Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
  • B63B—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPPING 
  • B63B19/00—Arrangements or adaptations of ports, doors, windows, port-holes, or other openings or covers
  • B63B19/12—Hatches; Hatchways
  • B63B19/14—Hatch covers
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
  • B63B—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPPING 
  • B63B19/00—Arrangements or adaptations of ports, doors, windows, port-holes, or other openings or covers
  • B63B19/12—Hatches; Hatchways
  • B63B19/26—Gaskets; Draining means

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a support and seal arrangement applicable to the hatch cover of a cargo ship for supporting an essentially rectangular hatch cover and a payload cargo possibly resting thereon and sealing the hatch cover against the edge of the hatch coaming, whereby said arrangement comprises at least one support pad located substantially close to the outer edges of the hatch cover and an elongated gasket seal running close to the outer edges of the hatch cover.
• the support pad serves to bear the weight of the hatch cover and a payload cargo possibly placed thereon so that the cover can undergo a movement with regard to the edge of the coaming (in order to cope with the deformations of the ship's hull at sea). Additionally, the support pad serves to keep a constant distance between the cover and the hatch coaming irrespective of the superimposed load, whereby an optimal function of the cover seal means is attained.
• the arrangement according to the invention is characterized in that the support pads are connected in a watertight manner to the encircling sealing gasket. Therefore, no separate support members attached to the outer edge of the hatch cover and projecting outwardly therefrom are required, thus reducing the external dimensions of the hatch cover with regard to the size of prior-art constructions.
• the structure of hatch covers also becomes lighter and simpler to manufacture. Furthermore, the new design makes hatch covers easier to mount in place.
• a preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the support pads are placed at least partially embedded in the gasket seals of the cover.
• Another preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the gasket seal with the embedded support pads is affixed to the hatch cover and that the bottom surface of the support pad in an unmounted hatch cover is verti- cally situated a level higher than the gasket bottom surface.
• a further another preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the bottom surface of the support pad in a mounted hatch cover is vertically situated at a substantially equal level with the gasket bottom surface resting against the top surface of the hatch coaming.
• a still further another preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the bottom surface of the support pad is made of a sealing material. This arrangement provides a continuous seal about the entire hatch cover since the support pad also acts as a part of the gasket seal. Moreover, the support/seal assembly can be made entirely resistant to corrosion.
• a still another preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the support pad with the portion of seal material attached thereto forms a complete, integrated block that can be affixed in place, particularly to a hatch cover, by means of fastening elements provided on the support pad, such as threaded pin bolts and compatible nuts.
• Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a hatch cover equipped with a conventional support/seal arrangement and mounted on the edge of a ship's hatch coaming;
• Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a detail of a conventional hatch cover showing both the support member and the rubber seal thereof;
• Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a hatch cover equipped with a support pad-seal arrangement according to the invention and mounted on the edge of a ship's hatch coaming;
• Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a detail of a hatch cover according to the invention showing both the support pad and the rubber seal arrangement thereof;
• Fig. 5 is a side view of the integrated support pad-seal block according to the invention.
• Fig. 6 is a sectional end view of the support pad-seal block structure of Fig. 5;
• Fig. 7 is a side view of the support pad-seal block of Fig. 5 affixed in place and serving in a placed hatch cover;
• Fig. 8 is an end view of the same support pad-seal block as that shown in Fig. 7;
• Fig. 9 is a side view of the same support pad-seal block as that shown in Fig. 7 but now having the hatch lifted into a nonworking position;
• Fig. 10 is an end view of the support pad-seal block of Fig. 9.
