Winding – tensioning – or guiding – Unwinding – With supply coil replenishment
Patent
1997-04-07
1999-03-02
Walsh, Donald P.
Winding, tensioning, or guiding
Unwinding
With supply coil replenishment
2423991, 2425965, B65H 1900
Patent
active
058759913
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a device for winding up or unwinding flexible elongated articles, such as pipes or cables.
Devices of this type are, for example, installed on ships for laying submarine pipes or cables. They essentially comprise a winch on which can be arranged a drum onto which is wound the cable or pipe.
In such cases the loaded drum represents a heavy item and during the sea voyage from port to the laying area the drum needs to be secured to the ship's deck, thus isolating the bearings from the drum load. This is also the case during the return to port with the empty drum.
There is often a considerable distance between the place of laying the cable or tube and the port where full drums are stored. It is therefore important to be able to use the ship drum storage capacity to the full. It is therefore known to arrange a plurality of drums on a ship's deck using a device of the said type to engage and carry each drum in succession, thereby enabling the unwinding of the cable or pipe carried by the drum.
The transfer of the drum load from the deck to the device and vice versa represents a critical phase of the drum handling operation, especially at sea.
In a known winch device (GB 2046207-B) this critical transfer is solved in that two bearings are moved vertically in a frame until they are located in the extension of the axis of the drum, whereafter the bearings are moved towards each other so that the bearings engage the sides of the drum. The drum is then lifted by means of the bearings which are raised vertically in the frame.
Another solution of the problem known from coil handling apparatus (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 2,915,257) is of course to have bearings held stationary in the vertical direction and lift the drum to a raised position where the drum axis is aligned with the bearing, or to lower or break away the drum deck support after the bearings are moved towards each other and brought to engage the sides of the drum in question. The first of these alternative solutions calls for specific securing means for the drum during lifting at sea whereas the latter solutions call for costly power actuated support means for each of the stored drums or envolves the use of deck personnel in a hazardous work area.
The facility to move the bearings both vertically and horizontally--as in GB 2046307-B--to and from the respective drum sides, requires a complex structure, the complexity of which, has a negative influence on the restraining means of the bearings.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a device for winding up or unwinding elongated flexible elements, such as pipes or cables, wherein the bearings are held stationary in the vertical direction, means being provided for lifting and lowering a drum relative the bearings in a secure manner.
Thus there is according to the invention forwarded the proposal for the use of a pair of wire rope slings which may be brought to a at least to partly envelope the lifting boss of the drum and moved vertically by suitable displacing means, to and from a position wherein the drum axis is aligned with the bearings.
The use of slings will ensure that the drum is held and supported in a secure manner during the critical handling phase between deck and bearings and vice versa. The use of slings also makes it possbile to handle a number of drums of different sling contact diameters within limits set by the sling length.
Preferable embodiments of the invention are set out in the claims.
The invention is described in greater detail hereinafter relative to a non-limitative embodiment and the attached drawings wherein show:
FIGS. 1-5 show a front view of a device according to the invention in different drum handling stages.
As shown in the drawings, the device has in general manner two bearings 1 each mounted horizontally sliding in a horizontal guide 2 in a frame 3. Each frame 3 is mounted so as to slide in the direction of arrows (FIG. 2) on a carriage 4. Each of the carriages 4 is installed so as to move on two rails 5 perpendicular to the slidin
REFERENCES:
patent: 1742029 (1929-12-01), Fallot
patent: 1799984 (1931-04-01), Larmuth
patent: 1818720 (1931-08-01), Lamatsch
patent: 1874904 (1932-08-01), Crafts
patent: 2912180 (1959-11-01), Lindberg
patent: 2915257 (1959-12-01), Bruns
patent: 3038680 (1962-06-01), Rose
patent: 3394897 (1968-07-01), Martin, Sr.
patent: 3955770 (1976-05-01), Offermann
patent: 4030704 (1977-06-01), Beierle et al.
patent: 4098468 (1978-07-01), Skalleberg
patent: 4165052 (1979-08-01), Seibert
patent: 4265411 (1981-05-01), Fasolak
patent: 4284249 (1981-08-01), Legallasi et al.
patent: 4973008 (1990-11-01), Focke et al.
patent: 5121885 (1992-06-01), Chipman
patent: 5288031 (1994-02-01), Linderoth
patent: 5316231 (1994-05-01), Thievessen et al.
patent: 5607120 (1997-03-01), Folsom
Rivera William A.
Walsh Donald P.
LandOfFree
Device for winding up or unwinding elongated flexible articles does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Device for winding up or unwinding elongated flexible articles, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Device for winding up or unwinding elongated flexible articles will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-415205