JP2017525613A - Ship with propulsion device - Google Patents

Abstract

A ship including a propulsion device (10) having a propeller (14), the propulsion device being in any orientation between a first deployed orientation and a second retracted orientation The propeller is pivoted about the pivot axis (17) in the first orientation and in the second orientation, and is pivoted about the pivot axis (17) in the first orientation. Is close to the propeller or close to the propeller bearing located on the propeller, so that, in the second orientation, the propulsion device is substantially flush with the hull (2) of the ship, A ship, wherein the energy for providing thrust is supplied in a manner adapted to allow the propulsion device to pivot between a first orientation and a second orientation. The present description further relates to the use of such a ship, which is particularly suitable for combined operation in deep water and shallow water. [Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention is a propulsion device mounted on a submerged portion of a hull of a water transport ship, and includes a propeller nozzle that is rotatably mounted on the hull, a propeller that is rotatably disposed inside the nozzle, and a propeller. The present invention relates to a propulsion device including a driving means for driving and a deployment mechanism for controlling the direction of a propeller nozzle. The invention further relates to a ship comprising such a propulsion device.

  Water transport vessels are often operated in both shallow and deep waters, such as oceans, coastal waters and rivers. When a ship operates in relatively deep waters, propellers are most often used to provide thrust and allow the ship to move. The size of the propeller is related to the resulting thrust and a large propeller may be required to provide the necessary thrust. If a large propeller is used, the propeller may extend below the lower point of the hull, and the propeller may be the lowermost point of the ship. Therefore, the propeller determines the draft of the ship that weakens the propeller against impact. This is usually not a problem when the ship is operating at a sufficient depth, but it minimizes the draft of the ship when it is operating near land or across shallow water. There may be a need to limit.

  In this regard, US Pat. No. 5,397,255 discloses a propeller attached to a retractable rod. Another existing solution involves changing the propeller diameter by folding the propeller as disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,565,531.

  The above solutions have various drawbacks, especially when the propeller diameter is increased to provide a larger thrust. Retractable propellers require heavy fittings to absorb the force from the propeller and ensure that the propeller stays in place during use. Therefore, it would be advantageous to improve the propulsion device for water transport vessels.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a propulsion device for a water transport ship that allows the propeller of the propulsion device to be moved to reduce the draft of the ship.

  Therefore, the above object and some other objects are obtained in the first aspect of the present invention by providing a propulsion device mounted on a submerged portion of a hull of a water transport ship. The propulsion device includes a propeller nozzle that is turnably mounted on the hull, a propeller that is rotatably disposed inside the nozzle, a driving means that drives the propeller, and a deployment mechanism that controls the orientation of the propeller nozzle, The propeller nozzle is in a deployed orientation in which the propeller is positioned in a substantially upright position suitable for providing thrust to move the ship around a nozzle pivot axis that intersects the propeller nozzle, and the draft of the ship The propeller can be pivoted between a tilted or retracted orientation that is placed in a substantially horizontal position to reduce

  This provides an improved propulsion device, particularly a relatively large propeller diameter, while at the same time providing a more efficient propulsion device that can accommodate shallow water depths. The propulsion device is particularly suitable for ships operating in both deep water and shallow water. During normal operation, the propulsion device is flipped down. This allows for a much larger propeller diameter than conventional propulsion devices.

  The propeller and the propeller nozzle may be rotated to reduce the draft of the ship, and due to the components of the present invention, the propeller and the propeller nozzle turning radius are as small as possible, thereby allowing the propulsion device To reduce the space required to adapt to.

  Furthermore, the nozzle pivot axis can extend in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the rotation axis of the propeller. Also, the nozzle pivot axis may extend in a direction substantially transverse to the direction of navigation of the water transport ship.

