Painter line assembly

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates broadly to devices for holding coiled rope in life raft canisters for allowing easy pay out thereof in times of emergency.

Some life raft storage systems comprise clamshell canisters designed to hold, for example, sixteen man life rafts with provisions for survival at sea in an event of an emergency. Such life rafts are inflated by compressed-air cylinders which are also encased in the clamshell canisters. Compressed air is released from the cylinders into the rafts when lanyards, that are respectively attached to valves of the cylinders, are pulled. In a prior-art example, such a lanyard is attached to an inner-end portion of a 100 ft. coiled rope bundle, which is also encased in the clamshell canister, with an outer-end portion of the coiled rope being attached to a tie cleat on a boat. When an emergency occurs, for example when a boat on which such a clamshell canister is mounted is sinking, the clamshell canister is thrown overboard along with the enclosed life raft and compressed-air cylinder. Since the outer-end portion of the coiled rope is affixed to the cylinder valve, as the clamshell canister, with life raft and cylinder, fall downwardly, the coiled rope is paid out, or pulled out, of the clamshell canister until the clamshell canister travels 100 feet from the tie cleat to which the outer-end portion of the rope is attached. At this point, the rope is placed under tension, which tension pulls the lanyard, thereby opening the valve on the cylinder to release compressed air to inflate the raft in the clamshell canister. As the raft inflates, it applies outwardly directed force on the clamshell canister, which separates top and bottom halve shells of the clamshell canister, thereby releasing the life raft to be ready for use.

Previous methods of storing coiled rope in such clamshell canisters has often caused “snagging” of the rope during payout thereof. That is, while a coiled rope has been paid out of a falling clamshell canister, it has sometimes, snagged, so that it never applied tension on the inner-end portion of the rope and therefore never activated the cylinder of compressed air.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,653 to Ketterman et al. describes a bung plug assembly, or painter line assembly, which allows easy payout of rope from a clamshell canister with reduced possibilities of snagging. The bung plug assembly described in that patent comprises a resilient grommet cap holding a tubularly shaped housing to a canister with coiled rope in the tubularly-shaped housing. The bung plug assemble of that patent pays out rope from a coiled rope winding in the tubularly-shaped housing. There is a resilient rear cap at an opposite end of the tubularly-shaped housing through which an inner-end portion of the rope extends to a lanyard attached to a valve of a compressed-air cylinder. A bung plug through which an outer-end portion of the rope extends is insertable into a grommet-cap bore of the grommet cap, and the grommet cap has radially directed slots in which half shell edges of a clamshell canister engage. A resilient molded key engages a key slot of the grommet cap for resilently contacting the clamshell canister and holding the bung plug assembly in position at the intersection of the half shells on the clamshell canister. Rope is paid out through the grommet-cap bore once the bung plug is pulled out of the grommet-cap bore by tension.

Although the apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,653 has been quite successful, it has had several shortcomings. A main problem with that apparatus has been that it could only be mounted at the interface between the half shells of the clamshell canister. This has proven to be disadvantageous in cases where life rafts are unusually large so that the assemblies do not always conveniently fit into the clamshell canisters at the interfaces of the half shells. Also, it has been disadvantageous where tie cleats and clamshell canisters cannot be conveniently aligned for proper deployment.

Stated another way, bung plug assemblies of the prior art have not provided sufficient mounting-position flexibility. Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a painter line assembly, or bung plug assembly, which can be mounted at almost any position on a clamshell canister.

Another problem with most bung plug assemblies of the prior art is that unauthorized persons could easily tamper with them. For example, in the case of the assembly of U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,653 one could easily remove the resilient molded key and thereby loosen the mount of the bung plug assembly. Accordingly, it is a further object of this invention to provide a painter line assembly which discourages unauthorized tampering.

