The object of the present invention is a boat according to the preamble of the main claim.

Boats having a stern compartment provided with at least one closing stern hatch of its own are known for a long time. Such a compartment is used, for instance, to house a small boat or a tender. It is also known that in the stern portion, many prestigious boats have a stern platform determined by a projecting plane suitable for operating as a "small beach" for the boat's passengers.

With reference to said hatch, it can be moved with the purpose of freeing or closing an aperture to access the stern compartment (from the sea or from the stern platform) . For this purpose, actuating members are usually provided, usually in the form of telescopic members which constrain the body of the hatch to side walls of the stern compartment .

The requirement is also known of allowing an easy submersion of the tender into the water and an easy recovery thereof into the hull. This is advantageously obtained by making the stern platform movable with respect to the hull and such as to make it possible to submerge it into the water on which the boat floats. This frees the access of the tender into the water and its picking up from the surface, for instance from the sea whenever the tender or dinghy is to be hauled in and put again in the hull. For this purpose, the platform is made movable, for instance, by means of telescopic systems supporting and constraining the platform to the hull which can bring said stern platform above the water surface or submerge it therein. In the first position, external to water, such platform can be used as a "small beach" on the rear side of the boat.

The presence of such stern platform offers comfort to the people on board the boat, a comfort that is directly proportional to the surface of the platform: the wider is it, the more is the "small beach" offered to such people. However, on the contrary, this is at odds with the need for having no rear or stern parts projecting from the hull in order to make its berthing in harbors easier. It follows that such platforms necessarily have reduced dimensions as to their extension from the hull.

US2006/0075952 and US2010/0288179 disclose a movable platform unit for a boat suitable for lowering a tender or the like into the water or extracting it therefrom. Such unit comprises a base portion integral with the hull of the boat or incorporated therein; in this portion there is a compartment suitable for being enclosed by a loading platform. The latter is integral with the boat via movable arms so that it can assume a first operating position in which it is superimposed to said compartment and at least one second position in which it is submerged in the water so as to facilitate the launch or picking-up of the tender.

In these prior-art patents, the loading platform is connected via movable arms to walls of the compartment of the platform unit, which limits the net space of such compartment. Also, the platform actuating means are partly associated with elements located in correspondence with the walls of the compartment and partly with the movable arms. This results not only in a further limitation of the net space available in the compartment, but also in a more complex construction of said means and of the parts related thereto .

The purpose of the present invention is to offer a boat that is enhanced with respect to the boats known at present .

Specifically, a purpose of the present invention is to offer a boat provided with a stern compartment enclosed by a hatch of its own in which it is simultaneously possible for the people on board the craft to benefit from a rear "small beach" featuring relatively remarkable dimensions, wider than those of the stern platform, and at the same time to make it possible a free movement of a tender or rubber dinghy, if any, from and inside said stern compartment toward and from the surface of the water on which the boat floats.

Another purpose is to offer a boat of the mentioned type that is easy to moor or whose stern can be approached to a pier in a way not hindered by the presence of an extended stern platform.

A further purpose is to offer a boat where the rear small beach has a large surface to lean on, with no elements jutting out or connecting to the hull, which would make its use by people on board the boat difficult or dangerous .

These purposes and others which will be apparent to those expert in this sector are achieved by a boat according to the attached claims.

For a better understanding of the present invention the following drawings are attached for purely explanatory, not exhaustive, purposes, of which:

figure 1 shows the stern of a boat according to the invention, its stern hatch being closed;

figure 2 shows the stern of the boat depicted in figure 1, its hatch being open downwards;

figure 3 shows a cross-sectional view according to the line 3-3 of figure 2;

figure 4 shows the stern of the boat, its hatch being open and partially shifted toward the water on which the boat is floating and aligned to the plane of a stern platform of the boat;

figure 5 shows a perspective view, from the stern, of the boat, its hatch being in a position whereby it is completely submerged in the water;

figure 6 shows a side view of the stern of the boat, its hatch being in the position depicted in figure 5;

figure 7 shows a front view of the stern of the boat, its hatch being in the position depicted in figure 5;

figure 8 shows a perspective view, from the stern, of a boat according to the invention in an initial step of a stern hatch opening operation suitable for allowing a dinghy or tender stored in a stern compartment of the boat to be put in the water;

figure 9 shows a view similar to that of figure 8, the stern hatch being depicted in an instant in time during its lowering, aiming at making the coming out of the tender from the stern compartment easier;

figure 10 shows a view similar to that of figure 9, the hatch being completely lowered down to let the tender go out of the stern compartment;

figure 11 shows a cross-sectional view according to line 11-11 of figure 1;

figure 12 shows a partial, transparent, side perspective view of figure 1 of a part of the hatch of the boat according to the invention highlighting part of the actuating means of the hatch itself;

figure 13 shows a transparent, enlarged perspective view of the hatch in its open operating arrangement according to figure 2 highlighting the actuating means according to figure 12; and

figure 14 shows a perspective view similar to that of figure 12, part of the hatch having been removed for the sake of clearness.

