Patent Application
20150266552
1. Field of Invention
The invention related to the system and method for nautical furniture installation to prevent mold growth on nautical vessels.
2. Background of the Invention
The present invention is a useful and novel method for preventing mold that occurs in boats where the furniture is mounted over the deck's marine flooring. Current installation methods allow water to be trapped in both the flooring under the furniture areas and the absorbent areas of the furniture resting on the flooring.
Boat furniture is mounted to a deck by:
All the marine furniture mounting methods heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages:
An invention, which meets the needs stated above, is a system and method of lifting furniture off a boat's marine flooring by attaching a ridged lift before attaching the furniture to the boat.
Accordingly, besides the objects and advantages of the system for the nautical furniture installation method and system described above, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and the ensuing description of the drawings.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the present invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this invention. In the figures:
FIG. 1.—Drawing of a boat with a cut-away showing furniture mounted on ridge lifts.
FIGS. 2A-2B.—Drawings illustrating the components of securing marine furniture with a ridge lift.
FIGS. 3A-3B.—Illustration demonstrating the components of a ridge lift.
Alternating ridge tread: a configuration of a ridge lift with at least two ridge treads where adjacent treads associate a concave ridge with a convex ridge.
Ridge: a pattern formed by raised surfaces on an area. The pattern of the raised surface may be substantially curved, triangular, spiked or flat.
Ridge lift: a device that produces minimal contact with marine flooring by having a ridged surface on the bottom side of the device. The ridge lift allows ventilation by both evaporation and run off of the water through the ridge treads.
Ridge tread: a single series of ridges running the entire length of the ridge lift.
Referring to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements,
Turning to
Referring now to
In
The furniture 30 manufacturer may also incorporate the ridge lifts 70 into the frame 31 design to eliminate the additional step of attaching the ridge lift 70 with the ridge frame adhesive 78.
The assembler then arranges the furniture 30 on the deck 50 above the flooring 40, such as plush flooring 42 like marine carpeting, and attaches the adjacent furniture 30 components together with horizontal fastening mechanisms 60. Using a self-drilling fastener 62, the assembler drills the fastening mechanism 60 into place in any location he determines advantageous without concerns about the underside location of the ridge lift 70. If the furniture 30 requires additional components, such as a furniture cushion 38, the installer then places it above, or into, the furniture frame 31.
In
The second additional embodiment is the use of pre-drilled fastening mechanism 60 such as nut-and-bold 64 and lag screws 66. The assembly, including the ridge lift 70, comprises pre-drilling a hole through the ridge lift 70 to align with the hole in the furniture 30 and the associated hole in the flooring 40 and decking 50.
The invention's third additional embodiment is the ridge lift 70 is not substantially the length of the furniture frame 31 and instead the assembly is comprised of shorter segments of sufficient strength to bear the weight of storage, furniture 30 and passengers.
Finally, turning to
The ridge lift's 70 are assembled with the bottom-most furniture frame 31 resting on the ridge lift flat furniture surface 72. This maximizes the stability of the ridge lift 70 against the furniture frame 31. The ridge lift flooring surface 74 rests on the flooring 40 whereby the ridge treads 76 create only minimal points of contact with the flooring 40 and allows ventilation of moisture and water 10. The ventilation occurs by both evaporation and run off of the water 10 through the ridge tread 76.
In order to simply assembly, the ridge lift 70 may comprise a ridge lift adhesive 78 on the ridge lift flat furniture surface 72. The adhesive 78 would hold the ridge lift 70 in the assembler's desired location on the furniture frame 31 while he is locating the furniture 30 on the flooring 40 and attaching the fastening mechanisms 60. Once the fastening mechanism 60 is in place, the ridge lift 70 would be held in place by the pressure generated by the fastening mechanism 60. The ridge lift adhesive 78 material may comprise chemical adhesives, drying adhesives, polymer adhesives, polymer dispersion adhesives, non-reactive adhesives, contact adhesives, pressure-sensitive adhesives, natural adhesives, loop and hook adhesives, heat seal adhesives or magnetic adhesives.
Although the present disclosure and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present disclosure. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.
In the foregoing description, and the following claims, method steps and/or actions are described in a particular order for the purposes of illustration. It should be appreciated that in alternate embodiments, the method steps and/or actions may be performed in a different order than that described. While illustrative and presently preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed, and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations, except as limited by the prior art.
Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, the advantages, associated benefits, specific solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims of the invention. As used herein, the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus composed of a list of elements that may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.
Advantages
From the description above, a number of advantages become evident for the “Mold Prevention Nautical Furniture Lift.” The present invention provides all new benefits for participating parties including furniture installers, boat manufacturers and consumers:
