WATERCRAFT

Technological Field

The present invention relates to a method for production of deck coating, decking for decks of any sailing yacht, motor yacht and other types of nautical craft from a sheet-like material with at least amount of pieces, instead of usage of natural wood such as teak wood or synthetic material generally used in the form of strips or bands and creating gaps or joints namely seams filled with a filler material called caulking.

Previous technique

Traditionally, decks and cabin floors of marine craft such as sailing yachts or motor yachts are covered with natural wood, especially teak wood.

Wood cut in narrow strips, usually 40 - 50 mm wide, are laid side by side with a small gap. The gap or joint between the strips is called seams.

Filling this gap or joint with caulk and it is covered with bitumen for waterproofing is called caulking. As the wood strips of decking get wet, the strips will swell and the decking will be completely watertight.

The thickness of the wood strips may vary according to the type of wood, the type of usage, the life expectancy, and so on, and is a typical thickness of 10 - 15 mm. With the development of material technology, today the gap between the wood strips is filled with polyurethane based adhesive filling materials instead of caulk and bitumen.

For example, Sikaflex®-290 DC is a one-component polyurethane based joint caulking compound which is UV (ultraviolet) resistant and durable. It forms a sandable flexible surface. Many similar products are available on the market.

In maritime industry tradition, especially in the yacht construction, is expected to have a very good appearance besides the function of the decking; the spacing between the wood strips must be uniform. This makes the decking process an extremely difficult task.

Because the yacht or boat decks are very different in their structure and function, and it is full of obstacles that makes it difficult to cover. Parts such as flaps or covers, masts and mast sockets, the rope attaching devices as cleats and fairleaders and other numerous obstacles make the work very difficult.

Therefore, this work has become a hand-made art. It is expected that the wood covering should be laid in regular strips with equal spacing, meaning the seams in between should be straight and smooth, the edges should be finished properly, all details should be smooth and well looking.

This work is usually done by skilled carpenters. The yachts or boats are pulled off to land, towed to a covered space or covered over the boat as it is pulled of to land.

This type of work lasts for weeks causing costs of the yacht or boat being unusable and being kept on the land for long periods of time and removal from and launching to the sea. On the other hand, due to the nature of the woodwork and the complex decking forms mentioned above causes much sawing work. This causes a lot of wood dust. It is also undesirable for very valuable yachts to be exposed to so much dust.

Although the materials used today is improved products, the work of caulking is as hard as doing the wood decking. Since this work is done by hand in general, the spread gets into the decking as well.

The caulking material is cleaned only by sanding, which again causes a lot of dust to appear on the yacht.

Techniques are also available for boats manufactured in series, such as using to preformed patterns for decking that are made out of the boat. In this method, the parts forming the decking are cut one by one and joined according to the pattern, and adhesive material is applied behind it in order not to be scattered.

In recent years, synthetic materials have been introduced to the market since the teak wood is rare and valuable and needs sanding and oil application for good appearance.

These materials are PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) based materials which are produced in the same color and appearance as the wood surface and are in strips or bands of 40-50 mm wide. The wider bands are being produced to speed up the coverage of large areas.

In addition, to give an appearance of the seam, usually black or rarely white or gray colored strips as caulking material of usually 4 - 5 mm wide are added to 40 - 50 mm wide bands. Although these bands make it easy to cover large and long areas, there are also difficulties in covering the same way to the edges or obstacled areas.

Especially the application of the edge finishes around the area covered by parallel bands is as difficult as in the method of doing it with a natural wood. Although there are colored strips between the parallel bands to give the look of seams, the application of the filling material for the detailed small areas with edges require the same as the wood and it requires cleaning with sanding. In the detailed areas that can be said as difficult, the decking work is done in small pieces individually. This is almost no different from the wood decking work.

Apart from these synthetic bands, there is a different, an other synthetic product on the market. This product is produced in the United States by Seadek Company and it is foam sheets made of folds of different colors with a name EVA which is an abbreviation of (Ethyl Vinyl Acetate).

The pieces forming the decking are designed in computer environment using the pattern of the area and cutting is done with CNC (Computer Numerical Control) cutting and engraving machines. While the sheets top coat is the coating color, the different colors comes out from the bottom by scraping which resembles an seam filler. However, the black strips that look like the seam junctions become think channels and make the surface uneven.

Purpose of the invention

The object of present invention is to provide a method for production of decking for decks and and flooring for cabin interior of any sailing yacht, motor yacht and other types of nautical craft from a sheet-like material with at least amount of pieces, instead of usage of natural wood such as teak wood or synthetic wood generally used in the form of strips or bands and creating gaps or joints namely seams filled with a filler material called caulking. Explanation of Figures

Attached figures of decking with appearance of seams helps to assist to reach to the purpose of the present invention. Figure 1 : Shows a view from above of the decking of a marine vessel.

