Combination boat hook and mooring apparatus
United States Patent [1 1 Mock, Jr.  
 [451 Apr. 22, 1975 COMBINATION BOAT HOOK AND MOORING APPARATUS [76] Inventor: Presley .1. Mock, .lr., 815 S.  
 Broadway, Laporte. Tex. 77571 221 Filed: Nov. 12,1973  
  211 Appl.No.:41 4,743  
 [52] US. Cl. 114/230; 114/221 R [51] Int. Cl. 1363b 21/54 [58] Field of Search 114/230, 221 R; 119/153; 294/19 [56] References Cited UN1TED STATES PATENTS 2.347.718 5/1944 Terry 114/230 2.704.052 3/1955 Wood 119/153 2.776.645 1/1957 Dooley 119/153 3.224.404 12/1965 Delong ..1 14/230 Primary Examiner-Trygve Ml. Blix Assistant Examiner-Stuart M. Goldstein Attorney. Agent, or Firm-Pravel &amp; Wilson [5 7] ABSTRACT The present invention comprises a combination boat hook and mooring apparatus having a longitudinally extending tubular handle with. a transversely disposed T-head at one end and with a stiff flexible cord extending through the tubular handle and forming a loop adjacent to the T-head end with the opposite end of the flexible cord extending out of the opposite end of the handle to provide a means for closing the loop formed by the cord adjacent the T-head end.  
 1 Claim, 1 Drawing Figure COMBINATION BOAT HOOK AND MOORING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to devices for fending off and also for securing to a pier or piling for mooring a boat thereto.  
 2. Description of the Prior Art Operators of small pleasure craft, both sail and power, have long been faced with the problem of safely and easily bringing their boats to a stop adjacent a dock, pier or piling and then mooring or securing the boat thereto with suitable dock lines. It is particularly difficult to maneuver a small sailboat without power or even a small power boat with only a single engine in close quarters a slow speeds where steerage is severely limited and in many instances requires the presence of a person on the dock to receive a line thrown from the boat or to throw a line to someone on the deck of the boat to assist in bringing the boat safely to the dock. There are multiple hazards to the foredeck hand who attempts to fend a moving boat off of a dock when the boat is moving too fast to safely dock as well as hazards involved when a person leaps from the deck to the dock and attempts to handle an approaching boat. And of course, even with all hands safe, if the boat is travelling too fast there is a risk of substantial serious damage either to the hull of the craft or to the dock or pier in the event of a collision.  
  The prior art has generally provided either a loose line which one can cast or throw either to someone on the dock or attempt to loop around a projecting pylon or piling and thereby have a means for securing the boat. Alternatively, many boats are equipped with boat hooks which are longhandled devices with which one can grapple for a piling and/or fend the boat off of the piling. However, with this device, no means is provided for quickly and easily securing the boat to the piling. Various prior art devices have been provided for securing the boat to a piling such as the mooring device of De .long, US. Pat. No. 3,224,404 or the device of Stipek, US. Pat. No. 3,677,597, each ofwhich has certain inherent disadvantages.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a new and improved combination boat hook and mooring apparatus which enables a deck hand to quickly, easily and accurately secure a line to a piling or pylon on the first pass and, if necessary, also fend off the boat from such piling or mooring so as to enable the boat to be brought quickly and safely to the dock. Such apparatus includes a longitudinally extending handle having a boat hook or grappling device affixed at one end thereof and also having a stiff flexible loop formed adjacent the grapple so that the loop may be placed over the exposed end of the piling and the grapple used to hold the boat away from the piling while the line forming the loop is closed to secure the line to the piling. Such line extends through the handle and projects beyond the opposite end from the grapple so as to enable the deck hand to either tighten or release the loop as he may desire while holding the boat in a desired position relative to the piling with the grapple at the end of the handle.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The drawing is an isometric view partly in section showing the combination boat hook and mooring device with the stiff flexible line extending therethrough and forming a noose or loop which encircles a piling.  
