Canoe having two disconnectable hull sections

Abstract

The present invention relates to a canoe comprising at least two hull sections and a joint for releasable connection of the first hull section to the second hull section, wherein the joint comprises a first mating means comprising at least one protruding member and at least one corresponding groove, provided in respective one of said hull sections, wherein the joint further comprises a second mating means comprising at least one projecting member and at least one corresponding groove, provided in respective one of said hull sections, wherein said first mating means is positioned at a lower portion of the respective hull sections compared to said second mating means.

1 - 16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . A canoe comprising:
 at least a first watertight hollow hull section and a second watertight hollow hull section, and   a joint for releasable connection of the first hull section to the second hull section;   wherein the joint comprises a first mating component comprising at least one protruding member and at least one corresponding groove, integrally provided in respective one of said hull sections, said first mating component being positioned at a lower portion of the respective hull sections, and   wherein the joint comprises a second mating component comprising at least one projecting member and at least one corresponding indentation, integrally provided in respective one of said hull sections,   wherein the at least one protruding member comprises a horizontally protruding part arranged with an anchoring portion, wherein the anchoring portion is arranged to match with a mating groove and to pivot about a retaining ridge portion withstanding longitudinal forces,   wherein the first mating component is arranged with opposing stabilizing surfaces arranged to abut with each other in a locked configuration and cooperate with said anchor portion and groove to withstand torsional and bending forces.   
     
     
         18 . The canoe according to  claim 17 , wherein the at least one projecting member and the at least one corresponding indentations of the second mating component has a substantially longitudinal mating direction. 
     
     
         19 . The canoe according to  claim 17 ,
 wherein the canoe is a sit-on-top canoe,   wherein each of said hull sections is blow molded, and   wherein the at least one protruding member, projecting member, groove, and indentations are molded into each of said respective hull section so that they are integrated into the bulkhead portion of the respective hull sections.   
     
     
         20 . The canoe according to  claim 17 , wherein the height (h) of a hull section is at least 15% of the total length (l) of the hull section, and the first mating component ( 5 ) is arranged at the lower half of the height (h) of the hull and the second mating component ( 6 ) is arranged at the upper half of the height (h) of the hull. 
     
     
         21 . The canoe according to  claim 20 , wherein the height (h) of the hull section is at least 20% of the total length (l) of the hull section. 
     
     
         22 . The canoe according to  claim 20 , wherein the stabilizing surfaces comprise essentially flat and vertically extending surfaces, wherein the height (x) of said stabilizing surfaces is between 0.7*h-0.4*h. 
     
     
         23 . The canoe according to  claim 17 , wherein the stabilizing surfaces comprise oblique side walls and opposing oblique side portions where the oblique side walls have angle α in relation to the transversal bulkhead wall of the frontal hull, where a is between 10-85°. 
     
     
         24 . The canoe according to  claim 23 , wherein a is between 30-60°. 
     
     
         25 . The canoe according to  claim 22 , wherein the height (y) of the ridge portion is between 0.05*x and 0.5*x. 
     
     
         26 . The canoe according to  claim 25 , wherein the anchoring portion of the protruding member is arranged to point downwards a distance (z), where (z) preferably is between 0.4*y and 0.6*y. 
     
     
         27 . The canoe according to  claim 17 , wherein the protruding member is arranged to extend transversally along a central portion of the lower side of the bulkhead portion of the corresponding hull section. 
     
     
         28 . The canoe according to  claim 27 , wherein the protruding member extends along at least half of the width (w) of the hull section. 
     
     
         29 . The canoe according to  claim 17 , wherein the first and second mating component are arranged to cooperate to withstand substantial vertical-, longitudinal-, side- and torsional forces, wherein the lowermost first mating component is arranged to withstand stronger forces than the uppermost second mating component. 
     
     
         30 . The canoe according to  claim 17 , wherein the projecting member and the corresponding indentations of the second mating component are arranged to withstand substantial torsional and vertical forces. 
     
     
         31 . The canoe according to  claim 17 , wherein the protruding member of the first mating component is protruding further in a longitudinal direction than the projecting member of the second mating component. 
     
     
         32 . The canoe according to  claim 17 , wherein the protruding and projecting members of each of the first and second mating component of a joint section are located on a first hull section and the mating grooves of each of the first and second mating component are located on a second hull section. 
     
     
         33 . The canoe according to  claim 17 , comprising locking arrangement for locking said hull sections together when they are joined, said locking arrangement including a two-part clasp and being arranged to lock reciprocal movement of said hull sections in the mating direction. 
     
     
         34 . The canoe according to  claim 17 , wherein at least one of the at least two hull sections comprises a seat portion integrated in the top deck structure of the hull and where the seat is positioned in between the center of buoyancy of the hull and the joint portion which comprises said protruding member. 
     
     
         35 . A method for manufacturing a hull section for a canoe, the method comprising:
 providing a mold having two mold halves defining a hull section,   providing a tube-like piece of plastic,   clamping the tube-like piece of plastic into the mold,   providing heat and pumping air into the plastic so that the air pressure pushes the heated plastic out to match the mold and thus forming a hull section,   cooling the plastic until it hardens before separating the mold halves to eject the blow molded hull section,   wherein the mold is aligned during blow molding procedure such that the portion of the hull section which comprises the joint portion is kept in a downward orientation and is pointing downwards during the molding procedure, and   wherein each tool half comprises structures for forming the features of said joint including features of said first and second mating component so that the corresponding features becomes integrated parts of the respective hull section during blow molding procedure.