IPR 2016-01794
`American Vehicular Sciences
`Exhibit 2037
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`

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`Jan. 15, 1963
`
`R. J. FRAEBEL
`
`3,072
`
`930
`
`Filed April 2-5, 1960
`
`2 Sheets-Sheet 2
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`SPACED TUBE INFLATABLE LIFE RAFT
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`7I}. INVENTOR:
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`’Isl'f
`
`ROBERT J. FRAEBEL,
`
`Attorney.
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`
`

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`3,072,930
`Patented Jan. :15, 1963
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` 1 3
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`,072,930
`Si’ACEl) TUBE INFLATABLE LIFE RAFT
`Robert 3. Fraehel, Red Bank, N.J.. assignor to The Gar-
`rett Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif, a corporation of
`California
`Filed Apr.'25, 1960, Ser. No. 24,592
`3 Claims.
`(Cl. 9—11)
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`10
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`15
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`20
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`<‘i/1/r‘
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`2
`‘FIG. 4 is an enlarged verticalsectional view taken on
`line 14—4 of FIG. 1;
`FIG. 5 is an-enlarged perspective View of the ventilat-
`ing and boarding openings with the flaps shown inthe
`open position; and
`FIG. 6 is a schematiclperspective view of ac‘ompart—
`merited arrangement of the inflatable framework of the
`life raft.
`Referring to the drawings,rthere is shown an inflatable
`life raft of the reversible type having a first flexible 'panel
`10 consisting of water prooffabric which isse‘cured and
`sealed along its outer periphery to a first peripherally dis-
`posed inflatable buoyant tube 11.
`Superposed in spaced relationship to the first panel '10
`is a second flexible panel 112 consisting of water proof
`fabric which is secured and sealed along its outer pe-
`riphery to a second peripherally disposed inflatable buoy-
`ancy tube 13.
`As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, a plurality of peripherally
`spaced inflatable spacer tubes 15 are connected at one
`end to the first buoyancy tube 11 and at the other end to
`the second buoyancy tube 13. A flexible fabric spray
`shield or canopy composed of a plurality of segmental
`wall'panels 17 is secured to the peripheral tubes 11 and 13
`and the supporting tubes 15.
`_
`The spacer tubes 15 respectively communicate with the
`peripheral tubes 11 and 13 through orifices 19 and 20.
`Thus as the raft is inflated fluid will flow through the
`orifices 19 and 2d and expand the tubes ’15. When the
`raft is fully inflated, the tubes 15 will maintain the pe-
`ripheral
`tubes 11 and 13 in spaced relationship and
`either the panel 10‘ or the panel 12 will form the floor of
`the raft, the other panel automatically forming the roof.
`As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the panels 10 and 12 are re-
`spectively mounted on the outer tangency point of the
`tubes 11 and ’13 to provide the maximum possible head-
`room inside the raft. As the panels .10 and :12 assume the
`above described spaced position, the segmental wall panels
`17 of the spray shield are automatically drawn into a gen-
`erally taut position as shown in FIG. 4 of the drawing.
`The spray shield is provided with diametrically opposed
`ventilating and boarding openings 22 and'23. Each of
`the openings have a pair of flaps24 and «25 disposed to
`form a cover for the opening and adapted to be joined
`together'by releasable means, such as slide fasteners 26.
`The flaps may be retained in the open position by-means
`‘well’rknown in the art, such as snap fasteners 27.
`As shown in PEG. 1, the peripheral tube 13 is set back
`adjacent the opening 22 and the peripheral tube 11 is set
`back adjacent
`the opening 23 to facilitate boarding the
`raft from the airplane. A boarding stirrup 28 and board-
`ing handles 29 are attached on the tube 11 adjacent the
`opening 22 to aid survivors to pull themselves onto the
`raft. Similarly, a stirrup and boarding handles are pro-
`vided on the diametrically opposite side of the raft on
`tube 13 adjacent the opening 23.
`Life lines 30 are looped around the outside and the
`inside (not shOWn) of the raft to serve as hand holds
`for survivors in the water and those inside the raft. Addi~
`tional handles 31 may be placed on the panels 10 and 12
`adjacent the openings 22 and 23. A pneumatic inflation
`assembly (not shown) of a type well known in the art
`may be provided for inflating the raft. Such an assem-
`bly is shown in the Bicknell et al. Patent No. 2,908,919.
