CA2234016A1 - Self unloading bulk carrier - Google Patents
Self unloading bulk carrier Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- CA2234016A1 CA2234016A1 CA002234016A CA2234016A CA2234016A1 CA 2234016 A1 CA2234016 A1 CA 2234016A1 CA 002234016 A CA002234016 A CA 002234016A CA 2234016 A CA2234016 A CA 2234016A CA 2234016 A1 CA2234016 A1 CA 2234016A1
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- Prior art keywords
- cargo hold
- conveyor
- trough
- tunnel
- vessel
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Abstract
A self unloading bulk carrier comprises a ship having a single centrally located conveyor positioned within a conveyor tunnel inside the ship's cargo hold. The tunnel is designed with a wide trough to increase the gravity flow of the cargo material. The ship further includes two self propelled reclaimers which include front loading shovels. The reclaimers are stored in a separate garage preferably located near the middle of the ship and are able to operate in either a fore or aft direction within the cargo hold.
Description
Self Unloading Bulk Carrier Background Of The Invention 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to systems for unloading bulk cargo carrying ships and particularly to ships which are adapted to be self unloading.
2. Description of the Prior Art In the shipping industry, it is common for ships to have large cargo holds which are filled with bulk material such as coal, sand, grain and the like. Various methods and apparatus have 15 been proposed to increase the efficiency of unloading the cargo of such ships.
One such method and appaldl~ls is described by J.R. Sensibar in US patent number1,585,268. This reference teaches a ship having two parallel conveyor belts running longitudinally along a ship's cargo hold. The conveyors are raised above the floor and the cargo above the conveyors is fed by gravity to such conveyors through gates. Material which lies on 20 either side of the conveyors and which does not fall into same, is captured by means of reclamation vehicles which are supported on a rail mechanism and which have conveyor belts for elevating such material and depositing same onto the conveyors. Although resulting in a self-unloading ship, this system has certain disadvantages. Primarily, the reclamation vehicles taught in this reference require extensive apparatus. The added weight of such apparatus leads to a loss 25 of the ship's cargo deadweight capacity. Further, the reclaimers taught in this reference are stored in a forward hold and travel in an aft direction only. For this reason, it is difficult to control the draft and trim of the vessel. In addition, the tunnels containing the conveyors are not designed to m:~ximi7e the gravity flow of material. Thus, the majority of the material must be fed by means of the reclaimers, thereby reducing the efficiency of the material transfer process 30 and resulting in slower unloading rates. Finally, the bottom corners of the ship's hold include shedder plates to assist the reclaimers. Such shedder plates result in a volume reduction in the vessel's cargo carrying capacity.
In US patent number 5,518,353, J.E. Pettersen describes another ship unloading system inside a cargo hold which comprises one centrally located conveyor contained within a tunnel which rises from the ship floor. The tunnel has a ramp on each side sloping down away from the tunnel. The ship is also provided with a series of endless belt scrapers which act in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the ship and move material towards the center from the sides of the ship and thereby onto the conveyor. The scrapers are suspended from the top of the 10 cargo hold and are gradually lowered as the height of the material decreases and are moved longitudinally along the ship's hold. As with the previous reference, this system also incorporates a large amount of machinery in order achieve its result. Further, the cargo hold also includes bottom shedder plates in the corners in order to assist the reclamation process. These shedder plates along with the sloped tunnel decrease the cargo carrying capacity of the ship.
In US patent number 4,072,238, W.R. Vaughan teaches a self unloading ship having two tunnel belts and a central reclaimer. The ship floor in this system is raised above the height of the tunnels and the corners have shedder plates. When gates to the tunnels are opened, a majority of the cargo material is left in the center portion of the ship, between the tunnels. A reclaimer comprising an auger travels between the tunnels and feeds material to each. Since most of the 20 material is reclaimed instead of being fed by gravity, the unloading rate of this system is also substantially slower. Further, the reclaimer of this system can only travel in one direction either fore or aft.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved system for unloading a cargo carrying ship. Such a ship would have an increased cargo unloading rate and an increased 25 cargo carrying capacity.
