US2327012A - Apparatus for cleaning ships' bottoms - Google Patents

Description

7, 1943. J. G. BRIGHT 2,327,012

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING SHIPS BOTTOMS Filed March 18, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 17, 1943. J. cs. BRIGHT 2,327,012

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING SHIPS BOTTOMS Filed March 18, 1942 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 alzumfnlx 4 4 7 Patented Aug. 17, 1943 .7

APPARATUS George B118 BOTTOMS hflllrtarmmaneat SydnenNcw.

Wall. Anskalia App'ncamn Mae-ch18, 1942, Serialhlo. 435.233 w InAustra'lia April 30,1941 c 1:21am. 1(01. na -2 22 Object ot this was the pro n 91 simple whereby 'thefimmersed portion of thehull of a ship or other floating vessel may be readily and cleaned, .thus' .to l dwdr #1 933 v ..According to this invention, the cleaning appanatuscoraprises a buoyant base having clean inc such asstationaryfor rot'atahle banshee, smapers, hr the like 7 mounted thereon.

M z-hauling devices :such as cables or which ueshwkhd e be eentmllably relativerto the immersed 'bottam ot a vessel while these-id cleaning elements'are fesoibty .intocontact with said bottom due tethegbuQyan -y of the mentioned base. a

4 in the m xi m: I

Ex. I is aplan' at sweet of e preseenttnvention; M

' Fig.3 is .a seotional aside eleuation ;taken on dineH-in 3 i seminal Fig. at he view of a floatin nssel schematically a manner o; using the apparatus subject hereof. The buoyant base consistshof .s i anderass members if, j Members 5 are h P QPQM$ wh h b av w. is. e a $114! s? wa sdza WW as shown at {I in 3"). or otherwise fixed *to the elevation taken. an

drums in order to provide anunitary, rigid base tmm' Y i. w

In the illustrated arrangement, the cleaning elements are rotatable cylindrical brushes 8 and 9 having shafts Ill and II which are mounted in bearings l2 on brackets 13 fixed to the base. Shafts l0 and II have sprockets l4 connected by drive chain l5, and shaft Ill carries bevel wheel l6 which meshes bevel pinion l1. Pinion I1 is keyed on shaft l8 which is drive-connected (for example by sprockets l9 and chain to the drive shaft 2| of a compressed air motor indicated by 22. This motor is mounted between the drums 5 on a plate 2i! fixed to the base. The motor has a compressed air-feeding hose 24, and although during immersion the motor exhaust may bubble into the ambient'water, a hose '25 is preferably provided to conduct the exhaust air to atmosphere, in order to ensure against water entering the motor. The motor is of conventional construction except for the inclusion therein of a stumng box ZB-to prevent entrance of water to the motor interior between the drive shaft 2| and the motor casing,

Although it is not absolutely essential fender bars or frames 21. are preferably fixed to the base in order to protect the apparatus against the almost inevitable rough usage attendant on. initial launching of the apparatus andzthe emplacement thereof relative to a"-hull' to gbe cleaned] y In order to: protect the brush bristles fromundue crushing when. they are forcibly thrust against a vessels bottom, apair of skid bars 28 are preferablyprQVideZi fIfh'es e bars extend for practically the full length of. the ap paratus, and they are held to the base h'ygbolts 29 passing through elongate bolt holes '30 in brackets 3lfixed to the base." Theholes Slenahl'e height adjustment of the skidbars' relative to the ibrushes.' "Ihe skid bars are armed with .freely Ievolublefe'n'd rollers "32 to .asslst'the ap paratus to "negotiate bilge-keelsfandgenerally I to prevent scrapinglcontact between the skidbar ends and a .hull .b eing' .treated. :rhe' rollers 3.2 are mounted on pins 33' home in thefskidbars andin brackets .fix'ed to said bars.v

IHa-ullng devices are connected to the'buoyant assemblage in order that it' niay'lbe traversed to-and-fro across avess'el'sbottom. These. devices .may he ordinary fiexmle .cableswhich'are shackled'to the base. Where the assemblage in"- cludeslroller-shod skid-bars (as in theillu'strated embodiment) the hauling devices may. be cables .such as 35 which for convenience are coupled .36 take v(inlthe pins .33. I

Ttnflthe. .ends. of, the '.skid-}bar's,,2.8 by way of The apparatus subject hereof may be operated from the deck of the vessel to be treated or from the decks of two punts, barges, or thelike positioned on opposite sides of the vessel to be cleaned.

