US20100111613A1

US20100111613A1 - Inflatable dock

Info

Publication number: US20100111613A1
Application number: US12/347,942
Authority: US
Inventors: Stefano Rista
Original assignee: Walker Bay Boats Inc
Current assignee: Walker Bay Boats Inc
Priority date: 2007-12-31
Filing date: 2008-12-31
Publication date: 2010-05-06
Also published as: WO2009156789A1

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.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority benefit of U.S. Ser. No. 61/018,345, filed Dec. 31, 2007.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

a) Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to a floating inflatable dock.
b) Background Information
There are various applications where inflated members are used to support persons, cargo, equipment and other objects. There are certain advantages to having these inflatable members, such as in being able to insert them and remove them from a water environment, ship these to other locations for use, stow them in certain locations and then inflate them for temporary use.
However, one of the disadvantages of these can be stability. To stabilize various flotation members, or nautically related traveling equipment ballast is used in the form of various objects of higher density to add weight to the support portions of the inflatable apparatus, systems or objects.
It is toward these and other related problems which the embodiments of the present invention are directed.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

There is a dock assembly 10 which comprises a platform section having an inflatable chamber 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 while it is immersed in the water, but functions as a counter-balance if certain portions of the assembly are being lifted above the operating elevation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an embodiment of a dock assembly of the present invention with the dock assembly having a square configuration;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the square shaped dock assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the dock assembly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view showing three components which are formed into a sheet which is in turn used as part of a drop-stitch structure flotation platform section of the dock assembly;

FIG. 5 is an isometric view illustrating the basic structure of a drop-stitch panel section of the flotation platform section;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the flotation platform section of the dock utilizing the structure of FIG. 5, and also its perimeter closure section;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 6, but showing only one edge portion of the panel of FIG. 6 drawn to an enlarged scale;

FIG. 8 is a side-elevational view of the dock assembly looking in a diagonal direction toward one of the four counterbalance members and toward the center of the dock assembly with a load being imposed at the center of the dock assembly;

FIG. 9 is a side-elevational view showing the dock assembly from the same location as in FIG. 8, but showing a load being imposed on a corner edge portion of the dock assembly and also illustrating the manner in which the several forces are imposed on the dock assembly;

FIG. 10 is a side-view similar to FIG. 8, except that the view is taken from a location looking toward one of the side edge portions of the dock assembly in a direction perpendicular to that side edge portion with a downward load being imposed at the center of the dock assembly;

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10, showing the way force components would be imposed upon the dock assembly location of that side edge;

FIGS. 12A-12E are four semi-schematic drawings illustrating various situations relating to the dock assembly;

