GB2261416A

GB2261416A - Evacuation appliance

Info

Publication number: GB2261416A
Application number: GB9222639A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hiroshi Hayashi; Yasuhiro Katayama; Siro Kazuta; Minoru Kimura; Hikoji Saotome
Original assignee: Toyo Tire and Rubber Co Ltd
Current assignee: Toyo Tire Corp
Priority date: 1991-11-13
Filing date: 1992-10-28
Publication date: 1993-05-19
Anticipated expiration: 2012-10-28
Also published as: JPH05131977A; JP3127426B2; GB9222639D0; GB2261416B

Abstract

The launching mechanism of a chute is provided with a container-box 1 having rear walls 3a, 3b that open. a hook releasing mechanism, a launching stand 6 erected in the container-box provided with a guide passage 22 and a slide passage 24 in a downward slope, a sliding exit deck 7 on its guide passage 22, a support plate 8 pivotally connected to the sliding exit deck 7 and mounted slidably on the slide passage 24, with its tip abutted on the rear walls 3a, 3b to support the sliding exit deck 7, and a chute 9 and a platform 10 connected to the sliding exit deck 7 stored in a space between the sliding exit deck 7 and the support plate 8. When the hooking of the rear walls 3a, 3b is released, the sliding exit deck 7 forces the rear walls 3a, 3b to open with its weight to protrude from the container-box 1 horizontally and the chute 9 is supported in the perpendicular suspension condition along the freeboard whereby the platform 10 is maintained at its fixed position on the sea. <IMAGE>

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION EMERGENCY EVACUATION APPLIANCES FOR PASSENGER BOATS This invention relates to emergency evacuation appliances for passenger boats, and more particularly to a launching mechanism for slide-down type chuter and to chuters provided in the launching mechanism, and a rear wall of a container-box is arranged to be openable in right and left directions, and a launching stand is erected in the container-box which is a downward slope to the rear wall, and a sliding exit deck is locked by a hook on the launching stand is supported by the rear wall, and the sliding exit deck is stored by applying a load of the sliding exit deck, and when the locking of the rear wall is released, the sliding exit deck forces the rear wall to open with its empty weight or dead load so as to protrude horizontally from the container-box, and the chuter is supported on the platform perpendicularly along the side of the ship which is connected to the sliding exit deck and the platform floats on the sea.

With the enforcement of 1960 SOLAS convention, installation of inflatable life rafts on the ships engaged in international voyage has become compulsive. Further, installation of the arrangements to embark on life rafts has been recommended. In Japan, the installation of slide-down type evacuation appliances is compulsory to the ship like passenger car ferry which has high freeboard and causes difficulties for evacuators to directly embark on the life raft.

As the means to embark on the inflatable life raft then, the inflatable slide-down type evacuation appliances are provided, but for the ships having the freeboard of higher than 10 meters have come into existence, with a trend of magnifying the side of passenger boats like car ferry, the evacuation appliances are of excessively longer in size due to the structure protruding into the seaside linearly, receiving the resistance by the wind pressure or waves along the shipboard which results in the torsion of the appliances or difficulties in the maintenance of desired slope due to the loads of passengers sliding down in the chuter which are some of limits on the structure.

Thus, the necessity of evacuation appliances that can evacuate a great number of passengers smoothly, safely and quickly from the large ship having an extremely high freeboard and at the same time adjust the height of slide coping with waves and heelings of the ship, has come to be noted, and in order to satisfy the necessity, a variety of appliances or devices provided with a variety of chuters having slide-down type passage and a launching system for the chuter have been provided.

However, in the conventional perpendicular slide-down type evacuation chuters, the mechanism of launching the chuter rotatably is constructed in a structure wherein a container-box that stores the chuter is slidable and tiltable at an embarking opening, and normally, the container-box is placed at a fixed position, the embarking opening, and on emergency, the container-box itself is arranged to slide-down to the level so that the container-box as a whole protrudes from the shipboard, launching the chuter onto the sea. For this reason, the container-box is to heavy to handle with human hands. It requires mechanical devices such as winch and the like which were some of the problems to be solved.

