United States Patent Arthur Loftus Paddington Thorpe Willoughby, near Selby, England 14,165

Feb. 25, 1970 Nov. 16, 1971 British Ropes Limited Doncaster, Yorkshire, England [72] Inventor [21 Appl. No. [22] Filed [45 Patented [73] Assignee [54] BOOM LOADER 2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 141/388, 141/279, 285/168 [51] Int. Cl 1365b l/04, B651) 3/04 [50] Field 01 Search 141/382,

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1911 Forth 2,959,398 11/1960 Troche 64/17 3,011,651 12/1961 Mclntyre..... 212/7 3,073,343 l/1963 Moweu et a1. 141/387 3,176,730 4/1965 Knight 141/387 3,213,948 10/1965 Eckevs 212/55 3,268,092 8/1966 Hainer et al. 212/59 3,270,899 9/1966 Brown et a1 212/55 3,479,065 11/1969 Bahlke et a1. 285/168 3,498,325 3/1970 Ashton et a1 141/387 FOREIGN PATENTS 567,278 10/1957 Italy 285/168 Primary Examiner-llouston S. Bell, Jr. Attorney-Brady, OBoyle & Gates ABSTRACT: A boom loader of the kind having a boom from which is suspended a pipe in which petroleum products are conveyed from ship to shore, and provided with a universal connection between a discharge manifold on the pipe and the free end of the boom by means of which bending moments, which tend to arise where the boom is connected to the pipe, are reduced to a minimum.

PATENTEDN 15 |97| 3,620,268

SHEET 1 [IF 8 INVENTOR ARTHUR L oFTus PADDINGTON BY ww ATTORNEYS PATENTEDunv 1s IQTI 3, 20 268 SHEET 7 OF 8 FIG. 7. 6

BOOM LOADER This invention relates to a boom loader of the kind having a boom from which is suspended a pipe in which the material to be loaded is conveyed from one container to another and more particularly, but not exclusively, to a boom loader of the kind used for transferring petroleum products to and from a tanker vehicle or vessel.

It is an object of the invention to provide a boom loader of the kind referred to wherein the pipe coupling and flanges connecting the pipe to the container to be loaded and unloaded are protected against excessive bending moments. The pipe coupling may if desired be such as to include means for regulating the flow of material through said coupling.

Cargo booms are commonly employed in the transference of fluid or fluidized material to and from a water borne vessel or barge. Also known are pivotal support and counterweighting mechanisms for accommodating any out-of-balance weight within the boom itself, and prevent its being transferred to the pipecouplings. However, such mechanisms do not offer adequate protection against out-of-balance loads being transferred to the couplings or flanges aboard a vessel when the cargo is being charged or discharged at a high rate of flow, with consequent exertion of detrimental forces.

According to the invention there is provided a boom loader of the kind referred to, comprising means for connecting one end of the pipe to a container to be loaded or unloaded, and a swivel joint by means of which the connecting means is suspended from the boom. Preferably the swivel joint comprises a generally cylindrical member which is trunnion mounted in one end of the boom, and a tongue carried by the member for rotation about longitudinal axis of the member, the tongue forming part of a knuckle joint connecting the member to the connecting means. The connecting means may comprise a flange on the end of the pipe, which flange is secured e.g., by bolts, to a corresponding pipe flange on the container. Alternatively the connecting means may comprise a pipe coupling.

In one construction the portion of pipe adjacent the coupling is flexible, the other end of the flexible pipe portion being secured to the boom by means of a pivotal coupling.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood one embodiment is described, by way of example only, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic general view of a boom unloader;

FIG. 1a is a general view similar to that of FIG. 1 of a modified arrangement;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic general view similar to part of that shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a detail of the apparatus shown in FIGS. l and 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the detail shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a modified form of the detail shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the detail shown in FIG. 6, and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 showing the movement permitted by the apparatus of the invention.

For convenience, the following description relates to the discharge of a tanker vessel, but it will be apparent that the invention applies equally to the terminal charging or discharging of a land-based tanker vehicle.

