Abstract:
A platform structure for a water structure surrounded by water is disclosed. The platform structure includes a set of inflatable sacks held in place by arm members which are hollow tubes rotatably attached to a hinge structure to a side of said water structure. The platform structure is rotatably attached but may be fixed in a vertical position. The platform structure can be assembled, expanded, contracted and disassembled without the users entering the water. The arm members may alternatively be used to furnish additional storage space beyond the periphery of the water structure. The platform structure may also be put together with additional support components so as to hold a stretched net underwater, thereby providing an underwater platform. The platform structure is designed to provide the option of a waterway for stationing small watercraft adjacent to the water structure. The platform structure is specially designed to protect the water structure as well as other approaching water crafts from the impact of collisions. The arm members of the platform structure can also be used to tug floating platforms and various water crafts with minimal water drag. The apparatus is designed to be compactly stored inside the water structure or to be used without the water structure. The apparatus provides a versatile accessory for use with water structures including pleasure boats.

Description:
FILING HISTORY  
       [0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/080,389, filed on May 18, 1998 and a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/697,965, filed on Oct. 27, 2000, and a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/714,400, filed on Nov. 16, 2000. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates generally to the field of recreational equipment for water structures, such as boats, for supporting people on the water. More specifically the present invention relates to a platform structure which is connected to a water structure such as to the side of a boat, and which pivots on a hinge structure from a generally vertical position above the water to a generally horizontal position floating on the water surface in which it presents generally horizontal and stable surfaces for supporting people. The platform structure can be adjusted in size but is preferably wider and more spacious than the boat to which it is connected. Additionally, the platform structure is comprised of inflatable sacks, which cushioning surface protects boats against collisions with other approaching water crafts. The inflatable sacks can also be deflated and stored away while the rest of the structure is used to tug small water crafts such as kayaks or jet skies. Yet another alternative would be to tug the inflatable sacks on the rear of the boat. The platform structure can also be annexed an underwater platform on which boaters can bathe safely. Another option would be to use some of the elements of the platform structure to assemble a storage facility beyond the periphery of the boat.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    One object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which increases the stable above water space for boaters when their boats are stationed.  
           [0005]    Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which can be used as an underwater platform for boats or another water structures.  
           [0006]    A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which can be disassembled for convenient and compact storage.  
           [0007]    An additional object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which provides the foregoing benefits while allowing assembly and disassembly without the users entering the water.  
           [0008]    Still another object of the present invention is to provide a save area for dockage of small craft contiguous to a boat, with means to protect both the boat and the small craft from the impact of collisions.  
           [0009]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a storage platform beyond the periphery of a boat.  
           [0010]    Yet another object of the present invention is to provide the facility to tug from a boat floating platforms and small crafts with minimal water resistance.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    The object, advantage and features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following discussion taken in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 shows a boat surrounded by water with two pairs of hinge tubes on the rear, an upper pair over the water surface and a lower pair beneath the water surface.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 shows a pair of arm members designed to be rotatably attached to either the upper pair or the lower pair of hinge tubes on the boat of FIG. 1. The arm members are comprised of three separate inflatable sack fastening segments.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 shows said pair of arm members in an upright position attached to the lower pair of hinge tubes. Securing belts are also shown fastening three inflatable sacks to the pair of arm members. The belts are sewn to the side of the inflatable sacks which faces the water when the side arms are pivoted downwardly.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 shows the same assembly of FIG. 3 but fully deployed on the water, providing a relatively stable floating platform to support boaters outside the boat.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 shows the same assembly of FIGS. 3 and 4 rotatably attached from the upper pair of hinge tubes on the rear of the boat. Oriented with its proximal portion over the water surface and its distal portion floating on the water the assembly can be tugged or pulled with minimal water resistance.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 6 shows basically the same assembly as that shown in FIG. 5 but with a kayak instead of the three inflatable sacks. The kayak can be tugged in the same orientation as the inflatable sacks with minimal water drag.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 7 shows a jet ski being similarly tugged from the upper pair of hinge tubes on the boat.