Did You Know...
...that power steering was invented by independent inventor Francis W. Davis? As chief engineer in the 1920s of the truck division of the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company, he saw how hard it was to steer heavy vehicles. So that he would be able to keep the profits from his future invention, Davis left his job, rented a small engineering shop in Waltham, Mass., and developed a hydraulic power steering system that led to power steering.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7367747 | Adjustable and extending transport cradle for watercraft A cradle assembly for moving and positioning a watercraft with respect to a support module. The cradle assembly comprises a plurality of horizontally varying cradle beams, a cradle wall extending upward from the cradle beams and a transportation track traversing the... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7293517 | Method and apparatus for compacting sail cars The invention relates to method and apparatus for compactly stacking a sail having a tack, clew and head, the sail being mounted to batten or sail cars above a boom when the sail is stowed, furled or fully lowered. More specifically, most of the cars are compacted o... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7073780 | Fail-safe cleat with automatic in-line locking cam A failsafe cleat with automatic in-line locking cam includes a frame having proximate and a remote sides on substantially opposite sides of the frame and formed with a passageway, extending between said proximate and remote sides, for receiving a line that can move ... | 07/11/2006 |
| 6948850 | Bearing assembly The invention provides a bearing assembly (3, 4) including a plurality of rolling bearing elements (5). At least one of the elements is a first type element, with the remainder of the elements being second type elements. The ratio of the number of the ... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6189471 | Sailboats and methods The invention provides various improved sailboats and methods for their use. In one exemplary embodiment, a sailboat comprises a hull and a deck that is operably attached to the hull. The deck has a longitudinal axis extending along its center. A mast is ... | 02/20/2001 |
| 6158373 | Traveler car with recirculating ball bearings and bearing retainer A traveler comprises a car slideably held on a track, and is useful for applications including trimming a sailboat mast or sail. The car has two side portions each with a race with an open portion. Ball bearings are contained in each race that are rotatab... | 12/12/2000 |
| 5996519 | Sailboats and methods The invention provides various improved sailboats and methods for their use. In one exemplary embodiment, a sailboat comprises a hull and a deck that is operably attached to the hull. The deck has a longitudinal axis extending along its center. A mast is ... | 12/07/1999 |
| 5546881 | Track system to be fastened to a groove in a spar A track system for fastening at the groove (2) of a mast (1) includes a profiled track (4) and a plurality of slide members (5). The track (4) is formed to receive cars (12) in an axially slidable manner and is provided with transverse openings (17) for r... | 08/20/1996 |
| 5540171 | Slider assembly for sailing vessel A slider assembly useful as a working part on a sailing vessel includes a track and a slider mounted on the track. The slider includes a pair of U-shaped end pieces held in a spaced relationship by side pins and a central pin. Tubular bushings are mounted... | 07/30/1996 |
| 5485800 | Resilient stand-up device for bearing block A resilient stand up device for a pulley or block includes a hollow rigid fitting between the block and a support. The fitting has open jaws at each end, with one set of jaws disposed at right angles to the other, with attachment pins extending between th... | 01/23/1996 |
| 5305700 | Track and slide assembly for sailboats A track and slide assembly for a sailboat having a mast and a boom, the track being attached to the mast and the slides which ride along the track being each coupled to the luff of a sail. Hence, when the sail is raised on the mast, the slides ride up the... | 04/26/1994 |
| 5249544 | System of interdependent stoppers for windward sheeting traveler cars A system of interdependent stoppers for the two tackles which control the position of a mainsail traveler car moving along a trackway, mounted transversally across a sailboat. It comprises two pivoting block cleats, one at each end of the two tackles cont... | 10/05/1993 |
| 5188052 | Transporter unit for adjusting a genoa lead block and car A transporter unit is used for abutting against a genoa car or lead block on a track on the starboard or port side of a deck of a sailboat to lock or move the lead block to adjust the jib sheet angle while sailing. The unit is slidably engageable on a mod... | 02/23/1993 |
| 4969411 | Track-to-track adaptor system for genoa lead car adjustment A track-to-track adaptor system is mounted to an elongated first track fixedly mounted to and extending longitudinally or transversely along a sailing yacht. The adaptor system includes a lead car system having a relatively short length second track with ... | 11/13/1990 |
| 4881481 | Traveler control The traveler has a car movable on an athwartship track. The mainsheet is connected to the car. Two oppositely facing hooks are pivotally mounted on the car for similar, simultaneous movement between a latching position and an inoperative position. A sprin... | 11/21/1989 |
