US2399855A - Marine bumper and method of making the same - Google Patents

Description

Patented May 7, 1946 MARINE BUMPER AND METHOD 0F MAKING THE SAME Luther Cobb, Miami, Fla., assgnor `to F. P. Briscoe, Miami, Fla.

Application March 12, 1945, serial No; 582,269

6 Claims.

This invention relates to bumpers of the type used on boats, barges, wharves, and the like for the purpose of absorbing shocks when a, floating structure is brought into position.

Heretofore these bumpers generally have been formed of heavy mats formed of rope.

An object of the present invention is to produce an improved bumper more eliicient than the ones commonly employed and which is made of a material which generally is considered a waste product.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combination of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be` made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawing Figure 1 is a perspe tive view showing the initial steps followed in the production of a bumper.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the bumper increased in bulk by the addition of material thereto.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the completed bumper.

Figure 4 is a view partly in section and partly in perspective of a portion of one of the elements used in the formation of the bumper.

The material used in the construction of the bumper comprises the bead or rim portions of tire casings or carcasses such as used on automobiles and trucks. After these casings have become useless because of wear, both of the beads or rims are severed from the remainder of the tire so that two circular rings are thus formed each of which generally contains wire and cord aswell as fabric and rubber. After there has been produced a sufficient number of rings to meet the requirements, each of said rings is placed in engagement with an anchoring means such as a xed hook or the like and is then stretched by means of another hook placed in the ring and pulled away from the lixed ring. Because of the material contained in the rings, the stretching of the rings will cause distortion thereof from their normally round shapes to elongated elliptical shapes. One of these elongated loops is inserted through a ring I or the like supported by any suitable means and is folded. A folded elongated ring has been shown at 2. A second elongated ring or loop, indicated at 3, is then inserted through the rst loop and this operation is continued until a chain of rings of a desired length has been produced. 'Ihereafter bulk can be added to the chain by interweaving other loops therewith. For example, an additional elongated loop can be inserted between the ends of loop 3 and at right angles to the next loop 4 thereunder so that that portion of the loop 4 bridging the loop 3 will serve as a support for the transversely inserted supplemental loop 5. One or more of the loops can then be inserted Ibetween the end portions of loop 4 and through the end portions of loop 5,

as indicated at 6, these latter loops being supported not only by the loop 4 but also by the loop 5 and by that portion of the next loop 1 which had been threaded through the loop 4 in the formation of the initial chain. This arrangement can be followed indefinitely and any desired `number of loops can be used, it merely being essential that all of the lower loops of the bumper be engaged by a tie device. In Fig. 3 this tie device is in the form of a single elongated loop 8 threaded through al1 of the lower intertwined loops and, in turn, having its ends connected by a ring 9 or other holding means.

In Fig. 4 a portion of one of the loops has been shown and by referring thereto it will be noted that the material embodied in the bead or rim portion of a tire and forming the loop will, in itself, afford great tensile strength as well as cushioning resistance. By interlacing or interweaving a number of these loops so as to produce a bumper having the requisite bulk an excellent cushioning effect will be obtained, as will be obvious and the resultant bumper will be far superior both in its cushioning action and in its resistance to wear, to any bumper heretofore employed which is formed of rope.

If desired a bumper in the form of a pad can be formed of a number of these chain bumpers, it merely being necessary to lace together the chain bumpers after they have been placed t0- gether side by side. A mat thus formed can be made of any proportions desired.

What is claimed is:

1. A marine bumper comprising a plurality of intertting links formed of tire beads.

2. A marine bumper including a chain formed of endless elongated loops, each loop comprising an endless tire bead.

3. A marine bumper in the form of a resilient cushioning chain and comprising a plurality of elongated endless tire beads positioned in regular succession, each bead being looped through a next adjoining bead and supported thereby.

4. A resilientl cushioning bumper comprising a plurality of elongated loops each consisting of the rim portion of a tire, each of said loops being folded and each loop .being extended through and supported by the next adjoining loop thereabove.

5. The herein described method of producing a marine bumper which includes the steps of severing from rubber tires the rim portions thereof to produce normally circular rings, stretching all of the rings to shape them into elongated endless loops, folding one of the loops, inserting an elongated loop into the folded loop for support thereby, and joining the ends of the last inserted loop to hold said loop against Withdrawal from the loop in which it isV seated.

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6. The method of producing a cushioning bumper for marine purposes which includes the step of severing the rim portions of automobile tires to form normally circular rings, stretching the rings to distort them into elongated endless loops, folding one of the loops adjacent to its center, inserting a plurality of enlongated loops through the end portions of the folded loop to bridge the space between said end portions, inserting other elongated loops over the bridging portion, and inserting an elongated loop through all of the free end portions of inserted loops to draw them together, and nally connecting the ends of the loop last inserted.

LUTHER. COBB.

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