Energy saving boat davit and article placement device

Abstract

An article placement device particularly for marine use for selectively positioning a life boat in the water at a selected location from its associated ship comprises a programmable control for articulating a plurality of support elements or links which are pivotally interconnected and which may be selectively pivoted relative to each other for the placement of an article which is held at the upper end of the device. The programmable control is associated with each support element pivoting means which permits preselection of the amount of the pivoting of each interconnected support element so as to move the supported object such as a boat at a selected position both laterally and vertically away from the device. The articulated support elements may be pivoted under the control of pressure which is generated by the weight of the support elements themselves or by additional pressure forces or even a direct drive in the pivoting of the elements as selected before use so that the boat or other object held at the uppermost one will be moved through a lowering path which will place the boat in the sea at a desired location which is selected in accordance with the attitude of the vessel carrying the device before the programmable control is actuated. Support elements advantageously carry an outermost element such as a boat davit, breeches buoy, support cage, etc. The articulated support links may be pivoted by an amount, for example, to shift a breeches buoy or a fuel line outboard of the associated vessel or structure by a predetermined amount which is set by the pre-programming of the pivoting of the individual link support elements. Once the support elements are pivoted they are advantageously held in position such as by fluid or gear drive pressure or displaceable elements which are locked into portions of the pivoted element to retain it in a selected angle relative to the next adjacent element.