AU622335B2

AU622335B2 - Improved tank construction

Info

Publication number: AU622335B2
Application number: AU58000/90A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Gary Wayne Jarmyn
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1989-06-29
Filing date: 1990-06-29
Publication date: 1992-04-02
Anticipated expiration: 2010-06-29
Also published as: AU5800090A

Description

38438 GEH:PFB COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Form Patents Act 1952-1969 COMPLETE SPECIPl'e8T i

(ORIGINAL)

FOR OFFICE USE: Class Int. Class Application No Lodged Complete Application No Specification Lodged Published Priority: Related art: TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT Nare of Applicant: Address of Applicant: GARY WAYNE JARMYN 335 SOUTH ROAD, MILE END, STATE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA GARY WAYNE JARMYN Care of COLLISON CO., 117 'ng William Street, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000 Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Complete Specification for the invention entitled: IMPROVED TANK CONSTRUCTION The following statements is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:

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2 This invention relates to an improved tank construction, more particularly to the construction of a liquid tank fitted to a road transport vehicle for the transport of liquids.

BACKGROUN1D OF THE INVENTION The liquid tank for road transport tankers is usually constructed from what is termed a continuous shell plate made up of lengths of metal plate butt welded to each other so that there is in effect a continuous metal plate extending from one 1 0 end of the tank to the other. The tank so constr,'rted is divided into compartments by bulk heads which are welded to the inside surface of the shell .o .plate, the tank being supported by underframe members. Hence all loads and forces are transmitted through the material of the shell I late from the Sunderframe members through to the bulkheads. These dynamic forces include all the forces produced on or in the tank when not only stationary but in transit, o including bending and twisting, and also the forces due to surging of the liquid in the compartments. Also forces are produced on the bulkhead supports when there are differing levels of liquid in adjacent compartments, and also when one compartment is full and the adjacent one is empty. Thus this thickness of material is carried through the whole length of the tanker, and thus over the majority of the length of the tanker, not only at the area where the shell is oOO: supported by the underframe members, but over the whole circumference o thereof so is greatly in excess of what may be required, so adding to the cost of oo, construction, and also to the tare weight of the vehicle, thus reducing the pay load able to be carried by the vehicle.

In Patent No, US 4664307 there is described a railway tanker in which the tank is made from helically wound steel strip continuously wound from end to end by a helical weld to form an open ended cylinder. The two ends are then closed by domed ends secured by an annular weld. Also in Patent No. GB 2076753 there is described a tank for road or rail vehicles which is a reinforced cargo tank having two pairs of longitudinal bearers forming part of the tank shell. There is one pair of bearers on each side of the longitudinal centre line of the tank, the bearers of each pair being supported together by a respective longitudinal bearer and being connected thereto by welding,

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3 It is an object of this invention to provide an improved construction of a tank, particularly for a road vehicle tanker in which greater strength is provided at the load areas of the tank.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a tank construction in which spaced ribs which extend around at least a portion of the circumference of the tank provide additional strength to the tank.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide an improved tank construction in which the forces and stresses while being transferred from the support members to the bulkheads are transferred through ribs to the shell itself.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved tank construction in o° which the shell is made of a plurality of shell sections joined to each other by ribs, the bulkheads being attached to the ribs.

BRIEF STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION.

Thus in order to overcome one or more objects of the invention, there is provided according to the invention an improved construction for a tank for a oO-.O road vehicle anker, said tank having an outer shell and internal bulkheads, the 41.: shell being constructed of a plurality of circumferential shell sections, said shell sections being separated by ribs which extend circumferentially and to which o adjacent shell sections are attached, said bulkheads being welded to the ribs.

Thus the invention provides the introduction of circumferential ribs separating the shell plate into shell plate sections, and in one form of the invention various of the circumferential ribs are attached to longitudinal underframe members so that the load forces are transmitted through the circumferential ribs and not the shell plate itself.

la, U BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

In order to more fully describe the invention reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:- FIG. 1 is a view of portion of a tank for a road tanker, FIG. 2 is a typical rib section on the line A-A of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an alternative section on the line A-A of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a typical section on the line B-B of FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is an alternative section on the line B-B of FIG. 1, 4 4 FIG. 6 is one form of construction of an underframe member.

FIG. 7 is an alternative form of an underframe member, FIG. 8 is one forming of a coaming member, and S, FIG. 9 is an alternative form of coaming member, DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT.

Referring to the drawings there is shown the tank 1 constructed of circumferential metal sections 2 each separated by circumferential metal ribs 3.

S0' The end of the tank has a tank end 4 joined to the end circumferential section by an end rib 5. The ribs 3 and 5 attach to the top roll over coamings which in turn fit onto the upper walkway 6 and the tank is supported on underframe members 7 which are also attached to the ribs 3 and While the invention is particularly directed to a construction in which the shell plates are of aluminium and the ribs are also of aluminium the tank may be constructed of steel. As shown in FIG. 2 the shell plate sections 2 are welded to a rib 3a, the rib having portions 8 to overlap the adjacent portions 9 of the shell plate sections 2 to be welded thereto. The rib 3a also extends into the interior of the tank and to which the bulkhead 10 is welded. Also the rib 3a has welded thereto an external side gusset 11 which is provided as desired along the lower portion of the tank. Depending on the design requirements, these external side gussets or supports may not be required on all bulkhead ribs.

