AU2007100094A4 - Boat - Google Patents

Description

-1- Boat Field of the invention The present invention relates to a boat.

Brief description of the invention In one aspect, the present invention provides a boat having a deck opening, the deck opening providing access to an interior part of the boat, characterised in that the boat has a cover movable between a raised position in which access to the interior part of the boat is available and a lowered position in which the cover prevents access to the interior part of the boat.

In one embodiment, the interior part of the boat may house controls for operating the boat.

The interior part of the boat may also include seating or sleeping equipment (such as beds) or bathroom facilities or toilet facilities or two or more thereof.

In some embodiments, the deck opening may define a cockpit.

In some embodiments, the deck opening defines a periphery of the interior part of the boat.

The deck opening may comprise an opening in a deck of the boat. Alternatively, the deck opening may encompass all of the extent of what would otherwise be the deck, so that even a boat with effectively no deck (such as a dinghy) has a deck opening defined by the periphery of the opening of the boat. Throughout this specification, the term "deck opening" is to be given such a broad construction.

In the raised position, the cover suitably acts as a roof over the deck opening. The roof may provide shade and protection from rain or other adverse weather conditions.

Removable side walls may be attached to the cover when it is in the raised position. The -2removable side walls may be made from transparent plastic sheeting, or from other flexible material or from other sheet material. The removable side walls may comprise a plurality of panels. The removable side walls may be suspended from the cover. The removable side walls may be made from rigid material or flexible or soft material, or a mixture thereof.

In one embodiment, the cover is mounted to the boat by a plurality of linkages. The linkages are suitably pivotally mounted at one point to the boat and pivotally mounted at another point to the cover. Each linkage may comprise an arm. One or more of the linkages may be operated to raise and lower the cover. One or more of the linkages may comprise a first portion extending between the boat and a cover and a second portion extending at an angle to the first portion. An actuator may act on the second portion to cause the first portion to pivot about a pivotal mounting point on the boat to thereby cause raising or lowering of the cover. The actuator by comprise a ram that can be selectively extended and retracted.

The cover may be locked into the lowered position. The cover may be lockable when in the lowered position. In one embodiment, this may be provided by having provision for suitable pad locks or other locks to lock the cover to the boat. In another embodiment, one or more actuators are used to raise and lower the cover, with the actuators being key operated such that lowering the cover and removing the key locks the actuators and retains the cover in the lowered position. In a further embodiment, the actuators may be operable by a emote controller.

In other embodiments, the cover may be connected to the boat by telescopic linkages that can be raised and lowered to thereby raise and lower the roof. The telescopic linkages may, for example, be electric rams, pneumatic rams or hydraulic rams. Other telescopic arrangements may also be used.

In other embodiments, the linkages may comprise scissor linkages that can be raised and lowered or screw jacks.

It will be appreciated that the invention encompasses any arrangements that allows the cover to be raised and lowered.

In some embodiments, boats in accordance with the present invention are of a size that enables the boats to be towed on a trailer behind a motor vehicle. The present invention may also be used on larger boats that are normally not moved on a trailer.

A boat in accordance with the present invention may have an inboard motor. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the boat may have an outboard motor.

The deck opening of the boat may include steering controls and throttle controls for controlling operation of the boat. The deck opening may also include seating and accommodation or access to accommodation housed within the hull of the boat. The accommodation may include one or more beds, a kitchen area and a bathroom/toilet area.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the cover may provide a seal around the deck opening when in the lowered position so that the deck opening is effectively weatherproofed when the cover is in the lowered position.

Brief description of the drawings Figure 1 shows a side view of a boat in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention with the cover in the lowered position; Figure 2 shows a side view of the embodiment shown in figure 1, but with the cover in a raised position; Figure 3 shows a side view of a boat in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, with the cover being in the lowered position and the view including a partial cross section to show details of the linkages used to move the cover; and Figure 4 shows a side view of the boat shown in figure 3 but with the cover in a raised position.

Detailed description of the drawings It will be appreciated that the drawings illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention and that the invention should not be considered to be limited to the features as shown in those drawings.

The boat 10 shown in figures 1 and 2 comprises a hull 12. The hull 12 houses an interior part 14 (best shown in figure The interior part 14 may include a steering wheel 16 and a seat 18. The interior part may also include other seats, sleeping equipment (such as beds), bathrooms and toilets.

