GB2170760A - Flotation system - Google Patents

Abstract

Floating structures, for example, for recreational aquatic activities, comprises a plurality of individual modular flotation units 110 constructed to permit any desired buoyancy characteristics by stacking the units together to form vertical stacks and then fastening them one to another by bolts passing through bores 120. Projections 128, 130 and recesses 132, 134 facilitate nesting of adjacent units. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Flotation system The present invention relates to flotation systems comprising modular flotation units.

Floating structures of various types are used for recreational aquatic activities, including docks, marinas and pontoons. Such structures generally comprise some form of a flotation means immersed partially or wholly in the water and some form of decking attached to the flotation means. The flotation means generally are customized for the particular structure and do not permit modification.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flotation unit useful for assembly with other like flotation units to provide a floating structure having a desired buoyancy, comprising upper and lower generally planar parallel surfaces, nesting means associated with each of the surfaces to permit multiples of the flotation units to be stacked in face-abutting relation one on another in vertical alignment while inhibiting lateral movement of the stacked units one with respect to another, and fastening means associated therewith to permit the multiple of stacked flotation units to be stably joined one to another in a vertical stack of at least two surface-abutted units.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a floating structure, comprising a plurality of modularfiotation units arranged in a vertical stack of upper and lower face-abutted flotation units and joined to each other through fastening means securing the stacked flotation units one to each vertically-adjacent flotation unit in the stack to provide a desired buoyancy characteristic for the stack through the choice of the number of the flotation units in the stack.

The present invention therefore provides a modu lar floating unit which permits the construction of floating structures having any desired configuration, size and floating characteristics. The present invention also includes the floating structures produced from the individual flotation units, including docks, marinas and pontoons.

The invention is described further, by way of illustration, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of flotation unit constructed in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of another form of flotation unit constructed in accordance with the invention; Figure 3 is a sectional view of two of the units of Figure 2 in stacked relation; Figure 4 is a detailed view of the manner of joining together the nested units of Figure 4; Figure 5 is an end view of two of the flotation units, illustrating differing depths, and possessing a different groove arrangement; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a floating dock structure embodying flotation units constructed in accordance with the present invention; Figure 7 is an end view of the floating dock of Figure 6; and Figure 8 is an exploded view of the dock structure of Figure 6.

Referring to the drawings, there are illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, two alternative forms of a flotation unit constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. As may be seen in Figure 1, a flotation unit 10 has a generally cubic construction.

The upper surface 12 has a pair of rectangular cross-sectioned protrusions 14, 16 arranged diagonally with respect to each other and a pair of rectangular cross-sectioned depressions 18, 20 arranged diagonally with respect to each other.

The undersurface 22 of the flotation unit 10 is provided also with pairs of diagonally-arranged protrusions and depressions (not shown in Figure 1 but can be seen for the unit illustrated in Figure 2).

The protrusions 14 and 16 are complemented by a depression at the same locations on the undersurface 22 and the depressions 18 and 20 are complemented by a protrusion at the same locations on the undersurface 22. The protrusions 14, 16 and the depressions 18,20 are of the same lateral, longitudinal and depth dimensions. The arrangement and dimensioning of the protrusions and depressions permits multiples of the unit 10 to be stacked and interconnected one with another, as described below with respect to Figures 3 and 4.

Both the upper surface 12 and the lower surface 22 of the flotation unit 10 have a groove 24, 26 formed therein extending from one longitudinal side edge to the other and bisecting the area of the respective surface into two halves. This arrangement enables the depressions 24 and 26 of one flotation unit 10 to align with those of another flotation unit 10 when the units are side abutted to receive utility conduits.

Formed in each end wall 28 of the flotation unit 10 is a pair of part-circular despressions 30,32 while formed in each side wall 34 is a pair of part-circular depressions 36,38. The part-circular end-wall depressions 30,32 are located in the same locations in each end wall 28 while similarly the part-circular side-wall depressions 36, 38 are located in the same location in each side wall 34.

The part-circular end-wall depressions 30,32 extend for substantially the height of the end wall 28 and terminate at their upper end in a part-circular compression weld seal 40 integral with the adjoining portions of the flotation unit 10 and are open at the lower end. A bore 42 is formed through each seal 40.