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 8 shows the same assembly of FIG. 4 with an underwater platform attached to a side. The underwater platform includes a stretched net mounted on a pair of retractable arm members.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 9 is another view of the rectangular-shaped net of FIG. 8.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 10 shows how the net mounting segments of the underwater platform of FIG. 8 can be pivoted upward and closer to the water surface.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 11 shows how the same net mounting segments of FIG. 10 can be rotated to an upright position substantially over the water surface.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 12 shows the underwater platform of FIG. 8 assembled not to a side of the platform structure of FIG. 4 but between inflatable sacks, forming a central U-shaped channel section.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 13 shows the three inflatable sacks of FIG. 4 floating together as a single platform but unconnected to the boat.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 14 illustrates a pair of arm members  60  rotatably attached to the lower pair of hinge tubes on the boat. This pair of arm members differ from arm members  2  of FIG. 2 in that arm members  60  have an additional segment H to stabilize on the water wider inflatable sacks than those stabilized with arm members  2 .  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 15 shows a pair of short segments K which can be optionally attached to arm members  2  or  60  to lessen any impact on the hinge tubes transmitted through said arm members when an approaching water craft collides against the assembly of FIG. 4.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 16 shows that the hinge tubes can be removed from the boat.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 17 shows that the hinge tubes can also be made retractable.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 18 shows that the hinge tubes should preferably have openings so that a ram rod can be inserted to clear any debris gathered from the water.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 19 shows how the several cylindrical segments comprising the assemblies engage one another.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 20 shows inflatable sack fastening segments B of arm members  2  locked in a vertical position from the lower pair of hinge tubes  40 , and engaging perpendicularly segments C to provide a storage platform beyond the periphery of the boat.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0032]    As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.  
         [0033]    Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like characteristics and features of the present invention shown in the various FIGURES are designated by the same reference numerals.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 1 shows a boat  110  with two pairs of hinge tubes  40  on the rear, a pair of upper hinge tubes and a pair of lower hinge tubes. Each hinge tube has a connected segment  42  and a perpendicular fulcrum segment  44 . The fulcrum segments  44  are constructed as cylindrical hollow tubes extending generally horizontally, and are oriented so that they are directed toward each other. When the boat  110  is on the water, the pair of upper hinge tubes are well over the surface of the water while the pair of lower hinge tubes are beneath the water surface. The connected segment  42  of the lower pair of hinge tubes is larger than the connected segment  42  of the upper pair. The lower pair of hinge tubes thus protrude from the boat  110  more than the upper pair of hinge tubes.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 2 shows a pair of arm members  2 , each one including a horizontally bent cylindrical portion A which extends slidably into cylindrical fulcrum segments  44 . Each arm member is also shown having three separate inflatable sack fastening segments B, C and D which engage to form one straight longitudinal piece.  
         [0036]    In FIG. 3 arm members  2  are in an upright position, attached to the lower pair of hinge tubes  40 . Inflatable sacks  15 ,  16  and  17  are shown attached to sack fastening segments B, C and D with securing belts  30  to form a platform structure  10 . Each inflatable sack is secured to a different pair of sack fastening segments with two pairs of belts  30  sewn to the side of the inflatable sack which faces the water when the assembly is in its deployed, horizontal position of FIG. 4. A belt on each pair of belts  30  is passed trough a securing loop  34  on the sack fastening segment to engage a buckle  35  on an opposite belt. Valves  33  to inflate and deflate each sack are also shown in FIG. 3 on the side of the sacks opposite to the side where the securing belts  30  are located. The sack fastening segments of the arm members are further shown generally parallel with their counterpart segments and spaced a sufficient distance to provide firmness and stability to the inflatable sacks on the water while at the same time being not so distant to be adequately separated from the opposite ends of said sacks so that approaching water crafts do not collide directly against said sack fastening segments and thus do not damage the arm members and the boat  110 . The arm members are thus separated from all ends of the platform structure  10  except the one facing the boat  110 . FIG. 3 also shows that when the platform structure  10  is pivoted to be deployed on the water as in FIG. 4, the sack fastening segments of arm members  2  engage other said segments beneath the distal portion of the inflatable sacks. Segment  6  attached removably between sack fastening segments B serves to keep segments A of arm members  2  rotatably attached inside fulcrum segments  44  of hinge tubes  40  and to provide additional stability and strength to platform structure  10 . The inflatable sacks are also shown with loops  31  to secure ropes to dock other water crafts.  
         [0037]    Boaters can adjust the size of the platform structure  10 , assembling it with any number of inflatable sacks and sack fastening segments. If for instance only a small platform structure  10  is needed, the assembly can include inflatable sack  15  and segments B of arm members  2  only; but if the platform structure is to be expanded to include sacks  15  and  16 , then segments B and C would be used; and if the platform structure is to be expanded further to include all three sacks  15 ,  16  and  17  as in FIG. 3, all three pairs of segments B, C and D would be required.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 4 shows the platform structure  10  in a fully deployed mode on the water, providing a relatively stable horizontal surface to support boaters outside the boat  110 . The arm members  2  pivot on the lower pair of hinge tubes  40  as the platform structure  10  is pushed down to the water. Flexible retrieval lines  13  are tied to securing loops  9  on inflatable sack  17  and extend into the boat  10  for pulling the distal portion of the platform structure  10  out the water to minimize water resistance in case the boat  110  has to retrocede or in case the platform structure  10  has to be pivoted to the upright position of FIG. 3 for disassembly or for any other purpose.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 5 shows the platform structure  10  in a diagonal orientation, rotatably attached to the upper pair of hinge tubes  40  on the rear of the boat  110 . As the platform structure  10  is then tugged or pulled with its proximal portion well over the water surface, its distal portion floats on the water, with arm members  2  free to pivot up and down.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 6 shows the same assembly of FIG. 5 but without inflatable sacks  15 ,  16  and  17  and instead an additional segment  7  attached removably to opposing segments D to attach removably a kayak  29 . Ropes  27  are tied to securing loops  23  on the kayak and to securing loops  28  on segments  6  and  7 , as arm members  2  are free to pivot up and down while the kayak  29  is being tugged.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 7 shows the same assembly of FIG. 6 but with a jet ski  20  instead of a kayak in position to be tugged. Chains  41  are tied to securing loops  39  in front and in the rear of the jet ski  20  and to securing loops  28  on segments  6  and  7  to thus tug the jet ski with its front portion over the water surface and with minimal water resistance.  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 8 shows the platform structure  10  connected to a side of the boat  110  with an underwater platform structure  11  extending still further outwardly from the side of the boat. Opposing jog segments F bent downwardly from the distal end of a pair of short segments E engaged to sack fastening segments D extend further beneath the water surface to attach net mounting segments G which extend further outwardly from the side of the boat  110  and generally parallel with the surface of the water. A flexible sheet preferably in the form of a stretched net  98  extends between and is secured to the net mounting segments G to serve as an underwater platform on which boaters can bathe comfortably. The sheet also may be a piece of solid, un-perforated fabric, but this is less preferred because it causes more drag upon platform structure retrieval. Jog segments F are preferably telescopic to adjust the depth of the underwater platform to the needs of the moment.  
         [0043]    The net  98  is preferably rectangular as illustrated in FIG. 9, and includes a securing belt  80  at each corner for wrapping around the net mounting segments G. Each belt  80  includes a button hole  80   a , and a correspondingly located button  81  is provided on the net  98  which is engagingly fitted through the button hole  80   a  to removably secure the belt  80  around the given net mounting segment G and thus to removably secure the net  98  to said opposing net mounting segments.  
         [0044]    To disassemble the underwater platform structure  11 , a swinging joint  78  near the upper end of each jog segment F is used to swing the net mounting segments G towards each other and to a horizontal position near the water surface. See FIG. 10. Then a second rotable joint  79  near the proximal end of each net mounting segment G is used to rotate the net mounting segments G from a horizontal to an upright orientation. See FIG. 11. Then the boaters on top of inflatable sack  17  can easily reach all four belts  80  securing the net  98  to remove the net  98  from the net mounting segments G and said net mounting segments G from the jog segments F and the jog segments F from the short segments E and the short segments E from the sack fastening segments D. Assembly of the underwater platform structure  11  is the reverse of this procedure.  
