Direct Fluid Coupling for Boat Ballast Bladder Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Recreational boats used for water sports face challenges in creating desired wakes due to slow ballast filling rates and issues with hoses, such as kinking and flooding, and also struggle with aquatic invasive species (AIS) contamination in ballast systems.
Innovation Solution
A ballast system that includes a ballast tank and a ballast bladder connected directly through a fluid coupling without hoses, featuring a large opening for easy access and rapid filling/draining, which facilitates the use of a hand to inspect and clean the tank, thereby preventing AIS spread and improving filling efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If hoses are used to connect the ballast tank and bladder, then the system is flexible and easy to install, but the filling rate is slow and hose-related issues (kinking, flooding) occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes hoses from the ballast system by implementing a direct fluid coupling between the ballast tank and bladder. The tank coupling component and bladder coupling component connect directly without intervening hoses, eliminating kinking and flooding issues while enabling rapid filling through a large opening that allows direct water transfer.
Solution Approach 2:
The fluid coupling is segmented into separate tank and bladder coupling components that can be independently attached and detached. This segmentation allows for easy installation and maintenance while maintaining direct fluid connection, solving both the reliability and productivity issues.
2Ease of operation
If a small opening is used in the ballast tank, then the structural integrity is maintained, but inspection and cleaning access is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The large opening in the ballast tank wall is designed to allow preliminary inspection and cleaning actions to be performed easily. The opening is sized to permit hand insertion for removing debris and inspecting the tank interior, while the structural integrity is maintained through proper reinforcement and design of the opening boundaries.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If traditional ballast systems are used, then the setup is conventional and simple, but aquatic invasive species (AIS) contamination and spread occur
Solution Approach 1:
The ballast system is segmented into a removable bladder component and a fixed tank component. This segmentation allows the bladder to be easily removed, inspected, and cleaned separately from the tank, facilitating effective AIS mitigation while keeping the overall system design relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the potential AIS contamination risk by enabling complete removal and inspection of the bladder component. The large opening allows for thorough cleaning and inspection to detect and remove any aquatic invasive species, while the direct coupling eliminates hose-related contamination risks.
4Productivity
If a direct fluid coupling without hoses is used, then filling and draining rates are enhanced, but the coupling mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The direct fluid coupling is segmented into modular tank and bladder coupling components that can be independently manufactured and assembled. This segmentation simplifies the manufacturing process and reduces overall complexity while maintaining the high filling and draining rates enabled by the direct connection and large opening.
Data Source
AI summary
A ballast system for a boat includes a ballast tank, a ballast bladder, and a fluid coupling. The ballast tank includes a plurality of walls defining a tank cavity for storing water therein. The ballast bladder includes one or more panels defining a bladder cavity for storing water therein. At least one of the panels is a flexible panel. The fluid coupling includes a receiver and a plug engageable with the receiver to fluidly connect the tank cavity with the bladder cavity. One of the receiver or the plug is a tank coupling component directly attached to one of the plurality of walls of the ballast tank and the other one of the receiver or the plug is a bladder coupling component directly attached to one of the panels of the ballast bladder.