JP2002240782A - Life raft - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a life raft enabling refuge and rescue by a suspending means in a state of a crew stored. SOLUTION: This life raft is constituted of a circular main body 1 having an air room, a circular sheet-like tent 2 for covering the upper part of the main body 1, two or more bar-shaped bodies 3 for supporting the tent 2 and a holding tool 4 for holding and fixing the bar-shaped bodies 3 in intersection states. The bar-shaped bodies 3 are curved, and both the end parts can be joined at prescribed positions on an upper part around the main body 1 by a proper attachable/detachable means and are held/fixed by the holding tool 4 at the intersection parts of two or more curved bar-shaped bodies 3. By covering the above with the tent 2, the tent 2 is held in a dome shape.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liferaft used to evacuate occupants and passengers, both young and old, from a ship in the event of a marine accident or the like in a large, medium or small ship. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional liferaft has a raft body that has buoyancy against seawater by a bag body filled with gas such as air, and stores an evacuation occupant separated from seawater, and a occupant. It consists of an awning sheet that covers the upper part of the main body while maintaining the space to protect the occupants from sea waves and wind and rain.

[0003] These liferafts are usually provided in a folded state without gas filling the deck or the like. When a crew is evacuated due to danger to a ship, the liferafts are thrown into the sea. The raft body is instantaneously expanded and shaped by the inflation gas supplied from the gas cylinder attached to the life raft, gains buoyancy against seawater with the inflation gas, and is shaped. It was supported by a body post to secure an occupant storage space between the main body and the tent.

[0004]

As described above, the life raft takes up little space at normal times, and instantaneously expands with inflation gas on the sea in order to quickly evacuate the occupant from the ship when the ship is in distress. To be shaped.

[0005] However, when evacuating, the crew must once enter the sea from the vessel and then board the life raft floating on the sea again.

When a life raft is found by a rescue squad and rescue operations are carried out, if there is no ship nearby, crew members are lifted and stored one by one by a helicopter. The occupant has to transfer to a boat or the like to rescue a ship because the occupant is once alive at sea.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a life raft which can be evacuated and rescued by hanging means or the like while the crew is stored.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first aspect of the present invention provides a circular main body having an air chamber for obtaining buoyancy by enclosing a gas, and covers an upper part of the main body. It comprises a circular sheet-shaped awning, two or more rods supporting the awning, and a holder for holding and fixing the plurality of rods in a crossed state, and bending the two or more rods. Then, the both ends can be joined to a predetermined position on the upper periphery of the main body by a suitable means that can be freely attached and detached, and held and fixed by a holder at the intersection of two or more curved rods, and the upper part is covered with a tent. In this way, it is a life raft that holds the tent in a dome shape.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the awning is provided with one or more cuts from the periphery to the center,
The life raft according to claim 1, wherein when the awning is supported by a rod-like body and formed into a dome shape, both sides of a cut portion of the awning are overlapped to form an entrance and exit of the raft.

[0010] If a holder for holding and fixing the intersection of two or more rods is suspended by a suitable suspension means such as a hook, the life raft has its dome accommodated therein and the life raft has its dome. Lifting and hanging can be performed while maintaining the shape of the shape, and quick evacuation and rescue can be performed.

[0011]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of a liferaft according to the present invention. The liferaft comprises a main body 1 which is inflated by air to maintain its shape. And a sheet-like awning 2 covering the top of the main body,
It comprises two rods 3 that support the awning, and a holder 4 that inserts and retains these rods at the intersection of the central vertices of the two rods 3 and 3 that are curved like an arc.

As shown in FIG. 1, the life raft main body 1 is composed of a plurality of bags (air chambers 5 to 8), and a gas (gas) such as air is sealed in the air chambers 5 to 8. It generates buoyancy against water, and each air chamber 5-8
The shape of the main body is maintained by being filled with inflated air.

The illustrated one has two air chambers 5 and 6 each of which has an outer periphery formed of a donut-shaped bag, and the floor surface is formed of another air chambers 7 and 8. In the event that one air chamber is damaged, Even
The other air chambers exhibit a sufficient buoyancy and shape maintaining effect.

The material of the main body 1 is not particularly limited as long as it is generally used for rafts and boats and has excellent water resistance and strength, and its color is not particularly limited. For the purpose, a color that is conspicuous at sea, such as yellow, is preferable.

A flange 9 is provided below the periphery of the main body 1 so as to surround the main body. The material of the flange 9 may be, for example, the same as that of the main body 1 or may have a built-in air chamber. One sheet may be used.

The flange 9 around the main body 1 swings up and down in accordance with the swell of the sea, etc.
It has a role to prevent the gap from being formed.

A plurality of ropes 10 may be provided on the flange 9 at predetermined intervals, and a floating ring 11 may be provided on the rope 10.

Further, at the four top portions of the air chamber 6, a ring-shaped locking portion 1 for attaching an end of a rod 3 to be described later is provided.
2 is provided.

