INFLATABLE BOATS

Abstract

An inflatable boat (1) formed in particular from flexible inflatable tubes (2) which have, substantially at the ends of same, relatively rigid tensioning members (3, 3a), such as rings, holding the walls of the tubes apart in the same shape as when the tube is inflated. The boat also has, in the walls of the floats of said boat, openings that are hermetically closable and of much larger dimensions than inflating valves.

Description

The present invention is an inflatable boat that, in particular, has the advantage of being much faster to inflate and deflate than a conventional inflatable boat, which is advantageous, in particular, for dinghies of sailboats that are not large enough to have an inflated dinghy in position, and in general for those that do not have a location for storing a boat.

The principle is to extend the boat before inflating it. Thus its floats are almost filled with air at atmospheric pressure before inflating them, only to increase their internal pressure. Another advantage, for safety, is that if a float is punctured it approximately retains its shape and therefore its safety volume while on a conventional inflatable boat, the float collapses and loses safety volume.

For this, the inflatable boat is formed, inter alia, from inflatable flexible tubes, and at least one of these inflatable tubes has approximately at each end a relatively rigid tensioning member maintaining the wall of the inflatable tube separated substantially in the same form as when the inflatable tube is inflated.

These tensioning members can be a loop, a batten attached on the periphery of the inflatable tube, for example arch, batten, slipped between the wall of the inflatable tube and a band attached on its perimeter, forming a sleeve, leaving a passage for the arch, the batten, such as the battens that are slid into a sail. The advantage of an arch, of a batten, is that they retain a certain elasticity in order to absorb a shock against a sailboat, for example; on the other hand, for safety, it may be necessary that a strut be connected at the interior of the inflatable tube the high and low part of the arch, the latte, strut sufficiently strong to support the weight of a person who would sit on the batten before the boat is inflated and launched into the water. This tensioning member can also be simply a plate attached across the inflatable tube, bored for allowing passing air into the latter, and placing a protection made of foam or rubber at the exterior against shocks if this plate is hard, as plywood for example; unless it is directly a rubber, foam, polymer plate that has the ability to return to its original shape even after large deformation.

It is now necessary, in order that the inflatable tubes be stretched between the tensioning members, that the latter be in place; for this, first, two tensioning members located at the same height of the boat, one to port the other to starboard, can be held apart from one another by a rigid part, in particular, the two rear tensioning members are attached to the transom of the boat. This can also be by a batten. In general, the tensioning members are held apart from each other by the floor of the boat, substantially in the same positions they have once the boat in inflated. It can be advantageous to have a rigid floor longitudinally, the rear end of which comes to rest against the transom on which are attached two rear tensioning members and its front end come to push the two front tensioning members. The floor, if it is too long for storage, can be divided into two parts interconnected by a hinge that can be locked. Certain inflatable boats have a few slats attached transversely for a floor; weakly rigid longitudinally, it may be desirable to install other tensioning members between those of the ends of the inflatable tubes. These boats can be temporarily stretched, by gravity for example, if they are raised or lowered vertically from a sailboat, for example, or by blocking a paddle between a batten and the transom, or with two people pulling one in front, the other behind the inflatable boat. This tension is necessary only a few seconds, the time to close two openings with their stoppers.

In fact, the inflatable boat has, in addition to inflation valves, at least one opening that can be hermetically sealed in the wall of one of its inflatable tubes, opening having dimension much larger than that of an inflation valve, thus being able to pass much more air than the latter. An inflation valve open, it takes approximately one hundred seconds for a float of a 2.6 m boat to empty. If one does not wish to be slowed during the assembly, from the tensioning of the boat which occurs for example in 10 seconds, by the lack of speed of air into the float, an opening of at least 10 times greater than the inflation valve is required. In order to decrease the number of parts to be attached to the boat, one may have an opening hermetically sealed by a stopper and an attached inflation valve, molded in this stopper.

Finally for the folding, the transom on the boat is refolded multiple times, wrapping it around the transom. It is therefore required, as incidentally for the floors with the transverse slats, that the tensioning members be located just in the front of a refolding, to be pressed against the transom when it is turned up and engaged by it during subsequent refolding. Moreover, for the forward tensioning members in particular, if they are tilted with respect to the axis of the boat, they must be sufficiently spaced from each other so that, when they are installed in parallel at the transom, the canvas that connects them will not be too short so as to interfere with this movement.

Moreover, these forward tensioning members have on each a downward extension toward the interior of the boat, which can be attached to the canvas of the base of the boat, on which will push a part of the floor, for example a bar attached across it hanging over two sides, at approximately 20 to 40 centimeters from the front of the flooring.

A good seal strength of the floor if it is at least two members is made by jacketing, a part of one sliding in a part of the other.

Each waterproof stopper provided with inflation valve openings can be also bound to a cover provided with an inflation valve, a tube hermetically attached to the former is also hermetically in contact with the cover, forming a waterproof volume, cover movable relative to the stopper, increasing or reducing this volume, thereby forming an inflator. This tube can be made of flexible waterproof canvas, forming a bellows or rigid, and the cover slides therein. A handle is attached to the cover.

