Ships – Fenders
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-28
2001-03-06
Avila, Stephen (Department: 3617)
Ships
Fenders
C114S220000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196150
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to devices aimed at absorbing shocks from an object moving against a fixed object such as a boat at anchor in a port, and relates more particularly to a fender device aimed at preventing wear on boat hulls due to shock and friction against quaysides.
BACKGROUND ART
It is well-known to use fenders which are elastomeric bodies hanging from ropes along the hull of a boat and which are inserted between the boat and the quayside when the boat comes alongside, thus protecting the hull against shock and wear. Unfortunately, as the fenders are hung vertically, there is very little protection against roll, which causes the boat to move along the vertical axis. In addition, when the boat comes alongside an articulated pontoon, fenders have the unfortunate disadvantage of bouncing off the pontoon when a person jumps onto the latter.
Fenders also exist, which are attached to pontoons or to quays. But because the latter are fixed, they do not protect the hull against wear when the boat is subjected to rolling.
The best system consists therefore of installing moving rollers around a fixed axis, either on the boat, or to the pontoon. A device of this kind is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,685. It includes an axis on which a plurality of rubber rollers are mounted for absorbing the energy of shocks when the boat is subjected to vertical movements. Unfortunately, boat movements produced by turbulence in the water are not only vertical, and a boat is almost always subjected to horizontal movements which result in the boat rotating in one direction or another. In this case, unless rollers are fitted all along the boat or all along the pontoon, which would be exorbitant in cost terms, the boat is no longer protected by a roller at either end and its hull then strikes along the protruding axis, typically made of metal, at either end of the rollers, as in the patent referred to above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This is why the main object of the invention is to provide an improved fender device for absorbing shocks and thus avoiding the wear to a moving object in contact with a fixed object regardless of the movements the moving object is subjected to.
The invention relates therefore to a fender device for absorbing shocks and thus preventing wear of a first object in relative movement with respect to a second object, in particular when the first object is a boat hull in contact with a pontoon, comprising a main protective element with axial symmetry and a circular section, freely rotating around a support integral with one or other of the objects, and having a hardness which is less than that of the first object, and two cone-shaped secondary protective elements, with axial symmetry and circular section, arranged at either end of the fender element and freely rotating around the same geometric axis.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2952979 (1960-09-01), Rolando
patent: 3402558 (1968-09-01), Hellinger
patent: 3464213 (1969-09-01), Stephenson
patent: 5016554 (1991-05-01), Harris, Jr. et al.
patent: 1119578 (1956-06-01), None
patent: 1547866 (1968-11-01), None
patent: 892541 (1962-03-01), None
patent: 2019527 (1979-10-01), None
Avila Stephen
Lydon James C.
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