FIG. 13 is an isometric view of a second embodiment; and

FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken at 14-14 of FIG. 13.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference first to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the dock assembly 10 of this first embodiment comprises a platform section 12 and a counterweight section 14. The counterweight section 14 in turn comprises four counterweight members 15 at the corners of the platform section 12.
The platform 12 comprises a main central panel section 16 having in plan view in this embodiment a rectangular shape (and in this embodiment a square shape). The panel section 16 is made as a drop-stitch panel 16, and it has a perimeter closure section 18. The panel section 16 and the perimeter closure section 18 together form the platform section 12 which can be considered to be a flotation platform section 12, which has an inflatable pressure chamber 17.
To describe in more detail the nature of the drop-sheet panel 16, reference is now made FIGS. 4 through 7.
As indicated above, the drop-sheet panel section 16 has upper and lower sheets 19 and 20. To make each of these sheets 19 and 20, as shown in FIG. 4, there is first provided upper and lower thin polymer layers 22 and a middle layer of a tri-axial or bi-axial threads 23, with these being laminated between the layers 22. Thus, these two layers 22 and the core layer form a unitary sheet, and these are the sheets 19 and 20. Then these two layers 19 and 20 are connected to one another by a large number of closely spaced threads 21 to form the panel as shown in FIG. 5.
The two sheets 19 and 20 are flexible, but they cannot be stretched. Also, the threads 21 are flexible, but these also cannot be stretched. Drop-stitch panels are commercially available with threads of various lengths.
With reference now to FIGS. 6 and 7, there is shown in cross-section the drop-stitch panel 16 with the perimeter closure section 18. As can be seen in FIG. 7, the perimeter closure section 18 comprises outer perimeter edge portions 24 and 26 of the upper and lower sheets 19 and 20 extend a short distance beyond the perimeter edge of the threads 21. There is a central main enclosing portion 28 of the perimeter closure section 18 and it has the configuration of an elongate thin sheet 28 which has edge portions 30 which overlap the outer perimeter portions 24 and 26 of the sheets 19 and 20. These outer perimeter portions 24 and 26 and the edge portions 30 are bonded to one another to form an air-tight and water-tight perimeter for the panel 16 to form with the upper and lower sheets in the inflatable pressure chamber 17.
With reference to FIG. 1, let us now turn our attention to the counterweight section 14 which in this embodiment comprises the four counterweight members 15. Each of these four counterweight members 15 comprises a flexible water-containing configuration 36 which has the overall configuration of a rectangular prism. Each counterweight member 15 comprises four sidewalls 38 and a bottom floor member 40. The sidewall members 38 have a moderate taper toward one another in a downward direction, so that each sidewall member has a slightly trapezoidal shape.
The upper edge portions of the four sidewalls 38 have a water-tight connection to the bottom sheet 20 so that each of these defines a water-tight chamber, which in this present embodiment is filled with water in its operating position in a body of water. Each of these counterweight members 15 has one or more valves shown schematically at 41 through which water can flow to fill the counterweight member 15 or to empty it.
These counterweight members 15 are made of a flexible material, so that when the dock is in its non-operating position, it can be folded up in a compact storage configuration. The platform section 12 has one or more air-inlet and outlet valves shown at 43 so that the platform section 12 can be inflated or deflated.
To describe now the operation of the present invention, reference will be made first to FIGS. 8 and 9. The dock assembly 10 is made substantially entirely of flexible material so that it can have an inflated operating configuration, and also a compact stowage configuration where the components are folded up into a storage configuration.
To place the dock assembly 10 in its operating condition, there are two major steps. One step is to inflate the platform section 12 to pressurize its interior to a relatively high pressure level (i.e. 5 to 10 PSI (pounds per square inch) or possibly more).
One of the characteristics of the drop-stitch configuration of an inflatable member is that when it is pressurized to a relatively high level, it is structurally substantially rigid. Thus, the platform section 12 maintains its configuration of having flat upper and lower surfaces 19 and 20 and a rounded perimeter closure section 18 which, in performing its functions, is able to withstand rather large forces applied to it and deviates from its regular configuration only slightly. Thus, for all practical purposes, the platform section 12 can be regarded as a relatively light-weight rigid panel, capable of maintaining its basic configuration and supporting rather substantial loads, but with a very small degree of bending under high loads.
The other step is to fill each of the four counterweight members 15 with water through one or more of the valves 41. After each of these counterweight members 15 is filled with water, the valve(s) 41 is/are shut, and the water remains within the structure of the counterweight member 15.
