This invention relates generally to floating docks, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for assembling floating docks.
Floating docks are generally known and may be constructed from a variety of materials and formed into a variety of shapes and sizes. At least some known floating docks include a plurality of floating members coupled together to form the floating dock. Generally, the floating members are designed to withstand a variety of environment and weather conditions. More specifically, within at least some known floating members, pockets or cavities are defined that facilitate increasing the buoyancy of the dock, and thus facilitate maintaining the dock afloat. However, because pockets or cavities rely on trapped air, catastrophic events, for example, a collision with the dock, may rupture the pockets and submerge the dock.
At least some known floating docks have coupling systems that enable multiple configurations of the floating members to be assembled such that the dock can accommodate a variety of boat sizes and other uses. Generally, such coupling systems include couplers designed to facilitate ease of assembly and disassembly of floating members, and coupler receivers or sockets designed to receive a variety of couplers and dock accessories. More specifically, within at least some known coupling systems, the couplers include multiple components. Although the couplers generally ensure the floating members remain connected, couplers that include multiple components may increase the assembly time of the docks and may reduce the reliability of the entire dock system.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a docking system that would allow the user to choose multiple configurations and was simple to assemble and disassemble. Moreover, it would be desirable to have a docking system that was cost-effective to maintain and reliable in variety of environmental and catastrophic events.