EP0179785A1 - Manoeuvrable pedal-operated boat with locking system for transportation on vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a pedal boat constructed in three separate hulls (1), (2) and (3), assembled by fittings (39-40) facilitating the positioning and a locking device (41 to 45) which ensures a Resistant and rigid lashing and allows, at the same time, thanks to additional fittings (47 to 52), to achieve automatic lashing of the whole on a car rack or a trailer. Propulsion and steering are provided by a steerable and liftable propeller (58) which is driven by a toothed belt (53), which is twisted without lateral offset by means of specially arranged steerable pulleys (91 to 93). The pedal boat according to the invention is designed to be manoeuvrable on land as well as on water.

Description

 MANEUVERABLE PEDAL BOAT WITH LOCK FOR TRANSPORTATION ON VEHICLES

The present invention relates to a pedal boat, built in three separate hulls, fitted with devices ensuring exceptional maneuverability, easy loading and automatic locking on a car gallery or trailer.

Known pedal boats generally consist of two floats on which there is a structure; more rarely, they use molded or thermoformed plastics, the floats being integrated into the structure. In all cases, these devices are very difficult to handle on water and even less on land.

On water, propulsion is generally ensured by an impeller, more rarely two, on the axis of which are directly mounted two pedals. Exceptionally, a propeller is used and, then, the transmission between the axis of the pedals. And the propeller shaft is ensured by a bevel gear with bevel gears which allows, at the same time, multiply the speed of the propeller shaft relative to that of the pedals. The latter solution has the advantage of efficiency but turns out to be more complicated and therefore more expensive and, consequently, is abandoned in favor of the former.

It is always thanks to a rudder that we steer the machine; it can indifferently be located in the axis of the boat or at the end of a float, the control being carried out directly thanks to a lever solidai of the rudder axis or via a wheelhouse generally constituted connecting rods and horns.

In all cases, the efficiency of this rudder is very low in the normal direction of propulsion and almost zero, or even aberrant in the other. In progression forward, we can consider that the boat can turn on a circle of about ten meters in diameter, which makes precise changes practically impossible. As for the maneuvers requiring to move forward and backward in a limited space while trying to make the rudder act, they almost inevitably end in a collision.

On land, the weight and size of pedal boats hamper their handling; it is limited to transport a few meters by two men who usually have handles at the front and rear of the structure ^r, between the floats.

There are recent pedal boats that weigh only about 60 kg and can be loaded on a car gallery by two people. But this operation is not necessarily easy for women or elderly people any more than the transport from the vehicle to the water; moreover, the securing of the machine on the gallery can discourage uninformed people. In general, the use of pedal boats is limited to a leisurely stroll on a calm and largely open water body. *

The object of the present invention is to eliminate the various drawbacks listed above. It uses three devices for this:

A) The first allows easy handling of the boat on land;

B) The second, ensures automatic stowage on a car gallery or a trailer; C) The third is intended to provide propulsion and steering with great efficiency.

Let us see successively these three devices: A) The shell is in fact made up of three distinct shells of suitable shapes so that, once assembled, it forms a single whole. It should be noted that no sealing is necessary between the different hulls of the its shape ensures that each of them has its own buoyancy. By cons, once separated, each is easy to handle since it weighs only about 20 kg and has only a small footprint. To carry out the assembly, it is preferable to arrange the central hull on the ground and then to position each lateral hull with respect to the central hull. Appropriately shaped devices facilitate this positioning. Locking is then obtained by the operation of devices which require only a small effort.

All the propulsion and steering mechanisms are designed to fit in the central hull, except for the pedals which are mounted on the side hulls. In this way, once the hulls have been assembled, the boat is ready for use without any other manipulation. Given the use that will be made of a propeller, the front of the central hull is not occupied by the casing of a paddle wheel and can therefore be used as a storage box with cover. * The shape of this chest is designed so that the bottom of the central hull is easily visible to the users who will occupy the side hulls. In this way, if this background is transparent, the underwater observation will be particularly easy. So that the aforementioned observation is not hampered by the hand of the user placed on a steering control such as a steering wheel, this is carried out by a lever of suitable shape which has a movement in a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the boat. The rear part of the central hull accommodates the propulsion device: *, and allows in particular the retraction of the propeller in the volume of the hull during collision with submerged obstacles.

The side hulls each support an adjustable bottom bracket and a seat. The backrest of this one is adjustable and can fold into the volume of the shell to facilitate transport. The space behind the seat is used for storage.

