Abstract:
A boat cover includes a framework shaped to be attached to a plurality of pilings of a boat hoist beneath or above the boat hoist. A fabric boat cover has the framework and the sides thereof are lowered when a boat is hoisted thereunder. A boat cover raising and lowering mechanism raises and lowers the cover sides and has a rotatable shaft operatively rotated by a motor connected thereto and is located beneath the boat cover.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a boat cover and especially to a boat cover which covers a boat when the boat is hoisted with a boat hoist. 
     In the past, it has been common to provide boat decks and boat houses for the maintaining of boats when the boats are not being used. Typically, such boat docks have an open framework having a roof mounted thereover and may be provided with sidewalls so that the boat can be driven directly into the boat house. It is common to provide a boat hoist or winching mechanism for attaching ropes or cables to the boat and then elevating the boat out of the water supported on the framework beneath the roof. It is also old to provide canvas or flexible covers for a boat so that the cover can be drawn over the top of the boat and held therearound with draw ropes at the peripheral edge thereof for retaining the lower edge portion of the canvas in abutting relationship to the sides of the boat. 
     Boat covers typically cover boats when they are out of water, such as on trailers, and even when they are in the water and moored for extended periods of time to protect the tops of the boats. Some boat owners also cover their boats when they are not going to be used for a period of time even though they are kept within the boat house and elevated above the water under the roof of the boat house. This is to prevent an accumulation of dirt, moisture, and the like when the boat is not going to be used for any extended period of time. However, this becomes a difficult operation to attach and remove the boat cover since the boat is being suspended from ropes or cables during the time the boat is being covered. The absence of a separate cover over the boat will allow dirt, insects, and the like to accumulate on the interior of the boat and sun damage to the outside and inside of the boat. The present invention is directed towards a boat cover which automatically covers the boat whenever the boat is hoisted therebeneath and automatically raises the boat cover when the boat hoist lowers the boat into the water. 
     In the Downer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,212, a boat cover apparatus is provided which provides a manual lift system mounted to a frame for lifting a boat above the water and includes cables for attaching and lifting the boat. A boat cover is attached to a specially designed frame shaped to fit over the sides of the boat and is supported from flexible cords or cables and has a hand wench so the cover can be lowered or raised manually after the boat has been lifted. Thus, the boat is manually lifted with a manual boat hoist and then, in a separate operation, a frame having a cover attached is lowered with a separate hand wench down over the top of the boat. 
     In the Osborne U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,332, a retractable protective cover for boats, cars, and the like is operated with a manual wench pulling a cover through an elongated tube where it is retracted and extended for covering a car. The Faber U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,946, is a hinged trailer boat cover which has a rigid boat cover mounted to a trailer for covering the boat when towing the boat on the trailer or for storage on the trailer. The Lackovic U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,739, is a demountable cover for a boat hatchway which swings a cover on a supporting arm. The Enright U.S. Pat. No. 524,137, is a portable awning for vessels supported from a boom arm. The McGoldrick U.S. Pat. No. 1,134,630, is a life boat and launching mechanism therefor. 
     A boat hoist and cover assembly apparatus and method are taught in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,501 for a Boat Hoist Cover Assembly. This prior patent uses a boat hoist having a rotatable lift shaft having a plurality of ropes or cables coiled therearound in one direction of rotation and extending therefrom for removably coupling to a boat for lifting a boat by the rotation of the hoist lift shaft. A boat cover has a plurality of cables or ropes attached thereto and coiled around the boat hoist lift shaft in a second direction of rotation from that of the boat hoist ropes to thereby lower the boat cover when hoisting the boat and to raise the boat cover when lowering the boat so that a boat cover covers a boat whenever the boat is hoisted by the boat hoist. The method uses the selected boat hoist and cover assembly and rotates the boat hoist shaft to lift an attached boat while lowering the boat cover onto the boat. 
