Marine propulsion – Powered from land vehicle supported by vessel
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-25
2002-08-13
Basinger, Sherman (Department: 3617)
Marine propulsion
Powered from land vehicle supported by vessel
Reexamination Certificate
active
06431924
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The object of the invention is an amphibious caravan. The caravan of the invention comprises a floating chassis with wheels and at least one cabin with a living compartment. The caravan also comprises a vehicle deck receiving a towing vehicle. The chassis comprises propulsion means suitable for movement on water.
BACKGROUND ART
Several solutions are known from the patent literature, relating to amphibious caravans of the type described above. Among others, FR 2 645 498 A1 discloses an amphibious caravan which may be supplemented by floating pontoons. These pontoons are designed to bear the towing vehicle. The towing vehicle serves at the same time as the driving power source of the complete floating unit. The power of the towing vehicle is transmitted to the driving paddle wheels by a conveyor mechanism. A disadvantage of this known solution is that the water-tight body of the floating chassis is separate from the pontoons bearing the vehicle. Thereby the power of the engine of the vehicle may not be transmitted to the back part of the chassis, or may be transmitted only via very complicated mechanisms, where the driving means could be realised effectively, e.g. by means of a marine screw. Therefore, the very ineffective paddle wheel must be used.
Large number of known solutions are devoted to self-propelling amphibious caravans, i.e. caravans without a towing vehicle. Such solutions are disclosed in the documents EP 0 085 384 A2, DE-OS 2 238 786 and DE 30 49 833 A1. These known solutions seek to enlarge a relatively small rolling caravan, which take up relatively little space on dry land, and try to enlarge the caravan on the water by folding it out and thereby achieving more space. In this respect it must be noted that an independent engine built into a caravan is rather costly. The known self-propelling caravans (motor home, wohnmobile) tend to cost twice as much as a traditional caravan (wohnwagen) with a similar size and equipment. This extra cost is recovered very slowly, or never, because a caravan is normally not used so much so that the relatively small savings attained by omitting a towing car should justify the extra cost for the permanent motor and the related necessary parts in the caravan.
If the amphibious caravan has no independent propelling means, the towing vehicle is necessary under any circumstances. However, the known caravans with the “folding” extension do not allow the water transport of the towing vehicle, and at the same time these foldable caravans find only a very limited use on land. Therefore, the caravan either must return to the towing vehicle, or another towing vehicle must be found if the caravan does not return to its original starting point. In any case, the freedom of movement of the user is limited. Beside, these known amphibious caravans are relatively bulky, large, and also heavy. Often, these Caravans are so large that only very powerful towing vehicles can be used for their transport on land.
Generally, it is a common disadvantage of the known solutions that the floating chassis of the caravans is not small enough for average drivers with an average car to tow them. If the caravan with a floating chassis is so small so that it may be towed conveniently, there is not room enough on the deck for the towing vehicle.
The document DE-OS 1 926 726 teaches a floating vehicle with a floating chassis and a deck designed for receiving the towing vehicle. The floating chassis is propelled by the vehicle on the deck by means of an appropriate transmission mechanism. The floating chassis is also provided with caterpillars for land movement, and these are also driven by the towing vehicle on the deck, i.e. the floating chassis has no engine on its own The description refers to a covered space on the deck suitable for living, but provides no details concerning the structure of this living space. Hence, this disclosure do not teach an amphibious caravan which would provide a convenient living space, but at the same time being small enough to be easily transportable on land, and at the same time being large enough to be able to transport its own towing vehicle on the water.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an amphibious caravan with a simple mechanical construction, which, on one hand, is capable of transporting its own towing vehicle on the water, and on the other hand comprises a sufficiently large and convenient living compartment, and thirdly, its rolling chassis is sufficiently small so that it may be towed conveniently on road by an average, middle-category car. It is a further object to provide a towable amphibious caravan which is well balanced in case of different types of towing vehicles (front or rear wheel drive, front or rear engine), and allows the towing vehicle always to look towards the bow of the floating chassis. It is a further object to provide an amphibious caravan that is appropriately stable in water and on land, has good road characteristics during towing, and is simple in construction, avoiding the need for special materials or technical solutions. Especially, it is sought to provide the rolling and floating chassis of the caravan in a solid, unitary structure. This allows a strong construction, and the watertight sealing of the floating chassis, —which basically functions as a hull in the water—is also much easier to realise.
Further, it was sought to create a caravan that is easy to handle in general.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, the above goals are achieved with an amphibious caravan comprising a floating chassis with wheels and at least one cabin with a living compartment, and further a vehicle deck receiving a towing vehicle, the vehicle deck situated adjacent to the cabin, and further comprising propulsion means suitable for movement on water, in particular marine screw. According to the invention, at least one cabin is movable along the longitudinal axis of the chassis, so that the length of the deck receiving the vehicle is variable. With this solution it is ensured that the caravan constitutes a relatively short, compact unit on land, but it “stretches out” on water, and allows deck space for the towing vehicle. Because the cabin comprising the living compartment constitutes a unit with a weight commensurable to the weight of the towing vehicle, and being movable relative to the chassis, at the same time an optimal balance of the chassis may be achieved. This optimal balance is reached by slightly varying the displacement of the cabin, and as a result, the complete floating unit will float in a horizontal position even with cars of different size and weight. If the cabin would be in a fixed position on the aft of the chassis—as with the known solutions—, the balance would have to be established with other known methods, like ballast water or similar. This would require additional complicated and expensive mechanical apparatus in the chassis. Contrarily, the caravan according to the invention needs no complicated structural elements, in particular there is no need for assembling the floating chassis from several separate parts, and thereby the sealing problems are eliminated. The floating chassis may be manufactured as a single unit, which may be made appropriately stiff and strong with known manufacturing methods. Also, the unit containing the living compartment need not be taken apart either, so the living quarters of the user need not be disturbed during launching or landing. Thereby the original purpose of the caravan, namely the rest and recreation of the users, may continue undisturbed. It must be stressed that the longitudinal translation of the cabin not only serves to increase the deck space, but also serves as a counterweight to establish the optimal balance of the whole floating unit on the water. This is especially advantageous in case of modem front-wheel driven cars, where the engine is normally in the front. As a result, the mass center of the car is also nearer the front, which negatively influences the balance of the chassis when t
Basinger Sherman
Jenkens & Gilchrist P.C.
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