B) The controls for the hull locking devices mentioned above are arranged in such a way that they are easily accessible when the boat is on a car gallery or a trailer. Consequently, additional fittings make it possible, at the same time as locking the hulls together, to secure the assembly on the gallery or the trailer without any tool or significant effort.

C) "Outboard" engines have been known for a long time and everyone knows that, on boats thus equipped, the direction is obtained by orienting the engine-propeller assembly in the proper direction. A pedal boat equipped with a propeller that can be rotated about 110 ° on either side of the middle position has exceptional maneuverability. A prototype thus equipped was able to turn on itself like a spinning top or to turn around a fixed pile while remaining constantly at 20 cm approx. This performance is made possible by the aforementioned orientation of the propeller. It should be noted that 90 ° on either side is not entirely sufficient to allow the perfect rotation of the machine on itself nor, above all, to permanently adjust the movement obtained so that one wish ; this is why the device is made to allow approximately 110 ° of travel on either side of the middle position. Note: On the prototype, orientation was initially possible over 200 ° on either side of the middle position; this allowed to go backwards while pedaling forward. Although the device worked properly, the steering was extremely delicate because we no longer knew if we were going backwards after turning right or left. In addition, "reverse" is mainly used as a brake; Now, with the orientation of - 200, it was necessary, to go back and therefore brake, start by turning right or 'left; this operation, even carried out quickly, led to an incom¬ patible start to a turn with the maintenance of a determined heading. ^' For these reasons, the orientation has been limited by stops approximately 110 ° on either side, reverse gear then being obtained normally by pedaling backward. The only drawback is that the efficiency of the propeller is lower in "reverse" but that. is of little importance since it is only used sparingly and the braking efficiency is still very good. It should also be noted that, since the propeller is liftable during collision with immersed obstacles, blocking of this lift should be provided and actuated before any "reverse". In practice, we realize that it is useless, the weight of the retractable propulsion device being sufficient to keep it in the water and ensure effective braking, even if during brutal maneuvers, it rises to the surface.

Although the above does not seem to present any difficulties, these arise in the production when it is necessary to ensure the mechanical coupling between the pedals and the propeller; this propeller can therefore be oriented laterally, but it must also be able to retract if it collides with a submerged obstacle.

A possible embodiment uses bevel gears and a series of shafts, one of which, in particular, coincides with the axis of orientation of the propeller, which axis is vertical in the normal position of use. However, this solution has a huge drawback, regardless of its complexity due mainly to the low tolerances for positioning the shafts and the necessary lubrication: the engine torque transmitted to the series of shafts tends to orient 1. "propeller in a direction which depends on the chosen embodiment. Thus the propeller will have eri permanently tendency to be directed on the right, for example, and that is the coxswain who will have to maintain it thanks to a permanent effort on the directio effort command which will be all the greater, the greater the effort on the pedals.

To avoid these drawbacks, a belt transmission was used. A first embodiment uses a weldable belt of circular section whose strands are twisted to allow orientation and lifting of the propeller. However, the small diameter of the propeller drive pulley causes the belt to slip as soon as the blow is a little important and especially when this pulley operates directly in .1 ~ 'water— .-, - -.-. .._ _-..----, .... _, .-,

A second embodiment uses a toothed belt under the same conditions as above. However, the twisting of this type of belt is only possible when the neutral fiber undergoes no lateral offset, a special provision of orientable pulleys is necessary to ensure operation.

The use of toothed belts is also used to make adjustable pedals ^* thanks to a rotation about a transverse axis located at the floor of the side shells.

Figure 1 shows, in section, seen from the front, the three assembled shells. Figure 2 shows, in section, along A-A of Figure 1, a side shell.

Figure 3 shows, in section, along B-B of Figure 1, the central shell.

Figure 4 shows, in section, a direct mechanical connection device between a ^' pedal and the central mechanism. Figure 5 shows, in section, a mechanical - * - mechanical connection device with dog clutch between a crankset and the central mechanism Figures 6a and 6b show a device for assembling shells with latches.

Figures 7a and 7b show, in section, along A-A of gure 8, complementary parts intended for the assembly of the shells.

Figure 8 shows, in section, the parts shown in the figure before locking.

Figure 9a shows, in section, one of the parts shown in Figure 7 after locking. Figure 9b shows, in section, along B-B of Figure 9a one of the parts shown in Figure 7 after locking. Figure 10 shows the three shells seen from the rear and in particular the two locking flywheels.

FIG. 11 shows an installation of the lage lock fittings in the case where they are 6 in number.

Figure 12 shows, in section, seen from above, a locking device.

