The invention relates to a rescue boat of the kind that is seen in the preamble of claim 1.

Known rescue boats of the kind in question are small and light and comprise two substantially parallel and laterally spaced-apart hulls and a deck located between the same and close to the waterline.

The intention is that a rescue boat of the kind in question should be possible to be readily launched by one or a few persons, and quickly should be possible to be carried or dragged up to any scene of an accident, and further can be transported as a boat in water. For this sake, the boat may have handles on the outside, and furthermore, the boat may be provided with externally exposed wheels, in particular at the stern of the boat. Preferably, the boat has appurtenant oars that are pivotally mounted on the hulls, and in addition, a rowing thwart may be provided in order to bridge over the hulls in a releasable fashion. Furthermore, in the stern portion thereof, the boat may have a bracket for an outboard motor. Furthermore, the boat may have one or more braces at the stem and/or stern portion thereof .

In order to pick up a distressed person in the boat, it is common to haul in the same in the boat, the distressed person being laid on the deck in the longitudinal direction thereof; the distance between the hulls of the boat corre- sponds easily to the space required by the distressed person, which lies on his/her back on the deck in the longitudinal direction of the boat. Furthermore, the deck of the boat has a length that generally corresponds to at least the length of an adult person.

In order to facilitate hauling-in of a distressed person in the boat, the hauling-in is made via the stem part of the

boat, so that the boat does not need to be turned after driving up to the distressed person before the same readily can be hauled into the boat. However, a drawback is that a convenient hauling-in into the boat requires that the boat essentially does not have any front free board, which means that water washes in over the deck of the boat when driving forward, to the scene of the accident as well as from the same .

Another drawback is that the distressed person usually has to be transferred from the deck of the boat to a stretcher when the boat has been hauled ashore.

Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a res- cue boat of the kind in question, by means of which said drawbacks entirely or partly are obviated.

The object is attained by the invention.

The invention is defined in the appended independent claim.

Embodiments of the invention are defined in the appended dependent claims .

Additional embodiments of the invention, as well as advantages gained by the invention, are evident from the following description, and are appreciated by a person averaged skilled in the art as being necessary and fully accomplished.

In order to enable a quick boat-trip out to the distressed person, the boat has a stem ramp that is foldingly connected to the front end part of the deck and extends in the forward direction therefrom, the ramp being turnable between positions above and below the horizontal plane in order to form a bow portion and a pull-up ramp, respectively, for a person that lies in the water and is to be

rescued. In the raised position, i.e., free board position, the boat may be driven forward quickly without any risk of water flowing in over the deck. At the rear portion of the deck, a rear free board may be arranged, which possibly also may form a bracket for an outboard motor.

The stretcher may, in a known way per se, be provided with straps in order to secure the patient to the stretcher. The stretcher may be provided with generally vertically directed spigots or openings, which are received by the corresponding openings or spigots, respectively, arranged in the deck. Possibly, locking devices may be provided in order to allow temporary locking of the stretcher to the deck.

Oars may be pivotally mounted on the hulls and a rowing thwart may be releasably mounted by means of hinges in order to bridge over the hulls. The bearings of the oars may be of the type that keeps the oar blades in a certain plane, for instance, the vertical plane, wherein the oar blades at the outer lower end thereof may carry a vertical, preferably rotatable ice-prod, which facilitates propulsion of the boat on ice or in water with ice-floes.

Furthermore, the boat may be provided with braces or hand rails on the respective hull, preferably both at the stem and stern part of the hull in order to facilitate hauling, pushing or dragging of the boat .

Preferably, the boat has also an appurtenant hauling rope, which suitably is attached in the stem of the boat and is allowed to trail behind the boat when driving out to one or more distressed persons . The rope may have a secondary fixing point eccentrically located and preferably releasable at the front part of the boat, so that personnel ashore, which can grip the stern end part of the rope, readily can haul the boat back towards land in the forward direction of the boat, so that personnel on board entirely can attend to the dis-

tressed person, by the fact that the fixing point of the rope allows 180° rotation of the boat when hauling the rope.

Hereinafter, the invention will be described by way of example, reference being made to the appended drawing.

Fig. 1 shows schematically a side view of a rescue boat according to the invention.

Fig. 2 shows a planar view from above of the boat according to fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a view taken along line III—III in fig. 1.

Fig. 4 shows a section taken along line IV—IV in fig. 2.

