PARTICULARLY FOR BOATS

The present invention relates to a landing gangway, particularly for boats, with increased use safety.

The landing gangway with increased use safety of the invention, which preferably but not necessarily includes construction elements that are telescopically coupled to each other, can be installed for example on the boat in such a way as to remain outside of the boat (therefore it can be seen from the outside) or can be housed inside a housing provided in the hull of the boat (hidden from view) when it is in a rest or non-use position. It is known that landing gangways are accessories for the boating that are used to allow a simple transit for persons or objects between the boat and the dock.

The landing gangways that are available on the market comprise a transit walkable platform which generally has a rectangular plan view and, in particular, a width such as to allow the transit of a single person and a length that allows to moor the boat at a safe distance from piers, docks or wharfs.

Said landing gangways can be manufactured in many ways, as well as many materials can be used to made their parts; moreover, said materials are more and more sought both for their performances and aesthetic views, especially in view of the value of structures in which they are installed.

The choice of the construction materials is based, in fact, on technical, functional and aesthetic assessments: in particular, stainless steels, anti- corrosion light alloys, tempered glasses, precious woods, such as teak, and/or technological polymers are used in order to significantly increase the technical features and the aesthetic qualities of the landing gangways. Furthermore, manual and automatic gangways are known; they are raised and/or rotated in a landing position, between the boat and the dock, either manually or with movements ^" implemented by linear hydraulic ^" cylihders ^" of by electrical drives. The structure of a known landing gangway also usually includes a plurality of gripping and/or supporting rods (so-called "candlesticks"), which are coupled at at least one of the lateral edges of the transit platform and which are connected by cables or rigid and/or tensioned cords to act if necessary to help and support the people who walk the gangways to or from the boat.

When the landing gangway is in a rest position, the gripping and/or supporting rods are parallel to the longitudinal axis defined by the walkable transit platform and are contained in the encumbrance of said platform, while, when the landing gangway is in a use position, the gripping and/or supporting rods protrude from at least one of the side edges of the walkable transit platform according to a direction which, depending on the embodiments, is orthogonal or oblique to the plane of the walkable platform.

However, the prior art landing gangway that are just briefly described have still some known drawbacks, that are related to the arrangement of the gripping and/or supporting rods when the gangway is in a use position. In fact, when the landing gangway is in a use position, the gripping and/or supporting rods project outside in the central portion {and not in the ends) of at least one of the side edges of the transit platform.

This feature forces people, who are trying to safely walk from the dock or pier to the transit platform of the landing gangway, to stretch excessively the arms in order to catch at least one of the rods or at least one of the ropes; consequently, their body protrudes dangerously towards the water, causing substantial risks of falling in the water.

A further drawback of the known landing gangways, which is a direct consequence of what has just been said referring to the disposal of the gripping rods when they are in a use position, is constituted by the fact that said landing gangways cannot be used by children, older and/or incapacitated people that are not accompanied by other adults people.

It is also clear that the above mentioned drawbacks occur similarly even when people leave the boat by walking on said landing gangways.

The present invention seeks, therefore, to obviate the above mentioned drawbacks of the prior art.

In particular, in fact, a first object of the present invention is to indicate a landing gangway with increased safety of use, particularly for boats, which will make it easier and more practical and comfortable, with respect to the known landing gangways, the boat entrance and exit by the user.

Within the above object, it is a main task of the invention to make a landing gangway with increased use safety, particularly for boats, which makes safe for people the boat entrance and exit with respect to the known landing gangways.

It is another task of the present invention to provide an increased use safety landing gangway, particularly for boats, which is autonomously usable from any person under conditions of greater safety with respect to the prior art gangways.

It is a further object of the invention to make an increased use safety landing gangway which can be installed in any type of boats.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an increased use safety landing gangway, particularly for boats, that, despite the improvements over the prior art, has low manufacturing time and costs.

The above mentioned objects are achieved by means of an increased use safety landing gangway, particularly for boats, as claimed in the attached claim 1.

Further technical features of the increased use safety landing gangway of the invention are set forth in the following dependent claims.

Advantageously, the landing gangway of the present invention has, especially during a boarding, a more practical and comfortable use and a safer utilization with respect to known landing gangways.

This is due to the presence of a front rod, which is placed at the front end of the walkabie transit platform and which, in a use position, is available for the hand grip of people.

Still advantageously, the landing gangway of the invention reduces therefore, with respect to the known landing gangways, the risks for people of accidental and dangerous falls in the water during the access to the boat from a pier or a dock. Equally advantageously, the landing gangway of the invention can be used autonomously by any person, including a child, thanks to the increase in the safety of use with respect to the known gangways.

