US 3,937,170 AGranted

Bumper guard and arrangement for water covered areas

OwnerGlen E. Drewettinventor

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Abstract

A support frame is positioned on a structure in a water covered area and receives and supports an elongated elastomer body to function as a bumper guard to protect the structure and vessel when contact is made. The support frame and the elongated elastomer body are constructed and arranged so that the elongated elastomer body may be positioned in the support from above water level, and may be withdrawn and replaced when necessary from above water level. The support frame includes inwardly extending plates to engage the elongated elastomer body to position it on the support frame and the elongated elastomer body is constructed and arranged to absorb shock, protect the support frame, and includes one or more rigid reinforcing members to inhibit unwanted or accidental removal of the elongated member from the support frames.

Claims30

Dependent claims

An elongated elastomer body for use as a bumper guard in water covered areas and for attachment to a partially submerged structure from above the surface of the water, the body comprising:

a. a base member including:
1. a bottom surface;
2. a pair of side surfaces;
3. a pair of top surfaces extending inwardly toward each other in the same general plane, but terminating at their ends in spaced relation with the combined length of said pair of top surfaces being less than the length of said bottom surface;
b. an upper member including:
1. an upwardly extending surface at the end of each pair of top surfaces of said base member, and terminating at their upper ends in a plane above the plane in which said top surfaces of said base member extend;
2. a surface extending outwardly from the upper ends of each of said upwardly extending surfaces and extending in the same general plane in spaced relation to and overlying said top surfaces of said base member to thereby form a pair of longitudinally extending grooves along each edge of said elongated elastomer body;
c. reinforcing means in said base member, said reinforcing means including a member which is rigid along the entire extent thereof, said rigid member being disposed between said bottom surface of said base member and said longitudinally extending grooves, the dimension of said rigid member in a direction transverse to said longitudinally extending grooves being greater than the space between said ends of said top surfaces of said base member so that said rigid member overlaps the space between the grooves and extends outwardly of both upwardly extending surfaces defining said grooves.

5 more elements

A bumper guard arrangement for a structure in a water covered area comprising:

a. a support frame including:
1. a pair of longitudinally extending sides positioned in spaced relation;
2. a first plate extending longitudinally between and secured to said sides between their ends;
3. a pair of plates secured to and extending inwardly toward each other from one end of said sides and positioned in spaced relation to said first plate, said pair of plates terminating at innermost edges in spaced relation to form a space therebetween;
b. an elongated elastomer body positioned on said support frame including:
1. a base member positioned adjacent said first plate;
2. an upper member projecting beyond said pair of plates, and
3. there being a longitudinally extending groove on each side of said elongated elastomer body in which said pair of plates are engaged for positioning said elongated elastomer body on said support frame;
c. reinforcing means in said base member, said reinforcing means including a member which is rigid along the entire extent thereof, the dimension of said rigid member in a direction transverse to said longitudinally extending grooves being greater than said space between said inwardly extending plates of said support frame, said rigid member overlapping said space and extending outwardly of said innermost edges on said inwardly extending plates, whereby said reinforcing means facilitates insertion and removal of said elastomer body into and from said support frame by longitudinal sliding from above the surface of the water while also positively restraining relative movement thereof in any other direction to thereby firmly secure the elastomer body with respect to the support frame during use.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.