Inflatable dock

Abstract

A dock assembly comprising a platform section and also a counterweight section. The platform section comprises a main central panel section made of a drop-stitch panel, and also a side closure portion to provide its buoyancy. The counterweight section comprises flexible containing members that can be filled with water and positioned in or below water so that the weight of the mass of water has no affect, but does have a counter-balance effect in certain portions of the assembly are being lifted above the operating elevation.

1 . (canceled) 
   
   
       2 . (canceled) 
   
   
       3 . An inflatable dock assembly comprising;
 a) an inflatable platform section having a perimeter and comprising:
 i. a main central flotation section which has a flotation chamber and which comprises a drop stitch structure which further comprises upper and lower drop stitch sheets, with a core of threads connected to and extending between said upper and lower drop stitch layers, with the threads extending substantially throughout the flotation structure, and with said upper and lower drop stitch layers comprising at least a substantial portion of upper and lower layers of the platform; 
 ii. a perimeter closure section arranged to enclose a region between the upper and lower drop stitch closure portion sheets to form an edge enclosure section around the platform section; 
   b) said counterweight section comprising a water containing section comprising a water containing structure or structures of a flexible stowable material and positioned in a manner so that the water contained in the structure or structures is at or near the perimeter of the platform section, and a substantial portion or all of the contained water is at or below outside water level where the platform section is floating and in its unloaded condition, said water containing structure or structures being arranged in a pattern around the perimeter of the platform section so that when a downward force is imposed at any one location on a first side of the platform section to tend to tilt the platform section, said downward force is reacted through an approximate pivot location in or at the platform section to an opposite second location or locations of the platform to apply a lifting force to one or more of the structure or structures at said second location or locations which react to apply a counterbalancing force to resist said downward force on the opposite first side of the platform and thus resist tilting of the platform section at said one location at which the downward force is applied.   
   
   
       4 . The assembly as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the perimeter closure section comprises two bonding edge portions which extend in overlapping relationship two adjacent edge portions of the upper and lower sheets of the drop stitch structure to form a water proof seal. 
   
   
       5 . The assembly as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the water in said water containing section is substantially at least at, or close to, a level of a bottom horizontal surface of said platform section in a manner that if one portion the inflatable dock section near an edge portion is forced down into the water, at least a portion of the water containing section tends to be lifted out of the water to counteract and/or limit more effectively downward movement of said one portion of the inflatable dock. 
   
   
       6 . The assembly as recited in  claim 3 , wherein said water containing section comprises a plurality of water containing structures which are at spaced locations around the perimeter of the platform section, each of these water containing structures defining a water containing chamber with a valve to fill the chamber or empty the chamber. 
   
   
       7 . The assembly as recited in  claim 6 , wherein at least some of the counter containing structures have upper edge portions to connect to a bottom surface of a platform section by a water tight connection to a portion of a bottom surface of the platform section. 
   
   
       8 . The assembly as recited in  claim 3 , wherein said platform section has a perimeter with a rectangular configuration with four corners, and there are at least four water containing structures which are located at or near corner members of the rectangular platform section. 
   
   
       9 . The assembly as recited in  claim 3 , wherein said platform section has a perimeter with a rectangular configuration, and the water containing section comprises at least four water containing structures which are at approximate mid-locations at or near the four edge portions of the rectangular perimeter closure section of the platform section. 
   
   
       10 . The assembly as recited in  claim 3 , wherein there is at least one water containing structure which is elongate and extends along at least a substantial length of at least one side of the perimeter of the platform section. 
   
   
       11 . The assembly as recited in  claim 10 , wherein there is a plurality of said elongate water containing structures which extend along a plurality of substantial lengths of a plurality of sides of the perimeter of the platform section. 
   
   
       12 . The assembly as recited in  claim 11 , wherein said elongate water containing structures define a continuous water containing chamber extending through said water containing structures. 
   
   
       13 . The assembly as recited in  claim 10 , wherein there is at least one partition member or members located in the elongate water containing structure to separate an elongate chamber in said water containing structure to a plurality of chambers of the structure. 
   
   
       14 . A method of providing and stabilizing an inflatable dock assembly and said method comprising;
 a) providing a main central flotation section by providing a drop stitch structure which comprises upper and lower drop stitch sheets, with a core of threads connected to and extending between said upper and lower drop stitch layers, with the threads extending substantially throughout the flotation structure, and with said upper and lower drop stitch layers comprising at least a substantial portion of upper and lower layers of the platform:   b) enclosing a perimeter region extending around and between the upper and lower drop stitch closure portion by bonding an edge enclosure section around the perimeter region of the upper and lower drop stitch layers;   c) providing a counterweight section by first providing a water containing section comprising a water containing structure or structures of a flexible stowable material;   d) positioning the structure or structures so that water contained in the structure or structures is at or near the perimeter of the perimeter of the platform, with a substantial portion or all of the contained water being at or below water level when the platform section is floating in its unloaded condition;   e) arranging the water containing structure or structures in a pattern to be present at or near the perimeter and in a pattern around the perimeter of the platform section so that when a downward force is imposed at one location at a first side of the platform section to tend to tilt the platform section, said downward force is reacted through an approximate pivot location in or at the platform section to an opposite second location or locations of the structure or structures to apply a lifting force to one or more of the structure or structures on the opposite second location or locations to apply a counterbalancing force to resist said downward force and thus resist the tilting of the platform section at said one location.   
   
   
       15 . The method as recited in  claim 14 , further comprising positioning the water containing section at least at, or close to, a level of a bottom horizontal surface of said platform section in a manner that if one portion the inflatable dock section near an edge portion is forced down into the water, at least a portion of the water containing section tends to be lifted out of the water to counteract to limit downward movement of said one portion of the inflatable dock. 
   
   
       16 . The method as recited in  claim 14 , further comprising positioning a plurality of water containing structures at spaced locations around the perimeter of the platform section, providing each of these water containing structures with water through a valve. 
   
   
       17 . The method as recited in  claim 16 , further comprising providing at least some of the water containing structures with upper edge portions and connecting the edge portions to a bottom surface of a platform section by a water tight connection to a portion of a bottom surface of the platform section. 
   
   
       18 . The method as recited in  claim 14 , wherein said platform section has a perimeter with a rectangular configuration with four corners, said method further comprising placing at least four water containing structures at or near the corner members of the rectangular platform section. 
   
   
       19 . The method as recited in  claim 14 , wherein said platform section has a perimeter with a rectangular configuration, said method further comprising positioning at least four water containing structures at approximate mid-locations at or near the four edge portions of the rectangular perimeter closure section of the platform section. 
   
   
       20 . The method as recited in  claim 14 , further comprising providing said water containing section with at least one elongate water containing portion of the water containing structure to extend along a substantial length of the perimeter of the platform section. 
   
   
       21 . The method as recited in  claim 14 , further comprising providing a plurality of elongate water containing structures positioned near or adjacent to a plurality of elongate perimeter sections of the perimeter. 
   
   
       22 . The method as recited in  claim 14 , wherein said perimeter has at least four perimeter edge portions which comprise a substantial portion of the perimeter of the flotation section, said method comprising arranging said water containing structures as a continuous water containing chamber extending through substantially all of the structure water containing portions.