GB2040829A - Inflatable dinghy - Google Patents

Abstract

To improve the buoyancy of an inflatable dinghy and to make it unnecessary for the inflatable structure thereof to be compartmented to avoid complete loss of bouyancy upon being punctured, the dinghy comprises an outer tubular inflatable annulus 10, with a flexible floor 11 and a non inflatable buoyant body 14 secured to the floor 11.The body (14) is buoyant by hollow (as shown) or may be made solidly of a light weight material such as expanded polyvinyl chloride, expanded polyurethane, or cork. If the body 14 is made flat-topped as shown, it can serve as a seat for one or more occupants of the dinghy. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Inflatable dinghy This invention concerns inflatable dinghies, which term includes, of course, small boats both for utilitarian purposes as well as for pleasure use, of the kind comprising an inflatable tubular outer structure, which may be of any convenient shape such as circular, oral or rectangular in plan, to which a flexible floor is secured.

For safety purposes, it is usual to divide the inflatable tubular structure of such a dinghy by one or more partitions, so as to form a plurality of separate compartments, which are independent of one another. With such an arrangement, the buoyancy of the dinghy is not completely lost in the event of the structure becoming punctured, since only that compartment which has been punctured will deflate, and the remaining compartment or compartments remain inflated to maintain the buoyancy of the dinghy. The manufacture of the inflatable structure with one or more partitions therein is, of course, relatively expensive and time consuming, invoiving the use of skilled labour and a very high degree of examination and inspection to eliminate faults, and consequently the dinghies themselves are expensive.

An object of this invention is to provide a construction of dinghy by which the need for the inflatable structure to be divided into separate compartments is significantly reduced, so that the dinghy may, if so desired, be constructed with its inflatable tubular outer structure without any partitions, and, consequently, less expensively.

With this object in view, the present invention provides an inflatable dinghy of the kind comprising an inflatable tubular outer structure, to which a flexible floor is secured, characterised in that the floor has secured thereto a non-inflatable buoyant body.

Such a body can be manufactured extremely inexpensively, e.g. by moulding as a hollow body or as a solid body of expanded polyvinyl chloride, or expanded polyurethane or by cutting or shaping from cork, and can be secured in place easily, quickly and without the need for highly skilled labour, e.g.

by adhering or bonding to the floor of the dinghy.

Consequently, although in the dinghy of the invention one has the slight disadvantage that it cannot be folded into quite as small a space as the prior known inflatable dinghies, there is the overriding advantage that it is considerably less expensive.

The said buoyant body is conveniently flat-topped in configuration, to provide a seat for one or more occupants of the dinghy. It may, therefore, be frusto-conical or cubic or cylindrical in shape.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying di agrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view from above illustrat ing a practical embodiment of the dinghy of the invention, and Figure 2 is a sectional detail of part of the dinghy of Figure 1.

The illustrated embodiment of the dinghy of the invention is of inflatable form and comprises a tubular outer structure in the form of an annulus 10 to which a floor 11 is secured, e.g. by being bonded thereto. As is known in relation to inflatable dinghies, the annulus 10 may be divided by partitions (not shown) into a plurality of separate compartments so that in the event of a puncture, only one of the compartments will deflate and the structure will remain buoyant. However, the said outer structure need not be so constructed, the arrangement of the invention rendering this unnecessary.

As shown, the outer structure is generally of oval configuration, but of course it may be circular, substantially rectangular, or any other convenient shape.

Provided on annul us 10 are locators 12 for rowlocks 13 which latter may, if desired, be removable.

Substantially centrally disposed of the floor 11 of the dinghy is a non-inflatable buoyant body arrangement which is indicated generally by the reference numeral 14 and comprises a hollow frusto-conical moulding of a substantially rigid plastics material, such as polyvinyl chloride or polypropylene. At its upper end, the body 14 is closed by a substantially horizontal flat top 15 and at its lower end it is formed with an external flange 16 by which it is bonded to the floor 11.

Although the body 14 has the disadvantage that it takes up space when the dinghy is folded up, and therefore the folded-up dinghy occupies more space than would be the case if the body were not present, this disadvantage is relatively insignificant in comparison with the advantage arising from its presence, there being a buoyancy comparable with the known compartmented dinghies but without the very high cost attendant thereto. In making the dinghy of the invention, the body 14 can be manufactured by conventional moulding techniques and can be welded or bonded to the floor 11 of the dinghy by means of its flange 16 by well established techniques not involving highly skilled labour.

The body 14, of course, constitutes a permanently present buoyant component of the dinghy, so that the latter will always have some degree of buoyancy even if the annulus 10 should become punctured.

Since the body 14 has the flat top 15, it can, if desired, also serve, in use of the dinghy, as a seat which can be occupied by one or more users of the dinghy, according to the size thereof.

The body 14 does not have to be hollow as shown, but can be of solid in which case it should, of course, be made of an appropriate light weight material, such as expanded polyvinyl chloride, expanded polyurethane, cork or other suitable material, which, in the event of deflation of the dinghy, will float and provide some measure of buoyancy for the dinghy.

Of course, as has already been discussed, the annulus 10 of the dinghy of the invention does not have to be free of partitions and therefore does not have to comprise only a single inflatable compart ment. If desired, one or more partitions may be provided to divide the annulus into a plurality of separate compartments, but then, of course, the economic advantges of the structure are not obtained. One still retains, however, the additional buoyancy advantage.

Although the illustrated embodiment of dinghy has only a single inflatable annulus, it is possible for the dinghy to have a plurality of inflatable annuli (for example a pair of annuli united to be disposed one above the other). The annuli can be pneumatically separate to minimise the effect of a possible puncture.

Claims (10)

1. An inflatable dinghy of the kind comprising an inflatable tubular outer structure to which a flexible floor is secured, characterised in that the floor has secured thereto a non-inflatable buoyant body.

2. A dinghy as claimed in claim 1 in which the body is a moulded body.

3. A dinghy as claimed in claim 2 wherein the body is a hollow body of a plastics material such as polyvinyl chloride or polypropylene.

4. A dinghy as claimed in claim 2 wherein the hollow body is a solid body of light weight material.

5. A dinghy as claimed in claim 4 wherein the material of the body is of expanded polyvinyl chloride, expanded polyurethane or cork.

6. A dinghy as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the body has a substantially flat top to provide a seat for one or more occupants of the dinghy.

7. A dinghy as claimed in claim 6 wherein the body is of frusto-conical or cubic or cylindrical in configuration.

8. A dinghy substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

9. A dinghy as claimed in claim 1 or 2, and composed of a plurality of inflatable annulae of rubber, plastics or like material formed with a floor.

10. A dinghy as claimed in claim 9, wherein each annulus is pneumatically separate from the other(s).