Buoyant Vessel Guidance System for Trailer Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Loading a boat onto a trailer is cumbersome and hazardous due to the difficulty in aligning the boat with a submerged trailer, especially at night, and the risk of misalignment causing wear-and-tear, delays, and safety hazards on the roadway.
Innovation Solution
A vessel guidance system featuring buoyant supports hingedly attached to the trailer side rails with V-shaped guides that capture the boat hull, allowing for easy alignment and guiding onto the trailer, with optional stabilization bars to maintain support orientation and prevent separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the trailer is submerged to facilitate boat loading, then the loading process becomes easier, but the trailer becomes difficult to see and align with
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a buoyant guide structure as an intermediary element that floats on the water surface above the submerged trailer. This guide structure provides visible alignment markers and physical guidance for the boat operator, mediating between the invisible submerged trailer and the approaching boat to facilitate proper alignment without requiring the trailer to be visible while submerged.
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple alignment attempts are made to position the vessel correctly, then proper positioning is achieved, but excessive wear-and-tear occurs on the vessel and trailer
Solution Approach 1:
The buoyant guide structure performs preliminary alignment action before the boat makes contact with the trailer. By providing visible markers and physical guidance elements in the water, the system pre-aligns the boat in the correct position and orientation, preventing misaligned attempts that would cause wear-and-tear on both the vessel and trailer during the loading process.
3Productivity
If the boat is winched onto the trailer quickly, then loading time is reduced, but misalignment hazards increase on the roadway
Solution Approach 1:
The guide structure performs preliminary alignment before the winching operation begins. By ensuring the boat is correctly positioned and aligned with the trailer while still in the water, the system enables a safe and quick winching operation without the need for repeated adjustments, thus maintaining both high productivity and reliability during the loading process.
4Device complexity
If traditional alignment methods are used without guidance aids, then the system remains simple, but alignment difficulty and operator frustration increase
Solution Approach 1:
The buoyant guide structure serves as a simple intermediary element that provides visual and physical guidance without adding significant complexity to the overall system. The guide structure consists of basic floating elements with alignment markers that are easy to deploy and remove, maintaining system simplicity while dramatically improving alignment ease for the operator.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Facilitates safe and efficient loading of boats onto trailers by ensuring proper alignment and reducing wear-and-tear, enhancing visibility of the submerged trailer and minimizing hazards during the loading process.
Implementation Method 1
a buoyant trailer attachment that guides a vessel onto an underlying, submerged trailer
Data Source
AI summary
A vessel guidance system is used with a boat trailer typically having a frame formed of a pair of side rails with numerous transverse rails ding therebetween. The guidance system includes a pair of elongated, buoyant supports, each hingedly attached to the front end of one the trailer side rails. Each support configured to receive a pontoon or a discrete portion of a boat hull. Extending from the rear end of each support is a V-shaped guide for capturing the nose cone and the skeg on a pontoon or boat hull. Once the hull or pontoon is captured, the vessel is guided onto the supports as the vessel is further propelled onto the trailer. As the towing vehicle withdraws the trailer from the water, the supports gradually lower the vessel onto the trailer frame.