Still another difficulty with the prior-art bung plug assembly of U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,653 is that, because it must be mounted at the interface of the half shells, the stability of its mount depends upon the relative positions of the half shells. Similarly, it cannot be mounted on the clamshell canister until the half shells are assembled together. Because of this, the bung plug assembly sometimes interfered with closing the half shells to enclose the life raft. Thus, it is yet another object of this invention to provide a painter line assembly which can be stably mounted on half shells of a life-raft clamshell canister before the half shells are brought together so that it does not unduly interfere with assembly of the half shells.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to principles of this invention, a bung plug assembly of a type including a tubularly-shaped housing having a grommet cap at one end thereof, also includes a hard-material bulkhead adapter assembly. The bulkhead adapter assembly includes a bulkhead adapter with a smooth-surface bulkhead-adapter bore therethrough and a separate bulkhead-adapter nut. The bulkhead adapter has a tube portion with male threads thereon and a radially-outwardly extending flange portion. The tube portion is extended through a grommet bore in the grommet cap until the flange portion abuts on a surface of the grommet cap for then also being extended through an opening in a wall of a life raft canister. The separate bulkhead-adapter nut is for being screwed onto the tube portion after it has been extended through the wall of the life raft canister for thereby clamping the wall of the life raft canister between the bulkhead-adapter nut and the grommet cap. The bung plug assembly further includes a bung plug having a rope passage therethrough for tightly receiving an end of a rope in a cavity of the tubularly-shaped housing and for tightly engaging the bulkhead-adapter bore.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The invention is described and explained in more detail below using the embodiments shown in the drawings. The described and drawn features, in other embodiments of the invention, can be used individually or in preferred combinations. The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles of the invention in a clear manner.

FIG. 1

is an isometric view of a section of a boat, or ship, having a clamshell canister with a bung plug assembly of this invention mounted thereon as well as a life raft, and a compressed-air cylinder mounted in the canister;

FIG. 2

is a view like that of

FIG. 1

, but with a bung plug assembly of the prior art;

FIG. 3

is a cross-sectional, and further partially cutaway, side view of a bung plug assembly of this invention mounted on a wall of a life-raft canister;

FIG. 4

is a cross-sectional view taken on line IV—IV in

FIG. 3

; and

FIG. 5

is a side view of a spanner tool used for mounting the bung plug assembly of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Looking now at

FIGS. 1 and 2

, a boat, or ship,

10

has a life-raft assembly

12

,

12

′ mounted thereon including a clamshell canister

14

having a top half

16

and a bottom half

18

joined at an edge interface

20

, an inflatable sixteen man life raft

22

, a compressed-air cylinder

24

including a valve

26

and a lanyard

28

, and a bung-plug assembly

30

,

30

′.

As can be seen by comparing the drawings of

FIGS. 1 and 2

, the bung plug assembly

30

′ of the prior art is located at the edge interface

20

of the top and bottom clamshell halves (half shells)

16

and

18

, while the bung plug assembly

30

of this invention is located at a different desired location on the clamshell canister, and the bung plug assembly

30

of this invention has a different structure then does the prior art bung plug assembly

30

′. In fact, an advantage of the bung plug assembly of this invention is that it can be mounted at almost any location on a clamshell canister.

The bung-plug assembly

30

of this invention is shown in more detail in

FIGS. 3 and 4

where it can be seen that the bung-plug assembly includes a painter tube, or tubular housing,

32

; a grommet cap

34

mounted at a front, or an outwardly-directed, end of the tubular housing

32

and having a grommet-cap bore

40

therethrough; a rear cap

36

mounted on an inwardly directed end of the tubular housing

32

; a bulkhead-adapter assembly

37

for attaching the grommet cap

34

to a canister wall

39

; a bung plug

38

tightly insertable into a smooth bulkhead-adapter bore

41

and having a rope passage

42

therethrough; and a coiled rope in the form of a rope winding

48

having an outer-end portion

50

extending through the bulkhead-adapter bore

41

and the bung-plug rope passage

42

and an inner-end portion

52

extending through an rear-cap bore

54

.

The tubular housing

32

is constructed of hard PVC resinous plastic to form a tube cavity

55

. An inner surface

56

of the tubular housing

32

is completely smooth while an outer surface

58

has annular, outwardly-directed, front and rear slots

60

and

62

therein near front and rear ends

64

and

66

.

The rear cap

36

is molded of a resilient, but medium hard, rubber to have the rear-cap bore

54

therethrough and a radially-inwardly directed rear-cap flange

68

for mating with the rear slot

62

of the tubular housing

32

to hold the rear cap

36

on the tubular housing

32

, covering a rear-end opening of the tube cavity at the rear end

66

.

The grommet cap

34

is also molded of a resilient, medium-hard, rubber to have the grommet-cap bore

40

therethrough for receiving a tube portion

70

of the bulkhead-adapter assembly

37

. The grommet cap

34

also defines a radially-inwardly directed grommet flange

71

for mating with the front slot

60

in the tubular housing

32

to hold the grommet cap

34

covering a front-end opening of the tube cavity

55

at the front, or outwardly-directed, end

64

of the tubular housing

32

. The grommet cap

34

further defines a bulkhead-adapter-flange cavity

72

for receiving a bulkhead-adapter flange portion

74

of a bulkhead-adapter

69

. In this regard, as can be seen in

FIG. 4

, the bulkhead-adapter-flange cavity

72

has two radial slots

76

for receiving radial tabs

78

on an outer periphery of the bulkhead-adapter flange portion

74

.

