Method Of Manufacturing A Ship Deck And A Prefabricated Ship Deck Element For Executing The Method

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a ship deck and a prefabricated ship deck element for manufacturing the ship deck. The ship deck comprises a surface layer with an exposed upper side, e.g. of teak, being supported upon a carcase existent in the ship and having a surface that has protruding irregularities. The prefabricated ship deck element comprises said surface layer and an underlying layer of cellular plastic, and is applied upon the carcase by attaching the free lower surface of the cellular plastic layer to the carcase, such that the irregularities occurring on the surface of the carcase sink into the cellular plastic and the exposed surface layer remains essentially unaffected by said irregularities. In this way, a great surface finish can easily be achieved, at the same time obtaining significant savings of weight, subduing of footsteps and thermal insulation.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority and benefit from Swedish Patent Application No. 0401338-9, filed May 25, 2004, the entire teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. This application also claims priority from PCT / SE2005 / 000769 filed May 24, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated here by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] The present invention refers to a method of manufacturing a deck structure for boats and ships allowing achievement of great finish on an exposed top surface preferably made of teak, and a prefabricated ship deck element for executing the method. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] When manufacturing a deck on boats and ships, a top surface layer is typically applied on a supporting carcase, e.g. made of metal plate, having a surface layer that is exposed during use. In the following description, the generic term “ship” is used for the sake of simplicity to represent boats and ships of any kind and size having such a deck. “Carcase” implies ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides a simple and reliable solution for achieving great surface smoothness on ship decks without adding significant weight or requiring extensive workload during manufacture. The method involves applying a ship deck element with a surface layer of teak or other material on an inelastic carcase, which has protruding irregularities. The cellular plastic layer, which is placed between the surface layer and the carcase, sinks into the irregularities on the carcase surface, resulting in a smooth deck surface. The method can also involve using an impression or pre-removing material from the cellular plastic surface to create recesses where the irregularities can sink. The invention also provides a prefabricated ship deck element with a surface layer of teak or other material and an underlying layer of cellular plastic, which can be easily attached to the carcase. The surface layer can be made of a web structure with seams between the webs."

Problems solved by technology

However, when manufacturing teak decks it is a significant problem to achieve great smoothness on the teak top surface or similar.

Moreover, the plates per se are often more or less embossed and rugged, thereby resulting in that the carcase surface presents randomly occurring variations in height and protruding parts, in addition to said welding seams.

However, these previous manufacturing methods and deck structures are associated with a number of problems and drawbacks.

This addition of material results in considerable costs and increased weight that may be in the magnitude of tens of tons for large yachts or ships.

Using the known methods, it is also relatively difficult to achieve the great smoothness always being demanded.

Furthermore, a deck manufactured according to the prior art is somewhat hard and stiff to walk upon, and has also inferior insulating characteristics with respect to both temperature and noise / vibrations.

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