recovery platform Idea
The idea behind the recovery platform is to have an easy way to get in and out of a large motor rig easily. Some customers are older, and need a stairway to get to the water. In any case, getting down to the river without having to go through the suck mud would be a good idea.
Please keep in mind that this presentation has a dynamic timeline to it. Therefore at the end you will see a final product, and at the start you will see concepts that lead to that final concept.
recovery platform concept
The idea behind the recovery platform is to have an easy way to get in and out of a large motor rig easily. Some customers are older, and need a stairway to get to the water. In any case, getting down to the river with out having to go through the suck mud would be a good idea.
draft and load scenarios
Here are a couple of different scenarios for draft on a boat with this size of tube (36 in in diameter). From ridiculously light to extremely overloaded.
foot entrapment issue
These draft concepts were to prove that it would work in a number of load situations
Next we solved a safety issue with slick tubes and feet sliding in between the tubes by tieing a mesh fabric on top that will move in all of these different scenarios. Also adding one last piece of pvc pipe for a final stepup to the main deck.
How the tubes are tied to the mesh
The step tubes are tied to the reinforced mesh through grommets placed where the mesh is reinforced.
Tieing it all together
This image shows handles placed on the Dropstitch/ horseshoe assembly, and the railing tube. With grommet strips to tie the railing tube tightly to the step tubes and DS assembly. The second immage shows how the horseshoe and Drop stitch assembly are attached together. Note that the d ring patches on the top of the horseshoe are what hold the steps/ mesh assembly to the horseshoe/drop stitch assembly
how do we get it compact without deflating?
One storage idea is to keep the unit inflated. But allow the step tubes and the rail tube to rest inside of the rop stitch /horseshoe assembly (ds/hs ) but to do this and maintain stability with the boat and to tie everything together. It became evident that the DS/HS and the mesh and step assembly were too independent. So we have installed D rings on the top of the DS/HS and a cam strap will tie it all together before it is flopped over the side.
Note: this immage was added before we decided to have handles and D rings on both ides equally
Inflation Scenarios
Finally the inflation scenario. Inflation can be accomplished through one tube at the end. All of these valves are leafield C7 valves and those act as check valves. The adaptors can easily screw on and off, and the whole hose assembly can be stowed in a hatch. Therefore the whole thing can be inflated from one port, or chambers can be inflated individually. There are definitely other hose and inflation configurations that can be used. This image is looking form the bottom up. We thought that the best place to put the inflation valve for the drop stitch was at the bottom of the drop stitch panel.
looking at the patternsmith mesh pattern
The pattern smith pattern is different from the solid works drawing. That is because we added some grommets to make it possible to put the hand rail tube on either side. Note there is a pattern for hole placement. The 32 oz reinforcement is on one side only.
strap sizes for the mesh
2 at 18 feet and 2 sliders each that lash the step tubes on the mesh
2 at 36 inches for step tubes to d ring
10 at 24 inches with sliders 4 for the pvc pipe step and 6 to lash to the boat frame.
What is new for 2015
We have made some changes for the 2 units made for the last half of the 2015 season.
they include: Removal of the hand rail tube, the addtion of a daisy chain like system to tie down the first step to the drop stitch, and 2 extra handles on the drop stitch.