Ships – Boats – boat component – or attachment – Hull construction
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-20
2001-09-04
Sotelo, Jesus D. (Department: 3617)
Ships
Boats, boat component, or attachment
Hull construction
C114S352000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06283058
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to boats, and more particularly to boats made of plastic foam and methods of construction of such plastic foam boats.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Today's small boats, such as kayaks, canoes, and rafts are often heavy, bulky, and hard to transport and carry. If the user is lacking in experience, they can be difficult and dangerous to maneuver. Kayak designs have always leaned towards high-tech designs, and consequently, high consumer cost.
Most such small boats are made of rigid materials, and may have sharp objects attached, which can cut and bruise the user. Canoes are also relatively expensive and require skill to avoid capsizing. Because of this, many people, and particularly children, cannot get out on the water, limiting the sport to the more daring and skilled and/or to those able to make substantial expenditures of money for their watercraft.
As a way around the above problems, the plastic foam boat provides the user or users with a lightweight watercraft that is easy to transport and carry, soft to the touch, and very stable and easy to maneuver in water. Foam boats can be produced relatively inexpensively compared to the usual structure of kayaks and canoes. Their appearance is non-threatening and pleasing to the eye. Plastic foam boats can be made in many colors and color combinations, shapes and sizes.
The principal drawback of the plastic foam boats that have been available on the market is that they are designed to sell at a very low price and are quite fragile. Most have been quite small, made of styrofoam, and are useful only as children's toys for use in shallow pools or small ponds.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a boat and method of manufacturing same which is inherently safer to use, particularly for children or the inexperienced, than the usual canoe or kayak.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a boat and method of manufacturing it which is lighter in weight and easier to carry and transport than the usual small boat.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a boat of plastic foam construction, which enjoys the weight and safety advantages of plastic foam, but which is significantly more durable than plastic foam boats, which have heretofore been available.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a boat meeting the above objects and which is substantially less expensive than canoes, kayaks or conventional boats of wood, glass fiber, or aluminum construction.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from consideration of the following description taken in connection with the drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Faced with the above situation, applicants have concluded that there is a place in the market for a boat which is substantially more durable than the small, inexpensive, plastic foam boats described above, but which is considerably less expensive than conventional boats of wood, glass fiber or aluminum, or kayaks or canoes.
Applicants have determined that commercially available planks of uni-cellular polyethylene foam, which are available in 2.72 m lengths, and which have an outer skin, make very desirable material for forming of plastic foam boats. Such planks are readily cut and can be bent and parts joined by heating.
Applicants have formed a boat from such planks by heating a first plank and then folding it longitudinally to provide a V-shaped cross section with an angle of about 60° (interior angle of about 120°). A second plank is similarly heated and bent while still hot, one side of each such bent plank is selected as a bottom, and then each V-shaped member is bent inwardly from about 80 cm from the ends, as shown in FIG.
5
.
After the bent planks have cooled to room temperature, each is placed in a jig where the top edge is trimmed at 90° to the outer side surface over its entire length. The each bent plank is cut in a straight line at 90° from the bottom to produce two boat halves. The cut edges are then heated to a high temperature (around 500° F.) making them molten and the molten edges are aligned and pressed together creating a finished hull. The stabilizers, handles, and the keel and tail fin combination are all cut from the same foam plank material, as that used for the hull. These parts are heat bonded to the hull essentially as described, but the hull areas which must be heated to bond the above parts are masked to avoid distorting or damaging the adjacent surface of the hull.
The rear edge of the keel and the top edges of the hull are then painted with a rubberized paint to insure that no water leaks into the hull or the keel and tail fin.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4453357 (1984-06-01), Zwilgmeyer
patent: 4512275 (1985-04-01), Drumm
patent: 5133276 (1992-07-01), Alesi, Jr. et al.
patent: 6021732 (2000-02-01), Hobbs
Debow David
Wiltrout Martin
Smith Robert C.
Sotelo Jesus D.
Wagner John E.
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