JP2005329959A - Fluid loading and unloading apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fluid loading and unloading apparatus by which a storing operation and a connecting operation can be performed without requiring a large labor. <P>SOLUTION: The fluid loading and unloading apparatus in which an in-board arm 5 and an out-board arm are connected with each other so as to be able to revolve in the vertical direction between a tanker and a tank, is provided. A disc plate 24 changing an angle of intersection with the out-board arm by revolving the in-board arm 5, a chain 25, a sprocket 22, a speed reducer 27, an engaging clutch 28, a pipe body 38, a shaft part 35, an operating handle through a flexible shaft 29, are provided. When the operating handle is rotated, the flexible shaft 29 is rotated on its own axis and the in-board arm is reduced and revolved. When an operating lever is pulled, an arm 41 is swung via a cable 44 to operate switching of engagement and separation of the pipe body 38 and a nail half against the other nail half, and transmission and shutting down of the revolving force are switched. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention is a fluid for transferring or transferring various fluids such as liquefied natural gas and oil between one fluid storage unit such as a tank or a storage and the other fluid storage unit such as a tanker or a tank truck. The present invention relates to a cargo handling device.

Conventionally, for example, when a tanker loaded with oil or liquefied natural gas, etc. is attached to the pier and is loaded onto a tank or tank lorry installed on the shore, it is equipped with an inboard arm and an outboard arm. Both ends of the cargo handling equipment were connected to both facilities, and oil was transferred from tankers to tanks.
Generally, a fluid handling apparatus is installed on a pier or a tanker at a port, and when not in use, the inboard arm is folded together with the outboard arm and stacked in a substantially vertical direction and stored in an upright state. During use, the inboard arm is swung from a substantially vertical direction and extended in the horizontal direction, while maintaining the balance by the counterweight balance mechanism, the outer board arm is extended in the horizontal direction so that the crossing angle with the inboard arm increases, and the other It connects to the fluid storage part (refer patent document 1).
Such a fluid handling device can be used to manually fold the inboard arm and the outboard arm in the case of a small device having a pipe diameter of several inches to 10 inches during storage operation and connection operation when not in use. In the case of a large-sized device having a large diameter of 12 inches to 15 inches or more, a hydraulic drive mechanism is used to automatically switch between storage and connection.
However, since the hydraulic drive system is costly, a storage operation when not in use and a connection operation when in use are sometimes performed manually in order to reduce the cost even in a fluid handling apparatus having a pipe diameter of about 12 inches.
By the way, when such an operation is performed manually, the folding operation and the opening connection operation are usually performed by hanging the rope on the inboard arm and the outboard arm and turning the arm manually.
JP-A-8-40500

However, if the pipe diameter is large, the frictional force generated by the liquid-tight packing attached to the swivel joint that connects the inboard arm and the outboard arm to each other in a pivotable manner increases, and the inboard arm or outboard In addition to an increase in the weight of the arm, the inertia of the weight of a counterweight balance mechanism that balances during turning is also increased, resulting in a disadvantage that a large amount of labor is required.
In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a fluid handling apparatus that can perform a storing operation and a connecting operation without requiring a large amount of labor.

In the fluid handling apparatus according to the present invention, an inboard arm and an outboard arm for allowing fluid to flow between the first fluid storage unit and the second fluid storage unit can pivot in at least one of a vertical direction and a horizontal direction, respectively. Connected to the inboard arm and pivots the inboard arm in a fluid handling device that is connected and allows the inboard arm and the outboard arm to be expanded and folded by changing the crossing angle of each other An operating mechanism, an operating member for turning the inboard arm via the operating mechanism, and a turning speed reduction mechanism provided in the operating mechanism are provided.
According to the present invention, when the operating member is operated, the speed is reduced by the speed reduction mechanism via the operating mechanism and transmitted to the inboard arm while the turning speed is reduced, and the arm is folded and stored or expanded for connection. Can do. In addition, at that time, in the process of transmitting the turning force to the inboard arm by operating the operation member, the inboard arm can be turned with a small force by reducing the turning speed with the speed reduction mechanism. In this case, the first fluid storage unit and the second fluid storage unit are connected to selectively circulate various fluids in one of the two directions.