FIG. 8 illustrates the dock assembly 10 in its operating position on a water surface with the flotation platform section 12 inflated to a sufficiently high pressure and with each of the counterweight members 15 being filled to full capacity with water. The platform section 12 is the flotation member. With regard to the counterweight members 15, the flexible water impervious material of which the counterweight section 14 is made has by itself very little weight. Thus, with each of the counterweight members 15 being filled with water, and being totally immersed in the water these counter-balance members 15 impose no loads on the floatation platform section 12.
In FIG. 8 there is shown a single force component 50 which represents the weight of a container or one or more persons imposed at the middle location of the flotation platform section 12. Since this force 50 is at a central location on the platform section 12, that force is distributed substantially equally throughout the entire platform section 12. This would cause the platform section 12 to be positioned a short distance into the top surface portion of the water the water, and level is illustrated at 52.
A typical small to medium square dock made as an embodiment of this invention could have dimensions, for example, of its four side portions being 8-feet in length. Thus, the area of the flotation platform section would be 8-feet squared, which would make this 64-square feet. With regard to the depth-dimension of the platform section 12, in a typical embodiment, this depth-dimension which would be equal to the length of the threads 21 of the platform section 12 could be about 8-inches (i.e. two-thirds of a foot).
If we then calculate the volume of the inflated inside chamber or region of the platform section 12, that would come out to approximately 43-cubic feet. If we now calculate the total force it would take to totally submerge the platform section 12, assuming the weight of the water to be 62.5 pounds per cubic feet that would come out to over or about approximately 2,500-pounds of force. Now, however, if we assume that the applied force 50 is equal to, for example, 250-pounds, that would cause the platform section 12 to sink downwardly into the upper water surface portion by ten percent of the depth of the panel section 12. In FIG. 8 the upper surface of the water is indicated at 52, but FIG. 8 is not intended to be drawn to scale.
It is to be understood that the platform section could have other relative dimensions and shapes, such as an eight-foot by six-foot rectangle, etc.
In FIG. 9 we look at a situation where the load 50 which is imposed on the center of the dock assembly 10 is moved to become the load 54 at the corner location 56 corner of the platform section 12. We will assume that the magnitude of this force 54 of the load is enough so that it would cause the platform section 10 to tilt somewhat so that the one corner indicated at 56 would descend downwardly into the water, possibly as much as 6-inches or so.
The effect of this section 56 moving further into the water would result in an upward movement of the opposite corner of the dock assembly being lifted up from the water at the same time there is an upward force being applied against the bottom surface portion of the platform section 12 at the corner location. The pattern of this upward force of the displaced water is indicated by several arrows 58, and this force indicated at 58 would decrease from left to right until it reaches a middle location of the platform section 12, and this would cause the opposite end of the platform at 60 to move upwardly in a slant. The drawing of FIG. 9 is not necessarily drawn to scale, but is presented to show the basic movements when this sort of force is applied at an off center location.
At this point, let us consider further various effects of having the four counterweight members 15. As long as these counterweight members 15 are fully submersed in the water, there is no effect at all in the flotation characteristics of the platform section 12. As indicated earlier, the material that makes up the walls of each of the four counterweight members 15 has little weight, and of course the water which is within the counterweight members 15 would exert no force at all, neither upward nor downward relative to the platform section 12.
However, assuming that the load 54 of the weight that is imposed at an off center location upon the panel section 12 is great enough, then the oppositely positioned counterweight member indicated at 60 a in FIG. 9 would begin to rise upwardly from the water, and the amount of water in the member 60 a which is above the actual water level would act as a counter-balancing weight that would limit the opposite end portion 61 of the platform section 12 from moving further downwardly. Thus, this would counteract the downward force 54 imposed at the opposite end of the flotation section 12.
At this point, let us analyze the application of the forces shown in FIG. 9. If we look at the flotation force as indicated by the many small lines at 58, we could resolve this into a single resultant force component which would be the summation of these, and that is numbered at 62. Then the downward force of the weight of the water at 60 a is indicated by the arrow 64. The force component 62 is directed in an upward direction, while the two downward forces 54 and 64 are on opposite sides of the force 62. Thus, for the vertical forces to balance, the sum of the forces 54 and 64 would have to be equal to the force 62.