The part-circular side-wall depressions 36, 38 extend for substantially the height of the side wall 34 and terminate at their lower end in a part-circular compression weld seal 44 integral with the adjoining portion of the flotation unit 10 and are open at the upper end. A bore 46 is formed through each seal 44.

Referring now to Figure 2, there is illustrated therein an alternative form of flotation unit 110 which is similar to the flotation unit 10 but has important differences which permits the flexibility of construction of floating structures discussed below.

In the structure of Figure 2, the compression weld seals associated with side-wall and end-wall depressions are located at the opposite end to the arrangement used in the flotation unit 10. Thus, part-circular compression weld seals 112 are located at the lower end of end-wall depressions 114, while compression weld seals 116 are located at the upper end of side-wall depressions 118. The seals 112 each has a bore 120 therethrough while the seals 116 each has a bore 122therethrough.

In addition, in the structure of Figure 2, the upper and lower surface grooves extend longitudinally of the surfaces rather than transversely as in Figure 1, Thus elongate depressions 124 and 126 formed in the upper and lower surfaces 125, 127 respectively of the flotation unit 110 extend longitudinally of the unit 110 bisecting the surface. As in the case of the depressions 24, 26 the depressions 124, 126 of one flotation unit 110 are intended to align with those of other units 110 when such units are abutted end-toend.

As in the case of flotation unit 10, the flotation unit 110 has a pair of diagonally-located projections 128, 130 extending from both the upper and lower surface. In addition, a pair of diagonally-located recesses or depressions 132, 134 extend into both the upper and lower surfaces. In the embodiment of Figure 2, the projections 128,130 and depressions 132, 134 are shown on the lower surface 127 of the flotation unit 110. Similar pairs of projections and depressions are provided at the opposite locations on the uppersurface 125 ofthe unit 110, as illustrated for the upper surface of the flotation unit 10 of Figure 1.

As mentioned previously, the projections and depressions provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the flotation units 10 and 110 permit the flotation units to be stacked one on another with the projections from the undersurface of one unit extending into the depressions in the upper surface of the lower unit and the projections from the upper surface of the lower unit similarly extending into the depressions in the undersurface of the upper unit.

The nesting of the projections and depressions locks the stacked flotation units in a fixed relation to each other. The stacked units may be fastened together by interaction with the bores formed through the seals.

The stacking together of two of the flotation units 110 and the fastening together of the stacked units is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. As seen therein, two flotation units 110 may be stacked one on another, with the lower unit 110 being turned upside down from the arrangement seen in Figure 2. The complementary locations of the projections 128,130 and the depressions 132, 134 on the upper and lower surfaces 125,127 of the flotation unit 110 and their diagonally-spaced locations enables the projections and depressions to be nested, thereby joining the flotation units together and preventing the faceabutted units 110 from relative lateral movement.

With the lower flotation unit 110 turned upsidedown before stacking, the end wall compression seals 112 abut each other in the two units 110 with the bores 120 in alignment. This abutment of the seals 112 and alignment of the bores 120 permits the stacked units to be fastened together by the use of bolts 136 or similar fastening means passing through the aligned openings 120, as may be seen from the detail of Figure 4.

Any desired number of the flotation units 110 may be formed into a stack, depending on the buoyancy characteristics desired. As greater numbers are added to the stack, the buoyancy increases. As discussed in detail below, this arrangement may be employed to provide a floating structure having varying buoyancy characteristics within the overall structure.

To add a third member to the stack, a further unit 110 is used in the orientation shown in Figure 2, if being stacked on the bottom of the stack or upsidedown from the orientation of Figure 2, if being stacked on the top of the stack, whichever is the more convenient. The protrusions and depressions of the abutting faces nest with one another, as in the case of the first two members, as described above. In either case, i.e. stacked on the top or on the bottom, the side-wall compression seals 116 are in abutting relation with the bores 122 in alignment. The third member of the stack is fastened to the other two members by bolts passing through the aligned bores 122, in analogous manner to that shown in the detail of Figure 4for the first two members 110 of the stack.

This operation can be repeated for any desired number of the flotation units 110 in the stack, with the vertically-adjacent units being fastened into the stack at either the top or bottom of the stack through the appropriate abutting seals. The units 110 in the stack alternate in orientation with respect to that shown in Figure 2, so as to provide the required adjacent location of seals to permit joining together of the units.

