FOR BOAT DISASSEMBLY

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to small scale shipbuilding, and can be used in design and method for inflatable boat handling.

BACKGROUND ART

The term "bottom boards" means demountable flooring to be arranged in an inflatable boat on its bottom.

Bottom boards (flooring) serves to add lengthwise and lateral rigidity to inflatable boat hull as well as to provide stable foot for passengers. Most of bottom boards is made demountable composed of sections, positioned across the axis of symmetry of boat. Sections of bottom boards are made of plywood, aluminium alloy or polymer material. Bottom boards are squeezed between the bottom of boat and inflated sides, (ref: Korolev A.N., Zhokhov V.P. Inflatable boats. L.: Sudostroenie, 1989, pages 83-84).

Patent RU136413U1, ΜΠΚ B63B7/08, published on 10.01.2014, discloses a design of an inflatable boat which includes a hull made of elastic material with inflatable sides that are interconnected by elastic bottom; lengthwise stringers and demountable bottom boards comprised of fore, central and stern sections are provided with connecting profiled bars for releasable connection. Different connecting profiled bars for joining demountable bottom boards sections, including those mentioned in patent RU136413U1, are manufactured by LLC "CONTINENT-AL" (RU), refer their web-site: http://www.continent-al.ru/.

The boat disclosed in patent RU136413U1 can be disassembled using the following method only, which is determined by boat design. Boat sides are deflated. At that bottom boards sections are released from the sides. Then the bottom boards sections are taken out and the boat hull is folded.

It should be noted that said lengthwise stringers are not obligatory parts of inflatable boat design. In particular, patent RU155210U1, ΜΠΚ B63B7/08, published on 27.09.2015 describes an inflatable boat design that includes a hull made of elastic material with inflatable sides interconnected by elastic bottom, and demountable bottom boards.

Patent RU2247054, ΜΠΚ B63B7/08, published on 27.02.2005, discloses a design of inflatable boat that includes a hull made of elastic material, inflatable sides interconnected by elastic bottom, lengthwise stringers and demountable bottom boards comprised of fore, central and stern sections releasably connected by pieces of profiled bars.

Patent RU2247054 also describes a boat disassembly method which comprises deflating the boat sides, taking out stringers, sequential taking out of central, fore and stern sections of bottom boards, laying down the boat sides onto the bottom and finally - rolling of the boat starting from the stern part.

Technical problem which is typical for the known designs of inflatable boats is failure to remove fore and central sections of bottom boards from inflatable boat if boat sides are inflated.

Due to this problem a labor required for boat handling is increased, specifically for washing of external and internal surfaces of the bottom after the boat was used.

Before beaching the boat for further transportation on the ground or storing, sand, dirt, mud, algae and other rubbish should be cleaned off the external and internal surfaces of the bottom as well as sections of bottom boards. For this purpose, the bottom boards sections must be removed from the boat before cleaning. If, according to the boat operational manuals, one deflates the sides of the boat to remove the bottom boards, the boat will have to be inflated again for cleaning purposes, as it is rather inconvenient to wash a boat with deflated sides.

The above technical problem also determines a strict order of actions a user should follow to assemble and disassemble an inflatable boat. A beginner, for example, can forget inserting bottom boards sections before inflation, thus he/she will have to deflate boat sides again to mount bottom boards sections.

The design disclosed in patent RU2247054 (see above) was taken as the closest analogue of the inflatable boat of the present invention. The design of the inflatable boat includes a hull made of elastic material with inflatable sides interconnected by elastic bottom, demountable bottom boards comprised of fore, central and stern sections provided with connecting profiled bars for releasable connection.

Basic drawback of the closest analogue design is impossibility to take fore and central bottom board sections out of boat or to place them into boat after its sides were inflated.

The method disclosed in patent RU2247054 was taken as the closest analogue of the method of the present invention; said method assumes deflation of boat sides, taking bottom boards sections out and folding the elastic material of the boat.

Technical results that the present invention addresses are enabling removal of bottom boards without a need to deflate boat sides, and increasing convenience of boat handling.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The above technical results are achieved by a design of inflatable boat comprising a hull made of elastic material with inflatable sides interconnected by elastic bottom, and demountable bottom boards comprised of fore, central and stern sections provided with connecting profiled bars for releasable connection.

These technical results are achieved by that the central section is composed of trapezoidal (as seen from above) segments. At that the segments of the central section may be provided with connecting profiled bars for releasable connection. The central section may consist of several tiers, each tier being composed of trapezoidal (as seen from above) segments. Preferably, the stern section is made as a lath having less width than the segment of the central section.

Trapezoidal (as seen from above) shape of segments of the central section of bottom boards allows easy removal of said sections from inflatable boat, even if the sides of boat are fully inflated.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided an inflatable boat design wherein central section of bottom boards are composed of two tiers while each tier is made of two trapezoidal (as seen from above) segments. It should be clear for those skilled in the art that the central section of bottom boards may include one or more tiers, and number of trapezoidal segments in a tier may also vary, for example, a tier may be composed of two, three, four, etc. trapezoidal segments.

