This invention relates generally to marine vessels such as boats and fenders for them, and, more specifically, to nesting fenders.
In boating, a fender is a bumper used to absorb the kinetic energy of a boat or vessel berthing against a jetty, quay wall or other vessel. Fenders are used to prevent damage to boats, vessels and berthing structures. Contemporary “rubber” fenders evolved from commercial fishing buoys at least in the 1970's, and have not significantly changed. Primarily they are inflatable bladders in a shape of a ball or cylinder. They are difficult to store and require significant space. Inflatable designs exist but require additional effort to inflate and deflate in conjunction with their use and storage. Accordingly, a need exists for fenders which require less storage than the typical fender without requiring inflation mechanisms to be carried on board the vessel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,686 issued to John B. Blythe on Mar. 29, 1963 discloses a combination boat bumper and container. Blythe does not specifically discuss storing a smaller bumper within the containment section of a larger bumper.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,680 to Robert Caretta on Jul. 20, 1965 discloses a plurality of cylindrical fenders in which an annular cavity having an aperture at a bottom portion of a first fender may receive an upper hemispherical portion of a second, equally-sized fender for the purpose of creating a very long, singular fender. Caretta does not disclose differently-sized fenders so that a first fender may receive an entirety of a second, smaller fender for storage of the second fender.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,377 to Albert Santelli, Jr. on Mar. 19, 2002 discloses a fender having a stacked arrangement of pleated sections which collapses vertically to form a compact article for storage. Santelli does not disclose an arrangement where an entire fender may fit within another fender for optimally-reduced storage requirements.
WIPO Patent Application Publication No. WO 2013/020910, submitted on behalf of Matteo Gencarelli and published on Feb. 14, 2013, discloses a segmented boat fender in which a plurality of tubular members of graduated diameter but constant height can be extended telescopically to form a marine fender and can be collapsed for storage with all but one of the tubular members fitting inside the member having the largest diameter. Gencarelli does not teach the individual tubular members being deployable as an individual boat fender.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,745 to Petrina Havens on Feb. 9, 1993 is an example of a disclosure of a plurality of containers which are nestable to conserve storage space. A number of such disclosures exist in the relevant technology area. None of said disclosures teach nesting of a plurality of graduated-sized containers that are suitable for absorbing kinetic energy resulting from two objects forcefully coming together.
The instant application discloses a plurality of fenders of graduated size, each of which has a cavity for receiving the next smaller sized fender for storage. The fenders are suitable for use in a marine environment and are constructed to absorb the kinetic energy resulting from a boat berthing against a dock, another boat, or similar object. The fender has a cylindrical body including a stiff, cylindrical inner core that is surrounded by a softer outer shell which compresses upon impact. A pliable material may cover the exterior of a nesting fender for protection of the fender from the harsh marine environment. The cavity for receiving other fenders for storage is also cylindrical and is accessible through an aperture in the top of the fender. A smaller aperture through the bottom of the fender is disposed through an interior flange of the outer shell, the interior flange defining a lip upon which the next-sized down fender rests when nested inside the cavity. A rope or line may be attached to the inner core via a grommet or other attachment point on the inner core, which provides a more robust attachment point than would be possible with an attachment of the rope to the softer outer shell that may be constructed of foam or similar compressible material.
The relative diameters of the graduated-sized fenders are such that the inner diameter of the cylindrical cavity of a larger fender is substantially the same as the outer diameter of the next sized down fender. The diameters are sized to provide tension between the outer surface of the cylindrical body of the smaller fender and the inner surface of the cylindrical cavity of the larger fender for retention of the smaller fender within the larger fender. The tension provided is such that the fenders will remain nested when at rest or even when displaced by the boat in motion (e.g. if the nested fenders are upside-down) but without so much tension that the fenders are unable to be nested or separated by hand. In addition to providing the tension for keeping the fenders nested, the relative diameters ensure that the entire cavity of the larger fender is utilized by the smaller fender with no wasted interior space, maximizing the storability of the nested fenders. The smallest nesting fender of the set may be sized to receive a commercially-available off-the-shelf fender of the type that does not have an interior cavity, such as an F Series fender manufactured by Polyform US (an example of which is viewable on the World Wide Web at www.polyformus.com/boat-fenders/f-series), ensuring that every volumetric portion of the cavity of the largest fender is used for other fenders and optimizing storability.
The resulting differently-sized fenders are deployable about the boat for different purposes. For example, the largest fenders may be deployed along a side of the boat adjacent to an immovable jetty, and smaller fenders may be deployed along an opposing side of the boat adjacent to another boat floating in the water. In this way, the fenders may be deployed to optimally absorb the relative impact of the adjacent bodies. The largest fenders, which are capable of absorbing the most impact force, can be placed nearest the immovable object (e.g. a jetty) where impact forces are likely to be largest. Smaller fenders, which can absorb relatively less impact force, are placed nearest to floating objects like other boats where impact forces are likely to be lessened because some energy from impact is consumed by the rebound of the other boat subsequent to impact. In a different usage, the fenders may be deployed in a nested configuration (i.e. a smaller fender within a larger fender) to provide an even stronger unit which is capable of absorbing a relatively larger impact than a single nesting fender acting alone.
