Patent ID: 7066683

Claim:
A boat lift mounted to a dock comprising a cable-handling unit including: a pair of elongate pilings each having one end mounted into a floor of a body of water and an opposite end extending above an edge of the dock, a movable piston arm and an oppositely disposed stationary cylinder end secured to the dock, a first plurality of pulleys, at least one pulley of said first plurality of pulleys being attached to said piston arm, a second plurality of pulleys cooperating with said first plurality of pulleys; a cradle for supporting a boat thereon and being operatively movable in a substantially vertical direction along said pair of pilings; a pair of elongate cables each having one end routed through said at least one pulley attached to said piston arm and extending to and affixed to said cradle and an opposite end secured to said cable handling unit and routed through said first and second pluralities of pulleys, said first plurality of pulleys directing said cables in a substantially horizontal direction and said second plurality of pulleys guiding said cables vertically adjacent said pair of pilings, said piston arm being extensible to a first position away from said cylinder end for lowering said cradle vertically adjacent said pair of pilings and being retractable to a second position for raising said cradle vertically adjacent said pair of pilings, said piston arm and said cylinder end being disposed horizontally to reduce the visual profile of said cable handling unit.