An object of this invention is to provide a launching appliance for chuter in which a rear wall of a container-box is of construction of opening in right and left directions, and normally, the rear wall is closed and locked by a hook, and the container-box is stored by causing the empty weight of a sliding exit deck of the chuter installed on a launching stand to abut against the rear wall, and on emergency, the hook of the rear wall is released by merely pulling an operation lever and the sliding exit deck forces the rear wall to open with its empty weight. And then it slides down the launching stand to protrude from outside the ship horizontally, and is launched simultaneously onto the sea.

Another object of this invention is to provide a construction in which a concave portion that bends perpendicularly is provided on a lower end of a guide passage forming the launching stand, and when a roller of the sliding exit deck drops into the concave portion, the sliding exit deck stops its sliding motion, and a step of the sliding exit deck is connected horizontally to a footboard with a level same with the footboard.

A still another object of this invention is to provide a perpendicular sliding down type chuter having a spiral sliding passage in a cylindrical outer cover at the sliding exit deck.

A further object of this invention is to provide a chuter in which a slide-down type chuter comprises a cylindrical outer cover, a spiral sliding down passage provided in the outer cover, a large number of exits provided in the lower part of the spiral sliding down passage, and a platform disposed to be connected to a lower end of the outer cover.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a chuter in which a plurality of exit doors are provided at a fixed interval from a desired height position to a lower portion, and a plurality of loops are provided at a fixed interval from a height position corresponding to the foregoing plural exit doors to the lower portion, and an escape exit is chosen according to a short or long size of the chuters and to a height of the freeboard, and at the same time, an optional loop is chosen to engage a belt whereby a setting of a platform is adjustably supported.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of this invention reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a use condition upon a launching of a chuter; Figure 2 is a perspective view showing an elevation of a container-box; Figure 3 is a perspective view of an essential portion showing a hooking mechanism and a hook releasing mechanism of a rear wall; Figure 4 is a perspective view showing a launching mechanism of a chuter provided on a launching stand by partially cutting away the container-box; Figure 5 is a perspective view of a sliding exit deck; Figure 6 is a side view showing a condition where the launching mechanism of the chuter is stored in the container-box with the cutaway of the side wall of the container-box;; Figure 7 is a side view showing a condition where the sliding exit deck at the time of the launching of the chuter protrudes from the container-box with the cutaway of the side wall of the container-box; Figure 8 is an elevation showing a condition where the sliding exit deck at the time of the launching of the chuter protrudes from the container-box; and Figure 9 is a perspective view showing a condition where an excess portion of a lower part of the chuter launched onto the sea is folded.

Detailed description of this invention is given as follows: In Figure 1, a container-box 1 of a box type, as shown in Figure 2, is provided with a double doors 2 that open on hinges on its front face for embarkation, and the rear wall that becomes the opposite surface of the doors 2 is divided into two parts in the center, namely, a left rear wall 3a and a right rear wall 3b, and these right and left rear walls 3a, 3b as shown in Figure 3 are pivoted on right and left side walls 4a, 4b of the container-box 1 at their respective side edges so as to be openable, and these right and left rear walls 3a, 3b are normally closed with a hook, and on emergency, the hook is released.

As shown in Figure 4, a stepboard 5 is placed on the bottom surface of the container-box 1, and a launching stand 6 provided with a predetermined slope is erected on the stepboard 5, and on the launching stand 6, a sliding exit deck 7 and a support plate 8 pivotally connected to a base end of the sliding exit deck 7 are installed so as to be slidable with their empty weight, and a chuter 9 and a platform 10 are accommodated in an open space formed between the sliding exit deck 7 and the support plate 8, and a stay rope 11 and an antirolling rope 12 and the like are stored in the space at a lower part of the launching stand 6.