Also advantageously, the landing gangway of the invention achieves the above advantages substantially without affecting the production costs, thus showing competitive selling prices.

Further characteristics and features of the invention will become more clear from the following description, relating to a preferred embodiments of the increased use safety landing gangway, particularly for boats, herein claimed, which is given for indicative and illustrative, but not limitative, example and with reference to the attached drawings in which:

- figure 1 is a plan view of the landing gangway of the invention with a front rod in an operating position;

- figure 2 is the view of figure 1 according to the section plane AA;

- figure 2a is an enlarged detail of figure 2;

- figure 2b is the enlarged detail of figure 2a when the front rod is in a rest position;

- figure 3 is a perspective view of the landing gangway of figure 1 ;

- figure 3a schematically shows a first enlarged detail of figure 3;

- figure 3b is a second enlarged detail of figure 3;

- figure 4 is a partially exploded view of the assembly of figure 3a with the front rod or shaft in a rest position;

- figure 5 is a partial perspective view of another embodiment of the landing gangway of figure 1 , with the front rod in a rest position;

- figure 6 is a partial enlarged detail of figure 5;

- figure 6a is an enlarged detail of figure 6;

- figure 7 is a partial perspective view of the landing gangway of figure 5, with the front rod in an operating position;

- figure 8 is a partial enlarged detail of figure 7;

- figure 8a is an enlarged detail of figure 7.

The increased use safety landing gangway of the invention, which is preferably installed in boats, is shown in figures 1 and 2 where it is generally indicated with the reference number 1. The landing gangway 1 comprises a first transit platform 2 that mainly follows a longitudinal axis Z and defines an upper plane 3 that is walkable by people during transit to or from the boat.

According to the invention, the landing gangway 1 comprises a gripping and/or support front rod 4 that is coupled to one of the side edges 2a, 2b of the first transit platform 2 in correspondence with the access end 2c of the first transit platform 2 and that is operatively connected to actuating means, generally indicated with 5, able to rotate it from/to a rest position, according to which the gripping and/or support front rod 4 lies along the longitudinal axis Z of the first transit platform 2, to/from an operating position, according to which the gripping and/or support front rod 4 protrudes upwardly from one of the side edges 2a, 2b of the first transit platform 2, in a direction Y crossing the longitudinal axis Z of the first transit platform 2, in order to provide a safe hand grip for people.

More precisely, in this embodiment, in the operating position the front rod 4 protrudes upwardly in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the first transit platform 2, while in the rest position the front rod 4 is flanked externally to one of the side edges 2a, 2b of the first transit platform 2.

It should be also noted that the actuating means 5 of the landing gangway 1 of the invention are of the manual or automatic type; in the latter case, they are controlled by control means comprising a central processing unit which is available to the operator who controls their operation.

Preferably, the landing gangway 1 also comprises a second transit platform 6, which is slidingly coupled to the first transit platform 2 so as to identify a first position, according to which the first platform 2 is unusable and is substantially housed in the encumbrance of the second platform 6, and a second position, according to which the first platform 2 protrudes along the longitudinal axis Z from the second platform 6, becoming an extension of the second platform 6, which in turn identifies an upper surface 7 that can be walked by people.

In practice, hereTore, tne first transit platform 2 is telescopically coupled to the second transit platform 6; this occurs thanks to guide means, which are not shown for simplicity and which are interposed between the first platform 2 and the second platform 6.

The actuating means 5 are operatively connected to the first transit platform 2 so as to place it between the above mentioned first and second positions, as well as between the rest position and the operating position. In other embodiments of the landing gangway of the invention, which are not shown in the attached drawings, the first and the second platforms may be coplanar with one another in said second position, thanks to elevation/lowering means: in this way, the landing gangway of the invention prevents the risks of accidental stumbling and subsequent fall for people, thus making it more secure than the known landing gangways for boats.

Preferably, the landing gangway 1 of the present invention includes a gripping and/or support rear rod 32, that is coupled to one of the side edges 6a, 6b of the second transit platform 6 and that is operatively connected to the gripping and/or support front rod 4 by means of flexible cables, not shown for the sake of simplicity, which are able to assume the same operating position of the front rod 4 in the rest and operating positions.

The front rod 4 is coupled to the first transit platform 2 through rotation means, generally indicated with 8, cooperating with the actuating means 5 for selectively placing the front rod 4 between the rest position and the operating position.

The rotation means 8 are placed at the access end 2c of the first transit platform 2, as shown in the enlarged detail of figure 2a.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, herein claimed, the rotating means 8 comprise a shaft 9 which identifies a linear axis of rotation X perpendicular to the longitudinal axis Z of the first transit platform 2.