Similarly, a stack may be formed from the flotation units 10. In this instance, the first two units 10 in the stack are connected together through abutting seals 44 using bolts passing through aligned openings 46, and then the next unit 10 in the stack is connected to the other two at abutting seals 40. Stacks also may be formed from combinations of flotation units 10 and 110, as a result of the modular nature of each of the flotation units, with the units being suitably oriented to provide abutted seals and aligned bores to receive the fastening elements.

Stacks of units 10 and units 110 may be provided in this manner with each stack containing the same number of flotation units or a variable number of units. In each stack, whether it be formed from the flotation units 10 or flotation units 110, has at the upper surface of the stack openings 42 or 122 which may be used as attachment points for stringers to enable multiple stacks of flotation units and/or individual flotation units to be joined in side-to-side or end-to-end abutted relationship, depending on whether flotation units 10 or 110 are present as the top surface unit. By the utilization of such stringers, floating structures of simple or complex shape with uniform or variable flotation characteristics, may be formed from the stacks of flotation units and from individual flotation units.

It will be appreciated that, although two separate forms of the flotation unit are illustrated in Figure 1, a single form of flotation unit only need be employed to achieve the same results and effects. In such an alternative, the groove 24 extends transversely across the top face 12 of the unit 10, while the groove 26 extends longitudinally across the bottom face 22 ofthe unit 10, in analogous manner to grooves 124 and 126 in Figure 1. In this alternative structure, unit 110 then is identical to unit 10 but is upside-down with respect to the orientation of unit 10, so that the longitudinal groove 124 extends across the now-top surface 125 while the groove 126 extends transversely across the now-bottom surface 127. This alternative flotation unit structure may be seen in Figure 5, where the lower longitudinal groove only is seen.

The individual flotation units 10 and 110 may be constructed of any desired material which provides a buoyant structure. In one embodiment of the invention, the flotation units 10 and 110 are blowmoulded as hollow units from a suitable thermoplastic or thermosetting polymeric material, for example, and then filled with rigid polyurethane foam or other suitable foam material.

The flotation units 10 and 110 have a modular structure, as just described. The units 10 and 110 usually have common lateral and longitudinal dimensions and are the same as each other, for example, 2 feetx 3 feet, although they may be provided with variable depth, to alter the flotation characteristics of the individual units, to provide further versatility in providing a floating structure having variable flotation characteristics, as may be seen in Figure 5. Typically, the flotation units 10 and 110 may have a depth of 5 inches or 8 inches.

The multidirectional nature of the flotation units 10 and 110, as described above, permits floating structures of 2, 3, 4, 5 or more feet in width and length to be provided. The floating structures, therefore, can have an almost infinitely variable freeboard and/or buoyancy, without the necessity of expensive custom building, as used in the prior art. Once constructed from the flotation units 10 or 110, the floating structure is capable of further variation in freeboard and/or buoyancy, again in complete contrast to the prior art.

Turning now to consideration of Figures 5 to 7, there is illustrated therein a floating dock structure 210 formed from flotation units 10. The floating dock 210 comprises a plurality of flotation units 10 underlying a deck 212. The deck 212 comprises a pair of elongate stringers 214,215 located at the sides of the floating structure and a plurality of transverse boards 216 extending forthe width of the dock 210.

As may be seen particularly in Figure 8, stacks of one, two, three or more flotation uhits 10 are located in side-face abutting relationship to define the basic shape of the dock 210. The structure illustrated in Figures 6 and 8 is a floating dock 210 having a width equal to the width of the individual units 10. It is apparent from the foregoing description that additional units 10 may be side-abutted to the end-faces of the floating structure, as illustrated in Figure 7.

The openings 42 ofthetop-most units 10 of the side face-abutted individual units or stacks are located in straight-line alignment, to permit joining together of these elements in the manner now described. The stringers 214 are laid the length of the dock 210 over the horizontally-aligned openings 42.

Bores 218 are provided through the stringers 214 in alignment with the openings 42. The transverse boards 216 are laid on top of the stringers 214 at the locations of the individual openings 42 and have openings 220 which align with openings 218 and 42.

Bolts 222 then are passed through the openings 220 in the boards 216, openings 218 in the stringers 214 and openings 42 in the flotation units 10 at each location of opening 42 to assemble the dock structure.

As seen in Figure 7, the side-abutted units are assembled with the main unit by extending the transverse boards 216 for the total width of the floating structure, providing double-width stringers 215 (or a pair of individual stringers 214) and using bolts 222 passing through the perspective aligned openings.

