Patent Application
20190100285
The present invention generally relates to boarding doors for a vessel, such as a recreational boat or yacht, configured to aid the vessel's occupants in their ingress and egress to and from the vessel. More specifically, the present invention relates to a rotating and sliding boat boarding door assembly and system that slides into a recess in the vessel's exterior (e.g., side, transom, and/or gunwale) that has been configured to receive and maintain the boarding door assembly in a position where it is out of sight when fully recessed.
The dimensions of the opening (e.g., passageway) through the sidewall of a vessel (e.g., a gunwale) govern the accessibility and therefore the easy in which an individual and cargo can traverse on and off a marine vessel. The passageway is limited by the height of the opening and the width of the opening. The height is limited by the distance between decks on multi decked vessels. The width is limited by the horizontal distance across the opening. The opening is commonly governed by the respective size of a doorway.
The ship building industry is familiar with many types of sliding and swinging door assemblies and other means for obtaining access to the vessel's deck and interior spaces. A few examples of these door and boarding devices include, companionway doors, and various folding ladders and stairs as well as retractable gangways. Typically, swinging boat doors are limited to standardly affixed and hinged designs for single doors and/or multipart doors that swing back and forth to allow access to the vessel.
Hinged boat doors require a clearance for opening. This limitation can introduce complications in the design requirements as the doors are typically pivotally cantilevered on one side by one or more hinges. This configuration can introduce several challenges for the marine engineer to consider. For example, standard hinged boat door assemblies can create undesired strains on supporting structures as well as necessitate accommodation of the hinge and closures mechanisms, and finally, hinged doors require sufficient clearances to open and close. The necessary design allowances can intrude upon the vessel's available interior deck space as well as reduce the opening dimensions. The design aesthetics of the vessel that are very important in high end and luxury marine vessels (e.g., pleasure boats, yachts, cruise ships, and the like) markets for can also be adversely impacted by these design accommodations.
Aside from hinged doors, some other vessel designs include sliding doors between the exterior deck of the vessel and the cabin interior. A sliding door is often preferred over a hinged types of boat doors because of space requirements and the negative implications of a hinged door suddenly swinging in either direction due to rolling seas. Indeed, a swinging door could severely injure one person while he or she is trying to enter or exit through such door when the rolling of the vessel due to rough seas suddenly swings the door toward the person.
Pocket sliding doors are sliding doors in which at least a portion of the door is withdrawn into an enclosure. Such doors are well known in residential housing and offices, and have also been used in vessels where swinging doors are undesirable. Pocket doors are usually straight, however, it is known to use curved pocket doors in corner cabinets, furniture, and the like.
Pocket doors could potentially be used in a boat transom or other external positions on a boat, but they would be limited. For instance, known pocket door designs are usually hung from above and/or supported from below and therefore require one or more stabilizing tracks, rollers, and guide systems, that run the length of the path of the door. Nevertheless, one or more tracks crossing the opening of the boat's transom would be undesirable for a number of reasons, including but not limited to, the tracks would diminish from the design aesthetic, they would tend to fill with water and other debris, and it could even comprise a danger during ingress and egress. These problems would be exacerbated for boats having a door in a curved, angled, or complex cross sectioned transom and/or gunwale. Such doors would have to be similarly shaped as well, which would be especially hard to implement without existing track technologies across the opening.
There are number of conventional boat boarding door systems. However, none provide a pivoting and sliding boat door boarding system that can be opened and closed without altering the original height, shape, and design aesthetic of the vessel's exterior (e.g., gunwale) while providing easy entry to the vessel's deck and interior spaces.
The present invention relates to a rotating and sliding boat boarding door mechanism configured to aid the vessel's occupants in their ingress and egress to and from the vessel. More particularly, the present invention provides a rotating and sliding boat boarding door assembly and system that slidingly moves into a recess in the vessel's exterior (e.g., side, transom, and/or gunwale) that has been configured to receive and maintain the boarding door assembly in a position where it is out of sight when fully recessed.
