Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
  • B63B—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPPING 
  • B63B35/00—Vessels or similar floating structures specially adapted for specific purposes and not otherwise provided for
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
  • E02F—DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING
  • E02F7/00—Equipment for conveying or separating excavated material
  • E02F7/10—Pipelines for conveying excavated materials
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
  • E02F—DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING
  • E02F9/00—Component parts of dredgers or soil-shifting machines, not restricted to one of the kinds covered by groups E02F3/00 - E02F7/00
  • E02F9/06—Floating substructures as supports

Definitions

• the invention relates to a vessel comprising a hull, a deck and at least one superstructure fixedly mounted to the deck of the vessel, the vessel further comprising equipment attached to the deck of the vessel, the equipment comprises at least one equipment part that can be positioned in
• the equipment part at least partially protrudes from the hull of the vessel, wherein the vessel further comprises a frame for supporting the at least one equipment part.
• Dredging vessels collect material from a water bottom (e.g. seafloor). The dredged material may be discharged at a location remote from the location where it is collected. Discharging dredged material from a dredging or hopper vessel can be done via a discharge pipe.
• the discharge pipe is a horizontally orientated discharge pipe which, in use, at least partially protrudes outboard.
• the discharge pipe is rotatable about an approximately vertical axis supported by the vessel.
• the output end of the discharge pipe is positioned close to the location where the dredged material is to be discharged and the dredged material can exit the discharge pipe with a relatively low velocity.
• one end of the horizontal discharge pipe is rotatable connected to the vessel and is arranged to rotate about a substantially vertical rotational axis.
• the discharge pipe is arranged to receive material to be discharged.
• the discharge pipe is rotated such that the output end of the discharge pipe is positioned close to the discharging position.
• a frame is provided in order to keep the discharge pipe in a substantially horizontal orientation when the discharge pipe is in the outboard position.
• the frame is provided to support the discharge pipe.
• Such a frame needs to be strong enough to support the weight of the discharge pipe, which may have a length of more than 60 metres. Therefore, the frame takes up a lot of space on the deck of the vessel.
• the frame also comprises constructional parts that are located behind the rotational axis, opposite to the discharge pipe. This makes the frame relatively spacious.
• Patent document JP51031332 discloses a vessel comprising a rotatable horizontal pipe which requires a frame to support the rotatable horizontal pipe or a dedicated mast to which supporting cables are attached to support the pipe.
• a vessel comprising a hull, a deck and at least one superstructure fixedly mounted to the deck, the vessel further comprising equipment attached to the deck, the equipment comprises at least one equipment part that can be positioned in
• the vessel further comprises a frame for supporting the at least one equipment part, wherein the frame is connected to the superstructure via a hinge construction allowing the at least one equipment part to be moved from the onboard to the outboard position and vice versa while being supported by the frame.
• the frame may be directly connected to the superstructure via the hinge construction, forming a rigid connection which can withstand pressing forces as well as pulling forces. Such a direct connection is thus different from a connection via a rope, as ropes cannot withstand pressing forces.
• a superstructure is a structure that is formed on top of the main deck which forms an integral part of the vessel.
• the superstructure rises above the main deck and may be one of a deckhouse, accommodation, chimney, ventilation house, cabin, forecastle deck, etc.
• the superstructure may be arranged to provide living accommodation and/or working accommodation.
• the equipment can thus be positioned on relatively small deck areas, for instance in between a superstructure and the starboard or part sides of the vessel, where only a limited amount of space is available, i.e. there is no room for spacious support constructions with counterweights.
• Dredging equipment may comprise a gantry, a loading system, cranes, (bow-) connections, discharge pipe.
• a gantry is hoisting equipment which may for instance be used to handle a suction pipe.
• a gantry may be attached to the deck.
• a loading system may be a barge loading system which may be used to load vessels or barges with dredged material, the vessels or barge may be positioned alongside the vessel.
• a crane may be a boom crane to move parts on deck.
• the connections may be any type of connections which may be positioned on any side of the vessel.
• the equipment part is a discharge pipe for discharging dredged material.
• Discharge pipes used for discharging dredged material are often relatively long, i.e. more than 50 meters, and thus require sufficient support to prevent the discharge pipe from bending or breaking under the influence of gravity.
• the vessel may be a dredging vessel or a hopper vessel.
• the equipment part is rotatable about a substantial vertical rotational axis to move the equipment part from the onboard to the outboard position and vice versa and the hinge construction defines a hinge axis, which is substantially in line with the vertical rotational axis.
• the vertical rotation axis runs through the vessel.
• the vertical rotation axis preferably runs through the deck of the vessel. This has the advantage that a reversible drive mechanism that may be provided to move the at least one equipment part from the outboard to the onboard position and vice versa can be positioned within the outer circumference of the vessel, for instance on the deck of the vessel.
• the reversible drive mechanism is preferably a compact drive mechanism.
• the frame is further rotatable connected to the deck.
• This rotatable connection may be provided by a second hinge construction, defining a second hinge axis which is in line with the first hinge axis defined above and the vertical rotational axis R.
• the frame is attached to the superstructure at a height above the deck.
