Collapsible watercraft
AssigneeOru Kayak, Inc.
InventorsAnton Willis, Forrest Nelson Harvey
Life of this patent
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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 single-piece hull including a plurality of crease lines, such that the single-piece hull is configured to be foldable;
- and
- a floorboard lining the midship portion of the single-piece 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, the outboard walls being fixed to port and starboard gunwales of the single-piece hull, respectively;
- wherein the outboard walls are configured to remain fixed to the port and starboard gunwales when the collapsible kayak is collapsed.
A collapsible watercraft, comprising:
- a continuous sheet forming a single-piece hull having a plurality of creases, such that the single-piece hull is configured to be foldable to selectively deploy and collapse the collapsible watercraft, the continuous sheet comprising a first folded flap extending from a port gunwale of the single-piece hull and a second folded flap extending from a starboard gunwale of the single-piece hull;
- an integrated floorboard disposed at a midship section of the single-piece hull, the integrated floorboard comprising a base portion pivotably coupled to a port sidewall and a starboard sidewall of the integrated floorboard, wherein the port sidewall comprises a first engagement profile and the starboard sidewall comprises a second engagement profile;
- and
- a first engagement member coupling the first folded flap to the first engagement profile and a second engagement member coupling the second folded flap to the second engagement profile;
- wherein the first and second folded flaps and the first and second engagement profiles are configured to remain coupled to each other when the collapsible watercraft is deployed and when the collapsible watercraft is collapsed.
A collapsible watercraft comprising:
- a continuous sheet forming a single-piece hull having a bow portion, a midship portion, and a stern portion, wherein the continuous sheet has a plurality of creases, such that the single-piece hull is configured to be foldable to selectively transition the collapsible watercraft between a deployed configuration and a collapsed configuration;
- and
- an integrated floorboard lining the midship portion of the single-piece hull between the bow portion and the stern portion, wherein the integrated floorboard is fixed to port and starboard gunwales of the single-piece hull, respectively;
- wherein the integrated floorboard is configured to remain fixed to the port and starboard gunwales when the collapsible watercraft is in the collapsed configuration, when the collapsible watercraft is in the deployed configuration, and when the collapsible watercraft is transitioning between the collapsed and deployed configurations.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.