FIG. 13 shows, seen from the front ^" , the device for positioning the three shells on the car gallery. FIG. 14 shows, seen from the side, the device for positioning the three shells on the car gallery.

Figures 15a and 15b show, in section, respectively before A-A and according to B-B of Figure 13, seen from the side, the blocking devices on the car gallery. Figure 16 shows the lateral offsets generated on a toothed belt during the orientation of one of the axes. Figure 17 shows a drive device using bevel gears.

Figure 18 shows a drive device using a weldable belt.

Figure 19 shows, in section, seen from the front, the power unit assembly.

FIGS. 20a and 20b show, seen from above, the positions taken by the elements of the propulsion unit. Figure 21 presents, seen from above, the geometric elements corresponding to the positions taken by the elements of the group. propulsion when oriented 90 ° to the right.

Figure 22 shows, in section, side views, the central hull and the steering and lifting levers.

-î frai ir- ACϋ MENT Figure 23 shows, in section, views from the rear, the three hulls and the steering and lift levers. Figure 24 shows the particular shape of the control handle. Figures 25a, 25b and 25c show different positions of the lifting kinematics. Figure 26 shows the pedal adjuster.

A) Figure 1 shows that the shell consists of three separate shells 1, 2 and 3 which, when assembled, form a single unit. The shape of each ensures its buoyancy without requiring sealing between two hulls.

Figure 2 shows that each side shell 1 or 3 is equipped with a seat 4 for one person. The backrest 5 is adjustable in inclination and, in particular, foldable horizontally in the volume of the shell in order to facilitate transport. In front of this seat, is mounted a crankset 6 which, according to the variants, is adjustable longitudinally or -on the contrary fixed. In the latter case, the seat 4 is. then adjustable longitudinally. However, this solution has the drawback of compromising the longitudinal attitude.

Naturally, this adjustment of the pedals or of the seat is intended to take account of the measurements of the user.

Behind the seat 4, a space 7 is available for a storage chest which can be closed or not. The thickness of the shell as well as the unusable volumes, for example at the front end, are filled with a closed cell foam ensuring insub ersibility (hatched parts).

It should be noted that these lateral shells 1 or 3 do not comprise any mechanical element apart from the pedals 6. The mechanical connection between the pedals and the device installed in the central shell can be made directly or by means of a dog clutch.

FIG. 4 shows a device which can be used if the shells are brought together so that the a of the crankset and that of the central device are substantially aligned (case of locking by latches described below).

The axis 15 of the crankset 6 includes a drive square 16. The end has a shape which facilitates penetration in the axis 17 located in the central shell 2. The axis 17 rotates on the bearing 18 and its non symmetrical figured. The seal is ensured by a lip seal 19. The pulley 20, integral with the shaft 17, is located between the outer wall 21 and the inner wall 22 and drives a toothed belt located between the same walls. The outer wall 23 of the side shell 3 has an opening 24 with a diameter greater than that of the axis 15. Its role is to guide this axis 15 during assembly. Sealing at this location is not necessary because the axis 15 is located clearly above the surface of the water. The seal 19 protects the bearing 18 and the interior of the boot 8 located at the front of the central shell 2.

FIG. 5 shows a device which can be used when the shells are brought together and then vertically and longitudinally translated (case of the second locking described below).

The axis 25 which is located at the level of the floor of the lateral hull 3 and driven by the crankset 6 by means of a toothed belt, comprises at its end one of the two parts 26 and 27 of a coupling which allows tolerant enough coarse as to the alignment of the shafts 25 and 17. In addition, the part 27 of the coupling can slide on the shaft 17, thus allowing this coupling to also play the role of dog clutch. The control is carried out by means of a groove 28 into which a finger 29 penetrates. This finger 29 is mounted eccentrically on an axis 30 which leads to the dashboard 10 (see below). A lever, mounted at the end of axis 3 allows the dog clutch to be maneuvered. It should be noted that this lever must be provided with a device which maintains it in the two positions "clutched" or "clutched". Must also that an elastic element which may possibly be constituted by the axis 30 itself, if it is of a diameter small enough to play the role of a torsion bar, is interposed to allow "clutching" without take into account the position of the crankset 6. When the crankset 6 is operated, the dog clutch will engage under the action of the elastic element when the orientation is correct. -

In the same way as before, the shaft 17 turns thanks to the bearing 18 and its symmetrical. Sealing is essential since axis 17 is located slightly below the surface of the water; it is provided by the gasket 19.

The axis 25 rotates thanks to the bearing 31 and its symmetrical with respect to the axis of the side shell. The seal 32 seals.

