Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim
16 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 1, in which said connecting means comprises bonding material.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
44 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 1, adapted to float in water, in which the said tubes of the upright walls have more volume than the tubes of said deck and the vehicle has a center of buoyancy above its center of gravity.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
51 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 1, in which the central spaces in at least some of the doughnut-shaped tubes of said upright walls are open from an area above said deck to the exterior of the vehicle, adapted to permit extension of a bather''s arms thru the tube openings.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
87 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 1, in which: at least the majority of the tubes of said deck are in juxtaposed fore-and-aft rows; the centers of these tubes in each of the said rows are substantially in a straight fore-and-aft line; the tubes of at least some of the adjacent pairs of said rows are staggered; the outermost side rows have fewer tubes than a middle one of the rows; and the forward and after ends of the vehicle are quasi-triangular in horizontal cross section.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
47 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 1, in which: said deck skin means comprises parallel, planar sheets of firm stiff material; the said tubes of the deck are between said sheets; and the vehicle includes flexible, waterproofed skin means on the tubes of said upright walls.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
14 words
Structure as set forth in claim 1, in which said vehicle is a boat.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
20 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 1, comprising porous-plastic filler material between adjacent external peripheries of said deck-frame tubes.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
17 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 8, in which said porous-plastic filler material comprises foamed plastic.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
19 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 8, comprising porous-plastic filler material in central spaces of said deck-frame tubes.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
24 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 1, comprising porous-plastic filler material between adjacent external peripheries of said deck-frame tubes and said wall-frame tubes.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
20 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 11, comprising porous-plastic filler material in at least some of said wall-frame tubes.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
42 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 1, in which: said upright walls comprise forward and after walls attached to a pair of side walls; and said vehicle comprises a top, attached to upper portions of said forward, after and side walls.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
51 words
Structure as set forth in claim 13, comprising a cabin boat, in which the said top is an upper deck and comprises: a top skin means; within said top skin means at least one top fore-and-aft row of aligned doughnut-shaped tubes; and gaseous material within the tubes of said top row.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
37 words
Structure as set forth in claim 14, in which each of said forward and after walls comprises: wall-skin means; doughnut-shaped tubes arranged flatwise within said last-named skin means; and gaseous material within each of said last-named tubes.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
18 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 1, in which said gaseous material comprises gas under above-atmospheric pressure.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
35 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 1, having a center of buoyancy above its center of gravity, in which the said gaseous material in at least some of the upright-wall tubes comprises lighter-than-air gas.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
55 words
Structure as set forth in claim 1, comprising a topless vessel, adapted to float in water and to support at least one person, in which the volume of said wall-frame tubes is greater than that of said deck-frame tubes, and said vessel has a center of buoyancy above the top surface of said deck-skin means.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
24 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 1, comprising a central element, lighter than water, in the central space of each doughnut-shaped deck tube.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
15 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 19, in which said central element comprises plastic.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
27 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 20, in which said plastic is foamed plastic, and said central element comprises a lighter-than-air unit in said foameD plastic.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
37 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 1, floatable in water comprising a pair of catamaran floats, attached to said deck, each of said floats comprising float-skin means and doughnut-shaped tubes arranged flatwise in said float-skin means.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
51 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 22, in which: each of said deck and float tubes comprises resilient tube-wall material; each of said deck-skin means and said float-skin means comprises resilient material; and said vehicle comprises a central tube-bracing element in the central space of each of said doughnut-shaped tubes.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
25 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 23, in which said central element is circular in cross section and in weight is lighter than water.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
38 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 23, in which: said tubes contain gas under above-atmospheric pressure; said tube-wall material is extensible; and said skin means and central element limit expansion of said tube-wall material under gaseous pressure.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
91 words
A vehicle, comprising: a load-supporting deck, having: deck-skin means; and at least one fore-and-aft row of aligned, doughnut-shaped deck-frame tubes, assembled flatwise in said deck-skin means; a plurality of upright walls, each wall of at least one pair of said walls comprising: wall-skin means; a plurality of aligned, doughnut-shaped wall-frame tubes, associated flatwise in said skin means; and at least one windowed element in the central space of one of said doughnut-shaped wall-frame tubes; gaseous material inside each of said doughnut-shaped tubes; and vehicle-strength-providing means connecting said deck and walls together.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
20 words
A vehicle as set forth in claim 26, comprising porous filler material between adjacent external peripheries of said deck-frame tubes.