Lobster abstract
A device to aid in the retrieval of anchors, lobster pots, fish
traps and the like from the sea-bed. The device comprises connecting
means to connect the device to a float, the connecting means being
positioned between guide means, designed to guide a rope connected
to the anchor, or like article and retaining means, through which
the rope passes as it is raised and which serves to engage with
an obstruction on the rope when the anchor is raised to the surface
of the sea. The device may be formed integrally from a single piece
of stainless steel rod.
Lobster claims
I claim:
1. A device to aid in the retrieval of anchors and like articles
from the bottom of a body of water, comprising guide means having
an aperture through which a rope or chain connected to the anchor
or like article may pass freely and without obstruction, connection
means adapted to allow the device to be connected to floatation
means, and retaining means defining an upwardly opening generally
V-shaped slot through which the rope or chain may run before passing
through the guide means as the rope or chain is drawn in, the retaining
means being so disposed relative to the guide means that in use
a knot or other obstruction on the rope or individual links of a
chain may ride upwardly through the V-shaped slot as the rope or
chain is drawn in under tension but will engage behind the slot
if the tension in the rope or chain is subsequently released, said
V-shaped slot having a first portion adjacent its base in which
the angle between the edges of the slot is less than in a second
portion more remote from the base.
2. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the device is wound
up from a single piece of metal rod.
3. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the guide means comprises
an open ended spiral.
4. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the V-shaped slot of
the retaining means lies in a plane disposed at an angle of more
than 90.degree. to the direction of movement of the rope through
the guide means.
5. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the connecting means
comprises a loop defining an eye through which a shackle may be
threaded.
Lobster description
The present invention relates to a device to aid in the retrieval
of anchors, fish traps, lobster pots and like articles from the
sea-bed and more particularly to such a device which, when connected
to a suitable float, will retain the anchor or the like article
adjacent the water surface from whence it may be readily lifted
into a boat the motive power of which has been used to raise the
article.
Conventionally anchors and like articles such as fish traps and
lobster pots are either raised manually by hauling in a rope or
chain hand-over-hand or they are raised by passing the rope or chain
around a capstan which may be manually operated or operated by a
motor. The manual raising of anchors can be physically difficult
and can be time consuming if the anchor is at a great depth. The
use of a capstan can at least in part solve the above problems,
however, such capstans are very expensive and some smaller craft
are not suitable to have a capstan mounted on the foredeck. The
present invention provides a simple device which can be used in
conjunction with a float and the motive power of the boat to raise
an anchor or the like quickly without great physical effort, and
retain the anchor or the like close to the water surface to allow
it to be easily lifted into the boat.
The present invention consists in a device to aid in the retrieval
of anchors and like articles from the bottom of a body of water,
comprising guide means defining an aperture through which a rope
or chain connected to the anchor or like article may pass, connection
means adapted to allow the device to be connected to floatation
means, and retaining means so disposed relative to the guide means
that in use the rope or chain will run through the retaining means
as the rope or chain is drawn in, the retaining means including
engagement means adapted to engage the rope or chain at a predetermined
point along its length and to prevent the rope or chain being paid
out past the retaining means.
In another aspect the present invention consists in a device to
aid in the retrieval of anchors and like articles from the bottom
of a body of water, comprising guide means having an aperture through
which a rope or chain connected to the anchor or like article may
pass, connection means adapted to allow the device to be connected
to floatation means, and retaining means defining an upwardly opening
generally V-shaped slot through which the rope or chain may run
before passing through the guide means as the rope or chain is drawn
in, the retaining means being so disposed relative to the guide
means that in use a knot or other obstruction on the rope, or individual
links of a chain, may ride upwardly through the V-shaped slot as
the rope or chain is drawn in under tension but will engage behind
the slot if the tension in the rope or chain is subsequently released.
The device is preferably formed from a material which is substantially
impervious to degradation through immersion in salt water. The most
suitable materials are therefore galvanised mild steel, stainless
steel and some plastics materials. The device is preferably formed
integrally by metal fabrication techniques or by injection moulding
of a plastics material. Most preferably the device is wound up from
stainless steel rod stock.
The guide means may be a simple loop or tube through which the
anchor warp or chain may be threaded through the aperture therein
from its end. It is, however, preferable to form the guide means
so that the anchor warp or chain may be introduced into the aperture
of the guide means at any point along the length of the rope. For
this purpose the guide means may comprise a snap shackle or the
like. The most preferred form of guide means is an open ended spiral
of wire or the like. In this construction the coils of the spiral
define the aperture in the guide means and the anchor warp or chain
may be introduced into the spiral by winding the rope or chain around
the outside of the spiral following the helical path between adjacent
coils of the spiral.
The connecting means is preferably an eye through which a shackle
may be passed to shackle the anchor retrieval device to a suitable
floatation means. If desired a snap shackle or the like could be
formed integrally with the device. In a further embodiment the guide
means and the connecting means could be formed as a single part
capable of fulfilling both functions. It will be recognised that
the device according to this invention should be used in conjunction
with floatation means which has a lifting capacity sufficient to
support the anchor and chain being used.
