Patent Abstract:
Method and apparatus for a canopy for watercraft wherein the canopy is constructed by using a pair of flexible, rod-like members wherein one end of each of the flexible rods is inserted through mating apertures in an upright member mounted onto the watercraft so that the rods are bowed outwardly and frictionally held in the stanchion. A canopy is attached between the rods so that the canopy generally appears to be in an elongated V-shaped structure which stretches across a portion of the watercraft between the flexible rods.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to canopies and, more particularly, is concerned with a canopy for a watercraft, however, the canopy could be mounted on other separate structures, e.g., a chair. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     Devices relevant to the present invention have been described in the related art, however, none of the related art devices disclose the unique features of the present invention. 
     In U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,849 dated Jun. 17, 1997, Scott disclosed a personal screen device. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,798 dated Nov. 17, 1981, Musgrove et al., disclosed a foldable chair with sun shade and tray. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,883 dated Feb. 10, 1987, Kato disclosed a foldable support. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,845,780 dated Jan. 25, 2005, Bishirjian disclosed a personal canopy apparatus. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,757,185 dated Jun. 24, 2014, Muzzio disclosed a bimini top for watercraft. 
     While these devices may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as hereinafter described. As will be shown by way of explanation and drawings, the present invention works in a novel manner and differently from the related art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     The present invention discloses a canopy for a watercraft wherein the canopy is constructed by using a pair of flexible, fiberglass rod-like members wherein one end of each of the flexible members is inserted through mating apertures in an upright member or stanchion mounted onto the watercraft so that the rod-like members are bowed outwardly and frictionally held in the stanchion. The canopy is attached between the rod members by using rings or similar devices placed through eyelets in the canopy so that the canopy generally appears to be in an elongated, somewhat V-shaped structure which stretches across a portion of the watercraft between the flexible members. The canopy is rotatable around the stanchion and the height of the canopy can be adjusted up and down using apertures or the like in the stanchion. Also shown is a cross member running between the flexible rod members so as to provide support underneath the canopy near the middle of the flexible rods. Additionally, there is shown a line attached to a rear end of the canopy so that a head of a user can grasp the line and rotate the canopy around the upright member or stanchion so that the canopy can be positioned in a favorable position suitable to the user and so that the user can cast a rod and reel from underneath the canopy of the present invention. 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a canopy for a watercraft. A further object of the present invention is to provide a canopy on a watercraft which can be easily adjusted by a user. A further object of the present invention is to provide a canopy for a watercraft which can be raised and lowered and rotated about an upright member used to mount the canopy on the watercraft. A further object of the present invention is to provide a canopy for a watercraft which can be easily operated by a user. A further object of the present is to provide a canopy for a watercraft which can be relatively inexpensively manufactured. 
     The foregoing and other objects and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In the accompanying drawings, like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views. 
     The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order that the invention may be more fully understood, it will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the present invention shown in operative connection. 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged perspective view of portions of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a typical mounting bracket for the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is an elevation view of portions of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 
     With regard to reference numerals used, the following numbering is used throughout the drawings.
           10  present invention     12  watercraft     14  upright support     15  tip of upright support     16  canopy     18  first flexible rod     20  second flexible rod     22  ferrule     24  cross member     26  T connector     27  connector pin     28  ring     30  eyelet     32  end of rod     34  aperture     36  aperture     38  aperture     40  aperture     42  surface of watercraft     44  base     45  fastener     46  rotatable portion     47  rod holder     48  mount for upright support     49  pole mounting portion     50  aperture     52  pin     54  line     56  hardware or cleat     58  ground     60  fisherman     62  rod and reel     64  lure and line       

     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The following discussion describes in detail at least one embodiment of the present invention. This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the present invention to the particular embodiments described herein since practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well. For a definition of the complete scope of the invention the reader is directed to the appended claims.  FIGS. 1 through 3  illustrate the present invention wherein a canopy for a watercraft is disclosed and which is generally indicated by reference number  10 . 
     Turning to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , therein is shown the present invention  10  showing a watercraft  12  to which is attached an upright support post or stanchion  14  having a canopy  16  disposed thereon. The canopy  16  is supported between a first and second  18 ,  20  side frame members or rods which are flexible in nature similar to what a fiberglass or graphite composition rod would exhibit and the front tip of canopy  16  may be attached to upright support  14 . Each rod  18 ,  20  may be made of one piece or two pieces and a two piece unit would require a conventional ferrule or the like shown at  22  with connector pins  27  in order to connect the pieces of the rod  18 ,  20  to each other. Also, a cross member  24  is shown underneath the canopy  16  so as to provide vertical support for the canopy in order to keep it from ripping or tearing as would be caused by wind or movement of the boat or watercraft  12  and T-connectors  26  or the like are shown on each side for connecting an end of the cross bar  24  to each of the flexible rods  18 ,  20 . The canopy  16  is connected to the rods  18 ,  20  using a plurality of rings  28  passing through multiple eyelets  30  disposed near the edge of the canopy. The flexible rods,  18 ,  20  are attached to an upper end of the upright support or stanchion  14  by having an end  32  of each rod pass through apertures  34 ,  36 ,  38 ,  40  of the upright support  14 . An end of rod  18  extends or passes through aperture  34 ,  36  and an end of rod  20  passes through aperture  38 ,  40  as best shown in  FIG. 2 . This construction technique reduces the cost and time of manufacturing of the present invention  10 . The ends of the rod  18 ,  20  being under inherent resilience force are frictionally held firmly in the aperture pairs  34 ,  36 ,  38   40  as the ends  32  of the rods  18 ,  20  pass completely through the mating opposing walls of the upright support  14 . Also shown is an up and down adjustment mechanism for the upright member  14  wherein a plurality of apertures  50  are shown passing through the inner and outer upright support  14  so that the inner upright support is telescopically connected to the outer upright support using a plurality of apertures  50  having a pin  52  pass through a selected aperture pair as would be done in the standard manner by one skilled in the art so as to make the canopy  16  of the present invention  10  height adjustable in an up-down direction. Also shown is a line  54 , connected to an end of canopy  16  and having an end tied to cleat  56  which line can be used to control and thereby to move or rotate the canopy  16  about the watercraft  12  to a user selected position. Also shown is a fisherman  60  in boat  12  holding a rod and reel  62  in his hand with a lure and line  64  thereon illustrating how a user can cast from underneath the canopy  16 . An alternate mounting means for the upright support post  14  is shown by rod holder  47  disposed on an inside wall of the boat  12  with a lower end of the post  14  inserted in the rod holder. Also shown is an exemplary mounting device  48  for connecting the upright support  14  to a surface  42  of the watercraft  12  or the like wherein the mounting device has a base  44  for receiving fasteners  45  extending into the surface  42  and a middle portion  46  which is generally pivotable and/or rotatable and a pole mounting portion  49  to which the upright support  14  is connected. 