`A compartmented type of inflatable supporting frame-
`work for the floor, roof and spray shield of the raft is
`shown schematically in FIG. 6 of the drawing.
`In this
`type of framework, the top and bottom peripherially dis-
`posed inflatable buoyant tubes 11 and 13 are respectively
`shown divided into four compartments 32 and 34 by
`means of bulkheads 35 cemented or otherwise secured in
`
`.\ United States Patent. Office
`
`This invention relates to inflatable life rafts and partic-
`ularly to life rafts provided with an sheltering roof and
`canopy.
`Aircraft having scheduled flights over large bodies of
`water carry life rafts which, when tossed from a plane,
`automatically inflate so that they may be boarded by sur-
`vivors of abandoned aircraft and occupied pending ulti—
`mate rescue. The inflatable life rafts usually are con-
`structed with two superimposed inflatable main buoyancy
`tubes disposed around their periphery and include a
`floor or deck secured between the tubes. To provide
`shelter from the sun, rain or cold weather, a peripheral
`canopy and a roof are stored in the accessory kit of-the
`raft and are erected manually after the raft is inflated.
`This type of protection often is very hard to erect because
`of high wind and waves.
`In View of the above noted difficulty in erecting the
`canopy and roof, and because of the panic that may take
`place during ditching, it is desirable to have the canopy,
`roof and other exposure protection erected automatically
`when the raft is inflated. A life raft having an inflatable
`sheltering canopy disposed on an inflatable supporting
`framework has heretofore been proposed in the Bicknell
`et al. Patent No. 2,908,919. However, while this raft
`provides adequate exposure protection, it is heavy, bulky,
`and expensive to manufacture. The life raft shown in the
`Bicknell et al. patent is also single sided and, should the
`raft inflate while in the inverted position, it is necessary
`to right the raft before it can be boarded.
`It is an object of the present invention to overcome the
`foregoing and other disadvantages of the prior art by
`providing a reversible life raft having exposure protection
`means which are erected automatically during inflation of
`the raft.
`It is another object of the invention to provide a reversi-
`ble life raft having a floor, a roof, and a side wall canopy
`that are erected automatically when the life raft is in-
`flated.
`‘It is a further object of the‘invention to provide a rever-
`sible life raft of the above described type constructed
`so as to have the same characteristics and to function
`in the same way with either side up.
`It is a still further object of the invention to provide
`a life raft of the above described type that is light in
`weight, can be easily handled and is not expensive to
`manufacture.
`,
`It is still another object of the invention to provide
`a life raft of the above described type wherein the in-
`flatable tubes forming the supporting framework for the
`floor, roof and canopy walls are divided into compart-
`ments, the compartments being arranged so that a punc-
`ture of the tube in one of the compartments will not seri-
`ously impair the rigidity of the raft.
`Other and further objects of the present invention will
`become apparent from the disclosures in the following
`detailed specification, appended claims, and accompany—
`ing drawings, wherein:
`FIG. 1 is a plan View of a life raft embodying the pres-
`ent invention;
`FIG. 2 is an elevational View of the life raft shown
`in FIG. 1;
`FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on
`line 3—3 of FIG. 1;
`'
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`30
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`03U]
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`40
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`45
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`50
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`55
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`60
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`65
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`7b
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`3,072,930
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`3
`place in the peripherally disposed tubes. Each bottom
`compartment 32 is connected through a vertical spacer
`tube 33 to a top compartment 34 that is 90 degrees out
`of phase with it to form individual framework members
`for supportingthe floor, roof and spray shield. Thus if
`a bottom compartment 32 is punctured, the compartment
`34 above it remains inflated to support the portion of
`the raft floor formerly supported by the punctured com-
`partment 32.
`If desired, each of the individual frame-
`work members may be separately inflated. However,
`in FIG. 6 two communicating tubes 36 are shown inter~
`connecting adjacent framework members so that only
`a dual inflation system is required.
`In this form of the
`invention the communicating tubes 36 are arranged to
`be closed immediately after the raft is boarded.
