The present invention relates to a resilient mooring device intended to be connected along the extent of an elongated pulling means, said device comprising an elastic intermediate portion and fastening devices for said elongated pulling means provided at each end of said portion, said fastening devices comprising two legs, respectively, attached to said inter¬ mediate portion.

A device having the features indicated above will be evident as a part of my Finnish Patent Application No 903568, which especially shows a fastening device having three legs extending in different directions, around which legs a flexible pulling means is to be wound, in order to obtain a non-gliding contact between said pulling means and an arbitrary device. As a special embodiment of such a device a flexible mooring device is mentioned, said device having fastening means at each end and being intended to be connected at an essentially arbitrary point along the length of a mooring rope or the like, in order to give, in this manner, flexible properties to said rope. Normally a mooring rope will be exposed to jerking pulling forces, the magnitude of which will depend on the boat hull displacement, the weather con¬ ditions etc. By providing the rope with a resilient element the direct jerking strain on the rope itself and on the boat' s fixed mooring devices may be considerably reduced. As to the function of the device in this respect reference is made ro said prior application, the specification of which hereby should be considered as included as part of the present appli¬ cation.

The present invention is directed to an improvement of said specific embodiment, whereby special attention is given to the fact, that the device according ro said prior patent anpii-

cation for certain types of thicker ropes and higher loadings will be exposed to very high forces, which may result in the risk of a rupture.

The characteristics of the invention are made evident by the attached claims. Thus the invention is essentially charac¬ terized by a transverse piece interconnecting said legs to form a closed opening for said elongated pulling means, said transverse piece itself comprising a supporting portion ex¬ tending in a direction away from said resilient intermediate portion. Said opening is limited in the lateral direction by said legs and outwards by said transverse piece connected to those respective ends of said legs, which are located away from said intermediate portion, said transverse piece consti¬ tuting, at the same time, a supporting portion extending laterally at least essentially all the way to the (imagined) extension of the outer sides of said legs. The device is pre¬ ferably generally of such a shape, that said legs are es¬ sentially parallel at least at the portion, around which said pulling means during use of the device forms a locking loop, whereby said supporting portion preferably is a projection or segment directed away from said intermediate portion, the width of said projection or -segment being at least equal re the inner distance between said legs, and said projection or segment suitably being constituted by said transverse piece. The extension of said supporting portion in a direction away from said intermediate portion is preferably at least equal tc the inner distance between said legs and said supporting portion further comprises, in certain embodiments, at least one, suitably two projections extending, respectively, outside an imaginary extension of the outer side of each corresponding leg.

Hereafter the invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the attached drawings showing some specific embodiments of the device according to the invention, wherein:

Fig. 1 roughly shows a general embodiment of the invention, where one end, for clarity, is shown without the pulling means, which in use will be connected to both ends of the device in a manner indicated by the figure,

Fig. 2 shows an alternative embodiment of the invention, wherein only one end of the device is shown and the other essentially identical end is omitted for clarity, and

Fig. 3 shows, in a corresponding manner, another alternative embodiment of the invention.

As will be evident from Fig. 1 the device according to the invention comprises an essentially resilient, flexible inter¬ mediate portion 1. Said intermediate portion is suitably made of rubber or the like material, and its purpose is to give a pulling means 2, e. g. a mooring rope for a boat or the like, those resilient properties which are required i. a. for mooring boats and the like. In practice the device suitably comprises said resilient intermediate portion 1 at both ends of which there are fastening portions 3, 3a having, respectively, at least one passage therethrough. Said fastening portions 3, 3a are normally made completely of a material which, in com¬ parison to said resilient intermediate portion 1, is essential¬ ly rigid. While said intermediate portion 1 is preferably made of rubber or the like material said fastening portions 3, 3a are preferably made of metal or hard plastic, thus resisting wear as well as the internal forces which said pulling means 2 wound around said legs 4, 5 and a supporting portion generates at these elements, mostly in the area comprising the tran¬ sition between said transverse piece 6 and each leg 4, 5 res¬ pectively.

In prior known resilient devices of this type the device it¬ self must be fastened to the rope before the mooring procedure proper may be accomplished. The device according to said Finnish Patent Application No 903568 may be attached to a rope even after mooring is already accomplished, which essentiall facilitates the mooring procedure and allows the device to be used only where or when such use is needed. For this purpose the rope is wound in such a way, that said rope will lock itself at each end of a resilient intermediate portion. In the older device the actual locking will be performed at or close to the inner portion of an angle between two converging legs, while a third leg centers the run of the rope so that locking loops will be formed at certain specific locations.

