Ships – Boats – boat component – or attachment – Hull construction
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-18
2003-02-18
Sotelo, Jesus D. (Department: 3617)
Ships
Boats, boat component, or attachment
Hull construction
C114S356000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06520107
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to chambered water vessels and the location and design of chamber walls, and other design features. Further, the invention relates to a method of manufacture to produce the water vessels.
BACKGROUND
It is desirable to have watercrafts to remain afloat even when the open hull becomes filled of water. To make this possible discrete floatation chambers have been employed in watercraft for many years. Thus, in the event that the seal of one chamber is compromised and the buoyant effect of that chamber is lost, the other chambers will still have a buoyant effect so that the watercraft will remain afloat.
Due to the safety problems of punctured chambers the U.S. Coast Guard has implemented rigorous standards with which the boats under their jurisdiction must comply. One such regulation is the mandatory use of foam in the chambers to reduce the amount of water the chamber would take on in the event the chamber wall is punctured. There are many problems with foam injected chambers. First, it is very costly to inject foam into the chamber; the foam must be distributed evenly and the injection equipment is expensive to purchase and maintain. Secondly, If the foam filled chamber is punctured, repair of the chamber is difficult to impossible. It is somewhat difficult to remove the water that is soaked into the foam. Further, the aluminum wall that defines the chamber must be welded to recreate a sealed chamber and the heat from the welding process will melt the foam, creating noxious gas and leaving a portion of combusted foam no longer of use for floatation.
Another aspect of the design and manufacture of floatation boats is the construction of chambers has traditionally been accomplished by rolling sheets of aluminum to form a curved wall to define the chambers. There are numerous problems with the rolling process that results in variations in the shape and dimensions in the chamber walls. This lack of consistency makes the use of efficient manufacturing techniques difficult or in some instances impossible.
Another method of creating chamber walls is to extrude the aluminum through a mold to a preferred shape. This process is very expensive and can weaken the metal.
Yet another aspect related to the larger boats which generally have an internal combustion engine to power the prop, the fuel tank must reside in a safe place while still having a convenient access to the tank. The inlet port to refuel the tank has traditionally been in the back of the water vessels near the engine. Often times when a boat is in the water, the rear of a boat is lower than the front, because there is generally more load to the rear of the center of buoyancy of the water vessel. This position of the boat causes the gas to shift to the rear of the tank, which increases the hydrostatic pressure for a refueling inlet port located in the rear of the boat. This increase in pressure makes refueling more difficult
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is a multichambered boat having a central lower portion and a lateral portion where the central portion slopes upwardly from the laterally inwardly portion to the laterally outworked portion where it engages a perimeter contact surface that slopes laterally downwardly. The perimeter contact surface is part of a flotation chamber. The flotation chambers are located in the perimeter portion of the boat and provide buoyant lift. A fuel input line having an intake nozzle located in the upper portion of the flotation chamber and a central line extending through the chamber to an outtake nozzle located in the laterally inwardly portion of the chamber. The outtake nozzle is connected to a flexible close that is in communication to the fuel storage tank.
The multichambered boat hull is manufactured by utilizing stationery platforms having placement holders that are adapted to hold multi-creased wall sections that eventually form floatation chambers. Baffles are placed in between two adjacent multi-creased wall sections and are welded thereto to form discrete chambers.
One aspect of the invention is a strategic and precise placement of the chambers to minimize cost of construction and maintain a high level of safety in the event several chambers are punctured. The invention removes the need for costly foam injection chambers by placing the chambers at locations to reduce the risks in circumstances where multiple chambers are punctured.
Another aspect of the present invention is that each of the chambers are defined by a multi-creased wall that comprises a plurality of longitudinal creases or bends. The construction of the wall is accomplished by taking a flat piece of metal, preferably aluminum, and bend it about a longitudinal straight edge. This process is continued until the wall loops around to create a continuous tube like configuration, where the chamber has in cross sectional configuration the shape of an irregular polygon. This multi-creased wall is configured in a way so that it has an increased moment of inertia about the transverse axis, thus creating a stronger vessel. A majority of the bending moments on a water vessel are about the transverse axis, therefor increasing the moment of inertia about the transverse centroidal axis reduces the stresses experienced on the multi-creased walls and the water vessel as a whole.
After the multi-creased sections are formed they are assembled together in a rigid platform assembly to create very consistent dimensions of the final boats produced.
A further advantage of the preferred embodiment is a oblique surface in the lower portion of the multi-creased wall which has particular fluid flow advantageous by directing up-skirting water along the v-shaped hull in a downward direction, thus creating lift and a smoother ride for the passengers. This is beneficial in rough waters where the boat is impacting waves. The oblique surface can also assist in cornering as well. This oblique surface has the additional advantages of reducing the spray that is created when the water flows around the V-shaped wall in the lower hull.
The result is a light, safe high performance water vessel that is less expensive to manufacture.
BACKGROUND ART
A search of the patent literature has a number of patents directed toward creating flotation chambers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,618 Cigognetti, shows a means to form a water tight space between keel and deck elements in an inflatable boat. The keel section
2
, and the deck section
1
, are joined at the edges to tubes
5
, and
6
. Tubes
5
, and
6
, may be either the floats, or float housings.
The following patents show various boat configurations in which there are water tight compartments along at least part of the sides, and which are joined to form a hull.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,749 Yamada, shows a personal watercraft in which the hull is provided with a sponson
73
, seen best in
FIGS. 1
,
7
,
8
, and
9
. The assembly appears to be bolted to the remaining parts of the hull.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,886 Franceschelli et al, shows a boat built upon hull “T”, and deck “C”. There are compartments
3
, formed in tubular enclosures along each side.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,345 Fleming, shows a boat in which inflatable air bladders
2
, may be joined to rigid bottom
4
shown in FIG.
2
.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,566 Cochran, shows a girder type hull to which flotation element
80
is secured.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,072 Horiuchi et al, shows a boat formed with a pair of outer sponsons
13
, which appear to form water tight portions and hull elements
12
.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,136 Van Der Velden, shows a cockpit suspended between a pair of water tight sponsons.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,372 Douglas, shows a catamaran in which the hull section are formed of sections
11
that are provided on the ends with pointed or streamlined elements
12
. The sections
11
are rectangular and mounted so that an edge is at the lowest point so that it forms a keel like configuration.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,972 Parsons, shows a three hulled boat in which there is a central hull
12
, and a pair of side hulls
Hughes Robert B.
Hughes Law Firm PLLC
Sotelo Jesus D.
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