WO2009087357A1

WO2009087357A1 - Boat deployment and recovery

Info

Publication number: WO2009087357A1
Application number: PCT/GB2008/050023
Authority: WO
Inventors: Roy Parker
Original assignee: Williams Performance Tenders Limited
Priority date: 2008-01-10
Filing date: 2008-01-10
Publication date: 2009-07-16

Abstract

A boat deployment and recovery apparatus. The apparatus comprises a track (1) for mounting on or inclusion within a surface of a vessel; and a carriage (2) having a conveyor (4) for supporting a boat with the carriage (2) being arranged to be mounted on said track (1) such that the carriage (2) is moveable along the track. The carriage (2) further comprises means for allowing the conveyor to move beyond a deployment end of the track, means for allowing said conveyor to rotate about said deployment end of the track, and means for preventing said rotation at least until the carriage has reached a predefined position on the track.

Description

BOAT DEPLOYMENT AND RECOVERY

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an improved boat deployment and recovery apparatus and method.

Background to the Invention

Larger boats and in particular luxury yachts are often provided with an auxiliary vessel known as a tender. A tender is a much smaller vessel used for purposes such as transporting supplies and personnel and as a means for the entertainment and pleasure of passengers.

Tenders have often been stowed upon an area of the deck of the "mother- ship", or mounted on a frame at its stern, requiring deployment systems making use of powerful cranes or davits to lift the tender between the water and the stowage location. In other cases, for example where a garage compartment is provided specifically for the purpose of housing a tender, a deployment system may be provided which comprises wheels or rollers located in the path along which the tender moves, i.e. from the garage to the water, and a winch for pulling the tender along that path. Such systems usually require a "ramp" that must be extracted from a stowed position within the garage and lowered to the water line, such that the tender can be lowered along the ramp and into the water.

Many modern yachts have "swim platforms" mounted at their sterns, close to the water level, for use in activities such as water-skiing, diving and swimming. In some cases however, these platforms have been used as a convenient location for storing a tender, preventing them from being used as intended. Whilst provision of a garage behind the swim platform provides an alternative location for storing the tender, it may introduce the need for rollers and other such mechanisms extending across the swim platform in order to allow movement of the tender across the swim platform. GB2081212 describes a tender storage platform that can operate as a retractable launching and recovery ramp that includes a strut attached to the transom of a larger vessel for controlling the motion of the platform. FR2896765 describes a carriage for storing a tender, with the carriage being moveable to and from the edge of the vessel. The carriage is provided with an electric or hydraulic linear actuator to incline the carriage for launching the tender.

There exists a desire for a tender deployment and recovery apparatus that is compact and straightforward to use and to fit, can be operated with a minimum of effort in as few steps as possible, and whose components can be contained within a garage when not in use.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a boat deployment and recovery apparatus comprising: a track for mounting on or inclusion within a surface of a vessel; and a carriage having a conveyor for supporting a boat with the carriage being arranged to be mounted on said track such that the carriage is moveable along the track, the carriage further comprising means for allowing the conveyor to move beyond a deployment end of the track, means for allowing said conveyor to rotate about said deployment end of the track, and means for preventing said rotation at least until the carriage has reached a predefined position on the track.

Embodiments of the invention provide an apparatus which is simple to operate and yet at the same time does not require a complex arrangement of drive motors, pistons and the like. Embodiments can be operated using, for example, a simple winch.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, said carriage comprises a bogie upon which said conveyor is at least partially supported, said bogie comprising a bogie wheel set for running on said track. The conveyor can also comprises a conveyor wheel set for running on said track, with the conveyor wheel set located towards the deployment end of the conveyor and the bogie being coupled to an underside of the conveyor, towards the other end of the conveyor. The bogie would be configured to be coupled to the track at all times.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the axial wheel spacing of the conveyor wheel set is less than the axial spacing of the bogie wheel set, and the deployment end of the track is configured to allow the conveyor wheel set to move beyond the deployment end of the track but to block the bogie wheel set.

