Granted Patent B2

US 12,351,273 · App. 17/840,084 · Granted Jul 8, 2025

Inventors: William C. Hill (Knoxville, TN); Benjamin Girard Harder (Knoxville, TN)

Assignee: XTREME MARINE CORPORATION

B63B17/02B63B2017/026

Abstract

Claims (21)

1. A foldable watersports tower for a boat includes:

a pair of legs pivotally mounted to the boat, each leg having an electronic leg actuator operable to pivot the leg between an upright orientation and a lower orientation;

a cross-piece extending between the legs;

a roof pivotally mounted to the legs, the roof comprising a roof mount pivotally mounted to the legs and extending rearward of the cross-piece and a roof frame statically mounted to the roof mount; and

an electronic roof actuator connected between portions of the cross-piece and portions of the roof, with a first end of the roof actuator pivotally attached to the cross-piece and a second end of the roof actuator pivotally attached to the roof mount.

2. The foldable watersports tower of claim 1 , wherein the first end of the roof actuator is pivotally attached to the cross-piece proximate the middle of a cross-piece rear edge.

3. The foldable watersports tower of claim 1 , wherein the second end of the roof actuator is pivotally attached to the roof mount proximate the middle of a roof mount forward edge.

4. The foldable watersports tower of claim 1 , wherein the leg actuators and the roof actuator are operable in unison to raise and lower the roof.

5. The foldable watersports tower of claim 1 , wherein the tower is operable so that the roof maintains a substantially constant attitude between a raised position and a lowered position.

6. The foldable watersports tower of claim 1 , wherein the roof actuator is operable to lower a rear portion of the roof when the tower is in the raised position.

7. The foldable watersports tower of claim 1 , wherein the cross-piece is statically mounted to upper ends of the legs.

8. The foldable watersports tower of claim 1 , wherein the roof is pivotally mounted to upper ends of the legs.

9. The foldable watersports tower of claim 1 , further comprising an auxiliary roof frame slidingly mounted to the roof and positionable to be extended or retracted relative to the roof.

10. A foldable watersports tower for a boat includes:

a pair of legs pivotally mounted to the boat, each leg having an electronic leg actuator operable to pivot the leg between an upright orientation and a lower orientation;

a cross-piece extending between and statically mounted to upper ends of the legs;

a roof comprising a roof mount pivotally mounted to upper ends of the legs and extending rearward of the cross-piece and a roof frame statically mounted to the roof mount; and

an electronic roof actuator with a first end pivotally connected to the cross-piece and a second end pivotally connected to the roof mount;

wherein the leg actuators and the roof actuator are operable in unison to raise and lower the roof so that the roof maintains a substantially constant attitude between a raised position and a lowered position.

11. The foldable watersports tower of claim 10 , further comprising an auxiliary roof frame slidingly mounted to the roof and positionable to be extended or retracted relative to the roof.

12. The foldable watersports tower of claim 10 , wherein the roof actuator is operable to lower a rear portion of the roof when the tower is in the raised position.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (33)