This dog clutch device is used during assembly and disassembly but can also be used to prevent an unused bottom bracket from turning unnecessarily, risking injury to the passenger seated behind. FIG. 26 shows that the crankset 6 drives the shaft 25 by means of a toothed belt 105 which passes over the pulleys 106 and 107, respectively integral with the crankset 6 and the shaft 25. The entire crankset 6 can pivot around the axis 25 of approximately 10 ° in front of the vertical and of 50 ° behind, in order to allow the adaptation to the measurements of the user.

The adjustment is carried out by placing the foot 108 on a pedal 6. The other foot 109 presses on a pedal 110 thus releasing a wedge 111 from a circular crown 112. The pedal 6 is no longer held in position and is pushed back rearward by the spring 113. Consequently, the foot 108 can easily seek the correct adjustment corresponding to the practically stretched leg of the user. It then suffices to release the pedal 109 to freeze this adjustment. Figure 3 shows that the central hull comprises from front to back a trunk 8 with closure panel 9, a dashboard 10 which has the two dog clutch controls of the two pedals and can receive instruments such as a compass, wire gauge , etc, a transparent bottom 11 which makes it possible to observe underwater, a cover 12 under which the propulsion unit 13 can at will be immersed in the water to perform its function, or raised in the volume of the hull for avoid submerged obstacles or facilitate transport. The aforementioned cover 12 can serve as a seat for a child whose feet then rest on the transparent bottom or on a folding step, which prevents scratching the bottom made, for example, of "Plexiglass". This transparent background 11 has the dimensions 1125 x 400 mm approximately, which allows a field of vision of the order of 59 ° longitudinally and 24 ° transversely. This field is shown diagrammatically in FIGS. 1 and 3 where the eye of the observer is located at 14 when the latter is seated normally on the seat 4, however leaning slightly towards the axis of the boat. The sides of the central shell 2 have a substantial thickness of the order of 75 mm in order to allow it to accommodate, on the side, the toothed belt which transmits the movement from the bottom bracket to the propulsion unit located under the rear cover, on the other side, the power steering and lift control mechanisms (see Figure 23).

To ensure the assembly of the three shells into a single assembly, as shown in Figure 1, devices are needed to position and lock the shells together. The operations must be very simple to execute and involve only reduced forces. In all cases, it is preferable to place the central hull 2 on the ground and then to position each lateral hull 1 and 3 relative to the central hull 2 ^' . According to a first variant presented in FIGS. 6a and 6b, fittings 33 located in the lower part of the side shell 3 come into corresponding housings 34 of the central shell 2. For this, it suffices to present the side shell 3 slightly inclined , which is made possible by the fact that the bottom of this shell 3 is not horizontal and therefore does not abut on the ground (FIG. 6a).

The lower fittings (33) being engaged, then bringing the upper edges of the two shells together, 10 two complementary parts 35 and 36 are brought into contact which have an inclined contact surface 37 (FIG. 6b).

Consequently, sleeper type devices 3, two or four in number, easily accessible on the upper part, complete the bringing together of the shells 2 and 15 3 by ensuring the locking of the lower fittings 33 - 34 and of the upper inclined parts 35 - 36.

According to a second variant, parts such. as shown in Figure 7a equip the side shells 1 and 3 en.quatre, six or eight points distributed .long the 20 upper and lower edges (Figure 11). Parts as shown in FIG. 7b equip the corresponding points of the central shell 2.

The latter being placed on the ground, it suffices to attach a side shell to it while respecting an offset 25 of the order of 25 mm in front and all the way up; this offset can also be materialized by painted markers.

By letting the lateral shell 3 descend vertically along the wall of the central shell 2, the pieces 7a easily penetrate into the pieces 7b. _. The lateral shell 3 is then positioned in height but not lengthwise; but the pins 39 are correctly positioned to penetrate the bores 40, a semi-spherical end being intended to facilitate the operation. * - * ^• * ^•• The translation necessary to penetrate the four, six or eight pins 39 in their respective bores 40 require a fairly large force which is provided by a screw-nut system mounted on the central shell 2. Figure 12 shows the nut 41 guided in quasi-translation by a lever 42, which comes to bear on a fitting 43 integral with the side shell 3. The screw 44, operated by a flywheel 45 integrated in the transom 46, pulls the nut 41 and therefore the side shell 3; the pins 39 penetrate into the bores 40 with, as a result at the end of the race, a very rigid and resistant stowage.

Maneuvering the flywheel 45 in the opposite direction allows the pins 39 to come out of the bores 40 and it then suffices to lift the lateral shell 3 to separate it from the central shell 2.