The interior part 14 of the boat 10 shown in figures 1 and 2 is defined by an opening in the hull/superstructure of the boat. This opening comprises the deck opening of the boat. This opening may be provided with an upstanding peripheral lip 15, which assists in obtaining a seal between the cover 22 and the interior part 14 when the cover is lowered.

The boat 10 shown in figures 1 and 2 has an outboard motor 20 that provides propulsion for the boat. It will be appreciated that the boat in accordance with the present invention may have an inboard motor. The boat 10 may have one or more motors.

The boat 10 shown in figures 1 and 2 also includes a cover 22. The cover 22 is suitably a hard cover or a rigid cover. The cover 22 may, for example, be made from fibreglass or from a metal alloy, suitably a light metal alloy such as an aluminium alloy. However, it will be appreciated that the cover may be made from canvas or other soft or flexible material, or a combination of rigid materials and soft or flexible materials. Figure 1 shows the cover 22 in a lowered position. Figure 2 shows the cover 22 in a raised position.

The cover 22 is mounted to the hull 12 of boat 10 by way of linkages. In the embodiment shown in figures 1 and 2 the cover 22 is mounted to the hull 12 of boat 10 by arms 24 and 26. Arms 24 and 26 are mounted to one side of the hull and the cover. Although not shown in figures 1 and 2, arms 24 and 26 and duplicated on the other side of the hull and cover such that four arms are used to mount the cover to the hull.

With reference to figure 2, an upper end 28 of the arm 24 is mounted to the cover and a lower end 30 of the arm 24 is mounted to the hull 12 of boat 10. Similarly, an upper part 32 of the arm 26 is mounted to the cover whilst a lower part 34 of arm 26 is mounted to the hull. Suitably, each of the mounting points where the arms are mounted to the cover and hull, respectively, are pivotal mounting points. It will be appreciated that the actual mounting points on the hull and the cover may vary from those shown in the attached drawings.

As shown in figure 1, when the cover 22 is in the lowered position, arms 24 and 26 have their upper ends 28, 32, located close to the hull 12. When the cover 22 is moved to the raised position, the upper ends 28, 32 of arms 24, 26 are positioned well away from the hull 12.

As can be seen by comparing figure 1 and figure 2, the cover 22 moves from the lowered position (shown in figure 1) and to the raised position (shown in figure 2) by upward pivotal movement of the arms 24, 26 about their lower ends 30, 34. Thus, raising the cover in the embodiment shown in figures 1 and 2 causes the cover to move upwardly and rearwardly.

As can be seen from figure 2, the cover 22 acts as a roof and extends over the greater part of the interior part of the boat when the cover is in the raised position. In particular, the cover extends directly above the steering wheel 16 and seat 18 to thereby provide protection to the driver or pilot of the boat. The cover 22 acts as a roof in that it acts to shade the driver from the sun and also provide a degree of protection to the driver from rain or other inclement weather conditions. To improve the degree of protection from inclement weather provided by the cover, it is possible to hang panels, curtains or sheets of material from the cover 22 so that the panels, curtains or sheets of material act as side walls extending downwardly from the cover. The cover may be provided with eyelets, hooks or other apparatus to enable the side walls to be suspended therefrom.

As best shown in figure 1, when the cover is in the lowered position, the cover extends around and over the periphery of the deck opening and acts to fully cover and enclose the interior part of the boat. Thus, access to the interior part of the boat is prevented. This has apparent implications for enhanced security for items stored in the interior part of the boat and for the boat itself (as possible thieves cannot access the interior part of the boat, it is more difficult for thieves to turn on the motor and drive the boat away). In some embodiments, the cover may also act to form a seal around the deck opening when it is in the lowered position to thereby weatherproof the interior part of the boat when the cover is in the lowered position.

Figures 3 and 4 shows side views of an embodiment of the present invention that is generally similar to the embodiment shown in figures 1 and 2. For convenience, like features in figures 3 and 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals as used for those features in figures 1 and 2. However, in figures 3 and 4, the hull of the boat is shown in partial cross section so that the construction of the linkage and actuator/motor arrangement used to raise and lower the cover can be seen more clearly.

As shown in figures 3 and 4, the arm 26 has a rigid extension 40 positioned at an angle to arm 26. The angle may be 1800 or another angle. Figure 3 shows the angle as being approximately 1100. The rigid extension 40 and arm 26 may be integrally formed together.

Alternatively, the rigid extension 40 may be fixedly mounted relative to arm 26. The end 42 of rigid extension 40 that is located away from arm 26 is mounted to an extendable and retractable ram 44. A motor 46 may be used to power the ram 44. Alternatively, the ram may be hydraulically or pneumatically operated.

