U.S. patent application number 09/777511 was filed with the patent office on 2001-11-08 for combination marine accessory assembly.
Invention is credited to Boleslawski, Allan E., Gueik, Rudolph P., Wiggerman, Ronald E..
Application Number | 20010038536 09/777511 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26876597 |
Filed Date | 2001-11-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010038536 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wiggerman, Ronald E. ; et
al. |
November 8, 2001 |
Combination marine accessory assembly
Abstract
Disclosed is a combination marine accessory assembly for
conveniently installing a plurality of marine accessories. The
assembly contains, within a single housing, a plurality of marine
accessories such as lights and horns. The accessories are mounted
within a single housing, and the housing is installed on the open
deck of a boat. The housing of the invention further provides
protection for the marine accessories.
Inventors: |
Wiggerman, Ronald E.;
(McHenry, IL) ; Gueik, Rudolph P.; (Frankfort,
IL) ; Boleslawski, Allan E.; (Bear, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
GARDNER, CARTON & DOUGLAS
321 N. CLARK STREET
SUITE 3400
CHICAGO
IL
60610
US
|
Family ID: |
26876597 |
Appl. No.: |
09/777511 |
Filed: |
February 6, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60180736 |
Feb 7, 2000 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
362/477 ;
362/240; 362/544 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B63B 45/02 20130101;
B63B 45/08 20130101; B63B 45/00 20130101; B63B 45/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
362/477 ;
362/240; 362/544 |
International
Class: |
B63B 045/02 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A marine lighting assembly comprising: a housing mounted onto
the open deck of a boat; a plurality of openings in the housing;
and a plurality of marine appliances, wherein one appliance is
mounted within each opening and further wherein the housing and the
appliances form a closed structure.
2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the appliances are lights, and
the lights are positioned within the housing to emit light from the
openings.
3. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the appliances are a lights and
horns.
4. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the openings are recessed and
the marine appliances are mounted in the openings to be recessed
with respect to the outer surface of the housing.
5. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the housing has three openings
and wherein the appliances are a flood light, a navigation light
and a horn.
6. The assembly of claim 1 further comprising at least one boat
mount.
7. The assembly of claim 5 wherein the housing is generally
L-shaped and wherein the navigation light is positioned to emit
light in a direction generally angular to the light emitted from
the flood light.
8. The assembly of claim 5 wherein the openings may optionally
contain at least one reflector.
9. A marine lighting system comprising: a housing mounted onto the
open deck of a boat wherein the housing is generally a closed
structure; a first opening in the housing; a first marine light
mounted into the housing positioned to emit light from the first
opening; a second opening in the housing, and a second marine light
mounted into the housing positioned to emit light from the second
opening, and wherein the first and second marine lights generally
seal the first and second openings to maintain a closed
structure.
10. The marine lighting system of claim 9 farther comprising a
third opening in the housing and a marine horn mounted into the
third opening, wherein the housing, the lights and the horn form a
closed structure.
11. A marine lighting assembly for use on a pontoon boat
comprising: a generally L-shaped housing mounted onto the open deck
of a boat; a plurality of recessed openings in the housing; and a
plurality of marine appliances, and at least one bolt mount,
wherein one appliance is mounted within each opening to form a
closed and generally watertight structure, and wherein the
appliances are lights and a horn and the lights are positioned
within the housing to emit light from the openings, and wherein the
assembly is mounted to the deck of a boat with the bolt mounts.
12. The assembly of claim 11 wherein the lights are one navigation
light and one flood light and wherein the navigation light is
positioned to emit light in a direction generally angular to the
light emitted from the flood light.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application No. 60/180,736, filed on Feb. 7, 2000.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to marine accessory assemblies
and, more specifically, to an assembly that combines a plurality of
boating accessories such as lights and horns in a single
housing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Pontoon boats, and other similar types of boats, are
designed with an open deck where various accessories are mounted.
These accessories include, but are not limited to, navigation
lights, horns, and floodlights. The accessories are mounted to the
left and right and sometimes in the middle of the open deck. The
accessories are also mounted separately, and are typically each
installed in a housing that is then mounted onto the open deck. In
addition, traditional boats may also have accessories installed on
an open deck.
[0004] Because of the number of accessories installed onto the deck
and their location it can take a considerable amount of time to
install the accessories. In addition, because they are installed
free-standing or in an open housing on a deck, the accessories can
be easily damaged or dislocated during operation of the boat.
Moreover, the position of the various accessories can vary from
boat to boat making it difficult to locate the accessories and to
standardize them.