In order to block the bogie wheel set from moving beyond the deployment end of the track, the track can comprise a pair of bogie wheel retaining channels each channel having a substantially U-shaped cross-sectional shape.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the conveyor is attached to said bogie by a rotatable coupling at or close to a deployment end of the bogie to facilitate rotation of the conveyor about the deployment end of the track when the bogey hits an end stop of the track. This rotatable coupling can be substantially aligned with an axle of the wheel set at the deployment end of the bogie.

In a further embodiment, the conveyor can be further attached to said bogie by one or more extendable fixings spaced apart from said rotatable coupling and configured to limit the degree of rotation of the conveyor relative to the track. These extendable fixing(s) can be provided by a folding brace or braces.

Preferably the fully extended length of said extendable fixings is adjustable to alter the angle through which the conveyor can rotate. These adjustable fixings provide the advantage of enabling the apparatus to be adapted according to the height of the garage from the water and the size of the tender.

The conveyor can have a substantially V-shaped transverse cross-section for supporting a hull of a boat, at least a base of the conveyor sitting within the track.

In a preferred embodiment the conveyor comprises pairs of longitudinally spaced hull rollers for supporting a boat. At least one of said hull roller pairs presents a greater frictional resistance than the wheels of the conveyor and bogie wheel sets, whereby in use movement of a boat across the conveyor is restricted as compared to movement of the boat and conveyor along the track. Due to the weight of the tender acting upon these friction rollers, the friction rollers prevent movement of the tender in the conveyor at least until the conveyor has begun to rotate.

The track may comprise a pivot roller or rollers fixed to the deployment end of said track and configured to support the conveyor as the conveyor moves beyond the end of the track. The conveyor can also comprise a pair of elongate rails for engaging said pivot roller(s), these rails supporting directly or indirectly the hull supporting rollers.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of deploying a boat from a larger vessel and comprising: locating the boat on a conveyor of a carriage, the carriage in turn being mounted on a track running from a boat storage location to a boat deployment location; running the carriage along the track towards said deployment location so that an end of the conveyor leaves the track; continuing to run the carriage along the track whilst preventing rotation of the conveyor relative to the track until a predefined location is reached; upon reaching said predefined location, allowing at least said conveyor to rotate relative to the track until an end of the conveyor reaches or approaches the water; and allowing the boat to move across the conveyor into the water. In a preferred embodiment, further movement of the carriage along said track is prevented when said predefined location is reached.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tender deployment and recovery apparatus in a stowed configuration;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the tender deployment and recovery apparatus of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the tender deployment and recovery apparatus of Figure 1 in a fully deployed configuration;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of an end region of track of the tender deployment and recovery apparatus of Figure 1 ; Figure 5 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the tender deployment and recovery apparatus of Figure 1 taken at point A in Figure 1 ;

Figure 6 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the tender deployment and recovery apparatus of Figure 1 taken at point C in Figure 1 ;

Figure 7 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the tender deployment and recovery apparatus of Figure 1 taken at point D in Figure 1 ;

Figure 8 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the tender deployment and recovery apparatus of Figure 1 taken at point F in Figure 1 when a bogie of the apparatus has travelled to a stern-most end of the track and is aligned with a pair of pivot rollers located at the end of the track; and Figures 9 to 12 show transverse cross-sectional views of a vessel fitted with the tender deployment and recovery apparatus of Figures 1 to 8, with the apparatus in various stages of deployment.

Detailed Description of Certain Embodiments of the Invention

Figures 1 to 3 show a tender deployment and recovery apparatus for mounting within a garage compartment of a larger vessel (referred to here as the "mother-ship"). The apparatus comprises a track 1 that is fixed to the floor of the garage such that it does not move, and is aligned with the central longitudinal axis of the mother-ship extending from a stern-facing edge of the garage, along the floor to a bow-facing end of the garage. With reference to Figure 4, the track 1 has a planar base 20 and turned edge regions forming respective U-shaped wheel retaining channels 21 extending along the length of the track. The upwardly facing, central area 22 of the track remains open. As is illustrated in Figure 4, the ends of the channels 21 are closed at both ends of the track 1. Fixed at the stern-facing end of the track 1 are two pairs of outwardly facing pivot rollers 5.