Summary Of The Invention The present invention overcomes the deficiencies in the known methods and apparatus of ship unloading systems. The invention provides, in one embodiment, a self unloading vessel for 30 h~ndling bulk material including: at least one cargo hold defined by side walls and a floor; a conveyor tunnel located centrally on the floor of the cargo hold and extending longitudinally substantially along the length of the cargo hold; the conveyor tunnel having side walls extending above the cargo hold floor, and a top portion defined by a trough; the trough having apertures with gates shiftable between closed and open positions; the trough apertures opening onto an 35 endless belt conveyor contained within the conveyor tunnel; and, at least one recl~iming means - . CA 02234016 1998-04-06 , for loading bulk material resting outside of the conveyor tunnel into the trough, the reclaiming means being adapted to travel on the cargo hold floor on either side of the conveyor tunnel and moveable in a fore or aft direction.
The invention also provides a method of unloading a ship as described above.
Brief Description Of The Drawings These and other features of the preferred embodiments of the invention will become more appalelll in the following detailed description in which reference is made to the appended drawings wherein:
Figure 1 is a side cross sectional view of a ship designed according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.
Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of figure 1.
Figure 3 is an expanded cross sectional view of a conveyor shown in figure 2.
Figure 4 is a side cross sectional view of the rear portion of the ship shown in figure 1.
Figure 5 is a side elevation of a reclaimer according to the preferred embodiment.
Description Of The Preferred Embodiments A ship for transporting bulk material and designed according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated generally at 10. The ship typically has fore and aft ends 12 and 14, 25 respectively, and includes a number a cargo holds, preferably three, identified as 1 6a 1 6b and 1 6c. The deck 18 of the ship includes a number of cargo hold doors 20 through which material to be transported can enter into the respective cargo hold 1 6a, 1 6b or 1 6c. On the deck 18 of the ship, is also found a boom apparatus 22 which is used to transfer material from the ship to a receiving station on the dock (not shown). Material is fed to the boom apparatus 22 by an 30 elevating apparatus 24.
Running along the length of the cargo holds is a tunnel 28 located on the ship floor 29 and which is generally centered within the holds. The tunnel 28 encloses an endless belt conveyor 26 which runs along the length of the tunnel. As seen in figure 3, the conveyor 26, is comprised of a belt 30 looped around a series of rollers 32. The conveyor 26 is driven by a - . CA 02234016 1998-04-06 motor (not shown) as is common and has a material carrying upper section 34 which runs towards the elevating a~pa~ s 24 and a lower return section 36. The tunnel 28 is comprised of side walls 40 and top walls 42. The top walls 42 rise above the tunnel 28 and are sloped outwards to form a trough 44. Along the length of the trough 44 are located a series of openings, or hoppers, 46 having gates 49 which can be opened and closed thereby allowing or preventing cargo material from entering the tunnel 28 and thereby being fed to the upper section 34 of the conveyor 26. The upper section 34 of the conveyor 26 comprises a base portion 39 and side portions 38 on each side thereof. The side portions 38 are angled upwards from the base portion 39. Further, the conveyor upper portion 34 is wider than the openings 46. In this manner, material passing through the opening 46 is captured on the conveyor 26 and prevented from falling offthe conveyor.
Each top wall 42 of the tunnel 28 is comprised of two sections 48 and 50 with section 48 being proximate to the opening 44. The slope of the section 48 is preferably greater than that of section 50. In a preferred embodiment, section 48 has a slope of 50~ while section 50 has a slope of 35~. The tunnel is defined by a frame comprising pillars 52 and web members 54 each spaced along the tunnel 28. In a preferred embodiment, the pillars 52 are spaced 12 feet apart and the web members 54 are spaced 6 feet apart. Further, in a preferred embodiment, the outer portions 56 of the webs and, therefore, the side walls 40 of the tunnel 28 are sloped inwards towards the center of the tunnel to form an angle of 85~. The frame includes a sheathing of metal sheets to form the exterior surface and, therefore the side walls 40, of the tunnel. In a preferred embodiment, the side walls 40 of the tunnel 28 are approximately 8' 1 " high so as to allow easy access into the interior 59 of the tunnel, under the web members 54, for maintenance and repairs.
