Buoys – rafts – and aquatic devices – Rafts – Inflatable
Patent
1993-02-02
1994-08-30
Basinger, Sherman
Buoys, rafts, and aquatic devices
Rafts
Inflatable
114366, 114368, B63B 3558
Patent
active
053422309
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates to a water survival device of the inflatable liferaft type packed in a container.
It is known and often compulsory to place on board of ships of a certain tonnage inflatable liferafts that may be launched in the event of a shipwreck and which allow passengers to take refuge while awaiting rescue.
Currently known rafts have accommodation capacities ranging from several people to several tens of people. They are generally made up of a flexible floor which may be inflatable and which is equipped on its periphery with inflatable permanent fenders which provide buoyancy for the raft; the rafts are generally inflated after launch with the help of a pressurised gas supply composed, for example, of nitrogen which is generally mixed with carbon dioxide, and stored in a bottle generally attached to the inflatable permanent fenders.
These rafts are generally equipped with batteries providing a power supply for warning lights making spotting of the raft in the water easier.
The rafts also contain a waterproof supply of provisions and water to ensure temporary survival of the passengers.
The currently known rafts are packed in a substantially watertight manner (while deflated) in flexible cases or containers; containers are generally substantially cylindrical in shape and composed of two half-shells assembled with straps or other equivalent systems; devices exist that allow strap release, which in turn allows opening of the container and inflation of the raft, under the control of a manual device or of an automatic release mechanism--often called a hydrostatic release unit--which automatically triggers release and then opening of the container and inflation of the raft once the wrecked ship reaches a certain depth.
Currently known inflatable liferaft devices and the container thereof have many drawbacks; indeed, when the container opens, the two half-shells of which it is made are lost at sea; also, these containers are relatively heavy, often have defective seals, are not easy to handle and require cradle-shaped supports equipped with straps; in addition to this, the equipment composed of the pressurised gas bottles, the provisions and other accessories as well as the inflation triggering line--occasionally called manoeuvre line--are totally enclosed in the container: it is therefore necessary to open the container in order to check the equipment--this checkup is compulsory in many countries--and to completely unfold the raft.
Such openings which must often be performed annually, followed by renewed conditioning of the raft and of its equipment in the container, although generally performed by specialised companies employing qualified personnel, generate additional risks of deterioration of the seal of the raft and malfunction of certain components of the equipment as a result of these frequent manipulations. In addition to this, these inspections are expensive for the ship's owner or manager.
The aim of the present invention is to compensate for these faults, the aims are reached with the present invention by providing a water survival device of the liferaft type packed in a container, equipped with survival material comprising at least one pressurised gas bottle such that said container comprises at least a first waterproof compartment and a second waterproof compartment, with such waterproof compartments being separated by a watertight partition, said first waterproof compartment may contain said liferaft, said second waterproof compartment may contain said survival material, and such that said second waterproof compartment may be opened without opening said first waterproof compartment, so as to allow the inspection and control of said survival material contained in said second waterproof compartment without opening said first waterproof compartment.
Advantageously, a device according to the invention is such that said container comprises said watertight partition which is substantially planar in shape and includes a top lid and a bottom lid which may be fixed on either s
REFERENCES:
patent: 2510843 (1950-06-01), Townshend
patent: 2851078 (1958-09-01), Mellon et al.
patent: 2959278 (1960-11-01), Mitchell et al.
patent: 4031583 (1977-06-01), Phillips
Basinger Sherman
Unitor A/S
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