Finally, the substantial safety of this boat being such that even punctured it keeps approximately its volume, a plus is to increase safety also under the waterline to prevent water from entering into the inflated tubes through a puncture. The canvas at the bottom of the boat is not glued under the floats, as existing inflatables, but on the outer sides of the latter, substantially at mid-height of the latter, at the height of the anti chafing band, forming with these floats a double wall for the submerged part of the boat.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention in a non-limiting fashion:

FIG. 1 shows the inflatable boat unfolded.

FIG. 2 shows the inflatable boat extended and its port side inflated with its opening closed.

FIG. 3 shows the stopper and its cover forming an inflator, top view

FIGS. 4 and 5 show this inflator in cross section.

FIG. 6 shows in cross section the boat and its canvas glued on the exterior sides of the inflatable floats.

Referring to its drawings, the inflatable boat (1) is formed from 5 flexible tubes for example made of canvas coated with PVC coated fabric for waterproofing it, glued or knitted canvas to form the aforementioned tubes (2) which are subsequently glued or knitted between themselves and at the rear glued or knitted to a plywood plate forming the transom (6). Two arches (3) made of round stainless steel spring are slipped into a band of fabric (21) forming a sleeve glued on the periphery and at the intersection of the front inflatable tubes (2). A ring (3a) cut in plywood is glued to the interior of the tubes (2), at the intersection of the two central tubes. Port side is a round stainless steel spring (3) that is placed in a sleeve at the intersection of the two central tubes (2), round reinforced by a stay (8) made of plywood glued to the interior of the tubes (2), between the top and bottom of the round stainless steel spring (3). Two battens (3) made of fiberglass partly surround the rear sections of the inflatable tubes (2) tubes by being slipped into a band of fabric glued to its periphery. The ends of these battens (3) are slipped into aluminum profiles screwed on the rear wall of the transom (6). Two small and two large circular cutouts are made in the front tubes (2); in the small ones inflation valves (4) will be glued, and in the large ones (5) threaded rings will be glued in which a stopper will be hermetically screwed. A floor (7) made of two parts hinged together at the back in the housings attached to the transom (6) and is slipped to the front under the front tube (2) and on the canvas of the boat (1). a crosstie screwed on the top front of the floor (7) pushes the front arches (3). a [fiberglass batten slat (6a) is glued on the canvas bottom (10) of the boat between the two central tensioning members (3,3a). The stopper (51) that waterproof seals the opening (5) can be screwed into a thread surrounding the latter, gripping a tensioning ring on the top of this threading. This cup-shaped stopper (51) is sealed by a cover (52), a tube (53) made of canvas glued to a side at the bottom of the cup and the other under the cover (52), a bored cover (52) and stopper (51), a plate, under the pressure of a spring closing this bore, forming an inflation valve (4). A handle (9) made of canvas is glued or screwed on this cover.

The bottom canvas (10) is glued on the exterior of the inflatable tubes (2) under the anti chafing band (11).

Claims

1-12. (canceled)

13. An inflatable boat comprising:

a plurality of inflatable flexible tubes, the plurality of inflatable tubes including a first inflatable tube defining a first end and a second end;

a first tensioning member located approximately at the first end, the first tensioning member being configured to hold a part of the first inflatable tube in substantially the same shape as when the first inflatable tube is inflated;

a second tensioning member located approximately at the second end, the second tensioning member being configured to hold another part of the first inflatable tube in substantially the same shape as when the first inflatable tube is inflated;

an inflation valve in the first inflatable tube; and

an opening in the first inflatable tube, the opening having a dimension much greater than a dimension of the inflation valve, the opening thereby being configured to pass more air than the inflation valve.

14. An inflatable boat according to claim 13 wherein the first tensioning member has an arch shape.

15. An inflatable boat according to claim 13 wherein the second tensioning member is in front of the first tensioning member, and the boat further includes

a third tensioning member;

a fourth further tensioning member in front of the third tensioning member;

a transom attached to the first and third tensioning members;

a longitudinally rigid floor, defining rear end abutting against the transom and a front end pushing on the second and fourth members to hold the second and fourth tensioning members in substantially the same positions as when the boat is inflated.

16. An inflatable boat according to claim 13 wherein the first tensioning member is slid between the first inflatable tube and a band.

17. An inflatable boat according to claim 13 wherein the first tensioning member includes a plate attached across the first inflatable tube.

18. An inflatable boat according to claim 13 further including a strut, in the first inflatable tube, strong enough to withstand the weight of a person.

19. An inflatable boat according to claim 17 wherein the plat is bored to allow passage of air therein.

20. An inflatable boat according to claim 15 further including a rigid piece holding two of tensioning members apart from each other.

21. An inflatable boat according to claim 13 further including a stopper for the opening; a tube; and a cover, the stopper, tube, and cover forming an inflator.

22. An inflatable boat according to claim 13 further including a canvas glued to an external side of the first inflatable tube, and not glued to a bottom of the first inflatable tube.