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US 5,911,542 AGranted
Unsinkable floating dock system
AssigneeDiamond Dock, L.L.C.
InventorsWilliam L. Obrock, John O. Kjar
Life of this patent
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AssigneeDiamond Dock, L.L.C.
InventorsWilliam L. Obrock, John O. Kjar
Estimating the term…
A dock module comprises an air-tight flotation chamber with a buoyant foam material positioned within an upper end thereof. The flotation chamber includes aperture positioned on its bottom end to permit water to enter the chamber and serve as a ballast. To float the dock module, compressed air is injected into the flotation chamber to increase the module's buoyancy and adjust its freeboard so that the buoyant foam is lifted completely above the water contained within the flotation chamber. If the air-tight flotation chamber fails, the buoyant foam will prevent the dock module from becoming submerged. Each module comprises a plurality of longitudinally and laterally extending tubes that can be used to attach the module to a like module using tubular couplers and tensioned cabling. Multiple modules can thus be joined in any desired configuration to yield a floating dock system having virtually any desired geometry.
A dock comprising a flotation chamber having at least one opening, the opening being located on a portion of the flotation chamber that is positioned below water level when the dock is placed in a body of water, the opening thereby permitting water to enter into and be contained by the flotation chamber when the dock is in said body of water, and a buoyant material positioned within the flotation chamber and capable of floating the dock, the flotation chamber being adapted for containing an amount of pressurized gas sufficient to float the dock in said body of water with the buoyant material positioned above at least the water level in the flotation chamber, the buoyant material thereby serving as a backup source of flotation for the dock.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.