The retaining means preferably includes a V-shaped slot to act
as the engagement means and behind which an obstruction on the rope
or a link of a chain may jam to retain the anchor in its raised
position. The retaining means may be a plate or tube from which
a V-shaped slot has been cut or it may be formed from rod stock
which serves to define a V-shaped slot. Obviously the size and exact
configuration of the V-shaped slot should be adapted to the size
and shape of the obstruction on the rope or the size of the chain
links. The obstruction on the rope is preferably a single overhand
or figure-of-eight knot. The V-shaped slot preferably has a first
portion adjacent its base in which the angle between the edges of
the slot is less than in a second portion more remote from the base.
This facilitates the obstruction in the rope or chain riding up
the slot until it can pass through the V-shaped slot as the rope
is being drawn in yet traps the obstruction as the rope is paid
out. The plane in which the V-shaped slot lies should be inclined
to the direction of movement of the rope or chain through the guide
means by an angle of greater than 90.degree. as this also facilitates
the obstruction riding up through the slot as the rope or chain
is drawn in.
In an alternative embodiment the retaining means may include engagement
means in the form of a cam or cams or other jamming means which
are activated to engage the rope at a predetermined point along
its length.
In use if a motor boat user wishes to retrieve his anchor he has
only to pass the anchor rope or chain through the retaining means
and the guide means of the device and connect it to a suitable float.
He then drives his boat away from the float. As the boat is driven
away the float stays relatively stationary and the rope or chain
is drawn up through the retaining means and the guide means. When
the rope or chain has been fully drawn up the anchor or an obstruction
on the rope or chain will engage against the guide means and the
float will be drawn along behind the boat at the same speed as the
boat. This alerts the boat operator that the anchor is raised and
he can stop the boat which releases the tension in the rope or chain.
The anchor will then begin to descend again until the obstruction,
or a chain link, engages with the engagement means. The anchor is
then suspended from the device. The boat may then be driven back
to the float and the anchor rope or chain wound in manually as the
boat approaches the float. Upon reaching the float the device according
to this invention, and the anchor may be lifted aboard the boat.
The present invention may be used on a wide variety of boats. It
is, however, of particular applicability to small boats, say between
12 and 25 feet, used for fishing in very deep water, say greater
than 100 feet. In these circumstances the anchor will normally be
connected to the boat through a short length of chain and a long
length of a rope of a synthetic plastics material such as polypropylene.
Hereinafter given by way of example only is a preferred embodiment
of the present invention described with reference to the accompanying
drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a device according to the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the device of FIG. 1 showing
a knot in an anchor rope engaged behind the retaining means; and
FIGS. 3A and 3B show stages in the recovery of an anchor using
the present device.
The anchor retrieving device 10 comprises connecting means 11
for connecting the device 10 to a float, a guide means 12 to guide
an anchor rope and a retaining means 13 defining a V-shaped slot
14 which acts to engage with a knot on the rope (as seen diagramatically
in FIG. 2) or with a link of a length of chain connecting the rope
to the anchor.
The device is wound up from a single length of stainless steel
rod stock 15 which simplifies its fabrication.
The connecting means 10 comprises a loop of the rod intermediate
its length. The eye 16 formed by the loop of rod 15 may be connected
to a suitable float 21 (see FIGS. 3A and 3B) by a conventional shackle
(not shown). On one side of the connecting means 11 the rod 15 becomes
the retaining means 13 and on the other the guide means 12. The
guide means 12 comprises an open ended spiral of the rod 15 which
spiral decreases in size away from the connecting means 11.
The retaining means 13 comprises a V-shaped length of the rod 15
which defines between its diverging arms the V-shaped slot 14. The
retaining means lies in a plane disposed at an angle of some 100.degree.
to the longitudinal axis of the portion of the rope passing through
the guide means 12. Immediately adjacent the bight 17 of the retaining
means 13 the arms 18 and 19 thereof diverge at an angle of approximately
16.degree.. The arm 18 joining the connecting means 11 to the bight
17 is cranked intermediate its ends while the other arm 19 is angled
outwardly. The effect of this is to widen the angle between the
arms 18 and 19 to about 26.degree..
The free end of the arm 19 is curled over to finish the device
neatly and to avoid the possibility of a sharp free end causing
damage to the boat or the float.
In use an anchor rope is passed upwardly through the V-shaped slot
14 between the arms 18 and 19 of the retaining means 13. It is then
introduced into the aperture defined by the guide means 12 by threading
the rope through the helical space between adjacent coils of the
guide means 12. The eye 11 is shackled to a suitable float and the
float and the device according to this invention are dropped into
the water. The boat 22 is then driven over the estimated position
of the anchor and continues past it as seen in FIG. 3A. The anchor
is thus lifted from the sea-bed 23 and rises towards the float.
When the knot in the rope or the anchor chain enters the guide means
12 it causes the float to be pulled along behind the boat as seen
in FIG. 3B. When this happens the boat can be turned around and
driven slowly back to the float as the anchor rope is retrieved.
It will be appreciated that this may be done easily as the rope
is untensioned the anchor being supported by the float, the knot
24 in the anchor rope, having engaged behind the V-shaped slot as
seen in FIG. 2. |