The sheet-like awning 2 shown in FIG. 2 has a role of covering the raft main body 1 and protecting the crew from wind and rain and sea surf.

The material of the awning 2 is not particularly limited as long as it is excellent in water resistance and strength as in the case of the main body 1, but is preferably light in weight.

The awning 2 has a circular shape, and a center hole 13 is formed in the center of the awning 2 so that the top of the holding tool 4 to be described later protrudes. Is provided with a mounting hole 14 for passing a rope for joining the two.

A hole for a window is formed in the awning 2, and a transparent vinyl sheet or the like is pasted on this portion to form a window 15. The shape of the window 15 is the same as that of this embodiment. The shape is not limited, and various shapes such as a circle and a triangle can be adopted.

Further, cuts 16 from the periphery for setting an entrance are formed in two places of the awning 2, and when the awning 2 becomes domed as shown in FIG. This portion is overlapped to form the entrance 23.

Of course, the number of cuts for forming the entrance 23 is not limited to two as in this embodiment, but may be more than two.

Further, on the periphery of the awning 2, a number of frill-shaped waterproof pieces 17 for preventing seawater from entering from the boundary between the periphery of the awning 2 and the main body 1 are provided so as to cover the entire periphery of the awning 2. It is provided by means such as individual and sewing.

At four locations around the awning 2, insertion holes 18 through which ends of the rods 3 described later pass are provided.

Next, two rods 3 shown in FIG. 3 (A) are prepared in this embodiment, and are in the form of a rod which can be stretchably folded so as to take up no space before using the life raft. Is preferred.

At both ends of the rod-shaped member 3, a locking member 19 is provided which is paired with the locking portion 12 of the main body 1 so as to be joined to a predetermined position on the upper periphery of the main body 2.

Although the type of the locking member 19 is not particularly limited,
Considering the efficiency of the assembling work and the certainty of the locking, a fishing hook-shaped locking tool with a locking piece is desirable.

The length of the rod 3 is longer than the diameter of the main body 1. When both ends of the rod 3 are attached to the main body 1, the rod 3 is curved upward, so that flexibility is required. When the liferaft is lifted by the holder 4, it is necessary to hold the entire liferaft together with the occupant, so that toughness is also required.

The material of the rod 3 is preferably mainly made of metal from the above points in view of the characteristics such as strength and flexibility.
If it has strength and flexibility equal to or higher than metal,
Resins such as carbon resin and other materials may be used.

As shown in FIG. 3 (B), the holder 4 has two cylindrical bodies 20 and 21 through which the two rods 3 are inserted.
And these two cylindrical bodies are vertically displaced,
The directions of the two tubes are at right angles.

At the top of the holder 4, there is a threaded screw hole 22 at which a rescue signal light or the like can be attached.

The holder 4 is provided with appropriate attachment means such as hooks used when suspending the entire life raft.

To attach the awning 2 to the raft main body 1, first, two rods 3 are inserted through the cylindrical members 21 and 22 of the holder 4, and as shown in FIG. At the center in the longitudinal direction of the holder 3, it is fixed to the holder 4 by an appropriate means such as screwing.

Next, the circular sheet-shaped awning 2 is covered from above, and the top having the screw holes 22 of the holder 4 is put out from the center hole 13 of the awning 2 for positioning.

Further, the end of the rod 3 is made to project outward from the four insertion holes 18 in the periphery of the awning 2.

At this time, the rod-shaped body 3 once expanded is contracted at the end and then passed through, or the rod-shaped body 3 and the holder 4 are covered with the awning 2 and then the rod-shaped body 3 is extended to insert the insertion hole of the awning 2. 18
May be passed.

The locking member 19 at the end of the rod 3 protruding from the four insertion holes 18 of the awning 2 is locked to the locking portion 12 provided on the raft body 1.

In the drawings, the locking means is a key-shaped locking member 19 and a ring-shaped locking portion 12 which can be mounted one-touch in consideration of ease of attachment and reliability of locking. The present invention is not limited to this, and various locking means can be adopted.

Since the distance between the locking portions 12, 12 of the raft body 1 is shorter than the length of the rod 3, and the two rods 3 are fixed by the holder 4 at the intersection, the locking portion 12
Each of the rod-shaped bodies 3 whose both ends are locked at a central portion in the longitudinal direction draws a substantially semicircular arc with the vicinity of the holder 4 as a top.

Further, since the awning 2 is located above the two rods 3 and is positioned by the holder 4 and the rod 3 at the center hole 13 and the insertion hole 18, respectively, FIG.
As shown in (2), the upper part of the raft body 1 is naturally covered in a dome shape, and a storage space for the occupant is secured.

The circumferential dimension of the outer periphery of the awning 2 is longer than the circumferential dimension of the awning 2 passing through the locking portion 12 of the main body, so that the periphery of the awning 2 is naturally left over when it is formed in a dome shape. This portion is overlapped with the two pieces separated by the slit 16 for the entrance and exit in FIG. 2 to form the entrance and exit 23 for the life raft.