For heavier crafts it has turned out that in order tc resist the strong forces which may arise the device must be of a very stout construction, which, on the other hand, complicates the use thereof. In the device according to the present invention this problem has been solved in such a manner, that the third guiding leg, i. e. the special supporting portion which centers the rope, has been given a new specific design corresponding to a relatively stout segment, while the legs 4, 4a, 5, 5a used for the locking are relatively thin structures. Said legs 4, 4a, 5, 5a are essentially parallel at least in those areas 12 where a loop 7 of a pulling means 2 will settle when said pulling means is laid in the manner shown in Fig 1- Said areas will then be located on each side of the fastening piece 3 and approximately perpendicul rly to the general direction of said legs 4, 5. During pulling conditions the free end 8 of said pulling means 2 will force a portion 9 of said loop 7 es¬ sentially against said transverse piece 6, which, according to the invention, as such suitably acts as a guiding supporting portion. The actual locking is normally effected against the bottom surface 10 of said transverse piece 6 at an opening 11 which is formed between said legs 4, 5. According to one em¬ bodiment of the invention said bottom surface 10 comprises a

friction enhancing surface structure, e. g. grooves or the like.

In the structure according to the invention said pulling means 2, i. e. for example said mooring rope, will not be wedged into the corner of any acute angle between closely converging legs, and thereby the splitting effect will be avoided, which at heavy load may stress the device of said older patent appli¬ cation. Instead a corresponding wedging and locking will take place at said bottom 10, normally at the generally open root of said opening 11, in the vicinity of an angle α between one side leg 4, 5 and the stout transverse piece 6. Said angle α will usually be close to 90 ^* , but it may vary towards more open angles so that the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 generally comprises a portion of an arc or the like. In all embodiments the opening 11 between said legs 4, 5 and said transverse piece 6 is essentially open and wide in relation to normally used pulling means 2, whereby the use and insertion of said pulling means 2 will be facilitated. The width of said opening 11 is typically 1,25 to 3 times the diameter of the rope intended to be used, but openings with a width of up to 5 times said diameter are still usable without any problem for many rope types.

Another advantage of the device according to the present in¬ vention is that said transverse piece 6, which corresponds to the guiding leg in the embodiment according to the older patent application, may be constructed so as to be very stout in those locations at which a load will be applied, without thereby complicating the use of the device. In use said pulling means 2 will stay in contact with the root portion of the legs 4, 5, respectively, and this section 12 may be especially reinforced by increasing the width, as is evident from Fig. 2. Thus the device according to the invention will comprise reinforcements in exactly those locations where the heaviest loading will occur, without thereby significantly

disturbing the function. In the embodiment according to Fig. 2 said opening 11 between said legs 4, 5 is generally round at least in that section at said bottom 10 of said opening 11 where said pulling means 2 during use will remain in a restrained position. According to a special embodiment of the invention said section 12, where said pulling means 2 will be restrained, further comprises slightly indented portions 14 for guiding the loop 7 of said pulling means 2.

In the embodiment according to Figs. 1 and 2 the supporting portion which guides the pulling means consists of the trans¬ verse piece 6, the extent of which in a direction away from said intermediate portion 1 is at least equal to and suitably 1.5 to 3 times the internal distance "b" between said legs, which effectively prevents, at an eventual slack, said loop 7 on said pulling means 2 from sliding up over said supporting portion in such a way, that the locking loop arrangement dis¬ solves. When wishing to loosen the locking said loop 7 is lifted up up over said supporting portion, the length of which should therefore not exceed 3 to 4 times its width.

According to a special alternative embodiment of the invention the stouter transverse beam 6 comprises at least one pro¬ trusion 13 extending over and above an imaginary line "a" corresponding to the outer side of each respective leg 4, 5. Said protrusion 13 in turn in a corresponding manner prevents said loop 7 of said pulling means 2 from sliding over the end portion of said supporting portion. This embodiment is specially evident in Fig. 3, where said transverse piece 6 as such is essentially as stout as the legs 4, 5, while the base area 12, where said pulling means will apply stress, is essentially stouter.