The several advantages of the rotating and sliding boat boarding doors make these door assemblies and systems particularly applicable to incorporation in a variety of marine vessel designs and build-outs including, but not limited to, high-end and luxury vessels such as pleasure boats, yachts, and cruise ships, and the like, as well as utility and commercial vessels such as cargo ships and freighters, fishing boats, ferries, runabouts, tug boats, firefighting vessels, law and harbor patrol vessels, Coast Guard and military vessels, and the like.
In preferred embodiments, the rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems (i.e., boarding doors) when fully opened and the boarding door is in the retracted position provides an unobstructed deck/transit surface for easy ingress and egress to and from the vessel across the opening.
In other preferred embodiments, the rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems provide a level transit surface (e.g., walking surface) for better ingress and egress to and from the vessel. In some of these embodiments, the transit surface is at a slight inclination or declination (depending on direction of transit) relative to the deck in order to compensate for any changes in deck surface levels or protrusions across the threshold of the opening and/or to assist in ingress and egress to and from the vessel. In still some other of these embodiments, the transit surface is configured with one or more means to prevent and/or limit the vessel's occupants from slipping while traversing the opening/threshold (i.e., anti-slip paint or abrasives).
In other embodiments, the rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems provide one or more outermost panels that when fully closed form a substantially smooth vertical outer vessel surface (e.g., transom, gunwale, side of the vessels, and/or the deck, and the like). Similarly, in other of these embodiments, the inside (i.e., cabin or interior facing surface) surface of the rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems provide one or more innermost panels that when fully closed form a substantially smooth vertical inner vessel surface (e.g., transom, gunwale, side of the vessels, and/or the deck, and the like). In still other of the embodiments, the rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems provide one or more topmost panels that when fully closed form a substantially smooth horizontal (top) vessel surface (e.g., transom, gunwale, side of the vessels, and/or the deck, and the like) and/or provide railing elements aligned to form continuous railing spans.
The rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems of the present invention can be designed to fit anywhere on the exterior of the boat typically considered for occupant ingress and egress, for example, along the transom, along a side of the boat, or leading into an interior space in the boat (e.g., bridges, boathouses, cabins, holds, and the like).
It is contemplated that significant portions of the inventive rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems of the present invention can be constructed or formed out of virtually any suitable waterproof or water resistant homogenous or polymeric material(s) and made to any practical size or shape, suitable materials include, any suitable construction material or combination of construction materials including, but not limited to, steel, aluminum, titanium, and marine grade alloys of these and/or other metals, carbon fiber panels, and other composite materials, fiberglass, and other fiber reinforced and/or non-fiber reinforced resin products, solid woods, veneered wood products, and laminated wood products, and plastics. In certain preferred embodiments, the rotating and sliding boat boarding door panel assemblies and systems of the present invention are manufactured from fiberglass or other waterproof polymeric material(s).
In some embodiments, the rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems of the present invention are substantially sealed from water infiltration across the edges when fully seated and held in the closed position. One or more commonly known gasket or sealing materials (e.g., natural and/or synthetic, hydrophobic compositions, latexes, silicones, and silicone impregnated materials, and the like) fashioned into seals, caulks, beads, weep holes and channels, and the like, may be optionally used to provide the desired level of water resistance across the door seal.
In certain embodiments, preferred rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems, and hence the corresponding door openings, are about one or more meter(s) long (e.g., 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, 2.0, 2.25, 2.5, 2.75, 3.0, 3.25, 3.5, 3.75, 4.0, 4.25, 4.5, 4.75, to 5.0, 5.25, 5.5, 5.75, 6.0 m or more meters and dimensions encompassed therein) and about one-half or more meter(s) tall (e.g., 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, 2.0, 2.25, 2.5, 2.75, 3.0, 3.25, 3.5, 3.75, 4.0, 4.25, 4.5, 4.75, to 5.0, 5.25, 5.5, 5.75, 6.0 m or more meters and dimensions encompassed therein).
