Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
  • B63B—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPPING 
  • B63B27/00—Arrangement of ship-based loading or unloading equipment for cargo or passengers
  • B63B27/14—Arrangement of ship-based loading or unloading equipment for cargo or passengers of ramps, gangways or outboard ladders ; Pilot lifts
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A62—LIFE-SAVING; FIRE-FIGHTING
  • A62B—DEVICES, APPARATUS OR METHODS FOR LIFE-SAVING
  • A62B1/00—Devices for lowering persons from buildings or the like
  • A62B1/20—Devices for lowering persons from buildings or the like by making use of sliding-ropes, sliding-poles or chutes, e.g. hoses, pipes, sliding-grooves, sliding-sheets
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
  • B63C—LAUNCHING, HAULING-OUT, OR DRY-DOCKING OF VESSELS; LIFE-SAVING IN WATER; EQUIPMENT FOR DWELLING OR WORKING UNDER WATER; MEANS FOR SALVAGING OR SEARCHING FOR UNDERWATER OBJECTS
  • B63C9/00—Life-saving in water
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
  • B63C—LAUNCHING, HAULING-OUT, OR DRY-DOCKING OF VESSELS; LIFE-SAVING IN WATER; EQUIPMENT FOR DWELLING OR WORKING UNDER WATER; MEANS FOR SALVAGING OR SEARCHING FOR UNDERWATER OBJECTS
  • B63C9/00—Life-saving in water
  • B63C9/22—Devices for holding or launching life-buoys, inflatable life-rafts, or other floatable life-saving equipment

