WO2011092371A1

WO2011092371A1 - Seal for sealing a transverse bulkhead of a hold of a ship

Info

Publication number: WO2011092371A1
Application number: PCT/FI2010/050098
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ilkka Kukko-Liedes; Marko Jokila
Original assignee: Cargotec Finland Oy
Priority date: 2010-02-01
Filing date: 2010-02-16
Publication date: 2011-08-04
Also published as: FI20105086A0; FI121743B

Abstract

Seal for sealing a transverse bulkhead (3) of a hold of a ship, more particularly for sealing a gap between a longitudinal bulkhead (2) and a transverse bulkhead (3). The invention is implemented such that the seal comprises two or more connectable seal parts (1', 1", 1'", etc.), which form an elongated seal essentially the length of the gap to be sealed.

Description

SEAL FOR SEALING A TRANSVERSE BULKHEAD OF A HOLD OF A SHIP

The object of the invention is a seal for sealing a transverse bulkhead of a hold of a ship as defined in the preamble of claim 1, more particularly for sealing a gap between a longitudinal bulkhead and a transverse bulkhead.

The case in point is thus a so-called bulkhead seal, which prevents bulk goods (cargo), such as grain, to be transported in the hold from leaking from the gap between the transverse bulkhead and the longitudinal bulkhead (the side wall of the hold) to the wrong side of the transverse bulkhead. Caulks, such as rope or rags, among other things, that are beaten between the bulkheads have earlier been used as seals. The installation of these is, however, laborious and the tightness of the seam despite everything is poor. Urethane foam has also been used as a seal material, but as a seal material it is useable only once and is expensive. Also, the tightness of it is not good enough. In prior art it is also typical that the transverse bulkhead is not precisely centered when it is installed, but instead typically the gaps between the transverse bulkhead and the longitudinal bulkheads are of different sizes on both edges of the transverse bulkhead. This also makes sealing awkward, because unequal amounts of seal material are generally needed in the gaps.

The object of this invention is to achieve a new type of seal for sealing a gap between a transverse bulkhead and a transverse bulkhead of a hold of a ship, which seal would be easy to install, and to which the problems occurring in prior art would not otherwise be attached. The seal according to the invention is characterized in that the seal comprises two or more connectable seal parts, which form an elongated seal essentially the length of the gap to be sealed.

One preferred embodiment of the seal according to the invention is characterized in that the seal part is trough-shaped such that the convex side of the seal part can be installed towards the gap to be sealed. One preferred embodiment of the seal according to the invention is characterized in that a locking means is formed on the seal part, which locking means locks the next seal part to the counterpart intended for this purpose for detachably joining the seal parts together.

Yet another preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention is characterized in that the locking means is a latch formed on one end of the seal part and the counterpart is a hole, in which case the latch is pushed through the hole of the next/previous seal part and locked by turning it 90°.

The advantages of the invention that can be mentioned are that the sea is easy to construct and to disassemble. In addition, it has good sealing ability. The structure is not single-use, but instead it can be used a number of times. That being the case, it is also environmentally friendly. In addition, the parts of the seal can be stowed in a compact pile when they are not needed, in which case they take up little space.

In the following, the invention will be described in more detail by the aid of a preferred embodiment with reference to the attached drawings, wherein Fig. 1 presents simplified longitudinal bulkheads of a hold of a ship and a transverse bulkhead installed between them as well as a seal according to the invention installed in one corner by way of example. Fig. 2 presents the parts of two seal parts to be fixed to each other.

Fig. 3 presents the same as Fig. 2, but now the seal parts are fixed to each other.

Fig. 4 presents some seal parts stacked one on top of another. Fig. 1 thus presents a transverse bulkhead 3 dividing a hold, installed between longitudinal bulkheads 2 of a hold of a ship. As mentioned earlier, with the invention it is endeavored to resolve the problem more particularly for sealing a gap between a longitudinal bulkhead and a transverse bulkhead. Fig. 1 presents a seal installed in only one corner, which seal comprises one or more seal parts , 1", ", etc., connected consecutively to each other. The seal is trough-shaped and installed with the convex side towards the corner. Of course, the same type of seal is used on the other edges of the transverse bulkhead 3 to be sealed, if necessary also in sealing the seam between the transverse bulkhead and the bottom of the hold. The seal can if necessary be made continuous by formulating a separate corner piece for both bottom corners, to which both the vertical seal and the horizontal seals are connected.