In the drawings there is shown a boom loader having a counterweighted boom 6 supporting a pipe 9 (which may be flexible or rigid) in which the material to be loaded or unloaded is transferred from one container to another. In this case one container is a tanker vessel 10, while the other container is a shore-based container (not shown).

When the vessel is ready to charge or discharge, a coupling 1 provided at the free end of the pipe 9 is attached to an appropriate pipe flange on an outlet manifold 2 of the tanker, the coupling being attached by a suspension link 4 and via a swivel joint 5 to the end of latticed boom 6 which is designed to maintain the longitudinal axis of the coupling in the horizontal plane, whilst at the same time permitting it to rotate around its vertical axis.

The cargo passing to or from the shore installation is transferred by means of rigid pipe 7 provided within the structure of the boom to a swivel connector 8 at which point the cargo is conveyed to the coupling 1 by the pipe 9.

In FIG. In there is shown an arrangement similar to that described above but wherein the terminal flange of the pipe 9 is secured directly to the corresponding flange of the canker outlet manifold, and the boom is arranged to support the terminal flange.

Ifdesired, the swivel connector 8 and the coupling 1 may be fitted with branch pipes, 11, 12 (FIG. 3) whereby two flexible hoses 9, 9a can be employed to carry the cargo. It will be appreciated that the arrangement could be such that more than two hoses are employed.

One embodiment of the universal swivel joint 5 is shown in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5. The end of the boom 6 is forked and the joint comprises a cylindrical member 15 provided with trunnions 14 mounted in bearings 13 in the forked end of the boom 6. The cylindrical member 15 has an axial hole arranged to receive a spindle 16 formed at one end with a tongue 17. The spindle is rotatable in the'member l5, and is prevented from displacement therefrom by a nut 18 and washer '19 threaded on the end thereof remote from the tongue 17.

The tongue 17 is adapted to be disposed between a fork comprising a pair of members 20, 21 formed integrally with the body of the coupling 1, and is retained in this position by a cylindrical shaft 22 which passes through concentric holes in the tongue and members 20, 21. The parts 17, 20, 21 and 22 thus form a knuckle joint. If desired, the disposition of the tongue and fork of the knuckle joint can be reversed as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, wherein the spindle 16 has fork 23 at its lower extremity, in lieu of the tongue 17, and a tongue 24 is formed integrally with the body of the coupling 1.

The practical effect of this swivel joint between the extremity of the boom 6 and the body of the coupling 1 is shown in FIG. 8, where components l5, 16, 23, 24 are linked in suspension along a common vertical axis denoted by the line A-B, about which the shaft, the fork and the tongue can rotate in the horizontal plane. Arcuate motion in the vertical plane about the line C-D is achieved by the trunnions 14, while motion in the vertical plane about the line J-K is achieved by means of the member 22, the combined movement alleviating the exertion of any excessive bending moments on the coupling.

I claim I. A boom loader having a boom from which is suspended a pipe in which the material to be loaded is conveyed from one container to another, comprising means for connecting one end of the pipe to a container to be loaded or unloaded, the connecting means having a flange on the end of the pipe, which flange is securable to a corresponding pipe flange on the container; a swivel joint by means of which the connecting 7 means is suspended from the boom, the swivel joint being such that the connecting means can be rotated about a vertical axis and about two vertically spaced horizontal axes, and having a generally cylindrical member which is trunnion mounted in one end of the boom, a tongue carried by the cylindrical member for rotation about the longitudinal axis thereof, a knuckle joint, of which the tongue fonns part, for connecting the cylindrical member to the connecting means, a flexible pipe portion disposed adjacent the connecting means and a pivotal coupling by which one end of the flexible pipe portion is secured to the boom.

2. A boom loader having a boom from which is suspended a pipe in which the material to be loaded is conveyed from one container t0 another, comprising means for connecting one end of the pipe to a container to be loaded or unloaded, the connecting means being securable to a corresponding pipe flange on the container; a swivel joint by means of which the connecting means is suspended from the boom, the swivel joint being such that the connecting means can be rotated about a vertical axis and about two vertically spaced horizontal axes and having a generally cylindrical member which is trunnion mounted in one end of the boom, a tongue carried by the cylindrical member for rotation about the longitudinal axis thereof, a knuckle joint, of which the tongue forms part, for