Abstract:
A pair of spaced parallel female slots or grooves located on the bottom of a watercraft float enable the pair of spaced parallel male ribs or rails located on top of a float to fit within the slots or grooves on the bottom of another float when the watercraft floats are interconnected or stacked on top of each other.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Not Applicable. 
   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not Applicable. 
   THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not Applicable. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to floats for watercraft and in particular to a stackable watercraft float system wherein each watercraft float has a pair of spaced parallel indented slots on a bottom of the float to receive and mate with two protruding spaced parallel tracks on the top of each float so that a number of the floats can be stacked together for transportation and storage in a stack which takes up less vertical space than floats with no bottom slots to receive the top tracks. 
   2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
   Watercraft floats are well known. Common features of a dry dock watercraft float consist of a durable plastic shell outside and air or foam filled inside. The watercraft is driven onto the float with guidance of the floats rails, which are generally located on top of the float. The float rails consumes dead space when trying to store and transport units. There is a problem with a high cost of storage and transportation of watercraft floats. Prior art devices do not provide nested designs or features incorporated into watercraft floats. 
   Prior art watercraft float patents include U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,727 for a Lift For a Personal Watercraft; U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,660 for a Modular Watercraft Support Structure; U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,098 for a Modular watercraft support structure; No. D398576 for a Personal Watercraft Dock, and No. D506431 for a Lift For a Personal Watercraft. 
   What is needed is watercraft floats which nest together when stacked requiring less space during transportation and storage. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   An object of the present invention is to nest two or more watercraft floats snugly together in a stack to reduce space for transporting or storing units. 
   Another object of the present invention is to reduce the cost of storage and transportation of watercraft floats by reducing the space required to store or transport the floats. 
   Yet another object of the present invention is to accommodate a variety of watercraft types on the float. 
   Still another object of the present invention is to make the watercraft float become more competitive in pricing in the market place. 
   In brief, the present invention comprises a pair of spaced parallel female slots or grooves located on the bottom of a watercraft float that enable the pair of spaced parallel male ribs or rails or tracks located on top of a float to fit within the slots or grooves on the bottom of another float when the watercraft floats are interconnected or stacked on top of each other. This greatly reduces the height of a stacked array of the watercraft floats, which saves space and allows for the inclusion of more floats in a given space during transportation or storage of the floats. 
   The purpose of the device is to provide a secure way of stacking watercraft floats so as to reduce the space required for storage or transportation of the floats, thereby lowering the cost of storage or transportation of the floats and helping to make the cost of the floats more competitive in the marketplace. 
   An advantage of the present invention is that it greatly reduces the cost of storage and transportation of the watercraft float units. A related advantage of the present invention is that retail customers and wholesalers who buy and store these products will benefit by a reduction in cost of shipping and storage of these items and the reduction of overhead will help the watercraft float of the present invention become more competitive in pricing in the market place. 
   A further advantage of the present invention is that it provides a unique structural design. 
   One more advantage of the present invention is that it can accommodate a variety of watercraft types to drive onto the floats which serve as floating docks for the watercraft. 
   Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the interlocking rails and slots provide a more stable stacked array. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other details of my invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are furnished only by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention, and in which drawings: 
       FIG. 1  is a front elevational view of the watercraft float of the present invention showing the ramp on a front end; 
       FIG. 2  is a rear elevational view of the watercraft float of  FIG. 1  showing the back end; 
       FIG. 3  is a rear elevational view of a number of he watercraft floats of  FIG. 1  stacked for storage or transporting with the top tracks inserted in the bottom slots; 
       FIG. 4  is a bottom plan view of the watercraft float of  FIG. 1  showing the bottom surface comprising a flat bottom surface with a pair of spaced parallel indented slots and four corner holes; 
       FIG. 5  is a top plan view of the watercraft float of  FIG. 1  showing the top surface comprising a flat top surface with a pair of spaced parallel protruding tracks, a front ramp, and four corner holes; 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the watercraft float of  FIG. 1  in a body of water showing a personal watercraft resting on the watercraft float. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   In  FIGS. 1–6 , a stackable watercraft float  20  comprises bottom slots  22  which receive the top protruding guide ribs or rails or tracks  21  of another float in the slots  22  when a number of the watercraft floats are stacked for storage or transportation, thus allowing the flat bottom surfaces  26  to contact the flat top surfaces  24  of adjacent watercraft floats. 
