Ships – Boats – boat component – or attachment – Sectional
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-21
2004-05-25
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Ships
Boats, boat component, or attachment
Sectional
C114S354000, C114S345000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06739278
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is the result of the inventors 30 years of experience with boats, including sailing, designing, and construction, combined with his survival experience in a conventional life raft. Generally, the stability, speed potential, load-carrying capability, and resistance to shipping water from waves and spray increase with a vessel's size. Although the safety, utility, and comfort of small craft therefore increase with size, increasing size creates problems for storage and transport, especially for auxiliary craft that must be carried aboard other boats, land vehicles, or aircraft. Many mariners are forced to carry auxiliary craft far smaller than the ideal because of limitations of onboard storage space. In addition, most mariners need launches (dinghies) for normal commuting between ship and shore, while many of these mariners should also carry conventional life rafts or boats for emergencies at sea, yet available space aboard too often makes the carrying of both a dinghy and life raft or life boat difficult if not impossible. The invention, allows manners to store and/or transport in the same cubic footage a vessel roughly twice the length of a normal rigid boat, which provides roughly six to eight times the in-use volume, allowing mariners to carry significantly larger craft that enhance both routine and emergency capabilities of the craft. Alternatively, mariners may choose to carry twice as many auxiliary craft as they could by using typical rigid craft. The invention also allows boaters of every sort to more easily store or transport a wide variety of folding craft including but not limited to flat-bottomed, chined, round-bottomed, V-d, and stepped displacement and planing hulls to create dinghies, lifeboats, kayaks, canoes, barges, prams, runabouts and a host of other types with enhanced capabilities. As used herein the term “FRB” refers to “folding rigid-bottom boat.”
Other inventions designed to reduce the storage and/or transport requirements of boats include inflatable boats such as folding rigid inflatable boats (FRIB), folding rigid boats, take-apart nesting rigid boats, rigid-bottomed inflatable boats (RIBs) and folding rigid-bottomed inflatable boats. The latter utilize fabric hinges closely associated with waterproofing schemes and full-width bulkheads the tops of which must be straight and positioned precisely at a height just above the rigid bottom elements and below the inflatable topsides. Inflatable boats with no rigid bottoms provide very limited speed potential in all but very light conditions except under engine power, especially poor performance under sail or oars, and poor directional control in all conditions. They are also vulnerable to total failure from a puncture or two as well as significant degradation from beaching and other sources of chafe. RIBs maintain better performance characteristics while in use and some models reduce volume when stored, but stored length always remains the same.
Folding rigid boats such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,202 shorten the stored length of a vessel, but they do not reduce the volume because the hinge fulcrum must rest above the uppermost extended topsides. They also require the above referenced full-width bulkheads, usually at a height equal to the uppermost extended topsides, and must be secured in an in-use position with hardware before use is possible. Take-apart boats, including rigid boats that disassemble so one part may “nest” in another, or other flexible-skinned craft that are made usable with an internal framework, can be disassembled to reduce stored volume while maintaining performance advantages in use, but they all require complicated assembly and/or full-width bulkheads. Two folding RIB designs are known (Kirby; U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,355, and the English Tinker™ folding RIB), which do reduce the volume and length of the stored vessel while maintaining performance advantages, but both are dependent upon fabric hinges that are integrated with waterproofing of the joint between bow and stern elements and inflatable uppermost topsides. Their rigid bottoms also are specified to be shallow-V-bottomed so that all applications require the inflatable tubes to rest in the water, at least through the after sections, where they are more vulnerable to chafe from beaching or other similar events. A single hole in the uppermost topsides also renders these craft virtually unusable. They also depend upon the described full-width bulkheads. Most importantly, the fabric hinges on these boats are more prone to stretch and deterioration than hinges made of rigid materials, producing a boat that is less rigid in a seaway and shorter lived than the invention. Also of primary importance, in these folding RIB designs, the hinge, waterproofing and uppermost topside tubes are connected or in very close proximity, making them fully integrated components that require closer tolerances than FRB during manufacture. The full integration of hinge, waterproofing and inflatable uppermost topsides makes disassembly of one part impossible without completely disrupting the integrity of another and for all intents and purposes, destroying it. This makes it virtually impossible to repair or replace critical components without repairing and replacing all the others. Repairs and/or improvements requiring replacement of critical parts, therefore, become more expensive and difficult than for a FRB design, and are virtually impossible except by the manufacturer.
Full-width bulkheads with straight tops in the various boat configurations noted significantly limit the possibilities for arranging the interior of the boat and prevent application to many configurations, such as kayaks in which passengers sit in a centralized position and low in the boat.
To overcome all limitations of the aforementioned boats, including other folding RIBs, a new approach was necessary which addresses separately the requirements for hinging, waterproofing, and providing sufficient buoyancy to carry a load. The invention, FRB, is unique in that these requirements are met with independent features. This, in contrast to prior boats, makes the invention more adaptable to different boat configurations that can suit the diverse needs of various mariners. It also dramatically improves the invention's long-term reliability, and facilitates quicker and less expensive repairs or improvements.
Only hinged folding boats can be deployed for use without complicated assembly, and FRB is among these few designs, but it also differs from them in significant ways.
FRB is the only RIB that benefits from the rigidity, strength, and longevity of rigid hinges, like some folding rigid boats, but unlike rigid boats, the axis of the hinge element(s) of FRB rests significantly below the uppermost extended topsides, or gunwale, when the boat is in the unfolded use condition, allowing the boat to fold into a much smaller volume as well as length.
Unlike other folding RIB designs, FRB's hinge element(s), any required waterproofing of the joint between bow and stern elements, and inflatable (or fabric skin) uppermost extension of the topsides are completely independent of and unattached to one another, with the noted exception of a small section of gasket bonded to the bottom of the uppermost flexible topsides, the components of which can be separated without destroying the mating component. This separation of functions and the devices designed to fulfill them dramatically increases the flexibility of design to suit different boat configurations, interior arrangements, hinge and waterproofing mechanisms, and manufacturing processes, and therefore its performance in any specific application. Numerous hinge styles, uppermost topside configurations and waterproofing mechanisms can be employed if desired. Optional waterproofing gaskets and membranes, may best suit designs with a need to keep mating bulkheads or frames near or below the waterline, for example. In other applications, a non-waterproofed joint combined with doubl
Adams Evans P.A.
Morano S. Joseph
Vasudeva Ajay
LandOfFree
Folding rigid-bottom boat does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Folding rigid-bottom boat, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Folding rigid-bottom boat will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3222361