GB2066192A - Anchors for boats - Google Patents

Abstract

An anchor with a shank which supports a movable fluke assembly 9 which is hinged transversely in the crown zone so that it can make a limited angular movement on opposite sides of the shank. Constraint means comprising a bolt 12 is provided to impose the limited angular movement, and can be withdrawn from the hinge against the action of a spring 14 to allow complete rotation of the arm assembly about the shank and facilitate release of the anchor from the sea bed. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Anchors for boats The present invention relates to boat anchors, of the type comprising, at the crown a transverse hinge between the shank and a movable fluke or arm.

Anchors of the above type such as Hail, Ansaldo, Milanesi, and Danfor anchors often present difficulites when the anchor has to be returned on board, i.e. raised, because frequently the anchor becomes trapped on the sea bed and cannot be easily recovered, so much so that it is often necessary to abandon it together with at least part of the chain or cable which connects the anchor to the hull.

According to the invention, there is provided an anchor for a boat, comprising a shank having a lower end portion, arm means pivotally mounted at said lower end portion for movement about a transverse axis, and constraint means for limiting said angular movement such that the arm means is movable through an arc of limited extent on opposite sides of the shank, said constraint means being capable of being rendered inoperable to allow complete rotation of the arm means about the shank.

The constraint means can be in the form of a bolt which, when in its operative position, co-operates with an arcuate slot to allow said limited angular movement, and which can be removed from its operative position to allow complete rotation of the arm means.

Advantageously, the bolt can be carried by the shank, is urged into its operative position by resilient means, and is removed from its operative position by a line or the like.

The slot can be formed in a tubular member corresponding to the crown and connecting together two arm portions, with which the stocks are rigid.

Alternatively, the slot can be formed in a solid hub, or can be defined by connection pins between opposing parts of the arm means, or in any other manner.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only, in which: Figures 1 and 2 are two external views of an anchor according to the invention; Figure 3 shows a detail of the hinge between the shank and a movable fluke; Figure 4 is a local enlarged section on the line IV-IV of Figure 3; Figures 5 and 6 are views similar to Figures 3 and 4, but showing the anchor in its unlocked state for recovery; and Figures 7 and 8 show respectively, an anchor lying on the sea bed and being pulled up after having been unlocked in order to aid release.

With reference to the accompanying drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates the anchor shank, which is constructed in the form of two spaced-apart strips connected together by cross members. To one end of the shank there is connected a shackle 3 for a chain 5 or for another flexible member for suspending the anchor. At the opposite end to the shackle 3, the shank 1 carries the fluke or arm assembly in a hinged manner along a transverse axis by means of an annular expansion 1A. Forthis purpose, the arm assembly comprises, in the crown zone, a tubular member 7 which defines the hinge, and which is rigid with two symmetrical arm portions or flukes, which are indicated by 9. The arm portions 9 are each provided with enlargements 9A in the hinge zone, and are each also provided with an appendix 10 which acts as a stock.

The arm assembly 7,9 is movable angularly in a symmetrical manner on opposite sides of the shank and relative to it through a relatively limited angle of between 25 -45 , so that its arm portions or flukes are inclined to the shank when resting on the ground in order to seek a grip, and in order to anchorto the sea bed, along which the anchor is dragged. Sometimes the arm portions attain such a tight grip that neither the pulling of the anchor cable nor any line or buoy rope which may be present allows itto be released.Under these circumstances, the anchor can be unlocked by completely removing the constraints which limit the angular movement between the shank and arm assembly, so that the anchor can lie with the arm assembly in any angular position relative to the shank, even as shown in Figure 8, so that the anchor can be pulled in the direction of the arrow fR even under conditions which would otherwise have meant the loss of an anchor of conventional type.

To attain this, as shown on the drawing there is provided a constraint means represented by a bolt 12 slidably disposed in the shank 1, and urged towards the hinge formed by the tubular member 7, by means of a spring 14. The bolt 12 can be pulled back against the action of the spring 14 by means of a line 16 which can be guided along the chain 5 or can reach the boat in any other manner. When in its rest state, the bolt 12 is urged by the spring 14 into an arcuate slot 7A provided in the member 7 and extending over a limited arc. The arrangement is such that the arm assembly can undertake its normal limited angular movement symmetrically about the shank 1, which is determined by the angular extension of the slot 7A and on the thickness of the bolt 12.

Figure 3 shows one of the two limiting positions which can be assumed by the arm assembly which swivels about the shank 1. Consequently, on dropping the anchor, the bolt when in its constraining position limits the movement of the arm assembly as shown in Figure 3, and the anchor behaves as a conventional anchor of the Hall, Danfor, Ansaldo or similar type. When the anchor has to be released and weighed by pulling up the anchor chain or other flexible member, i.e. when the anchor has to be hoisted or hauled, it may happen that the anchor remains entangled. In this case, the line 16 is pulled up, so moving the bolt 12 against the action of the spring 14 until the end of the bolt 12 is extracted from the slot 7A.This makes it possible for the arm assembly to freely rotate about the axis of the tubular member 7, which makes it practically certain that the anchor can be released and raised in order to be hoisted on board, by virtue of the fact that the arm assembly can become disposed as shown in Figure 8, and thus be withdrawn.

The crown zone is advantageously formed with a tapered, i.e. "insinuating" profile by virtue of the inclination of the angular edges 9B, 9C, this enabling the anchorto slide by means of under-chains, ropes orthe like, so preventing tangling, as would happen in the case of normal anchors.

The arm portions 9 comprise gripping means such as bores 9F, in which a fastener or boat hook can be engaged in order to be able to reset the hoisted anchor with its bolt unlocked back into its angularly constrained state, even when it is off-board.

The drawing shows only one embodiment of the invention given by way of example, and the anchor can be modified in terms of shapes and configuration within the scope of the appended claims.

The anchor described herein operates more effectively and with greater safety than a so-called "buoy rope", i.e. a line coupled to the lower end of the anchor to facilitate its recovery. Even such a line does not always allow the anchor to be recovered, whereas the anchor described can almost always be recovered by a very simple operation.

Claims (7)

1. An anchor for a boat, comprising a shank having a lower end portion, arm means pivotally mounted at said lower end portion for movement about a transverse axis, and constraint means for limiting said angular movement such that the arm means is movable through an arc of limited extent on opposite sides of the shank, said constraint means being capable of being rendered inoperable to allow complete rotation of the arm means about the shank.

2. An anchor as claimed in claim 1, wherein said constraint means comprises a bolt, and means defining an arcuate slot, said bolt being engageable in said slot when in its operative condition to limit the angular movement of the arm, said bolt being removable from the slot to allow complete rotation of the arm means.

3. An anchor as claimed in claim 2, wherein the bolt is carried by the shank, said anchor further comprising resilient means urging the bolt into its operative position, and a flexible member for removing the bolt from the slot.

4. An anchor as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the arm means comprises two arm portions, a tubular member connecting the arm portion, and stocks rigid with the arm portions, said slot being formed in the tubular member.

5. An anchor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the arm means has a crown zone which is tapered at the end to facilitate sliding of the arm means, when the constraint means is in its inoperative state during releasing and hoisting the anchor.

6. An anchor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising gripping means on the arm means, to permit the anchorto be reset into a condition in which the constraint means is operative.

7. An anchor substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.