One embodiment of the present invention provides for a single rotating and sliding boat boarding door assembly and system installed to form the desired opening, wherein the boarding door slides towards the bow, or alternatively, slides towards the stern of the vessel (when the door is mounted on the gunwale/vessel side).
In another embodiment, two rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems are installed to form the desired opening, wherein a first boarding door slides towards the bow, and the second, slides towards the stern of the vessel (when the doors are mounted on the gunwale/vessel side). Accordingly, in some embodiments, the sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems of the present invention can be used in pairs, where the doors approximate one another at their leading edges. One or more detents can be placed on a leading edge of one or more doors, possibly with corresponding indentations in an approximating surface. Sliding doors are contemplated to be straight or curved.
The rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems can be operated in any suitable manner including, but not limited to, implementing one or more of the following: manual operation by winches, cranks, levers, and the like; by electrical motors; by hydraulic jacks, pistons, and/or actuators; by other fluidic or pneumatic jacks, pistons, and/or actuators; by mechanical actuators powered by or implemented with any of the forgoing sources and additionally including, but not limited to, gears, pinions, tracks, rollers, alignment guides, travelers, sleeved and and/or concentric sliding sections, springs, pistons, dampers, cables, chains, pulley systems, screw drives, linkages, armatures, raceways and bearings, swivels, hinges and rotating pivot points, catches, palls; and optionally, one or more, motor and/or motion arrestors, movement and tension sensors, electronic eye and break beam detectors, safety stops, and/or anti-crush mechanisms, locking and security devices, safety sensors and/or inputs, and suitable operational controls.
In certain preferred embodiments, some of the rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems comprise one or more sub-assemblies. In one such particularly preferred embodiment, the rotating and sliding boat boarding door assembly and systems comprises an outer vessel wall panel section that is operably, and preferably slidingly, linked to a rotating and sliding an inner vessel wall section, and optionally, one or both further being operably linked to a flexible (e.g., articulated) transit surface.
The inner wall section can take any form that roughly imitates the general cross section of the vessel's sidewall and/or deck, and/or gunwale, and/or railing, and the like (as illustrated in the Figures). The inner wall section, in some preferred embodiments, is configured in roughly an “L” shape (i.e., provided in a right angle configuration, as illustrated in the Figures). It is further contemplated, in preferred embodiments, that the outer vessel wall panel section is capable of movement in one or more planes (i.e., X and Y, X and Z, or Z and Y) and most preferable in its X plane/axis (e.g., sliding motion about this axis) and its Y plane/axis (e.g., sliding motion about this axis). It is further contemplated that the inner wall section is capable of movement about its transverse plane, or X plane/axis, (e.g., rotational movement about this axis) as well as motion its Y plane/axis (e.g., sliding motion about this axis).
In preferred embodiments the vessel's sidewall and/or transom where one or more of the rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems have been installed, has sufficient space (width) when considered in cross section to receive the retracted inner wall section, and more preferable, additionally the outer vessel wall panel section, and even more preferably, additionally the transit surface as well, at the termination of these sub-assemblies sliding/rotational movements and retraction into the sidewall(s) and/or gunwale(s) of the vessel.
Unless otherwise defined herein, technical terms used in connection with the present invention shall have the meanings that are commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art. The meaning and scope of the terms should be clear, however, in the event of any latent ambiguity, definitions provided herein take precedent over any dictionary or extrinsic definition. Further, unless otherwise required by context, singular terms shall include pluralities and plural terms shall include the singular. In this application, the use of “or” means “and/or” unless stated otherwise. Furthermore, the use of the term “including”, as well as other forms, such as “includes” and “included”, is not limiting. Also, terms such as “element” or “component” encompass both elements and components comprising one unit and elements and components that comprise more than one subunit unless specifically stated otherwise.
Generally, nomenclatures used in connection with, and techniques of mechanical and naval engineering described herein are those well-known and commonly used in the art.
