Ships – Implements – Hull cleaning
Patent
1998-10-22
2000-05-30
Avila, Stephen
Ships
Implements
Hull cleaning
B63B 5900
Patent
active
060679212
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a device for the external cleaning of ship's hulls.
Over time, numerous forms of life, such as algae, crustaceans, corals and the like, colonise the hulls of ships and yachts below or at the waterline, depending on the nature of the body of water. This may damage the hull material under certain circumstances, and always has a negative effect on the hydrodynamic resistance of the ship's hull, thus impairing the performance of the ship or, in the case of motor-driven ships, resulting in increased fuel consumption.
For this reason, ships have heretofore been lifted out of the water with hoisting gear about once a year and the accumulated incrustation removed manually.
According to the prior art, in order to limit or prevent colonisation of the ship's hull by living organisms, the hulls are also treated regularly with a so-called "anti-fouling" coating made of highly toxic substances, the inhibiting effect of which subsides relatively quickly, however, due to the fact that the substances used must also always be at least slightly water-soluble in order to have a toxic effect on the organisms. The use of toxic substances of this kind is problematic from the standpoint of environmental protection.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The necessary manual cleaning of ship hulls is relatively time-consuming and generates substantial costs. In addition, it can usually only be carried out at expensive berths where the corresponding hoisting cranes are available.
The invention is based on the task of designing a device for the external cleaning of ship's hulls, with which cleaning work of this nature can be performed more quickly and inexpensively. According to the invention, this task is solved by at least one cleaning roller which can be driven to rotate, is rotatably mounted in a rack and whose roller structures are positioned at least partially below the surface of the water.
In this context, the surface of the cleaning roller is preferably designed such that, when rotating, it has an abrasive effect on the accumulated layers of living organisms, but does not risk damaging the hulls, which are generally made of glass fibre-reinforced plastic (GRP). Possible alternatives include, in particular, brush rollers, loop rollers, rollers with roughened surfaces or rollers coated with grinding or abrasive substances.
Although it is possible, in principle, to clean an entire hull with a single cleaning roller, one or more roller pairs are preferably provided, whose individual rollers are positioned respectively on the starboard and port sides. The required cleaning time can be drastically reduced in this way.
Standard ship hulls come to a relatively acute angle at the bow, while they form a flat or obtuse angle at the stern. For this reason, it can be expedient to mount consecutive pairs of brushes at different angles.
A space is preferably provided between the individual rollers of a brush pair, so that the keel or centre-board of a ship can be drawn through it.
In order to be able to exert even pressure on all areas of the hull, but also in order to be able to clean different hulls with the same device, the roller structures and axles of the cleaning rollers are preferably designed to be flexible and adaptable to the hull shape. To this end, the axles can be constructed of segments, for example, where the segments are connected to one another via spring elements, for instance. Axle and roller structures made of elastic plastic or rubber materials are also suitable for this purpose.
The rack for supporting or accommodating the cleaning rollers can be borne by floats, but is preferably positioned in the water in fixed fashion, such as with the help of anchors. The ship is then pulled through the cleaning installation using a windlass or the like, for example, where the forward speed can be adapted to the thickness or nature of the contamination and marine fouling.
On the other hand, it is also possible to firmly anchor the ship and mount the cleaning rollers in movable fashion a
REFERENCES:
patent: 3709184 (1973-01-01), Laney
patent: 4236477 (1980-12-01), Norris et al.
patent: 4510639 (1985-04-01), Roncaglione
patent: 4843995 (1989-07-01), Bingham
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