A hooking mechanism for the right and left rear walls 3a, 3b, as shown in Figure 3, is constructed in such a way that support rings 13 are fixed and erected to upper and lower locations of inner surfaces of the right and left rear walls 3a, 3b, and a straight long shaft 14 is installed along the rear wall at each of upper and lower positions of the container-box 1, and hooks 15 to engage the support rings 13 are fixed to the straight long shafts 14, and the hooks 15 are caused to engage the support rings 13 when the straight long shafts 14 are rotated. One end of an operation lever 16 is fixed to an end portion of the straight long shaft 14. The other end of the operation lever 16 is extended in an upper or lower direction and a long hole 17 is formed on its extended end.A short shaft 19 provided at each tip of branch lever portions 18a, 18b to be separated upwardly or downwardly from the tip of a lateral lever 18 is inserted into the long hole of each operation lever 16 disposed at a side wall 4a of the container box 1. When the lever 21 is drawn toward the operator, the short shaft 19 of the upper and lower branch lever portions 18a, 18b is drawn horizontally as the lateral lever 18 is pulled horizontally and the long holes 17 of the respective operation levers 16 disposed at the upper and lower portions are shifted, and the upper and lower operation levers 16 are turned in an upward and downward directions to rotate the straight long lever 14 and the hook 15 fixed to the straight long lever 14 is rotated to be released from the support ring 13.

The launching stand 6, as shown in Figures 4 and 6, is constructed in such a way that guide passage 22 whose opening surfaces are directed crosswise from a U-shaped channel and is erected on the stepboard 5 at a desired slope, for example, inclination by 30 degrees, so that the passages become lower than the right and left rear walls 3a, 3b, and concave portions 23 are formed by bending the lower ends of the guide passages 22 perpendicularly, and the slide passage 24 consisting of a large number of rollers is superposed on the guide passage 22.

The sliding exit deck 7, as shown in Figure 5, is formed of a skelton box type provided with a slide opening 27 enclosed by an outer frame 25 and an inner frame 26 and a step 28 is provided at the side of a base end of the outer frame 25 which is connected to the stepboard 5, and a fence 29 is provided on three sides of the outer frame 25, and a ceiling frame 31 having a canvas 30 working as blind is pivotally fixed to a tip of the fence 29 so as to be foldable, and the wheel 32 that slides on the guide passage is provided at the base end of the outer frame 25. The base end of the support plate 8 pivotally fixed to a location spaced apart by a predetermined interval from the wheel 32 as shown in Figures 4, 6 is installed at the side of the base end of the outer frame 25 of the sliding exit deck 7.When the wheel 32 of the sliding exit deck 7 is installed on the guide passage 22, the support plate 8 rides on the slide passage 24, tilting the sliding exit deck 7 toward the right and left rear walls 3a, 3b to form an inclination posture, and the support plate 8 is abutted on the right and left rear walls 3a, 3b upon receiving the load of the sliding exit deck 7 to maintain the slope posture of the sliding exit deck 7.When the hooking of the right and left rear walls 3a, 3b is released, the support plate 8 receiving the load of the sliding exit deck 7 to forcibly open the right and left rear walls 3a, 3b to slide on the slide passage 24, and the wheel 32 of the sliding exit deck 7 travels on the guide passage 22, and the wheel 32 drops in the concave portion 23 of its tip to be stopped, whereby the sliding exit deck 7 is caused to protrude horizontally into the outside of the ship S. The sliding exit deck 7 maintains its position by connecting the step 28 with the stepboard 5 horizontally by means of a suspension rope. In this condition, as shown in Figure 7, the support plate 8 is positioned at the outside of the ship S and is in the condition where it is suspended perpendicularly in the free condition.

The chuter 9, as shown in Figures 1 and 9, is formed as a chuter of a perpendicular slide-down type provided in which a spiral sliding down passage 35 is provided in a cylindrical outer canvas 34. The canvas 34 is provided with a large number of exit doors 36 capable of being open and closed simply by a fastener and the like to a desired height from its lower part, and a large number of exit doors 36 communicated with the spiral sliding down passage 35 can be chosen according to the height of the freeboard.

