Hollow Patents (Class 441/45)
  • Patent number: 9284021
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a portable boat with catamaran configuration. The boat basically consists of two inflatable floats joined by two connecting bars with plates at their ends for fastening the connecting bars to the floats. A rigid platform can be assembled between the two connecting bars, forming a deck for the occupant. The present invention allows the occupant to remain standing on the rigid platform while using a paddle to propel the boat. The lateral floats provide greater stability, making it easier for the occupant to keep his balance. Removable fins can be mounted on the rear underside of each float to help keep a straight path and improve performance (decreasing zigzags, and allowing a greater number of paddle strokes before having to change sides). The boat exhibits high hydrodynamic efficiency and can be disassembled so as to occupy a small volume, making it easy to transport and store.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Inventor: Mateus Frois Santa Catarina
  • Patent number: 6598552
    Abstract: A pontoon includes an elongated body of non-uniform diameter. The body is dimensioned and configured to provide a non-uniform buoyant force to a boat along at least a majority of a length of a boat. Also provided is a pontoon boat including pontoons as described above. The pontoon boat also includes a deck having an upper surface and a lower surface. The pontoons are attached to the lower surface of the deck.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2003
    Inventor: Richard W. Rouse
  • Patent number: 5888024
    Abstract: A floating dock comprising a pair of flotation tanks arranged in parallel side-by-side relation, a plurality of transverse, equispaced double-saddle brackets having a pair of spaced-apart saddles each adapted to receive a flotation tank straddling said tanks along the length of the tanks, and connector means adapted to partially encircle each tank and to seat in a recess between corrugations extending from each saddle for connecting the tanks to the saddle brackets. The flotation tank comprises a cylindrical smooth inner wall and a corrugated outer wall coextensive and concentric with said inner wall defining a plurality of equispaced peripheral annular flotation cells extending along the inner cylindrical wall, and a closure plate at each end of the cylindrical walls connected to the inner and outer walls in a water-tight relationship defining a central flotation cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 30, 1999
    Assignee: Big "O" Inc.
    Inventors: Edward D. Mills, David K. Broom, Geofrey Grant Kime
  • Patent number: 5707724
    Abstract: Fractal hollow tube reinforced structural members are presented having a maximum strength-to-weight ratio and a wall density less than 1/2 that of water, which are versatile, practical and economical for use in any kind of construction. The strength is maximized by introducing a high degree of order down to the atomic scale to the walls of the hollow structures, while the mass and thickness of these walls is minimized. The wall density is further reduced by including microspheres in the walls, mesh spaces and bonding substances which minimizes the total mass of bonding agent that uselessly occupies the dead spaces of the meshes and coils of the fibers and tubes. Strength and thermal tolerance are further enhanced by building the tube walls out of hollow carbon or titanium fibers and buckyball microspheres. These fractal structural members will greatly improve the fuel efficiency of any craft supported by them and will make possible crafts and structures never possible before.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 13, 1998
    Assignee: Lundin Marine, Inc.
    Inventor: Daniel N. Russell
  • Patent number: 5238231
    Abstract: A mono-air-cell body made of a flexible elastic material and having a hollow interior and no less than one connecting tube for connecting different mono-air-cell bodies together one after another, for making up a shock-absorbing cushion. Each mono-air-cell body can have any shape in its top plan view. Each connecting tube can be a male one having at least one round circumferential groove or a female one having at least one round circumferential ridge so that the male and the female connecting tubes can be joined together, thereby connecting two mono-air-cell bodies together. The shock-absorbing cushion can be composed to have a shape of a band, a plane, a sphere or any three-dimensional shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 1991
    Date of Patent: August 24, 1993
    Inventor: Ing-Chung Huang
  • Patent number: 5226184
    Abstract: A floatable wave subduing blanket made from cellular low density polyethylene in a rectangular shape having a plurality of cylindrical inflatable floats detachably fastened to the four sides thereof. The cylindrical inflatable floats subdue water waves as the blanket floats on the water for carrying a person.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 1992
    Date of Patent: July 13, 1993
    Inventor: Chun-Ming Cheng
  • Patent number: 5062817
    Abstract: A boomstick for use in log rafts is made of a hollow sheet pipe and therefore has a far longer life than conventional boomsticks made of wood. The boomstick is flexibly joined with other boomsticks and comprises a hollow steel pipe with an outside diameter to permit installation of pneumatic tires thereon, a plurality of tires installed on the pipe, end discs larger in diameter than the pipe, welded at both ends of the pipe to retain the tires on the pipe and provide a sealed pipe to float in water, and attachments on the boomstick for connection by attaching chains.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 5, 1991
    Inventor: Harry G. Wearne
  • Patent number: 5061215
    Abstract: A river raft comprising a first solid pontoon having a hollow interior and a second solid pontoon also having a hollow interior. The first and second pontoons are connected together in a manner so as to define a central portion between the pontoons. The central portion has a depth of less than that of the first and second pontoons. Hatches are formed through the first end second pontoons so as to provide access to the hollow interiors. These hatches are detachably mounted to the upper surface of the pontoons. The first and second pontoons are of a symmetrical configuration. A spar tube connects these symmetrical configurations of pontoons such that the pontoons are maintained in fixed juxtaposition against one another. The first and second pontoons are made of a roto-molded plastic material. The central portion of the raft includes a plurality of openings extending therethrough. These openings are suitable for the receipt of ice chests, water bottles, and other items.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 29, 1991
    Inventor: H. Wayne Walls
  • Patent number: 5013270
    Abstract: A raft comprising a first pontoon, a second pontoon, a framework detachably connected to the first and second pontoons and positioned on the top surface of the first and second pontoons, and a floor connected to the framework so as to define a surface extending on the framework above the first and second pontoons. Each of the pontoons has an upwardly tilted pointed forward and rearward end. The framework comprises a plurality of segmented and connected longitudinal members and crossmembers extending across the pontoon. Each of the longitudinal members and crossmembers is made of a plurality of detachable sections. The floor includes a mesh netting saddle surfaces, and solid decking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 1989
    Date of Patent: May 7, 1991
    Inventor: H. Wayne Walls
  • Patent number: 4487588
    Abstract: A submersible raft is disclosed for the cultivation of plant life such as seagrasses or the like. The submersible raft includes a first and a second longitudinal member of tubular configuration. The first and the second longitudinal members each have a first and a second end. A first transverse member extends between the first ends of the first and the second longitudinal members and a second transverse member extends between the second ends of the first and the second longitudinal members. The first and second longitudinal members and the first and second transverse members define a rectangular aperture therebetween. Tray supporting cradles extend between and are supported by the first and the second longitudinal members, the trays being supported below the rectangular aperture such that in use of the raft, pots of plant life to be cultivated are supported below the surface of the water in which the raft is submersed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 1982
    Date of Patent: December 11, 1984
    Assignee: Mangrove Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Roy R. Lewis, III, James A. Derrenbacker, Jr.