Such a height clearance in the tunnel interior 59 also allows for the passage of smaller reclaimer vehicles to gather any material which falls off the conveyor. This design of tunnel does not limit the volume capacity of the ship and permits high rates of cargo discharge.
As shown in figures 1 and 4, the ship further includes a garage 58 located approximately mid length of the ship. The garage is separated from the neighbouring cargo holds 16b and 16c by means of doors 60 and 62. The doors 60 and 62 are of a pocket type and are adapted to vertically slide into pockets 64 and 66 respectively. Contained within the garage 58 are two reclaimers 68 one on each side of the tunnel 28.
As shown in figure 5, the reclaimers 68 consist of front loading shovel machines which are of known design. Such machines are similar to backhoes but have a front loading shovel 70 which is designed for pushing or lifting material forward, away from the machine.
A prefe.led embodiment of the invention will now be described in relation to its function.
A ship according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, is loaded with cargo by opening the cargo hold doors 20 and depositing material throughout the three cargo holds.
Material is not deposited within the garage 58. When the ship is loaded to capacity, the cargo doors 20 are closed and the ship travels to its destination. In order to unload the ship, the gates 49 in the trough 44 are opened sequentially and material is allowed to flow by gravity onto the 15 conveyor 26. The conveyor transports this material towards the elevating mechanism 24 which in turn transports it to the boom mechanism 22 which transports same onto the dock. The gates 49 are opened sequentially in order to prevent overloading of the conveyor 26.
Although a large portion of the material is collected by the trough 44 by gravity as described above, a portion of the material is left rem:~ining on either side of the conveyor tunnel.
20 The amount of material rem:~ining on the sides of the conveyor and not collected would depend upon the physical characteristics of the material which determine the angle of repose of the mound of material. The greater the angle of repose of a material, the greater the amount of such material not collected by gravity. The reclaimers 68 are provided to recover such material left on the sides of the conveyor. After the gravity feed process is completed, the garage doors 60 and 25 62 are opened and the reclaimers 68 are exposed. By providing doors which open vertically into pockets instead of swinging either in or out, the need for providing clearance either in front or behind the doors is avoided. As indicated above, the front loading shovels 70 of the reclaimers 68 face away from the body of the machine and thereby allow for the material to be pushed and lifted for~vard of the reclaimer. Thus, the material is piled atop itself and thereby allowed to flow 30 into the trough 44 by gravity. The reclaimer is also capable of lifting and depositing material into the trough 44. In this manner, the reclaimer advances to the end of the ship' s cargo holds.
The reclaimer, being self propelled and maneuverable within the cargo hold, is then able to turn and proceed in the opposite direction. In this way, material is unloaded from the center towards the bow or stern as desired thereby allowing the draft and trim of the vessel to be maintained.
In the preferred embodiment, two reclaimers are provided with one on each side of the tunnel 28. In this way, both sides of the tunnel can be unloaded simultaneously. Further, as noted above, the preferred embodiment of the invention includes a wide conveyor tunnel 28 having a trough 44 in order to m~ximi7e the amount of material collected by gravity flow. This 10 in turn leads to a more constant flow rate and avoids overloading of the conveyor. Further, in a preferred embodiment, the bottom corners of the ship's holds do not have shedder plates. This is due to the reclaimers being self propelled and able to traverse the entire ship floor without any guiding apparatus. The removal of shedder plates therefore increases the cargo carrying capacity of the ship.
The various moving components such as the conveyor gates and conveyor are preferably powered by known hydraulic means.
Although the invention has been described with reference to certain specific embodiments, various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as outlined in the claims appended hereto.
One such method and appaldl~ls is described by J.R. Sensibar in US patent number1,585,268. This reference teaches a ship having two parallel conveyor belts running longitudinally along a ship's cargo hold. The conveyors are raised above the floor and the cargo above the conveyors is fed by gravity to such conveyors through gates. Material which lies on 20 either side of the conveyors and which does not fall into same, is captured by means of reclamation vehicles which are supported on a rail mechanism and which have conveyor belts for elevating such material and depositing same onto the conveyors. Although resulting in a self-unloading ship, this system has certain disadvantages. Primarily, the reclamation vehicles taught in this reference require extensive apparatus. The added weight of such apparatus leads to a loss 25 of the ship's cargo deadweight capacity. Further, the reclaimers taught in this reference are stored in a forward hold and travel in an aft direction only. For this reason, it is difficult to control the draft and trim of the vessel. In addition, the tunnels containing the conveyors are not designed to m:~ximi7e the gravity flow of material. Thus, the majority of the material must be fed by means of the reclaimers, thereby reducing the efficiency of the material transfer process 30 and resulting in slower unloading rates. Finally, the bottom corners of the ship's hold include shedder plates to assist the reclaimers. Such shedder plates result in a volume reduction in the vessel's cargo carrying capacity.
