Abstract:
A planing pontoon hull is described including a bow section with separate steep and shallow bow planes separated by left and right displacement guides extending upward from a planar bottom. Forward bow angle, steep deflections angles, displacement angles, and shallow planing angles are described for water movement over a range of water speeds and depths.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Not Applicable. 
   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not Applicable. 
   REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
   Not Applicable. 
   RESERVATION OF RIGHTS 
   A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to intellectual property rights such as but not limited to copyright, trademark, and/or trade dress protection. The owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to improvements in pontoon hulls. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved planing pontoon hull. 
   2. Description of the Known Art 
   As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, boat and pontoon hulls are known in various forms. Hull shapes for boats can be generally characterized as displacement, semi-displacement, planing, and multiple hull designs. Displacement hulls move water to the side without exhibiting lift characteristics. Lift is the force that enables forward thrust to push the hull up out of the water to decrease water contact and increase speed. Semi-displacement hulls partially deflect water and partially lift out of the water as forward thrust is increased. Planing hulls have almost no water displacement but generate significant lift from the forward thrust to reduce water contact. Multiple hull boats have a central connection system to span multiple parallel hulls to increase the available deck area. Multiple hull boats generally have exceptional stability in rough water as a result of a large beam/length ratio. Prior-art pontoon boats are known with hull shapes having U-shape, circular, octagonal or rectangular cross sections. Pontoon boats of the prior art generally have poor planing capabilities with little or no lift generated by the pontoons. 
   Patents disclosing information relevant to boat hulls include: U.S. Pat. No. 3,064,611, issued to Engle on Nov. 20, 1962; U.S. Pat. No. 3,131,665, issued to Kiekhaefer on May 5, 1964; U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,841, issued to Bredt on Jun. 28, 1977; U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,320, issued to Yost on Apr. 11, 1978; U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,561, issued to Nickell on Feb. 9, 1993; U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,869, issued to Bulgarini on Nov. 22, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,944, issued to Baker on Apr. 15, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,087, issued to Baker on Oct. 14, 1997; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,184, issued to Holland on Feb. 17, 1998. Each of these patents is hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 3,064,611, issued to Engle on Nov. 20, 1962 is directed to a break and press manufacturing process in which top and bottom formings combine with flat nose pieces to make a nose of a pontoon. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 3,131,665, issued to Kiekhaefer on May 5, 1964 is directed to the application of a detachable nose piece for a pontoon boat to facilitate easier movement of the device through the water. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,841, issued to Bredt on Jun. 28, 1977 is directed to an air lifting hull. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,320, issued to Yost on Apr. 11, 1978 is directed to a displacement hull. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,561, issued to Nickell on Feb. 9, 1993 is directed to the application of strakes to the side of a pontoon. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,869, issued to Bulgarini on Nov. 22, 1994 is directed to a high speed catamaran hull. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,944, issued to Baker on Apr. 15, 1997; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,087, issued to Baker on Oct. 14, 1997 are directed to trimarine hulls with skies. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,184, issued to Holland on Feb. 17, 1998 is again directed to a displacement hull. 
   These patents fail to teach the advantages of the integrating planing and displacement pontoon hull of the present invention. The basic problems of high speed efficient planing operation with co-extensive hull volume and the ability for efficient slow speed displacement is not taught by the prior art. Thus, it may be seen that these prior art patents are very limited in their teaching and utilization, and an improved planing pontoon hull is needed to overcome these limitations. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is directed to an improved planing pontoon boat. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a pontoon hull is provided using a bow section defining a forward split edge with both a left and right steep bow plane and left and right displacement guides above a bottom shallow bow plane. This embodiment allows for efficient planing operations of the boat without hampering shallow water operation or low speed water displacement operation and control of the pontoon boat. 
   These and other objects and advantages of the present invention, along with features of novelty appurtenant thereto, will appear or become apparent by reviewing the following detailed description of the invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the following drawings, which form a part of the specification and which are to be construed in conjunction therewith, and in which like reference numerals have been employed throughout wherever possible to indicate like parts in the various views: 
       FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a pontoon boat deck using the planing hulls of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a lower right view of the planing pontoon hull. 
       FIG. 3  shows the pontoon hull rotated upside down with the forward split edge, sharp and shallow planing surfaces and displacement sides. 
       FIG. 4  is a top view of the planing pontoon hull. 
       FIG. 5  is a front view of the planing pontoon hull. 
       FIG. 6  is a right side view of the planing pontoon hull. 
       FIG. 7  is a back view of the planing pontoon hull. 
       FIG. 8  is a bottom view of the planing pontoon hull. 
       FIG. 9  is a left side view of the planing pontoon hull. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   As shown in  FIG. 1  of the drawings, one exemplary embodiment of the present invention is generally shown as a pontoon boat  10  including multiple planing pontoon hulls  100  connected by a spanning deck  102 . Because the components of a pontoon boat including power, steering, railing, awnings, and other items are well known in the art, these items have been deleted for clarity of the present invention. The present invention provides for the shallow water operation advantages of a pontoon hull with the efficient low speed displacement operation and adds high speed deep water planing capabilities without sacrificing the low speed shallow water advantages. Improved handling characteristics are provided by wide pontoon bottoms and simple construction and layout provide further assembly advantages of the present invention. 
