WO1999055581A1

WO1999055581A1 - Vessel

Info

Publication number: WO1999055581A1
Application number: PCT/FI1999/000348
Authority: WO
Inventors: Heikki Hokkanen
Original assignee: Lakesail Oy
Priority date: 1998-04-28
Filing date: 1999-04-28
Publication date: 1999-11-04
Also published as: FI980930A0; FI980930A; AU3712499A

Abstract

The invention relates to a vessel comprising a hull (1) and a paddle wheel (3) arranged to turn with respect to the hull, whereupon the vessel can be steered by the paddle wheel (3) and any separate steering rudders, propellers or the like are not necessarily needed. According to the inventive idea, the paddle wheel (3) is arranged to a thrust part (2) separate from the hull (1), and the thrust part (2) can be turned with respect to the hull (1) by steering means (9).

Description

VESSEL

The invention relates to a vessel comprising a hull, a paddle wheel arranged to move the vessel, at least one power source and power transmission devices arranged to use the paddle wheel, and further steering means to steer the vessel by means of the paddle wheel which can be turned with respect to the hull of the vessel.

Paddle vessels have been used in water traffic since the last century. Nowadays paddle vessels have been largely replaced by faster propeller vessels. Paddle vessels have, however, become popular as tourist attractions, and they are used in special charter traffic and as cruisers. Paddle vessels are not as fast as propeller vessels, which has for its part contributed to the fact that paddle vessels are nowadays mostly used for gaining experiences and spending leisure time, whereby the speed is not necessarily the most important factor. Paddle vessels also have several technical advantages over propeller vessels and the like. The draught of a vessel can be made small, and a paddle vessel does not bring about waves disturbing shores or other vessels. Further, the efficiency of a paddle vessel is much higher than that of e.g. a propeller vessel, as the same thrust is achieved with a lower motor power. Further, the structure is simple and cheap, and a paddle wheel makes a vessel look impressive. In known paddle vessels, a paddle wheel is arranged either to the furthest end in the stern of the vessel or two separate narrower paddle wheels are arranged to the sides of the vessel, usually to its central part. A rudder is used for steering such vessels, which requires naturally that the vessel must have a sufficient speed to move according to the steering. Moving to a quay or other narrow places slowly but carefully is difficult only by steering with the rudder. Thus, besides the rudder steering, specific steering propellers arranged to the nose and in some cases also to the stem of a vessel are nowadays used in vessels, and in practice, their use is necessary in known vessels. Steering propellers, however, make the structure of these vessels very complicated, expensive and subject to damages. Thus, it is practical to use steering propellers only in large-sized vessels.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new type of a paddle vessel, whose steerability is good and yet whose structure is simple. The vessel of the invention is characterized in that the paddle wheel is arranged to a thrust part separate from the hull, and that the thrust part can be turned with respect to the hull by the steering means.

The essential idea of the invention is that the paddle wheel of the paddle vessel is arranged such that it can be turned with respect to the hull of the vessel. The invention is based on the idea that the vessel comprises a thrust part separate from the hull, to which the paddle wheel is arranged. Thus, the hull and the thrust part are arranged with respect to each other in such a way that they can be turned with respect to each other in the direction of the vessel. A load transported on the vessel is loaded into the hull part of the vessel where also steering and operational means are preferably located. The paddle wheel moving the vessel is arranged to the thrust part, which can be turned with respect to the transporting part by means of suitable steering means and by which the vessel can be steered. The essential idea of a preferred embodiment of the invention is that the thrust part is attached to the hull in such a way that neither the loading of the hull and the draught ensuing therefrom nor the movements of the hull substantially affect the draught of the thrust part or the functioning of the paddle wheel.