Definitions

• the invention concerns a system for deploying life rafts from ships, wherein the life rafts are of the inflatable type and wherein there are stocking-like bodies for transferring personnel from the ship to at least one of the life rafts.
• the life rafts are arranged in groups which are loosely connected with a common bottom frame 1, and wherein each raft group comprises a reception raft 2 and several evacuation rafts 3 detachably connected with the reception raft.
• the above-mentioned bottom frame 1 is suspended from at least one winch wire 4 arranged from a support frame 5 which can be moved from a parked position inside the ship's side to an operative position outside the ship's side.
• the winch wire(s) pass through sliding guides 6a in the bottom of the reception raft and in sliding guides 6b in a known per se escape stocking 7 which is packed between the support frame and the reception raft.
• the bottom frame 1 can be lowered into the water by means of the winch 8 while the escape stocking is simultaneously unfolded.
• the reception raft is automatically inflated when the support frame sinks below the waterline, while at the same time the evacuation rafts remain floating uninflated beside the recep ⁇ tion raft and detachably connected with it.
• the evacuation rafts' inflating mechanism can be actuated manually from the reception raft when required, thus maintaining a continuous, safe escape route from the ship's deck to the evacuation rafts.
• rafts are often used. There are small rafts made of rigid plastic with a coil of rope round them, which are principally intended as buoyancy means for people who have fallen or jumped into the water to hold on to. There are also inflatable rubber rafts with room for several tens of people. These rafts can withstand the strain of almost un ⁇ limited impacts and will therefore not be smashed against the ship's side. They do not normally have any means of propulsion apart from perhaps some paddles with which to manoeuvre if necessary, e.g. in order to pick up a person in the vicinity from the water. Nevertheless rubber rafts are considered by very many people to-day to be a safer evacuation means than lifeboats. The rafts have relatively little freeboard with the risk of falling overboard, but they can also be supplied with tent-shaped canopies.
• the problem is primarily to transfer passengers and rafts safely into the water.
• There are davit launched rafts where the rafts with the evacuees are suspended by means of various straps on a crane wire.
• This can be a rather hazardous opera ⁇ tion, due amongst other things to the severe effects of the wind on the relatively light raft during lowering, and due to the risk of mechanical failure in the davit crane which is constantly exposed to the harsh effects of the weather and the sea and which is seldom used.
• Rafts can also be thrown or dropped overboard in a packed condition and inflated when they hit the water.
• These rafts can be entered by persons who have arrived in the water with life jackets by some other means.
• inflatable chutes or chutes suspended in a rigid metal construction with flexible connection to a mustering point on the vessel's deck.
• the chutes preferably end in a reception raft in the water.
• the chutes place a limit on freeboard height from the point of evacuation.
• chutes which com ⁇ prise a rigid metal construction are space-consuming.
• GRP rigid plastic boxes
• the object of the present invention is to further improve the known escape stocking-based evacuation systems from ship to raft.
• Fig. 1 is an embodiment in a position where it is ready for evacuation.
• Fig. 2 is a preferred arrangement for installation of the invention aboard a passenger ship in a normal sailing situation without increased readiness.
• Fig. 3 is an embodiment according to the invention during deployment.
• Fig. 4 is an embodiment of the invention in packed condi ⁇ tion on deck, viewed from the side.
• Fig. 5 is the same embodiment viewed from above, and with an outline shown in broken lines illustrating how the support frame 5 with important parts including the bottom frame 1 and rafts 3 is pushed out from the ship's side before the bottom frame and rafts are lowered.
• Fig. 6 is an embodiment of a locking mechanism for the support frame which functions in such a manner that the force of gravity alone pushes out the support frame when the locking mechanism is released.
• Fig. 7 is an alternative embodiment in which the support frame 5 is hinged and is tilted out hydraulically 19.
• Fig. 8 is an alternative embodiment where the support frame 5 is pushed out by a substantially horizontal telescopic mechanism 27 operated by a hydraulic telescope cylinder 26 connected with a hydraulic accumulator.
• the system comprises principally a group of packed life rafts 3, a reception raft 2, a bottom frame 1 which can also act as a stabilizing weight, at least one foldable escape stocking 7, a support frame 5 with an arrangement for transfer from a parked position to an operative position outside the ship's side, one or more winch Wires 4 and one or more winches 8.
• the winch 8 can be mounted on the support frame 5 as in fig. 8 or permanently mounted on the ship's deck as in figs. 1-7. In the latter case the winch wires 4 pass over pulleys 18a, 18b mounted on the support frame 5.
• the winch wires extend further from the support frame through wire guides 6b on the rings in the foldable rescue stocking 7, through wire guides 6a in the bottom of the reception raft and on to termination points in the bottom frame 1.
• the bottom frame 1 can be lowered into the water and have a more or less stabilizing effect on the stocking and reception raft depending on the weight, design and depth in the water.
• the bottom frame can either be a heavily perforated, streamlined, open grid construction or designed as a compact weight.
• the tension in the wires 4 can also be stabilized by giving the winch 8 a known per se constant tension function, see claim 3.
• the packed life rafts 3 can rest on projecting arms on the bottom frame 1 as illustrated in fig. 4 and fig. 5, or they can be suspended from hooks or straps under the bottom frame as in fig. 7.
• the life rafts 3 are deployed in such a way that they are released from the bottom frame 1 by their own buoyancy when the bottom frame is lowered into the water by means of the winch 8, while simultaneously the stocking 7 is unfolded and the reception raft 2 inflated.
• the life rafts 3, however, will still be detachably connected with the reception raft 2 by means of a mooring rope 24 and possibly also release cords 25.
• the reception raft 2 is kept in position laterally by the wires 4, but is permitted to follow the vertical wave movements independently of the vertical movements of the bottom frame and support frame, thanks to the vertical freedom of movement of the wire guides 6a, 6b.
