WO2007032724A1

WO2007032724A1 - Rescue capsule with buoyancy elements and water ballast tanks

Info

Publication number: WO2007032724A1
Application number: PCT/SE2006/001016
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sven SÖRELIUS
Original assignee: Ingenjörsfirman Sesörelius Ab
Priority date: 2005-09-16
Filing date: 2006-09-05
Publication date: 2007-03-22
Also published as: SE529100C2; SE0502051L

Abstract

The invention relates to a rescue capsuËe provided with a bottom portion designed partly with buoyancy elements (5) , that are capable of keeping the capsule afloat in water, partly with ballast tanks (13,14,15) which are filled with water and in which the water is entrapped when the capsule is put down in the water, and which are emptied at the lifting of the capsule up from the water. The ballast tanks are, according to the invention, designed as a downwards directed, hollow, essentially ring-shaped finkeel device extending mainly around the periphery of the capsule bottom, and such that at heeling of the capsule in the water a no unessential part of the water filled finkeel becomes lifted above the surface of the water.

Description

RESCUE CAPSULE WITH BUOYANCY ELEMENTS AND WATER BALLAST TANKS.

The present invention relates to a rescue capsule provided with a bottom portion designed partly with buoyancy elements, that are capable of keeping the capsule afloat in water, partly with ballast tanks with openings provided with valves, through which openings the ballast tanks can be filled with water, constituting ballast water, when the capsule is put down into the water, which ballast water can be retained in the ballast tanks by closing the openings by the valves and can be let out by opening the valves at lifting of the capsule up from the water.

A covered-in lifeboat, which in some respects is similar to a rescue capsule of the above mentioned kind, is priorIy known from the GB 103,905 patent specification. It has water ballast tanks in the bottom of the boat, which tanks are automatically filled with water when it enters the water and are automatically emptied when the boat is lifted from the water. Other known boats for the same purpose are shown in the GB 129,076 and 457,598 patent specifications and the US 4,346,664 patent specification. The boats in all these cases comprise devices for counteracting rolling in the sea by increasing the inertia of the boats by means of the water ballast tanks. Moreover, in some cases an inner pendulum suspended cabin for personnel is arranged inside the boat. Merely water ballast tanks are insufficient in rough sea, and complicated solutions with pendulum suspended cabins make the boats heavy and exposed to damages, and would not work in practice in the intended respect.

The object of the invention is to achieve a rescue capsule of the type introductorily mentioned, which has low weight and good stability, and is provided with devices for eliminating hard rolling of the capsule and uncontrollable driving in rough sea.

This has been achieved, according to the invention, by the fact that the ballast tanks are designed as a downwards directed, hollow, essentially ring-shaped finkeel device extending mainly around the periphery of the capsule bottom. Such a finkeel device brings about, that when the capsule heels over in one direction the finkeel device positioned on the opposite side is lifted up above the surface of the water, such that the weight of the finkeel device filled with water becomes fully active. At the same time the finkeel device prevents that the capsule drives away under the influence of wind and waves, which could make it difficult to catch the capsule by a helicopter carried lifting device handled by a helicopter rescue swittmer, or for distressed people in the water trying to reach and get on board the capsule.

The capsule is advantageously essentially spherical, and the finkeel device may have a simple, continuous, annular form, but the best result is achieved if it is divided into three separate finkeels separated by three interspaces spaced by 120°. Lateral motions of the capsule in the water are softly and efficiently counteracted in all directions by water that is pressed through the interspaces. Each finkeel may preferably comprise about 120° and each interspace about 20° of the periphery of the capsule bottom.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the finkeel device is directed obliquely outwards and with such a thickness that at strong heeling of the capsule the part of the finkeel device that becomes positioned most highly will be located completely above the surface of the water. This makes the finkeel device a best possible rolling stabilizer.

A very important quality of a rescue capsule according to the invention is a lowest possible weight when it is hanging in lifting device, for example a helicopter, and that the finkeel device is as heavy as possible as soon as the capsule is put down into the water. This is ensured by a preferable embodiment of the invention by the capsule being provided with a device for coupling to a lifting device, which coupling device is connected to valves of the finkeel device, which valves are kept open when the lifting device is lifting the capsule by said coupling device. Hence, the valves are kept open when the capsule is put down into the water and the ballast tanks are filled up with ballast water, but the valves are closed as soon as the lifting device brings pulling of the coupling device to an end. On the other hand, when the lifting device is connected to said coupling device and starts lifting the capsule, the valves are immediately opened so that the ballast water is drained already when the capsule is lifted up from the water.

The invention is described in more detail in the following with reference to the attached drawings, which schematically disclose, by way of example only, some embodiments of a rescue capsule according to the invention, in which Fig.l is a cross section of the capsule, Fig.2 is a view of the bottom of another embodiment of the invention, and Fig.3 is a cross section of a preferred embodiment of the invention shown under strong heeling.