The invention provides the advantage that the vessel can be steered by the paddle wheel, whereupon any separate steering propellers or other steering equipment, like steering rudders, are not necessarily needed. The steerability and manageability of the vessel are, however, very good. Further, the structure of the vessel can be implemented simpler and thus with lower costs than before. The simplification improves naturally the reliability of the vessel as well and makes the vessel less dependent on maintenance. Another advantage of the invention is that the loading of the vessel does not affect the draught of the paddle wheel, and so the paddle wheel always operates at a predesigned optimum depth. Thus, regardless of the load transported on the vessel, the efficiency of the paddle wheel remains high. In addition, lists of the hull caused by waves or the loading do not weaken the functioning of the paddle wheel. Further, in case of a potential damage or e.g. of wanting to change the properties of the vessel, the thrust part is, if desired, quick and easy to replace as a whole module.

The invention will be described in greater detail in the attached drawings, in which

Figure 1 shows a schematic top view of a vessel of the invention, Figure 2 shows a schematic side view of the vessel of Figure 1 , Figure 3 shows a schematic top view of another vessel, and Figure 4 shows a schematic side view of the vessel of Figure 3. Figure 1 shows a simplified top view of a vessel of the invention. For the sake of clarity, Figures 1 and 3 do not show a cover 11 shown in Figures 2 and 4. The vessel comprises a hull 1 to transport the actual load and a thrust part 2 attached to the hull in which thrust part a paddle wheel 3 is located. Such a vessel can be steered by turning the thrust part with respect to the hull by means of suitable steering means, when naturally also the paddle wheel located in the thrust part turns with respect to the hull according to the inventive idea. The paddle wheel 3 usually comprises a rotating shaft 4 to which protruding parts parallel to the radius or preferably disc-shaped end parts 5a and 5b are arranged. Further, between the end parts, usually wooden paddles 6 substantially parallel to the radius are arranged onto the periphery of the end parts. The paddle wheel is arranged to the vessel in such a way that the paddles of the rotating paddle wheel scoop water by turns and create the thrust moving the vessel. The hull 1 is preferably of a catamaran type and thus it comprises at least two separate pontoons 1a and 1 b illustrated by a broken line in the figure, between which pontoons a deck 7 of the vessel is arranged. The deck is preferably built as even as possible to facilitate the loading of the vessel and the moving on the vessel. The catamaran structure is preferable in a paddle vessel as the paddle wheel is able to make use of the water which is not swirling in the rear of the vessel and the efficiency of the paddle wheel remains high regardless of the speed of the vessel. In addition, due to the double-hull structure both the reversing and the progression of the vessel can be efficient, as the waves caused by the rotating paddle wheel do not substantially break against the hull and resist the movement. Steering and operating means 8 of the vessel are preferably arranged to the hull part, and the thrust part can thus be made both lighter in weight and as simple as possible. The thrust part 2 is preferably also catamaran-hulled comprising two pontoons 2a and 2b made preferably of plastic material or aluminium sheet, between which pontoons the paddle wheel 3 is arranged. The thrust part can be turned with respect to the hull parallel to an arc A illustrated in the figure. The thrust part can be turned by e.g. pressure medium cylinders, toothed racks, cables or other suitable steering means 9. It is preferable to arrange the power source of the vessel, e.g. a combustion engine and a hydraulic pump attached thereto, to the hull and transmit the power rotating the paddle wheel from the hull to a hydraulic motor 10 arranged in contact with the paddle wheel by e.g. hydraulic fluid. Further, a diesel aggregate or some other power source unit can be arranged to the hull part and an electric motor can be arranged to the thrust part to rotate the paddle wheel. A power source and rotating means can naturally be arranged solely to the thrust part, and thus the thrust part can be an independent module. In this case as well, it is preferable to arrange potential fuel tanks of the power source to the hull, whereupon the amount of fuel does not affect the draught of the thrust part and that of the paddle wheel. It is preferable to arrange the connection between the thrust part and the hull in such a way that substantially only horizontal powers are conveyed by it, whereupon the loading of the hull and the vertical position of the hull ensuing therefrom or lists caused by waves or an uneven loading do not substantially affect the thrust part. Further, solar energy can be used as driving power of the vessel. The roof of the hull part or other even surfaces, such as a sun cover 11 shown in Figure 2, can comprise solar panels storing solar energy which is used for operating the electric motor and the paddle wheel directly or indirectly attached thereto. Such a vessel is especially quiet and otherwise pro- environmental, too. It is to be noticed that the structure and the principles of the paddle wheel will not be described herein in greater detail as they are regarded as obvious to a person skilled in the art.