The upper end opening of the chuter 9 is connected to the inner frame 26 of the sliding exit deck 7 by tie-up with rope and the like, and the platform 10 is connected to the lower end of the canvas 34 by means of a belt 37, and said platform 10 supports the canvas 34. The chuter 9 and the platform 10, as shown in Figure 4, are mounted on the support plate 8 of the container-box 1 by folding thereof, and a safety pin (not shown in the drawing) of a gas filling device provided on the platform 10 is connected to the sliding exit deck 7 by means of a rope 38, and the antirolling rope 12 is connected to a position that becomes a height of almost medium of the chuter 9, and the stay rope 11 and a life raft guide rope 39 are connected to the platform 10 to be housed.When the sliding exit deck 7 is caused to protrude into the outside of the ship S on emergency, as shown in Figure 7, it drops perpendicularly from the support plate 8, and when a rope 38 tensions in the middle of the dropping, the safety pin of the gas filling device is released and the platform 10 drops while inflating.

A large number of loops 40 at a predetermined interval from the height position where the exit door 36 is provided to the lower part are provided on the canvas 34 of the chuter 9, and on emergency, the chuter 9 is launched and the platform 10 alights on the water, the excessive portion of the lower part of the chuter 9 is folded on the platform 10 according to the height of the freeboard, and the optimum exit door 36 to the evacuation to the platform 10 is chosen to be open, and a belt 37 is connected and adjusted to the loop 40 of the position where the platform 10 is most stable in correspondence to the height of the exit door 36 on the use.

Each end of the anti rolling rope 12 and the stay rope 11 of the chuter 9 is inserted previously and connected to a winch 43 through an eye bolt 41 and a pulley 42 disposed along the broadside of the ship S, and the antirolling rope 12 and the stay rope 11 are adjusted by operating the winch 43 to arrange the chuter 9 to be appropriately perpendicular, and the platform 10 is set at the proper position.

In an emergency evacuation appliance of this invention, in the condition where the rear wall is locked, the wheel of the sliding exit deck is provided in the guide passage, and the support plate mounted on the slide passage which is pivoted to the sliding exit deck abuts on the right and left rear walls upon receiving the load of the sliding exit deck, supporting the posture of the sliding exit deck having a slope to the side of the rear wall to be housed and maintained.When the hooking of the right and left rear walls is released, the support plate receiving the load of the sliding exit deck forces the right and left rear walls to open to be sliding down the slide passage, and the wheel of the sliding exit deck travels on the guide passage by the empty weight, and the wheel drops in the concave portion and the sliding exit deck 7 protrudes horizontally to the outside from the ship S and suspends, connecting the step with the stepboard horizontally by the suspension rope. In this condition, the support plate come into the vertically suspended condition in its free state at the outside of the ship.

In order to release the hooking of the rear walls, the operation lever is pulled toward the operator, and the upper and lower lever branch portions as well as the short shaft are pulled horizontally according to the pulling of the lateral lever horizontally, shifting the long holes of the upper and lower operation levers by the short shaft and rotating the upper and lower operation levers upward and downward to rotate the straight long lever and the hooking fixed to the straight long lever is rotated to be released from the support wheel.

The chuter and the platform mounted and stored on the support plate slide down while being rode on the support plate, and the support plate protrudes from the container-box and drops and expands instantly when suspended in the free condition. The excess portion of the chuter produced at the lower portion because of the short expansion of the chuter is folded in the platform according to the height of the freeboard, and the proper exit door is chosen to open. The belt is engaged with the loop at the position according to the exit door and the support of the platform is adjusted.