The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity, simplifications, generalizations and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, embodiments, features and advantages of the device and/or processes and/or other subject matter described herein will become apparent in the teachings set forth herein.
Certain embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings:
Specific details of certain embodiments of the invention are set forth in the following description and in the figures to provide a thorough understanding of such embodiments. The present invention may have additional embodiments, may be practiced without one or more of the details described for any particular described embodiment, or may have any detail described for one particular embodiment practiced with any other detail described for another embodiment.
Importantly, a grouping of inventive aspects in any particular “embodiment” within this detailed description, and/or a grouping of limitations in the claims presented herein, is not intended to be a limiting disclosure of those particular aspects and/or limitations to that particular embodiment and/or claim. The inventive entity presenting this disclosure fully intends that any disclosed aspect of any embodiment in the detailed description and/or any claim limitation ever presented relative to the instant disclosure and/or any continuing application claiming priority from the instant application (e.g. continuation, continuation-in-part, and/or divisional applications) may be practiced with any other disclosed aspect of any embodiment in the detailed description and/or any claim limitation. Claimed combinations which draw from different embodiments and/or originally-presented claims are fully within the possession of the inventive entity at the time the instant disclosure is being filed. Any future claim comprising any combination of limitations, each such limitation being herein disclosed and therefore having support in the original claims or in the specification as originally filed (or that of any continuing application claiming priority from the instant application), is possessed by the inventive entity at present irrespective of whether such combination is described in the instant specification because all such combinations are viewed by the inventive entity as currently operable without undue experimentation given the disclosure herein and therefore that any such future claim would not represent new matter.
A pair of nesting fenders is shown in
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The compressible outer shell is fabricated with foam or similar material. As previously mentioned, the inner diameter of the interior cavity 11 of the compressible outer shell is substantially the same as the outer diameter of the compressible outer shell of the next-smallest sized fender. “Substantially the same” may mean exactly the same, or mean within a reasonable manufacturing tolerance for foam articles (e.g. +/−0.1 inches), or may mean that the outer diameter of the smaller fender is slightly larger than the interior cavity inner diameter of the larger fender such that the compressible outer shells of the smaller and larger fenders compress slightly in order to frictionally insert and retain the smaller fender within the larger fender by hand.
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At least two passages are disposed through each of the segments, connectors and endcaps, the at least two passages being located to align with the passages of adjoining elements. As a nesting fender is formed when the segments, connectors and endcaps are brought together with the passages aligned, at least two rope channels disposed from a top of the nesting fender to the bottom of the nesting fender are created. The rope is passed through the first rope channel and through the other rope channel(s) and the two ends of the rope can then be joined, creating a continuous loop of rope through the fender.
Alternatively, or in addition to the aforementioned manners of holding the segments, connectors and endcaps together, an adhesive such as film ring 55 or other adhesive compounds may be placed between endcaps and segments, and between connectors and endcaps, to bond (or further bond) those elements together. The adhesive may have holes alignable with the channels in the segments, connectors and endcaps for passage of the rope through the rope channels.
As will be discussed below, it will be seen that the endcaps may be omitted from the construction of the fender. Also, it is observed that the construction of the fender permits fenders of differing heights to easily be specified, constructed and distributed. Taller fenders may be manufactured by adding additional segments and connectors. Shorter fenders use fewer segments and connectors. The fenders may be assembled and adhered to reach a certain height in manufacturing. Alternatively, the fenders can be offered to consumers as a kit including unassembled segments, connectors, endcaps, adhesive film rings and rope, enabling a consumer to select the desired height for the fenders, select a corresponding number of elements and easily couple those elements at the consumer's location to obtain a fender of the desired height subsequent to purchase of the kit.
An excess length of rope (i.e. a length of rope more than would be needed if the rope were passed through the at least two rope channels and pulled tight to compress the segments, connectors and endcaps together before the ends were joined, with any slack being cut from the rope) is left in place, providing some slack in the rope which may form a loop above the top of the fender. The foregoing loop in the rope is used for coupling to a tie line from the boat or for providing a handle for carrying a nesting fender (or multiple fenders that have been nested). The tie line and nesting fender rope loop may be coupled via tying the two together, or by using a carabiner or other suitable coupling. The slack may be pulled through one or any of the rope channels from one end of the fender to the other, moving the loop at which the tie line is coupled to the fender to the opposing end of the fender, enabling the top and bottom of the fender to be reversed.