Further, the operating mechanism may include a rotating member that turns the inboard arm, and the rotating member may be divided into a plurality of parts, and may be fixed to the inboard arm by joining the parts.
By assembling the rotating member divided into a plurality of parts into the inboard arm by retrofitting and fixing the rotating member to the outer peripheral surface, the operating mechanism of the present invention can be installed in the existing fluid handling apparatus. In addition, various structures, such as a mechanism in which a wire rope is wound around a gear member or a divided pulley, can be employed as the rotating member.

Moreover, it is preferable that the operating mechanism is provided with a clutch capable of interrupting the turning force transmitted from the operation member.
When at least one of the first fluid storage part and the second fluid storage part is a marine tanker, etc., the connected outboard arm will move up and down and swing due to changes in the weight of the hull, tide level, waves, etc. The reverse turning force is transmitted to the operating mechanism and the operating member from the to the inboard arm, but when the storing operation and the connecting operation are completed, the clutch is released and the transmission of the turning force is cut off. Transmission to the operation member due to vertical movement and swinging can be blocked.
Moreover, the clutch may be provided with a clutch mechanism that can be switched between connection and disconnection by the second operation member, and the disconnection and connection of the clutch in the operating mechanism can be easily switched by operation of the second operation member.

  The fluid handling apparatus according to the present invention can easily perform switching operations such as storage and connection with a small effort. Moreover, since the structure is simple and the number of parts is small compared to the hydraulic drive mechanism, it can be realized at low cost with few failures.

A fluid handling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a fluid handling apparatus, FIGS. 2 and 3 are a front view and a side view of an operating mechanism portion of the fluid handling apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a front view showing a part of a speed reduction mechanism in the operating mechanism. 5 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a side view showing a speed reduction mechanism and a clutch mechanism, FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 6, and FIG.
FIG. 1 shows a fluid handling apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. For example, a tanker and a tank are used for loading and unloading fluid from a tanker or the like moored on a pier and storing fluid such as liquefied natural gas (first fluid storage part) to an underground tank or the like (second fluid storage part) on land. Both ends of the pipe of the cargo handling device 1 are connected, and the fluid is sent out from the tanker. In this fluid handling apparatus 1, an inner riser 3 is erected and fixed via an underground tank (not shown) and a pipe. The other end of the inner riser 3 is connected to an inboard arm 5 via a swivel joint 4, and the inboard arm 5 can be turned vertically and horizontally, for example, by the swivel joint 4.
The other end of the inboard arm 5 is connected to an outboard arm 7 via a swivel joint 6, and the outboard arm 7 is capable of, for example, vertical turning with respect to the swivel joint 6. The other end of the outboard arm 7 is provided with a connection port 9 to the tanker via a swivel joint 8. The connection port 9 can be swung vertically and horizontally by a swivel joint 8, for example.

An outer riser 11 for supporting the entire cargo handling apparatus is provided on the outer peripheral side of the inner riser 3. An inboard boom 12 is connected to the inboard arm 5, and an outboard boom 13 is connected to the outboard arm 7. The inboard boom 12 is connected to the swivel joint 4 as a fulcrum so that it can be swiveled vertically and horizontally. One end (lower end) of the inboard boom 12 extends outward (lower side) from the inboard arm 5 and the lower disc 14 is at the tip. Is supported. A counterweight 15 is fixed to the lower disk 14.
The other end (upper end) of the import boom 12 is connected to the swivel joint 6 together with one end (upper end) of the outboard boom 13. The other end (lower end) of the outboard boom 13 is connected to the outboard arm 7 as a support point. An upper disc 16 is supported on the swivel joint 6, and a wire 17 is wound between the swivel joint 6 and the lower disc 14.

  The inboard arm 5 is vertically swiveled around the swivel joint 4 and rotated, the inboard arm 5 is inclined in the horizontal direction (turning in the A direction in FIG. 1), and the outboard arm 7 is extended forward (the same A). Direction), and the connection port 9 is in a use state extending to be connectable to the tanker. Further, when the inboard arm 5 is erected in the substantially vertical direction (B direction) and the outboard arm 7 is folded in the vertical direction (B direction), the crossing angle α becomes small and the storage state when not in use is established.