Mounted on and movable along the track 1 is a carriage 2 comprising a conveyor 4 and a bogie 3, the bogie being attached to the underside of a conveyor 4.

The conveyor 4 is built around a ladder frame, with a pair of elongate side bars 6 joined together with five evenly spaced struts 7. As shown in Figures 5 to 7, the struts 7 of the conveyor 4 are substantially V-shaped to provide a recess within which the hull of a tender can sit. Attached to each end of each strut 7 is an outwardly extending axle 8 on which is mounted a pair of hull rollers 9, providing a total of ten pairs of hull rollers along the length of the conveyor 4. As is clear from the Figures, the diameter of the hull rollers 9 is such that when the conveyor 4 supports a tender, the hull is in contact only with the hull rollers 9 and not with the transverse struts. It will also be appreciated that the side bars 6 are separated by the width of the pivot rollers

5 provided at the stern end of the track, such that when the conveyor 4 moves past the stern end of the track 1 these bars 6 roll over the pivot rollers 5 which then (at least partially) support the weight of the conveyor 4 and any tender.

The bow-facing pair of hull rollers 9A (at section E in Figure 1 ) differ from the remaining pairs of hull rollers in that they are friction rollers, i.e. present a significant resistance to rotation, whilst the remaining hull rollers rotate relatively freely. Furthermore, the friction rollers are made of a relatively soft material whilst the remaining hull rollers are made of a hard material, e.g. NYLON. Mounted beneath each of the two struts at the stern end of the conveyor 4, are two axles 10 (best seen in Figure 2) supporting respective outwardly facing conveyor wheel pairs 11. As is clear from Figure 5, the conveyor wheels 11 sit within a central area of the track 1 and do not extend into the wheel retaining channels 21. With reference again to Figure 4, it will be appreciated that when the conveyor 4 is moved towards the stern end of the track 1 , the conveyor wheels 11 are free to move beyond the end of the track 1 , through the central opening therein. In addition, a pair of spaced apart axles 12 are mounted on each strut 7, one on the stern side of each strut and the other on the bow side, each axle supporting a concave roller 13. The surfaces of the rollers 13 do not come into contact with the track as the conveyor moves, but project slightly above the conveyor struts, into the hull receiving recess of the conveyor.

The bogie 3 is mounted beneath the bow end of the conveyor 4 (Figures 6 to 8) and comprises a substantially rectangular frame 14 with its sides edges 15 upturned. Mounted within the frame 14 are three axles 16, evenly spaced along the frame, with each axle supporting a pair of wheels 17. The axle lengths are such that the wheels 17 of the bogie 3 sit within the wheel retaining channels 21 of the track 1 and as such (see Figure 4) the bogie 3 is prevented from leaving the end of the track. Furthermore, the channels 21 prevent the bogie 3 from being lifted out of the track 1.

The bogie 3 is coupled at the stern end of the bogie frame 14 to the centre strut of the conveyor 4 by means of a rotatable coupling 18 so that the conveyor can rotate about the stern end of the bogie 3 (and therefore relative to the track). In practice, the rotatable coupling 18 may comprise one or more brackets projecting downwardly from the base of the conveyor strut and through which the corresponding bogie axle 16 passes. The bogie 3 is also attached to the conveyor 4 at a point midway along the length of the bogie 3, by means of a pair of folding braces 19 that limit the extent to which the conveyor 4 can rotate. Figure 3 illustrates the apparatus in a configuration where the carriage 2 has moved along the track to a position where the conveyor wheels 11 have left the track, and the stern-most set of bogie wheels have engaged the end stops of the track allowing the conveyor 4 to rotate about the end of the bogie 3 and track 1 until further rotation is prevented by the pair of braces 19 reaching their maximum extensions.

The length of the conveyor 4 is typically determined based upon the size of tender and the height of the stern of the mother-ship above the water. In addition, the fully extended length of the folding braces 19 can be adjustable to alter the angle through which the conveyor can rotate, according to the dimensions of the mother-ship and of the tender. Thus, for a given stern height, the pivot angle can be set to a shallower angle for larger tenders and to a steeper angle for smaller tenders.