| 4719869 | Sailboat traveler car assembly with removable block An adjustable system is described for control of a genoa sheet on a sailboat. The sheet is passed through a pulley or lead block carried by a car which is slidably mounted on a track. The block and car have complementary interfitting parts to enable the b... | 01/19/1988 |
| 4671201 | Method and apparatus of automatically controlling sailboat The present invention provides a method of automatically controlling a sailboat having at least two soft sails, including the steps of sensing the wind direction to determine an angle of sail in each of the sails, sensing tensions and/or vibrations in eac... | 06/09/1987 |
| 4651668 | Traveller control for sailcraft A traveller assembly for use on sailcraft, said traveller assembly comprising a track way, a traveller car adapted to move to and fro along said track way, the traveller car provided with an engaging element; and a stop member secured to said track way, t... | 03/24/1987 |
| 4630562 | Adjustable mast step A mast step is mounted on a traveler having two parallel linear bearings which ride in lateral grooves on a central track. The central track has downward enlarged vertical holes on 2-inch centers which hold detent balls. The detent balls are locked in the... | 12/23/1986 |
| 4527499 | Adjustable mast step A mast step is mounted on a traveler having two parallel linear bearings which ride in lateral grooves on a central track. The central track has downward enlarged vertical holes on 2-inch centers which hold detent balls. The detent balls are locked in the... | 07/09/1985 |
| 4502406 | Roller traveler assembly A traveler assembly for a boat includes a rigid track defining a pair of spaced-apart channels on opposite sides of the track. A car with side wheels rides on the track with its wheels engaging in the channels. The car wheels have rounded peripheral cross... | 03/05/1985 |
| 4473021 | Spinnaker boom A spinnaker boom hingedly attached to the mast of a sailing boat by a traveller. The traveller is movable along the boom so that the boom can be moved relative to the mast substantially transversely to the longitudinal direction of the boat.... | 09/25/1984 |
| 4408772 | Sailing vehicle Disclosed herein is a sailing vehicle with a collapsible frame comprising two longitudinal supports, a plurality of identically constructed transverse struts detachably connected to the longitudinal supports, at least one sail mast, at least one seat, two... | 10/11/1983 |
| 4325537 | Snatch block A novel snatch block particularly suitable for marine use and for movement on a boat deck mounted track, comprising a track slide portion and an upper sheave assembly. The sheave assembly comprises a pair of normally spaced-apart side cheeks; a sheave pin... | 04/20/1982 |
| 4319537 | Sailcraft traveler car and assembly A traveler assembly for a sailboat or other sailcraft comprises a car slotted to ride in the traveler track and having a pair of transverse major holes in the middle thereof and a transverse minor hole on each end. A sheet for a sail of the sailcraft is b... | 03/16/1982 |
| 4159007 | Traveller device, particularly a sheet rail traveller A device comprising, on the one hand, a slide closed at its ends and, on the other hand, a traveller able to slide in the slide, this traveller not being able to be pulled out of the slide in a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction. The travell... | 06/26/1979 |
| 4147122 | Deck cleat Disclosed is an improved deck cleat of the type that is mounted on a slide for repositioning along a slide track and wherein the improved construction is characterized by (1) a positioning lock such as a set screw, being placed between the legs of the cle... | 04/03/1979 |
| 4147121 | Self-releasing traveler and cam cleat A traveler for a sailboat having a track way and a traveler car moving to and fro along the track way and attachments on the traveler for attaching control ropes on either side thereof for controlling the position thereof from either side of the sailboat,... | 04/03/1979 |
| 4144830 | Low friction track traveler A traveler assembly adapted to hold a line under tension while being movable on a track as on a sailing craft. The assembly comprises a main car section having parallel, spaced apart side portions and a connecting portion with apparatus to retain the line... | 03/20/1979 |
| 4080919 | Sailboat traveler apparatus 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 t... | 03/28/1978 |
| 4013031 | Apparatus to control jib A jib sheet apparatus for sailboats which will permit a jib sheet, and thus a head sail of any size, to be trimmed from one side of a sailboat to the other, as in tacking or jibbing, by use of a continuous, closed traveller-track and fairlead apparatus sy... | 03/22/1977 |
| 3985092 | Sailboat traveler apparatus A traveler assembly used to position a boat sail includes a slider supported in a track mounted on a rigid frame of the boat. The slider consists of a base mounted in the channel-shaped track and hingedly supporting a fairlead assembly including a block, ... | 10/12/1976 |
| 3978809 | Roller traveller device A traveller device for positioning a sail and having a carrier that is moveable on rollers along a guide track. The rollers project on opposite sides of the carrier and are arranged in spaced-apart relation along the length thereof to engage with rolling ... | 09/07/1976 |
