EP1526247A2

EP1526247A2 - Door drape for water vehicle

Info

Publication number: EP1526247A2
Application number: EP04104752A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Juha Lehtineva; Jari Peltola; Jukka Telatie; Tapio Ekola; Kalevi Uro
Original assignee: Inhan Tehtaat Oy Ab
Current assignee: Inhan Tehtaat Oy Ab
Priority date: 2003-10-20
Filing date: 2004-09-29
Publication date: 2005-04-27
Also published as: FI20031533A; EP1526247A3; DE04104752T1; NO20044367L; FI20031533A0; FI118848B

Abstract

A door drape for a water vehicle, which door drape (1) comprises a first side and opposite thereto a second side and it is made of rolling material. The door drape (1) is provided with a force element, which is arranged to roll up the door drape (1) into a roll (17) from the first side to the second side.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a door drape for a water vehicle, which door drape comprises a first side and opposite thereto a second side and it is manufactured of rolling material.
In water vehicles, such as boats, there are doorways and the like that can advantageously be closed and opened with a door. It is commonly known to use conventional rigid, hinged doors or sliding doors. In most cases, however, these doors are too massive per se or their operation requires support structures that are difficult, if not fully impossible, to install in a relatively confined space of the water vehicle. Moreover, it may be difficult to use a rigid door, especially in rough seas.
There are also known doors or door drapes that are manufactured of rolling or folding material, such as plastic-coated fabric. The structure of the door drape is substantially lighter than that of the above-described rigid door. The door drape is widely used, for instance, in double console boats, in which two consoles are arranged side by side so that a passage is formed between them from bow to stern.
The drape made of rolling or folding material is secured with a plurality of press studs or the like to the door frames. There are also known door drapes that are secured in the above-described manner to the door frames but they additionally include a zip fastener that is arranged inside the row of press studs. In that case, when the door is opened the press studs will line the doorway as a frame.
It is cumbersome and slow to use the known door drapes, particularly in the dark, in rough seas or in otherwise unfavourable weather conditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved door drape for a water vehicle.
The door drape of the invention is characterized in that the door drape is provided with a force element that is arranged to roll up the door drape from a first side to a second side into a roll.
The basic idea of the invention is that the door drape includes a force element that is strained when the door drape is arranged to close the doorway and which force element reels the door drape into a roll form when said doorway is opened for passage, for instance.
The invention has an advantage that the door drape is quick and easy to use in all circumstances, also in the dark and in rough seas. In addition, on coiling up the door drape becomes a regular roll of small dimensions that is easy to handle even when detached from the water vehicle.
The basic idea of a preferred embodiment of the invention is that the length of a force element is about half of the distance between the first and the second sides and that the other end thereof is arranged on the second side of the door drape or substantially in the vicinity thereof. There is an advantage that the door drape coils into a double roll so that the person that opens the door can hold the first side of the door drape up to the end of the rolling phase, whereby the use of the door drape is particularly controlled and convenient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, the invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein
Figure 1 is a schematic view of a door drape of the invention arranged in a double console boat,
Figure 2 is a schematic front view of a second door drape of the invention unrolled and partly cut open,
Figure 3 is a schematic side view of a third door drape of the invention unrolled,
Figures 4a to 4c show schematically the operation of a fourth embodiment of the door drape according to the invention when the door is being opened, and
Figure 5 is a schematic front view of a fifth door drape of the invention when rolled up.
For the sake of clarity, the figures show the invention in a simplified manner. Like reference numerals refer to like parts in the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Figure 1 shows schematically a door drape of the invention arranged in a double console boat. Even though the given example is a double console boat, it is obvious that the door drape of the invention can also be applied to other boats and also to water vehicles other than boats.
The door drape 1 comprises a lower part 2, which in this case is made of substantially opaque material. To the lower part 2 there is joined an upper part 3, which in this case comprises a window made of transparent material.
The door drape 1 is secured with lower securing means 4 at its lower edge to boat structures and with upper securing means 5 at its upper edge to a windshield 9 of a steering console. The securing means 4, 5 are, for instance, press studs, hooks, rubber or cord loops or metal-reinforced apertures or the like securing means, which can be fastened to their counterpart means arranged in boat structures. The securing means 4, 5 are known per se, and therefore they will not be discussed herein in greater detail.
In the figure the door drape 1 is shown unrolled, in other words, it covers or closes the doorway formed between the consoles 7. The door drape 1 is somewhat wider than said doorway, so its edges extend over the edges of the doorways. Thus, the pressure of drive draught seals the door drape 1 against the edges of the doorway.
The door drape 1 further comprises two force elements, in this case spring elements 6, which are attached to the surface of the part of the lower part 2 that covers the doorway. The spring elements 6 are made, for instance, of acid-proof steel that is resistant to the sea climate, but they may also be made of other steel material or metal, plastic or plastic composites or any spring material known per se.
When the door drape 1 is unrolled, the spring elements 6 are in a strained state. The spring elements 6 tend to coil up from this state to a strain-free state to form a coil or a roll. However, the spring elements 6 are not able to coil up to a strain-free state, but they are forced to remain in the strained state forced by the door drape 1 tightened with the securing means 4, 5.
Figure 2 shows a schematic front view of a second door drape of the invention unrolled and partly cut open. In essence the door drape 1 consists of a lower part 2 and an upper part 3, which cover or drape the doorway when the door drape 1 is unrolled. It should be noted that Figure 2 does not show the actual doorway or the boat structures that form the doorway.
The draping material of the lower part 2 is here plastic-coated fabric, but it may also be fabric treated in some other way, untreated fabric, plastic sheet or plate or other similar material that allows rolling and unrolling. The draping material of the upper part, in turn, is mainly of transparent plastic, which allows rolling and unrolling. The draping materials of the door drape 1 are advantageously waterproof and windproof.