• the invention does not comprise any special new features in the actual rescue stocking, which can in principle be of any known type.
• the length of the escape stocking 7 is automatically adapted to suit the distance between the support frame 5 and the reception raft 2, while at the same time the stocking is constantly extended approximately in a vertical position and very little affected by wind, by means of the wires 4 and the wire guides 6b.
• the escape stocking 7 is partially unfolded or folded from below according to requirements, in the bottom of the reception raft 2.
• the evacuees are not exposed to risk in the critical lowering phase for raft, lifeboat or equipment.
• the evacuation means is continuously available once it is lowered into an operative position.
• the device is normally stowed in a position protected from the effects of wind and weather with the result that the system requires little maintenance and will be highly accessible.
• the winch wires 4 in the wire guides 6a, 6b and the weight of the bottom frame 1 stabilize the stocking 7 and the reception raft 2 in an operative position against wind and sea forces.
• the rescue system is supplied as a complete and compact unit, which in itself is sufficient to initiate evacuation independently of any separate raft systems or the like.
• the entire system can be operated with a very few simple movements, and a minimum of demands are made on the operator's competence.
• the system can be built into the ship's side behind a hatch 9 which is opened at the same time as the support frame 5 is pushed out into an operative position. This means that evacuees avoid the necessity of going out on to an open deck before evacuation can start. It also means that the ship's external design can be more freely formu ⁇ lated.
• Fig. 2 shows an embodiment in which lifebelts 13 and warm clothing 14 are available in a fire- protected room 12 with preferably direct access from one of the ship's most frequented rooms such as a dance restaurant. Descent in the escape stocking can be carried out directly from this room, preferably according to instructions from audiovisual aids 15.
• the system can be designed in such a manner that the force of gravity alone can move the support frame 5 from a parked to an operative position by means of an extrusion mechanism 16 when a locking mechanism 11 is released, see fig. 6.
• the extrusion mechanism 16 can be designed in several ways, e.g. by means of a hinged mounting of the support frame under the lower rear edge, by having the support frame move on rollers in tracks for this purpose, or by means of another mechanism design which in the course of the movement from parked to operative position never passes a position where the device's centre of gravity is located higher than or as high as in a parked position.
• the possibility of gravity-operated extrusion mechanisms 16 is not a limiting factor for the extent of protection, since the mechanism according to the main claim can also include hydraulic cylinders 19, 26 or other powered extrusion mechanisms.
• All the vital functions of the system including extrusion of the support frame 5 and subsequent lowering of the bottom frame 1 with reception raft 2, stocking 7 and rafts 3, can be remotely controlled from the bridge.
• This can, e.g., also be easily extended to include opening of door locks to the evacuation room 12 and starting of the instruction video 15 together with the obvious activation of alarms etc.
• facilities of this nature cannot replace the need for human contact and individual help from the crew, it can free the crew to take care of all those who cannot manage on their own with the help of such pre-programmed instructions and aids.
• the winch 8 which is used during lowering of the bottom frame with rafts and escape stocking can be operated without an external power supply.
• This can be solved in several known per se ways, e.g. by providing the winch with an independent diesel-operated power or hydraulic set, by using a hydraulic accumulator 20 or an electrical accumulator, or by providing the winch with a hydraulic or mechanical brake, e.g. a centrifugal brake, which gives a controlled lowering speed with gravity as the motive power.
• a hydraulic or mechanical brake e.g. a centrifugal brake
• a simple blocking mechanism is neces ⁇ sary to keep the system packed when it is not in use.
• An example of such a simple blocking mechanism 11 is illustrated in fig. 6.
• the locking arm 21 engages with a cut-out 24 on the support frame 5.
• the locking arm 21 can be actuated manual ⁇ ly when the padlock 23 is removed, or it can be actuated by the one-way cylinder 22 which can be remotely controlled from the bridge, and which if necessary can be supplied with suffi ⁇ cient force to break the padlock 23.
• the key to the padlock 23 can be carried by all the crew members, or it can be placed behind a breakable glass in an alarm activator.
• the drum shaft can be equipped with splines or similar means suitable for a portable air motor or the like, thus enabling the system to be pulled up again after an exercise.
• a simple hydraulic pump can also be used on the drum shaft, which acts as a brake when the fluid flow in a locally closed circuit is choked. This local system can obtain its oil from a small tank located at a greater height, while at the same time there can be a connection point for external supply of hydraulic oil under pressure from a portable unit, if the pump is to be used as a motor for pulling the system up again.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Ocean & Marine Engineering (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Emergency Management (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Emergency Lowering Means (AREA)
• Electrical Discharge Machining, Electrochemical Machining, And Combined Machining (AREA)
• Preventing Corrosion Or Incrustation Of Metals (AREA)

Priority Applications (5)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=19895295

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Cited By (9)

Families Citing this family (19)

Citations (4)

Family Cites Families (7)

• 1992
  • 1992-07-10 NO NO922750A patent/NO180265C/no unknown
• 1993
  • 1993-07-09 JP JP6503195A patent/JPH08502704A/ja active Pending
  • 1993-07-09 EP EP93916307A patent/EP0648176B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1993-07-09 WO PCT/NO1993/000113 patent/WO1994001324A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1993-07-09 US US08/356,407 patent/US5765500A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1993-07-09 DK DK93916307T patent/DK0648176T3/da active
  • 1993-07-09 AU AU45907/93A patent/AU4590793A/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (4)

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