WATERCRAFT

Abstract

A watercraft is provided having at least one floating body which is designed to be elastically flexible, at least in part, and to carry at least one person above a waterline, and is, in particular, inflatable and/or made from a foam material at least in part. The watercraft includes a drive device which comprises at least one first drive unit designed to generate a first water flow below the waterline. The first drive unit is designed in such a way that the alignment of the first water flow relative to the floating body can be changed. The drive device comprises at least one second drive unit designed to generate a second water flow below the waterline, and is designed, in particular, in such a way that the alignment of the second water flow relative to the floating body can be changed.

Claims

1. A watercraft comprising: at least one floating body which is elastically flexible, at least in part, said at least one floating body being adapted to carry at least one person above a waterline, a drive device for moving the watercraft, wherein said drive device comprises at least one first drive unit which generates a first water flow below the waterline, wherein the first drive unit allows alignment the first water flow to be changed relative to the floating body, wherein the drive device further includes at least one second drive unit which generates a second water flow below the waterline.

2. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drive units each have at least one drive rotor which is an impeller or propeller, and/or each form a flow channel.

3. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, further including at least one actuating unit which changes the alignment of at least the first drive unit relative to the floating body.

4. The watercraft as claimed in claim 3, wherein the at least one actuating unit allows the alignment of at least the first drive unit to be changed via a rotation or a pivoting movement about an at least substantially vertical first yaw axis.

5. The watercraft as claimed in claim 3, wherein the at least one actuating unit allows the alignment of at least the first drive unit to be changed via a rotation or a pivoting movement about a first pitch axis, which is angled with respect to the vertical axis.

6. The watercraft as claimed in claim 3, wherein the at least one actuating unit allows at least the first drive unit to be displaceable relative to the floating body.

7. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, further including at least three drive units.

8. The watercraft as claimed in claim 4, wherein at least the first drive unit is arranged on the floating body such that, as seen in plan view, the first yaw axis is arranged further away from a geometrical center point of the floating body than from an edge of the floating body.

9. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least the first drive unit has at least one electric motor connected to an battery.

10. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, further including a control device connected via a cable or wirelessly to a plurality of drive units, said control device controlling at least one operating parameter of the drive units.

11. The watercraft as claimed in claim 10, wherein the drive units or the alignments and/or flow rates of the water flows can be controlled individually by the control device.

12. The watercraft as claimed in claim 10, wherein the control device controls the drive units in such a way that the floating body pivots out of a normal position about a horizontal floating-body pitch axis or pivots or rotates out of a normal position about a vertical floating-body yaw axis.

13. The watercraft as claimed in claim 11, wherein the control device is connected to at least one inclination sensor and is controls the drive units according to inclination data output by the inclination sensor.

14. The watercraft as claimed in claim 13, wherein the control device controls a movement speed of the watercraft according to inclination data and/or to transfer the floating body to the normal position according to the inclination data.

15. The watercraft as claimed in claim 10, wherein the control device is coupled to a user interface or comprises a user interface.

16. The watercraft as claimed in claim 15, wherein the control device controls the drive units automatically according to a control program which can be selected or defined by the user interface.

17. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, further including a carrying element for carrying the person, which is arranged on, or comprised by, the floating body and is movable relative to the floating body by at least one supporting element.

18. The watercraft as claimed in claim 10, wherein the control device has a switch device that, upon actuation, causes the operation of at least the first drive unit to stop and/or the at least the first drive unit is switched to a pre-defined inactive position.

19. The watercraft as claimed in claim 18, wherein the switch device comprises a flexible line element with a maximum length of 1.5 m, one end of which can be arranged on a switch mount to enable its operation.

20. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one floating body is inflatable and/or made from a foam material, at least in part.

21. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one second drive unit allows alignment the second water flow to be changed relative to the floating body.