At the lower edge of the door drape 1 there are arranged lower securing means 4, with which it is secured to the boat. Securing to the boat is advantageously detachable without tools.
In the frame lining the edges of the upper part 3 there are arranged upper securing means 5 for securing the upper part detachably to the boat.
At the upper edge of the door drape 1 there is arranged a handle 11, which allows the person using the door to get a good and reliable grip. The handle 11 may be made, for instance, of fabric, plastic, metal, wood or other handle material known per se. At the upper edge of the door drape 1 there is further arranged a Velcro strip 12, by means of which the upper edge can be fastened detachably to the protective cover of the console, for instance.
In the lower part 2 there is arranged one spring element 6, which is in a strained state when the door drape 1 is arranged to cover the doorway and which rolls up the door drape 1 when the doorway is opened.
To the spring element 6 are secured transverse bracings 13, which are arranged to reinforce the structure of the door drape 1 in the transverse direction thereof. The transverse bracings are here secured with securing means 14, such as rivets or screws, but it is also possible to glue or weld them. Advantageously the transverse bracings 13 are made of material that is resistant to sea air, such as acid-proof steel, plastic or plastic composites, but they can also be made of other material, such as wood.
The spring element 6 and the transverse bracings 13 are arranged to be invisible inside the draping material of the lower part.
The upper edge of the door drape 1 shown in Figure 2 is its so-called first side, which rolls towards the lower edge, i.e. the second side, of the door drape, pulled by the spring element 6, when the door is being opened.
Figure 3 is a schematic side view of a third door drape of the invention unrolled.
The spring element 6 and the transverse bracings 13 attached thereto with securing means 14 are placed inside the draping material 16 denoted by a broken line. The transverse bracings 13 are attached to the spring element with securing means 14, which in this case are pop rivets. The lower transverse bracing 13 is a round tube and the other ones are rectangular slats. Naturally the transverse bracing 13 can also have some other cross section.
Figures 4a to 4c show schematic side views of the operation of the door drape of an embodiment according to the invention as the door is opened. The door drape's 1 first side, i.e. the side that opens, is up and it comprises a handle 11. For the sake of clarity, the upper part 3 is indicated by a broken line. The person who opens the door holds the handle 11 substantially during the whole opening process. Correspondingly, the second side, i.e. the side on which the door drape 1 rolls up, is down and it comprises a lower securing means 4.
In Figure 4a, the door has just begun to open. The upper securing means of the door drape 1 have been detached from their counterparts and the upper edge of the door drape 1 is lowered, while the handle is being held, downwardly closer to the lower edge in the direction of arrow D. So the spring element 6 that is forced into a strained state starts rolling up in the direction indicated by arrow R. The rolling motion of the spring element 6 also rolls the lower part 2 along with it. The upper part 3 joined to the lower part 2 also begins to roll up.
As it can be seen from Figure 4b, the door drape 1 rolls up to form a double roll, in the turns of which the lower part 2 and the upper part 3 alternate. By designing the spring element 6 to have suitable stiffness and dimensions, the door drape 1 will roll up into a tight roll that takes very little space.
In Figure 4c, the door drape 1 is substantially completely furled up into a roll 17 at the lower edge of the doorway. The handle 11 remains visible outside the roll 17, so that when it is desired to pull the door drape 1 to cover the doorway, the handle 11 is quickly and easily at hand. It should be noted that in Figures 4a to 4c the roll is depicted relatively loose to illustrate it more clearly.
When the doorway is to be closed with the door drape 1, you grip the handle 11 and start pulling the door drape 1 upwardly towards the counterparts of the upper securing means. The roll 17 starts rolling in the opposite direction to arrow R and the door drape 1 starts unrolling from the roll 17 into an element that covers the doorway. The upper securing means being attached to their counterparts the doorway is closed again.
The operation of the door drape 1 is quick and precise, so its usability is in a class of its own in difficult conditions, such as in the dark and in the storm. In addition, the roll 17 is small, so it will be easy to step over it. The door drape 1 will not unroll uncontrollably on the deck, but the spring element 6 keeps it tightly rolled up on the roll 17.
Figure 5 is a schematic front view of a fifth door drape of the invention as rolled up. The shown door drape 1 is arranged such that its first side is at the bottom and the second side at the top, in other words, when the door is opened the door drape 1 rolls from bottom to form a roll 17 at the top. The upper part 3 of the door drape 1 is made of elastic material, which in itself provides a spring element 6 of said door drape 1. Thus, there will be no need for separate spring elements. The material of the upper part may be, for instance, suitable metal, plastic or plastic composite. Otherwise the operation of the door drape is similar to those described in connection with Figures 4a to 4c.
The handle 11 of the door drape is always at hand, whether the drape is unrolled or rolled up into a roll 17.
It should be noted that in Figure 5 the unrolled state of the door drape is indicated by a broken line.
The drawings and the relating description are only intended to illustrate the inventive idea. The details of the invention may vary within the scope of the claims. Thus, the door drape can also be placed in other doorways than that between two steering consoles. The door drape may comprise more than three force elements. The dimensions of the door drape may be different from those in the examples of the figures and the shape of the door drape may be other than a rectangle: for instance, a square with substantially equal sides, or it can be substantially wedge-shaped, circular, triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, etc. The door drape may open and close also laterally. The door drape may be draped with transparent material substantially completely. The door drape may also be completely made of transparent material. Further, the door drape may be made either completely or partly of slat or bar elements arranged substantially perpendicularly to the opening direction. Each slat is attached flexibly in relation to an adjacent slat such that the force element is able to furl the door drape with the slats from an unrolled position to a rolled up position. In the unrolled door drape element the adjacent slats may be in contact with each other, or alternatively, the slats may be arranged with a given spacing. The slats may be attached directly to one another, to a suitable, rolling material or to the force element. In a door drape of this kind, the upper part, for instance, may be made of a transparent plastic sheet and the lower part of the above-described slat structure. For instance, the slats may be made of transparent or opaque plastic, wood, metal or the like.

