Ships – Boats – boat component – or attachment – Lifeboat
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-20
2001-09-25
Sotelo, Jesus D. (Department: 3617)
Ships
Boats, boat component, or attachment
Lifeboat
C441S040000, C114S377000, C414S137100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293219
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The US military, particularly the US Navy, US Marine Corps, and the US Special Operations Forces, has a well-established requirement to conduct expeditionary warfare operations from the seaward approaches to an objective. Among other resources, helicopters and inflatable boats are critical assets routinely employed during these operations. A helicopter-borne approach to a coastline, launched from ships at sea, delivering small inflatable boats for the final insertion onto the beach is the usual methodology utilized to initiate pre-invasion operations such as shore and landing-zone reconnaisance, beach obstacle clearance, etc.
A variety of techniques have been developed to transport these inflatable boats by helicopter. The objectives of these techniques include rapid airborne approach, quick launch of the boat, equipment and personnel followed by immediate withdrawal of the helicopter. These objectives have been imperfectly achieved, particularly for operations conducted from US Navy ships utilizing US Navy helicopters (platforms constrained by other requirements).
Various solutions have been adopted, including internal carriage of a deflated boat along with the personnel and mission equipment (requiring extended periods in hover while the boat and equipment are lowered into the water and assembled), use of US Army or Air Force helicopters on US Navy vessels (with concomitant interservice supportability and interoperability problems), the use of long tethers or nets (or both) suspended below the helicopter, delivery of limited amounts and types of equipment and personnel by parachute, etc.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a substantial improvement in the current methods used for this kind of operation, by providing a cargo pallet to carry a full mission loadout of equipment including the inflatable boat externally (but close-coupled) to the helicopter, in a manner that allows the helicopter to drop the cargo and boat into the water and depart immediately. This pallet consists of a horizontal deck supported by 1 or more longitudinal members, which carry the cargo-induced loads to a single-point suspension located near the center of the pallet. The usual method of employing the pallet is to load the cargo onto the deck of the pallet after it has been inserted into a surrounding inflated boat; this assembly is attached to the cargo hook of a helicopter or picked up by a crane for placement into the water.
OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION
An objective of the invention is to overcome the aforementioned difficulties associated with prior techniques for transporting and inserting a small inflatable boat and its mission cargo by helicopter.
Another objective is to provide a simplified method for launching or recovering a small inflatable boat and its mission cargo from a ship at sea.
A further objective of the invention is to provide structural foundations for mounting antennas, weapons, etc to the cargo pallet installed in an inflatable boat.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5018475 (1991-05-01), Burke
patent: 521016 (1932-02-01), None
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