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This sounds like it would have been thought about already.
What about the installation of airbags inside a boat hull that can be inflated automatically or on command if the boat is involved in an accident and sinking is imminent. The airbags would fill some portion of the boat's cabin with enough air
to keep the boat afloat while crew seeks rescue.
I can imagine at least one safety consideration; you would want to be sure the air bags are not trapping the boat's crew from escape.
PFDs for Boats
PFDs_20for_20boats
Prior art [csea, Feb 01 2008]
Inflatable Liferaft Container
http://en.wikipedia...mage:Amandine33.jpg
Outside on deck. [baconbrain, Feb 01 2008]
Auto-inflating life rafts.
http://www.ogp.noaa...1/091301/photo5.htm
On deck. [baconbrain, Feb 02 2008]
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Seems like a good idea. Why not have
them inflate outwards, though, like the
air-tubes on a RIB? |
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Let me get this straight - it has taken you five and a half years to come up with this? |
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Well, don't be too critical of him. A quick search shows that at least he hasn't wasted any time writing annos. |
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I'm with [MB]. I spend time on the ocean in old boats that probably would float none too well if they flipped over, but please put these bags on the outside. |
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Only if an RHIB is a bit like a rigid
inflatable boat. |
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Or a rigid _hull_ inflatable boat |
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I suspect they may be the same thing.
Over here they're usually called RIBs. |
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Part of me thinks that outside is better, but part thinks that they are more likely to get torn off or punctured out there and thu. Also on boat that has flipped it may make it impossible to right. Putting the bag(s) on the ceiling of the cabin and only filling half the height would probably right the boat and allow people to stay dryish topside without the possiblity of trapping anyone inside. |
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This idea would be easily adapted from the auto-inflating liferafts already in common use on bigger boats and ships. They are generally stored in plastic cases in racks on deck. The built-in inflation system can be triggered manually, by remote signal, or by a sufficient depth of water. |
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//This sounds like it would have been thought about already.// |
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Seems remarkably similar to my idea of '04 [link]. |
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Good feedback. I like having them external, but I like the idea of trying to use them to right the boat too. Sounds ideal then to have capsules on the deck (like the inflatable life raft) that are rugged and remain attached to the boat. Have them deploy at depth. Maybe even a much smaller masthead float... not to float the vessel, but just to keep the whole thing from getting turtled (floating directly upside down). |
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Run some numbers on this and you will find that having such a system on a ship is impractical. they use air bags to raise sunken ships. |
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Errrr, exactly which numbers did you
run, [ant egg], and what leads you to
conclude it's impractical? |
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The masthead float sounds like a good
idea. My understanding is that a fully
inverted yacht or dinghy is much harder
to right than one on its side, and
moreover the mast itself is often
damaged by dragging on the bottom in
shallow water. In fact, one of the
recommendations when attending a
capsized yacht on her side is to fix a
bouy to the masthead to (a) prevent
other rescuers from hitting it and (b)
prevent the boat from inverting fully.
And automatic 'airbag' sounds like a
good idea. |
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This is a good idea. Airbag technology is fully figured, it
just hasnt been applied to boats as a safety feature.
There could be external airbags to right the boat, and
internal airbags to keep it afloat. Not unlike the
non-existent safety feature of ballistic parachutes for
large planes, when they seem to have worked pretty well
for spacecraft re-entry at massive speeds. It just hasnt
been done. |
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Antegrity, I'm not sure it would be impractical. If a ship weighs 10,000 lbs it would require 156 cu feet of displacement to neutralize its buoyancy, right? That's a single air bag 5.4' on each side. And I'm imagining 2 stern airbags and one bow (plus the masthead). Is 10,000 an acceptable estimate for a cruising yacht with all gear? I can't imagine these lift bags could take up that much room in their capsules. I'm not sure what the mechanism would look like to inflate them. What do life rafts use? |
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I know lift bags could be used to lift a vessel after it has sunk to the bottom, but a cruising making passage across oceans is out of luck in that case. |
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csea, your link didn't work for me. I'd like to see your '04 idea. |
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//If a ship weighs 10,000 lbs it would
require 156 cu feet of displacement to
neutralize its buoyancy, right?// To
keep the boat at the surface, you need
much less bouyancy than the weight of
the boat. |
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If the whole boat is made of steel (7.8g/
cc), and if every single air pocket is
filled with water, then you'll need
bouyancy equivalent to 87% of the
boat's "dry" weight. If the boat is
largely wood or fibreglass, or retains at
least some air pockets, then you'll need
much less bouyancy. I'd guess the
average pleasure boat could be kept
afloat with bouyancy of no more than
15% of it's "dry" weight. |
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Try the chinese idea, thousands of years ago - the
unsinkable junk - same idea except it was sealed air
compartments rather than inflating airbags. A rather
fundamental safety feature that was not continued in the
history of shipping. Why ? The main reason anything is
taken up, or done away with, or not investigated, would
seem to be the Economics at the time.
Sure it's impractical if it costs money you dont want to
spend. |
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We live in an age where many of the solutions for progress
already exist in the potential application of existing
technologies, rather than in the the original new
discovery of process or object which is what is
considered to be "invention". |
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Ideas regarding the application and merger of existing
technologies are often met with that common circular
status quo assumption that assumes that all the experts in
the field have been working tirelessly on the issue since
the year dot //This sounds like it would have been
thought about already.// |
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