In US patent number 5,518,353, J.E. Pettersen describes another ship unloading system inside a cargo hold which comprises one centrally located conveyor contained within a tunnel which rises from the ship floor. The tunnel has a ramp on each side sloping down away from the tunnel. The ship is also provided with a series of endless belt scrapers which act in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the ship and move material towards the center from the sides of the ship and thereby onto the conveyor. The scrapers are suspended from the top of the 10 cargo hold and are gradually lowered as the height of the material decreases and are moved longitudinally along the ship's hold. As with the previous reference, this system also incorporates a large amount of machinery in order achieve its result. Further, the cargo hold also includes bottom shedder plates in the corners in order to assist the reclamation process. These shedder plates along with the sloped tunnel decrease the cargo carrying capacity of the ship.
In US patent number 4,072,238, W.R. Vaughan teaches a self unloading ship having two tunnel belts and a central reclaimer. The ship floor in this system is raised above the height of the tunnels and the corners have shedder plates. When gates to the tunnels are opened, a majority of the cargo material is left in the center portion of the ship, between the tunnels. A reclaimer comprising an auger travels between the tunnels and feeds material to each. Since most of the 20 material is reclaimed instead of being fed by gravity, the unloading rate of this system is also substantially slower. Further, the reclaimer of this system can only travel in one direction either fore or aft.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved system for unloading a cargo carrying ship. Such a ship would have an increased cargo unloading rate and an increased 25 cargo carrying capacity.
Summary Of The Invention The present invention overcomes the deficiencies in the known methods and apparatus of ship unloading systems. The invention provides, in one embodiment, a self unloading vessel for 30 h~ndling bulk material including: at least one cargo hold defined by side walls and a floor; a conveyor tunnel located centrally on the floor of the cargo hold and extending longitudinally substantially along the length of the cargo hold; the conveyor tunnel having side walls extending above the cargo hold floor, and a top portion defined by a trough; the trough having apertures with gates shiftable between closed and open positions; the trough apertures opening onto an 35 endless belt conveyor contained within the conveyor tunnel; and, at least one recl~iming means - . CA 02234016 1998-04-06 , for loading bulk material resting outside of the conveyor tunnel into the trough, the reclaiming means being adapted to travel on the cargo hold floor on either side of the conveyor tunnel and moveable in a fore or aft direction.
The invention also provides a method of unloading a ship as described above.
Brief Description Of The Drawings These and other features of the preferred embodiments of the invention will become more appalelll in the following detailed description in which reference is made to the appended drawings wherein:
Figure 1 is a side cross sectional view of a ship designed according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.
Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of figure 1.
Figure 3 is an expanded cross sectional view of a conveyor shown in figure 2.
Figure 4 is a side cross sectional view of the rear portion of the ship shown in figure 1.
Figure 5 is a side elevation of a reclaimer according to the preferred embodiment.
Description Of The Preferred Embodiments A ship for transporting bulk material and designed according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated generally at 10. The ship typically has fore and aft ends 12 and 14, 25 respectively, and includes a number a cargo holds, preferably three, identified as 1 6a 1 6b and 1 6c. The deck 18 of the ship includes a number of cargo hold doors 20 through which material to be transported can enter into the respective cargo hold 1 6a, 1 6b or 1 6c. On the deck 18 of the ship, is also found a boom apparatus 22 which is used to transfer material from the ship to a receiving station on the dock (not shown). Material is fed to the boom apparatus 22 by an 30 elevating apparatus 24.
