US2981326A - Hydraulically-operated ships' hatch covers - Google Patents

Description

April 25, 1961 J. Ma GREGOR 2,981,326

HYDRAULICALLY-OPERATED SHIPS HATCH COVERS Filed Aug. 11, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 25, 1961 J, MaCGREGOR HYDRAULICALLY-OPERATED SHIPS HATCH COVERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 11, 1959 United States Patent HYDRAU'LICALLY-OPERATED SHIPS HATCH COVERS .loseph MacGregor, Monlrseaton, Whitley Bay, England, assignor to MacGregor 8: Company (Naval Arcitects) Limited and MacGregor-Comarain Filed Aug. 11, 1959, Ser. No. 832,930

Claims priority, application Great Britain Sept. 23, 1958 1 Claim. (Cl. 160-188) This invention has reference to a control device for ships hatch covers and the like, principally of the kind employing a plurality of metal sections, coplanar in the closed position, at least one of the end sections being hinged athwartships to the deck or coaming. All of the sections comprising the cover are hingedly interconnected. The stowing of the sections is brought about by the use of hydraulic cylinders and rams secured to and movable with a section. One cylinder and ram is provided for each pair of adjacent sections. The thrust of the rams is applied at or about the hinged joint of the adjacent section to cause the joint to break upwards in inverted V fashion until the trailing end of the said adjacent section closes on to the section housing the cylinders, both sections then standing in substantially a vertical position close together in the stowed position. The sections may be provided with wheels at appropriate points on their fore-and-aft sides to run along the edges of the hatchway at the deck or coaming. The description kind described used herein refers to hatch-cover constructions of the aforesaid general kind.

Hitherto it has been the practice to employ a pair of co-operating opposed hydraulic cylinders and rams at the said hinged joints, one in each hatch section applying its thrust against the opposite section. In other plants, use is made of but a single cylinder and ram for actuating a pair of sections, the said cylinder and ram being connected by suitable links to the adjacent section.

The primary object of the present invention is to enable an hydraulic operation of ships hatch covers or the like to be performed through the medium of a single cylinder and ram at each point where the hydraulic power is applied, and to provide means whereby the operation is executed in a smooth and secure way. Usually there is a pair of the said hydraulic power points located at port and starboard of each of the thwartship hinging connections forming the breaking joint between adjacent hatch sections, but on some comparatively narrow hatches there may be a single point on the centre line of the breaking joint.

The controlling device according to this invention is of the type comprising at least one electrically, mechanically or hydraulically actuated control member incorporated and pivoted in at least one of the panels acting on a link member which latter is hingedly connected to both said panels and constitutes the hinge connection therebetween, characterized in that interrneshing gear elements are carried by the adjacent ends of said panels to ensure a smooth and regular guided folding and unfolding thereof.

According to another feature of the invention, the centers of the said gear elements or of their toothed portions coincide with the respective hinges or pivots connecting said link members and panels.

An embodiment of the invention will be described by way of example with the aid of the accompanying drawings in which: I

Patented Apr. 25, 1961 Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan of a six-section hatch cover, the lower half (from the longitudinal center line) being omitted;

Figure 2 shows, also diagrammatically, a section on the line 11-11 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged view representing a longitu-' dinal section through the hatch cover at one of the coggear and ram locations along the hinging joint between a pair of sections; and

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but with the joint broken upwards showing the parts in the position assumed when the cover is stowed.

Like numerals of reference indicate the same or corresponding parts throughout all the views.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the whole cover is made up of six separate cover sections numbered 1 to 6 respectively which, in the closed position, are disposed in coplanar relationship (see Figure 2) resting on the deck or on-a coaming to cover the hatchway. They are in pairs 1-2, 3-4 and 5-6, the respective sections of which are hinged together on the lines 9 by the cog-gear arrangement hereinafter described, and the end sections 1 and 6 are hinged to the deck (or coaming) as indicated at 7. The sections 4 and 5 are connected together by a pair of drag-links one of which is shown at 8, Figure 1, whereby when the pair 5-6 are being stowed they pull along the pair 3-4 for stowing in succession.