     In contrast, the present invention provides a boat cover that lowers onto the boat when lifting the boat with a hoist and raises the boat cover when lowering the boat to avoid the complexities of covering a boat in a boat house when storing the boat. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A boat cover for a boat hoist includes a framework shaped to be attached to a plurality of pilings of a boat hoist above or beneath the boat hoist. A fabric boat cover has a top portion attached over the framework and a side portion extending over the sides of the framework. A plurality of cover frame members are attached to the fabric boat cover side portion in a spaced relationship to each other. A boat cover raising and lowering mechanism raises and lowers the cover side portion and has a rotatable shaft operatively rotated by a motor connected thereto. The shaft is attached to the framework beneath the fabric boat cover top portion and has a plurality of winding cords connecting at one end to the shaft for rotation therearound upon rotation of the shaft. Each winding cord is connected at the other end thereof to the bottom one of a plurality of cover frame members attached to the fabric cover side portion. At least one of the winding cords connects to a plurality of lifting cords which are in turn connected to the bottom cover frame member so that rotating the shaft in one direction will wind the plurality of winding cords thereon to raise the boat cover side portion from around a boat and rotating the shaft in the other direction will unwind the winding cords to lower the boat cover side portion along the sides of a boat hoisted therein. A plurality of winding cords includes a first winding cord wrapped around the shaft in one direction and a second winding cord wrapped around the shaft in a second direction whereby rotation of the shaft will wind or unwind the first and second winding cords simultaneously. The boat cover framework includes a perimeter frame portion and at least one cross frame member having the shaft attached thereto between a pair of journals. A plurality of pulleys direct the winding cord and lifting cords for connecting to the bottom cover frame member. The frame can be made out of metal or polymer pipe members while the fabric cover can be a generally waterproof polymer fabric. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the written description and the drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a cut away perspective of a boat cover for a boat hoist in accordance with the present invention having the cover partially lowered; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the boat cover for a boat hoist in accordance with claim  1  having the cover lowered; and 
     FIG. 3 is a cutaway perspective of a boat cover of FIG. 1 having alternative attachments for the pilings. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to the drawings of FIGS. 1 through 3, a boat cover  10  is illustrated having a portion of the covering fabric  11  cut away to show the operating mechanism of the boat cover. The boat cover would typically be mounted beneath a boat hoist or in a boat dock and can have separate pilings  12  for mounting the boat cover  10  which can also be mounted to the existing pilings for supporting the boat hoist or dock. Framework  13  has a perimeter frame  14  which can be made of metal or polymer pipe and has a plurality of cross frame members  15 ,  16 , and  17 , each of which supports a center vertically extending support  18  attached to a center frame member  20 . A plurality of frame attaching brackets  21  are each attached to one of the pilings  12  and is shaped to cradle the perimeter frame  14  therein on at least four points, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Fabric  11  extends over the top of the framework  13  and around the sides of the perimeter frame  14 . The side extending fabric  22  has attached to the bottom thereof a weighted cover frame member  23  which may also be made of a plastic or metal pipe. A plurality of additional cover frame members  24  allow the side cover  22  to be raised or lowered in an orderly manner while stiffening the side cover. The cross member  15  has a boat cover raising and lowering mechanism  25  which acts like a wench having a rotating shaft  26  supporting between a pair of journals  27  and  28 , each of which are attached to the cross frame member  15 . An electric motor  30 , having an electric cord  31  extending therefrom, is attached to the journal  27  and is operatively attached to the shaft  26 . The rotating shaft  26  has a winding cord  32  to which winds partially therearound in one direction and extends from the top of the shaft  26 . A winding cord  33  is also coiled around the shaft  26  but coiled in the opposite direction from cord  32 . It extends from the bottom of the shaft  26  such that when the electric motor  30  rotates the shaft  26  in one direction, both coiled cords  32  and  33  will unwind simultaneously and when the motor rotates the shaft  26  in the opposite direction, both will be wound back onto the shaft  26 . The winding cord  32  extends around a pulley  34  and is attached to an eyelet  35  attached to the boat cover frame  23  so that when the shaft  26  is rotated in either direction, it will raise or lower the cord  32  to raise or lower one end of the frame  23 . The winding cord  33  is attached to a ring  36  which has a plurality of lifting cords  37  attached thereto. Four of the lifting cords  37  are wrapped around four pulleys  38  which in turn directs two of the cover lifting cords  37  around a pair of pulleys  40  and  41  on one side thereof and around a pair of pulleys  42  and  43  on the opposite side thereof. The pulleys  40  and  41  direct the cord  37  around a pair of pulleys  44  and  45  which in turn direct their respective cords to an eye  46  attached to the cover frame member  23 . The cords  37  that extend through the pulleys  42  and  43  similarly pass through pulleys  47  and  48  which in turn are directed to a pair of eyelets  50  attached to the bottom cover frame member  23 . One final cord  37  extends over a pulley  51  and over a pulley  52  to direct a cord to an eyelet  53  attached to the perimeter frame  23 . 
     Thus, when the winding cord  33  is wrapped on the shaft  26 , it simultaneously pulls all of the cords  37  which are then directed through a series of pulleys to the perimeter frame  23  which are then simultaneously lifted by the pulling of the one cord  33 . Inasmuch as the winding cords  32  and  33  are being wrapped and unwrapped simultaneously from the shaft  26 , the boat cover frame member  23  has been raised or lowered simultaneously to raise or lower the side of the boat cover  22 . When a boat is pulled between the pilings  12  and the water  54 , a hoist located above the boat cover  10  can have boat lifting cables extending through the top of the cover fabric  11  to attach to the boat for lifting the boat up into the cover and the cover sides  22  lowered around the boat so that the boat is not only lifted from the water  54  but is covered over the top and all sides by the cover  11  and side cover  22 . The side cover  22  can be raised or lowered by switching the electric motor  30  in a forward or reverse direction as desired and can be actuated by a micro switch  59  any time the boat is raised by the boat hoist. A regular manually operated switch may also be used as well as a wireless remote as desired. 
     FIG. 3 illustrates the boat cover of FIGS. 1 and 2 in which the brackets  21  of FIGS. 1 and 2 have been replaced by supporting rods  60  attached with brackets  61  to the top of the pilings  12 . The support rods  60  and  62  each having a cable  63  extending from each end thereof and attached to the perimeter frame  14  of the frame  13  of the boat cover  10 . The boat cover then operates in the same manner. The boat covers of FIGS. 1 through 3 can be mounted to existing pilings of a hoist or boat dock or can be mounted to separate pilings specifically put in for the boat cover  10 . 
     It should be clear at this point that the present invention illustrates a boat cover for use with a boat hoist or dock which can be automatically actuated to raise and lower the sides of the boat cover and in which the boat cover operating mechanism is positioned below the top of the boat cover where it is protected from the elements. However, the present invention should not be construed as limited to the forms shown which are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.