The rescue capsule shown in Fig.l is essentially spherical with an inner shell 1, an outer shell 2, and between them a layer consisting of heat insulating foam material 3. Inside the capsule there is a plane floor 4 with a space located under the floor containing a buoyancy element 5 and possibly room for equipment (not shown) accessible from the interior. The interior of the capsule is further equipped with seats 6 and hand rails 7 for the personnel to hang on to during the movements of the capsule. Entering into the capsule is possible through a door 8 with edges with watertight seals, or through a hatch 9 that can be opened on the top of the capsule. On the outside the capsule has three brackets 10 with resilient- mounted lifting eye bolts 11 distributed around the periphery of the capsule, an outwardly around the waistline of the capsule extending flange 12, and other necessary fixed ladders and hand rails, not shown, to permit personnel and people in distress to move safely on the outside of the capsule.

Ballast tanks 13,14 and 15 have the shape of a downwards directed, hollow, essentially ring-shaped finkeel device, extending mainly around the periphery of the capsule bottom. The three ballast tanks are formed by three radial partition walls spaced by 120° and fixedly mounted in the hollow fin keel device. Two of the partition walls denoted 17 and 18 are visible in Fig.l.

Each ballast tank 13-15 is provided with a lower opening 19 and an upper opening 20. A lower valve flap 21 and an upper valve flap 22 are slidable in guides, not shown, and are connected to each other by a pull rod 23, that extends up to one of the brackets 10, that is positioned straight above the valve flaps 21,21. In the bracket 10 the pull rod is attached to a corresponding, resiliently journalled Lifting eye bolt 11, which by a spring, not shown, is pressed downwards such that the valve flaps 21,22 sealingly cover the openings 19,20. At lifting by means of lifting straps 24 attached to the lifting eye bolts 11, said eye bolts together with the valve flaps 21,22 are displaced upwards a bit, such that the openings 19,20 are exposed.

By the coupling of the valve flaps 21,22 to the resilient lifting eye bolts 11 is Tiade sure that at lifting of the capsule and lowering of the capsule down into the ivater the openings 19,22 are kept uncovered, such that the ballast tanks are quickly filled with water until the capsule begins to flow and the pulling of the lifting eye bolts 11 ceases, at which moment the valve flaps 21,22 by the pull rods 23 are pushed down to the openings 19,20 in closing position. On the other hand, when the capsule should be lifted up from the water pulling of the lifting eye bolts 11 results in that the bolts are displaced a bit upwards and by the pull rods 23 displace the valve flaps 21,22 upwards to a position in which the openings 19,20 are uncovered even before the lifting of the capsule has begun. Hence, the water ballast tanks 13-15 are almost completely emptied when the finkeel device 16 leaves the surface of the water. Therefore no ballast remalins that can render the lifting operation difficult.

At the embodiment shown in Fig.2 the above described ring-shaped finkeel device is divided into three separate finkeels 25, 26,27 separated by three interspaces 28,29,30. Each finkeel covers about 100° and each interspace 20° of the periphery of the capsule bottom. At the lateral movement of the capsule in rough sea the interspaces 28-30 act as water brakes when the water is pressed through the interspaces.

The finkeel device is, as shown, directed obliquely outwards and has such a thickness, that at strong heeling of the capsule under the influence of wind, waves and/or uneven load caused by distressed people clinging tight on to the leeside of the capsule, the part of the finkeel device that becomes positioned most highly will be located completely above the surface of the water counteracting the heeling vvith considerable lever action, as shown in Fig.3.

Claims

C L A I M S

1. A rescue capsule provided with a bottom portion comprising partly buoyancy elements (5) , that are capable of keeping the capsule afloat in water, partly ballast tanks (13,14,15) with openings (19,20) provided with valves, through which openings the ballast tanks can be filled with water, constituting ballast water, when the capsule is put down into the water, which ballast water can be retained in the ballast tanks by closing the penings by the valves (21,22) and can be let out by opening the valves at lifting the capsule up from the water, characterized in that thj ivϊllast tanks (13-15) are designed as a downwards directed, hollow, essentially ring-shaped finkeel device, extending mainly around the periphery of the capsule bottom.

2. A rescue capsule according to claim 1, characterized in that the capsule is mainly spherical with the finkeel device (16) protruding from the bottom portion.

3. A rescue capsule according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the essentially ring-shaped finkeel device is divided into three separate finkeels (25,26,27) separated by three interspaces (28,29,30) spaced by 120°.

4. A rescue capsule according to claim 3, characterized in that each finkeel (25-27) covers about 100° and each interspace (28-30) about 20° of the periphery of the capsule bottom.

5. A rescue capsule according to any of claims 1-4, characterized in that the finkeel device (16) is directed obliquely outwards and has such a thickness that at strong heeling of the capsule the part of the finkeel device that becomes positioned most highly will be located completely above the surface of the water.

6. A rescue capsule according to any of claims 1-5, characterized in that the capsule is provided with a device (10,11) for coupling to a lifting device ( 24 ) , which coupling device is connected to the finkeel valves (21,22), that are arranged to be kept open at the lifting of the capsule by the lifting device connected to said coupling device (10,11).

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