Patent Grant
9975610
This application is the United States National Stage of and claims priority to International Application No. PCT/KR2014/007507, which was filed Aug. 12, 2014, that claims priority to Korean Application No. 10-2013-0096168 filed on Aug. 13, 2013, titled “SMALL LEISURE BOAT PROVIDED WITH TABLE AND SEATS”, both of which are is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates to a small leisure boat, and particularly, to a leisure boat including a table and seats to enable passengers to play various leisure activities on board.
In recent years, as populations for water leisure such as water play, fishing, water-skiing, skin scuba, or the like have increased, a lot of small leisure boats have been used.
The small leisure boats may be divided into a soft boat made of vinyl, rubber, and the like and a hard boat made of FRP, metal, and the like.
Among them, the soft boat has an advantage in that the soft boat can be easily purchased because a price is comparatively lower, but a disadvantage in that since there are no seats, it is difficult for many people to use the soft boat for a long time and since stability is low, long-term operation of the soft boat is difficult. Further, whenever the soft boat is used, since a cumbersome procedure of injecting and removing air needs to be performed, the small boat has a disadvantage in that it is inconvenient to use the small boat.
Since the hard boat has higher stability and seats as compared with the soft boat, the hard boat has an advantage in that long-terms use and long-term operation are available, but there is a problem in that since the price is high, it is difficult to publicly use the hard boat. Further, the small boat has a problem in that since seats are placed toward the front side, it is difficult for passengers to conveniently talk with one another while facing one another or do various leisure activities such as a game, and the like on board.
In addition, since the conventional small leisure boat relies only on buoyancy of a boat body, shaking is too severe when the passengers move on the boat, therefore, there is a problem in that it is difficult to enjoy the water leisure for a long time with the small boat.
Further, in the case of the soft boat, when an accident such as a puncture occurs, there is a high risk that a casualty will occur and when a crack is caused in the boat body of the hard boat which is relatively safe, due to external shock, there is a problem in that it is difficult to avoid sinking. In order to solve the problems, there is a case in which an air tube is additionally mounted on an outer surface of the boat body, disclosed in Patent Registration No. 10-1224156 (published on Jan. 14, 2013), and there is inconvenience in that air is injected and removed, and manufacturing cost increases due to a complicated structure.
The present invention is contrived to solve the problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a small leisure boat having high safety, which is small in shaking in spite of a user's motion or waves, is not easily turned over, and is not sunken even though the boat body is damaged.
Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a small leisure boat of which assembly and use are convenient.
In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a leisure boat of which convenience and amusement are enhanced so that users talk with one another or play a game while facing one another.
In order to achieve the aforementioned object, the present invention provides a small leisure boat including: a container-shaped boat body on which people board; seats arranged along the inner wall of the boat body; three or more connecting rods of which one end is coupled to the boat body and which are arranged symmetrically with the boat body at the center; and floating bodies connected to the other end of each of connecting rods, respectively.
In the small leisure boat according to the present invention, the boat body includes a lower body having a container shape with the bottom and the side wall and a seating portion which extends outward along the periphery of the top thereof and an upper body coupled to the top of the lower body, and the seat may be fixed by inserting an outer edge between the seating portion of the lower body and the upper body.
Further, in the small leisure boat according to the present invention, the lower body may include an upper periphery which protrudes upward at the edge of the seating portion, the upper body may include a lower periphery which protrudes downward at the edge of a lower end, the upper body and the lower body may be assembled to each other so that the lower periphery of the upper body is positioned outside the upper periphery of the lower body, and the seat may be fixed while being pressed by a step portion of the upper body positioned inside the lower periphery of the upper body.
In addition, in the small leisure boat according to the present invention, the seat includes a ring-shaped seat plate laid on the seating portion and a supporter which extends downward at the inner edge of the seat plate, and the step portion of the upper body may be laid on the outer edge of the seat plate to fix the seat.
Moreover, the small leisure boat according to the present invention may further include: three or more coupling tubes installed between the seating portion and the seat plate, into which the connecting rods are inserted, respectively; and a circular coupler including a connector connecting three or more coupling tubes.