The operation of the apparatus will now be described with reference to the Figures.

Figure 9 illustrates the apparatus described above fitted to the floor within a stern garage 23 of a mother-ship 24. The floor of the garage slopes downwards towards the water line. The track 1 extends from the sternmost edge of the deck into the garage 23. The carriage 2 sits in the track, and a tender 25 sits in the conveyor 4 supported by the hull rollers 9 and substantially prevented from moving by the friction inhibited set of hull rollers 9A. A winch cable 26 of a winch 27 is attached to the bow of the tender 25 and prevents the tender from sliding down the track 1.

As shown in Figure 10, when it is desired to deploy the tender 25, the garage door 28 is opened and the winch 27 is activated to control the lowering of the tender down the sloping track 1 towards the water. The wheels 11 of the conveyor and the wheels 17 of the bogie move freely along the track 1 , under the weight of the tender 25 acting down the slope of the track. However, the relatively greater resistance to movement of the friction hull rollers 9A on the conveyor 4 prevents the tender from rolling across the conveyor. As the carriage 2 moves towards the stern it reaches a point where the first pair of wheels 11 of the conveyor 4 begin to roll out beyond the end of the track (Figure 2) and the bars 6 of the conveyor 4 move into contact with the pivot rollers 5 located at the end of the track.

As the winch continues to unwind, the combined weight of the carriage 2 and the tender cause the carriage 2 to continue its movement along the track 1. The bogie 3 continues to roll until the pair of wheels 17 at the stern end of the bogie hit the closed ends of the wheel retaining channels 21 of the track 1. At this point the axis of the rotatable coupling 18 is aligned with the pivot rollers 5 and the conveyor is free to rotate. Assuming that the centre of gravity of the conveyor and tender lies behind the rotatable coupling, the conveyor 4 does not begin to rotate immediately. However, the weight of the tender 25 acting down the slope will overcome the resistance presented by the friction hull rollers 9A, allowing the tender 25 to roll down the conveyor 4 across the remaining hull rollers 9, towards the water.

As the centre of gravity of the conveyor and tender (taking into account the pull of the winch) passes over the rotatable coupling 18, the conveyor 4 will begin to rotate about the rotatable coupling 18, lowering the stern end of the conveyor towards the water, until the brace 19 is fully extended (Figure 11 ). The speed of rotation is controlled by the pull of the winch 27. As the winch continues to unwind, the tender 25 will continue to move along the hull rollers 9 until its stern enters the water. As the bow of the tender 25 approaches the end of the conveyor 4, and assuming that the bow is tapered, the bow will move out of contact with the final pair of hull rollers on the conveyor and will roll across the central concave rollers 13 allowing it to roll off without striking the frame of the conveyor 4 (Figure 12).

It is noted that as the conveyor starts to rotate about the end of the track, the action of the winch pulling on the tender will tend to cause the tapered bottom of the hull to bite into the soft hull roller pair 9A, increasing the tendency of these rollers to rotate.

If it is desired to stow the apparatus after deployment of the tender, then the user can manually grasp the bow end of the conveyor 4 and easily pull the conveyor back onto the track, and then up the slope of the track 1 and into the garage 23

When it is desired to recover the tender 25 from the water, the carriage is lowered down the track until the conveyor 4 has been fully deployed. The tender 25 is brought up to the stern of the mother-ship 24, the winch cable 26 is reattached to the front of the tender, and the winch 27 is activated. The winch 27 pulls the tender 25 towards the conveyor 4 where the bow meets the central rollers 13. The tender 25 is pulled up onto the hull rollers 9 until the centre of gravity passes over the rotatable coupling, causing the conveyor 4 to rotate and close the folding braces, until it sits on top of the bogie 3. The resistance provided by the friction hull rollers 9A prevents any further motion of the tender 25 independent of the conveyor 4, and the action of the winch 27 now causes the carriage 2 to roll inwards, towards the garage 23, bringing the conveyor wheels 11 back onto the track 1. The carriage will continue to move until the wheels of the bogie 3 meet the bow end of the track, at which point the tender 25 will again be able to move across the friction hull rollers 9A to a desired position. The final position may be defined by some mechanical stop.