A tensioning device is depicted in
Tensioning the rope through the rope channels using tensioning devices may also occur during manufacturing in instances where the elements are adhered together, compressing the elements together after application of an adhesive to permit time for the adhesive to set and bond.
It is noted that the rope disposed through the at least two rope channels, when tightened, provides additional structural integrity to the fender itself, making the fender more impact-resistant, and thus even more suitable as a bumper between a boat and other object such as a dock or another boat. A rebound performance of the fender may even be adjusted, by the user or in manufacturing, through the application or removal of the tensioning devices, facilitating a hard or soft mode of rebound.
As described above with respect to
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It is noted that, at a cross-section of a nested fender where the raised portion of the connector is inserted into the U channel of the segment, eight walls (four of the segment and four of the connector) in addition to portions of the engineered truss of the connector are disposed across a diameter line through the cross-section, providing significant strength and impact-resistance to the fender despite the fender being constructed of a plurality of elements rather than being of a one-piece design.
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It is noted that the endcaps are an optional component of the nesting fender, and that a nesting fender may be constructed only of segments and connectors. Use of the endcap provides benefits including the aforementioned facility of the fender resting on its end on the ground; prevention of debris from entering the interior of the nesting fender (e.g. preventing insects or spiders from nesting within the nesting fender); and/or sealing of the interior of the nesting fender against entry by water, providing air pockets within the nesting fender which may assist in its functional performance and/or cause it to float. For those reasons one or more endcaps may be desired, but the nesting functionality of the fender is not lost if the endcaps are not employed. It is also noted that the endcap at the top of the nesting fender is a common part to the endcap at the bottom of the nesting fender, providing greater economies in manufacturing than if a unique top and bottom endcap was required.
In some embodiments, additional channels disposed through the segments, connectors and endcaps may be provided for receiving additional elements intended to strengthen and/or change the performance of the nesting fender. For example, vertical battens or dowels made of wood, metal, ceramic, glass or plastic could be disposed through the additional channels provided through the nesting fenders. Such additional channels could be equally spaced around the fender, for example, every 60 or 90 degrees permitting six or four dowels to be present. In this manner, the battens or dowels could spread a point load resulting from an impact at a particular location on the nesting fender along the entire height of the fender. The impact-resistance characteristics resulting from the deployment of the dowels or battens may be modified through the use of the length, shape or girth of the dowels or battens themselves, through the amount of friction between the dowels or battens and the channels, through the use of adhesive along some or all of the length of the dowels or battens, as well as through the number of dowels or battens in use. The dowels or battens can be various shapes, including flat, cylindrical, or truss-shaped similar to the engineered truss within the segments, connectors and endcaps.
In some embodiments, the segments and connectors would have passages forming channels for the dowels or battens, but the endcaps would be enclosed at the points where the dowels or battens would otherwise exit the top surface of the endcaps. In different embodiments, the endcaps would also have passages disposed from the bottom of the raised portion through the top surface, allowing a dowel or batten to be inserted into the nesting fender and capped or tensionally adjusted similar to the manner in which a rope tension could be adjusted using a tensioning device, as described with respect to
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While particular aspects of the present subject matter described herein have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from the subject matter described herein and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this subject matter described herein. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “ a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.).
While preferred and alternative embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited by the disclosure of these preferred and alternate embodiments. Instead, the invention should be determined entirely by reference to the claims that follow.
The present application is related to and/or claims the benefits of the earliest effective priority date and/or the earliest effective filing date of the below-referenced applications, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, to the extent such subject matter is not inconsistent herewith, as if fully set forth herein: (1) this application constitutes a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/443,738, entitled NESTING FENDERS, naming John D. Denney as the inventor, filed Jan. 8, 2017, with attorney docket no. CNTC-1-1002, which is currently co-pending or is an application of which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date; (2) this application constitutes a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/492,852, entitled NESTING FENDERS, naming John D. Denney, Jr. as the inventor, filed May 1, 2017, with attorney docket no. CNTC-1-1002-1, which is currently co-pending or is an application of which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date; (3) this application constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/633,605, entitled NESTING FENDERS, naming John D. Denney, Jr., Robert Carrasca, and Christopher Hamlin as the inventors, filed Jun. 26, 2017, with attorney docket no. CNTC-1-1002-2, and issuing on Jan. 23, 2018 as U.S. Pat. No. 9,873,493, which is currently co-pending or is an application of which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date; and (4) this application constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/862,276, entitled NESTING FENDERS, naming John D. Denney, Jr., Robert Carrasca, and Christopher Hamlin as the inventors, filed Jan. 4, 2018, with attorney docket no. CNTC-1-1002-3, which is currently co-pending or is an application of which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62443738 | Jan 2017 | US | |
62492852 | May 2017 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 15633605 | Jun 2017 | US |
Child | 16364216 | US | |
Parent | 15862276 | Jan 2018 | US |
Child | 15633605 | US |