         [0045]    In FIG. 12 the underwater platform structure  11  is shown assembled not to a side of the platform structure  10  as in FIG. 8 but between inflatable sacks  15  and  17 , forming a central, U-shaped channel section. This alternate channel section assembly uses almost the same segments of the assembly of FIG. 8 but combined in a different sequence to provide boaters not only an underwater platform on which to bathe comfortably but also a facility to dock small water crafts such as jet skies over the stretched net  98  and between inflatable sacks  15  and  17 . Except for two pairs of short L-shaped joints  105 , no new segments are required to assemble this channel section which excludes inflatable sack  16  of the assembly of FIG. 8. Since in this channel section assembly inflatable sack  16  is eliminated and segments C of arm members  2  must be removed from between segments B and D, segments C can be oriented underwater vertically rather than horizontally to engage instead the distal end of net mounting segments G and the proximal end of segments D to form the channel section with jog segments F engaged to short segments E and short segments E to segments B. Two pairs of small L-shaped joints  105  are needed to engage segments C in a vertical instead of a horizontal orientation.  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 13 shows inflatable sacks  15 ,  16  and  17  floating together as a single platform but unconnected to the boat  110 , with sack fastening segments B, C and D underneath. In this case inflatable sack fastening segments B are detached from segments A to provide boaters the opportunity to use the boat without the structure or the structure without the boat. The structure can be used independently from the boat for recreation on the water or out of the water, such as, for instance, a platform over sand on a beach. But most importantly, the structure also serves as safety raft compactly stored inside the boat to be readily assembled and inflated in case of emergency.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 14 shows the boat  110  with a pair of arm members  60  rotatably attached to the same lower pair of hinge tubes  40  to which arm members  2  of FIG. 2 are connected. But arm members  60  differ from arm members  2  in that arm members  60  have an additional segment H attached between segments A and sack fastening segments B so that when the arm members are in use the distance between their sack fastening segments B, C and D is greater than the distance between their horizontally bent segments A which extend slidably into fulcrum segments  44  of hinge tubes  40 . Arm members  60  thus serve to stabilize on the water wider inflatable sacks than would be possible with arm members  2  of FIG. 2. And just as segment  6  attaches removably segments B of arm members  2  to keep segments A rotatably attached inside fulcrum segments  44 , segment  18  attaches removably segments B of arm members  60  for the same reason.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 15 shows a pair of cylindrical short segments K which can be optionally attached between segments A and segments B of arm members  2  or between segments A and segments H of arm members  60 . Each short segment K has a spring  68  and a rotatable joint  69  between its two ends  70 . The spring  68  and the rotatable joint  69  allow the distal end of the short segments K to pivot horizontally when the platform structure  10  is in the deployed position of FIG. 4, to thus lessen any impact on hinge tubes  40  and the boat  110  transmitted through the inflatable sacks and arm members  2  or  60  when an approaching water craft accidentally collides against the platform structure  10 . The spring  68  also presses said distal end  70  back to its original position once the force transmitted by the collision is exhausted.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 16 shows that the proximal end of the connected segment  42  of hinge tubes  40  is threaded to removably screw into a fitting secured to the side of the boat  110 . Alternatively, FIG. 17 shows that the hinge tubes  40  may be retractable with hinges  150  into recesses in the side of the boat  110  when not in use. Fulcrum segments  44  preferably have openings  160  at both ends as shown in FIG. 18 so that a ram rod can be inserted entirely through each fulcrum segment  44  to clear any debris gathered from the water.  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 19 shows how the several described cylindrical segments engage one other. Each segment has a hole  76  at the point where it engages another segment. The segments are all designed to telescope, with a larger diameter tube slidingly receiving a smaller diameter tube. A pin is then passed through two coinciding holes  76  on separate segments to hold the segments together. Jog segments F have holes to engage not only short segments E and net mounting segments G but also its two separate sub-segments T 1  and T 2  (see FIG. 8), which telescope to adjust the depth at which opposing segments G support the stretched net  98  under water.  
         [0051]    [0051]FIG. 20 illustrates another embodiment of the invention. Inflatable sack fastening segments B of arm members  2  can be fixed in a vertical position with segments A slided inside fulcrum segments  44  of the lower pair of hinge tubes  40 , and segments C engaged perpendicularly to the distal end of said segments B to assemble a storage platform beyond the periphery of the boat  110 . Segments B can be locked in a vertical position by resting a pin  14  through two coinciding holes extending through each fulcrum segment  44  and each segment A. The pair of telescopic jog segments F of FIGS. 8 and 12 may also be used as diagonal supports added between each perpendicular extension C and its respective segment B so as to provide additional strength and firmness to the perpendicular extensions C, and increase the weight they will support. The short L-shaped joints  105  shown in FIG. 12 can also be used to engage segments C to segments B perpendicularly.  
         [0052]    While the invention has been described, disclosed, illustrated and shown in various terms or certain embodiments or modifications which it has assumed in practice, the scope of the invention is not intended to be, nor should it be deemed to be, limited thereby and such other modifications or embodiments as may be suggested by the teachings herein are particularly reserved specially as they fall within the breadth and scope of the claims here appended.