Helicopter extractable cold weather/water liferaft

• US 4,533,333 A
• Filed: 08/08/1980
• Issued: 08/06/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/1980
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: The United States of America As Represented By The Secretary of Agriculture
• Original Assignee: the united states of america as represented by the secretary of the navy
• Inventors: Hamilton, Robert, Shields, Curtis E., Andrew, Wesley A., Hindlin, Harry O.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sotelo, Jesus D.
• Application Number:
  US06/176,376
• Time in Patent Office: 1,824 Days
• Field of Search: 9/5, 9/4 R, 9/4 A, 9/2 A, 9/8 R, 9/11 R, 9/11 A, 9/14, 441/35, 441/37, 441/38, 441/40, 114/345, 114/348, 114/349, 114/350
• US Class Current: 441/38
• CPC Class Codes: B63C 2009/042 inflatable
• CPC Class Codes: B63C 2009/044 covered
• CPC Class Codes: B63C 9/01 Air-sea rescue devices, i.e. equipment carried by, and capable of being dropped from, an aircraft inflatable vessels B63B7/00; inflatable buoys B63B22/22
• CPC Class Codes: B63C 9/04 Life-rafts
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 1/22 Taking-up articles from earth's surface

Abstract

An inflatable liferaft improves disaster victims'"'"' chances of survival, pacularly in cold waters. Three inflatable ribs support a layered canopy from the sides of the raft to assure protection from the elements. A highly reflective coating or an equivalent space-blanket type material is provided on the inside of the canopy to help keep the occupants warm and act as a radar reflector. The inflatable ribs also aerodynamically shape the raft to stabilize it in high wind states and while being towed through the air by a rescue helicopter. A hoisting harness cradles the bottom and sides of the raft and is connected to an enlarged hoisting eye located overhead or floating on the water to assure an unassisted, reliable engagement by a helicopter-born hook. After the hook has engaged the hoisting eye and as the harness lifts the raft from the water, a number of covers located along the bottom of the raft'"'"'s hemispherical ballasting chamber are pulled from their respective openings to allow the rapid dumping of ballast water. Thusly relieved of this load, the helicopter can rapidly transport the survivors to a medical facility. Because the liferaft is plucked from the water intact, the incapacitated have a better chance of survival and the others along with the rescue team are not exposed further to cold water or the helicopter'"'"'s downwash.

Claims

1. In an improved liferaft having a base supporting a continuous side above and a water filled ballasting chamber below for protecting survivors from exposure, an improvement therefor is provided comprising:

means extending beneath and across the base and terminating above it for cradling the base, sides and survivors;

means coupled to the cradling means at its termination above the base and sides for positioning a portion to engage a lifting hook;

means disposed on the ballasting chamber for providing at least one opening for dumping water from the ballasting chamber as the liferaft is lifted from the water by the lifting hook; and

means having three radially extending inflatable ribs supporting a covering which is coupled at its lower edge to the sides to form a protective enclosure for creating an aerodynamically stable body as the liferaft is being towed through the air after it has been lifted from the water, the covering is provided with an internally exposed layer that reflects heat in the interior to help prevent hypothermia, the cradling means has portions radially converging beneath and across the base and radially converges at the termination above the base and separated from and above the aerodynamically stable body creating means and the opening providing means is at least one panel having means between at least a portion of its periphery and the sides of the ballasting chamber for parting being subject to a predetermined pressure differential.

2. An improved liferaft according to claim 1 in which the parting means is a strip of the material around at least a portion of each panel having a tensile strength that will fail as the liferaft is being lifted from the water to allow dumping of water from the ballasting chamber.

3. An improved liferaft according to claim 1 in which the parting means are mating sections of a separable material such as Velcro fashioned to have a parting strength for separating as the liferaft is being lifted from the water to allow dumping of water from the ballasting chamber.

4. An improved liferaft according to claim 1 in which the portion positioning means is an inflatable structure locating a hoisting eye connected to the radially converging termination in a position prominently above the liferaft, the hoisting eye sized to present a viable hook-up target for a helicopter borne lifting hook.

5. An improvement according to claim 1 in which the portion positioning means is a painter line attached to the radially converging termination and coupled to an at least partially buoyant hoisting eye disposed at the water'"'"'s surface some distance from the liferaft and sized to present a viable hook-up target for a helicopter borne lifting hook.

6. In an improved liferaft having a base supporting a continuous side above and a water filled ballasting chamber below for protecting survivors from exposure, an improvement therefor is provided comprising:

means extending beneath and across the base and terminating above it for cradling the base, sides and survivors;

means coupled to the cradling means at its termination above the base and sides for positioning a portion to engage a lifting hook;

means disposed on the ballasting chamber for providing at least one opening for dumping water from the ballasting chamber as the liferaft is lifted from the water by the lifting hook; and

means having three radially extending inflatable ribs supporting a covering which is coupled at its lower edge to the sides to form a protective enclosure for creating an aerodynamically stable body as the liferaft is being towed through the air after it has been lifted from the water, the covering is provided with an internally exposed layer that reflects heat in the interior to help prevent hypothermia, the cradling means has portions radially converging beneath and across the base and radially converges at the termination above the base and separated from and above the aerodynamically stable body creating means and the portion positioning means is an inflatable structure locating a hoisting eye connected to the radially converging termination in a position prominently above the liferaft, the hoisting eye sized to present a viable hook-up target for a helicopter borne lifting hook.

7. In an improved liferaft having a base supporting a continuous side above and a water filled ballasting chamber below for protecting survivors from exposure, an improvement therefor is provided comprising:

means extending beneath and across the base and terminating above it for cradling the base, sides and survivors;

means coupled to the cradling means at its termination above the base and sides for positioning a portion to engage a lifting hook, the portion positioning means is a painter line attached to the radially converging termination and coupled to an at least partially buoyant hoisting eye disposed at the water'"'"'s surface some distance from the liferaft and sized to present a viable hook-up target for a helicopter borne lifting hook;

means disposed on the ballasting chamber for providing at least one opening for dumping water from the ballasting chamber as the liferaft is lifted from the water by the lifting hook; and

means having three radially extending inflatable ribs supporting a canopy covering which is coupled at its lower edge to the sides to form a protective enclosure for creating an aerodynamically stable body as the liferaft is being towed through the air after it has been lifted from the water, the canopy covering is provided with an internally exposed layer that reflects heat in the interior to help prevent hypothermia, the cradling means has portions radially converging beneath and across the base and radially converges at the termination above the base and separated from and above the aerodynamically stable body creating means.