Running along the length of the cargo holds is a tunnel 28 located on the ship floor 29 and which is generally centered within the holds. The tunnel 28 encloses an endless belt conveyor 26 which runs along the length of the tunnel. As seen in figure 3, the conveyor 26, is comprised of a belt 30 looped around a series of rollers 32. The conveyor 26 is driven by a - . CA 02234016 1998-04-06 motor (not shown) as is common and has a material carrying upper section 34 which runs towards the elevating a~pa~ s 24 and a lower return section 36. The tunnel 28 is comprised of side walls 40 and top walls 42. The top walls 42 rise above the tunnel 28 and are sloped outwards to form a trough 44. Along the length of the trough 44 are located a series of openings, or hoppers, 46 having gates 49 which can be opened and closed thereby allowing or preventing cargo material from entering the tunnel 28 and thereby being fed to the upper section 34 of the conveyor 26. The upper section 34 of the conveyor 26 comprises a base portion 39 and side portions 38 on each side thereof. The side portions 38 are angled upwards from the base portion 39. Further, the conveyor upper portion 34 is wider than the openings 46. In this manner, material passing through the opening 46 is captured on the conveyor 26 and prevented from falling offthe conveyor.
Each top wall 42 of the tunnel 28 is comprised of two sections 48 and 50 with section 48 being proximate to the opening 44. The slope of the section 48 is preferably greater than that of section 50. In a preferred embodiment, section 48 has a slope of 50~ while section 50 has a slope of 35~. The tunnel is defined by a frame comprising pillars 52 and web members 54 each spaced along the tunnel 28. In a preferred embodiment, the pillars 52 are spaced 12 feet apart and the web members 54 are spaced 6 feet apart. Further, in a preferred embodiment, the outer portions 56 of the webs and, therefore, the side walls 40 of the tunnel 28 are sloped inwards towards the center of the tunnel to form an angle of 85~. The frame includes a sheathing of metal sheets to form the exterior surface and, therefore the side walls 40, of the tunnel. In a preferred embodiment, the side walls 40 of the tunnel 28 are approximately 8' 1 " high so as to allow easy access into the interior 59 of the tunnel, under the web members 54, for maintenance and repairs.
Such a height clearance in the tunnel interior 59 also allows for the passage of smaller reclaimer vehicles to gather any material which falls off the conveyor. This design of tunnel does not limit the volume capacity of the ship and permits high rates of cargo discharge.
As shown in figures 1 and 4, the ship further includes a garage 58 located approximately mid length of the ship. The garage is separated from the neighbouring cargo holds 16b and 16c by means of doors 60 and 62. The doors 60 and 62 are of a pocket type and are adapted to vertically slide into pockets 64 and 66 respectively. Contained within the garage 58 are two reclaimers 68 one on each side of the tunnel 28.
As shown in figure 5, the reclaimers 68 consist of front loading shovel machines which are of known design. Such machines are similar to backhoes but have a front loading shovel 70 which is designed for pushing or lifting material forward, away from the machine.
A prefe.led embodiment of the invention will now be described in relation to its function.
A ship according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, is loaded with cargo by opening the cargo hold doors 20 and depositing material throughout the three cargo holds.
Material is not deposited within the garage 58. When the ship is loaded to capacity, the cargo doors 20 are closed and the ship travels to its destination. In order to unload the ship, the gates 49 in the trough 44 are opened sequentially and material is allowed to flow by gravity onto the 15 conveyor 26. The conveyor transports this material towards the elevating mechanism 24 which in turn transports it to the boom mechanism 22 which transports same onto the dock. The gates 49 are opened sequentially in order to prevent overloading of the conveyor 26.
Although a large portion of the material is collected by the trough 44 by gravity as described above, a portion of the material is left rem:~ining on either side of the conveyor tunnel.
20 The amount of material rem:~ining on the sides of the conveyor and not collected would depend upon the physical characteristics of the material which determine the angle of repose of the mound of material. The greater the angle of repose of a material, the greater the amount of such material not collected by gravity. The reclaimers 68 are provided to recover such material left on the sides of the conveyor. After the gravity feed process is completed, the garage doors 60 and 25 62 are opened and the reclaimers 68 are exposed. By providing doors which open vertically into pockets instead of swinging either in or out, the need for providing clearance either in front or behind the doors is avoided. As indicated above, the front loading shovels 70 of the reclaimers 68 face away from the body of the machine and thereby allow for the material to be pushed and lifted for~vard of the reclaimer. Thus, the material is piled atop itself and thereby allowed to flow 30 into the trough 44 by gravity. The reclaimer is also capable of lifting and depositing material into the trough 44. In this manner, the reclaimer advances to the end of the ship' s cargo holds.
