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Accessory platform assembly for a kayak

Accessory platform assembly for a kayak description/claims

The present invention is directed to an accessory platform for attachment to a kayak, in particular to an accessory platform which can be moved from an open to a closed position to allow for access to the kayak deck in the open position.

Kayaks have long been used for transporting people as they are highly manoeuvrable, however kayaks generally do not have a large amount of storage space. It is also not easily possible to bring along pets, such as dogs, in a kayak, especially a sea kayak having a closed-cockpit, as there is no place for the animal to be safely placed. In addition, kayaks are not easily adaptable for other uses such as being used as a platform for swimming, diving or fishing.

There have been many attempts in the past to increase the versatility of a kayak by providing accessories for the kayak. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,430 issued Oct. 1, 2002 to Drabkin describes a sail kit for a kayak to adapt the kayak to a sailing vessel. Various versions of paddle holders have been described in for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,387 issued Feb. 22, 2000 to Allin, U.S. Pat. No. 6,632,111 issued Oct. 14, 2003 to Oathout and U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,145 issued Jun. 29, 2004 to Bolebruch. U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,213 issued Apr. 18, 2000 to Stevens describes a beverage holder for a kayak and U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,527 issued Dec. 7, 1999 to Ambrozic describes a fishing rod holder for a kayak. U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,928 issued Sep. 14, 1993 to Brenamen describes cargo racks for mounting on opposed sides of the cockpit opening on a kayak to mount cargo on a kayak when limited cargo space is available within the kayak. These racks include pairs of rail members mounted to support posts to fixedly secure the rails relative to the deck of the kayak.

Outrigger stabilizer floats for kayak are also available such as for example, outrigger stabilizer floats available from Castle Kraft in Illinois, Easy Rider of Seattle, Wash. and a Tribalance available from Tribal Kayaks of Villa Hills, Ky.

There however still remains the need for an accessory for a kayak to enable a platform to be mounted on the kayak on top of the deck and which optionally may include an outrigger for increasing stability of the kayak.

The present invention is directed to an accessory platform assembly for attachment to kayak. The assembly comprises attachment means for attaching the assembly to the deck of a kayak, a frame attached to the attachment means, the frame holding a platform and allowing the platform to be moved from a closed position to an open position whereby in the open position the deck of the kayak lying below the platform in the closed position is exposed.

In an aspect of the invention the assembly further includes an outrigger assembly comprising parallel arms attached at one end to the attachment means and having an outrigger floatation device attached to an opposite end of the arms spaced away from the kayak to provide increased stability to the kayak.

Preferred embodiments of the present are illustrated in the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a kayak having a first embodiment of the accessory platform assembly of the present invention attached thereto;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the accessory platform assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the accessory platform assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the mounting assembly of the accessory platform of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the mounting assembly of the accessory platform of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the mounting assembly of the accessory platform of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of the mounting assembly of the accessory platform of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a top perspective view of a variation the mounting assembly of the accessory platform of FIG. 1;

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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