2 to 5, a connecting portion 20 between the outer riser 11 and the inboard arm 5 is provided with a substrate 21 that can be horizontally swiveled integrally with the swivel joint 4, and the outer diameter of the substrate 21 is reduced to a small diameter D1. The formed sprocket 22 is rotatably provided on the stand 23. A substantially ring-shaped disk 24 is fixed around the outer periphery of the inboard arm 5 at a position close to the swivel joint 4. As shown in FIG. 5, a chain 25 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the disk 24 with a screw 26 over the entire circumference, and the sprocket 22 is engaged with the chain 25. The outer diameter of the disk 24 to which the chain 25 is fixed is set to D2, which is larger than D1. Therefore, when the sprocket 22 rotates, the speed is reduced and the inboard arm 5 rotates vertically around the swivel joint 4 integrally with the chain 25 and the disk 24. Conversely, when the inboard arm 5 rotates vertically, the sprocket 22 is interlocked. And rotate.
Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the disc 24 may have a ring-like integrated shape, but may also be formed by semicircular piece pieces 24 a and 24 a that are divided into two by the diameter, and this semicircular piece piece 24 a, It is preferable that 24a is sandwiched and fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the inboard arm 5. By forming the disk 24 in this way, the operation mechanism of the present invention can be additionally mounted on an existing fluid handling apparatus.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the sprocket 22 is sequentially connected to a speed reducer 27 and a meshing clutch 28, and a flexible shaft 29 that is further coupled from the meshing clutch 28 via a tube body 38 and a shaft portion 35 includes an outer riser 11. And is connected to a gear box 32 provided in the operation unit 30 located below the outer riser 11 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). The gear box 32 shown in FIG. 8 is connected to an operation handle 33 (operation member) via a gear mechanism (not shown).
Therefore, when the operation handle 33 is rotated, the flexible shaft 29 is reversibly rotated (autorotated) via the gear box 32. The rotation of the shaft 29 is performed via the shaft portion 35, the tubular body 38, the meshing clutch 28, the speed reducer 27, and the like. The sprocket 22 is rotated. Conversely, when the inboard arm 5 rotates, the operation handle 33 rotates.

Next, the clutch mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the drawing, the meshing clutch 28 rotates with a substantially ring plate-like claw half 28a provided on the speed reducer 27 side (driven side) and a substantially ring plate-like claw half 28b provided on the operation handle 33 side so as to be separable. Transmitting power. A flexible shaft 29 is connected to one end of the shaft portion 35 that penetrates the pair of claw halves 28a and 28b. 7 (a) and 7 (b), the shaft portion 35 is inserted into a sliding bearing 36 at an intermediate portion and is rotatably held. The sliding portion 36 has a shaft portion 35 on the tip side (right side). A sliding key 37 is embedded on the outer surface. A tubular body 38 having a substantially drum shape in sectional view is fitted into the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion 35, and the key 37 is fitted in the groove on the inner surface. It can be reciprocated in the longitudinal direction and rotates integrally. A claw half 28 b is fixed to the tip of the tube body 38. A concave groove 38a is formed on the entire outer peripheral surface of the tube body 38, and a pin 39 is fitted in the concave groove 38a.
An arm 41 connected to the pin 39 extends so as to intersect the shaft portion 35, and can swing between CDs around a support shaft 42 provided at one end of the arm 41. Therefore, when the arm 41 inclines to the left position C in FIG. 7, the tubular body 38 and the claw half 28b are separated from the claw half 28a, and when the arm 41 is inclined to the right position D, the tubular body 38 and the claw half 28b are moved to the claw half 28a. The rotational force of the flexible shaft 29 is transmitted to the sprocket 22 via the speed reducer 27. The arm 41 urges the claw half 28b by a spring 46 in a direction to engage with the other claw half 28a.

