Ships – Implements – Hull cleaning
Patent
1993-12-03
1996-05-07
Britts, Ramon S.
Ships
Implements
Hull cleaning
B63B 5900
Patent
active
055139302
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to an underwater servicing device. In particular, the invention relates to a device which can be used for the servicing of surfaces of underwater facilities such as a ship's hull, underwater pylons such as offshore oil platform pylons, or the like.
The earliest forms of servicing devices for ships were all configured to only be usable above the water line or when a ship was in dry dock. As ships became larger, having a vastly increased submerged surface area, and became more difficult to contain in a dry dock, there was a need for the development of underwater servicing devices.
Most of the traditional underwater servicing devices were of necessity relatively small in order to be able to provide enough thrust, usually by way of impellers or propellors, in order to retain the devices in place during their operation. Furthermore, the majority of these devices were only capable of washing or cleaning the particular surface, or at best painting the surface with a "curable-in-water" paint that does not require a dry environment for a satisfactory finish.
In order to provide larger underwater servicing devices, there have been provided alternative versions that utilise strong magnetic fields to attach the devices to the metallic surfaces of ship's hulls. In particular, electro magnets have been used in order to allow the magnetic fields to be switched on and off such that the device is readily movable.
However, there are two significant difficulties with underwater servicing devices that rely on electromagnetic attraction for their attachment. Firstly, as the entire device is regularly located under water there is a significant risk of the failure of the electrics that power the electromagnets. While the total avoidance of the use of electrics in such underwater devices is generally not possible, it is preferred to keep those electrics to a minimum to minimise the risk of electric failure. In this situation, a failure in the sole means for attaching the device to a ship's hull would clearly be fatal to the operation of the device and would possibly result in the loss of the device. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, such devices are clearly only usable where a strong magnetic attraction may be obtained between the electro magnet and the surface to be cleaned. Thus, if a ship's hull is of a non metallic material such as concrete or fibreglass, or if a pylon is constructed of concrete or timber, then such a device would not be usable. Furthermore, many ship's hulls are thickly encrusted with crustaceans and water borne particles and the like, thus limiting the ability to gain adequate attraction between the magnet and the metallic hull.
Therefore, there is clearly a need for an underwater servicing device that is capable of providing a substantially dry environment to allow the use of any marine type paint and which may be successfully adapted and utilised for the servicing, including washing, painting and cleaning, of any underwater structure regardless of its material of construction and regardless of the thickness or composition of any encrusted coatings.
An aim of the present invention is to provide such an underwater servicing device that overcomes or at least partly alleviates the difficulties referred to above.
The present invention provides an underwater servicing device comprising a substantially hollow housing having an open face whereby the configuration of the open face substantially conforms to the surface of an article to which the housing is to be mounted, sealing means being provided about the peripheral edge of the open face, pumping means in fluid communication with the interior of the housing being capable of evacuating fluid from therewithin and removing such evacuated fluid externally of the device, means for moving the device from one location on the article to another, said moving means also being capable of raising the device away from the article, and an adjustable air supply means capable of allowing air to enter the interior of the housing, wherein as water is
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International Search Report (PCT/AU92/00160) dated Jul. 17, 1992.
Britts Ramon S.
Lagman Frederick L.
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