Collapsible watercraft
AssigneeOru Kayak, Inc.
InventorsAnton Willis, Forrest Nelson Harvey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A collapsible kayak may include a single-piece hull including a plurality of crease lines along which the hull is foldable. A floorboard lines a midship portion of the hull between a bow portion and a stern portion, and the floorboard includes a base and a pair of outboard walls permanently fixed at distal ends to port and starboard gunwales of the hull. The bow, stern, and midship portions are configured as a tri-fold, such that the bow portion and the stern portion of the kayak are foldable toward each other to overlap the midship portion of the hull when collapsed.
Claims20
A collapsible kayak, comprising:
- a continuous sheet forming a single-piece hull having a bow portion, a midship portion, and a stern portion, the hull including a plurality of crease lines along which the hull is foldable;
- and
- a floorboard lining the midship portion of the hull between the bow portion and the stern portion, the floorboard including a base and a pair of outboard walls pivotably coupled to the base and permanently fixed at distal ends to port and starboard gunwales of the hull, respectively;
- wherein the bow, stern, and midship portions are configured as a tri-fold, such that the bow portion and the stern portion of the kayak are foldable toward each other to overlap the midship portion of the hull when collapsed;
- and
- wherein the floorboard is disposed on a first side of the continuous sheet, and a second side of the continuous sheet opposite the first side faces outward when the kayak is collapsed.
A collapsible watercraft, comprising:
- a continuous sheet forming a single-piece hull having a plurality of creases at which the hull is foldable to selectively deploy and collapse the watercraft;
- a closed prow at a bow end of the hull and a closed transom at a stern end of the hull;
- and
- an integrated floorboard disposed at a midship section of the hull, at least a portion of the floorboard being permanently fixed to the hull;
- wherein the bow end and the stern end are foldable toward the floorboard at respective creases forward and aft of the floorboard to overlap the midship section such that the closed prow and closed transom nest together over the floorboard.
A method of using a collapsible kayak, the method comprising:
- releasing one or more temporary fasteners holding a collapsible kayak in a deployed configuration to cause port and starboard gunwales of the kayak to be moveable in an outboard direction, wherein the kayak has a midship section including an integrated floorboard fixed to an outer hull of the kayak at the port and starboard gunwales, the outer hull formed by a continuous sheet;
- folding a first end of the hull of the kayak at a first crease toward a second end of the hull, such that the first end overlaps the integrated floorboard;
- and
- folding the second end of the hull at a second crease to overlap the first end of the hull, such that the first end of the hull nests within the second end of the hull.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.