Two steering wheels 45 therefore equip the transom 46 of the central shell 2 to allow the mounting of the two lateral hulls 1 and 3 (FIG. 10). One can thus block one of these shells as soon as it is positioned, before proceeding in the same way with the other.

According to a variant, a single flywheel 45 * could be sufficient to block the two shells 1 and 3 simultaneously. However, this solution could be less advantageous because it forces the two shells 1 and 3 to be positioned before maneuvering the steering wheel 45. If this maneuver is then hampered by poor positioning of a side hull, we will not necessarily see obviously which is at issue.

B) The locking variant which uses two steering wheels 45 integrated into the transom 46 has the advantage of requiring the operation of only two steering wheels 45 instead of four to eight latches 38 and this, with less effort.

Incidentally, it should be noted that the entire device is concealed, once the assembly has been carried out, which has an aesthetic advantage. But, above all, these steering wheels 45 are easily accessible when the boat is on the gallery of a car. You just have to have a special gallery and appropriate fittings to 1'embarcation for ^'automatic docking on this gallery, simply by operating ruffles 45. _

Figures 13, 14, 15 show an exemplary embodiment of the above function. It can be seen in these figures that the gallery consists of two rectangular tubes 47 onto which are welded two profiles 48, one face of which has the same inclination as the walls 49 of the central shell. The spacing of these ^" sections 48 is in * relation to that of the aforementioned walls 49. The end of the tubes 47 comprises known means ^~ for mounting the gallery on the roof of a car or on a trailer.

To fix the boat on the gallery, you must first position it. central.hull..2__de. such fa.ç_on.σu'.ell is embedded on the two sections 48, the tubes 47 penetrate into the notches 50 formed in the bottom of the side walls 49.

It is then necessary to position a lateral shell 3 in the same way as it would be done on the ground. It then suffices to maneuver the corresponding steering wheel 45 to secure the shells 2 and 3 together, but also to cause the pins 51 to penetrate into the bores 52 of the tubes 47 and therefore to stow "this lateral shell to the gallery.

The other shell being mounted in the same way, the blocking of the assembly in longitudinal translation is ensured by the notches 50 on the tubes 47, in lateral translation by the profiles 48 and in vertical translation by the pins 51 in the bores 52 .

C) With regard to the transmission of movement from the pedals to the propeller, we have seen previously that the use of bevel gears causes a permanent effort on the steering control and all the greater as the effort on the pedals is important (Figure 17). To overcome this, and at the same time, obtain a silent transmission and. without lubrication, a first embodiment uses a weldable belt of circular section (figure 18); a crankset 6 drives a grooved pulley 52; the belt 53 passing over the pairs of return pulleys 54, 55, 56, comes to pass in the groove of the pulley 57 which is integral with the propeller 58.

The grooves of the pulleys 52 and 57 are trapezoidal in order to ensure correct drive; those of the 0 pairs of pulleys 54, 55, 56 are semi-circular to avoid unnecessary losses.

The lateral orientation of the propeller around the axis 59 is obtained by twisting the belt between the pair of pulleys 56 and ^" pulley 57; this twisting ^" has ^" no effect 5 on the propulsion force and n '' has no influence on the steering control.

• - •• - De- Similarly, retraction of -'_ ιélice-58 ... ^ es obtained by rotation about the axis 60 by twisting the belt 53 between the pulley couples 55 and ^'56. 0 A second crankset can be installed symmetrically to the first with respect to the axis 61 of the boat. Mating can be done directly with the first crankset 6 by a rigid shaft; however, this solution excludes any possibility of independent adjustment of the pedals 5 according to the measurements of the users (one can provide a shaft with double gimbal and sliding sleeve, but this clogs the center of the machine and hinders a possible third passenger) .

The first prototype included two complete sets 0 crankset 6 - pulley 52 - belt 53, arranged symmetrically with respect to the axis 61 of the boat and coming to drive the same pulley 57 provided for this purpose with two trapezoidal grooves arranged side by side. The pair of pulleys 54 mainly had the role of compensating for the variation in belt length caused by the longitudinal adjustment of the crankset 6 relative to the chassis, adjustment necessary by adapting to the user's measurements.

On the first prototype, the belt 53 plunged under the surface of the water 62 between the pair of pulleys 56 and the pulley 57, causing the latter to be completely submerged. To avoid unnecessary hydraulic resistance, this pulley 57 was profiled at the front in the shape of a bulb 63 and was extended at the rear by a fixed cylinder 64 of the same diameter then by means of the propeller 58. In the fixed cylinder 64, were housed two sealed bearings. The assembly had the advantage of simplicity but had several disadvantages:

- The water, driven by the belt 53 went up to the pulley 52 which was thus permanently wetted.