It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that various modifications may be made to the above described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the stern ends of the each of the side bars 6 may also be fitted with resilient guiding members, angled outwardly away from the central longitudinal axis of the conveyor 4. During recovery of a tender, these guiding members would nudge the tapering bow of the tender towards the central axis of the conveyor and more particularly into contact with the first set of central concave rollers 13. In a further modification, one or more of the rollers used in the system may be replaced with slides or skids.

Claims

Claims:

1. Boat deployment and recovery apparatus comprising: a track for mounting on or inclusion within a surface of a vessel; and a carriage having a conveyor for supporting a boat with the carriage being arranged to be mounted on said track such that the carriage is moveable along the track, the carriage further comprising means for allowing the conveyor to move beyond a deployment end of the track, means for allowing said conveyor to rotate about said deployment end of the track, and means for preventing said rotation at least until the carriage has reached a predefined position on the track.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said carriage comprises a bogie upon which said conveyor is at least partially supported, said bogie comprising a bogie wheel set for running on said track.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, said conveyor comprising a conveyor wheel set for running on said track and located towards the deployment end of the conveyor, and said bogie being coupled to an underside of the conveyor, towards the other end of the conveyor, said bogie being configured to be coupled to said track at all times.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the axial wheel spacing of the conveyor wheel set is less than the axial spacing of the bogie wheel set, and the deployment end of the track is configured to allow the conveyor wheel set to move beyond the deployment end of the track but to block the bogie wheel set.

5. Apparatus according to 4, wherein said track comprises a pair of bogie wheel retaining channels each channel having a substantially U-shaped cross-sectional shape.

6. Apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 5, said conveyor being attached to said bogie by a rotatable coupling at or close to a deployment end of the bogie to facilitate rotation of the conveyor about the deployment end of the track when the bogey hits an end stop of the track.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, said rotatable coupling being substantially aligned with an axle of the wheel set at the deployment end of the bogie.

8. Apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, said conveyor being further attached to said bogie by one or more extendable fixings spaced apart from said rotatable coupling and configured to limit the degree of rotation of the conveyor relative to the track.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, said extendable fixing(s) being provided by a folding brace or braces.

10. Apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the fully extended length of said extendable fixings is adjustable to alter the angle through which the conveyor can rotate.

11. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, said conveyor having a substantially V-shaped transverse cross-section for supporting a hull of a boat, at least a base of the conveyor sitting within the track.

12. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, said conveyor comprising pairs of longitudinally spaced rollers for supporting said boat.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12 when appended to claim 3, wherein at least one pair of said rollers presents a greater frictional resistance than the wheels of the conveyor and bogie wheel sets, whereby in use movement of said boat across the conveyor is restricted as compared to movement of the boat and conveyor along the track.

14. Apparatus according to claim 12 or 13 when appended to claim 11 , said rollers being rotatable about respective axes aligned with the supporting V-shaped conveyor.

15. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims and comprising a pivot roller or rollers fixed to the deployment end of said track and configured to support the conveyor as the conveyor moves beyond the end of the track.

16. Apparatus according to claim 15, said conveyor comprising a pair of elongate rails for engaging said pivot roller(s).

17. Boat deployment and recovery apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying Figures.

18. A method of deploying a boat from a larger vessel and comprising: locating the boat on a conveyor of a carriage, the carriage in turn being mounted on a track running from a boat storage location to a boat deployment location; running the carriage along the track towards said deployment location so that an end of the conveyor leaves the track; continuing to run the carriage along the track whilst preventing rotation of the conveyor relative to the track until a predefined location is reached; upon reaching said predefined location, allowing at least said conveyor to rotate relative to the track until an end of the conveyor reaches or approaches the water; and allowing the boat to move across the conveyor into the water.

19. A method according to claim 18 and comprising preventing further movement of the carriage along said track when said predefined location is reached.

20. A method of deploying a boat from a larger vessel substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 9 to 12 of the accompanying drawings.