In the drawing, a boat is shown comprising two elongate substantially parallelly directed hulls 2, which are arranged at a predetermined mutual distance and are mutu- ally connected by means of a deck 3, which carries a stretcher 4, which extends between the hulls 2 and has substantially the same length extension as the deck 3. The deck 3 and the stretcher 4 have co-operating devices 6, 51 for the location of the stretcher 4 on the deck 3. In fig. 4, it can be seen that the devices comprises, for instance, projecting spigots 51 on the deck 3 and openings 6 in the stretcher 4, which receive the spigots 51. Furthermore, the stretcher 4 may be releasably secured by means of locks, straps or the like. As is seen in fig. 2, the stretcher 4 may further have openings 6 at the verge of the stretcher so as to form carrying handles 61 to facilitate carrying of the stretcher 4 with the patient lying thereon. The stretcher 4 may be received in a correspondingly deep countersink 55 in the deck 3, the countersink 55 suitably hav- ing widenings 56 at the carrying handles 61 in order to facilitate gripping of the handles 61. The distance between the hulls 2 corresponds to the width of the stretcher 4.

The deck 3 is located approximately in the waterline 8, during operation. At the aft side of the deck 3, there is a square stern/free board 10, on which an outboard motor may be mounted. At the front verge of the deck 3, there is a bow ramp/free board 11, which has the rear edge thereof preferably closely and pivotally connected by a joint 12 to the deck 3. At the side edges thereof, the bow ramp 11 is closely connected to the respective hull 2 by means of a flexible, preferably folded membrane 20, which allows the ramp 11 to be turned between a raised position, which is shown by dashed lines in fig. 4, and a lowered position shown by continuous lines in fig. 4, wherein the ramp 11 extends obliquely forward/downward in the water and facili- tates a pulling-up of a victim of an accident from the water, into the stretcher 4. One or more rolls 25 may be mounted on the top side of the ramp 11 for contacting a distressed person hauled in over the ramp and for decreasing the friction against the ramp upon the hauling-in. A ratchet 15, not shown in detail, allows the bow ramp 11 to be arrested in the raised position in order to allow the boat to be driven forward without water washing in over the stretcher and the deck.

In fig. 1 and 2, a rowing thwart 30 is shown, which is releasably mounted on the hulls 2 and bridges over the same in a position in front of bearings 32 for oars 33, by means of which the boat may be rowed. Advantageously, the mountings 32 may be arranged to keep the blades 34 of the oars 33 oriented in the vertical plane, in which case an ice- prod 35 is mounted at the outer lower end of the blade 34, preferably in the vertical direction, the prod preferably being rotatably mounted in order to present a grip to the base, for instance ice.

In fig. 1 and 2, there is further shown that the hulls 1, 2, at the front and rear part thereof, both carry, prefera-

bly on the side parts thereof facing each other, hand rails or bails 40 and 41, respectively, which offer support for the users of the boat and which preferably extend in the vertical plane. The bails 40, 41 also facilitate a haul- ing/pushing of the boat and/or a lifting/carrying of the boat. On the outside of the hulls 2, also rails 50 are shown that form handles, which are useful either in order to enable a victim of an accident being in the water to hang on to the boat easier, or in order to enable rescue workers to easier drag or carry the boat ashore.

Furthermore, it can be seen that the boat has wheels 60 on the hulls 2 in the stern area thereof .

In fig. 2, it is further shown that the hulls 2 on the top side thereof may have stowage compartments 71. From fig. 2 and 3, it is further understood that the front bails 40 as well as the rear 41 ones are mutually connected via a bridging horizontal rod 46. The after rod/crosspiece 46 has, in addition to a stabilising function, also the purpose of working as a base frame for, preferably bluish rotary or flashing warning light, which preferably, where appropriate night-time, may be of importance for the guidance of other rescue vehicles arrived to the scene of the accident later, such as, for instance, an ambulance helicopter.

The two keel portions of the boat are formed as runners 80 intended to primarily allow reduced surface contact upon driving on ice, also facilitate directional stability, as well as not least protect bottom portions of the hulls upon unloading and harsh driving through tough terrain. The runners 80 consist of polyethylene tubes, which in the stem and stern are bolted to the hull by means of stainless - steel bolts, which hold the polyethylene tubes pressed against the hull in tension loaded state.