- Above all, the water acting as a lubricant sliding the belt 53 on the pulley 57 and thus prohibited the transmission of a large torque.

To overcome these drawbacks, ± T is quite possible to provide a horizontal cylindrical casing so that the pulley 57 is no longer submerged. A vertical tube of the same width as the aforementioned casing must also be provided to allow the belt 53 to pass. However, despite this, the belt 53 would still risk slipping on the pulley 57, unless a large diameter is provided for it and don a horizontal housing and a vertical tube accordingly; the dimensions of these various elements would then imply an imposing master couple and, despite careful profiling, an unacceptable hydrodynamic resistance.

Therefore, for the system to be viable, use a pulley 57 with a diameter of the smallest possible **. Therefore, to avoid slippage, it is necessary to use a toothed belt 53. However, a size difficulty arises, because the toothed belts cannot, a priori, be twisted (Figure 16). This is reflected, independently of the actual twist of each of the strands 65, by a lateral offset 66 incompatible with the stiffness characteristics exhibited by toothed belts in this direction of deformation.

This lateral offset 66 exists. also, of course, for weldable round belts but is easily absorbed by them.

To overcome this, a special arrangement is presented in FIG. 19. A vertical tube 67 hydrodynamically profiled lets the two strands 68 and 69 of a toothed belt 53 pass; the latter drives a pinion 70 integral with the propeller shaft; this shaft rotates in two bearings housed in the lower cover 71, which is fitted with a seal 72 ensuring sealing with the tube 67; a non-illustrated lip seal achieves, for its part, the shaft outlet seal. The profiled tube 67 is rigidly linked to a crown 73 which rolls on balls 74. A seal 75 provides sealing. A mechanically welded assembly 76 surmounts the crown 73, rigidly linked to the latter. This mechanically welded assembly 76 comprises in particular a bore 77, in the upper part, which, in relation to the balls 74, ensures the rotation of the assembly described around the vertical axis 78 All of this assembly can be oriented around the axis vertical 78 will be designated in the following by "swiveling assembly 7.8". This assembly 78 rotates inside a housing 79 which supports the crown 80 on which the balls 74 roll. This housing 79 comprises, in the upper part, an axis 81 which penetrates into the aforementioned bore 77. The housing 79 also comprises two tubes 82 and 83 provided with bearings 84 and 85 allowing said housing 79 to pivot around the horizontal axis 86, thus allowing the propeller 58 to be retracted. Two seals 87 and 88 provide the sealing between the tubes 82-83 and the walls 89 and 90 which are fixed. A sealed cover (mark C) located at the rear provides access to the interior, in particular when the group is raised, by means of the aforementioned cover 12 (FIG. 3). The two strands 68 and 69 of the belt 53, vertical in the tube 67, are horizontal in the tube 82. To allow this, these strands 68 and 69 pass respectively on the pulley 91 and the pulleys 92 and 93. The whole trick of the device is based on the fact that the pulley 91, mounted on the orientable assembly 78, is itself orientable relative to this assembly along an axis 68 which coincides with the neutral fiber 68 of the strand 68 of the toothed belt 53 going up pulley 70. In this way, this strand 68 can be twisted without undergoing lateral offset. The pulley 93, mounted on the same orientable support as the pulley 92, has the role only of bringing the two horizontal strands of the toothed belt 53 closer together when these cross the tube 82.

These two ^"horizontal strands are twisted through 90 ° before passing over the pair of pulleys 95 which 94.- same vertical axis and rotate in opposite directions. This twisting is to -réalisé, chaσ.un _^ ,, of strands. _such, .façon, there. is no lateral offset. for this, the plane of symmetry of the pulley 95 is horizontal and tangential to the diameter of the pulley Primiti ^"91. Similarly, the pulley 94 and the pulley 93. Remarks: we have indicated that the strand 68 rises, while the strand 69 descends, so that the stretched strand 68 passes over a single pulley 91 while the soft strand 69 passes over two pulleys 92 and 93; this, in the normal direction of progression, naturally.