Claims

A door drape for a water vehicle, which door drape (1) comprises a first side and opposite thereto a second side and it is made of a rolling material, the door drape (1) being provided with a force element which is arranged to roll up the door drape (1) into a roll (17) from the first side to the second side, characterized in that the force element is substantially shorter than the distance between the first side and the second side of the unrolled door drape (1) and its second end is arranged on the second side of the door drape (1) or substantially in the vicinity thereof.
A door drape as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the length of the force element is about half of the distance between the first and the second sides.
A door drape as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the force element comprises a spring element (6) which is in a substantially strained state when the door drape (1) is unrolled and from which strained state it tends to roll up into a roll.
A door drape as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that there are two or more spring elements (6).
A door drape as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the force element is made of metal.
A door drape as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the force element is made of acid-proof steel.
A door drape as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the force element is made of plastic or plastic composite.
A door drape as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that at least a portion of the part of the door drape (1) that covers the doorway is made of elastic material, which constitutes said force element and which is in a substantially strained state when the door drape is unrolled, from which state it tends to roll up into a roll.
A door drape as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first side is the bottom edge of the door drape (1).
A door drape as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the first side is the top edge of the door drape (1).
A door drape as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized by comprising a transparent window portion.
A door drape as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first side can be secured detachably to the structures of a water vehicle.
A door drape as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the door drape (1) is substantially wider than the doorway to be covered therewith.