[0005] Thus, it would be advantageous to boaters to have a means of
quickly installing boating accessories. It would also be
advantageous to minimize accessory installation time by having a
single assembly to install with a housing that can accommodate a
plurality of boating accessories. It would also be advantageous to
have an assembly with a housing that provides protection for marine
accessories that are installed on an open deck.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] It is an object of the invention to provide a means of
quickly installing a plurality of marine accessories onto the deck
of a marine craft. It is another object of the invention to have a
single assembly with one housing containing more than one marine
accessory. It is yet another object of the invention to provide an
assembly with a protective housing for a plurality of marine
accessories that are installed onto the open deck of a boat.
[0007] The above and additional objects are realized in the present
invention, which provides an assembly with a single housing for a
plurality of marine accessories such as lights and horns. The
accessories are mounted within the housing, and the housing is
installed onto the open deck of a boat. The housing of the
invention further provides protection for the marine
accessories.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Other objects and advantages of the invention will be
apparent from the following detailed description and the
accompanying drawings, in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the combination marine
accessory assembly of the invention; and
[0010] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the combination marine
accessory assembly of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0011] While the invention is susceptible to various modifications
and alternative forms, certain preferred embodiments are shown by
way or example in the drawings and will herein be described in
detail. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended
to limit the invention to the particular forms described, but to
the contrary, the invention is intended to cover all modifications
and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the
invention as defined by the appended claims.
[0012] The present invention relates to a marine accessory assembly
or system that encases, in a single housing, a plurality of marine
accessories such as but not limited to lights and horns. The
invention farther provides protection for the lenses of the lights
that may be installed into the housing of the invention.
[0013] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, in one preferred embodiment
having two lights and a horn, the assembly 10 includes an outer
housing 18 having a front face 24, a first side 26 and a generally
opposing second side 28, and having a plurality of openings 20, 22
on the front face 24. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and
2, a first opening 20 is positioned toward first side 26 of the
housing so that at least one navigation light 12 can be positioned
so that the light is emitted from the side of the vessel as
required by regulations. A second opening 22 may be formed, for
example, toward the center of the housing's front face 24. This
second opening 22 may be fitted with, for example, a general
illumination light 14 such as but not limited to a floodlight. The
general illumination light 14 is positioned within the opening 22
in housing 18 so that it can shine in the direction desired by the
craft operator. The housing 18 and general illumination light 14
can be designed so that the direction of the light beam can be
modified. The housing openings 20, 22 may further contain one or
more reflectors (not shown) that may aid in positioning the lights
in the housing 18 of the invention. The assembly 10 is bolted to
the deck of a boat by at least one bolt mount 30, as shown in FIG.
1
[0014] In another preferred embodiment, the assembly 10 of the
invention may further include a horn 16, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
For instance, with reference to FIG. 1, the marine accessories in
the housing 18 include a navigation light 12, a floodlight 14 and a
horn 16, although other boating accessories generally located on an
open deck may be used. In this preferred embodiment, an opening 32
for the horn 16 is located within the housing near the second side
28, although this opening may be located elsewhere in the housing
18 in a location sufficiently large to accommodate the horn 16. The
opening 32 for the horn 16 can be configured within the housing so
that the sound emitted by the horn 16 can be heard in multiple
directions.
[0015] The shape of the housing is designed to coincide with the
shape of the boat to which it is mounted. For pontoon boats, the
housing has a slight J-shape (as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2) to
follow the contour of the boat's corners. For other boats, the
shape of the housing and configuration of openings may be
different. The housing can be attached to the front edge of the
open deck or on top of the deck using bolt mounts 30.
[0016] The shape of the housing also takes into account the nature
of lights and is designed to protect the lenses of the navigation
light and the flood light through the optional recess 34 of the
openings, as best illustrated in FIG. 2. Once mounted, the
appliances such as lights are recessed from the outer surface 36 of
the housing, as best illustrated in FIG. 2. Protection of the
internal electrical components from water is achieved by the
formation of a closed structure between the mounted appliances and
the housing.
[0017] Of course, other designs are possible that take into account
the requirements for navigation and flood light visibility. For
other boats, it is anticipated that the assembly of the invention
will be formed in other shapes.
[0018] Thus, the assembly of the invention provides a convenient
means of attaching multiple marine appliances such as lights, horns
and the like to the deck of a boat. The invention accomplishes this
goal by providing a single housing into which a plurality of
appliances are positioned, which housing is then attached to the
boat deck. The housing offers an additional advantage of providing
protection for the appliances through the use of recessed
openings.
* * * * *