The grooves 24 of the abutting flotation units 10 are aligned in the dock structure 210 and may be used as a channel for utility wires or pipes 224, if desired.

It will be appreciated from the above description that additional stacks of flotation units may be end-face abutted to either side of the primary floating structure, with the cross-members 216 extending for the width of the resulting structure to act as stringers to join the end-abutting members together and thereby provide an overall tying together of the stacks.

The stacks of two flotation units 10 exhibit more buoyancy than a single flotation unit 10 and the buoyancy increases with increasing numbers of flotation units in a stack. By combining stacks of different numbers of flotation units and individual flotation units of varying depth in a single floating structure by the suitable use of stringers as described above, a floating structure may be provided which has differential areas of buoyancy, which may be used to support superstructures of differing weights at differing locations on the structure.

Similar floating structures may be provided from flotation units 110, except that end-face abutment of the adjacent units is used to define the longitudinal direction of the overall structure. As mentioned earlier, the modular nature of the flotation units 10 and 110 enables floating structures of any desired freeboard dimension and/or buoyancy to be provided, either all from units 10, all from units 110 or mixtures of units 10 and 110.

The modular nature of the flotation units of the present invention combined with their unique manner of nesting and attachment one to another provides a considerable versatility in the size, shape and buoyancy characteristics of floating structures to be achieved which has heretofore not been the case. The resulting floating structure may be employed for a variety of purposes, including recreational aquatic activities.

In summary of this disclosure, the present invention provides a novel flotation unit and novel floating structures formed therefrom. Modifications are possible within the scope of the invention.

Claims (16)

1. A flotation unit useful for assembly with other iike flotation units to provide a floating structure having a desired buoyancy, comprising upper and lower generally planar parallel surfaces, nesting means associated with each of the surfaces to permit multiples of the flotation units to be stacked in face-abutting relation one on another in vertical alignment while inhibiting lateral movement of the stacked units one with respect to another, and fastening means associated therewith to permit the multiple of stacked flotation units to be stably joined one to another in a vertical stack of at least two surface-abutted units.

2. Aflotation unit as claimed in claim 1, in which said nesting means comprises complementarilyshaped protrusion and depression means on said flotation unit provided in each said upper and lower surfaces.

3. Atlotation unit as claimed in claim 2, in which two pairs of protrusion and depression means are provided in each said upper and lower surfaces located and arranged to permit said stacking of multiples of said flotation units in any desired orientation of upper and lower surfaces.

4. Aflotation unit as claimed in claim 2 or 3, in which each said protrusion and depression is rectangularly shaped.

5. Aflotation unit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, in which said fastening means comprises means establishing at least one connection constructed to permit the connection point to be joined to the connection point on another flotation unit.

6. Aflotation unit as claimed in claim 4, in which said connection establishing means comprises a flange having an opening formed therethrough and two of said flanges are associated with each end wall and each sidewall of said unit.

7. A flotation unit as claimed in claim 5 in which depressions are provided in each end wall and each side wall of said unit and are terminated in the end wall by said flanges at the upper end thereof and in the side wall by said flanges at the lower end thereof.

8. Aflotation unit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, which is of generally cubic shape.

9. A flotation unit as claimed in any of of claims 1 to 8, in which a depression is formed in at least one of said upper and lower surfaces and extends between either the side surfaces or the end surfaces to bisect the respective surface into two substantially equal area segments.

10. A flotation unit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, Figures 1,2,3,4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.

11. Afloating structure, comprising a plurality of modular flotation units arranged in a vertical stack of upper and lower face-abutted flotation units and joined to each other through fastening means securing the stacked flotation units one to each verticallyadjacent flotation unit in the stack to provide a desired buoyancy characteristic for the stack through the choice of the number of the flotation units in the stack.

12. A floating structure as claimed in claim 11, in which each of the modular flotation units is as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10.

13. A floating structure as claimed in claim 11 or 12, in which each said flotation unit has substantially the same longitudinal and lateral surface demensions.

14. Afloating structure as claimed in claim 13 in which each said flotation unit additionally has substantially the same depth dimension.

15. Afloating structure as claimed in claim 13 in which ones of said flotation units have a first depth dimension while others of the said flotation units have a second depth dimension.

16. Afloating structure substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.