Figure 2: Shows a view from above of a sample decking part.

Figure 3: Shows a perspective view of the decking according to the invention.

Explanation of references in figures

1 : Decking parts

2: Different shapes

3: Seams

4: Channel

5: Filling material

L: Plate

Explanation of the invention

The present invention provides a method for production of the decking parts (1) in single piece from a material in form of plate (L) looking as the decking made in traditional manner using natural wood such as teak or a similar natural or synthetic material, in such a way with seams filled with a filling material (5), in usage on deck or cabin interior of sailing yacht, motor yacht, all types of boats and other marine craft and basically covers the following steps;

Providing the measurements or technical drawings of the area of the marine craft where the decking is to be done from the designer or the manufacturer of the marine craft. Taking the measurements, making patterns of the area where the decking is to be done of the mentioned marine craft in case of not being provided by designer or the manufacturer. Designing the decking parts (1) in accordance with the specific requirements and considering the details such as flaps or covers, holes, masts and mast sockets, cleats and fairleads and other numerous obstacles. Considering the dimensions of the working area of the machines to be used in the production stage while designing. The production of the decking parts (1) from the plate (L) with an appropriate machine. Filling with the filling material (5) the scraped channels (4) intended to give the appearance of seams (3). Finishing process by sanding for to the final surface shape. Putting the decking parts (1) on the deck of marine craft.

In other words, the method is particularly suitable for decks of marine craft, in the form of a single piece of sheet or plat (L) characterized in that is a method of manufacturing a decking part (1) giving a traditionally manner of making appearance; by means of engraving the think channels (4) for separating them from each other the different shapes (2) of coating pieces on the plate (L) and for forming an appearance of seams (3) therebetween, cutting the decking parts (1) with think channels (4) and filling the seams with filling material (5).

In case of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) are not available in the computer environment or technical drawings provided by the designer or manufacturer of the marine craft, it includes to input the measurements of the craft to the computer environment.

There are many methods and technologies available here. One of the methods of using tracing paper and pencil to create patterns, usage of laser scanning devices, conversion of high- resolution photographs into CAD computer-aided design format is considered.

For each of the places where the deck coating is desired, the design is carried out in a CAD computer aided design environment with other details desired to be added such as the dimensions of the place and the desired visual shape, the widths and directions of the strips. It is designed in such a way that all the details such as the traditional 40 - 50 mm strips view or the shape that makes up any part and the 4 - 5 mm wide seams (3) like appearance, edge band, hinge, cover, hole etc. are all designed at this period of time.

In other words, the method comprises detecting the locations to be engraved by the think channels (4) that will provide the appearance of seams (3) while being designed in the dimension of the decking parts (1).

In the design, the width and length of the plate (L) in which the decking parts (1) is to be produced are chosen by taking into account the width and length of the machine to be used in production.

Examples of the material of the plate (L) in which the decking parts (1) is to be produced are UV-resistant PVC based synthetic materials in various sizes and hardness. For this material a thickness of 5 - 6 mm is sufficient.

The think channels (4), or in other words, the traces with depth produced by scarping, intended to give an appearance of seams (3), are engraved at a depth that can hold the filler material (5). This scraping can be done in a CNC computer controlled cutting and engraving machine where the decking parts (1) are to be cut, as well as with another apparatus. Then the CNC machine cuts the decking parts (1) from the plate (L).

In other words, the method comprises cutting of the plate (L) from which the decking parts (1) are produced and engraving of the think channels (4) to give the appearance of seams (3) done together.

Seam look is obtained by filling the filler material (5) in the engraved think channels (4) using CNC machines. In other words, the method includes filling the filling material (5) by following the think channels (4) to give the appearance of seams (3). The application of filling material (5) can be done with the help of suitable apparatuses or computer controlled CNC dispensing machines according to existing CAD design.

Following the drying of the filling material (5), the decking parts (1) is finely sanded to give the desired surface shape and to clean the excess filling material (5).

In this way all pre-sized decking parts (1) specially produced for a marine craft are adhered to the places on the marine craft. In other words, the method comprises that the appearance of seams (3) and decking parts (1) can be produced in one piece and placed in predetermined place.

Double-sided adhesive can be used for bonding. In the case of use a CNC cutting and engraving machine in the production, the double-sided adhesive sheet is adhered to the back face of the material before the processing with the machine.

Application to the Industry

The decking parts (1) with an appearance of seems (3) production method for marine craft described above can be produced and used in any branch of the any industry and is applicable to industry.