Ships – Boats – boat component – or attachment – Sectional
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-30
2001-01-30
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Ships
Boats, boat component, or attachment
Sectional
C114S354000, C114S061180
Reexamination Certificate
active
06178913
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a collapsible boat and more particularly to boat structure enabling the width of the boat to be reduced for transport or storage purposes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The following United States patents disclose boat structures which can be collapsed to provide an alternate boat configuration: U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,837, issued Dec. 16, 1975, U.S. Pat. No. 2,876,728, issued Mar. 10, 1959, U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,169, issued Mar. 20, 1990, U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,536, issued Sep. 7, 1976, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,992,444, issued Jul. 18, 1961. These patents are believed to be representative of the current state of the prior art.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The invention disclosed and claimed herein also relates to a collapsible boat structure; however, the invention is characterized by its relative simplicity and ease of use. The structural components of the boat of this invention cooperate in a unique manner not suggested by the prior art to attain the desired result of quickly and reliably converting a boat between a non-collapsed condition in which the boat is suitable for normal boat usage on the water and a collapsed condition enabling the width of the boat to be reduced for the boat to be readily trailed after a vehicle or stored. The conversion takes place with virtually no manual effort on the part of the boat user.
The collapsible boat includes a boat deck comprising a plurality of boat deck panels including first and second center deck panels disposed side-by-side and first and second outer deck panels. The first outer deck panel is disposed alongside the first center deck panel and the first center deck panel is positioned between the second center deck panel and the first outer deck panel. The second outer deck panel is disposed alongside the second center deck panel and the second center deck panel is positioned between the first center deck panel and the second outer deck panel.
Panel mover means is provided for selectively moving the first and second outer deck panels either toward or away from one another. The first and second center deck panels move from a substantially horizontal orientation to a substantially vertical orientation when the first and second outer deck panels move toward one another to reduce the width of the boat deck.
The collapsible boat of this invention additionally includes guide means for guiding movement of the first and second outer deck panels. The panel mover means is operatively associated with the first and second outer deck panels to move the first and second outer deck panels along the guide means. The first and second center deck panels move responsive to movement of the first and second outer deck panels along the guide means.
Other features, advantages, and objects of the present invention will become apparent with reference to the following description and accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 119348 (1871-09-01), Groel
patent: 2759201 (1956-08-01), McKinney
patent: 2876728 (1959-03-01), Luger
patent: 2992444 (1961-07-01), Schuler
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patent: 3978536 (1976-09-01), Howe
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patent: 4730574 (1988-03-01), Deifendahl et al.
patent: 4754723 (1988-07-01), Ghering
patent: 4909169 (1990-03-01), Skandaliaris et al.
patent: 1062090 (1979-11-01), None
patent: 2817650 (1978-10-01), None
patent: 3312730 (1984-10-01), None
patent: 4305098 (1994-08-01), None
patent: 2223459 (1990-04-01), None
patent: 20981 (1994-08-01), None
Lampe Thomas R.
Morano S. Joseph
Vasudeva Ajay
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