Jet powered rigid inflatable boat with dead-man switch
AssigneeAutoBoat Corporation
InventorCraig Tafoya
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a rigid inflatable boat having a rigid hull with a bottom wall and side walls having top edges carrying floatation pontoon, a water jet drive is mounted on the bottom wall near a transom closing the rear end of the hull. The jet drive has an inlet communicating with a hole through the bottom wall and an outlet communicating with a hole through the transom. A steering cowl arrangement is mounted around the outlet of the jet drive and is connected to a steering wheel and handle for controlling the direction of water discharge for the jet drive. Seals are provided between the floatation pontoons and the transom for avoiding entry of water into the hull. The boat includes a seat positioned forward of the jet drive to distribute weight evenly on the hull.
Claims19
In a boat having a rigid hull with a bottom wall, a pair of side walls connected to the bottom wall, each side wall including an upper edge and a rear edge, and the hull including a transom connected to the bottom wall and between the rear edges of the side walls, the boat including flexible pontoon means connected to the upper edges of the side walls, the improvement comprising:
- water jet means mounted on the bottom wall near the transom and having an inlet for receiving water and an outlet for discharging water with force to propel the boat;
- the bottom having a bottom surface and a first hole therethrough communicating with the inlet and the transom having a second hole therethrough communicating with the outlet;
- water steering means connected to the transom over the second hole for steering water discharged through the outlet;
- a keel connected to the bottom surface of the bottom wall near a front of the bottom wall, the bottom wall being flat and being free of the keel near the rear of the bottom wall in the vicinity of the first hole through the bottom wall and the inlet of the water jet means;
- and
- a pair of fins extending parallel to the keel, on opposite sides of the inlet at a location spaced rearwardly of the keel and substantially rearwardly of said first hole.
A powered, rigid inflatable boat comprising:
- a rigid hull defining an interior space having a bottom and a transom;
- floatation pontoons connected to the hull and extending above the hull and on opposite sides of the transom;
- the hull including a first hole through the bottom thereof near the transom and the transom including a second hole therethrough;
- water jet drive means mounted on the bottom of the hull near the transom, said water jet drive means having an inlet communicating with the first hole and an outlet communicating with the second hole for receiving water through the first hole and discharging it under force through the second hole for propelling the boat;
- a steering cowl pivotally mounted to the outlet for rotation about a vertical axis;
- a reverse cowl pivotally mounted to the steering cowl for rotation about a horizontal axis;
- seat means mounted on the hull bottom forward of the water jet means;
- and
- control means mounted near the seat means and operatively connected to the steering cowl, the reverse cowl and the water jet drive means, said control means including a "dead man" switch comprising a rocker type foot pedal pivotally connected to the rigid hull, spring means connected to the foot pedal for biasing the foot pedal into a neutral position when no foot force is applied to the foot pedal, corresponding to an idle condition for the control means, the control means including a trottle cable connected between the foot pedal and the water jet drive means for activating the water jet drive means for increasing the force of water passing through the water jet drive means to propel the boat when the foot pedal is pivoted in one direction beyond the neutral position, and a reverse cable connected between the pedal and the reverse cowl for pivoting the reverse cowl with rotation of the foot pedal in an opposite direction from the neutral position to propel the boat in a reverse direction, movement of the foot pedal into the neutral position positioning the trottle cable and the reverse cowl for neutral propulsion on the boat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.