The rigid extension 40, ram 44 and motor 46 are suitably mounted within the hull of the boat 10 so that these features desirably cannot be seen by users of the boat.

As shown in figure 3, the ram 44 may be in its extended position when the cover 22 is in its lowered position. In order to raise the cover 22, the motor 46 is operated to cause the ram 44 to retract. This is shown in figure 4. As the ram 44 is retracted, it moves in the direction shown by arrow 48. This causes the extension 40 to rotate in the direction shown by arrow As the extension 40 is rigidly fixed in position relative to the arm 26, the arm 26 rotates -7upwardly and rearwardly, as shown by arrow 52. It will be appreciated that a similar arm, extension and ram arrangement will be positioned on the other side of the hull, with the rams suitably controlled such that their operation is synchronised.

The boat also includes arm 24 and a similar arm mounted on the other side of the boat and cover. These arms simply rotate in accordance with rotation of the arm 26 (and its similar arm on the other side of the boat). The forward arms 24 provide extra support to the cover.

Although in the embodiment shown in the attached drawings the forward arms are not powered, it will be appreciated that the forward arms may also be powered.

The rams 44 and/or motor 46 may suitably be key operated or operated by remote control.

For example, a key opening may be provided in an exterior part of the boat to enable the owner of the boat to insert the key from the outside of the boat. In this fashion, the owner of the boat may, before entering the boat, insert the key and operate the motor 46 to thereby raise the cover 22. This then allows access to the interior part of the boat. When the owner of the boat wishes to disembark from the boat, he can insert the key into the key opening and operate the motor to lower the cover and thereby prevent any unauthorised access to the interior part of the boat. If the rams are remote controlled, the remote control will suitably be a secure remote with a remote control code unique to the remote controller in the possession of the owner. Typical security provisions for remote controls known to persons skilled in the art, such as rolling codes, randomly generated codes and the like, can also be used. This has obvious implications for security. For example, if the owner of the boat is visiting an island or a beach, the owner may anchor the boat, lower the cover and leave the boat whilst the owner explores the island or beach, safe in the knowledge that the interior part of the boat is quite secure.

As a further advantage arising from the boat of the present invention, the cover can be lowered during towing of the boat behind a motor vehicle. In this configuration, with the cover being in the lowered position, the boat presents a sleek aspect to the wind, thereby reducing drag and easing towing. Further, the cover assists in preventing or minimising damage to the interior part of the boat whilst the boat is being towed behind a motor vehicle.

Advantageously, the boat may also be used as overnight accommodation in a fashion similar to a caravan during a holiday trip. For example, after driving with the boat being towed on trailer behind a motor vehicle, the owner of the boat may check into a caravan park and back the trailer and boat into a caravan space. The owner may then raise the cover, put side curtains or side walls in place and use the boat as his overnight accommodation.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention that may be susceptible to variations or modifications other than those specifically described. For example, raising and lowering of the cover may be achieved by use of different mechanisms to those described in attached drawings. For example, telescopic members may be used to raise and lower the cover. Alternatively, screw jacks or scissor jacks may be used. Raising and lowering of the cover may be done manually or it may be completed by use of motorised devices.

The boat may be a powered boat or it may be a sailboat. If the boat is a sailboat, either the cover will require an appropriate opening to allow movement between the cover and a mast that may extend through the cover. Alternatively, the boat may be designed such that the mast is positioned either forwardly of or rearwardly of the cabin area so that the cover does not come into contact with the mast.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the invention extends to all variations and modifications that fall within its spirit and scope.

Claims (4)

1. A boat having a deck opening, the deck opening providing access to an interior part of the boat, characterised in that the boat has a cover movable between a raised position in which access to the interior part of the boat is available and a lowered position in which the cover prevents access to the interior part of the boat.

2. A boat as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cover is mounted to the boat by a plurality of arms, each arm being pivotally mounted at one point to the boat and pivotally mounted at another point to the cover.

3. A boat as claimed in claim 2 wherein one or more of the arms comprises a first portion extending between the boat and the cover and a second portion extending at an angle to the first portion, and an actuator acts on the second portion to cause the first portion to pivot about a pivotal mounting point on the boat to thereby cause raising or lowering of the cover.

4. A boat as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the acts as a roof when in the raised position. A boat substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Date: 7 February 2007