• a state-of-the-art support/seal arrangement for a cargo ship hatch cover 1 As known, a hatch cover is required to close the hatch of a cargo space, whose details are omitted from the diagrams. Conventionally, the outer edges of the hatch cover 1 are provided with support members 2 whose load-bearing surfaces rest on a hatch coaming 3 when the cover is seated on the hatch. While the number of support members may vary, the exemplifying construction of Fig. 1 has two members on each side of the cover. As is evident from Fig.
• a groove made to the underside edge of the hatch cover has an elongated rubber gasket seal 4 affixed thereto so as to encircle about the perimeter of the entire cover and to seal the cover in watertight manner against the edge of the hatch coaming 3.
• Fig. 3 a support/seal arrangement according to the invention for use in a hatch cover.
• Fig. 4 shows the major length of the gasket seal 4 to have a cross section essentially similar to that of conventional constructions.
• the novel feature of the present invention is to have support pads 5 integrated into the cross section of the encircling gasket seal 4.
• the number of support pads can be equal to that used in conventional constructions. However, the number may be varied according to the structure of the hatch cover and the load to be carried by the hatch structure.
• the characterizing feature of the invention is that the support pads are not located projecting outwardly from the outer edge of the hatch cover, but instead, are integrated into the cross section of the gasket seal.
• the structure of the support pads themselves can be varied as required.
• at least a portion of the support pad is made from a metal.
• the underside of the support pad has a sealing material attached thereto, whereby a continuous seal is provided about the entire perimeter of the hatch cover.
• the gasket seal 4 is affixed in the same manner as in cited prior-art construction into a groove made to the edge of the hatch cover 1 as shown in Fig. 4.
• the underside of the hatch cover outer perimeter is provided with recesses 6 at the support pads so that a small lateral displacement of the support pads is possible at heavy seas.
• the support pad may be made slidable and/or elasti- cally deformable to cope with such movements.
• the rubber gasket seal 4 may be implemented using conventional seal constructions, whereby the seal may be slidable on the coaming or compressible against a shaped metallic backing surface.
• Fig. 5 is shown a possible embodiment for an easy-to-mount gasket seal block 4 with its integrated support pad.
• the support pad-seal block acts as a seal element of a predetermined length that can be readily affixed in a groove made to the hatch cover 1.
• the seal proper extends in a conventional manner to both sides of the support pad-seal block.
• the support pad-seal block is provided with two threaded pin bolts 7 that are inserted via compatible holes made to the bottom of the hatch cover edge groove and are then locked in place by means of nuts 8 (Figs. 7 and 8).
• Figs. 9 and 10 the hatch cover is shown in a nonworking position, in which the support pad-seal block 4 bears no load. This is the situation when, e.g., the hatch cover is elevated off its place by means of a lift. Then, the bottom surface of the support pad 5 is vertically situated at a level higher than the underside of the gasket seal. In Figs. 7 and 8 is shown the opposite situation, namely, the working position in which the hatch cover is mounted in place. Herein, the bottom surface of the support pad 5 is vertically situated at a substantially equal level with bottom surface of the gasket seal 4 resting against the top surface of the hatch coaming.
• the support pads assures that the pressure imposed on the encircling seal stays constant at any point about the hatch cover perimeter, whereby an optimal seal performance is attained.

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Ocean & Marine Engineering (AREA)
• Gasket Seals (AREA)
• Seal Device For Vehicle (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=8553053

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (10)

Families Citing this family (4)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 1998
  • 1998-12-07 FI FI982636A patent/FI110179B/fi active
• 1999
  • 1999-11-26 JP JP2000586577A patent/JP2002531326A/ja active Pending
  • 1999-11-26 WO PCT/FI1999/000981 patent/WO2000034115A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1999-11-26 PL PL348914A patent/PL190816B1/pl not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1999-11-26 DE DE69917321T patent/DE69917321T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1999-11-26 EP EP99958217A patent/EP1137570B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1999-11-26 DK DK99958217T patent/DK1137570T3/da active
  • 1999-11-26 CN CN99814160A patent/CN1123484C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1999-11-26 KR KR10-2001-7007042A patent/KR100431935B1/ko not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1999-11-26 AU AU15634/00A patent/AU1563400A/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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