaced apart holes may be formed on site when the male and female beam are located in a face to face condition as shown in  FIG. 2 .

Technology Classification (CPC): 4