Ships – Building – Bracing and staying
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-15
2001-02-06
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Ships
Building
Bracing and staying
C114S364000, C114S355000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06182591
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reinforced powerboat construction and more specifically it relates to such a construction wherein structural members are provided to facilitate the transfer of loads applied to one portion of the boat, such as the transom to other portions of the powerboat.
2. Description of the Preferred Embodiments
As employed herein, the term “performance boat” shall mean noncommercial boats equipped with outboard marine engines or inboard-outboard marine engines having a horsepower in excess of 100 and are up to about 30 feet in overall length. Such boats are frequently used by competition fishermen to get from a starting point to the area where fishing will be initiated, as well as numerous other uses.
Such performance boats may take the form of runabouts, ski boats, and fishing boats. For example, the fishing boat may be generally similar with the bass boat having a lower gunwale than the walleye boat. It has been known to provide such boats with a length of about 10 to 30 feet, for example. It has also been known to construct such boats with a hull made from a single layer of aluminum with a transom composed of a sandwich panel consisting of an interior aluminum skin, an exterior aluminum skin and an interposed plywood layer. Such constructions distribute loads applied to the transom to the hull and sidewalls of the boat. The use of single layer aluminum construction generally requires a relatively thick aluminum material which may be in excess of 0.080 inch.
It is known that among the functions of the boat transom are to distribute the tensile, compressive, shear and torsional loads developed by high performance outboard marine engines to other areas of the boat.
The transom is not only subjected to loads imposed by the weight and thrust of the outboard or outboard-inboard marine engine, but also must effectively handle loads imposed by the powerboat moving at high rates of speed and the associated water and air forces imposed on the boat.
In spite of the previously known constructions, there remains a real and substantial need for an improved performance boat transom wherein loads are more efficiently distributed to other portions of the boat.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has met the above-described need by providing a powerboat which has a hull, a keel, a transom, sidewalls and a gunwale. The hull has a keel and at least one stringer on each side of the keel. The stringers are preferably oriented generally longitudinally. An upper generally transversely oriented structural member is secured to the transom and is in load transmitting relationship with respect to the gunwales. A lower generally transverse structural member is disposed generally in underlying relationship with respect to the upper structural member and is in load transmitting relationship with respect to the keel and stringers. At least one generally vertical structural member is secured to the upper and lower structural members.
The structural members may be composed of aluminum and are preferably hollow. The structural members may be aluminum extrusions, formed aluminum, or roll formed aluminum, for example.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a powerboat transom which has structural reinforcement in order to distribute load imposed on the transom to other portions of the powerboat.
It is a further object of the present invention to effect such distribution in a performance boat such that the load will be delivered to the gunwales, the keel and stringers.
It is a further object of the present invention to accomplish these objectives while reducing the thickness of the aluminum skin in an aluminum skin-resinous foam-aluminum skin sandwich construction.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a construction which is compatible with existing powerboats such as runabouts, ski boats, and high performance fishing boats, for example.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a construction which will not only effectively deliver static loads applied to the transom by marine engines, but also dynamic loading resulting from high speed movement or accelerating or deceleration of the boat through the water with substantial air impingement on the boat hull.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide sufficient reinforcement to the powerboat as to resist undesired transient or permanent deformation of the boat hull during boat movement.
These and other objects of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description of the invention on reference to the illustrations appended hereto.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1915160 (1933-06-01), Gray
patent: 2585344 (1952-02-01), Plaziak
patent: 4214332 (1980-07-01), Stoner
patent: 4892054 (1990-01-01), Davidson
patent: 5111767 (1992-05-01), Haines
patent: 5277145 (1994-01-01), Hordis
patent: 5690048 (1997-11-01), Friesen et al.
patent: 5758594 (1998-06-01), Siewert
DiCocco Frank A.
Swearingen Janet C.
Whitesides Robert B.
Alcoa Inc.
Buckwalter Charles Q.
Morano S. Joseph
Silverman Arnold B.
Wright Andrew D.
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