US3139634A

US3139634A - Collapsible boat

Info

Publication number: US3139634A
Application number: US207630A
Authority: US
Inventors: John B Craft
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1962-07-05
Filing date: 1962-07-05
Publication date: 1964-07-07
Anticipated expiration: 1981-07-07

Description

y 7, 1964 J. B. CRAFT 3,139,634

COLLAPSIBLE BOAT Filed July 5, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIGJ.

ATTORNEYS July 7, 1964 CRAFT 3,139,634

COLLAPSIBLE BOAT Filed July 5, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JOHN B CRAFT BYWEW ATTORNEYS United States Patent M 3,139,634 COLLAPSIBLE BOAT John B. Craft, 709 W. Atlantic, Philadelphia, Pa. Filed July 5, 1962, Ser. No. 207,630 Claims. 01. 9-2

This invention relates to collapsible boats.

An object of this invention is to provide a collapsible boat having an overall shape and appearance substantially like that of a conventional small boat.

A further object of this invention is to provide a collapsible boat having sides formed from elongated planks hinged together at the forward ends thereof by a fabric strip of waterproof material such as rubberized canvas or the like and a bottom of similar fabric attached to and spanning lower edges of the planks.

A further object of this invention is to provide a collapsible boat of this type in which spreader members are mounted between side planks of the boat and are releasably received between guides attached to the side planks and in which each end of each spreader member carries hook-shaped members which fit over upper edges of the side planks to limit the spreading of the side planks.

A further object of this invention is to provide a collapsible boat of this type in which, upon removal of the spreader members, the side planks can be folded together to form a compact package.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains from the following detailed description and the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a collapsible boat constructed in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in section taken on the line 2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section taken on the line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section taken on the line 44 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section taken on the line 5-5 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view showing one rear corner of the boat;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the boat with spreader members removed therefrom; and

FIG. 8 is a view in section taken on the line 88 in FIG. 1.

In the following detailed description, and the drawings, like reference characters indicate like parts.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown a boat 20 which includes

side planks

21 and 22 which are formed of elongated rectangular planks of marine plywood or other flexible sheet material. A bottom 23 of the boat is formed of waterproof fabric such as rubberized canvas or the like. Forward end of the

side planks

21 and 22 are linked by a hinge strip 24 which can also be formed of fabric such as nibberized canvas. Rear ends of the

side planks

21 and 22 are linked by a strip or section 26 of the fabric which can be integral with the bottom 23. Edge portions of the fabric bottom are attached to the side planks by a suitable adhesive, such as a waterproof or marine glue, and are further attached thereto by staples 27 (FIG. 7). Edge portions of the hinge strip 24 and of the rear strip 26 are similarly attached to end portions of the planks by glue and staples.

The side planks are spread apart by means of a seat board 28 (FIGS. 1 and 2), a back rest board 2?, a transom board 31 and a forward footrest board 32.

The seat board 28 is received between upper and lower cleat members 33 and 34 (FIG. 1) mounted on the side 3,139,634 Patented July 7, 1964 plank 21 and similar cleat members 36 (only one of which is shown, FIG. 1) attached to the side plank 22. The back rest board 29 is received between

cleats

37 and 38 attached to the side plank 21 and

similar cleats

39 and 41 attached to the side plank 22.

The back rest board 29 is provided with

hook members

42 and 43 attached to the upper edge thereof. Details of construction of the hook member 42 are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. As indicated in FIG. 3, the hook member 42 includes a main flange 44 attached to the back rest board 29 and a downwardly extending flange 46 which extends just outside the side plank 21. The hook member 43 is of similar construction. The book members fit over the upper edges of the side planks and hold the upper edges of the side planks against excessive spreading so that when the back rest board 29 is in position, the side planks are held in spaced relation but cannot spread unduly or in a manner which might permit the back rest board 29 to escape from the cleats which hold it in position.

The transom board 31 is removably received between

cleats

48 and 49 attached to the side board 21 and

similar cleats

52 and 53 attached to the side board 22. The transom board carries L-

shaped hooks

55 and 56 which are similar in construction to the hooks already described and hang over outer edges of the upper rear portions of the

side planks

21 and 22 in a similar manner to prevent undue spreading of the side planks at the rear of the boat. A strengthening block 57 is attached to the transom board and may be used for mounting an outboard motor or the like.

The forward portions of the planks of the boat are held in spread relationship by the foot rest board 32. As shown most clearly in FIG. 5, the foot rest board 32 fits under a slanting cleat 61 attached to the side plank 21 and a similar slanting cleat 62 (FIG. 1) attached to the side plank 22. The forward portions of the planks flare outwardly because an upper edge 63 of each plank is longer than a lower edge 64 (see FIGS. 2 and 7) and the flaring nature thereof holds the foot rest board 32 against the

cleats

61 and 62.

A plurality of floor boards 66 (FIGS. 1 and 2) are attached to the bottom 23 by adhesive or by other suitable means to form a flooring for the boat and to support a user thereof. When the boat is in the water, the floor portion bows upwardly as shown most clearly in FIG. 8 with inner floor boards 66a and 66b engaging the underside of the seat board 32, and lower areas are formed along the bottom edges of the side planks which can catch any water which may enter the boat.