Figure 3 shows a top view of the structure of another vessel. In this case, a paddle wheel 3 is arranged to the stern of a hull 1 in such a way that it can be turned with respect to the hull by suitable steering means, and thus the vessel can be steered. The steering means can comprise e.g. a guide surface 12 in form of a circle or an arc, by which the paddle wheel can be turned by means of e.g. pressure medium cylinders, rotators or some other mechanical device. The paddle wheel and its steering means are preferably arranged to a separate part 13 in the stern of the hull, as shown in Figure 4, whereupon the hull does not affect the functioning of the paddle wheel disturbingly even if the paddle wheel was turned parallel to the vessel in such a way that it could move the stern of the vessel in the sideward direction. Further, when steering the vessel, the paddle wheel can also be turned in such a way that the shaft, around which the paddle wheel is arranged to rotate, is hinged as pivoting at one end, and the paddle wheel can be rotated around such a hinge e.g. by means of a hydraulic cylinder. The drawings and the description related thereto are only intended to illustrate the inventive idea. The details of the invention may vary within the scope of the claims. Therefore^* the thrust part may also be implemented in other ways than disclosed in the figures and the description. Further, the hull of the vessel can also be implemented in such a way that the stern of the vessel to which the paddle wheel is arranged can be turned with respect to the fore of the vessel by means of a hinging arranged between the fore and the rear of the vessel. It is also possible to implement an application with a separate thrust part and a dismountable hull part whereupon the vessel is easy to dismantle and assemble and the transportation of the vessel and other treatments on land are considerably facilitated.

Claims

1. A vessel comprising a hull (1), a paddle wheel (3) arranged to move the vessel, at least one power source and power transmission devices arranged to use the paddle wheel (3), and further steering means to steer the vessel by means of the paddle wheel which can be turned with respect to the hull (1 ) of the vessel, characterized in that the paddle wheel (3) is arranged to a thrust part (2) separate from the hull (1), and that the thrust part (2) can be turned with respect to the hull (1) by the steering means (9).

2. A vessel as claimed in claim ^characterized in that the thrust part (2) comprises at least two pontoons (2a, 2b), between which the paddle wheel (3) is arranged.

3. A vessel as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the thrust part (2) is attached to the hull (1) in such a way that the loading and the positions of the hull do not substantially affect the draught of the thrust part (2) or the functioning of the paddle wheel (3).

4. A vessel as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the power source using the paddle wheel (3) and the power transmission devices are arranged to the thrust part (2), whereby the thrust part is an independently functioning module.

7

AMENDED CLAIMS

[received by the International Bureau on 08 October 1999 (08.10.99); original claim 2 cancelled; original claim 1 amended; original claims 3and4 amended and renumbered as claims 2-3 (1 page)]

1. A vessel comprising a hull (1), a paddle wheel (3) arranged to move the vessel, at least one power source and power transmission devices arranged to use the paddle wheel (3), and further steering means to steer the

5 vessel by means of the paddle wheel which can be turned with respect to the hull (1 ) of the vessel, characterized in that the paddle wheel (3) is arranged to a thrust part (2) separate from the hull (1), wherein the thrust part

(2) comprises at least two pontoons (2a, 2b), between which the paddle wheel

(3) is arranged and that the thrust part (2) can be turned with respect to the 10 hull (1 ) by the steering means (9).

2. A vessel as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the thrust part (2) is attached to the hull (1) in such a way that the loading and the positions of the hull do not substantially affect the draught of the thrust part (2) or the functioning of the paddle wheel (3).

15 3. A vessel as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the power source using the paddle wheel (3) and the power transmission devices are arranged to the thrust part (2), whereby the thrust part is an independently functioning module.