Ships – Fishing vessel
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-06
2002-01-08
Avila, Stephen (Department: 3617)
Ships
Fishing vessel
Reexamination Certificate
active
06336420
ABSTRACT:
This invention concerns a central hauling pool, for instance arranged in a fishing vessel. The central hauling pool is used for setting out fishing tackle and hauling fishing tackle and catch. The central hauling pool may also be used for other equipment for use in the sea.
On fishing vessels, which in this example is chosen described as a vessel for long-line fishing, usually the long-line with the catch is hauled through hatches in the ship's side near the bow of the vessel, above the waterline. In some instances, the long-line is hauled over deck, but this entails vast disadvantages due to wind and weather. The vessel goes towards the long-line such that the line is hauled generally from the ahead direction, and such that the long-line comes in with a slightly rearwardly inclined angle between 10 and 20 degrees from the vertical line. Experience shows that this is the best way of hauling the line. A single hull vessel will always have a resonance period for its heave motion, and one will normally experience some heave motion in the vessel during normal operation. The most frequently occurring wind states off the Norwegian coast is wind forces between fresh breeze and near gale, with corresponding sea states. When the catch is hauled through hatches situated ahead on the ship's side, there is a risk for loosing parts of the catch by fish falling off the long-line as the fish is being hauled out of the sea. This may be due to several causes, e.g. that the buoyancy of the fish in the sea ceases to have effect and that the whole weight of the fish loads the hook, or that spray from vessel knocks the fish off the hook, or that the fish is knocked by seas independent of the vessel, or vessel heave, etc.
One possible solution to avoid the waves is to haul the long-line through a so-called “dragerbrönn”; a long-line hauling pool, an essentially tubular vertical aperture in the fishing vessel, with the main part of the tube open at its lower end towards the sea, and open in its upper en towards the free air or a room in the ship. Such a central hauling pool gives considerably improved working conditions for the man working at the rail roller who avoids standing exposed. The man working by the rail roller must be present by the central hauling pool to guide the fish in over the rail roller and into the crucifier (the device removing the fish from the hook) section of the vessel, and, not least, to gaff fish having fallen off the line. However, with a solution like this, one problem arises in that such a vertical tube will have a standing water column with a resonance period which may be corresponding with the vessels heave resonance period. Thus the water surface inside the central hauling pool will come to swing with large amplitudes as the fishing vessels heaves, or with the same period and amplitude as the waves at the sea, due to the pressure variations of the waves. It is also possible that the amplitude is amplified inside the central hauling pool. This may lead to loss of fish inside the central hauling pool in the same way as by ordinary fishing, and would also be a risk to the crew handling the long-line and the catch under deck. Wave damping devices may be arranged inside the central hauling pool. However these wave damping devices hinder the ordinary use of fishing tackle. Both fish and hooks may be hung up in them or braked, and the view is reduced due to foaming.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,614 describes one possible solution to change the resonance period of the central hauling pool by closing it against the free air. The American solution may be useful if one shall perform operations with wireline or drillstring through the central hauling pool, but it is not possible to haul fish through an air tight or almost air tight opening around a line. Further, the pressure variations in such an air tight chamber would be harmful to the crew (the man working at the rail roller). U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,614 describes that the central hauling pool may be pressurized or under pressurized in order to change the resonance period of the water column, partly in that the air chamber would act as an air spring with higher or lower pressure, partly in that the length of the water column would be changed to longer or shorter height.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,165 gives a solution by arranging or building in large tanks in semisubmersible platforms. The tanks shall have the waterline standing inside, with apertures to free air at the top and to free sea at the bottom, via canals with considerably smaller cross-section than the tanks.
One purpose with this invention is to extend the resonance period of the water column in the central hauling pool to become much longer than the resonance period of the vessel, and that it does not coincide with the periods of dominating sea wave amplitudes.
An other purpose with the invention is to reduce the wave amplitude in the central hauling pool both in consideration of the crew's working conditions, and to reduce the risk of loosing catch by tosses and local currents.
A third purpose with the invention is to transfer the hauling of the long-line-catch to a sheltered place inside the long-line-fishing vessel.
Mathematical modelling and scale model experiments have shown that the solution to the problems with fishing vessels as mentioned above, and which has been incompletely solved by the known art, is a central hauling pool in the fishing vessel, with the central hauling pool constituting an essentially vertical main tube through the fishing vessel, with a free lower opening or mouth towards the sea and a free upper opening towards the atmosphere. The new and characterizing trait by the invention is that the upper part has a tube transition comprising a large relative widening of the cross-section area under the waterline inside the main tube under the waterline, to an upper tube part, such as defined in claim 1.
Further traits by the invention will arise from the dependent claims, among others that the main tube may be elliptical, and from fishing considerations should be inclined slightly rearwards with respect to the vertical line, so that the lower mouth is situated astern of the upper mouth of the main tube.
Below, a short description of the drawings is given, with the invention illustrated and with reference numbers to the specification and the corresponding claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3057104 (1962-10-01), Constantopes
patent: 4458621 (1984-07-01), De Clifford
patent: 5676083 (1997-10-01), Korsgaard
patent: 5842424 (1998-12-01), Lange et al.
Enerhaug Birger
Løland Geir
Avila Stephen
Norsk Marinteknisk Forskningsinstitutt
Young & Thompson
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