Pontoon stowage system for workboats
AssigneeSummerset Marine Construction
InventorLarry Chapman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A workboat is disclosed comprising: a hull; a first pontoon attached to a first side of the hull; a second pontoon attached to a second side of the hull; a deck on an upper surface of the hull; a pontoon stowage system configured to deploy the first pontoon and second pontoon from a stowed position atop the deck to a deployed position extending outward from the hull; an actuator operatively connected to the pontoons and configured to actuate the movement between the stowed position and the deployed position; a control unit operatively connected to the actuator to regulate the deployment and stowage of the pontoons; and an operator interface for controlling the operation of the pontoon stowage system.
Claims20
A workboat comprising:
- a hull;
- a first pontoon attached to a first side of the hull;
- a second pontoon attached to a second side of the hull;
- a deck on an upper surface of the hull;
- a pontoon stowage system configured to deploy the first pontoon and second pontoon from a stowed position atop the deck to a deployed position extending outward from the hull;
- an actuator operatively connected to the pontoons and configured to actuate the movement between the stowed position and the deployed position;
- a control unit operatively connected to the actuator to regulate the deployment and stowage of the pontoons;
- and
- an operator interface for controlling the operation of the pontoon stowage system.
A pontoon stowage system for a workboat, the system comprising:
- a first pontoon and a second pontoon, each attached to opposite sides of a hull of the workboat;
- a hydraulic actuator configured to move each pontoon between a stowed position on a deck of the workboat and a deployed position extending outward from the hull;
- pivotal brackets connecting the first pontoon and the second pontoon to the hull, the pivotal brackets allowing for the rotation of the first pontoon and a second pontoon between the stowed and deployed positions.
A method of stowing a pontoon of a workboat, the method comprising:
- providing a workboat having a hull, a first pontoon pivotally connected to the hull, a deck, and a pontoon stowage mechanism in the hull comprising an actuator and pivotal brackets;
- activating the actuator to extend the first pontoon from a deployed position of the workboat to a stowed position on the deck;
- and
- pivoting the first pontoon via pivotal brackets to the stowage position relative to the hull.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.