  The other end side of the arm 41 is supported by an operating rod 43, and this operating rod 43 is connected to a push-pull cable 44. As shown in FIG. 8, the cable 44 passes through an engagement / disengagement portion 45 a fixed to the operation portion 30 along the outer riser 11 and is connected to the operation lever 45. When the operating lever 45 is pulled, the cable 44 is stopped at an arbitrary position by the engaging / disengaging portion 45a, and the arm 41 is inclined to the position C on the sliding bearing 36 side against the urging force of the spring 46 via the cable 44. When the engagement clutch 28 is released and the operation lever 45 is pulled again, the cable 44 is unlocked by the engagement / disengagement portion 45a, and the arm 41 is rotated to the position D by the urging force of the spring 46 to engage the engagement clutch 28. Bite.

The fluid handling apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment has the above-described configuration, and the operation will be described next.
First, with respect to the fluid handling device 1, the inboard arm 5 and the outboard arm 7 are folded in the vertical direction from the stowed state and expanded in the horizontal direction. Connect to. Therefore, when the operation handle 33 is rotated from the state where the mesh clutch 28 is engaged in the retracted state, the flexible shaft 29 rotates through the gear box 32. As a result, the shaft portion 35 held by the sliding bearing 36 is rotated, and the tube body 38 and the claw half 28 b are rotated via the key 37. Then, since the claw half 28a meshing with the claw half 28b also rotates integrally, the speed reducer 27 and the sprocket 22 are also rotated, and the inboard arm 5 rotates vertically around the swivel joint 4 via the chain 25 and the disk 24.
Further, when the outboard arm 7 is vertically swiveled around the swivel joint 6 so as to widen the crossing angle α with the inboard arm 5, the connection port 9 extends forward.

Then, the connection port 9 of the fluid handling device 1 is connected to the fluid storage unit in the tanker, and fluid such as liquefied natural gas and oil in the fluid storage unit is pumped out, and the fluid is passed through the outboard arm 7 and the inboard arm 5. The inner riser 3 is then loaded into, for example, a lower tank.
Here, when the fluid such as liquefied natural gas in the tanker is loaded and unloaded, the weight of the tanker is gradually reduced and the tanker is lifted. In addition, the tanker moves up and down due to changes in the tide level in the harbor and waves. On the other hand, since the fluid handling device 1 is fixed on land, when the tanker moves up and down, the outboard arm 7 swings around the swivel joint 6 and swings vertically, and at the same time, the inboard arm 5 swings and moves vertically. Turn. Oscillation of the inboard arm 5 is transmitted to the sprocket 22 via the disc 24, and further, the operation handle 33 rotates freely via the flexible shaft 29.

In order to avoid such a problem, the operation lever 45 is pulled after the fluid handling device 1 is expanded from the retracted state to the connected state and the connection port 9 is connected to the fluid storage part in the tanker. Then, the arm 41 rotates via the cable 44 and the operating rod 43 to the slide bearing 36 side position C with the support shaft 42 as a fulcrum, so that the tube body 38 is pushed to the slide bearing 36 side by the pin 39 and the claw half 28b is moved. Separated from the claw half 28a. In this state, the fluid in the tanker is pumped out and unloaded. In this way, even if the tanker moves up and down or swings due to a decrease in the stored fluid in the tanker, a change in tide level, waves, or the like, it is caused by the swing transmitted from the outboard arm 7 to the fluid handling device 1. The rotational force is interrupted by the meshing clutch 28, and the operation handle 33 does not rotate carelessly.
After the fluid has been unloaded, the operation lever 45 is pulled to release the locking of the cable 44, and when the arm 41 is rotated to the position D on the reduction gear 27 side by the urging force of the spring 46, it is pushed by the pin 39 and pushed into the tube. The body 38 moves forward on the shaft portion 35 along the key 37 to engage the claw half 28b with the claw half 28a in the fixed state. When the operation handle 33 is rotated in this state, the flexible shaft 44 rotates, and the shaft portion 35, the tubular body 38, the clutch 28, the speed reducer 27, the sprocket 22, and the disc 24 with the chain 25 are interlocked so that the inboard arm 5 is moved. The outboard arm 7 is vertically swung and folded so as to reduce the crossing angle α, and is put into a retracted state.