The present invention relates to a rotating and sliding boat boarding door mechanism configured to aid the vessel's occupants in their ingress and egress to and from the vessel. More particularly, the present invention provides a rotating and sliding boat boarding door assembly and system that slidingly moves into a recess in the vessel's exterior (e.g., side, transom, and/or gunwale) that has been configured to receive and maintain the boarding door assembly in a position where it is out of sight when fully recessed.
The present invention relates to the rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems as illustrated in the Figures and as further described herein.
Referring to the Figures, a rotating and sliding boat boarding door assembly 100 is shown in various degrees of articulation (between closed and open) from both inside the boat and outside the boat, according to embodiments of the present invention. As shown, the assembly 100 includes a gunnel or gunwale portion 102 that includes the top-deck portion of the door assembly and a hull or door portion 104, which is the topside hull piece of the door assembly. A recess 108 inside the hull if provided for slidably receiving the gunwale portion 102 and door portion 104 when the door is open, such that the door is hidden in the open position. See, e.g.,
The recess 108 is shaped to accommodate the gunwale portion 102 and the door portion 104 and, as shown, may be shaped similar to the cross-sectional shape of the gunwale portion 102. Additional space in the recess is also provided toward the exterior to accommodate the door portion 104.
A plurality of actuators are provided to rotate the gunwale portion 102 into position as shown in
Once the gunwale portion 102 is in position as shown in
The actuators may be manually operated, mechanical, hydraulic, or electric, or a combination thereof. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, articulation of the door assembly 100 is completely automated. Accordingly, wireless controls (not shown) may be provided, as well as a local switch or helm switch, to control the actuators. Preferably, DC linear actuators are used where possible.
A second actuator 204 may be provided for locking the gunwale portion 102 into place in its normal position. According to one embodiment, the actuator is coupled to linkages 210a and 210b locking pins so that the actuator 204 can extend locking pins 208a and 208b into corresponding recesses (not shown) in the hull, to secure the door in the closed position. Of course, the door can be secured by other, preferably automate means. For example, latches or other securing mechanisms could be used.
Operation of the door assembly can be readily understood by stepping through
Comparing
A step 116 may be provided for safe entry to or exist from the vessel. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the step 116 may be two part, coupled with a hinge (not shown). When the door is in the closed position, step part 116b is positioned up at an angle against the door portion. When the door is slide open, the step part 116b will move downward (e.g., by gravity) to cover the exposed portion of the hull, below the opening in the hull formed be removal of the door portion 104. Compare
As shown in
The recess may be exposed to sea and weather and therefore should be sufficiently sealed and provided with drains, either overboard or into the cockpit of the vessel.
The preferred embodiment of the invention is configured to be adapted in certain models of HINCKLEY YACHT'S powerboats. According to embodiments, the gunwale portion 102 includes a running board, or wash guard, as part of a raised coming and therefore, has an L-shaped cross-section. The recess accordingly, as an L-shaped opening for receiving the gunwale portion 102 after it has been rotated into position.
Materials and components to be used are preferably chosen from those suitable for marine environment. Electrical and electronic components are preferably 12 or 24 volts DC. Metal components are preferably stainless steel. The door step is preferably covered by or manufactured from a nonskid material, such as treaded teak, hard or soft non-skid fiberglass or plastic.
It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that other suitable modifications and adaptations of the rotating and sliding boat boarding door assemblies and systems and methods of the invention described herein are obvious and may be made using suitable equivalents without departing from the scope of the invention or the embodiments disclosed herein.
For example, the door assembly could be divided into more than two components and/or detachably coupled in order to accommodate different geometries. The gunwale portion can be rotated more or less based on its cross-section, to reduce the size of the recess in the hull 108. The door assembly could be provided transom of the vessel as well.
As shown, the door assembly preferably slides forward, because boats typically taper running aft and therefore, there is less room for the recess approaching the stern of the vessel. However, the invention is not limited to which direction the door slides.
A commercial embodiment of the invention utilizes a wireless switch for wireless actuation of the door via a remote, such as a key fob, for example, from MARINCO. Other means for actuating the door may be used, such as toggle switches, coupling the door controller with an onboard computer or network, etc.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62604816 | Jul 2017 | US |