  In one embodiment of the propulsion device described above, the nozzle pivot axis may be offset from the rotation axis of the propeller. By using an offset swivel axis, the propeller nozzle attachment point can be placed closer to the hull of the ship as compared to a propulsion device whose propeller rotation axis and swivel axis coincide. When the attachment point is close to the hull, the transmission of force between the propulsion device and the hull is improved. This can reduce the size of the support structure, improve the hydrodynamic characteristics of the hull and reduce resistance. Further, by reducing the dimensions of the support structure, the draft of the ship is reduced when the propeller nozzle is in the retracted orientation. Overall, the offset and rotating shaft allows the use of larger propellers, which can be advantageous.

  In another embodiment, the pivot axis may intersect the propeller axis of rotation.

  Furthermore, the propeller may be rim driven and in this embodiment the drive means may be a permanent magnet motor. The principle of a rim drive type propeller using a permanent magnet has already been disclosed in the international application WO 2010/13480 A2 by the present applicant.

  In one embodiment, a stationary permanent magnet may be provided on the propeller nozzle, and the propeller may be mounted within a propeller housing with the permanent magnet and rotatably disposed inside the propeller nozzle. As a result, a bearing for the propeller housing is provided. Furthermore, an advantage of providing a rim driven propeller is that torque transmission is optimized compared to a center driven propeller mounted on a conventional shaft. Torque transmission becomes even more important when large propellers are used. In this regard, it has been shown that in a ship with a propulsion device according to the invention, the required power can be reduced by about 20%, but the ship's thrust is maintained. This saves considerable space, material usage and fuel consumption. In addition, other advantages include the ability to actively compensate for noise and vibration reduction and ship wavy motion.

  Further, the propeller nozzle may be adapted to be attached to a support structure that extends from the submerged portion of the hull.

  In another embodiment, the propeller may be mounted on a rotatable propeller shaft supported by a support structure that extends inside the propeller nozzle, and the drive means is a motor arranged to rotate the propeller shaft It can be.

  Further, the propulsion device can be adapted to be pivotally mounted to the submerged portion of the hull about a substantially vertical azimuth axis, thereby providing an azimuth thruster function. This allows the direction of thrust from the propulsion device to be directed in a direction other than that provided by the propeller, which can be used to improve ship steering.

  The invention further relates to a water transport ship, such as a marine supply ship or mobile offshore drilling rig, that includes one or more of the propulsion devices described above.

  Different aspects of the invention can each be combined with any of the other aspects. These and other aspects of the invention are apparent from and will be elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.

  Now, a ship propulsion device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings illustrate examples of embodiments of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting other possible embodiments that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Figure 2 shows two propulsion devices mounted on a ship. 1 shows a ship including a propulsion device. 1 shows a ship including a propulsion device. Shows different orientations of the propulsion device. Shows different orientations of the propulsion device. 3 shows a relationship between a thrust axis and a pivot axis of a propulsion device according to an embodiment of the present invention. A propulsion device is shown. FIG. 5b shows a cross-sectional view of the propulsion device of FIG. 5a taken along line AA '. 5b shows a cross-sectional view of the propulsion device of FIG. 5a taken along line B. FIG.

  FIG. 1 shows two propulsion devices mounted on a submerged part of a hull 2 at the stern part of the ship 1. Each propulsion device includes a propeller nozzle 13 that is pivotably mounted and a rotatable propeller 14 that is disposed inside the nozzle. The deployment mechanism 15 is provided to swivel the propeller nozzle and the propeller around the nozzle turning shaft 17 between the orientation in the deployed state and the orientation in the retracted state. Referring to FIGS. 2a and 2b, in the deployed orientation shown in FIG. 2a, the propeller is positioned in a substantially upright position suitable for providing thrust for moving the ship, And in the retracted orientation shown in FIG. 2b, the propeller is placed in an inclined or substantially horizontal position to reduce the draft D of the ship. As will be described further below, the propulsion device further includes drive means 16 for driving the propeller.