Due to changes in boat design it is possible to remove the bottom boards avoiding deflation of the sides, and to wash the hull after inflatable boat was used in the water. Also the design makes it possible to install bottom boards inside the boat while its sides are inflated.

These new features allow handling of inflatable boat to be less time- consuming, and more convenient.

Said technical results are also achieved by a method of disassembly of inflatable boat comprising a hull made of elastic material with inflatable sides interconnected by elastic bottom, and demountable bottom boards consisting of fore, central and stern sections, the central section being made of trapezoidal segments, the method comprising deflation of inflatable sides, demounting bottom boards and folding the elastic material of the boat.

Said technical results are achieved by a method of disassembly of inflatable boat wherein the bottom boards are demounted first, along with this the stern section is taken out of the bottom, then the central section segments are released from wedging and taken out as well, and finally the fore section is removed, boat sides are deflated and elastic material of the boat is folded. At that, it is possible to clean surfaces of the boat as soon as the bottom boards are taken out, but before the sides are deflated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated by the following figures.

Fig.1 shows an inflatable boat with bottom boards mounted;

Fig. 2 shows bottom boards sections.

Fig. 1, 2 have the following reference numbers:

1 - fore section of bottom boards;

2 - central section of bottom boards;

3 - stern section of bottom boards;

4 - connecting profiled bar;

5 - lengthwise stringer;

6 - lengthwise stringer;

7 - aperture for air valve of boat keelson;

8 - segment of central bottom boards section;

9 - segment of central bottom boards section;

10 - inflatable side of the boat. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFFERED EMBODIMENTS

OF INVENTION

The present invention can be successfully embodied in a design of inflatable boat equipped with a bottom boards including a fore section 1, a central section 2 and a stern section 3 provided with connecting profiled bars 4.

To embody the invention, the following modifications in boat design were made.

The central section 2 of bottom boards is made composed of trapezoidal (as seen from above) segments 8 which are interconnected at sharp angle relative to axis of symmetry of the bottom.

Advantageously segments 8 are provided with connecting profiled bars 4 for their releasable interconnection. Segments 8 of the central section 2 may be provided with cut-outs for lengthwise stringers of the boat.

Lengthwise stringers 5, 6 can be made of e.g. aluminium alloy or polymer material.

Segments 8 can be made of e.g. waterproof multi-layer plywood, polymer material or aluminium alloy.

Connecting profiled bars can be made of e.g. aluminium alloy or polymer material.

A variant of implementation of male-female coupling of connecting profiled bars is disclosed in patent RU136413U1, which does not exclude using other types of connecting profiled bars.

The connecting profiled bars are unreleasably attached to segment flanges, e.g. by bonding or riveting.

If inflatable boat is significantly long, then the central section of bottom boards can be composed of several tiers; each tier is made of trapezoidal (as seen from above) segments which are interconnected at sharp angle relative to longitudinal axis of symmetry of the bottom of inflatable boat.

The stern section 3 is made as a lath having less width than the width of the central section segment, which facilitates assembly and disassembly of bottom boards.

The stern section 3 may be provided with a means to facilitate its removal from the boat, e.g. cut-outs for gripping by fingers.

The stern section can be connected with the central section by means of stringers 6.

During assembly of inflatable boat, the bottom boards are placed onto elastic bottom of the boat regardless of inflation degree of the sides (fully inflated, underinflated or fully deflated) as follows.

Fore section 1 is pushed forward into the fore part of boat bottom. Then, one of the (tier) segments 8 of the central section is mounted. The next central section segment 8 is moved along the joint line that is oriented at sharp angle to the axis of symmetry of the bottom. When the central section segment 8 is completely moved in, the (tier) segments of the central section become wedged between lengthwise stringers which in turn abut against boat sides.

After the first tier of the central section 2 is in place, the segments 9 of the next tier of the central section 2 may be installed.

Then the stern section 3 is installed, which stern section is made as a lath and which wedges the segments of the central section and tightens the fore section.

Demounting of bottom boards is carried out in reverse order regardless of inflation degree of the sides (fully inflated, underinflated or fully deflated).

The stern section of bottom boards is removed. One of the (tier) segments 9 of the central section 2 is pulled out, releasing wedging of segments 9.

Once segment 9 has been moved towards the stern, the force required for removal of the segment dramatically decreases due to trapezoidal shape of segments 9.

All (tier) segments of the central section 2 are removed.

Finally, the fore section of bottom boards is taken out of the boat.

It should be mentioned that some boats also have a composite section of fore bottom boards, which does not change the nature of proposed technical solution.

According to the method of the present invention, disassembly of inflatable boat is carried out as follows.

The bottom boards are demounted by sequential taking out the stern section from the boat bottom, then central section segments, and at last - the fore section.

If needed the hull of inflatable boat and sections of bottom boards can be washed in a water body.

Then the boat is beached, its sides are deflated, elastic boat material is folded and bottom boards sections are stacked.

Inflatable boats are utilized as per available prior art.

Patent research that was carried out has proved international novelty and inventive level of the present invention.

Prototype testing of the inflatable boat has proved industrial applicability of the invention and its relevance to claimed technical results.