Also, to complete this analysis of the forces it is necessary to also resolve the force moments. We first look to the single upward force 62 as what we can term a “pivot location” about which the two forces at 54 and 64 must balance out. It can be seen that the moment arm extending between the two forces 62 and 64 is at least six-times as long as the moment arm from the forces 62 and 54. Thus, the force 64 would be only about one-sixth of the downward force imposed at 54. Thus, the downward load at 54 which is imposed on the platform section 12 could be six-times as great as the downward force 64 imposed by that portion of the counterweight member 14 that has the water-portion 60 a above the level of the surrounding water.
With reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, let us now look at another situation where the load that is imposed on the platform section 12 is at a mid-location of edge portion of the dock assembly 10 which is located equally between two of the counterbalance members 14, this force is indicated at 70 in FIG. 11. This has caused that whole edge portion of the platform section to be positioned more downwardly into water, and the resultant buoyancy force of the water is indicated at 72. Again, we have the situation where the opposite side portion of the dock is raised out of the water, and the amount of water which is above the level of surrounding water is indicated at 74. This results in a downward force at 76.
We now have a similar situation to that of FIGS. 8 and 9, in that all of these forces need to balance out with regard to both the vertically applied forces, and also the force moments that are created. It can readily be seen that the platform section is able to carry a somewhat greater load about the edge portion, with the two opposite counter-balancing members 14 preventing further tipping of the platform section 12.
It is believed that a better appreciation of characteristics of the present invention will be obtained by examining these in more detail. To accomplish this, reference is made to FIGS. 12A through 12F.
In FIG. 12A the flotation platform section 12 is shown floating with the water line shown at 52. The weight of the material of the platform section 12 is rather light, so there is shown a rather small force component 77 which would be, for example, the weight at possibly at 100 to 200 pounds.
Then in FIG. 12B there is shown a cargo container 78 that is placed along of the side edges of the platform section 12 to explore the effect of having off center loading. The effect of the weight of this cargo container is not shown in FIG. 12A, but is shown in FIG. 12B.
We will assume that the flotation platform section 12 has the chamber volume as discussed earlier in this text so that it would be about 25,000 cubic feet. FIG. 12C shows the same cargo container 78 in FIG. 12A with the weight of the cargo container having in effect a downward force component 80 which causes the container 78 to push the right hand side of the platform section down to the extent that the upper surface of the floating platform 12 is at the right side at the same level as the water line 52.
In FIG. 12C the upward flotation force of the water acts against the entire bottom surface of the flotation platform 12, so that this force extends across the entire bottom surface of the flotation platform 12. The entire flotation force applied against the bottom of the flotation platform is indicated by a multiplicity of arrows 84.
An inspection of FIG. 12C will reveal that the components are in an unstable position. It can be seen that on the right hand part of FIG. 12C there is the downward force component 80 which results from the weight of the cargo container, and there is also the upward flotation force which is shown by the many arrows 84 representing the upward pressure forces of the flotation platform 12. Then in the left hand side of FIG. 12C there are the upward forces from the water pressing upwardly to raise the left hand side of the flotation platform 12. However, there is no force component to counter the effect of the water force component 82 so that the applied force as shown in FIG. 12C would be cause upward movement of the left hand side of the flotation platform 12, and would end up in the same situation shown in FIG. 12E.
Reference is now made to FIG. 12D which shows one way by which this unstable situation of 12C could be resolved. In FIG. 12D the instability of the situation of FIG. 12C is accomplished by placing another load in the form of a smaller cargo container 86 on the top left hand surface of the flotation platform 12. Therefore, it can be seen in FIG. 12D that on the right hand side there is a rather substantial upward force of the water against the floating flotation platform 12 because of the greater depth of the right side of the platform 12, and this matches the higher load capacity of the cargo container 78. Then the smaller cargo container 86 has a matching downward force component.