  As can be seen from FIG. 1, the propulsion device 10 is shown mounted between a center support structure 30 and a side support structure 31 extending from the hull 2. However, the propulsion device may also be attached to the hull in a number of other ways without departing from the scope of the present invention. A nozzle projection 131 extends from the propeller nozzle 13 to provide an attachment point for attachment to the support structure. As will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, the propeller nozzle is mounted using the necessary bearings to provide a pivoting motion. The deployment mechanism 15 provided for moving the propeller nozzle is shown in more detail in FIG. 4b. The deployment mechanism shown includes a swivel arm 151 mounted on a nozzle protrusion 131, which is similarly connected to a linear actuator such as a hydraulic cylinder 152. When the hydraulic cylinder piston 153 is moved forward or backward, depending on the operation of the associated hydraulic pump, the movement of the piston is transmitted to the swivel arm 151 to facilitate the movement of the propeller nozzle 13 and propeller 14. . The propeller nozzle and the propeller are rotated around a nozzle pivot axis 17 that intersects the propeller nozzle. As can be seen from FIG. 4a, the pivot axis extends in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the rotation axis 142 of the propeller. Therefore, when the propeller is moved between a deployed state and a retracted direction, the direction of the propeller axis of rotation 142, which may also be indicated as the propeller thrust direction, gradually shifts. Depending on how the propulsion device is mounted on the ship, the nozzle pivot axis may also extend in a direction substantially transverse to the navigation direction of the watercraft.

  2a and 2b show that the movement of the propeller nozzle from the unfolded orientation shown in FIG. 2a to the retracted orientation shown in FIG. 2b includes one or more propulsion devices according to the invention. It shows how the draft D is reduced. In FIG. 2a, the lowest point of the propeller nozzle determines the draft of the ship, whereas in FIG. 2b, the lowest point of the propeller nozzle is now above the lowest point of the ship. Yes, this reduces the draft D.

  4a and 4b show how the pivot axis 17 can be offset from the propeller axis of rotation 142 by an offset distance r. The closer the pivot axis is to the rotation axis, the smaller the dimensional moment of the propulsion device. Compared to a conventional retractable azimuth thruster that is often supported at a single point higher than the propeller, the dimensional moment of the propulsion device can be 1/10 or less.

  The offset distance r may be less than or equal to half of the maximum diameter of the propeller. For example, the offset distance r can range from 0 to 1.5 meters. The arrangement of the support for the propulsion device needs to be dimensioned with respect to the propeller nozzle and propeller moment about the pivot axis and the fact that the moment is correspondingly smaller due to the shorter offset distance r. Guarantee. Further, since the swivel shaft 17 is disposed relatively close to the hull, the force required to swivel the propeller nozzle and the propeller is relatively small as compared with the conventional retractable azimuth thruster, and the hull has two points. By being attached, the propulsion device provides a strong structure. Furthermore, the arrangement of the propeller nozzle attachment points and the direction of the pivot shaft 17 allow the propeller nozzle and propeller to be substantially flush with the shape and angle of the hull in the retracted orientation.

  Various drive means and configurations for driving the propeller can be used while remaining within the scope of the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 5a-5c, according to one aspect, the propeller may be rim driven by a permanent magnet motor. A propulsion device 10 is shown that includes a stationary permanent magnet 163 disposed along the inner periphery of the propeller nozzle, and the propeller 14 is mounted within a propeller housing 161 that is rotatably disposed inside the propeller nozzle. ing. The outer periphery of the propeller housing is provided with a rotating permanent magnet 162, and both a stationary permanent magnet and a rotating permanent magnet provide a bearing for the propeller housing that can absorb both an axial load and a radial load.

  In addition, the propeller nozzle constitutes a stator 164 that includes a winding that provides a rotating magnetic field adapted to rotate a propeller housing that includes a permanent magnet, thereby forming a rotor. By controlling the current through the windings, the propeller housing can be rotated and a permanent magnet motor is provided to drive the propeller.

  In another embodiment (not shown), a structure that supports the propeller shaft is provided inside the propeller nozzle. A propeller shaft is disposed at the center of the nozzle, and a support structure extends from the circumference of the propeller nozzle toward the center to support the propeller shaft. The propeller shaft can be supported at several points along the propeller shaft. The propeller is mounted on the propeller shaft, and the drive means is a motor arranged to rotate the propeller shaft.