The seal parts , 1" of the seal are seen in more detail in Figs. 2-4. Fig. 2 presents the top part of a seal part and correspondingly the bottom part of the seal part 1" to be fixed to it. As can be seen, the seal part 1" comprises in its bottom part a turnable latch 4, which is pushed through the hole 5 in the top part of the seal part 1' and locked by turning the latch 90°. Additionally, the seal parts , 1" comprise compatible positioning parts 6', 6", which help for installing the seal parts precisely together. The positioning parts can simply be a compatible stud and hole, as is presented in the drawings. The seal parts , 1", etc., can be mutually identical or e.g. one of them can be of a different length for fitting the length of the seal exactly to the site to be sealed.

The seal can be assembled to be full-length e.g. on the deck of the ship and lowered from above into the corner between the longitudinal bulkhead 2 and the transverse bulkhead 3. It is also possible to connect to the seal one seal part at a time at the same time as the seal is installed into its position, i.e. by descending from the top downwards or by ascending from the bottom upwards.

Before the hold is filled with the cargo to be transported, as a relatively rigid structure the seal stays in its position. If necessary, e.g. the top end and the bottom end of the seal are locked into their positions. The staying of the seal can be further improved e.g. with one or more magnets installed in the seal parts, which magnets adhere to the steel surfaces of the bulkheads. After the filling of the hold the pressure of the cargo of the load presses the seal tightly into the corner between the longitudinal bulkheads and the transverse bulkheads.

The sealing ability of the seal can be improved with separate rubber or other elastic seals installed on its edges. When the seal is not in use, the trough-shaped seal parts , 1", ", etc., can be stacked one on top of another in the manner indicated in Fig. 4. Thus carrying them is easy and stowage does not require a large space. There are abundant options in the dimensioning and formulating of the seal parts 1', 1", 1"', etc. Also the connecting of the parts to each other can be brought about in another way than with a latch to be pushed through a hole and locked. This can be done e.g. with mutually compatible protrusions or hooks that are to be locked to each other. The material is primarily plastic, but also e.g. light metals and various composites can come into question.

The seal parts have been described above as trough-shaped and the second side of them as convex. The seal can also be e.g. rectangular in its cross-sectional shape, in which case it settles accurately into a corner with a right angle of the rectangle at the front. Other conceivable shapes of the seal parts are of course possible within the scope of the claims. It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the embodiments presented above, but that it can be varied within the scope of the claims presented below.

Claims

Seal for sealing a transverse bulkhead (3) of a hold of a ship, more particularly for sealing a gap between a longitudinal bulkhead (2) and a transverse bulkhead (3), characterized in that the seal comprises two or more connectable seal parts (1', 1", V", etc.), which form an elongated seal essentially the length of the gap to be sealed.

Seal according to claim 1, characterized in that the seal part ( , 1", ", etc.) is trough-shaped such that the convex side of the seal part when installed into position is towards the gap to be sealed.

Seal according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a locking means is formed on the seal part (1', 1", ", etc.), which locking means locks the next seal part to the counterpart intended for this purpose for detachably joining seal parts together.

Seal according to claim 3, characterized in that the locking means is a latch (4) formed on one end of the seal part (1', 1", ", etc.) and the counterpart is a hole (5), in which case the latch is pushed through the hole of the next/previous seal part and locked by turning it 90°.

Seal according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the seal part (1', 1", V" , etc.) also comprises positioning parts (6',

6") for facilitating and supporting the coupling of two consecutive seal parts (1', 1", ", etc.).

Seal according to any of claims 1-5, characterized in that the seal part ( , 1", ", etc.) is provided with one or more magnets for ensuring it stays in position, especially during installation.

7. Seal according to any of claims 1-6, characterized in that the side edges of the seal part ( , 1", 1"', etc.) are provided with rubber or other elastic seals for improving the sealing effect.