Ships – Towing or pushing – Coupling means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-20
2001-02-06
Swinehart, Ed (Department: 3617)
Ships
Towing or pushing
Coupling means
C114S242000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06182593
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a sea-going barge train. More particularly, the present invention relates to a barge train or modular tanker vessel for ocean transportation of cargo, such as oil or other dry or liquid materials, consisting of a forward traction unit, a rear powered caboose unit and a series of modular units or barges interposed therebetween wherein the units are flexibly interconnected by means of a universal type coupling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At present, over the sea transport of oil from production sites to refineries or remote storage facilities is accomplished by means of specialized ocean going vessels such as tankers and super-tankers. Such tankers are large vessels designed to transport up to 400,000 tons of oil. Because of the size of such vessels they can only pass through channels and be accepted in harbors which are large enough and deep enough to accommodate such large vessels. Furthermore, large tankers, such as super-tankers, are too large to pass through such artificial waterways as the Panama Canal or the Suez Canal to thus take advantage of the economies such artifical waterways were designed and built to provide. As a result, such super-tankers are required to traverse many additional thousands of miles of ocean in order to deliver their cargos.
The construction of a modern super-tanker requires a dry dock facility of huge proportions and other specialized facilities and relatively few shipyards in the world have the capability of undertaking such a project. Also, because of the large investment required to construct and operate such large vessels, ownership of super-tankers is generally restricted to very large and wealthy multinational corporations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel tanker vessel for sea transportation of cargos such as oil which is less expensive to construct and operate than heretofore, requires a much smaller dry dock facility for construction than is required for present day tankers of comparable capacity, can be accommodated in channels and harbors which are much smaller and shallower than those required to accommodate present day tankers of comparable capacity, and can pass through artificial waterways such as the Panama and Suez Canals.
The above object, as well as others which will hereinafter become apparent, is accomplished in accordance with the present invention by the provision of a modular tanker vessel consisting of a forward traction unit, a rear powered caboose unit and a series of modular units or barges interposed therebetween wherein the units are serially and flexibly interconnected by means of a universal type coupling which permits relative limited yaw, pitch and roll movement between units. The hull of each barge unit is substantially semi-cylindrically shaped so that the hull inmersed section is circular and the barge units are detachably coupled to each other fore and aft and to the traction and caboose units at the circle center of the circle segment defined by the hull cross section so that hull continuity of the barge train is maintained as the barge units roll relative to each other.
The universal type coupling employed to detachably couple the barge units to each other and to the forward traction unit and rear caboose unit consists of a male coupling shaft extending from a universal joint, such as a cardan or Hook joint or the ball of a ball and socket joint mounted at the fore (or aft) of a barge unit and a female socket, for receiving the male coupling shaft, mounted at the aft (or fore) of a mating barge unit. The universal joint of the male mating barge unit is mounted at the center of the circle defined by the hull cross section while the female socket of the female mating barge unit is also mounted, in its final locked position, at the center of the circle defined by the hull cross section. The female socket is carried by a housing adapted for vertical movement on the female mating barge unit so that the female socket can be vertically aligned with the male coupling shaft of the male mating barge during the coupling operation, where there is a difference in draft between the barges to be coupled. Furthermore, the female socket housing permits rotational movement of the female socket about vertical and horizontal axes during coupling of the mating barge units preceding the final locked position of the female socket to further promote the coupling operation. By repositioning the female socket housing so that the female socket is positioned at the center of the circle defined by the barge hull cross section and locking the female socket in its final locket position, following the coupling operation, the respective hulls of the mating barge units are aligned for hull continuity.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2431039 (1947-11-01), Harrison
patent: 2727485 (1955-12-01), Combs
patent: 3478711 (1969-11-01), Combs
patent: 3809002 (1974-05-01), Nagy et al.
patent: 3830186 (1974-08-01), Janssen et al.
patent: 3938461 (1976-02-01), Marriner
patent: 4080921 (1978-03-01), Freitag
patent: 4335670 (1982-06-01), Skaalen et al.
patent: 475984 (1976-08-01), None
Bucknam and Archer
Swinehart Ed
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