     Turning to  FIG. 3 , therein is shown an enlarged exemplary mounting device  48  for connecting the lower end of upright support  14  to a surface  42  of the watercraft  12  or the like wherein the mounting device has a base  44  for receiving fasteners  45  and a middle portion  46  which is generally pivotable and/or rotatable and a pole mounting portion  49  to which the upright support  14  is connected. Many different types of mounting devices  48  could be used with upright support  14  for connection to many types of separate structures such as chairs or the like. 
     Turning to  FIG. 4 , therein is shown an enlarged view showing the lower end of the upright support  14  having a tip  15  thereon for insertion into a different support structure such as the ground  58  as would occur with sand at a beach. 
     Additional explanation of the present invention  10  is hereby provided with reference to all the figures wherein a lightweight canopy  16  for a boat  12  is disclosed which is fully adjustable up and down and rotatable in a 360 degree arc around the stanchion  14  using a line  54  which would allow a fisherman  60  underneath the canopy to cast while standing or sitting underneath the canopy. The canopy  16  also provides protection from sunrays and rain. The canopy  16  which is made of sheet of flexible material made of nylon-like material is supported by a pair of solid flexible, fiberglass or graphite rods  18 ,  20  about ½ inch in diameter and the canopy is attached to the rods using eyelets  30  with simple connectors  28  being run through the eyelets and around the rods. The inherent resilience of the rods  18 ,  20  bias the flexible fiberglass rods away from each other providing an effective amount of tension for maintaining the canopy in a stretched out disposition between the rods wherein the rods are each bowed outwardly away from each other. Front ends  32  of the fiberglass rods  18 ,  20  are each passed through holes  34 - 40  placed in opposite sides of an upright support PVC pipe or post  14  or like type support post or stanchion which support post is mounted onto a boat  12  or the like at its lower end. The canopy  16  would be easy to use and relatively inexpensive to manufacture. Also, the solid flexible, fiberglass rods  18 ,  20  may be jointed at  22  so the system could be broken down and folded for storage. Also, the rear ends of the flexible, fiberglass rods  18 ,  20  may be squeezed inwardly toward each other and tied to each other for securement while the boat  12  is being operated at high speed in a forward direction. Also, in addition to watercraft  12 , the canopy  16  could be mounted on many types of separate support structures such as picnic tables, trailers, pickup trucks, chairs, in the ground or the like. Canopy  16  may be made of tarp-like material and may be waterproof. PVC post  14  has an inner member about 1½ inch in diameter and an outer member about 2 inch in diameter. Ferrules  22  and T-connectors  26  could be made of fiberglass or aluminum or the like. 
     A summary of the present invention  10  making reference to  FIGS. 1-4  follows wherein a canopy  16  for being mounted on a separate structure such as a watercraft  12  or in the ground  58  or rod holder  47  includes an upright support post  14  having upper and lower ends; first and second flexible rods  18 ,  20 , each flexible rod having first, front  32  and second, rear ends; a first end of each flexible rod extending through an upper end of said upright support post, wherein the flexible rods are substantially horizontally disposed; and, a sheet of material having a first edge disposed on said the first flexible rod and a second edge disposed on the second flexible rod so that the sheet of material forms a canopy extending between the first and second flexible rods and substantially from the first end of each flexible rod to the second end of each flexible rod. Wherein, the upright support post is adjustable in height using apertures  50  and a pin  52  and is rotatable in a 360 degree arc. Also, shown is a cross member  24  having first and second ends extending underneath the sheet of material  16  having the first end of the cross member connected to the first flexible rod and the second end of the cross member connected to the second flexible rod at  26 . Wherein the first end  32  of each flexible rod  18 ,  20  is frictionally held in the plurality of apertures  34 ,  36 ,  38 ,  40  substantially perpendicular to the upper end of the upright support post  14 . The angle formed between the rods  18 ,  20  (expected to be about 60 to 120 degrees) with respect to each other is effectively sized so that the rods become bowed enough to provide enough lateral tension to support the canopy  16  in a stretched out disposition.

Technology Classification (CPC): 4