  As described above, according to the fluid handling apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the operation of the inboard arm 5 can be performed by rotating the operation handle 33. At that time, the turning force is reduced by the speed reducer 27 and the sprocket 22. Since it is transmitted to the inboard arm 5 via the speed reduction mechanism comprising the disc 24, the work can be performed with a small force. In addition, after the fluid handling apparatus 1 is connected, the fluid can be loaded and unloaded while the meshing of the meshing clutch 28 is cut off by the operation lever 45, so that the operation handle 33 can be operated even if the tanker moves up and down or swings. It can prevent inadvertent movement.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although the fluid handling apparatus 1 was installed on land, even if it installs in a tanker, the same effect | action can be exhibited. In addition, the fluid unloading operation from the tanker or other vessel to the onshore fluid storage unit such as the tank has been described. The present invention can also be used for work and the like.
If the operation handle 32 is allowed to rotate by swinging a tanker or the like, a meshing clutch switching mechanism using the operating lever 45 including the meshing clutch 28 or the like is not necessarily provided. The shaft portion 35, the pipe body 38, the meshing clutch 28, the speed reducer 27, the sprocket 22, the chain 25, the disc 24, and the like constitute an operating mechanism, and the speed reducer 27, the sprocket 22, the chain 25, the disc 24, and the like constitute a speed reducing mechanism. Configure. The cable 44, the operating rod 43, the arm 41, the pin 39, the tubular body 38, etc. constitute a clutch mechanism.
Note that the operating mechanism of the present invention can be employed in the existing fluid handling apparatus 1. In this case, the disc 24 may be attached to the inboard arm 5 as a divided part, and the operation mechanism, the speed reduction mechanism, and the clutch mechanism may be externally attached.
Further, the divided disk 24 and the chain 25 constitute a gear member, and the gear member constitutes a rotating member for turning the inboard arm 5, but the rotating member is not limited to the gear member, Any suitable mechanism such as a wire rope mechanism may be employed. When a wire rope is employed, rotation can be transmitted using a pulley instead of a sprocket.

It is a principal part block diagram of the fluid cargo handling apparatus by embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of the action | operation mechanism of the fluid handling apparatus shown in FIG. It is a side view of the action | operation mechanism of the fluid handling apparatus shown in FIG. It is a front view which shows a part of deceleration mechanism in an action mechanism. It is the elements on larger scale of FIG. It is a principal part side view of a clutch mechanism. (A) is a principal part enlarged view of FIG. 6, (b) is the EE sectional view taken on the line in FIG. It is a figure which shows the operation part of a deceleration mechanism and a clutch mechanism.

Explanation of symbols

1 Fluid Handling Device 5 Inboard Arm 7 Outboard Arm 22 Sprocket 24 Disc (Gear Member: Rotating Member)
25 Chain (Gear member: Rotating member)
27 Reducer 28 Engagement clutch (clutch)
28a, 28b Claw half (clutch)
29 Flexible shaft 33 Operation handle (operation member)
41 Arm 44 Cable 45 Operation lever (second operation member)

Claims (4)

An inboard arm and an outboard arm for allowing fluid to flow between the first fluid storage part and the second fluid storage part are pivotally connected to at least one of a vertical direction and a horizontal direction, respectively. In the fluid handling device that allows the arm and the outboard arm to be expanded and folded by changing the crossing angle of each other,
An operating mechanism connected to the inboard arm to rotate the inboard arm, an operating member to rotate the inboard arm via the operating mechanism, and a turning speed reduction mechanism provided in the operating mechanism A fluid handling apparatus characterized by that.   The actuating mechanism includes a rotating member for turning the inboard arm, and the rotating member is divided into a plurality of parts, and is fixed to the inboard arm by joining the parts. The fluid handling apparatus according to claim 1.   The fluid handling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the actuating mechanism is provided with a clutch capable of interrupting a turning force transmitted from an operation member. The fluid handling apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the clutch includes a clutch mechanism that can be switched between connection and disconnection by a second operation member.

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