Ships – Boats – boat component – or attachment – Sectional
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-29
2002-04-09
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Ships
Boats, boat component, or attachment
Sectional
C114S354000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06367404
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a boat particularly intended for routine and emergency use by its occupants as an auxiliary watercraft. The invention is the result of the inventor's thirty years of sailing experience combined with his survival experience in a conventional life raft.
Most mariners need launches or dinghies for routine commuting between ship and shore, and should carry conventional life rafts or boats for emergencies at sea. In many instances, however, mariners have limited space or a limited budget, and thus cannot own both a dinghy and an emergency auxiliary watercraft. Although some mariners have retrofit inflatable or rigid dinghies to serve as emergency craft, such craft are rarely optimally designed for use in emergencies. Rigid dinghies tend to be small and ship water easily. They provide little stability or shelter in a seaway. Inflatable dinghies likewise tend to provide little shelter, and unless engine power is applied, their maneuverability and speed is extremely limited in all but very light conditions. Inflatable dinghies are also vulnerable to total failure from even a single puncture.
Although mariners should carry certified lifesaving devices such as SOLAS-approved life rafts, survivors of boating accidents have relied upon a wide variety of other watercraft, even though many of those watercraft were ill-suited for emergencies. Analysis of numerous survival drifts reveals that many ocean survivors could not only dramatically reduce their time adrift, but also ease conditions while adrift, if they could pilot watercraft having even modicum amounts of mobility and maneuverability. More maneuverable and speedier watercraft would allow mariners to reach shores than those resting directly downwind, which is the only direction conventional life rafts typically travel. Use of such watercraft would also increase the likelihood of intercepting shipping or search and rescue crews, and would allow mariners to navigate towards rainfall or other desirable environmental conditions.
Mariners are best served by multiple emergency auxiliary watercraft when abandoning slip; therefore, volume and weight allowances for auxiliary watercraft are of prime importance. Unfortunately, smaller pleasure craft often simply do not have room to accommodate multiple emergency auxiliary watercraft. Given that the performance, comfort and safety of an emergency auxiliary watercraft increases tremendously as its size increases, resorting to a smaller auxiliary watercraft necessarily creates higher risks for a mariner in an emergency situation.
Attempts to solve these problems have resulted in a number of auxiliary watercraft having varying shapes, sizes and functions—and a number of disadvantages. Rigid dinghies, for example, have a rigid bottom and provide superior performance, yet require maximum space for storage. Folding rigid dinghies do not reduce the cubic footage of the stored watercraft. Take-apart, nesting dinghies or collapsible dinghies relying upon multiple rigid plates, fabric hinges, or complex internal frameworks usually require assembly before launching, and often compromise stability and safety.
Attempts have been made in the past to solve the problems mentioned above. The English-built Tinker folding rigid-inflatable boat is the only dinghy now in production of which the inventor is aware that allows mariners to fold a folding rigid-inflatable boat into a smaller package for storage. U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,355 likewise discloses a folding rigid-inflatable boat. However, neither Tinker's folding rigid-inflatable boat or the folding rigid-inflatable boat of the '355 Patent have been designed to be deployed during emergencies at sea. The invention disclosed in the '355 Patent is limited to a single embodiment of a V-bottomed, engine-oriented vessel. In addition, both the Tinker invention and the folding rigid-inflatableboat disclosed in the '355 Patent rely upon hinge mechanisms composed of flexible fabrics, which are more vulnerable to wear and deterioration as well as distortion during use than hinges created with rigid materials. The hinge mechanisms used by Tinker and disclosed in the '355 Patent both require the hinge fulcrum to rest flush with the top of the bulkhead, interior platform, or sole, and the bottom of the inflatable topside elements. This limits the range of watercraft designs to which the hinge mechanisms can be applied because the topsides must not extend upwards of the hinge fulcrum.
The '355 Patent discloses partial bulkheads, which theoretically allow the folding rigid-inflatable boat to fold into a package consuming significantly less cubic footage. It should be noted, however, that the fulcrum of the hinge joint disclosed in the '355 Patent is precisely at the juncture between the inflated topsides and the rigid bottom element. As the boat folds, no space is provided for the topsides, even if deflated, not to mention the space required to fold the portion of the hull used for connecting the inflated topsides. In the highly unlikely event that this design were to work, it would require the hinge fulcrum to rest flush with the bottom of the inflatable topsides, resulting in restricting the topside height of the rigid hull.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,202 also discloses a folding rigid-inflatable boat having fabric hinges and bulkheads for waterproofing the joint between the bow and stern hull elements. The bulkheads of the '202 Patent are high enough at the hinge to prevent water from entering the craft, which is usually at or above gunwale height. Such bulkheads place significant obstacles within the craft and when the hull is folded, create a height equal to twice that of the unfolded hull. Furthermore, the stored hull consumes no less cubic footage. The purpose of a folding boat is to allow it, when not in use, to be stored in a space that is smaller in one or more dimensions. The '202 Patent discloses full-height bulkheads with gaskets; however, such gaskets can still leak, especially as the craft bounces around and twists over a seaway.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,839 discloses a folding rigid-inflatable boat having a stability device attached directly to the hull or contained within hull chambers. Unlike the present invention, which includes a stability device attached asymmetrically to the hull to concentrate forces to avoid capsizing or rolling, the stability device of the '839 Patent is distributed symmetrically around the perimeter of the craft, which may compromise stability by placing the weight and drag on the leeward side.
The invention of the present application offers an innovative and safer alternative to traditional auxiliary watercraft. The invention is a boat that includes a tough, rigid hinge element that is independent of any bulkheads. The hinge element is preferably a scissors hinge; however, a butterfly hinge, piano hinge or other suitable hinge may be used to suit the boat type and specific application. The boat is adaptable to any shaped hull, be it a v-bottomed hull designed to be primarily engine-driven or a round-bottom hull designed to be driven primarily by oars or sail. The preferred embodiment of the invention includes a round-bottom hull featuring higher rigid topsides than a typical folding rigid-inflatable boat. The invention includes inflatable topsides that are folded inside the boat for storage after the inflatable topsides are deflated. The invention may also include an automatic inflation device as is used in conventional life rafts for unfolding and inflating the inflatable topsides with the pull of a cord. The hinge element includes a fulcrum that can be placed at any height in the hull, thereby providing enough room when the boat is folded to make room between the folded hull for folded inflatable topsides material and any other folded elements. The boat preferably includes a hinge, a screw pin or similar latching mechanism to secure the bow and stem sections of the hull together. This structure enhances the rigidity of
Adams, Schwartz & Evans P.A.
Morano S. Joseph
Vasudeva Ajay
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