ASSEMBLING INFLATABLE BOAT

Abstract: An assembling inflatable boat of the invention has a main body (1) of a reinforced synthetic resin and a U-shaped rubber tube (7) engaged with said main body. Four grooves (2, 3) are provided in the upper and lower edges of the opposite sides of said main body, while four stems (9) adapted to be respectively engaged with said grooves (2, 3) are attached to said tube (7).

Description: ASSEMBLING INFLATABLE BOAT Technical Field This invention relates to an assembling inflatable boat having a main body made of synthetic resin and a U-shaped rubber tube engaged with the main body, such boat being capable of having an outboard motor mounted on it. Background Art The conventional inflatable boat has a bottom made of rubber material which can easily be punctured by sharp objects causing the boat to become waterlogged. Further, due to the flexibility of the rubber boat bottom, separate rigid floor secti¬ ons have to be fitted on top of the rubber bottom to maintain the balance of the passengers. If rigid floor sections are not used and the rubber tube part is not fully inflated, the conventional rubber boat is liable to bend at the middle with consequent danger of sinking. Disclosure of Invention The present invention aims to overcome the abovementioned drawbacks of the known inflatable boat. Each part of the boat is made in built-p format so that the boat can be easily assembled / disassembled for convenient transportation and storage. Also, as the main hull portion of the boat is made of rigid synthetic resin, the risk of puncture and therefore waterlogging is greatly reduced in comparison with the conventional inflatable boat and it's not necessary to install rigid floor sections in the bottom of the boat. Moreover, the inflatable boat of the invention includes a rubber tube of double structure which comprises an outer tube of U-shaped construction exposed to the atmosphere and auxiliary inner tubes of a bar type contained in both leg port,ions of said outer tube. Thus, even if the outer tube is punctured and completely deflated, the boat will remain afloat by virtue of the buoyancy of the main hull section and the inner tubes, so providing such higher level of passenger safety than the convert- tional inflatable boat. Brief Description of Drawings The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with .reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is an exploded view in perspective of the assem¬ bling inflatable boat in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing all the parts in Fig. 1 completely assembled; Fig. " 3 is a vertical cross section taken on line A-A in Fig. 2; Fig. is a top plan view of the inflatable boat in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 shows the inflated ruber tube in accordance with the invention; Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of the inflatable boat in Fig. 2; Fig. 7 is a transverse cross section taken on line B-B in Fig. 4; Fig. β is an enlarged sectional view of the engaged essential portion taken from Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, showing the hook secured to the rubber tube as it is locked on the rear plate of the main body. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment Referring to Fig. 1. the inflatable boat of the present- invention comprises a main body 1 and a U-shaped rubber tube 7. The main body 1 is made of a reinforced synthetic resin and is light in weight, rigid and shock resistant. In the upper and lower edge portions of the opposite sides of the main body 1, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7, four grooves 2 and 3 are respectively provided in the longitudinal direction of the main body 1. In Figs. 3 and 6, a thickened portion 5 for mounting an outboard motor (not shown) is formed on the rear side of the main body 1. Further, a flange 4 is provided on the entire upper periphery of the main body 1 as observed from Fig. 1. The U-shaped .rubber tube 7 has four assembling stems 9 attached in positions corresponding to those of the aforemention¬ ed grooves 2 and 3 by means of the supporting pads 8, said stems 9 being adapted to be respectively engaged with said grooves 2 and 3. The supporting pads # and the assembling stems 9 may be made of a rubber material similar to that of the rubber tube 7. Referring to Fig. 5, on the opposite surfaces of both leg por¬ tions neighboring upon the heels of the U-shaped tube 7, two hooks 15 are fixed by means of the reinforcing bases 12. Further, in each reinforcing base 12 is embedded one end of the diaphram 14 (shown as a dotted line), while the other end of the diaphram 14 OMPI ,. WIPO is secured to the outer side surface of said leg portion so that the neighbours of the reinforcing base 12 may not be restrained from expanding too much upon pulling of said hook 15. As shown in Fig. 9, the hook 15 is locked into the recess 6 formed on the thickened rear portion 5 for mounting an outboard motor. The leg portions of the U-shaped tube 7 incorporate respectively the auxiliary inner tubes 10 represented as the dotted circle in Fig. 5. Fig.7 shows that said auxiliary tubes 10 are inscribed in the tubes 7. The reinforcing stripe 13 is attached to the entire outer side surface of the U-shaped tube 7 and the heels of the tube 7 are covered by the protecting caps 11. Reference numbers lόA and 16B indicate airinlets of the tube 7, reference number 17 a windscreen provided with a flanged root l (Fig. 1) having curvature to mate with the front curved surface of the main body 1. The assembly procedure of the inflatable boat in accordance with the invention will now be described. First, in order to assemble the main body 1 with the tube 7, the head of the main body 1 is placed at the rear side of the deflated tube 7, and the respective ends of the assembling stems 9 formed in both leg portions of the tube 7 are inserted into the corresponding grooves 2 and 3 of the main body 1; then the tube 7 is pulled paralled to the longitudinal direction of the main body 1, so that the assembl- ing stems 9 are engaged with said grooves 2 and 3 as shown in Fig. 8. Further, by providing the flanged root lt> of the windscreen 17 between the facing ends of the tube 7 and the main body 1, before the complete assembly thereof, the windscreen may, if necessary, be • mounted to lessen the air-resistance against the passengers in the inflatable boat. After the facing ends of the tube 7 and the main body 1 are fitted together, two hooks 15 of the tube 7 are locked into recesses 6 of the thickened portion 5 for mounting an outboard motor. Finally, the tube 7 and the auxiliary inner tube 10 are inflated througjh. air inlets 16A and 16B, and thereby the inflated tube 7 and the main body 1 are firmly engaged with each other. According to the .present inflatable boat set forth herein, if the U-shaped tube 7 is damaged or torn at the sea, the auxiliary inner tubes 10 and the main body 1 will act as an emergency means of floatation, so reducing the danger of sinking to a rrιin__mum. Moreover, because the main body 1 is rigid, even if the rubber tube is not inflated to full capacity, the boat will never bend at the middle portion; so the degree of passenger safety is improved. The present invention also provides an inflatable boat of built-up construction which is easy to assemble and convenient to transport and store, whereby the popularization of the inflat¬ able boat will be expected with general users. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the forgoing description is only a preferred embodiment of the discl¬ osed construction and that many changes and modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

Claims: AMENDED CLAIMS [received by the International Bureau on 09 September 1985 (09.09.85); original sole claim replaced by new claim (1 page)] An assembling inflatable boat ccaiprising a maim body (1) provided with elongated four grooves(2,3) formed in the upper and lower edge portions of the opposite sides thereof in the longitudinal direction, and the front part of the main body' (1) to form a recess settling down the U-shaped tube, and a U-shaped tube (7) provided with four assembling stems (9) attached in positions corresponding to those of said, grooves • (2,3), said stems (9) being adapted to be respectively engaged with said grooves (2,3).

Inventors: HONG KWANG SUN, HONG, KWANG, SUN
Applicants: HONG KWANG SUN, HONG, KWANG, SUN
Application year: 1984
Main classification: B63B7
IPC codes: B63B7, F02B61