   The watercraft float  20  comprises a buoyant body having a flat top surface  24  portion around the edges and a flat bottom surface  26  with only two indented grooves  22 , a front end  10 , a back end  12 , and two sides  11  and  13 . 
   In  FIG. 2 , a preferred embodiment of the watercraft float  20  has an outer shell  15  made of a rigid material resistant to damage from watercraft using the watercraft float, and an inner chamber  16  inside the shell that contains a buoyant material. Preferably, the outer shell  15  is molded from low-density polyethylene and has a wall thickness of the 3/16 inch, and the inner chamber  16  is filled with expanded polystyrene. 
   In  FIGS. 1 ,  5 , and  6 , the top of the watercraft float has a flat top surface  24  adjacent to the two sides  11  and  13 , and the back end  12 . The top of the watercraft float has a pair of protruding spaced parallel ribs or rails or tracks  21  along a portion of the length of the watercraft float and a recessed boat receiving trough  23  and a sloping boat ramp  25  between the pair of protruding spaced parallel tracks  21 . The sloping boat ramp  25  extends downward from the boat receiving trough  23  to a low boat receiving edge  17 , as shown in  FIG. 6 , positioned below the level of the water  50  at the front end  10  of the watercraft float, while the float is in the water  50 . This sloping boat ramp receives a watercraft  40 , as shown in  FIG. 6 , that is driven from a body of water surrounding the float up the ramp and into the recessed boat receiving trough  23  with the pair of protruding spaced parallel tracks  21  acting as guides for directing the watercraft into the boat receiving trough. 
   In  FIGS. 1 through 4 , the bottom surface of the float has a flat bottom surface  26  with a pair of spaced parallel indented slots  22  in the bottom of the watercraft float directly below the pair of protruding spaced parallel tracks  21  on the top surface. The pair of spaced parallel indented slots  22  is configured to receive and mate with a pair of protruding spaced parallel tracks  21  from another similar watercraft float positioned directly below the watercraft float in a stacked array, allowing the flat bottom surface  26  of the upper watercraft float to contact the flat upper surface  24  of the lower watercraft float. In this way, a number of the watercraft floats can be stacked together for transportation and storage in a stacked array with the tracks and slots interlocking to secure the stacked array, thereby taking up less vertical space than watercraft floats with no bottom slots to receive the top tracks. 
   Four openings  27 , one in each of the four corners of the float, allow a securing device  60  and  61  to attach the float to a stationary mooring. In one embodiment, the securing device is a pair of pipes attached to a floating dock, that each have a 90-degree pipe elbow  60  (preferably hot dipped galvanized pipes  63 , which will not rust, which may have a polyvinyl chloride pipe sleeve  62  over each pipe and elbow to prevent the galvanized surface from scraping off) inserted into at least two of the four openings  27  in the corners of the float to secure the float for receiving a watercraft driven onto the watercraft float. In another embodiment, the means for attaching the watercraft float  20  to an underwater ground surface is a pair of pipes  61  (preferably hot dipped galvanized pipes, which will not rust, which may have a polyvinyl chloride pipe sleeve over each pipe and elbow to prevent the galvanized surface from scraping off) inserted through at least two of the four openings  27  of the float with a sliding fit to secure the float for receiving a watercraft driven onto the watercraft float. The pipes  61  extend down into the underwater ground surface and extend up above the top surface of the watercraft float so that the float can move up and down the pipes with the changing water level, while remaining secured to the pipes. 
   It is understood that the preceding description is given merely by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention and that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.