Ships – Towing or pushing – Nested vessels
Patent
1987-08-31
1989-02-21
Basinger, Sherman D.
Ships
Towing or pushing
Nested vessels
B63B 2156
Patent
active
048055484
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a means of connecting a pusher boat and a barge.
Barges have long been employed for the transportation of bulky cargoes in rivers, canals, lakes and harbours, and even in open sea. There are two conventional methods to move the barges, one being to tow by a tug boat and the other being to push by a pusher boat. The present invention relates to the latter case where the barge is connected with the pusher boat to form a pusher-barge combination system. More particularly, the invention relates to a means of connecting a pusher boat and a barge to form an improved pusher-barge combination system with excellent performance.
The method of connecting the pusher boat and the barge by means of ropes has widely been employed. In this method, however, the stern portion of the barge comes into contact with the bow portion of the pusher boat, and the relative vertical sliding of said two portions cannot be avoided. This relative sliding of these two watercraft causes heavy wear and tear of the buffer means provided between them. In addition, owing to relative pitching and yawing motions between these two watercraft, the connecting ropes are very often subjected to undue and excessive tension, which may often cause breaking of ropes, and the difficulties in navigation of pusher-barge combination systems in a heavy seaway have principally been due to these disadvantages. And, furthermore, the heavy connecting ropes must be handled by crew and, accordingly, connection and disconnection works require heavy and dangerous muscular labour.
These disadvantages inevitably involved in the conventional rope-connected pusher-barge combination system were eliminated by the introduction of a new means of connection (hereinafter to be referred to as the "former invention") invented by the present applicant and patented in the United States under the U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,831 (corresponding Canadian Pat. No. 1,026,164, French Pat. No. 75/11118, German Federal Republic Pat. No. 25 16 372, Spanish Pat. No. 436,590 and U.K. Pat. No. 1,465,207), in which the stern portion of the barge is provided with a notch or well for receiving the bow portion of the pusher boat with a suitable clearance left around said bow portion, and each side of said notch is provided with a vertical channel open toward the notch and formed of a bottom wall and two side walls, the latter of which being placed adjacent to the opening or entrance of the channel and provided with horizontal concavities extending from the entrance of said notch to said bottom wall and stepwise arranged from the top to the bottom on said side walls in such a manner that the two concavities placed at a same height on the opposite side walls may form a pair of concavities. On the other hand, both sides of the bow portion of the pusher boat are provided with hydraulically operable connecting pins, respectively, which can rotate relative to said pusher boat. The outer free end of each of said connecting pins has two convexities on its forward and rearward sides, so shaped as to automatically select and tightly engage with one of said pairs of concavities when said connecting pin is hydraulically extended outwards so that its outer free end is forcibly inserted into said channel. Thus, said two watercraft are firmly connected by the engagement of said connecting pins and said vertical channels.
Another embodiment of the former invention comprises a helmet mounted on the spherical head of each of said hydraulically operable connecting pins. This helmet has, on its forward and rearward sides, two convexities which will engage with one of said pairs of concavities when said connecting pin is extended outwards to connect said pusher boat to said barge. Said helmet mounted on said spherical head can turn to any direction within a limited small range so as to absorb bad influence of inevitable geometrical inaccuracies of welded structures of hulls on which the components of the connecting means concerned are mounted.
Between the pusher b
REFERENCES:
patent: 3844245 (1974-10-01), Yamaguchi
patent: 3935831 (1976-02-01), Yamaguchi
patent: 4356784 (1982-11-01), Waters et al.
Basinger Sherman D.
Sotelo Jesus D.
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