4 77 FIG. 3 shows a similar construction but in which the rib 3b is of lesser thickness and the shell plate sections 2 are butt welded to the rib 3b.

As shown in FIG. 4 the tank end 4 is welded to the end rib 5a which has ah extension or shoulder 12 to overlap the end of the shell plate sectiofn 2 to which it is welded. The end rib 5a also has attached thereto an end mount 13.

FIG. 5 shows a similar construction to FIG. 4 but in which the shell plate section 2 is butt welded to the end rib 4 4001

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4 Thus the shell plate is not a continuous plate from front to rear, but the shell plate sections are separated by extruded ribs at the bulkhead and end plate positions. The design of the external ribs and dished only ends and bulkheads allows a more direct load and stress transfer from external support gussets into the bulkheads and the end This load is transferred into the bulkheads and the ends through the extruded ribs and not directly through the material of the shell plate.

Referring now to FIG. 6 there is shown an alternate construction in which the oad bearing underframe members are not separate members on which the or various of the circumferential ribs are welded to support the tank.

Thus as shown in FIG. 6 an extruded tank underframe member 14 has the tank side shell plate section 15 welded hereto, and the tank floor shell plate section 16 welded to the other side thereto. Thus the portion 17 forms an integral part of the tank barrel, whereby the circumferential ribs, tank side shell plate section and the tank floor shell plate sections all fit in the underframe member.

Referring now to FIG. 7 there is shown the underframe member welded to the outer surface of the shell plate, it being realised that the underframe member extends the length of the tank to thus support the tank and its contents.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate two forms of the roll over coaming 10 attached to the top of the tank. In FIG. 8 the coaming is fitted into the shell of the tank between the top shell plate 11 and the side shell plate 12, while in FIG. 9 the coaming is

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i 6 welded onto the outer surface of the shell 1 of the tank.

li! It is to be noted that throughout the specification and claims that where reference is made to "circumferential" this is not limited to the instance where the member described is fully circumferential, but includes the instance where the unit or member extends circumferentially for a major portion of its length.

The external rib design therefore offers a distinct design and engineering advantage, due to this "direct" load path of stresses to the areas where the tank 1 0 barrel is supported, and has the most strength, that is at the bulkheads and the ends.

Also the invention has the further advantage that, where the intended usage of t the vehicle permits it, the invention allows a reduction of shell plate thickness due to the shell plates not being used as the medium for the transfer of stresses, and hence a saving in overall tare weight and cost of the material. In other instances where the intended usage of the vehicle is to be over very rough roads or terrain, the invention allows the strengthening of the tank with little increase in the weight, by the addition of the ribs.

Although various forms of the invention have been described in some detail it is S, to be realised that the invention is not to be limited thereto but can include variations and modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

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Claims

1. A tank for the tank of a road veh[cle tanker, the tank having an outer shell and a plurality of internal bulkheads, the outer shell comprising a plurality of spaced circumferential shell sections, said shell sections being separated by circumferential ribs to which adjacent shell sections are attached as by welding, said bulkheads being attached to said circumferential ribs.

2. A tank as defined in claim in which the circumferential ribs are 1 0 attached to a pair of underframe members to support the tank.

3. A tank as defined in claim 2 in which each underframe member is an extruded member in which portion of the underframe member forms part of the tank shell by being attached to the adjacent circumferential shell sections, the 1 5 circumferential ribs being attached to the underframe member.

4. A tank as defined in claim 2 in which each underframe member is a separate member from the tank and extends longitudinally of the tank and is welded to various of the circumferential ribs.

5, A tank as. defined in any one of the preceding claims in which each circumferential rib has a portion to overlap the adjacent edge of the shell plate I" .section and is welded hereto. I 25

6. A tank as defined in any one of claims 1 to 4 in which each j circumferential rib is butt welded to the edge of the adjacent shell plate I section.

7. A tank as defined in any one of the preceding claims in which the tank 3 0 has a circumferential rib at each end thereof, the tank end being welded to the circumferential end rib by either overlapping a portion thereof or being butt welded thereto.

8. A tank as define' in any one of the preceding claims when appended to claim 2, in which the circumferential sections at their respective ends join into the underframe member which then form a part of the shell. -t ~Ci I 8 o

9. A tank as defined in any one of the preceding claims, which tank is provided with a pair of coaming members extending along the top of the tank, said coaming members being either welded to the outer surface of the shell, or form part of the shell by being inserted between two adjacent shell sections and being welded thereto. A tank substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 0 Dated this 29th day of June 1990 GARY WAYNE JARMYN By his Patent Attorneys, COLLISON P CO. to .0 Otis Ott SA t j .40 f rt L