22. The watercraft as claimed in claim 7, wherein the yaw axes are each arranged at a spacing from a vertical longitudinal center plane intersecting the floating body, and/or mirror-symmetrically with respect to said longitudinal center plane.

23. The watercraft as claimed in claim 10, wherein said control device is arranged within a recess of the floating body or above a base of the floating body.

24. The watercraft as claimed in claim 15, wherein the control device is comprises at least one steering device and a speed preset device to manually navigate the watercraft and/or a display device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] Reference is now made more particularly to the drawings, which illustrate the best presently known mode of carrying out the invention and wherein similar reference characters indicate the same parts throughout the views.

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a watercraft according to the invention.

[0032] FIG. 2 shows a further perspective view of the watercraft according to FIG. 1.

[0033] FIG. 3 shows a side view of the watercraft according to the preceding figures.

[0034] FIG. 4 shows a front view of the watercraft according to the preceding figures.

[0035] FIG. 5 shows a rear view of the watercraft according to the preceding figures.

[0036] FIG. 6 shows a plan view of the watercraft according to the preceding figures.

[0037] FIG. 7 shows a view from below of the watercraft according to the preceding figures.

[0038] FIG. 8 shows a longitudinal section of a drive unit of a further watercraft according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] The features, explained below, of the exemplary embodiments according to the invention may also form the subject matter of the invention individually or in other combinations, as illustrated. If useful, functionally similarly acting parts are denoted by identical reference signs.

[0040] FIGS. 1 to 7 show a watercraft 2 having a rounded floating body 4, which is substantially rectangular in the plan view according to FIG. 6. The floating body 4 is inflatable and therefore elastically flexible and is designed to carry at least one person 6 (illustrated schematically) above a waterline 8 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The waterline 8 is the line along which the water surface contacts the floating body 4 of the watercraft 2 during the operation thereof.

[0041] The watercraft 2 comprises a drive device 10 for moving the watercraft 2. The drive device 10 comprises four drive units 21, 22, 23, 24 (c.f. FIG. 5), which are each designed to generate a water flow below the waterline 8. The drive units 21, 22, 23, 24 are designed in such a way that the alignment of each generated water flow relative to the floating body can be changed during operation.

[0042] The drive unit 21, 22, 23, 24 according to FIG. 8 has a drive rotor 12 designed as an impeller. An electric motor 20 is arranged thereon. The drive rotor 12 adjoins a flow channel 14 of the drive unit 21, 22, 23, 24. The illustrated flow channel 14 is, in particular, extended by the channel elements and/or guide elements which adjoin it longitudinally, thereby facilitating a targeted controllability of the water flow to be generated.

[0043] An actuating unit 31, 32, 33, 34 is associated with each drive unit 21, 22, 23, 24 and is designed to change the alignment of the drive units 21, 22, 23, 24 relative to the floating body 4. The actuating units 31, 32, 33, 34 are designed to rotate the drive units 21, 22, 23, 24 about respective vertical yaw axes 41, 42, 43, 44 and to pivot the drive unit 21, 22, 23 24 about respective pitch axes 51, 52, 53, 54, which are angled with respect to the yaw axes 41, 42, 43, 44. The alignment of the drive units 21, 22, 23, 24 can be controlled individually and independently by a control device (not illustrated).

[0044] The yaw axes 41, 42, 43, 44 are each arranged at the same spacing from a vertical longitudinal center plane intersecting the floating body 4 (c.f. FIG. 5) and mirror-symmetrically. The yaw axes 41, 42, 43, 44 are spaced further away from a center point 18 of the floating body 4 than from an edge 19 of the floating body 4. A carrying element 36 for accommodating the person 6 is arranged above the floating body 4.

[0045] The control device is designed in such a way that the drive units 21, 22, 23 24 may be activated thereby to pivot the floating body 4 about two different floating-body pitch axes 28, 29 (c.f. FIG. 1), which are arranged at a right angle to one another. They can also be activated to rotate the floating body 4 about a floating-body yaw axis 30.