   As shown in  FIG. 1  of the drawings and further detailed in  FIGS. 2 through 9 , the upper hull block  200  is the supporting area and transition between the spanning deck  102  and the lower hull block  300 . The upper hull block  200  includes a top  202  for connection to the spanning deck  102 , or may use a portion of the lower spanning deck for structural rigidity of the design. The upper hull block includes an angled upper front  204 , left upper side  206 , right upper side  208 , and upper back  210 . The angles recite for the preferred embodiment of this invention are a product of the materials involved and the stepped lifting capacity of the pontoon that has been derived through testing. All of these angles are a product of the size of the pontoon and may increase incrementally with the width and height of the pontoon. They should remain within approximately plus or minus two degrees during the building process, even as size increases. 
   The angled upper front  204  is positioned at approximately a 58 degree angle A 1  from the horizontal axis along the flat planing bottom  356  of the pontoon hull  100 . This provides the docking shore approach angle to deflect the boat upward during contact of the hull with the shore to minimize damage to both the hull and the contacted item. The left upper side  206  and right upper side  208  overhang the lower hull block  300  and are connected with a left step transition  212  and right step transition  214  which serve to deflect water riding upward along the side of the lower hull block&#39;s  300  body section  350 . 
   The lower hull block  300  is constructed from a bow section  302  and a body section  350 . The bow section  302  includes a forward split edge  304  which is again positioned at approximately a 59 degree bow angle A 1  from the horizontal axis along the flat planing bottom  356 . The forward split edge  304  begins the sideways water displacement with the left displacement guide  310  and right displacement guide  312 . The left and right displacement guides  310 ,  312  take off at approximately a twenty-two degree side displacement angle A 4  from each other at the bottom of the forward split edge  304  evenly split on each side of the centerline of the pontoon hull  100 . This provides for efficient low speed operation with water displacement to allow shallow water operation of the boat. These guides  310 ,  312  also provide enhanced directional control. This displacement angle A 4  between the left and right displacement guides  310 ,  312  progressively increases to approximately a twenty degree angle at the bottom of the forward split edge  304 . Between the left and right displacement guides  310 ,  312  and the corresponding lower left side  352  or lower right side  354  of the body section  350  are the left steep bow plane  306  and the right steep bow plane  308 . The left steep bow plane  306  and the right steep bow plane  308  are positioned at approximately a 13 degree steep deflection angle A 2  from the horizontal axis along the flat planing bottom  356 . This steep angle provides for the initial lift of the front of the pontoon hull out of the water during acceleration of the boat. As the boat planes up at an angle, the effective upward thrust of these planes  306 ,  308  increases to provide increased lift at increased speeds with a simple to manufacture design. The bottom of the left and right displacement guides  310 ,  312  are connected to each other and the co-extending planing bottom  356  by the bottom shallow bow plane  314 . The bottom shallow bow plane  314  is positioned at approximately a 5 degree shallow deflection angle A 3  from the horizontal axis. This shallow angle provides for both a shallow rise for beaching purposes, and an approach angle that is gentle enough to start the front of the pontoon to rise as speed increases. This further encourages the boat to remain on plane in choppy water transitions during the high speed operation of the boat and provides contact locations to deflect the boat from objects in shallow water operations. Thus, shore or beach parking of the boat is enhanced in addition to the high speed advantages of this shallow plane bottom. 
   As noted by the previous references, the body section  350  is constructed from a lower left side  352 , lower right side  354 , co-extending planing bottom  356  and a lower back  358  to complete the overall shape of the planing pontoon  100 . Note that the smooth surface of the co-extending planing bottom  356  and shallow approach angle of the bottom shallow bow plane  314  allow for shallow water operation of the planing pontoon hull without additional protrusions or other extensions that would tend to hang up the prior art pontoon designs. The hard chine transition between the planing bottom  356  and the sides  352 ,  354  further enhances directional control and stability of the pontoons. Also note that this construction provides for the large internal water displacement to continue to the forward bow of the pontoon hull  100  to maintain consistent floating support along the length of the pontoon to maximize weight carrying capabilities and minimize nose diving of the pontoon associated with prior art designs. 
   Reference numerals used throughout the detailed description and the drawings correspond to the following elements:
         Pontoon Boat  10     Planing Pontoon Hull  100     Spanning Deck  102     Upper Hull Block  200 
           Top  202     Angled upper front  204     Left upper side  206     Right upper side  208     Upper Back  210     Left step transition  212     Right step transition  214     
           Lower Hull Block  300 
           Bow section  302 
               Forward Split Edge  304     Left Steep bow plane  306     Right Steep bow Plane  308     Left displacement guide  310     Right displacement guide  312     Bottom shallow bow plane  314     
               Body section  350 
               Lower left side  352     Lower right side  354     Co-extending Planing bottom  356     Lower Back  358     
               
           bow angle A 1     steep deflection angle A 2     shallow deflection angle A 3     side displacement angle A 4         

   From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention well adapted to obtain all the ends and objects herein set forth, together with other advantages which are inherent to the structure. It will also be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims. Many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof. Therefore, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 
   When interpreting the claims of this application, method claims may be recognized by the explicit use of the word ‘method’ in the preamble of the claims and the use of the ‘ing’ tense of the active word. Method claims should not be interpreted to have particular steps in a particular order unless the claim element specifically refers to a previous element, a previous action, or the result of a previous action. Apparatus claims may be recognized by the use of the word ‘apparatus’ in the preamble of the claim and should not be interpreted to have ‘means plus function language’ unless the word ‘means’ is specifically used in the claim element. The words ‘defining,’ ‘having,’ or ‘including’ should be interpreted as open ended claim language that allows additional elements or structures. Finally, where the claims recite “a” or “a first” element of the equivalent thereof, such claims should be understood to include incorporation of one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.