The shaft 9 is also coupled to the lower end 4a of the front rod 4 through fixing means, generally indicated with 10 and comprising, for example, an assembly ring nut 33 and a cap with a nut screw 34.

More in detail, the shaft 9 is essentially contained between the side edges 2a, 2b of the first transit platform 2 from which protrudes only for a first end pin 11 inserted into a through hole, not shown, which is provided in one of said side edges 2a, 2b of the first transit platform 2 and which is partially contained in a coupling sleeve 12 associated with the lower end 4a of the front rod 4.

In particular, the shaft 9 has a partially squared or grooved outer surface 9a in order to increase its coupling capability with the other components which indirectly connect it to the second transit platform 6, as will be better clarified in the following.

The coupling sleeve 12 is generally welded to a folded end portion 13 of the front rod 4.

With regard to the fixing means 10, the enlarged detail of figure 3a shows that the assembly ring nut 33 is externally coupled to the coupling sleeve 12.

Preferably, the landing gangway 1 includes, in correspondence of the rotation means 6, elastic means, which are generally indicated with 14 and are associated with said rotation means 6: the elastic means 14, shown in the attached figure 3a, have the function to counteract the action of the actuating means 5, thus resulting progressively compressed up to a load condition, when the front rod 4 passes from the rest position to the operating position, and progressively released up to a release condition, when the front rod 4 passes from the operating position to the rest position.

The elastic return means 14 comprise for example a torsion spring 15 which is disposed around the shaft 9.

With reference to the actuation means 5, they are of the automatic type and include a linear actuator 16, shown in the attached figure 2, which:

- is actuated along said longitudinal axis Y;

- is placed below the first transit platform 2;

- is coupled with the rotation means 6 by means of a lever system, generally indicated with 17 and shown in the attached figures 3, 3a and 4, so as to place ^~ the front rod 4, respectively, between the rest position and the operating position. In particular, the linear actuator 16, for example of the hydraulic type, comprises:

- a cylindrical chamber, coupled to the lower wall 6c of the second transit platform 6 by means of known supporting means, generally indicated with 18;

- a cylindrical stem which cooperates with the lever system 17 and which slides along the longitudinal axis Z of the first transit platform 2 so as to be contained in the cylindrical sleeve in the rest position of the front rod 4 and so as to axially protrude partially from the cylindrical sleeve in the operating position of the front rod 4.

It is emphasized that the cylindrical chamber of the linear actuator 16 is coupled to the lower wall 6c of the second transit platform 6 only for the specific structure of the landing gangway 1 as described herein.

It is also clear that in other embodiments of the invention, which are not shown in the attached drawings, the cylindrical chamber of the linear actuator can be coupled to the lower wall of the first transit platform or to the inner wall of a housing of the boat or of a generic access infrastructure where the landing gangway claimed herein is fixed.

Figures 3a and 4 show that, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the lever system 17 comprises:

- a shaped lever arm 19 which is integral with the shaft 9 of the rotation means 8;

- a connecting hinge 20 to which the shaped lever arm 19 is pivoted;

- a rigid bar 21 , which is arranged below the first transit platform 2 and which defines a linear axis Z', along which said bar 21 slides by the actuation means 5; the axis Z' is parallel to the longitudinal axis Z of the first transit platform 2, while the bar 21 is provided with a first end 21a coupled to the connecting hinge 20.

More specifically, the shaped lever arm 19 has a linear wall 22 adapted to be oriented towards the outside of the first transit platform 2 when the front rod 4 is in the operating position: this structure arrangement avoids the mechanical interference of the shaped lever arm 9 with the connecting hinge 20 in said operating position of the front rod 4. The shaped lever arm 19 also has a through opening 23, preferably squared, in which a second end pin 24 of the shaft 9 is inserted.

The through opening 23 is coaxial with the through hole formed in one of the side edges 2a, 2b of the transit platform 2 and with the connection sleeve 2 which is provided at the lower end of the front rod 4.

In the rest position of the front rod 4, shown in figure 2b, the shaped lever arm 19 is partially housed in the connecting hinge 20, while in the operating position of the front rod 4, shown in figures 2, 2a and 3, the shaped lever arm 19 is pivoted to and protrudes from the connecting hinge 20, thus identifying a direction which is mainly oblique.

Figure 2 also shows that the rigid bar 21 slides along a peripheral linear seat 25, which communicates with the outside through an outlet mouth 26 formed in the second transit platform 6, in which the rigid bar 21 is fully housed when the front rod 4 is in a rest position.