The reclaimer, being self propelled and maneuverable within the cargo hold, is then able to turn and proceed in the opposite direction. In this way, material is unloaded from the center towards the bow or stern as desired thereby allowing the draft and trim of the vessel to be maintained.
In the preferred embodiment, two reclaimers are provided with one on each side of the tunnel 28. In this way, both sides of the tunnel can be unloaded simultaneously. Further, as noted above, the preferred embodiment of the invention includes a wide conveyor tunnel 28 having a trough 44 in order to m~ximi7e the amount of material collected by gravity flow. This 10 in turn leads to a more constant flow rate and avoids overloading of the conveyor. Further, in a preferred embodiment, the bottom corners of the ship's holds do not have shedder plates. This is due to the reclaimers being self propelled and able to traverse the entire ship floor without any guiding apparatus. The removal of shedder plates therefore increases the cargo carrying capacity of the ship.
The various moving components such as the conveyor gates and conveyor are preferably powered by known hydraulic means.
Although the invention has been described with reference to certain specific embodiments, various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as outlined in the claims appended hereto.
Claims (13)
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A self unloading vessel for handling bulk material including:
at least one cargo hold defined by side walls and a floor;
a conveyor tunnel located centrally on the floor of said cargo hold and extending longitudinally substantially along the length of said cargo hold;
said conveyor tunnel having side walls extending above said cargo hold floor, and a top portion defined by a trough;
said trough having apertures with gates shiftable between closed and open positions;
said trough apertures opening onto an endless belt conveyor contained within said conveyor tunnel; and at least one reclaiming means for loading bulk material resting outside of said conveyor tunnel into said trough, said reclaiming means being adapted to travel on said cargo hold floor on either side of said conveyor tunnel and moveable in a fore or aft direction.
at least one cargo hold defined by side walls and a floor;
a conveyor tunnel located centrally on the floor of said cargo hold and extending longitudinally substantially along the length of said cargo hold;
said conveyor tunnel having side walls extending above said cargo hold floor, and a top portion defined by a trough;
said trough having apertures with gates shiftable between closed and open positions;
said trough apertures opening onto an endless belt conveyor contained within said conveyor tunnel; and at least one reclaiming means for loading bulk material resting outside of said conveyor tunnel into said trough, said reclaiming means being adapted to travel on said cargo hold floor on either side of said conveyor tunnel and moveable in a fore or aft direction.
2. A vessel as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said reclaiming means comprises a self propelled reclamation vehicle having a front loading shovel.
3. A vessel as claimed in claim 2 wherein said cargo hold includes a centrally located garage for storing said reclamation vehicle when not in use.
4. A vessel as claimed in claim 3 wherein two of said reclamation vehicles are provided and wherein said garage houses one of said reclamation vehicles on each side of said conveyor tunnel.
5. A vessel as claimed in claim 4 further comprising an elevating apparatus for removing material collected on said conveyor out of said cargo hold.
6. A vessel as claimed in claim 1 wherein said cargo hold includes a centrally located garage for storing said reclaimer when not in use.
7. A vessel as claimed in claim 6 wherein said reclaiming means comprises a self propelled vehicle having a front loading shovel.
8. A self unloading vessel for handling bulk material including:
at least one cargo hold defined by side walls and a floor;
a conveyor tunnel located centrally on the floor of said cargo hold and extending substantially along the length of said cargo hold;
said conveyor tunnel having side walls extending above said cargo hold floor, and a top surface defined by a trough;
said trough having apertures with gates shiftable between closed and open positions;
said trough apertures opening onto an endless belt conveyor contained within said conveyor tunnel;
reclaiming means for loading bulk material resting outside of said conveyor tunnel into said trough;
said reclaiming means comprising two self propelled reclamation vehicles having front loading shovels and being adapted to travel on said cargo hold floor on either side of said conveyor tunnel and moveable in a fore or aft direction; and a garage, centrally located in said cargo hold, for storing said reclamation vehicles when not in use.
