Field of the invention

The present invention relates to an inflatable pedal boat for recreational use. Background art

There are already on the market inflatable boats having a bottom which is provided with an opening in the front. Mounted transversally above the opening is a shaft provided with pedals and with a paddle wheel in the middle. The child, sitting on the bottom of the boat, turns the paddle wheel by turning the pedals. There are no means to govern the inflatable boat which is, therefore, unwieldy.

JPS4837998Y1 describes a toy boat comprising a pedal actuator that transmits the motion to a crankshaft on which a first pulley is keyed. This first pulley is connected with a flexible transmission to a second pulley integral in turn with a shaft on which a pedal wheel is mounted. The pedal actuator is not orientable and then the toy boat needs a rudder for adjusting the movement direction.

Summary of the invention

The present invention aims to solve this drawback, by providing an inflatable pedal boat for recreational use, comprising a pneumatic float shown below in two embodiments thereof. Removably mounted on the pneumatic float is an orientable paddle actuator comprising a frame having a flat part, provided with a cutout, and two front tubular elements being connected by an Oldham coupling to a fork provided with a handlebar and wheel. The wheel in turn is provided with paddles and connected to pedals.

Brief Description of Drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the indicative, and therefore non-limiting, description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of an inflatable pedal boat for recreational use, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

- Figure 1 is a schematic side view of the inflatable pedal boat having a first embodiment of pneumatic float being shown in dotted lines in order to show an orientable paddle actuator;

- Figures 2, 3 and 4 are front, rear and top plan views, respectively, of the orientable paddle actuator in Figure 1;

- Figure 5 is a side view of the orientable paddle actuator in rest position;

- Figures 6 and 7 are perspective views which show the orientable paddle actuator during assembly on the pneumatic float and after assembly, respectively,

- Figure 8 is an enlarged detail in Figure 3;

- Figure 9 is a perspective view of the enlarged detail in Figure 8;

- Figure 10 is an enlarged perspective view from above of a variant of the orientable paddle actuator in Figures 1 to 9:

- Figure 11 is a perspective view showing the orientable paddle actuator in Figure 10 mounted on a second embodiment of pneumatic float; and

- Figure 12 is a perspective view from the bottom showing the orientable paddle actuator in Figure 10 mounted on a second embodiment of pneumatic float.

Description of the invention

Reference is made initially to Figures 1 to 5 which represent orthogonal views of an orientable paddle actuator for the inflatable pedal boat according to the present invention. The orientable paddle actuator, indicated generally as 1, comprises a frame 2 having a flat part 3 with a cutout 4, and two front tubular elements 5 that are preferably mirror-like inclined upwards. The frame 2 is connected to an Oldham coupling 6. A handlebar 7 is above the Oldham coupling 6 and below the latter there is a fork 8. A wheel 9 provided with paddles 10 is pivoted to the lower end of the fork 8. The paddles 10 are shown in detail in figures 8 and 9, which represent an enlarged detail of figure 3. Each paddle 10 has the recessed shape like a scoop; the paddles 10 are arranged radially to allow the advancement of the inflatable pedal boat when the orientable paddle actuator 1 is applied on the pneumatic float 15, as will be seen later. The wheel 9 is connected to pedals 11, and half of the wheel 9 is within a wheel cover 12 having a hydrodynamic shape. The Oldham coupling 6 is mounted by means of a fork tube (not shown) between a plate 13 and a counter plate 14 and connects the fork tube with the two front tubular elements 5 of the frame 2.

The cutout 4 in the flat part 3 of the frame 2 is shaped so as to allow the passage therein of the wheel 9, when the handlebar is tilted forward, to give a rest arrangement to the orientable paddle actuator 1, as shown in Figure 5. This rest arrangement of the orientable paddle actuator 1 is also shown in the perspective view of figure 6 of the inflatable pedal boat according to the present invention. This arrangement allows the orientable paddle actuator to be assembled with a pneumatic float 15 in the direction of arrows F. The pneumatic float 15, which can be chosen with a proper shape, has an outer ring 16 and a bottom 17 intended to receive the flat part 3 of the frame 2 of the orientable paddle actuator 1. The bottom 17 has an opening 18 for the passage of the wheel 9. In addition, provided above the opening 18 in the front of the pneumatic float 15 are C-shaped support elements 19 facing upwards for supporting the two front tubular elements 5, which are then blocked by means of couples of belts 20, 21. Each belt 20 is attached to the bow 23 of the pneumatic float, and each belt 21 is attached to a C-shaped support element 19. Two pairs of buckles 24, 25 securely hold the front tubular elements 5 in their respective C-shaped support elements 19. This is shown in figure 7 which is a perspective view of the inflatable pedal boat when used.

The user, typically a child, sits on the flat part 3 of the frame 2 with his/her legs which pass through the cutout 4 of the flat part 3 and the opening 18 of the pneumatic float. The cutout 4 and the opening 18 partially match. The user's hands grip the handlebar, and the user's feet are placed on the pedals 11. When the user acts on the pedals 11, the wheel 9 turns and its paddles 10 move forward or backward the inflatable pedal boat.

In Figure 10, there is shown an enlarged perspective view of a variant of the orientable paddle actuator in Figure 8. This orientable paddle actuator, denoted as 100, is different from that one shown in Figure 1 to 9 only for the shape of the wheel and the cover wheel. All the other equal parts are not shown. In the orientable paddle actuator 100, the pedals 11 move a wheel 90 which is mounted on a fork 91 devoid of the wheel cover as shown in the previous figures. Furthermore, the wheel 90 has paddles 92 which differ from those shown in the previous figures, as they are flat radial paddles. It is noted that for some flotation conditions of the inflatable pedal boat the wheel 90 is more efficient of the wheel 9 before described. Obviously other forms of paddles and wheel may be provided in the spirit of the present invention.

Further, with reference to Figures 11 and 12, there is shown a perspective view of the orientable paddle actuator 100 in Figure 10 mounted on a second embodiment of pneumatic float. Parts identical to those in the previous figures are indicated with the same numeral reference. The pneumatic float according to this second embodiment is denoted as 26 and is made by two frontally pointed cylindrical floats 27, to which the frame 2 of the orientable paddle actuator 100 is connected. The other parts of the orientable paddle actuator 100 are not further described as they are identical to the previous ones. It should be evident that the cylindrical floats 27 can be connected to the frame 2 by the most suitable means.

The inflatable pedal boat according to the present invention can be changed without departing from the spirit of the enclosed claims.

The advantageous features of the invention are evident. The inflatable pedal boat has a rigid part, constituted by the actuator orientable blades 1 and by an inflatable part consisting of the pneumatic float 15 in the first embodiment or 26 in the second embodiment. Therefore, when the inflatable pedal boat is not in use, the pneumatic float 15 or 26 can be deflated and transported easily without encumbrance. The pneumatic float 15 or 26 is inflated to be used, and the orientable paddle actuator 1 or 100 according to the shown variants is inserted in the pneumatic float 15 or 26. The orientable paddle actuator 1 or 100 is arranged as shown in Figure 5 in the rest position, and takes an operative position, as shown in Figure 7 for the first embodiment, or in Figure 11 for the second embodiment.