Personal watercraft having a preformed rub rail
US6843192B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 24, 2003 |
| Grant date | Jan 18, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 24, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB63B34/10
- WIPO fieldTransport
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
Personal watercraft having extruded rigid rub rails that can be curved in vertical and horizontal dimensions to provide complex geometries in watercraft. One rub rail has a pair of resilient opposed converging wings extending outwardly from the rub rail to form an open channel along the rub rail length. A first bottom lip can extend inwardly to hug the downwardly facing surface of the top deck. A second lip can curve upward and inward beneath the first inwardly extending bottom lip. The second lip can provide an increased ability to hug sharp horizontally curved corners of the watercraft without wrinkling, for example, the rear corners of the watercraft. The rub rail can be both vertically and horizontally curved in the same region and be affixed to a vertical bond flange. In some personal watercraft, the rub rail is formed of a rigid material having a Shore A hardness of at least about 90. The complex geometries of some rub rails are created by heating the rub rail, securing the rub rail to a forming jig or fixture, and allowing the rub rail to cool. The cooled rub rail can thus have the preformed, complex geometry of the top deck to which it is to be affixed, while having a trans…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.