With reference to the mentioned figures, a boat 1 is (partially, in its stern portion only) shown as comprising a hull 2 having a stern hatch 3 suitable for enclosing a stern compartment 4, for instance suitable for housing a small boat like a dinghy or a tender (not shown in the figures) . Such compartment 4 has an aperture 5, opposed side walls 6, an upper part 7, and a lower part 8. The stern hatch 3 has an outer wall 10, an inner wall

11 (generally made of fiberglass, for instance like the hull 2) spaced from each other by sides 12 and 13, upper and lower edges 14 and 15; such walls 10 and 11, said sides

12 and 13, and the upper and lower edges 14 and 15 determine a body 20 of the hatch.

In the embodiment depicted in the figures, the hatch 3 is capable of opening toward a stern platform 21 of the hull 2, i.e. it is capable of opening downwards with respect to the compartment 4. Such platform 21 comprises a central portion 21A that is movable, i.e. suitable for being submerged in the water (on which the boat identified by A in the figures floats) with respect to side portions 21B and 21C. For instance, such movement is obtained by constraining, via a hinge 100, a stem 101 of a (hydraulic, pneumatic, or hydropneumatic) telescopic member 102, to the hull 2, whose stem 103 is hinged in 104 to the platform portion 21A, the latter being hinged in 105 to a movable carriage 106, via actuators (for instance telescopic members 108) constrained to such hull, along guides 110 integral with the latter. Said portion 21A features a part 115 which said member 103 and said carriage 106 connect to.

Alternatively, the position 21A is supported by telescopic guides having a fixed part (conceptually corresponding to the fixed guide 110) and a movable part (corresponding to the carriage 106), the movable part of said guides being operated in an intrinsically known (hydraulic, pneumatic, or hydropneumatic) way. The outer wall 10 of the hatch is suitable for arranging itself in correspondence with a stern wall 26 of the boat 1 when the hatch is closed, said wall 26 delimiting the aperture 5 of the compartment 4.

According to the invention, the stern hatch 3 is associated with actuating means 30 located inside its body 20, in a gap 31 present between the inner wall 11 and the outer one 10; such means 30 make it possible the motion of the hatch with respect to the aperture 5 of the compartment 4 during the opening and closing operations and at the same time constrain said hatch to the latter, so as not to limit the amplitude of said compartment. This way, the hatch is not provided with any hinge members or further connections to the hull 2. It follows that mainly the side walls 6, but also the walls 7 and 8 of the compartment 4 do not support any hatch actuating means and the hatch is perfectly smooth on all of its sides. A further consequence is in that the hatch is not rigidly connected to the hull. All of this is to the advantage of safety for the people on board the boat 1, who can freely move inside the compartment 4 without any risks of hitting against parts projecting from its walls and also to the advantage of an ease operation in loading means or goods inside such compartment.

The actuating means 30 are enclosed, in the gap 31, within a container 120, comprising parts 121 fixed to the hatch 3 and a preferably removable cover 122 to access the inside of the container 120. The latter is closed watertight so as to prevent water from entering it, water that might otherwise corrode or however damage the actuating means 30 whenever the hatch 3 is submerged in the water, as it will be described below.

More specifically, the actuating means 30 comprise, in correspondence with at least one side 12, 13 and preferably both of them, should the dimensions and the weight of the hatch be not negligible, a pair of gearings 40 and 41 whose toothed surfaces 40A and 41A are suitable for cooperating with each other so as to allow a relative movement between said gearings. Specifically, the gearing or gear wheel 40 is fixed to a beveled shaft which is constrained, via an extremal flange 44 arranged in correspondence with a hole 45 present in said side 12, 13, to a support 47 like a panel constrained to the movable portion 21A of the stern platform 21, projecting toward the compartment 4 and located on each side 12, 13 of the hatch where the actuating means 30 are present. The shaft 43 is connected to the hatch 3 via other constraint elements, like flanges 430.