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in the drawing, the combination boat hook and mooring apparatus of the present invention comprises a longitudinally extending hollow tubular handle 10 having a handle H at one end 10a and a Tshaped head T rigidly affixed at the opposite end 10b of such longitudinally extending hollow tubular member. The T-shaped head includes a cross member 11 which has rearwardly projecting members Ila adjacent the opposite ends of the transverse extending member 11 which project toward the handle end 10a to provide hook-like devices for grappling or engaging a pier or dock or the like. As shown in the drawing, the transverse member 11 as well as the rearwardly projecting end Ila are formed of flat stock having a substantially rectangular cross-section. However, it will be appreciated that such members may have other configurations. Further, as shown in the drawing, a suitable opening 11b is provided in the transversely extending portion 11 for re ceiving the end of the tubular member 10 for securing such transverse member 11 thereto. The end member 11 may be affixed by welding, gluing, threading or other suitable means so as to rigidly secure it to the end of the tubular handle 10.  
  As shown, the tubular member 10 is provided with a gripping handle 13 affixed adjacent the opposite end 1017 of such tubular handle 10 to facilitate manually gripping the tubular handle 10.  
  Also as shown in the drawing, a relatively stiff yet flexible line 12 extends through the passage in the hollow tubular handle member 10 with one end 12a secured around the tubular handle 10 near the grapple member 11. The opposite end of the line 12b extends out of the opposite end of the tubular handle 10!) and is either provided with a loop or a knot or other means to prevent the end of the line 12b from being drawn into the passage 10c. Further, as shown in the drawing, a portion of the line 12 is formed into a loop or noose 12c which is adapted to be looped around a piling or dock post P for securing such line 12 thereto.  
  It will be appreciated that with the apparatus of the present invention, a foredeck hand standing on the deck of a boat which is approaching a dock may grip the handle portion I3 and hold the boat hook 10 so that the end 11 projects or extends away from the hull of the craft and place the noose or loop 12c over the open end of the post or piling P. Thereafter, the deck hand can pull the loop or opposite end 12!) of the line I2 and thereby close the loop 12c so as to snugly secure the line 12 around the post P. Further, it will be appreciated that with the crossbar or grapple member 11 affixed rigidly to one end of the handle 10, the apparatus of the present invention may be manipulated by the foredeck hand or the person on the boat so as to hold the hull of the boat away from the piling P and thereby prevent a collision or ramming of the boat hull against the piling or a dock supported thereby,  
  Further, it will be appreciated that with the apparatus of the present invention, one may be virtually assured of successfully securing the loop 120 to the piling P on the first pass and thereby avoid the difficulties which frequently follow when one misses in the initial attempt to secure a line to a piling. Also, it will be appreciated that with the apparatus of this invention, once the loop 120 has been secured to the piling, the opposite end 12h can be tied to a cleat or other device on the deck of the boat (not shown) and thereby provide a means for holding the hull of the boat away from the piling so as to prevent undesirable scratching or scarring of the hull by rubbing against the dock or piling to which it is moored.  
  Also, it will be appreciated that the relatively stiff yet flexible line 12 forms a self-supporting open loop 120 which does not require other means of support to provide an open loop adjacent the cross member 11 affixed to the end of the support handle 10. Also, it will be appreciated that although the loop 12c is illustrated encircling the end of a post or piling P, such apparatus may also be used for placing the loop 120 around a cleat or other open-ended means to which a line can be secured.  
  The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size, shape and materials as well as in the details of the illustrated construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.  
 I claim:  
 l. A combination boat hook and mooring apparatus for securing a small boat to a dock or piling comprising;  
 a. a longitudinally extending hollow tubular member having a bore extending longitudinally therethrough;  
 b. a cross member secured to one end of said longitudinal hollow tubular member and extending transversely thereof to form a T-shaped head on one end of said member with rearwardly projecting end portions to form a grapple thereon, said cross member having a bore extending longitudinally therethrough aligned with said tubular member bore for forming a continuous longitudinally extending passageway through said cross member and said tubular member;  
 0. a line extending through said continuous longitudinally extending passageway of said cross member and said tubular member, said line projecting from opposite ends thereof, one end of said line secured externally to said longitudinally extending hollow tubular member with said line being sufficiently stiff to form a self-supporting open loop adjacent the end of said hollow tubular member at which the cross member is affixed and with the opposite end of said line projecting from the opposite end of said longitudinally extending hollow member to facilitate movement of said line longitudinally of said tubular member for closing and opening said loop.  
  l l l= l