at least one cargo hold defined by side walls and a floor;
a conveyor tunnel located centrally on the floor of said cargo hold and extending substantially along the length of said cargo hold;
said conveyor tunnel having side walls extending above said cargo hold floor, and a top surface defined by a trough;
said trough having apertures with gates shiftable between closed and open positions;
said trough apertures opening onto an endless belt conveyor contained within said conveyor tunnel;
reclaiming means for loading bulk material resting outside of said conveyor tunnel into said trough;
said reclaiming means comprising two self propelled reclamation vehicles having front loading shovels and being adapted to travel on said cargo hold floor on either side of said conveyor tunnel and moveable in a fore or aft direction; and a garage, centrally located in said cargo hold, for storing said reclamation vehicles when not in use.
9. A vessel as claimed in claim 8 further comprising an elevating apparatus for removing material collected on said conveyor out of said cargo hold.
10. A method for unloading bulk material from a vessel, said vessel including:
at least one cargo hold defined by side walls and a floor;
a conveyor tunnel located centrally on the floor of said cargo hold and extending substantially along the length of said cargo hold;
said conveyor tunnel having side walls extending above said cargo hold floor, and a top surface defined by a trough;
said trough having apertures with gates shiftable between closed and open positions;
said trough apertures opening onto an endless belt conveyor contained within said conveyor tunnel;
reclaiming means for loading bulk material resting outside of said conveyor tunnel into said trough;
said reclaiming means comprising two self propelled reclamation vehicles having front loading shovels and being adapted to travel on said cargo hold floor on either side of said conveyor tunnel and moveable in a fore or aft direction;
a garage, centrally located in said cargo hold, for storing said reclamation vehicles when not in use; and an elevating apparatus for removing material collected on said conveyor out of said cargo hold;
wherein, said method comprises:
a) opening said gates to allow material to flow through said trough apertures onto said endless belt conveyor;
b) conveying said material to said elevating apparatus;
c) transferring material remaining outside of said conveyor tunnel into said trough by means of said reclamation vehicles.
at least one cargo hold defined by side walls and a floor;
a conveyor tunnel located centrally on the floor of said cargo hold and extending substantially along the length of said cargo hold;
said conveyor tunnel having side walls extending above said cargo hold floor, and a top surface defined by a trough;
said trough having apertures with gates shiftable between closed and open positions;
said trough apertures opening onto an endless belt conveyor contained within said conveyor tunnel;
reclaiming means for loading bulk material resting outside of said conveyor tunnel into said trough;
said reclaiming means comprising two self propelled reclamation vehicles having front loading shovels and being adapted to travel on said cargo hold floor on either side of said conveyor tunnel and moveable in a fore or aft direction;
a garage, centrally located in said cargo hold, for storing said reclamation vehicles when not in use; and an elevating apparatus for removing material collected on said conveyor out of said cargo hold;
wherein, said method comprises:
a) opening said gates to allow material to flow through said trough apertures onto said endless belt conveyor;
b) conveying said material to said elevating apparatus;
c) transferring material remaining outside of said conveyor tunnel into said trough by means of said reclamation vehicles.
11. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein said reclamation vehicles begin operation at a middle portion of said cargo hold and proceed to either the fore or aft of the vessel.
12. The method as claimed in claim 11 wherein, upon reaching the fore or aft end of the vessel, said reclamation vehicles turn and proceed in the opposite direction.
13. The method as claimed in claim 12 wherein said reclamation vehicles push said material onto itself to promote gravity feeding of said material into said trough.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US83497097A | 1997-04-07 | 1997-04-07 | |
| US08/834,970 | 1997-04-07 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2234016A1 true CA2234016A1 (en) | 1998-10-07 |
Family
ID=25268254
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002234016A Abandoned CA2234016A1 (en) | 1997-04-07 | 1998-04-06 | Self unloading bulk carrier |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2234016A1 (en) |
-
1998
- 1998-04-06 CA CA002234016A patent/CA2234016A1/en not_active Abandoned
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| FZDE | Discontinued | ||
| FZDE | Discontinued |
Effective date: 20010406 |