`Various modifications may be made in the raft, for
`example,,the fioor, roof and the spray shield or canopy
`may be made of double walled “mattress” type fabric
`instead of the single fabric sheet shown in the drawing.
`Additionally,
`the floor, roof and spray shield may be
`connected to a diflerent portion of the buoyant
`tubes
`from that shown in the drawing.
`I claim:
`
`1. An inflatable life raft comprising: spaced upper and
`lower superposed peripherally disposed inflatable buoy-
`ant elements; a plurality of inflatable spacer tubes extend-
`ing between said elements; bulkheads in said elements
`dividing the elements into a plurality of compartments;
`each of said bulkheads being adjacent a spacer tube, the
`bulkheads of the upper element being disposed on the
`same side of the spacer tubes and the bulkheads of the
`lower element being disposed on the opposite side of the
`spacer tubes; a first flexible panel secured along its outer
`periphery to said plurality of compartments in said upper
`peripherally disposed element; a second flexible panel
`secured along its outer periphery to said plurality of com-
`partments in said lower peripherally disposed element,
`said first and second flexible panels automatically form—
`ing spaced upper and lower surfaces when said buoyant
`‘ elements are inflated; and -flexible wall means mounted
`on said buoyant elements and adapted to be erected
`automatically to form a peripheral spray shield when
`said buoyant elements are inflated.
`2. An inflatable life raft comprising: spaced upper and
`lower superposed peripherally disposed inflatable buoy-
`ant elements; a plurality of inflatable spacer tubes extend.
`ing between said elements; bulkheads in said elements
`dividing the elements into a plurality of compartments;
`each of said bulkheads being adjacent a spacer tube, the
`bulkheads of the upper element being disposed on the
`same side of the spacer tubes and the bulkheads of the
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`4
`lower element being disposed on the opposite side of the
`spacer tubes; a first flexible panel secured along its outer
`periphery to said plurality of compartments in said upper
`peripherally disposed element; a second flexible panel
`secured along its outer periphery to said plurality of com-
`partments in said lower peripherally disposed element,
`said first and second flexible panels automatically form-
`ing spaced upper and lower surfaces when said buoyant
`elements are inflated; flexible wall means mounted on said
`buoyant elements and adapted to be erected automatically
`to form a peripheral spray shield when said buoyant ele—
`ments are inflated; said wall means having an opening
`forming an entryway; and means associated with said
`wall means for closing said opening.
`3. An inflatable life raft comprising: spaced upper and
`lower superposed peripherally disposed inflatable buoyant
`elements; a plurality of inflatable spacer tubes extending
`between said elements; bulkheads in said elements divid-
`ing the elements into a plurality of compartments; each
`of said bulkheads being adjacent a spacer tube,,the bulk-
`heads of the upper element being disposed on the same
`side'of the spacer tubes and the bulkheads of the lower
`element being disposed on the opposite side of the spacer
`tubes; a first flexible panel secured along its outer pe-
`riphery to said plurality of compartments in said upper
`peripherally disposed element; a second flexible panel
`secured along its outer periphery to said plurality of
`compartments in said lower peripherally disposed ele—
`ment, said first and second flexible panels automatically
`forming spaced upper and lower surfaces when said buoy-
`ant elements are inflated; flexible wall means mounted on
`said buoyant elements and adapted to be erected auto-
`matically to form a peripheral spray shield when said
`buoyant elements are inflated, said wall means having an
`opening forming an entryway; the buoyant element on the
`upper side of said entryway being positioned in horizon-
`tally disposed relationship with respect to said buoyant
`element on the bottom side of said entryway; and means
`associated with said wall means for closing said opening.
`
`References Cited in the file of this patent
`UNITED STATES PATENTS
`
`2,764,766
`2,804,633
`2,854,049
`2,859,457
`2,933,739
`
`Boyle et al. ___________ __ Oct. 2, 1956
`Taylor et a1. __________ __ Sept. 3, 1957
`Wyllie ______________ __ Sept. 30, 1958
`Manhart _____________.. Nov. 11, 1958
`Miller et al. __________ __ Apr. 26, 1960
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`FOREIGN PATENTS
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`1,127,913
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`France ______________ __ Aug. 20, 1956
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`10
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`20
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`25
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`30'
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`35
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`4O
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`45
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`50’
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