Besides, the small leisure boat according to the present invention may further include a circular coupler installed between the seating portion and the seat plate, in which the circular coupler may include three or more groove-shaped rod seating portions on which the ends of the connecting rods are laid, a connector connecting the rod seating portions to each other, and a fixture having a curve corresponding to the connecting rod and coupled to the connector so that the curve is positioned on the top of the rod seating portion, and the fixture and the rod seating portion may constitute the coupling tube into which the connecting rod is inserted.
Further, in the small leisure boat according to the present invention, the coupling tube capable of coupling the connecting rods may be installed at the seating portion of the lower body.
In addition, in the small leisure boat according to the present invention, the connecting rod may include an elastic protrusion which protrudes outward, and the coupling tube may include a fastening hole into which the elastic protrusion is inserted.
In addition, a table may be installed at the center of the boat body and a sunshade screen may be installed on the top of the boat body.
According to the present invention, since a table is placed in a boat body and a seat is placed on the periphery of the table to enable passengers to talk with one another or play a game, convenience and amusement of leisure activities can be doubled.
Further, since stability of a leisure boat is significantly increased due to floating bodies symmetrically placed around the boat body and the boat body is positioned at the center of three floating bodies, the leisure boat is not easily shaken even to a user's motion or waves, thereby enabling comfortable and safe leisure activities.
Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As illustrated in the drawings, the leisure boat 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a cylindrical boat body 110 where persons are on board, three connecting rods 131, 132, and 133 of which one end is coupled to the body 110 and which protrude outward, and three floating bodies 121, 122, and 123 which are coupled to the other end of each of the connecting rods 131, 132, and 133, respectively.
A seat 140 is installed on the inner wall of the boat body 110 in the boat body 110, a table 160 is installed at the center of the boat body 110, and a sunshade screen 170 is installed on the top of the boat body 110.
The leisure boat 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention has an advantage in that since a load of the boat body 110 where persons are on board is distributed to three floating bodies 121, 122, and 123, the leisure boat 100 has still higher safety than the conventional leisure boat which relies only on buoyancy of the boat body 110.
In particular, since each of the floating bodies 121, 122, and 123 shows the buoyancy at a position spaced apart from the boat body 110 by the length of each of the connecting rods 131, 132, and 133, it is advantageous in that the boat body 110 does not easily rock. That is, since the boat body 110 is positioned at the center of each of the floating bodies 121, 122, and 123, the boat body 110 is not significantly shaken even though the passengers stand up or move, and as a result, there is no possibility that the passengers will carelessly fall into water or the boat body 110 will be turned over.
In the embodiment of the present invention, three floating bodies 121, 122, and 123 are placed centering on the boat body 110 at an interval of approximately 120°. However, since the number of floating bodies is not particularly limited to three, four or more floating bodies may be placed centering on the boat body 110 at the same angle.
The boat body 110 of the leisure boat 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention is formed by assembling a lower body 112 and an upper body 114 to be removable.
When the lower body 112 and the upper body 114 are separately manufactured, the shape of each mold used for manufacturing the lower body 112 and the upper body 114 is simplified, thereby significantly decrease manufacturing cost.
Each of the lower body 112 and the upper body 114 is preferably made of a thermoplastic resin material such as Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene (PE), or Polycarbonate (PC). When such a material is used, water pollution may be reduced as compared with the convention FRP made hard boat and the manufacturing cost and a process time may be reduced by a method such as vacuum molding.
The lower body 112 serves to generate the buoyancy and provide a boarding space as a cylindrical shape including the bottom and the side wall. In particular, a seating portion 112a protrudes on the top of the side wall of the lower body 112 laterally. The seating portion 112a is preferably formed in a horizontal direction, but may have a slight inclination. An upper periphery 112b protrudes upward on the end of the seating portion 112a as illustrated in
Meanwhile, when the lower body 112 is made of a transparent material, a user may observe the inside of water to double fun.
The upper body 114 is a part that forms the side wall of the boat body 110 together with the side wall of the lower body 112 and has a plane shape like a ring. The bottom of the upper body 114 is held on the edge of the seating portion 112a of the lower body 112 in assembly and in particular, a bottom periphery 114b which protrudes downward from a lower edge of the upper body 114 is coupled while covering an exterior of the upper periphery 112b of the lower body 112.
