Double-Carrier Platform for Watercraft Load Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Height-adjustable carrier platforms on watercraft face high loads and forces in rough seas, leading to instability and safety concerns, particularly when loading or unloading tender boats or jet skis, as they concentrate weight and forces on limited areas, increasing the risk of unintentional movement and collision with propellers or exhaust gases.
Innovation Solution
A double carrier platform system that distributes load over a larger area by incorporating an underlay platform, with active kinematics and electronic safety features to prevent unintentional lowering, and integrates stabilization and trimming elements, including transverse thrusters and exhaust gas routing, to enhance safety and usability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single carrier platform is used on watercraft, then the structure is simple, but the load concentration increases and stability decreases in rough seas
Solution Approach 1:
The platform system is divided into two separate platforms: a fixed underlay platform attached to the watercraft stern and a movable carrier platform that can be lowered onto it. This segmentation distributes the load across two distinct structural elements, reducing concentration on any single point and improving overall stability in rough seas while maintaining manageable structural complexity through modular design.
2Ease of operation
If the carrier platform is lowered close to the water surface, then boarding ease increases, but collision risk with propellers and exhaust gases increases
Solution Approach 1:
The underlay platform serves as an intermediary safety barrier between the carrier platform and the watercraft's hazardous components (propellers and exhaust gases). When the carrier platform is lowered for easy boarding, the underlay platform remains in place to physically block access to dangerous areas, thus maintaining boarding convenience while eliminating collision risk through this protective intermediate structure.
3Reliability
If mechanical locks and electronic safety systems are integrated, then safety increases, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple safety functions are merged into integrated systems: mechanical locks on the lifting cylinders are combined with electronic position sensors and control systems that monitor platform height and watercraft motion. The electronic system coordinates the mechanical locking mechanisms, and both work together with the underlay platform structure to provide comprehensive safety. This merging reduces overall system complexity compared to having separate, uncoordinated safety devices while maintaining high reliability through functional integration.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a double-carrier platform (1, 2) for a watercraft in order to reduce the force influences when driving a tender vehicle (49), to improve the safety of lift control and, by means of the lift kinematics, to enlarge the usable area of the carrier platform (1) with the lower platform (2). Various electronic means such as touch sensors (11), position transducers/angle transmitters (20) or motor control (69) additionally enhance the safety of the installation.