Accordingly, the rear wall is closed by the hooking provided that the rear wall of the container-box is made to open in right and left directions, and the launching stand moving downward in the direction of the rear wall is erected in the container-box, and the sliding exit deck and the support plate pivotally fixed to the sliding exit deck are slidably installed on the launching stand, and the load of the sliding exit deck is applied on the support plate and the sliding exit deck is abutted on the rear wall so that it is stored in the container-box, and on emergency, the sliding exit deck slides down on the launching stand with its empty weight by merely pulling the lever that releases the hooking of the rear wall and the sliding exit deck protrudes from the ship to maintain its posture horizontally, and the chuter connected to the sliding exit deck and stored in the container-box is launched onto the sea. Moreover, the hooking releasing lever of the rear wall can be easily operated with human hands without using the machinery such as winch and the like. Therefore, this container-box is optimum for the launching of the slide-down type chuter, and also, the slide-down type chuter not only it does not receive the resistance by the wind pressure along the gunwale even if it is used for the large size ships whose freeboard is longer than several meters over ten meters but also can adjust the height in correspondence to waves or a slope of ships whereby there are many an advantageous point such as allowing many passengers to evacuate smoothly, safely in a shorter time.

Claims

1. An emergency evacuation appliance for ship comprising a box type container-box provided with double doors that open on hinges for embarkation and a rear wall that opens in right and left directions, a stepboard provided on the bottom of the container-box, a launching stand provided with a guide passage formed by setting an opening of a U-shaped channel facing sideways and a slide passage installed to be superposed on the guide passage and being erected on the stepboard with a predetermined downward slope of the rear wall, a sliding exit deck provided with a slide hole and a wheel that travels on the guide passage at the base end of a frame plate of a flat type and travels to slide down on the guide passage with its empty weight, a support plate pivotally connected to the base end of the sliding exit deck and being slidably provided on the slide passage to support the sliding exit deck in a slope condition by abutting its tip on the rear wall, a chuter and a platform connected to the sliding exit deck and being stored in a space between the sliding exit deck and the support plate, and a hooking mechanism and a hooking releasing mechanism to maintain the closing condition of the rear wall.

2. An emergency evacuation appliance for a ship comprising a box type container-box provided with an operable front door to permit embarkation into the box and a rear operable wall, a stepboard provided on the bottom of the container-box, an exit deck slidably mounted on launching guide means mounted on the step board, the launching guide means being inclined relative to the rear wall and being arranged so as to have a lower end nearest to the rear wall, a support plate pivotally connected to a base end of the sliding exit deck and being slidably mounted on said launching guide means, the sliding exit deck being supported within the box at an elevated position on said launching guide means by virtue of the support plate abutting against the rear wall, a chuter and a platform connected to the sliding exit deck and being stored in a space between the sliding exit deck and the support plate, and a hooking mechanism and a hooking releasing mechanism to maintain the closing condition of the rear wall, the support plate on release of the hooking release mechanism causing said rear wall to open by virtue of the sliding exit deck sliding down the launching guide means under its own weight.

3. An appliance for ship according to claim 1 or 2 in which the chuter comprises a cylindrical canvas, a spiral sliding down passage provided in the canvas, a plurality of exits provided in the lower part of the spiral sliding down passage, and a platform connected and mounted at the lower end of the canvas.

4. An appliance according to claim 3 wherein the platform is inflatable.

5. An appliance according to any preceding claim wherein the sliding exit deck includes an outer frame having a step which forms a construction of the step board when the sliding deck is located at a lower position of the launching guide means.

6. An appliance according to claim 5 wherein the sliding exit deck further includes an inner frame defining an entry opening for said chute.

7. An appliance according to claim 5 or 6 wherein a fence is mounted on 3 sides of the outer frame.

8. An appliance according to claim 7 wherein a ceiling frame is pivotally attached to the fence.

9. An appliance according to claim 5, 6, 7 or 8 wherein the outer frame is provided at one end with a pair of wheels for slid ably engaging said launching guide means.

10. An emergency evacuation appliance for ship substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.