The gear wheel 40 is fixed whereas the gear wheel or gearing 41 can move along its toothed surface. Such a movement is generated by a pneumatically, hydraulically, or hydropneumatically movable telescopic member 50 comprising a stem 51 movable in a sleeve 52; the sleeve 52 is fixed, via a support or bracket 59 to a wall, for instance the outer one 10 (from the inside of the gap 31), of the hatch, whereas the stem 51 features a head 53 supporting a pin 54 (via an eyelet 55) eccentrically fixed to a body or connecting rod 56 integral with the gearing or gear wheel 41. Activating the telescopic member results in lowering or lifting the hatch.

Such telescopic member 50 is controlled by a control unit (not shown in the figures) outside the hatch, indicatively installed in the engine room and which the oil (or air) ducts originate from to subsequently reach the sleeve 52, for instance via the shaft 43 of the first gearing 40.

Such member can be electrically operated indeed.

More specifically, starting from the position depicted in figure 1, if the stem 51 is retracted into the sleeve 52, then the connecting rod 56 rotates (clockwise in figures 12 and 14, see arrow F) the gearing 41 onto the gearing 40, which results in lowering the hatch down. Vice versa, taking the stem 51 out of the sleeve 52 results in a rotation of the gearing 41 onto the gearing 40 that is reversed (with respect to the previous one, i.e. counterclockwise), which results in lifting the hatch 3 up to its closing positioning on the aperture 5 of the compartment 4.

The gearing 41 is rotatable via a bearing or an equivalent member 58 and is put on a shaft 60 projecting from a support 46 and integral therewith. Such support is put on the shaft 43 and can rotate around it thanks to appropriate mechanical decoupling members or bearings.

In particular, such support 46 is located in a hollow 66 created outside the adjacent side 12, 13 of the hatch 3 and is blocked therein by a form coupling with the hollow itself. This way, the movement of the gearing 41 on the gearing 40 forces the shaft 60, hence its support 46 and the complete hatch 3, to rotate around such gearing 41, which subsequently operates as a hinge for the hatch.

Thanks to the invention, the possibility is achieved of constraining the hatch to the hull of the boat (through the platform 21 or better the portion 21A thereof) without using any specially conceived hinge members and at the same time a hatch movement mode is offered which is fully encased therein, which leads to the advantages indicated above. The hatch according to the invention is therefore not rigidly connected to the boat. This allows to obtain movements of the hatch itself not possible in solutions according to the state of the art, like that described in the present text and relevant to the submersion of said hatch into the water.

Also, the complete movement mechanisms defined by the actuating means 30 can be pre-assembled, put in the container 120, and enclosed in the hatch, its constraint to the panel 47 being performed upon its final mounting on the boat 1. This reduces the mounting time as referred to that necessary with the known solutions.

The hatch 3 having been opened as described above, moving (i.e. lowering) the portion 21A of the stern platform in the direction to the water, so as to submerge it therein, makes the hatch 3 sink together with the platform . As a matter of fact, thanks to the hatch 3 being constrained to the supports 47 (lateral with respect thereto) and since these supports are integral with the portion 21A of the platform, lowering the latter into the water results in lowering into such water the complete hatch 3 which, when open, leans on said platform. The hatch being sunk completely sets the aperture 5 of the compartment 4 free. In this way, should the latter be suitable for housing a tender or dinghy 150, this means can be simply lowered into the water (which, the hatch being sunk, can partially enter such compartment 4) and as simply hauled in the compartment 4.

For this purpose, the lower wall 8 has, in this solution, an inclined-plane configuration which facilitates the movement of the tender 150, obtained for instance through a usual winch fixed to an inner wall of the compartment 4 (not shown in the figures) .

It is worth noting that the sunk hatch also operates as a support to board the tender or dinghy when it is already floating or to load equipment, for instance stub diving cylinders, thereon. In order to facilitate the access of people onto the sunk hatch, it might be worth to indicate that steps can be provided on the transom of the boat to facilitate the coming and going of guests to/from the submerged small beach determined by said hatch.

Water possibly enters the gap 31 of the hatch during submersion, which makes the lowering into water easier. For this purpose, on its sides 12, 13 and in the wall 15 one or several slots 160 are provided (the figures show, wherever possible, only those in the side 12 and in the wall 15) to let water go in. Such holes make also it possible for water to go out of the gap 31 when the hatch 3 goes out of the water .

Because of water entering the body 20 of the hatch 3, the actuating means 30 are closed watertight inside the container 120.

A specific embodiment of the invention has been described. However, others can be obtained, like that which comprises pumps inside the body 20 of the hatch 3 to remove the water entering it or actuating means 30 different from the telescopic member 50 or that which does not comprise any stern platform and the hatch moves along telescopic guides, like those which move the platform in the embodiment described in the figures, which the supports 47 are fixed to. Such solutions can be derived from the previous description and shall be deemed to fall within the scope of the following claims.