by Matt Bounds, Hobie Hotline Fall 2017 (Volume 46, Number 3), pp 10-14
Something a bit different this time … There’s no doubt that Hobie Alter and the engineers at Hobie Cat were (and are) imaginative and inventive people. To protect their creativity, they patented their inventions, designs and processes. Patents grant the inventor a set of exclusive rights in exchange for public disclosure of an invention. Prior to 1995, US patents were for a period of 17 years and are for 20 years after 1995, so all the initial patents on the major Hobie Cats classes have expired. We’ve all seen the sticker on our boats, “This product covered under one or more of the following patents … ” but what do all those numbers really mean? Thanks to Google Patents and the power of the internet, we can dig a little deeper into the creativity of the people at Hobie Cat.
HOBIE 14 / HOBIE 16 HULL CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE
Inventors: James Arthur Lomas, III, Ronald La Verne Lee, Andrew Macdonald Holland
Method and apparatus for securing pylon and deck to the hull of a sailing vessel
ABSTRACT
A tubular pylon secured to a deck is provided with a core telescopically and slidably received in its distal end. In securing the deck to the hull, a well is provided in a shoe to be received in and secured to the hull. Glue is inserted in the well and applied along the intended glue seam between the deck and hull. The deck/pylon assembly and hull are then assembled to be clamped in a jig. During assembly, the core acts as a plunger to force glue in the well of the shoe upwardly about the outer surface of the pylon to secure the pylon to the shoe. The core is frictionally held by the pylon to exert a desired force in holding the shoe against the inside of the hull while the adhesive sets to secure the shoe to the hull and the deck to the hull.
HOBIE 14 / HOBIE 16 KICK-UP RUDDER SYSTEM
Inventor: Hobart L. Alter
Kick-up rudder apparatus for boats
ABSTRACT
A kick-up rudder apparatus for a boat to be sailed off a beach. The rudder is movable between a lowered position, a dangling intermediate position, and a raised position. As a boat is sailed onto a beach the rudder automatically kicks up from its lowered position into its dangling position when the rudder engages the ground. As the boat is sailed away from a beach the rudder may be moved from its raised position through its intermediate position to its lowered position as it moves into deeper water. Control of rudder movement between the three positions is effected solely through manipulation of the tiller.
RAKE-ADJUSTABLE RUDDER CASTINGS
Inventor: Jean Pelletier
ABSTRACT
A boat rudder comprises a rudder-blade hinged in its upper part to a substantially horizontal pin carried by a rudder-blade support, which support is hinged to a substantially vertical pin. The boat rudder further comprises a bar fixed to a bar support the rear part of which is hinged to the upper part of the rudder blade. A locking device, comprising a stop member carried by the bar support and a jamming member carried by the rudder-blade support, is provided for jamming the bar support in relation to the rudder-blade support. It is fitted with a balancing adjustment device for adjusting the normal working position of the rudder-blade and a longitudinal displacement arrangement for varying the distance between the stop member and the pin hinging the bar support to the rudder-blade.
HOBIE 17 / 18 / 20 / 21 HALYARD LATCH
Inventor: Henry Leyva Arce
ABSTRACT
A halyard line extends over a pulley at the top of a mast and is connected to the head of the mainsail by a ring connector. Beneath the pulley, a hook plate with a pivoting pawl is secured to the mast. When the halyard line is pulled, the sail is raised, and the shackle engages the pawl and forces it upwardly thereby exposing the catch of the hook plate so that the ring will be seated in the catch and held by the hook plate. When it is desired to lower the sail, the halyard is pulled until the ring rises above the pawl and the pawl will fall to cover the catch when the halyard is released. The top of the pawl guides the ring down and beyond the hook plate until it is free. The sail may then be fully lowered.
HOBIE 18 TRAVELER
Inventor: Andrew Macdonald Holland, Henry Leyva Arce
ABSTRACT
A sailboat traveler apparatus with bearings having a circular cross section at their pivots which are received in a track with a circular cross section with the traveler carriage being pivotal about the centerline of the track so that pivoting forces on the carriage remain transferred to the bearing surfaces of the bearings and track without binding. The bearings may be spherical or cylindrical depending upon the desired friction between bearing and track.
HOBIE 18 ROLLER-FURLER
Inventor: Hobart Laidlaw Alter, Jerald Wayne Blakely
ABSTRACT
The jib furling mechanism is located beneath the junction of the bridle wires which hold the forestay to permit the forward portion of the foot of the jib to extend to the bridle junction and increase jib area. The bridle wires are joined by a structural link integrally formed with the housing for the furling mechanism. This housing telescopically receives a forestay adjuster for adjusting mast rake. The jib may be lowered without removing the forestay, or it may be furled about the forestay using the furling mechanism.
HOBIE 18 MAST BASE / STEP
Inventor: Henry Leyva Arce
ABSTRACT
The mast of a sailboat is provided with a base casting rigidly secured to the bottom of the mast. A hinge member in the form of a socket is pivotally mounted to the rear of the mast base casting. The socket is adapted to fit over a rounded bearing pad of low friction material mounted to the top of a mast step which is secured to the hull or to a cross bar in the case of a catamaran. The hinge member and mast step are provided with transverse bores. When the mast is in a lowered position, the hinge member is swung forwardly from the mast base and over the bearing pad until the transverse bores are aligned. A pin is placed in the aligned bores to temporarily couple the hinge member to the mast step so that the mast can be raised and secured while the hinge member and mast step are coupled together. After the mast is secured, the pin is removed from the bores to permit the mast to rotate and to rake freely under operating conditions.
THE COMPTIP
Inventor: Jerry Pollard
ABSTRACT
A sailboat mast is provided with a nonconducting upper end portion. The nonconducting portion is formed by wrapping a plastic core with resin-impregnated fiberglass and molding the wrapped core. The lower end of the non-conducting portion is provided with a necked-down portion which is inserted into the upper end of a conventional metal mast. The trailing side of the non-conducting portion has a pair of longitudinally extending grooves, and a plastic luff track includes a pair of attaching flanges which are inserted into the grooves.
TILLER CONNECTOR
Inventor: John E. Storer, Jr
ABSTRACT
A tiller-crossbar connector for catamaran rudder control includes a central bolt member passing through a spherical nylon member at one end and through a hemispherical nylon member at the opposite end with a spring member disposed between the two nylon members. Each nylon member is positioned within the bolt-retaining recess of a corresponding standard end cap. With the spring member disposed between these two end caps, the entire connector and end cap assembly is able to be tightly clamped together by means of a nut threaded on one end of the central bolt member. Th is single point of motion provides a no-backlash system and the specific spherical nylon member and spring combination provide a sensitive feel throughout all steering force requirements and wind conditions.