The seat 140 includes a ring-shaped seat plate 144 and a supporter 142 that extends downward from an inner edge of the seat plate 144 as illustrated in
The seat plate 144 is a part which is held on the seating portion 112a of the lower body 112 and on which the passenger straddles a hip. The supporter 142 preferably has a height as high as the bottom touches the bottom of the lower body 112, but the seat plate 144 is held and fixed on the seating portion 112a, and as a result, the seat plate 144 may be spaced apart from the bottom.
In the embodiment of the present invention, a circular coupler 150 is used as a means for coupling each of the connecting rods 131, 132, and 133 to the boat body 110. The circular coupler 150 includes three coupling tubes 154 into which the respective connecting rods 131, 132, and 133 are inserted and a circular connector 152 connecting the respective coupling tubes 154 to each other as illustrated in
The circular coupler 150 is held on the seating portion 112a of the lower body 112 and the seat plate 144 of the seat 140 is laid on the top of the circular coupler 150.
That is, as illustrated in the exploded cross-sectional view of
In this case, since an inlet of the coupling tube 154 of the circular coupler 150 is exposed to the outside of the boat body 110, grooves 117 and 118 need to be formed so that the inlet of the coupling tube 154 is exposed to the upper periphery 112b of the lower body 112 corresponding to the coupling tube 154 and the lower periphery 114b of the upper body 114. Through-holes may be formed instead of the grooves 117 and 118.
A step portion 114a which is higher than the bottom of the lower periphery 114b is formed inside the lower periphery 114b of the upper body 114. The step portion 114a presses an outer periphery of the seat plate 144 from the top to serve to fix the seat 140 and the circular coupler 150.
In such a placement state, when the lower periphery 114b of the upper body 114 and the upper periphery 112b of the lower body 112 are coupled to each other by a bolt, and the like, the positions of the seat 140 and the circular coupler 150 are fixed without using the bolt, and the like.
Meanwhile, each of the connecting rods 131, 132, and 133 is inserted and fixed into each coupling tube 154 of the circular coupler 150.
In this case, as illustrated
Further, in order to more easily insert the elastic protrusion 137 into the fastening hole 156, a stopper 158 is formed on the end of the coupling pipe 154 as illustrated in
The stopper 158 may be formed on the end of the coupling tube 154 and a protrusion having a height to cover a rear end of the coupling tube 154 may be formed in the lower body 112 to implement the stopper 158.
Further, without using the elastic protrusion 137, the connecting rod 131 may be fixed by using a bolt 159 that penetrates the coupling pipe 154, the connecting rod 131, and the lower body 112 as illustrated in
Meanwhile, as the coupling tube 154 into which the connecting rod 131 is inserted, an integrated pipe may be used and as illustrated in
Since a structure in which three rod seating portions 154a are formed in the circular connector 152 is very simple in molding, the structure is still more easily manufactured than coupling the connector 152 to the pipe type coupling tube 154.
The fixture 154b may be made of a plastic material like the connector 152 to be fused to the connector 152 or coupled through the bolt 159 as illustrated in
As each of the connecting rods 131, 132, and 133, a carbon pipe which is small in weight and excellent in durability is preferably used, but the material thereof is not limited thereto.
The floating bodies 121, 122, and 123 coupled to the respective connecting rods 131, 132, and 133, respectively are preferably made of expandable polypropylene (EPP) which is small in weight and excellent in durability, but the material thereof is not particularly limited thereto.
As illustrated in
The fixing cap 180 may be coupled to the end of the connecting rods 131, 132, and 133 by using a forced inserting scheme, screw-coupled to the end of the connecting rods 131, 132, and 133, or fixed through the bolt, and the like.
In
Implementing a spherical floating body by mounting two hemispheres on the connecting rods 131, 132, and 133 as illustrated in
Further, since the floating bodies 121, 122, and 123 are not limited to a globular shape, the floating bodies 121, 122, and 123 may be manufactured in various shapes. Accessories having various character shapes which may double amusement may be attached to each of the floating bodies 121, 122, and 123. Further, by considering that each of the floating bodies 121, 122, and 123 is distant from the boat body 110 by a significant distance, a rescue handle which a person who falls into water may easily grasp may be mounted on each of the floating bodies 121, 122, and 123.
