Designing small inflatable boats

choc-ice

14/12/2005 at 16:33

Anyone know anything about them?

Are they moulded into shape or stitched?

Can you glue sections together?

How do they mould the valves in?

Is there a clever way of making 2 bits linked together so they're filled from one inlet, but if one section gets a leak the other one doesn't? Some sort of one way valve?

Ta for any help.

ps, it could be motorbike related if it was to make a radical air-filled motorbike frame, or to.... alright it's nothing to do with bikes but there's quite a bit of knowledge on here so it's worth a shot

14/12/2005 at 16:39

You talking about ribs (rigid inflatable boat) or just palin inflatables?

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choc-ice

14/12/2005 at 16:51

just plain inflatables.

I'm sure that airbed designers would be able to help too

Fugazi1000

14/12/2005 at 16:55

choc-ice wrote

just plain inflatables.

I'm sure that airbed designers would be able to help too

PVC - thermo welds for joints and valves. No fault tolerant pockets on any airbed I've tried but would be more important for a boat but would mean 2 or more valves.

Cheb

14/12/2005 at 17:49

Designing small inflatable boats

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Anyone know anything about them? A little. I have owned a couple of Avons and a Humber. I have also repaired and maintained other makes, all Hypalon. I have no direct experience of PVC boats

Are they moulded into shape or stitched? AFAIK they are all made by gluing sheet material, Hypalon or PVC, into the desired shape. Some ancilliary items, pockets etc. may be stiched but they are then glued to the air tube. No stitching is used on the air tubes directly

Can you glue sections together? See above. The main glue I have used is Bostik 2402 (IIRC) two part contact adhesive.

How do they mould the valves in? Bought in as unit and glued to the inside or the outside of the airtube

Is there a clever way of making 2 bits linked together so they're filled from one inlet, but if one section gets a leak the other one doesn't? Some sort of one way valve? You could do it by putting a valve between the two sections but only one section would be prevented from deflation. Some life rafts are made with a divider inside the tube ( Imagine two Ds back to back) Thes are inflated at the same time so if one if punctured you still have all the air from the other tube keeping you afloat

Ta for any help.

ps, it could be motorbike related if it was to make a radical air-filled motorbike frame, or to.... alright it's nothing to do with bikes but there's quite a bit of knowledge on here so it's worth a shot

HTH

Something that impresses me is that inflatable lifeboats, like the RNLI use, have no mechanical fixings holding the boat together. It is all done with glue and fibreglass

choc-ice

14/12/2005 at 21:14

Thanks, chaps - I knew there'd be some knowledge out there, and it just proves how little I know about it

Part of the shape I need to make is a cuboid, say 3 inches by 3 feet by 3 feet. I want to do this in maybe 6 sections bonded together which are each 6" by 3', but how do I stop it looking like 6 cylinders bonded together, and make it more like six rectangles? Is it just the fact that the ends are rectangles that the shape is controlled over it's 3 foot length?

Cheb

14/12/2005 at 21:22

You might be albe to do that by adding 'ribs' down the length of the tube. A small hole in the middle of each would let the air pass freely.

Can you tell us what you are designing? Would thin plastic be better?

choc-ice

15/12/2005 at 08:57

I suppose I could add ribs in the middle, these ribs could be fabric rather than solid so it would still collapse fully too? Good idea!

How are airbeds done so they're like this in cross section?

Is that done by moulding them in a tool?

I think it needs to be a tough rubber material rather than plastic because it needs to be resiliant to tearing from stray objects and scuffing when it's dragged on the floor.

The principal requirements are that it can be easily inflated from one point, if one section punctures the others are still ok, and it can be deflated so it's really small - so no rigid parts (other than valves) inside it.

I've designed lots of parts before, plastic, sheet metal, castings, extrusions, fibreglass... but I've got no idea with this

Cheb

15/12/2005 at 10:31

From memory of camping trips early lilos used to have separate tubes, each with it's own valve.

The ribs would be made fromthe same material, offcuts?, and I think this is how newer lilos are made. There are regularly spaced dimples over the surface.

Just remembered something that a mate did.. He wanted to inflate a double lilo but didn't have a pump and didn't want to do it by mouth. So he used a dive bottle. Cracked the valve open and watched the whole thing blow up like a balloon, accompanied by the noise of the ribs tearing off one by one in quick sucession.

These people may be useful for valves and the like:http://www.inflatable-boat-supplies.co.uk/

Single point inflation and deflation resistance may be problematic.

suzuki-boy

15/12/2005 at 10:48

Frankly I'm amazed they give you Internet access in clink these days.

choc-ice

15/12/2005 at 10:55

suzuki-boy wrote

Frankly I'm amazed they give you Internet access in clink these days.

You may mock this idea, but there were survivors from the Hindenburg

suzuki-boy

15/12/2005 at 11:06

choc-ice wrote

You may mock this idea, but there were survivors from the Hindenburg

Ride free ancient cinema ice-cream loving banged up dude.

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