  Figures 3a and 3b show how the power line 165 supplies power to the driving means 16, such as a permanent magnet motor. The power line is sent from the inside of the hull to the propulsion device via the attachment point of the propeller nozzle projection. As envisioned by those skilled in the art, the power to drive the propeller needs to be supplied in a manner adapted to allow the propeller nozzle to pivot. Several options are available, such as hydraulic, pneumatic and electric drives, where a hose or wiring can be adapted to allow the propulsion device to pivot.

  In the drawings, a propulsion device according to an embodiment of the invention is shown as being located at the rear of the ship as the main propulsion source. However, the propulsion device according to the present invention may also be used to provide thrust elsewhere, such as a bow thruster to reduce the turning radius or facilitate anchorage by providing lateral thrust.

  Although the invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments, it should in no way be construed as limited to the examples presented. The scope of the invention is presented by the appended claims. In light of the claims, the terms “including” or “including” do not exclude other possible elements or steps. Also, “a” or “an” should not be construed as excluding a plurality. The use of reference signs in the claims relating to the elements shown in the drawings should also not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Furthermore, individual features set forth in different claims can be advantageously combined, and references to these features in different claims do not exclude that a combination of features is neither possible nor advantageous.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Propulsion device 11 Rudder element 13 Nozzle 131 Nozzle protrusion 14 Propeller 141 Propeller blade 142 Propeller rotating shaft 15 Deployment mechanism 151 Turning arm 152 Hydraulic cylinder 153 Piston 16 Driving means 161 Rotating propeller housing 162 Rotating permanent magnet 163 Stationary Permanent magnet 164 Stator 165 Power line 17 Rotating shaft 18 Rotating drive mechanism 30 Center support structure 31 Side support structure

Claims (11)

A propulsion device (10) mounted on a submerged part of a hull (2) of a water transport ship (1),
A propeller nozzle (13) that is pivotably mounted on the hull;
A propeller (14) rotatably disposed inside the nozzle (13);
Drive means (16) for driving the propeller;
A deployment mechanism (15) for controlling the orientation of the propeller nozzle,
The propeller nozzle is in a deployed state in which the propeller is disposed in a substantially upright position suitable for providing thrust for moving the ship around a nozzle pivot axis (17) intersecting the propeller nozzle. A propulsion device (10) that is pivotable between the orientation of the propeller and a retracted orientation in which the propeller is placed in a tilted or substantially horizontal position to reduce the draft (D) of the ship ).   The propulsion device (10) according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle turning shaft extends in a direction orthogonal to a direction of a rotation shaft (142) of the propeller.   The propulsion device (10) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the nozzle pivot axis extends in a direction substantially transverse to the direction of navigation of the water transport vessel.   The propulsion device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the nozzle turning shaft is offset from the rotation shaft of the propeller.   The propulsion device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pivot axis intersects the rotation axis of the propeller.   The propulsion device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the propeller is of a rim drive type and the drive means is a permanent magnet motor.   A stationary permanent magnet (163) is provided on the propeller nozzle, and the propeller is mounted in a propeller housing (161) with a rotating permanent magnet (162) and is rotatably disposed inside the propeller nozzle. The propulsion device (10) according to claim 6, wherein:   The propulsion device (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the propeller nozzle is adapted to be attached to a support structure extending from the submerged portion of the hull.   The propeller is mounted on a rotatable propeller shaft supported by a support structure that extends inside the propeller nozzle, and the drive means is a motor arranged to rotate the propeller shaft. Item 6. The propulsion device (10) according to any one of items 1 to 5.   The propulsion device (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, adapted to be pivotally mounted to the hull about a substantially vertical azimuth axis, thereby providing an azimuth thruster function. ).   A water transport ship, such as a marine supply ship or a mobile marine drilling rig, comprising one or more propulsion devices according to any one of the preceding claims.

Images