Adjustable Height Upper Deck System for Boats
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional boats with fixed upper decks face challenges during storage, navigation, and transportation due to height limitations, preventing them from fitting in designated spaces or passing under obstructions, and lack sufficient support and stability for multiple passengers to stand or walk comfortably.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable height boat system featuring four columns that support an upper deck, allowing it to move between two heights, with actuators and sensors for automatic height adjustment to avoid obstructions, and a large, continuous walkable surface for multiple passengers, enhancing stability and mobility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If the upper deck is fixed at a high position, then it provides sufficient space for passengers to stand and walk, but it prevents the boat from being positioned in designated locations such as garages, transportation units, or boat lifts, and from passing through certain waterways
Solution Approach 1:
The upper deck is made dynamically adjustable in height through four telescopic columns that can extend and retract. This allows the deck to transition between a high position providing ample passenger space and a low position enabling the boat to fit in restricted spaces such as garages, transportation units, and boat lifts, as well as pass under bridges and other obstructions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional adjustable structures are used with towers or poles, then the height can be adjusted, but they are insufficient for supporting and stabilizing more than two passengers in upright or standing positions
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a single tower or pole structure, the invention divides the support system into four separate telescopic columns positioned at different locations on the boat. This segmentation distributes the load across multiple independent support elements, enabling the structure to safely support and stabilize more than two passengers in upright positions while maintaining height adjustability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the upper deck is made movable between two heights, then it can navigate through restricted spaces, but it requires additional actuators and control systems
Solution Approach 1:
Each of the four telescopic columns is equipped with its own actuator, allowing any combination of columns to be extended or retracted based on navigation needs. This multi-functional approach enables the system to achieve various height configurations and maintain stability through differential column adjustment, providing versatile height control while distributing the actuation requirements across multiple independent units.
Data Source
AI summary
An adjustable height boat includes a lower deck and an upper deck, movable relative to the lower deck. The upper deck is configured to support one or more passengers and facilitates movement of the passengers in an upright position. The adjustable height boat include a plurality of telescopic support legs. In one embodiment, the plurality of telescopic support legs includes four columns having actuators therein, which are configured to extend and retract in response to signals received from a controller to move the upper deck from a first position in which the upper deck is a first height above the lower deck and a second position in which the upper deck is a second height above the lower deck.