Looking now at the bulkhead-adapter assembly

37

in more detail, this component includes the bulkhead adapter

69

, a separate bulkhead-adapter nut

80

and an O-ring seal

82

. The bulkhead adapter

69

is molded of hard plastic, such as PVC, as one piece to include the tube portion

70

and the bulkhead-adapter flange portion

74

. As can be seen in

FIG. 3

, the tube portion

70

is externally threaded (with left-hand threads) and defines the smooth bulkhead-adapter bore

41

, which bore also extends through the bulkhead-adapter flange portion

74

. The bulkhead-adapter flange portion

74

extends radially outwardly from the outer surface of the tube portion

70

. A seal member

84

can be mounted on the tube portion

70

at the interface between the tube portion

70

and the bulkhead-adapter flange portion

74

, however, this seal number

84

can also be omitted or molded as one piece with the bulkhead-adapter

69

.

The bulkhead-adapter nut

80

, which can also be molded of a hard plastic, such as PVC, has internal threads which mate with the external threads of the tube portion

70

. Further, there are spanner-wrench recesses on the outer circumference of the bulkhead-adapter nut

80

.

The O-ring seal

82

fits on the outer surface of the tube portion

70

and is made of an elastomer such as rubber or a resilient resinous plastic.

The bulkhead-adapter assembly

37

can be constructed as an entirely new item, however, it can also be constructed by modifying existing bulkhead-adapter assemblies. In this regard, bulkhead-adapter assemblies are available, off-the-shelf for tapping containers, tank, and the like. Such off-the-shelf bulkhead-adapter assemblies must usually be modified for this invention by removing internal threads from the bulkhead-adapter bore

41

and by enlarging and making round an outer circumference of the bulkhead-adapter nut

80

by welding, or gluing, a piece of plastic pipe (2 inch, schedule

80

, PVC pipe, for example) thereto, as is indicated by a dashed line

86

in FIG.

3

. The spanner-wrench recesses

81

are made in this added portion of the bulkhead-adapter nut

80

. By increasing the circumference of the bulkhead-adapter nut

80

, one is able to apply a greater torque force to the bulkhead-adapter nut

80

, and, by making it round, one reduces unauthorized tampering.

The grommet cap

34

and the bulkhead adapter

69

are assembled together as one piece by inserting the tube portion

70

through the central grommet-cap bore

40

, as shown in

FIG. 3

, until the bulkhead-adapter flange portion

74

seats in the bulkhead-adapter-flange cavity

72

, with the radial tabs

78

being positioned in the radial slots

76

, as can be seen in FIG.

4

. In one embodiment, the bulkhead adapter

69

is adhered to the grommet

34

so that they, together, form a composite piece, although this may not be necessary. In one embodiment, this adherence is accomplished by an adhesive, however, it is also possible to mold the grommet cap

34

about the bulkhead-adapter assembly

37

.

Describing now operation of the bung-plug assembly

30

of this invention, the bung-plug assembly

30

is assembled by placing the rope winding

48

in the tube cavity

55

and closing the rear end

66

of the tubular housing

32

with the rear cap

36

and closing the front end

64

with the composite piece formed by the grommet cap

34

and the bulkhead adapter

69

, with the inner-end portion

52

of the rope extending through the rear-cap bore

54

and the outer-end portion

50

of the rope extending through the bulkhead-adapter bore

41

and the rope passage

42

of the bung plug

38

. The bung plug

38

is tightly contracted onto the outer-end portion

50

of the rope and is inserted tightly in the outer end of the bulkhead-adapter bore

41

.

The next step is to mount the bung-plug assembly

30

on a clamshell canister

14

, as is depicted in FIG.

1

. First, one decides the most appropriate place on the clamshell canister for mounting the bung-plug assembly

30

in order to accommodate the life raft

22

in the clamshell canister and to achieve the life raft's best deployment therefrom. A canister-wall opening

88

is bored in the canister wall

39

of a half shell at the point chosen for locating the bung-plug assembly

30

and the tube portion

70

is inserted through the canister-wall opening

88

from inside the canister half shell. The O-ring seal

82

and the bulkhead-adapter nut

80

are then applied to the tube portion

70

, with internal threads of the bulkhead-adapter nut

80

being screwed onto the external threads of the tube portion

70

. A spanner wrench, for example wrench

90

of

FIG. 5

, is engaged in one or more of the spanner wrench recesses

81

and used to tighten the bulkhead-adapter nut

80

for thereby clamping the canister wall

39

between the grommet

34

and the bulkhead-adapter nut

80

. Of course, the O-ring seal

80

is also therebetween to provide a sealing of the canister-wall opening

88

.