' Fig. 4 shows an example where the operative deck is the deck of the vessel whereof the bottom is to be cleaned. In use the buoyant assemblage is floated with its cleaning elements upwards alongside the vessel to be treated and. near one end thereof. The cable 35,0n one end of the buoyant base is then looped sufllciently to pass under the vessel. The cables are then hauled upon on one side of the vessel and payed out on the other side, thereby cleaning a swathe of the vessels bottom. This (keel-hauling procedure is carried out progressively along the full length of the vessel, the swathes being overlapped to ensure complete cleaning. The hauling of the cables may be performed manually or with the aid of manual or power operated winches as indicated at 31 in Fig. 4.

To enable the buoyancy of the buoyant assemblage to be varied to suit different sized vessels to be cleaned (and hence different depths of immersion) the members 5 may include at least one plug, such as 38, which normally closes an orifice through which the member may be partly filled with water and thus ballasted to any selected degree.

This provision for ballasting is not absolutely essential, but it is desirable, and where such provision is incorporated it is preferred that themembers 5 each have one or more partitions or bulkheads such as 39 (Fig. 1) included therein. The bulkheads 29 divide the members 5 into subcompartments each or some of which may be independently ballasted in order to keep the ballast weight more or less evenly distributed about the centre of gravity of the unballasted buoyant assemblage. The illustrated apparatus is pro vided with three ballasting sub-compartments in each member 5. There may, however, be more than three or only two of these subacompartments in each of the members 5.

The drawings depict a preferred embodiment of the invention which may be extensively varied without departure from the essence of the invention. For example, the buoyant assemblage may resemble a greatly enlarged rectangular scrubbing brush having a hollow back, or a back.- plate carrying an inflatable bag, or a mass of cork or like material (as the buoyant base), and a multiplicity of bristles or scraper blades mounted thereon, alternatively the fixed bristles or blades may be replaced by a plurality of rotor brushes or scrapers mounted on spindles in bearings fixed on the buoyant base. In this latter construction (as in that shown in the drawings) the rotor spindles may be turned manually through, flexible drive means or'by compressed air or other motors, or they are geared together for operation through a common drive shaft by a single motor. The motors (or motor) maybe mounted on the buoyant base, or they (or it) may be mounted on the operative" deck and connected, to the rotor spindles by flexible drive members. Where drive motors are mountedon the buoyant assemblage, the type of motor must be selected with due regard to the necessity for immersion, or means must be provided to counteract the ill effects which immersion might give rise to. For example, if an electric motor is used it may be housed within. a water tight casing having suitable leakproot stufllng boxesfor the outgoing drive shaft; and the current supplying leads must be suitably encased.

As a further alternative the rotatable brushes such as 8 and 9 may be height adjustable (in like to the buoyant base or are revoluble thereon.

As a further alternative the cleaning elements maybe hard surfaced rollers which are mounted on the base in like manner to the brushes 8 and 9 but without necessity for mechanical drive The cleaning effect resulting from the use of hard rollers would mainly result from their ability .to crush oysters, mussels, barnacles and the like, and thereby eflect considerable dislodgment of such matters from a vessels bottom. In'some cases it may be expedient to employ hardroller cleaning as a preliminary to brush or scraper cleaning. The term"clean lng element as used herein is intended to include'any fixed or movable device such as a hard roller or a brush or a group of bristles or blades or other element having the ability to dislodge accretions from 'a surface when thrust against that surface and siniul taneously moved thereacross. The power transmission'devices herein numbered I4, I 5, and It to 20 may be encased either to prevent access or water thereto or simply to shield them from rough usage and fouling by dislodged accretions.

I claim:

Apparatus for cleaning the bottoms of floating vessels consisting essentially of a buoyant base composed of a plurality ot hollow closed drums and aplurality of cross members to which said drums are fixed, tender frames fixed to said cross members, rotatable brushes mounted above said drums in bearings fixed on said cross members, a motor mounted on said base between said drums, "power 'transmission mechanism also mounted on said-base and adapted to transmit power from said rnoto'r to rotate said brushes, height'adjustable skid bars secured "to said base in juxtaposition to said brushes,- rollers borne in the ends of said skid-bars and hauling cables 'shackled to the ends of said skid-bars.

Jon GEORGE BRIGHT.

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