After passing over the pulleys 94 and 95, the two strands of the belt 53 are twisted over 90 ° before being wound on the pulley 20 secured to the aforementioned shaft 17 (FIG. 5). In FIGS. 20a and 20b, it can be seen that, when the assembly 78 is oriented by a certain angle ^* f, there is no lateral offset thanks to the automatic orientation of the pulleys 91, on the one hand, and 92 - 93, on the other hand, also because the displacement of said pulleys takes place in a horizontal plane and that, as a result, the neutral fibers of the two horizontal strands effectively remain in two horizontal planes which are the planes of symmetry of the pulleys 94 and 95.

One can however wonder if the belt does not undergo an elongation because of the orientation ^. This elongation does exist but, taking into account the total length of the belt on the order of 4 m, the distance between the axes of the pulleys 91 and 92 (FIG. 20b) on the order of 50 mm and the diameter of the pulleys 94 - 95 also on the order of 50 mm, it can easily be shown that the maximum elongation does not exceed 0.6% o for an angle of 90 °. Indeed, referring to Figure 21, we have: AC = 50 mm AB = BC = 25 mm BE = 300 mm OE = 25 mm ( ^' 2 x ^" OE = ^" 50 mm) Right triangle OAD

AD ² ≈ 300 ² - 25 ² .

AD ≈ 298.95652 mπri

OAC right triangle

OC ² ≈ 300 ² + 50 ² OC ≈ 304.13813 Triangle rectangle OCF

CF ² = 304.1313 ² - 25 ^*

CF ≈ 303.10889 mml

DOE = OAD = Right triangle OAD sin o = 25,300 Y ≈ 4.780192 "

OCA right triangle tg ≈ = 50 300 ^** *? ° = 9.462322 ° OCF right triangle

→ β = 85.284996 '

S- "i - + • - 90 ° =, 4.747

Length of the two strands in neutral position:

LO = EB x 2 = 300 x 2 = IβOO mm] Length of the two strands in position ^ ³ = 90 °

L90 = AD + DE + CF - EF L90 ≈ 298.95652 + 2.085752 + 303.10889 - 2.071408

L90 = 602.079754 mm

L90 - LO = 2.079754 mm

Or, if the belt has a total length of 4 m, an extension of:

2 ^, 0470097054 _ "5ς, ₉ 2. _ι 1 _n 0 ~ ⁴ - n0.5_? 2 ^β // o

Note: Throughout the previous description, we have suggested that strands 68 and 69 (Figure 19) were vertical. In fact, if the pulley 70 leaves little play with respect to the bottom of the tube 67, the belt 53 risks touching the top of this tube 67, during the orientation of the pulleys 91 and 92. As it is in our interest that the tube 67 has a constant cross section and as small as possible, it is preferable to make the strands 68 and 69 converge as shown in FIG. 19. This does not change the previous reasoning, except that the movement of the pulleys 91 and 92 - 93 is no longer done rigorously in a horizontal plane. This is more particularly sensitive for the pulley 93, given its distance from the axis of rotation close to 90 mm. This results in an upward shift of the order of 4 mm regardless of the direction of rotation. It then suffices to provide a pulley 94 sufficiently wide to allow this movement of the belt. Naturally, this will have the consequence of creating a lateral offset on the strand going from the pulley 94 to the pulley 20; but the distance between these pulleys of the order of 1300 mm reduces to little the effects of this offset which, in any case, will only take place during tight turns, that is to say infrequently. The reasoning is identical for pulley 91 with a distance to the axis of rotation of the order of 30 mm, which further reduces the effects. Furthermore, it can be seen that, during the raising of the propeller, the two horizontal strands will undergo a twist with lateral offset.

As regards the actual twist, if this 5 put in place when mounting the device is judiciously chosen as to its direction, the lifting of the propeller will in fact cause a twist which will therefore not present any drawback.

As for the lateral offset, it does exist. ° However, it should be noted that the small distance between the horizontal strands of the order of 25 mm limits the effects of this offset; and above all, it must be borne in mind that, when the propeller is raised, the belt does not turn pa It only remains to cause the orientation of the assembly 78 from a control lever 96 located to the left of the central shell 2 (Figures 22 and 23).

This is achieved by means of a crown 97 in the groove of which is housed a steel cable 98 of 1 to 2 mm in diameter. The rotation does not exceed 110 ° on both sides. otherwise from the middle position, the cable can be stowed at a point on the crown to prevent slippage.

After passing over a couple of pulleys 99, it passes in two strands through the tube 83; a new return to 90 ° on the pulley couple 100 directs it to the aforementioned control handle 96. -.

