Boat lifting devices have been used in the marine industry to attach to a larger vessel to raise and lower personal water craft or smaller craft such as a dinghy into and out of the water. These devices are typically secured to the transom of the larger vessel.
The inventor herein is also the inventor of two patents which relate to boat lifting devices: Schmidt, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,450 and Schmidt, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,606. Both of these Schmidt, Jr. inventions relate to novel means for raising and lower personal water craft into and out of the water. The referenced patents employ the respective inventions in a marine environment, either on the transom of a larger vessel or attached to a dock. Other patents disclosing lifting means comprise references to Adams, U.S. Pat. No. 2,761,571; Holt, U.S. Pat. No. 3,421,723, and; Glenn et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,627.
The price of larger boats, for example, boats whose length is forty feet and longer, and which can accommodate a boat lifting device as disclosed herein, is very expensive easily costing more than one million dollars. The finest components are used to build such vessels. One drawback of the prior art lifting devices heretofore mentioned includes the unsightly view of their components. It is undesirable when building such expensive boats to have an aesthetically displeasing finish by allowing the components of a lifting device to be seen when the device is retracted out of the water. It would be desirable to hide the components and mechanics of a lifting device unlike the prior art in which such components are always in full view.