In this way, the entrance 23 is covered with the double sheet, so that even if the wind, rain, or splashes of water hit the entrance 23, water can be prevented from entering the raft.

Next, a method of using the life raft in the case of evacuation will be described. First, the main body 1 folded in a state in which the air chamber is not filled with gas, the awning 2 similarly folded, and The two rods 3, 3 and the holder 4 are stored on the deck of a ship or the like.

When evacuation is required, the raft body 1 is inflated with the inflating gas on the deck of a ship or the like, and the rod-shaped body 3 is inflated.
The awning 2 is put on the combination of the tent 2
And the holding member 4 are tied and fixed to the mounting hole 14 through a rope, and the locking member 19 of the rod 3 is mounted on the locking portion 12 of the main body 1 to complete the life raft of FIG.

If the ship has equipment such as a crane, the occupant gets on the life raft in this state, and the life raft is suspended by the crane and lowered to the sea.

In this way, the occupant can evacuate from the ship without entering the sea, and is particularly suitable for evacuating passengers who have not been subjected to evacuation training, such as passenger ships.

Of course, in the case of a ship without facilities such as a crane, the ship can be thrown into the sea as it is, and the occupants can get in from the sea by ordinary evacuation means.

After getting on the life raft and evacuating to the sea, a rescue signal light provided using the screw hole 22 on the holder 4 is turned on to wait for rescue.

At sea, a large number of frill-shaped waterproof pieces 17 around the awning 2 cause the periphery of the awning 2 and the main body 1 to move.
Can be prevented from entering the seawater from the boundary between the two waterproof pieces 17.
If it is provided so as to partially overlap, the waterproof effect is further enhanced.

On the other hand, since the raft main body 1 and the awning 2 are separate bodies, in the case of emergency, the waterproof piece 17 is pushed out from the inside to communicate with the outside, except for the portion provided as the entrance 23. It is also possible to take people floating around the life raft into the raft or to extract seawater that has entered the raft.

The floating ring 11 connected to the flange 9 by a rope at a predetermined interval has a physical strength, for example, when there are occupants of the life raft or more.
You can enter and wait for rescue.

When a life raft of the present invention is found by a rescue squad and rescues an occupant of a raft, the person is lifted by a helicopter one by one as in a normal rescue operation, and a rescue boat or boat is approached and transited. And the like.

On the other hand, if a helicopter or a rescue vessel capable of suspending the load of the life raft accommodating the occupant has a crane, the rope dropped from the helicopter or the crane is connected to the holder 4 by appropriate means such as a hook. , And can be rescued while the occupant is stowed in a raft. This is particularly effective when there is an occupant with weak physical strength.

[0056]

As described above, according to the life raft of the present invention, the support of the awning is performed by crossing the two rods.
Since this intersection is fixed by the holding tool, the holding tool can be suspended by using a crane or the like while maintaining the entire shape of the life raft. Since it is possible to suspend and escape from the sea by hanging it on the sea by means such as lowering, it is not necessary for the occupant to enter the sea for evacuation or rescue.

Further, since the awning is supported by the rod-shaped body, the internal space can be made wider than that of the awning supported by the bag filled with gas, and the number of occupants can be increased.
Since the rod-shaped body is a relatively lightweight and durable member made of metal or other materials, it can contribute to the weight reduction of the life raft as a whole.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a plan view of a main body constituting a liferaft according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a sectional front view thereof.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an awning constituting a life raft of the present invention.

FIG. 3 (A) is a rod-shaped body constituting a life raft of the present invention, (B) is a holder constituting a life raft of the present invention, and (C) is a state in which the rod-shaped body and the holder are combined. It is a top view.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a life raft according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Tent 3 Bar-shaped body 4 Holder 5, 6, 7, 8 Air chamber 9 Flange part 10 Rope 11 Floating ring 12 Locking part 13 Center hole 14 Mounting hole 15 Window 16 Cut 17 Waterproof piece 18 Insertion hole 19 Stoppers 20, 21 Cylindrical body 22 Screw hole 23 Doorway

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A circular main body having an air chamber for obtaining buoyancy by filling a gas, a circular sheet-shaped awning covering an upper part of the main body, and two or more rods supporting the awning; A holder for holding and fixing the plurality of rods in an intersecting state is formed by bending two or more rods and joining both ends to predetermined positions on the upper periphery of the main body by detachable appropriate means. The liferaft is characterized in that it is made possible, and the awning is held in a dome shape by being held and fixed by a holder at the intersection of two or more curved rods, and covered with an awning. 2. The awning is provided with one or two or more cuts from the periphery to the center, and when the awning is supported by a rod-like body and formed into a dome shape, both sides of the awning cut are overlapped. 2. A raft doorway.
Liferaft described.