The rigid bar 21 is also provided with a mechanical stop 27 near a second end 21b; the mechanical stop 27 is applied to the outer wall 21c of the rigid bar 21 and is coupled with abutment means, generally indicated with 28, which are placed in correspondence with the outlet mouth 26 of the peripheral linear seat 25 so as to stop the sliding of the rigid bar 21 along the linear axis Z'.

As shown in figure 3b, the abutment means 28 comprise a bush 29, provided with a head 30 fixed to the front edge 6d of the second transit platform 6 so as to surround the outlet mouth 26.

The sleeve 29 is also provided with a shank 31 , which is inserted in the peripheral linear seat 25 and which is coupled with the stop element 27 so as to stop the axial movement of the rigid bar 21 , as shown in the enlarged detail of figure 2a.

The other attached figures from 5 to 8 show another possible embodiment of the invention, in which the landing gangway, which is generally indicated with 50, differs from the gangway 1 previously described mainly in the structure of the lever system, generally indicated with 58, by means of which the linear actuator 57 cooperates with the rotation means, generally indicated with 56, so as to place the front rod 52 respectively between the rest position and the operating position.

In the present embodiment the lever system 58 includes:

- a shaped lever body 59 which is integral with the shaft 63 of the rotation means 56;

- a pawl 60 which protrudes downward from the front end 57a of the linear actuator 57 and which, under the thrust of the latter, is coupled or mechanically interferes with the shaped lever body 59 up to have the front rod 52 in the above mentioned operating position.

Preferably, the shaped lever body 59 has a U-shaped structure, in side view, and a pair of opened recesses 61 facing each other and communicating with the outside.

The pawl 60 is welded to a transverse bridge 62 which separates it from the linear actuator 57 to which the transverse bridge 62 is, in turn, welded. Another feature that distinguishes the landing gangway 50 from the landing gangway 1 refers to the structure of the rotation means 56, which comprise the above mentioned shaft 63 protruding from both opposed side edges 51a, 51b of the first transit platform 51 , being provided with end pins 64, 65 inserted in respective through holes 66, 67 coaxial with each other and formed in said side edges 51a, 51b of the first transit platform 51.

Unlike the landing gangway 1 , the landing gangway 50 of the invention also comprises a plurality of rear rods 54, which are uniformly distributed on one of the side edges 53a, 53b of the second transit platform 53 to which the first transit platform 51 is preferably coupled in a telescopic way. The landing gangway 1 according to the invention is normally in the functional position shown in the enlarged detail of figure 2b, in which the front rod 4 and the rear rod 31 have a rest position and the first transit platform 2 is housed in the encumbrance of the second transit platform 6 when it has the above mentioned first position.

If required, the landing gangway 1 is moved for example towards the dock or the pier so that people are able to board the boat or any other walkable structure.

The operator, through the control means, actuates the actuation means 5 and particularly the linear actuator 16, whose stem exits from the cylindrical chamber and progressively pushes the first transit platform 2 along the longitudinal axis Z so as to place it outside the second transit platform 6.

The thrust which is given to the first transit platform 2 through the stem of the linear actuator 16 causes the simultaneous traction along the linear axis Z', parallel to the longitudinal axis Z, of the rigid bar 21 of the lever system 17, by means of which the linear actuator 16 is coupled with the rotation means 8 for selectively placing the front rod 4 between the rest position and the operating position.

The rigid bar 21 thus progressively protrudes from the peripheral linear seat 25 of the second transit platform 6 till when the stop element 27 counteracts the bush 29 of the abutment means 28 placed in correspondence of the outlet mouth 26 of the peripheral linear seat 25. At that point, the thrust that the stem of the linear actuator 16 keeps on giving to the first transit platform 2 causes the movement of the shaped lever arm 19 which, by rotating in correspondence of the pivot 35, causes a clockwise rotation of the shaft 9 about the linear axis of rotation X and, in turn, a clockwise rotation of the rod front 4 starting from the rest position. The rotation of the shaped lever arm 19, of the shaft 9 and of the front rod 4 is stopped when the stem of the linear actuator 16 reaches the end position, which is suitably provided so that the front rod 4 reaches the operating position describing a maximum angle of rotation of 90°.

During the upward movement, through rotation, towards the operating position, the front rod 4 pulls the rear gripping and/or support rod 32, through the flexible rope, not shown, which connects the two rods 4 and 32.

In the operating position of the front rod 4, the shaped lever arm 19 has the operating condition shown in figures 2a, 3 and 3a, while the return elastic means 14 are compressed to counteract the action of the linear actuator 16 of the actuation means 5.

