Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The present invention relates generally to windows, and more particularly, to window systems for boats.
Boats by their very nature are subject to wet conditions. For example, water will splash into a boat as it cruises through a bay or river. Also, the boat may become wet due to rain water. Although the exterior of the boat is designed for wet conditions, to a lesser extent, its interior may not be designed for wet conditions. For example, electronic equipment in the boat passenger area may not be designed for wet conditions. Also, higher end boats such as boats sold by Duffy Electric Boat Company of Newport Beach, California may have leather seating within the passenger area which may become damaged upon wetting. Additionally, boat passengers may want to stay dry while riding the boat. To this end, prior art window systems have been designed to cover the passenger areas such that the passenger area and the passengers do not get wet from water splashes and rain fall while cruising through the bay or river.
For example, one prior art window system has a plurality of window openings surrounding the passenger area of the boat. Each window opening receives a window which is fabricated from a clear transparent material such that the passengers may look through the window to view the scenery as the boat is cruising through the bay or river. The window openings and the windows form a barrier between the outside environment and the interior of the passenger area. In particular, the window is formed from a transparent material and its peripheral edges bonded to a fabric. The fabric's peripheral edges are attached to a zipper which mates to a mating zipper attached to the window openings. By this way, zippering the zippers attaches the windows to the window openings and prevents water from entering the boat.
Unfortunately, the bonding process is expensive and adds to the cost of fabricating prior art window systems.
The present invention addresses the deficiencies in the prior art. In an aspect of the present invention, a window system is provided which may provide a substantially water proof barrier from water splashes and rain water that is less expensive compared to prior art window systems. The window system may comprise a plurality of joists, headers and beams which collectively form a frame of the window system. The frame is attachable to the boat and is sized to fit about and over the passenger area of the boat.
A top may rest on the frame such that boat passengers are protected from the sun. Also, the top may direct rain water away from the passenger area and into the water (e.g., bay, river, or ocean). In particular, the top may be fabricated from a water proof material or fabric which extends or entirely covers the passenger area. Since the top entirely covers the passenger area, rain water may fall on the top and slide off the top into the water. The rain may further be urged off the top by bowing the beams upwardly from the center such that top has a dome configuration over the passenger area. The dome configuration urges the rain to run towards the sides of the boat and since the top covers the entire passenger area, the rain falls into the water.
The window system may also prevent water from wetting the passenger area by placing a plurality of windows about the periphery of the passenger area. More particularly, the plurality of windows forms a barrier between the interior (i.e., passenger area) and the exterior of the boat. The windows may be hung from the headers of the frame via retaining loops looped onto the header and attached to the window. The windows may be connected to each other by zippers. In particular, the windows may be inserted into window openings formed by respective joists covered by joist covers and headers. One window may hang within each window opening. Each side of the window may be attached to a first row of teeth of a zipper. Each adjacent joist cover may be attached to a complementary second row of teeth of the zipper. The second row of teeth may engage the first row of teeth to prevent water from passing through between the windows and the window openings. For example, when rain falls onto the top, the rain is urged outwardly and cascades down the windows and joist covers into the water. Also, when water splashes onto the windows, the windows and joist covers repel the water from the passenger area. The zippers prevent water from seeping into the passenger area between adjacent windows and window openings.
The zippers may be sown onto each of the windows. In particular, each window may be fabricated from a transparent material and its periphery or border interposed between an interior layer and an exterior layer. The interior and exterior layers may be sown onto the transparent material. Additionally, a base of the first row of teeth may be interposed between the interior and exterior layers and sown thereto. Preferably, a first row of teeth is attached to each side of the window. Furthermore, the joists which form the frame may be attached to joist covers. Also, a complementary second row of teeth may be attached (e.g., sown) to a joist cover adjacent the window sides. Accordingly, when the enclosure is assembled, the first row of teethes attached to the windows are engaged to the second row of teethes attached to adjacent joist covers to form a water proof barrier between the interior and exterior of the boat.
The enclosure may also comprise a flashing and track to prevent water from splashing into the boat under the window. The flashing is attachable to both the window and the track. The flashing may be attached to the interior of window with complementary hooks and loops. These hooks and loops may be attached along the entire horizontal direction of the window such that water that splashes under the window is prevented from entering the passenger area by the hooks and loops. The track may be attached to the boat about the perimeter of the boat passenger area. The flashing and track urges water away from the passenger area. In particular, water that cascades down the windows and joist covers also cascade down the flashing and track into the river, bay or ocean. Accordingly, the top, windows, joist covers, flashing and track are layered such that water is directed toward the outer perimeter of the passenger area much like layered tiles of a roof.