When stowing the pair 5-6 move upward in inverted V fashion under the hydraulic means described later herein, section 6 hinging at 7, until the trailing end of the adjacent section 5 closes on to section 6, both sections then standing in substantially a vertical plane closed together as depicted in broken lines in Figure 2. Section 4 is simultaneously dragged along and with its paired section 3 also breaks upward under hydraulic power in inverted V fashion to be similarly stowed. The pair of sections 1-2 are stowed at the other end of the hatchway operating similarly to the pair 5-6, but in the example these sections have no trailing sections comparable with 3-4.

At each of the joints between the sections of each pair there is the following cog-gear hinging and hydraulic arrangements for causing the pairs to move into the inverted V disposition as described.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, each section, at the hinging line 9 between sections, is provided with a cog gear in the form of a plate 10 disposed in a vertical plane secured in the angle between a cross web 15 and an overhanging extension 11 of the top plating of the section. Each of these plates has a cogged arcuate edge 12 and the cogs of the pairs of plates mesh with one another. The hinge is completed by a pivoted link 13 connecting the centers 14 of the cog gears, i.e., in the example connecting the centers of the arcuate portions of the cogged plates.

The pivoted link 13 is an approximately triangular plate with two corners thereof pivotally connected respectively to the two cog gear centres and the remaining corner 16 constituting a thrust extension and projecting upwards and towards the section which houses the hydraulic cylinder and ram now to be described.

Underneath the top plating of the section towards which the thrust extension 16 projects (i.e. 4, 6 or 1 in the example illustrated) there is mounted a hydraulic cylinder 17 which is pivoted by one end 18 to a cross web 19 of the section which forms one end of a piston box 20. This box has a base 21 and the top plating of the cover section may be provided with a detachable cover plate at this piston box to give access to the hydraulic piston with its ram and hydraulic supply pipes which are introduced into the piston box in any convenmeme ient manner. The ram 22 of the hydraulic cylinder 17 is pivoted to the thrust extension 16 of the link 13.

It will be understood that while the hydraulic arrangements are shown right-handed in Figures 3 and 4, i.e., on the right of the cog-gear (as applying to the joints 9 of the section pairs 3- 4 and 5-6), they will be lefthanded as applied to the joint 9 of the'section pair 1 and 2, but obviously it is not essential for the ram to face in any particular direction, in other Words, the hydraulic devices may be disposed in either of the co-operating sections at the joints 9 and the thrust extension 16 directed accordingly. 7

In operation, when the ram 22 is forced out it imposes a leverage on the thrust extension 16 and causes the joint 9 to break upwards; the cog- gear 10, 12 rolls around the cogs and the pair of sections assume first and inverted shallow. V forrn,then a more acute V until both sections are substantially vertical and first against each other and in broken lines in Figure 2. This position of the parts of the joint is shown in Figure 4.

For strength, the cog-gear plates may be duplicated, one each side of the link 13.

Hydraulic power may be applied simultaneously to all of the hydraulic power points (and necessarily so to those located on a single breaking point 9), but it is advantageous to delay the power to the points on trailing pairs of sections. As an instance, in the present example, the trailing pair 3-4 may first be raised to an angle of to the horizontal with the towing pair 5-6, and held by interlock mechanism. The towing pair 5-6 then continue to raise themselves to the vertical, whereupon the trailing pair then finally complete their movement to the vertical. 1

It is obvious that without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, instead of using hydraulically operated cylinders and rams, use can be made of electrically, or mechanically actuated jacks.

What I claim is:

Hatch cover arrangement on board ships, railway wagons and the like comprising at least two hatch cover sections having two adjacently located edges, a free space between the adjacent edges of said sections, protruding extensions fixedly provided on the adjacent edges of said sections facing each other and extending into said space, circular practically identical toothed edge portions on said extensions in mutual continuous meshing engagement, the centers of the circles corresponding to said circular edge portions being situated on said respective extensions, pivot pins located on said extensions centrally with respect to said toothed edge portions, a connecting link forming member pivotally mounted on said two pivots, an arm forming extension on said link member and jack means with a jack rod pivotally mounted on one of said sections and having its jack rod pivotally connected to said arm forming extension to bring said section in the hatch closing and the hatch opening positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 55,607 France Sept. 2, 1 952 Notice of Adverse Decision in Interference In Interference No. 93,198 involving Patent No. 2,981,326, J. MacGregor, HYDRAULIGALLY-OPERATED SHIPS HATCH COVERS, final judgment adverse to the patentee Was rendered June 10, 1965, as to claim 1.

[Ofiiez'al Gazette December 14, 1965.]

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