Ships – Building – Cabins
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-13
2001-07-17
Swinehart, Ed (Department: 3617)
Ships
Building
Cabins
C114S085000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06260496
ABSTRACT:
The field of the invention is that of fitting out the interiors of ships.
More precisely, the invention relates to a new type of prefabricated cabin that can be used to perform such fitting out, and to constitute a cabin or some other room for the living quarters of such a ship.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is known from the state of the art that the interior of a ship can be fitted out by using prefabricated structures to form the cabins. Such structures are made up of panels that are generally made of metal and that are lined with an insulating material and interfitted to form sides forming the walls and optionally the ceilings of such cabins. Such prefabricated structures are inserted into the ship while it is being fitted out, and they are placed on a deck of the ship, which deck then forms the floors of said cabins. A subsequent step in fitting out each section of ship constitutes in fixing cladding to one or two alleyway-facing faces of the cabin.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A main object of the present invention is to provide a novel type of cabin for fitting out the interiors of ships, and a novel method of installing such cabins, making it possible to optimize the costs incurred by such fitting out.
In particular, an object of the present invention is to provide such a cabin that makes it possible to reduce considerably the labor costs incurred by providing fire insulation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a cabin that can be prefabricated completely in the workshop.
These various objects are achieved by means of the invention which provides a prefabricated cabin designed to be installed in a ship, said cabin having sides forming walls, a ceiling and a floor that are made by assembling together interfittable panels, said floor being constituted by an association of panels each provided with an extra thickness of insulating material extending beyond the panel proper.
The cabin of the present invention has not only walls and a ceiling but also a floor constituted by assembling together interfittable panels. Such a cabin thus constitutes a complete structure for forming a cabin. On installing such cabins in a section of ship, the cabins merely need to be placed on the deck in said section, each floor of each cabin then constituting a floating floor on said deck.
The use of an insulating material presenting extra thickness, which material may be constituted by slabs of mineral wool, offers the advantage of making it possible to transfer the fire insulation normally provided underneath the deck of the ship into the floors of the cabins. Such a technique makes it possible to reduce considerably the labor costs involved in installing such fire insulation, because it is much easier to use panels having extra thickness of insulating material than to install the fire insulation while building the deck of the ship.
As indicated above, the cabin proposed by the invention is complete or almost complete insofar as it has walls, a ceiling, and a floor. In a particularly advantageous variant, this type of cabin is also provided with a pre-instaled bathroom unit. On fitting out the ship, is necessary merely to connect the bathroom units to the water supply and waste water drainage networks.
In another particularly advantageous variant of the invention, the outside face of at least one of the wall-forming sides of the cabin of the present invention is provided with alleyway wall cladding pre-fixed thereto.
The invention thus provides a complete or almost complete prefabricated cabin that is very easy to install in a section of ship, and that, in addition, has pre-mounted cladding on one of its outside faces so as to constitute the wall of an alleyway.
By installing a row of such cabins in succession, it is thus possible to obtain complete alleyway cladding. It is thus possible to reduce considerably the time required for fitting out a ship because, by prefabricating, in the workshop, cabins provided with cladding on their alleyway-facing outside faces, it is possible to obtain structures enabling both installation of the rows of cabins, and also cladding of the alleyways running along them to be obtained simultaneously.
In another advantageous variant of the invention, the outside face of at least one of the wall-forming sides is provided with cladding serving to constitute the wall-forming side of an adjacent cabin.
In a variant, the outside face of one of the wall-forming sides of a cabin is provided with alleyway wall cladding, and the outside face of another of its wall-forming sides, perpendicular to the first side, is provided with cladding serving to constitute the wall-forming side of an adjacent cabin.
The advantage of the two types of cabin mentioned in the two preceding paragraphs appears more clearly below.
The invention also provides a method of installing a series N of cabins in a section of a ship so as to form at least one row of such cabins, and at least one alleyway, said method comprising the following steps:
forming a breach in said section;
inserting N-3 cabins as described above in turn via the breach, and installing said cabins side-by-side in turn;
then inserting 2 cabins via the breach, the cabins being as described above and having cladding serving to constitute two wall-forming sides of an adjacent cabin, in which the walls formed by the cladding face each other, and installing said 2 cabins so as to leave a space between said walls;
closing off said breach; and
installing, in situ and in said space, the floor, the ceiling and the two remaining wall-forming sides so as to constitute the last cabin in said series of N cabins.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3729889 (1973-05-01), Baruzzini
patent: 6016636 (2000-01-01), Caputo
patent: 94 02 979 (1994-06-01), None
patent: 731020 (1996-11-01), None
patent: 2 615 816 A1 (1988-12-01), None
patent: 4-306192 (1992-10-01), None
patent: WO 97/24258 (1997-07-01), None
Alstom France S.A.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
Swinehart Ed
LandOfFree
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