• the superstructure may be structure that is a relatively high structure. Supporting equipment parts protrude relatively far from the vessel can best be done from a relatively high position.
• the frame is preferably attached at least 5 metres above the deck, and more preferably at least 10 metres above the deck.
• a relatively strong construction is provided, which is capable of supporting equipment parts in an outboard position and preventing such protruding equipment parts from bending or breaking under influence of gravity.
• the frame comprises a first hinge part and a second hinge part, the first hinge part being fixedly connected to or integrally formed with the superstructure, the first hinge part protruding from the superstructure , the second hinge part being fixedly connected to or integrally formed with the frame, the first and second hinge parts being arranged to be coupled together to form the hinge construction.
• the frame is attached to a roof part of the superstructure .
• a roof part of the superstructure is an easy and accessible part of a superstructure to connect a frame to.
• a first hinge part can be connected to the roof part and may also be replaced easily.
• the frame comprises a first hinge part connected to the superstructure, wherein the first hinge part is integrally formed with the
• Figures 1 and 2 schematically depict a side-view of a vessel according to an embodiment
• FIG. 3 schematically depicts a perspective view of the vessel according to an embodiment.
• Fig. 1 schematically depicts a side-view of a vessel 1, comprising a hull 2 and a deck 3 on which a superstructure 4 is positioned.
• the superstructure shown in Fig. 1 is an accommodation, also comprising the bridge.
• the superstructure 4 has roof parts, one of which is indicated with reference 5.
• the superstructure 4 may comprise different roof parts located at different heights as shown in Fig. 1.
• the vessel may be a dredging vessel or a hopper vessel arranged to discharge dredged material.
• equipment 10 is positioned on the deck.
• the equipment 10 is formed by a discharge pipe 11 which can be positioned in an outboard position as shown in Fig. 1.
• different types of equipment may be provided, such as a gantry, a loading system, a crane, a (bow-)connection.
• Fig. 2 schematically depicts a side-view of the same vessel, now showing the discharge pipe 11 in an onboard position.
• Fig. 3 schematically shows part of the same vessel, now in a perspective view, showing the discharge pipe 11 in the outboard position.
• the discharge pipe 11 can be rotated from the outboard to the onboard position and vice versa by rotating about rotational axis R.
• the discharge pipe 10 can be rotate over angles above 180 degrees, for instance over 190 degrees or even 225 degrees depending on the presence of other equipment which may limit the rotational movement of the discharge pipe 11.
• a frame 20 is provided to support the discharge pipe, especially when in the outboard position.
• the frame 20 may be formed as a skeleton formed by rigid frame elements.
• the shape of the skeleton may be optimized for providing a relatively strong frame.
• the frame may also comprise cables to further strengthen the frame 20 and preventing the frame 20 from being too heavy.
• the discharge pipe 11 may be rotated about a vertical rotational axis R. Any suitable rotational drive mechanism may be used to actuate the discharge pipe 11.
• the discharge pipe 11 and the frame 20 are connected to the deck 3 in a rotatable manner, allowing rotation about the rotational axis R.
• the connection may be formed by a hinge construction 40.
• the frame 20 is also connected to the superstructure 4 via a hinge construction 30, allowing the frame to rotate about a hinge axis H, being in line with the rotational axis R.
• the hinge construction 30 may be formed by a first hinge part 31, fixedly mounted to the superstructure 4 and a second hinge part 32 fixedly mounted to the frame 20.
• the first hinge part 31 may also be integrally formed with the superstructure 4. In the figures, the first hinge part 31 may be connected to a roof part 5 of the superstructure 4. However, the first hinge part 31 may also be connected to a wall of the superstructure 4.
• the frame 20 may be connected to the superstructure at a distance d above the deck 3. This provides a relatively strong support structure. A skilled person will understand that the equipment parts 11 in the outboard position will be pulled downward by gravity. This downward momentum (force times arm) needs to be compensated by a compensating momentum via the connection to the superstructure 4.
• the embodiments described above provide a relatively small and compact mechanism for positioning equipment on the deck 3 of vessel 1, the equipment comprising a frame 20 to support the equipment 10 when positioned in an outboard position.
• this allows to position the equipment 10 close to the stem of the vessel 1, even when a superstructure 4 and possible other equipment is already located close to the stem of the vessel 1.
• Discharge equipment is preferably located close to the stem of the vessel 1 as this allows to position the vessel 1 relatively close to the discharge location. Also, this provides the discharge pipe 1 1 with a relatively large freedom of movement.
• the other equipment may comprise rainbow equipment arranged to spray dredged material.
• the operator When operating the discharge equipment, either the rainbow equipment or the discharge pipe 11, the operator is preferably located close to the discharge equipment to be able to see the equipment that he/she is operating.
• both the rainbow equipment and the discharge pipe can be driven by one and the same pump unit (not shown) and may share internal piping to transport the material to be discharged from for instance a hopper to the equipment.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
• Civil Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Ocean & Marine Engineering (AREA)
• Buildings Adapted To Withstand Abnormal External Influences (AREA)
• Jib Cranes (AREA)
• Details Of Rigid Or Semi-Rigid Containers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=45930950

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Family Cites Families (11)

• 2011
  • 2011-03-31 NL NL2006502A patent/NL2006502C2/en not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2012
  • 2012-03-26 SG SG2013073119A patent/SG194006A1/en unknown
  • 2012-03-26 EP EP12712399.0A patent/EP2691580A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2012-03-26 CN CN201280016655.7A patent/CN103459724B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2012-03-26 WO PCT/NL2012/050191 patent/WO2012134276A1/en active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events