| Frameless modular floating dock with inflatable pontoons -> Monitor Keywords |
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Frameless modular floating dock with inflatable pontoonsRelated Patent Categories: Ships, Float StructureFrameless modular floating dock with inflatable pontoons description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060225635, Frameless modular floating dock with inflatable pontoons. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit under Title 35, United States Code, Section 119(e) of provisional U.S. application No. 60/667,729, filed Apr. 1, 2006, entitled FRAMELESS MODULAR FLOATING DOCK WITH INFLATABLE PONTOONS. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] This invention relates to buoyant platforms which have provisions for berthing of boats thereto or thereon, as floating docks, and more specifically to improvements thereon as modular structures. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] Among the many methods known and used for berthing of boats, floating docks are known to have particular advantages. Secured or anchored in some fashion, such docks can provide mooring for boats in areas which were formerly open water. Floating upon the body of water, such docks provide convenient mooring at a constant level above the surface, in contrast with fixed docks whose use may at times be rendered difficult or impractical due to varying seasonal depth of the body of water. Floating docks can provide mooring in bodies of water in which securing a fixed dock is difficult, as in deep muddy or sandy bottoms. Further, floating docks may serve many purposes other than mooring boats, such as serving as floating platforms for the convenience of swimmers, for example. Yet further, because they are not rigidly fixed in place, floating docks may be constructed in a modular manner that allows for easy adjustment of the dock surface area and configuration, often in the form of interconnecting rectangular modules, for example as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,660 to Rueckert. Because of these many advantages, floating docks are widely used in conjunction with boating and other aquatic activities. However, floating dock technology has heretofore suffered from a number of shortcomings as well. [0006] First, because a commensurate volume of water must be displaced for the dock to float, the required dimensions for floating dock pontoons present significant manufacturing costs if rigid pontoons are employed. To provide even a minimal amount of buoyancy such as 1000 pounds, the pontoons must displace approximately 125 gallons of water, often requiring expensive tooling to produce rigid pontoons of such size. For example, the GalvaFoam Steel Floating Dock of ShoreMaster Corporation of Fergus Falls, Minn. employs high density polyethylene pontoons to provide buoyancy. Similarly, Rueckert's dock cited above provides buoyancy by large polyethylene articles that are created in a rotating mold, at considerable cost. Even if floating dock pontoons are manufactured sectionally as float drums, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,538 to Meriweather, manufacturing rigid pontoons of such large displacement entails considerable difficulty and cost. [0007] Second, shipment of large rigid pontoons to the site where the floating dock is to be assembled and deployed entails additional difficulty and cost. Even when the pontoons themselves may not be costly, such as the steel tanks employed in the dock described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,453 to Sloan et al., their size of necessity results in significant shipping costs. [0008] Third, assembly and disassembly of a floating dock, whether for installation, maintenance or relocation, is more complicated when large rigid pontoons are involved, because of the difficulty in maneuvering pontoons of larger dimensions. [0009] Floating docks have been described which do not employ large rigid pontoons. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,820 to Klaus, for example, inflatable rings are used to provide buoyancy. By providing buoyancy with inflatable articles, such floating docks overcome some of the limitations of the art employing rigid pontoons. However, heretofore docks with inflatable pontoons have not provided the flexibility of configuration found in prior art modular floating docks. [0010] In provisional U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/660,287 filed on Mar. 10, 2005 by the inventor of the present invention, a modular dock is described that employs a rigid frame to give connectivity and integrity to buoyant support modules comprised of inflatable pontoons. While the floating dock described therein provides needed flexibility of configuration, a simpler modular design, without the need for rigid support frames, may be preferred. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0011] The present invention improves upon prior art floating docks by providing a modular buoyant support apparatus comprised of buoyant support modules of inflatable pontoons. The pontoons comprise inflatable cylindrical tubular chambers, typically fabricated of polymer coated fabric sheet material. Pontoons are fashioned so that they may be connected directly, in a modular fashion, to the underside of an appropriately configured dock platform. In some embodiments, a pontoon presents a relatively planar surface to the underside of the dock platform. The pontoons connect with attachment mechanisms depending from the dock platform via attachment points integral to or connected to the pontoons. Advantageously, the pontoons may be shipped deflated to the location for the dock and, in situ, both inflated for deployment and deflated for maintenance or relocation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0012] The foregoing objects, as well as further objects, advantages, features and characteristics of the present invention, in addition to methods of operation, function of related elements of structure, and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become apparent upon consideration of the following description and claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the various figures, and wherein: [0013] FIG. 1 is an overhead view of an inflatable pontoon module according to the present invention; [0014] FIGS. 2a and 2b represent cross-section views along the main axis of two embodiments respectively of an inflatable pontoon module according to the present invention; [0015] FIG. 3 is a side view of a floating dock according to the present invention; [0016] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a floating dock according to the present invention; and [0017] FIG. 5 is a cross-section of an alternative embodiment of an inflatable pontoon module according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0018] Referring to FIG. 1, illustrated is a top view of an inflatable pontoon module according to the present invention. Pontoon 102 comprises a tube of polymer coated fabric material, with closed ends of the same or similar material, made airtight. Pontoon 102 is further fitted with valve 104 for inflation and deflation in the manner of inflatable rafts of rubberized fabric, well known to those in the art. In preferred embodiments, pontoon 102 comprises a plurality of chambered sections, so that in the event of a rupture, the pontoon will still retain partial buoyancy. [0019] Affixed to the side edges of pontoon 102 are a number of grommets 106 which will serve as attachment points for attaching pontoon 102 to a dock platform. Grommets 106 may be made of any relatively rigid and durable material, such as metal or plastic, suitable for prolonged use in a marine environment. In preferred embodiments, the area of pontoon 102 to which grommets 106 are affixed is strengthened, as further explained in reference to FIG. 2 below, to reduce the likelihood of tearing of the pontoon at the grommets. Continue reading about Frameless modular floating dock with inflatable pontoons... Full patent description for Frameless modular floating dock with inflatable pontoons Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Frameless modular floating dock with inflatable pontoons patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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