Oar Lock Attachment

This invention is in the field of attachments for small boats for supporting oarlocks thereon.

Proposals have been made heretofore for mounting oarlocks on small boats having upstanding flange-like edges wherein the attachment was clamped to the upstanding edge. However, small boats are now being manufactured without any upstanding gunwales or flanges or the like and thus are not susceptible to having the prior oarlock attachments fixed thereto.

This invention comprises generally a removable attachment for a boat having a substantially flat gunwale of appreciable width and comprises a band, the ends of which engage the inner and outer edges of the gunwale and wherein an elevating mechanism presses an intermediate portion of the band upwardly to secure the same in place and is provided with socket means to receive an oarlock at a convenient height.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a small boat having a pair of the attachments of the present invention secured thereon;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a further enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the main body portion of the attachment.

In the drawings, numeral 2 designates generally a small boat which may be of the type known as the Sunfish, manufactured by the AMF Company. However, it will be obvious that the invention is adaptable to other small boats.

As shown, the boat 2 comprises a thin-walled, hollow hull 4 having a flat gunwale 6 of substantial width, terminating at its outer edge in a peripheral rib 8 and terminating at its inner edge in a downwardly extending flange 10 defining the periphery of a cockpit 12. While boats of this type are intended for use with a mast and sail, the latter are omitted from the drawings for clarity of illustration. Such boats are usually of such shallow depth that a person in the cockpit desiring to row the boat with oars finds that the gunwale is too low to provide a proper and convenient mounting for oarlocks. The attachment of the present invention comprises a strap 14 of a length substantially greater than the width of the gunwale 6 and which is bent at its outer end to define a hook portion 16 and an upwardly sloping portion 18. At the upper end of the portion 18 there is provided a generally horizontal portion 20 from which a downwardly sloping portion 22 extends to the edge of the cockpit 12 and which is bent downwardly at 24 and inwardly at 26 to define an inner hook portion. A terminal flange 28 is provided to facilitate manual manipulation of the attachment. As shown, the strap 14 is made of metal but it is to be understood that it may be made of other suitable materials such as fiberglas laminate or plastic sheet.

Fixedly secured to the under surface of the portion 20 is an externally threaded body 30 having an upwardly open socket 32 therein aligned with an opening 34 through the portion 20. Threadedly engaged with the external threads of the member 30 is a cylindrical member 36 having internal threads mating with those on the body 30. The exterior of the member 36 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced projections or protuberances 38 to facilitate secure manual grasping of the member 36 and rotating the same.

To apply the attachment thus described, the body 36 is screwed upwardly on the body 30, thus leaving the strap 14 sufficiently flexible to engage its hook 16 over rib 8 and snap its flange 26 onto the lower edge of the flange 10. Thereafter, the body 36 may be grasped and caused to be threadedly advanced downwardly, thus thrusting body 30 upwardly and applying sufficient tension to the strap 14 to securely hold the same in position on the boat. When the device is thus secured to the boat, the socket 32 may receive an oarlock 40 of the usual type and serves to position the same at a convenient selected location on the boat and at a height convenient to a person occupying cockpit 12.

Obviously, the procedures described above may be reversed for removing the attachment from the boat and it will be seen that when the strap 14 is loosened, its flange 28 may be grasped to facilitate disengaging the inner end of the attachment from the edge of the cockpit 12.

While a single specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein, the same is merely illustrative of the principles involved and it is contemplated that the claims appended hereto encompass other embodiments.