This half shell is then used to form the life-raft assembly

12

depicted in

FIG. 1

which is mounted on the boat

10

. Otherwise, the life-raft assembly

12

functions as does the prior-art life-raft assembly

12

′, and reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,653 for its description thereof as well as for any other disclosures helpful in understanding this invention.

It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the bulkhead-adapter assembly

37

of this invention can be mounted at almost any position on a clamshell canister so that accommodation of a life raft in, and deployment of the life raft from, the clamshell canister can be optimized.

Further, the bulkhead-adapter assembly

37

of this invention can be mounted to a half shell prior to the half shells of the clamshell canister being closed so that the bulkhead-adapter assembly does not complicate such closing.

Yet another benefit of this invention is that the rope slides on the smooth hard surface defining the bulkhead-adapter bore

41

, unlike in the device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,651 where the rope slid on a resilient grommet cap.

Still another benefit of this invention is that, because a circumferentially outer surface of the bulkhead-adapter nut

80

is circular, it is difficult for one to rotate it by hand, however, the spanner wrench recesses allow one to rotate it with the spanner wrench of FIG.

5

. By requiring a special tool for rotating the bulkhead-adapter nut

80

, tampering by unauthorized persons is reduced.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit ad scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A bung-plug assembly for allowing an outer-end portion of coiled rope to extend through a hole in a life raft canister while allowing payout of said coiled rope through said hole when an outside end, which is outside said life raft canister, has a significant force applied thereto relative to said life raft canister and for supporting said coiled rope inside said life raft canister so as to allow said payout upon application of said significant force, said bung-plug assembly comprising:a tubularly-shaped housing for holding said coiled rope in a housing cavity; an engaging device mounted at an outwardly directed end of said tubularly-shaped housing for engaging said tubularly-shaped housing to said canister at said hole and thereby at least partially supporting said bung-plug assembly from said canister; wherein said engaging device comprises: a grommet cap having a grommet-cap bore therethrough, said grommet cap being attached to said tubularly-shaped housing; a bulkhead adapter including a tube portion having male threads therealong at an outer end and a radially-outwardly extending flange portion at an inner end, said tube portion extending through the grommet bore with the flange portion abutting on a surface of the grommet cap facing the housing cavity; a separate bulkhead-adapter nut having female threads for engaging the male threads at the outer end of said tube portion; said bung-plug assembly being mountable on said life-raft canister by extending said tube portion of said bulkhead adapter through an opening in a wall of life-raft canister and screwing said bulkhead-adapter nut onto said tube portion for clamping said wall of said life-raft canister between said bulkhead-adapter nut and said grommet cap.
2. The bung-plug assembly of claim 1 wherein said bulkhead adapter has a bulkhead-adapter bore therethrough and wherein an outer end of said coiled rope extends through the bulkhead-adapter bore.
3. The bung-plug assembly of claim 2 wherein is further included a bung plug having a rope passage therethrough for tightly receiving said outer end of said coiled rope and for tightly engaging a surface defining said bulkhead-adapter bore.
4. The bung-plug assembly of claim 3 wherein is further included a resilient rear cap for covering an inwardly directed end of said tubularly-shaped housing having a rear-cap bore therethrough for allowing passage of an inner-end portion of said rope.
5. The bung-plug assembly of claim 4 wherein the bulkhead-adapter bore has a smooth surface.
6. The bung-plug assembly of claim 2 wherein the bulkhead-adapter bore has a smooth surface.
7. The bung-plug assembly of claim 2 wherein said flange portion is adhered to the grommet cap.
8. The bung-plug assembly of claim 7 wherein said flange portion is circular with radial tabs.
9. The bung-plug assembly of claim 1 wherein said flange portion is adhered to the grommet cap.
10. The bung-plug assembly of claim 9 wherein said flange portion is circular with radial tabs.
11. The bung-plug assembly of claim 1 wherein the bulkhead-adapter nut has a circular outer surface.
12. The bung-plug assembly of claim 1 wherein there are recesses in said circular outer surface for receiving a spanner wrench.

US Referenced Citations (2)

Number	Name	Date	Kind
2959278	Mitchell et al.	Nov 1960
5154653	Ketterman et al.	Oct 1992

Painter line assembly

Information

Patent Number

Date Filed

Date Issued

Inventors

Original Assignees

Examiners

Agents

CPC

US Classifications

Field of Search

US

International Classifications

Abstract

Description

Claims

US Referenced Citations (2)