The boat can readily be disassembled by removal of the spreader members, as shown in FIG. 7, and the side planks can be folded together to form a compact package.

The boat illustrated in the drawings and described above is subject to structural modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. This application is a continuation-in-part of my co-pending application Serial No. 855,441, filed November 25, 1959, now Patent No. 3,056,976.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A collapsible boat which comprises a pair of elongated side planks of board-like material forming sides thereof, a waterproof fabric strip hinging forward ends of said side planks together, a waterproof fabric bottom sheet attached to lower edges of the side planks and linking the side planks, a transom strip of waterproof material attached to and linking rear edges of the side planks and integral with the bottom sheet, a seat board releasably received between the side planks, means for holding the seat board in position closely spaced above lower edges of the side planks, a back rest member releasably received between the side planks, hook members at opposite ends of the back rest member overlying upper edges of the side planks and engageable with outer faces of the side planks, each side plank being held between one of the ends of the back rest and the hook member associated therewith, and means for holding the back rest member in position adjacent the seat board.

2. A collapsible boat which comprises a pair of elongated side planks of board-like material forming sides thereof, a waterproof fabric strip hinging forward ends of said side planks together, a waterproof fabric bottom sheet attached to lower edges of the side planks and linking the side planks, a transom strip of waterproof material attached to and linking rear edges of the side planks and integral with the bottom sheet, a seat board releasably received between the side planks, means for holding the seat board in position closely spaced above lower edges of the side planks, a back rest member releasably received between the side planks, hook members at opposite ends of the back rest member overlying upper edges of the side planks and engageable with outer faces of the side planks, each side plank being held between one of the ends of the back rest and the hook member associated therewith, means for holding the back rest member in position adjacent the seat board, and means on the bottom sheet engageable with the seat board to limit upward bowing of the bottom sheet when the boat is in water.

3. A collapsible boat which comprises a pair of elongated side planks of board-like material forming sides thereof, a waterproof fabric strip hinging forward ends of said side planks together, a waterproof fabric bottom sheet attached to lower edges of the side planks and linking the side planks, a transom strip of waterproof material attached to and linking rear edges of the side planks and integral with the bottom sheet, a seat board releasably received between the side planks, means for holding the seat board in position closely spaced above lower edges of the side planks, a back rest member releasably received between the side planks, hook members at opposite ends of the back rest member overlying upper edges of the side planks and engageable with outer faces of the side planks, means for holding the back rest member in position adjacent the seat board, forward portions of the side planks flaring upwardly and outwardly, a footrest member extending between forward portions of the side planks, and retainer cleats attached to the side planks overlying the footrest member, the retainer cleats extending forwardly and upwardly, the footrest member being held under the cleats by the forward portions of the side planks.

4. A collapsible boat which comprises a pair of elongated side planks of board-like material forming sides thereof, a waterproof fabric strip hinging forward ends of said side planks together, a waterproof fabric bottom sheet attached to lower edges of the side planks and linking the side planks, a transom strip of waterproof material attached to and linking rear edges of the side planks and integral with the bottom sheet, a seat board releasably received between the side planks, means for holding the seat board in position closely spaced above lower edges of the side planks, a back rest member releasably received between the side planks, hook members at opposite ends of the back rest member overlying upper edges of the side planks and engageable with outer faces of the side planks, each side plank being held between one of the ends of the back rest and the hook member associated therewith, means for holding the back rest member in position adjacent the seat board, a transom board releasably received between rear portions of the side planks, hook members at opposite ends of the transom board overlying upper edges of the side planks and engageable with outer faces of the side planks, and means for holding the back rest member in position adjacent the transom strip.

5. A collapsible boat which comprises a pair of elongated side planks of board-like material forming sides thereof, a waterproof fabric strip hinging forward ends of said side planks together, a waterproof fabric bottom sheet attached to lower edges of the side planks and linking the side planks, a transom strip of waterproof material attached to and linking rear edges of the side planks and integral with the bottom sheet, a seat board releasably received between the side planks, means for holding the seat board in position closely spaced above lower edges of the side planks, a back rest member releasably received between the side planks, hook members at opposite ends of the back rest member overlying upper edges of the side planks and engageable with outer faces of the side planks, means for holding the back rest member in position adjacent the seat board, forward portions of the side planks flaring upwardly and outwardly, a footrest member extending between forward portions of the side planks, retainer cleats attached to the side planks overlying the footrest member, the retainer cleats extending forwardly and upwardly, the footrest member being held under the cleats by the forward portions of the side planks, a transom board releasably received between rear portions of the side planks, hook members at opposite ends of the transom board overlying upper edges of the side planks and engageable with outer faces of the side planks, and means for holding the back rest member in position adjacent the transom strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,916,486 Miller July 4, 1933 3,056,976 Craft Oct. 9, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 579,279 Germany July 22, 1933