Patent Application
20180194182
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The disclosure and prior art relates to floatation devices and more particularly pertains to a new floatation device for protecting a vehicle from water damage.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a vehicle. A floatation unit is provided and the floatation unit is coupled to the vehicle. The floatation unit is selectively inflated to float the vehicle on water. In this way the vehicle is protected from being damaged by flood waters.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The floatation unit 20 comprises a pair of housings 22 and each of the housings 22 is coupled to the lower side 14 of the vehicle 12. The housing are spaced apart from each other and each of the housings 22 is elongated to extend substantially along a length of the vehicle 12. Each of the housings 22 has a bottom side 24 and the bottom side 24 corresponding to each of the housings 22 is open.
A plurality of balloons 26 is provided and each of the balloons 26 is coupled to the vehicle 12. The plurality of balloons 26 is arranged into a pair of sets of balloons 28 and each of the sets of balloons 28 is positioned in an associated one of the housings 22. Moreover, each of the balloons 26 is coextensive with the associated housing. Each of the balloons 26 may be comprised of a puncture resistant material thereby inhibiting the balloons 26 from being damaged by debris or other unexpected objects.
A pump 30 is provided and the pump 30 is positioned within the vehicle 12. The pump 30 has an output 32 and the pump 30 may be an electric air pump 30 or the like. Moreover, the pump 30 may be electrically coupled to the electrical system 18 in the vehicle 12. A manifold 34 is fluidly coupled between the output 32 and each of the balloons 26. The pump 30 inflates each of the balloons 26 when the pump 30 is turned on. Each of the balloons 26 extends outwardly from the bottom end of the associated housing when each of the balloons 26 is inflated. The pump 30 selectively deflates each of the balloons 26.
A control 36 is provided and the control 36 is coupled to the dashboard 16. The control 36 is electrically coupled to the pump 30 and the electrical system 18 in the vehicle 12. The control 36 includes an inflate button 38, a deflate button 40 and a test button 42. The pump 30 inflates each of the balloons 26 when the inflate button 38 is manipulated. Additionally, the pump 30 deflates each of the balloons 26 when the deflate button 40 is manipulated. The pump 30 is temporarily turned on when the test button 42 is manipulated.
In use, the inflate button 38 is manipulated when the vehicle 12 encounters a flooded intersection, a flooded section of road or any other standing body of water. The pump 30 inflates each of the balloons 26 and the vehicle 12 floats on the water. In this way the water is inhibited from entering the vehicle 12 and damaging the vehicle 12. Additionally, the balloons 26 are selectively inflated when the vehicle 12 is parked and flood waters are expected. The deflate button 40 is manipulated to deflate each of the balloons 26 at any selected time. Additionally, the test button 42 is manipulated to test the pump 30 and ensure that the pump 30 and each of the balloons 26 is functioning properly.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, system and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
