Ships – Vessel raising and docking – Floating dry docks
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-19
2001-07-10
Swinehart, Ed (Department: 3617)
Ships
Vessel raising and docking
Floating dry docks
C114S048000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06257159
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally concerns an apparatus for raising and lowering boats, and more particularly relates to an improvement employing flotation elements which can be raised and lowered by means of pumping water in or out, with the entire apparatus being adjustable to accommodate boats of different dimensions.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Apparatus of the general type to which the present invention relates is known from German patent 4,214,019, for example. According to this known publication, the hull of the ship to be raised is run onto a floating cushion that is subsequently inflated to raise the hull out of the water.
German patent 4,426,194 discloses another device for raising boats in water, where the known floating cushion principle is also combined with a magnetic holding device that is in contact with a (metallic) ship's hull and is secured there with suitable magnetic plates.
German utility model GM 9,312,336 concerns another device that is also based on the principle of a float that can be flooded and vented.
All these known apparatuses have in common the fact that their object is to raise a hull floating in water out of the water so the hull is raised above the water line while docked.
This concept offers some major advantages for winter boat storage since boats that are used with the known devices need no longer be dry docked. Likewise, these designs also have advantages because the underwater paint is exposed to water only when the hull is actually in use.
However, the known devices have the disadvantage that they do not keep the hull safe enough from accidents. In particular, there is a lack of stability when pumping up a boat—in other words, when lifting the hull out of the water.
Especially with the device according to German patent 4,214,019, the center of gravity of the boat is precisely in the middle of the inflatable cushions, which has the disadvantage that when the hull is lifted, it tends to tilt to the side.
A disadvantage of German patent 4,426,194 is that the float should be in contact with the outside of the hull, thus leading to a great increase in the total required width of the entire device, which consequently takes up a great deal of space in the water, although that is not desirable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary purpose of this invention is therefore to improve on a device of the above-mentioned type so that a boat can be raised out of water reliably, much more easily and less expensively, so that the boat can be docked above the water line (without any danger of canting), and furthermore the usable width of the device as a whole is greatly reduced.
An important feature of the invention is that now at least two floats are provided at the sides of a support that is intended for accommodating the keel in the longitudinal direction. These floats are connected to the support in a stationary or displaceable mount and the entire device is secured to a mooring point in such a way that it is adjustable in height.
This improvement to the conventional technical teaching has the important advantage that the support mentioned above is now connected at the side directly to corresponding floats running longitudinally. This yields the advantage that the support is used almost exclusively to accommodate the keel part of the boat, and the floats connected to it can be in direct contact with this area of the keel, so this greatly reduces the resulting width of the device.
This yields the further advantage that the entire device corresponds essentially only to the width of the boat, because the floats below the ship are in contact with the ship's hull in the area of or next to the keel line and it is no longer necessary for these floats to be in contact with the side walls of the ship's hull.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the connection between the support that accommodates the keel and the respective floats that are held in a separate framework is designed to be adjustable in height. This results in the important advantage that the height of lift of the hull out of the water can be adjusted with this adjustable height option. This makes it possible to design the support to accommodate keel boats (such as sailboats) but also (with an appropriate reduction in the depth of immersion) this support can also be adjusted to accommodate motor boats with a relatively shallow keel in water. Thus, this support is intended to accommodate mainly leisure boats, such as motor boats, sailboats, rowboats, pedal boats, etc.
Another important feature of this invention is that now the device according to this invention is designed for being attached to adjacent devices at the side. In other words. several similar devices are joined at the sides in such a way that they are adjustable in height (so they can be displaced vertically relative to each other), and these units float in water independently of each other and are designed to be submersible and liftable, but fact that one device is connected to the next device at the side has the advantage that on the whole the devices are protected from lateral canting, and the canting protection of such a device is greatly improved in this way.
It is important here for the devices that are positioned side by side to be connected to each other in such a way that each device can move vertically in the water independently of the others. so appropriate displacement guides are provided for this purpose and may consist of suitable roller guides, for example, where a suitable roller arrangement is provided on one device to engage in a vertical track in the neighboring device.
Another embodiment of this height adjustment device consists of the fact that a suitable dovetail guide is provided to engage in a matching guide in the neighboring device. Likewise. tongue-and-groove devices or similar methods of engagement are also provided.
When the apparatus of the invention is being used, the floats are first flooded and the entire device is below the water line such that the support for accommodating the keel of a corresponding float is lowered just as deeply in the water. In this submerged position, the pillars, which are now preferably provided only at the mounts for the floats, project out of the water. These pillars are also preferably each provided with a hand rail running longitudinally. Thus, this is a type of boat dock that, when submerged, can be recognized only by its pillars projecting vertically out of the water and the optional hand rails running parallel to the water surface.
The ship's hull to be raised is first guided into the submerged device, where the pillars arranged on both sides assure that the hull is centered well over the submerged support, and at the same time the ship can also be secured to the pillars. However, this invention is not limited to the use of such pillars, which could be eliminated.
It is also assumed here that the entire device is tied to a relatively stationary point (mooring point). Such a mooring point may be a pier, a buoy, a floating jetty, a pile, etc. It is also preferable if the entire device is attached to this pier or mooring point in such a way that it is adjustable in height so a constant relationship of the device to the stationary mooring point can be achieved at all times. This connection is preferably designed with an articulated joint or at least so it is adjustable in height to assure that the connection to this mooring point will be maintained even when the device is submerged.
Once the hull has been guided into the submerged device, it is no longer necessary to tie the hull to the side pillars because it is sufficient to center the hull between the pillars. Furthermore. it is not essential to this invention for the pillars to be in contact with the hull.
As soon as the hull has been centered on the device, several pumps that are suitable for emptying the floats that were previously filled with water and are started and pump the water out of these floats. These are preferably inexpensive electric submersibl
Swinehart Ed
The Maxham Firm
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