Meanwhile, the table 160 is fixed onto the bottom of the lower body 112. In the embodiment of the present invention, a pole 162 is fixed onto the bottom of the lower body 112 and a circular table 160 is mounted on the top of the pole 162. Since a fixing method of the pole 162 is not particularly limited, all coupling methods are available unless an immersion phenomenon occurs in the lower body 112. For example, the table 160 may be installed in such a manner that a coupling protrusion is formed at the center of the bottom of the lower body 112 and the coupling protrusion is inserted into the bottom of the pole 162 at the time of molding the lower body 112. A separate coupling member may be fused or coupled to the bottom of the lower body 112.
The sunshade screen 170 may be installed by inserting the pole 172 into a hole formed at the center of the table 160. Since an installation method of the sunshade screen 170 is not limited thereto, the sunshade screen 170 may be fixed to the upper body 114. Since a material of the sunshade screen 170 is not also particularly limited, the sunshade screen 170 may be made of a stiff material such as a plastic or a in a parasol form.
In the leisure boat 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, since structures of the lower body 112 and the upper body 114, the seat 140, the circular coupler 150, and the like which constitute the boat body 110 are simple, manufacturing cost may be reduced by decreasing molding cost of the respective components and since vacuum molding is available, mass production is enabled. Consequently, the leisure boat 100 is publicly supplied by lowering a price of the leisure boat to significantly contribute to base expansion of water leisure populations.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiment and transformation, modification, or substitution to various forms may be made.
For example, in the aforementioned embodiment, each of three connecting rods 131, 132, and 133 is inserted and coupled into the coupling tube 154 of the circular coupler 150, but the present invention is not limited thereto.
For example, the circular coupler 150 is omitted and each of the connecting rods 131, 132, and 133 may be fixed to the seating portion 112a of the lower body 112 through the bolt, and the like. Further, the pipe type coupling tube 154 may be coupled to the seating portion 112a of the lower body 112 and each of the connecting rods 131, 132, and 133 may be inserted and fixed into the coupling tube 154.
In addition, when the lower body 112 and the upper body 114 are very rigidly assembled through the bolt, and the like, each of the connecting rods 131, 132, and 133 may be coupled to the upper body 114.
Moreover, three connecting rods 131, 132, and 133 are installed in the horizontal direction in the drawings, three connecting rods 131, 132, and 133 may be installed to be inclined so that the boat body (110) side is high and each of the floating bodies 121, 122, and 123 is low.
Besides, since the shape of the boat body 110 is not limited to a circular cylindrical shape as illustrated in the drawings, the boat body 110 may be manufactured in various plane shapes including a triangle, a quadrangle, a pentagon, a hexagon, an octagon, and the like.
Further, the seat 140 may be integrally placed along the inner wall of the boat body 110 and multiple seats may be separately installed. Further, as illustrated in
In addition, in the leisure boat 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, a motor propellant 190 is preferably used as illustrated in
In addition, a battery is preferably used as power, but a solar-cell panel is installed in the boat body 110, the sunshade screen 170, and the like to obtain the power. Further, an engine using oil may be mounted to drive a propeller.
Moreover, a light emitting means such as an LED may be installed so as to verify the position of the boat even at night. In addition, a GPS, a satellite communication facility, and the like for verifying the position of the boat and communication may be installed.
Transformation, modification, or substitution to various forms can be made as described above and even when the transformation, modification, or substitution is made, the transformation, modification, or substitution is, of course, included in the scope of the present invention if the transformation, modification, or substitution includes the technical spirit of the present invention disclosed in the claims to be described below.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2013-0096168 | Aug 2013 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2014/007507 | 8/12/2014 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2015/023118 | 2/19/2015 | WO | A |
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| 1296668 | Koziol | Mar 1919 | A |
| 2991488 | Le Cron, Sr. | Jul 1961 | A |
| 3212109 | Roman | Oct 1965 | A |
| 3382513 | Jennings | May 1968 | A |
| 9284020 | Lee | Mar 2016 | B2 |
| 20060162637 | Schmitt | Jul 2006 | A1 |
| 20130199431 | Nemeth et al. | Aug 2013 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2000053073 | Feb 2000 | JP |
| 10-1203603 | Nov 2012 | KR |
| Entry |
|---|
| International Search Report and Written Opinion for PCT/KR2014/007507, dated Feb. 25, 2015 (11 pages). |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160200403 A1 | Jul 2016 | US |