When the front rocl 4 reaches the operating position, the first transit platform 2 reaches the second position with respect to the second transit platform 6, according to which:

- the first transit platform 2 extends axially the second transit platform 6;

- the upper surface 3 of the first transit platform 2 is coplanar with the upper surface 7 of the second transit platform 6.

In order to bring back the front rod 4 (and, consequently, the rear rod 32) in the rest position and the first transit platform 2 in the first position, starting respectively from the operating position and from the second position, the operator, by acting on the control means, gradually draws the stem of the linear actuator 16 inside the cylindrical chamber, thus causing: - the gradual anticlockwise rotation, up to a maximum of 90°, about the linear axis of rotation X, of the shaft 9 of the rotation means 8 and, in turn, of the front rod 4;

- the gradual rotation of the shaped lever arm 19 up to a point where it reaches the operating condition of figure 2b;

- the sliding of the first transit platform 2 along the longitudinal axis Y, in the opposite direction with respect to the previous one, up to the point where the platform 2 is below the second transit platform 6;

- the sliding of the rigid bar 21 along the linear axis∑', in the opposite direction with respect to the previous one, up to the point where the bar 21 is almost totally contained in the peripheral linear seat 25 of the second transit platform 6.

Even during the passage of the front rod 4 from the operating position to the rest position, the return elastic means 14 counteract the action of the actuating means 5, even if they are suitably released in order to dampen the counterclockwise rotation of the front rod 4.

The operation of the landing gangway 50 of the invention essentially corresponds to the operation of the landing gangway 1 , with the only difference constituted by the mechanical system of movement of the lever system 58.

At first, the axial movement of the stem 68 of the linear actuator 57 belonging to the actuation means 55 causes a first significant extension of the first transitTplatform 51 from the second transit platform 53, through sliding along the longitudinal axis Z. Subsequently, the axial movement of the stem 68 of the linear actuator 57 causes the connection between the transverse bridge 62 (provided at the front end 57a) and a first opened recess 61 of the shaped lever body 59 and the simultaneous contrasting between the pawl 60 and the inner wall 59a of the shaped lever body 59, and the counterclockwise rotation of the shaft 63 about the linear axis of rotation X for a maximum angle of about 90°.

This causes the rotation of the front rod 4, which, starting from the rest position (figures 5-6a), is placed in the operating position (figures 7-8a). The axial movement of the stem 68 slightly goes on even after the front rod 53 has reached the operating position, so that the front edge 68b of the stem 68 counteracts the inner surface 69a of the plate 69 of the first transit platform 51.

Consequently, the stem 68 pushes the first transit platform 51 along the longitudinal axis Z causing the extension with respect to the second transit platform 6.

After reaching the end position of the stem 68, the first transit platform 51 is in the above mentioned second position and is ready for use; advantageously, it is also coplanar to the second transit platform 53 thanks to the presence of elevation/lowering means, not shown, which are interposed between the two platforms 51 and 53.

Moreover, suitable return elastic means, generally indicated with 70 and coupled with the shaft 63 of said rotation means 56, counteract the action of the actuating means 55.

Obviously, the movements just described occur in the opposite direction (i.e. in a clockwise direction) when the first transit platform 51 is brought back in the first position, thus returning in the encumbrance of the second transit platform 53 and the front rod 53 is returned to the rest position according to which it lies along the longitudinal axis Z.

From the above description, it is therefore understood that the increased use safety landing gangway, particularly for boats, which is the object of the present invention, achieves the objects and realizes the advantages previously mentioned. Upon implementation, changes may be made to the increased use safety landing gangway of the invention, which provide, for example, the use of a gripping and/or support front rod for each side edges of the transit platform.

In this case, a first side edge of the first transit platform has a through hole and the second side edge opposite the first side edge has a respective through hole coaxial with the previous one, while the rotation means may include a single shaft or two different shafts and the return elastic means may optionally include a torsion spring for each shaft.

Furthermore, in other embodiments of the landing gangway of the invention, not shown, the gripping and/or support front rod may protrude upwardly from at least one of the side edges of the first transit platform, according to a direction which is not necessarily orthogonal, but which is oblique, with respect to the longitudinal axis of the first transit platform, so as to be available to the hand grip of people.

Finally, it is clear that numerous other variations may be made to the landing gangway of the invention, without departing from the principles of novelty inherent in the inventive idea, just as it is clear that in the practical actuation of the invention, the materials, the shapes and sizes of the illustrated details can be any, depending on requirements, and may furthermore be replaced with other technically equivalent.

Where the technical features mentioned in the subsequent claims are followed by reference numbers or signs, said reference signs have been introduced with the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims themselves and, consequently, they have no limiting effect on the interpretation of each element, which is thus identified only by way of example by said reference signs.