An illustrative and presently preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:
a is a cross sectional view of a window and track of the cabin enclosure wherein the receiving cavity of the track is directed away from the passenger area; and
Referring now to
The cabin enclosure 10 may comprise a frame 14 and a top 16 resting on the upper portion of the frame 14. The frame 14 may be formed collectively by a plurality of joists 18, headers 20 and beams 22, and the top 16 may rest on the beams 22, as shown in
The plurality of joists 18 may be removeably attachable to the boat 12 along a forward, aft, port and starboard sides of the passenger area of the boat 12. These joists 18 may extend vertically upward such that the passengers may comfortably stand up within the passenger area without bumping into the cabin enclosure top 16. The plurality of beams 22 may be attached to the joists 18 and/or header 20 and extend over the passenger area. The cabin enclosure top 16 may rest on top of the plurality of beams 22, as shown in
The joists 18 at its upper ends may be connected to each other with a header 20. For example, as shown in
The window 26 may be fabricated from a transparent sheet 40 (see
The border or periphery 42 (see
The inner layer 44 and the upper layer 46 attached to the horizontal edge portion 50b may be attached to the retaining loops 30, as shown in
As stated above, the window 26 may be rotated about the header 20 inwardly into the passenger area of the boat 12. The window 26 may be pushed toward the beams 22 extending across the passenger area and may be attached to such beams 22 (see
The top 16, as stated above, may rest on top of the frame 14. More particularly, the top 16 may rest on top of the beams 22 and extend past the headers 20, as shown in
The joist 18 may be attached to the joist cover 19. In particular, the joist cover 19 may comprise a joist inner layer 60 (see
The lower edge portion 50a of the sheet 40 may be interposed between the inner layer 44a and the outer layer 46a and sown thereto, as shown in
The water guard 66 may include a track 74 and a flashing 76. By way of example and not limitation, the flashing 76 may be fabricated from a vinyl material, fabric material, plastic material, SUNBRELLA fabric, SUNBRELLA acrylic canvas, STAMOID vinyl or other flexible material. The flashing 76 may be removeably attachable to the track 74 and the window 26. More particularly, the flashing 76 may be removeably attachable to the inner layer 44a via the hooks and loops 70a attached to the interior side 68 of the inner layer 44a and complementary hooks and loops 70b attached along the entire length of the exterior side 72 (see
The flashing 76 may be removeably attachable to the track 74 via a bar 78 and complementary receiving cavity 80 of the track 74. More particularly, the track 74 may have a C shaped cross section which may define the complementary receiving cavity 80. The flashing 76 may be attached to the bar 78 and the bar 78 may be removeably insertable into the complementary receiving cavity 80. By way of example and not limitation, the receiving cavity 80 may have a circular configuration and the bar 78 which may be round may be slid into or snapped into the receiving cavity 80. Accordingly, the flashing 76 may be inserted or snapped into the receiving cavity 80 to engage the flashing 76 to the track 74. The flashing 76 when engaged to the track 74 may extend towards the passenger area and bend upwards, as shown in
The track 74 may be fabricated from a metallic or preferably, a plastic material. The C shaped cross section of the track 74 may be attached to a base 82. The base 82 may extend the entire length of the track 74. Along the length of the base 82, holes 84 may be formed to receive anchors (not shown) such as screws such that the track 74 may be attached or screwed onto the boat 12. When the tracks 74 are attached to the boat 12, the receiving cavity 80 may be directed inward toward the passenger area, as shown in
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of fabricating the window 26 is provided. In particular, the transparent sheet 40 is provided through which the boat passengers may view the surrounding scenery once the window system is assembled. The transparent sheet 40 may be interposed between a plurality of inner and outer layers 44, 46 which may surround the entire perimeter/border 42 of the sheet 40. The inner layers 44 may be fabricated from four individual pieces and the outer layers 46 may be fabricated from four individual pieces. Once the sheet 40 is interposed between the inner and outer layers 44, 46, the inner and outer layers 44, 46 are sown onto the sheet 40, as shown in
The inner and outer layers 44, 46 attached to the vertical edge portions 48a, b may further have zippers 54 attached or sown thereto. The zipper 54 may extend along the entire length of the inner and outer layers 44, 46 attached to the vertical edge portions 48a, b. The zipper 54 may have a first row of teeth 52 and an attachment base 86. The attachment base 86 may be interposed between the inner and outer layers 44, 46 and sown thereto.
The retaining loops 30 may be attached or sown to the inner and outer layers 44, 46 attached to the sheet upper edge portion 50b. The retaining loops 30 may be a flexible material or fabric which may be threaded through a turn buckle 58 and closed upon itself so as to form a loop. At least two retaining loops 30 may be sown to the inner and outer layers 44, 46 attached to the sheet upper edge portion 50b. The retaining loop 30 may be a strip with a set of hooks and loops 70 on one side of the strip and a turn buckle through which the strip may be passed through such that the hooks and loops 70 may be engaged to each other. Accordingly, during assembly of the cabin enclosure 10, the strip may be looped around the header 20, passed through the turn buckle 58 and locked into position by engaging the hooks and loops 70.
Inner and outer layers 44, 46 may also be attached or sown to the lower edge portion 50a of the sheet 40. More particular, the sheet 40 may be interposed between the inner and outer layers 44, 46 and sown thereto. A set of hooks and loops 70a may be attached or sown to the entire length of the inner layer 44, and more particularly, the lower rail 36 of the window 26. Accordingly, during assembly of the cabin enclosure 10, the hooks and loops 70b may engage the hooks and loops 70a.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of opening the window 26 is provided. With the cabin enclosure 10 assembled and the windows 26 placed in a closed position, the zippers 54 may be unzipped. Thereafter, the hooks and loops 70a may be detached from the hooks and loops 70b by pulling or pushing the lower rail 36 outwardly. For example, the horizontal edge portion 50a and more particularly, the lower rail 36 may be pulled outward such that the hooks and loops 70a disengage the hooks and loops 70b. Thereafter, the window 26 may be pushed inward toward the passenger area. Since the retaining loops 30 are engaged to the header 20 and the window 26 is pivotable thereabout, the window 26 may be swung upwards toward the beams 22 of the frame 14. With the window 26 pushed upward so that it is approximately in a horizontal position, the bungee cord 34 (see
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of closing the window 26 is provided. With the window 26 pushed upward so that it is approximately in a horizontal position and held in that position by the bungee cord 34, the bungee cord 34 may be unwrapped from the button 38. The window 26 may be guided downward such that it is disposed within the window opening 24 and hanging from the header 20 via the retaining loops 30. The adjacent zippers 54 may be zipped and the hooks and loops 70a and 70b may be engaged to each other.
This description of the various embodiments of the present invention is presented to illustrate the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and other inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed. The appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations except insofar as limited by the prior art.