We can consider the design of this controller in different ways. However, tests taking ergonomic considerations into account have led to the following choice: The handle is constituted by a lever of approximately 300 mm, the movement of which is in a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the boat. In the neutral position, that is to say with the propeller directed towards the rear, the lever is tilted approximately 16 ° towards the front. The travel is approximately 32 ° forward and backward from this position. The handle has the particular shape shown in Figure 24. The relationship between the respective angular amplitudes of the control lever 96 and of the orientable assembly 78 can be linear. However, it is much more judicious to design a kinematics which ensures a nonlinear relation. Indeed, experience shows that, for a given clearance of the control lever 96, a relatively small orientation of the propeller is required in the vicinity of the position.neutral in order to obtain precision control; on the other hand, a greater orientation is required in the vicinity of the two stops to allow effective steering in tight turns; the ratio between these two orientations for the same movement of the lever 96 is of the order of 2.

^{"" *} To assure-Te -relev-age-d -group-of - propulsion, ... a lever 101, of the same axis of rotation as the lever 96, is in the front position when the group is lowered and does not interfere therefore no manipulation of said lever 96.

Figures .25a, b and c show a possible execution of the lifting kinematics. It should be noted that in the normal progression position (FIG. 25b), if an immersed obstacle pushes the group back inside the hull, this movement does not result in movement of the lever 101 ^" , in order to avoid injuring the user (Figure 25c). This is achieved by the oblong hole 102 in which the axis 103 slides.

The lever 104 which is part of this kinematics is shown in FIG. 19.

A locking device, not shown, keeps the lever 101 in the rear position and therefore the propulsion unit raised so as to facilitate transport.

Claims

 CLAIMS 1. Boat, characterized in that it is made of several distinct hulls (1) (2) and (3) provided with assembly fittings (39-40) allowing the easy positioning of said hulls together and a locking device (41 to 45) requiring no significant tool or effort and at the same time ensuring automatic stowage (47 to 52) on a car gallery or a trailer.

2. Boat according to claim 1, characterized in that it is provided with a propeller (58) orientable and retractable and whose drive by pedals (6) is achieved by a belt (53) whose strands (68 -69) are twisted to allow 'TOrientatio and the lifting of said propeller (58).

3. Pedal boat according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the transmission belt (53) is notched, the use of said notched belt being made possible by the use of orientable pulleys (91 to 93) arranged so that the neutral fiber

(68-69) of said toothed belt (53) does not undergo any lateral offset (66) during the twisting of the strands (68-69) required by the orientation and lifting of the propeller (58).

4. Boat according to claim 1, characterized in that the separate hulls (1) (2) and (3) do not require any tightness to the assembly, the shape of each of said hulls (1) (2) and (3) ensuring its own buoyancy

5. Pedal boat according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the separate hulls (1) (2) and (3) are three in number, that of the center (2) comprising all the mechanical elements of pro ¬ drive and steering except for the pedals (6) which are mounted on the side shells (1 and 3).

6. Pedal boat according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the central hull (2) comprises from front to back a box of storage (8), a window (11) for underwater observation, a chest (12) in which is housed the orientable assembly (78) which comprises, in particular the orientable pulleys (91 to 93) allowing the twisting of the belt ( 53) without lateral offset, said trunk (12) allowing the propeller (58) to be retracted into the volume of the hull (2).

7. Pedal boat according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the steering control (s) are produced by one or more levers (96) of approximately 300 mm according to the particular shape defined by FIG. 24 and having a travel in a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vessel, the neutral position being approximately 16 ° in front of the vertical and the travel of approximately 32 ° in front and behind of said neutral position, the connection kinematics being non-linear with a ratio 2 between the travel in abutment and that in the neutral position.

8. Pedal boat according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pedals (6) mounted on the side shells (1) and (3) are adjustable by rotation about a transverse axis (25) located at level of the floor, said pedals (6) being permanently brought back towards the rear by a spring (113), the blocking in position being carried out by a wedge-shaped finger (111) coming to be embedded in a circular toothing (112 ), which corner (111) can be released by the User by pressing the foot (109) on a pedal (110) while the other foot (108), placed on a pedal (6), automatically determines the good setting.

9. Boat according to claims 1 and 4, characterized in that the different hulls (1), (2), and (3) are provided with fittings (39 - 40) allowing said hulls (1) to be easily positioned (2 ) and (3) and locking devices (41 to 45) allowing them to be rigidly secured without exerting significant effort.

10. A boat according to claims 1, 4 and 9, characterized in that the controls (45) of the locking devices (41 to 45) are accessible when said boat is on a car gallery or a trailer and allow, thanks to complementary fittings (47 to 52) ensuring, at the same time as the locking of the shells (1), (2) and (3) between them, the securing of the assembly on said car gallery or said trailer.