Foldable inflatable rescue pontoon
OwnerTerry N. Sofianinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An inflatable rescue pontoon for performing multiple water rescue operations comprises an elongate shell having a plurality of longitudinally extending individual sections. The plurality of individual sections includes a bow section. The bow section is the forwardmost individual section and is hydrodynamically shaped to enhance maneuverability of the pontoon in water. Valve means communicate with the shell for selectively inflating and deflating the pontoon.
Claims24
An inflatable rescue pontoon for performing multiple water rescue operations, the rescue pontoon comprising an elongate shell having a central longitudinal axis when the pontoon is inflated and a plurality of interconnected sections aligned longitudinally along the central longitudinal axis, the plurality of sections including a bow section, a stern section and at least one folding section
- the bow section being the forwardmost section and constructed of a high-impact resistant material to prevent damage to the pontoon,
- the stern section being the rearwardmost section,
- the folding section being intermediate the bow and stern sections and constructed of a flexible, abrasion resistant material to prevent abrading of the shell, the abrasion resistant material being a different material than the high-impact resistant material of the bow section and being sufficiently limp when the pontoon is deflated so that the folding section is capable of folding over on itself for folding the rescue pontoon into a compact configuration for transport;
- and
- valve means communicating with said shell for selectively inflating and deflating the pontoon.
An inflatable rescue apparatus for performing multiple water rescue operations, the rescue apparatus comprising a rescue pontoon including an elongate shell having a plurality of sections, at least one of said sections being sufficiently flexible to allow folding of the pontoon, the shell further having first and second spaced apart load bearing members being substantially rigid, and load distributing means extending between said load bearing members said load distributing means being at least partially supported by said first and second load bearing members such that loads bearing on said load distributing means are distributed to the first and second load bearing members.
An inflatable rescue apparatus for performing multiple rescue operations, the apparatus comprising:
- an elongate shell having a bow section, a forward folding section, a forward load bearing section, a central load distributing section, a rear load bearing section, a rear folding section and a stern section, each section being connected to an adjacent section, the sections being arranged in the following order from front to rear, the bow section, the forward folding section, the forward load bearing section, the central load distributing section, the rearward load bearing section, the rearward folding, section and the stern section;
- the bow section, stern section and load bearing sections being made of a high-impact resistant material, the load distributing section and folding sections being made of a flexible, abrasion resistant material;
- the folding sections being constructed for folding back upon themselves when the pontoon is deflated such that the bow section and the stern section are engageable with the central load distributing section in a compact configuration for transport of the apparatus;
- an inflatable, airtight bladder substantially fully enclosed within the shell;
- and
- valve means communicating with the inflatable bladder for selectively inflating and deflating the bladder.
An inflatable rescue pontoon for performing multiple water rescue operation, the rescue pontoon comprising:
- an elongate shell having a plurality of sections including a bow section, a stern section and a load distributing section, the sections being longitudinally aligned when the pontoon is inflated, the bow section being the forwardmost section and made of a high-impact resistant material to prevent damage to the pontoon, the stern section being the rearwardmost section and being made of a high-impact resistant material, the high-impact resistant material of the bow section and stern section is flexible such that the bow and stern sections may be at least partially collapsed when the pontoon is deflated for transport, at least one of the pontoon sections intermediate the bow and stern sections being constructed for folding over on itself when the pontoon is deflated such that the rescue pontoon may be folded into a compact configuration for transport, the load distributing section being located between the bow section and stern section, the load distributing section being made of a flexible, abrasion resistant material, the load distributing section having load distributing means for distributing loads applied to the load distributing section to other sections of the shell;
- and
- valve means communicating with said shell for selectively inflating and deflating the pontoon.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.