FIG. 12E illustrates a situation which could occur as soon as the full weight of the cargo container 78 is put in the position of FIG. 12C. As indicated in FIG. 12A, the physical components of the flotation platform 12 are quite light, as indicated by the force component 77. Let us now look at FIG. 12C and we see the force component 82 which is something of a summation of the upward water forces that occur to the left of the location of the cargo container 78. The effect of this is what we see in FIG. 12E, which is the left hand part of the flotation platform 12 is being raised out of the water. At the same time the force 80 exerted by the weight of the cargo container 78 is sufficiently high so that it is beginning to rotate downwardly in a clockwise direction, and the entire left part of the flotation platform 12 is being raised out of the water.
If the cargo 78 is tied down to the floating platform 12 then the upward movement of the left part of the flotation section 12 and the downward rotation of the cargo container 76 continues. The cargo container 78 would continue its downward descent in the water. In the situation discussed thus far, the total interior volume of the flotation platform 12 is sufficiently great so that it would remain buoyant, and the left hand side of the flotation platform would have its left hand portion rising out of the water where it would be visible.
On the other hand, if the cargo container 18 was not secured to the upper surface of the flotation platform 12, then the cargo container 78 would simply drop off from the platform 12 and likely go to the bottom of that body of water, and the flotation platform 12 would fall back to its level position above the water as shown in FIG. 12A.
To close off this analysis, reference is now made to FIG. 12F which shows how the problems shown in FIG. 12C could be solved by the arrangement of the embodiments of the present invention. There is shown in FIG. 12F only one of the counter-balance members 15, but in the arrangement of FIG. 11 there would be two of the counter-balancing members 15 at opposite corners of the left side. So the result is as shown in FIG. 12F, and the upward rotational movement of the left side of the flotation platform is diminished. Then, as more of the counter-balance 15 is out of the water the counter-balancing function increases.
The description of the platform sections 12 which is in the earlier part of this text shows the platform section in a rectangular configuration, and more specifically in a square configuration, and the four separate counterweight members 15 are at corner locations of the square rectangle. As a general comment, these counterweight members 15 are evenly spaced from one another to have the counter-balancing effect in a “broader territory”, and they are located at the corner portions of the platform section 12.
This arrangement of the counter-balancing effects of the counterweight member 15 are distributed throughout the entire outer perimeter portions of the platform section 12. Also, depending upon where the downward for and/or load is located, the counter-balancing function may be performed by a single counterweight member 15, or a combination of two of the counterweight members 15.
A second embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. Components of this second embodiment that are the same as, or similar to, components of the first embodiment will be like numerical designations, with an “a” suffix being used to distinguish those of the second embodiment.
With reference to FIGS. 13 and 14, there is shown a platform section 12a which is, or may be, basically the same as in the first embodiment. However, instead of having a counterweight section 14 of a plurality of individual counterweight members 15, there is one single continuous counter-balance member 14 a located below the edge portion of the platform section 12 a. As can be seen in FIG. 14, the counterweight section 14 a has a cross-section substantially similar to the counter-balance members 15 of the first embodiment.
As an alternative, the counter-balance section 14 a of the second embodiment could have the same basic configuration but would not have the continuous counter-balance member with the chamber extending throughout its length. Rather, there would be partitions such as shown at 92 between the two cross-members 94, with each having their separate valve outlet/inlet to insert the counter-balancing water into the interior of that section 92.
A benefit of this second embodiment is that the counter-balance member 90 a extends for a much greater distance to provide more weight to the counter-balance members which in turn would permit these to be somewhat shallower in the depth dimension. Thus, when there is a tilting of the flotation platform 12, there would be a much greater amount of total weight of the counter-balance member 90 for a given depth dimension so that it would permit even less upward counter balancing movement. Alternatively, the depth of the counter-balance section 90 a could be made more shallow to position the center of gravity of the counter-balance at a higher level.
It is obvious that various modifications could be made to this embodiment without departing from the basic teachings of the present invention.
While the present invention is illustrated by description of several embodiments and while the illustrative embodiments are described in detail, it is not the intention of the applicants to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications within the scope of the appended claims will readily appear to those sufficed in the art. The invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details, representative apparatus and methods, and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of applicants' general concept.

Claims

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.