US3537413A - Sea-going cargo transportation facilities - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventor Thomas Rankine Farrell 132 Myrtle Ave., Millburn, New Jersey 07041 [21] Appl. No. 863,268 [22] Filed Oct. 2, 1969 v Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 752,376, Aug. 13, 1968, abandoned. [45] Patented Nov. 3, 1970 [54] SEA-GOING CARGO TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES 20 Claims, 15 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 114/435 [51] B631) 25/00 [50] Field ofSearch 1l4/43.5, 72

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,375,286 5/1945 Creed 114/435 2,381,583 8/1945 Fechtenburg 3,318,276 5/1967 Nemec Primary ExaminerTrygve M. Blix Attorney-Robert Henderson ABSTRACT: PluraLsimilar, cargo-carrying barges are floated into a well provided between twin hulls of a self-propelled transport ship and are individually raised or lowered in the well to similar draft levels at which they are rigidly held to constitute said ship and barges as a unitary, ocean-going vessel with both the transport ship and the barges contributing to the buoyancy of the vessel. Optionally, the barges are provided with novel coupling means enabling them to be interconnected in tandem, and the transport ship, optionally, is provided with means for pulling the barges into the transport ship's well. lacking means on the transport ship are rigidly connectible to the barges to effect said raising or lowering of the latter and to function as primary securing means for holding them in their raised or lowered positions during a voyage; and secondary securing means are optionally provided for holding the barges against sidewise shifting in relation to the twin hulls.

Patented Nov. 3, 1970 Sheet 1 N V15 N TOR: THOMAS RANK/NE FARRELL ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 3, 1970 Sheet INVENTOR: THOMAS RANK/NE FARRELL ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 3, 1970 3,537,413

Shaet of6 THOMAS RANK/NE FARRELL ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 3, 1970 Sheet 4' of 6 JNVl-JNIOR: I THOMAS RANK/NE FARRELL I ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 3, 1970 Sheet v c INVENTOR: THOMAS RANK/NE FARRELL ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 3, 1970 Sheet 6 INVEN'I'OR: THOMAS RANK/NE FARRELL ATTORNEY SEA-GOING CARGO TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES This is a continuation-in-part of my copending application,-

Transportation of cargo by water has hitherto been beset by serious problems arising largely in getting cargoes into seagoing vessels in preparation for a voyage and in discharging the cargoes from the vessels at the end of the voyage.

Those operating in the field of such cargo handling are well aware of the problems which, with'facilities presently in use, giverise to high costs such as, for example, those arising from keeping the costly vessels tied up in harbors for relatively long periods of time, substantial labor costs, demurrage charges, etc.

The mentioned cost problems are very substantially alleviated by use of the facilities of this invention as briefly summarized in the foregoing abstract and as hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawing illustrating preferred facilities according to this invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of a sea-going vessel according to this invention, indicating, in broken lines, the disposition of plural barges therein in horizontal alignment as during a voyage;

FIG, 2 is a generally diagrammatic view of those parts of the vessel which are most broadly involved in this invention, showing plural barges at different draftswhile being floated into the well of the vessel toward the bow of the latter;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the vessel, omitting more or less common superstructure;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal, sectional view of the vessel, fully loaded with barges, this view being at a plane approximately.

on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the vessel and a barge secured therein, this view being at a plane approximately on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of barge jacking means connected to an underlying barge in the ships well; transverse portions of cooperating parts of the transport ship and the barge therein being fragmentarily shown;

FIG. 7 is another elevational view of said jacking means as seen from one side of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view approximately on the line 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a view of somewhat similar to FIG. 7, but showing the jacking means as disconnected from the underlying barge;

FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view of cooperating means on a barge and on the transport ship for interlocking the two to prevent shifting of the barge in transit;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view approximately on the line 11-11 of FIG. 10, showing certain parts of the interlocking means in interlocked condition, in broken lines;

FIG. 12 is an elevational view of barge pulling means as viewed from a vertical plane extending transversely of the transport ship;

FIG. 13 is a side elevational view of said barge pulling means;

FIG. 14 is a side elevational view of means for interconnecting barges in tandem; and

FIG. 15 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 15-15 of FIG. 14.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The transportation facilities of this invention comprise a self-propelled, twin-hull, transport ship 20 and plural, substantially identical barges 21, considered herein as not selfpropelled although they may have self-propulsion means if so desired. In the broader aspects of the invention, loaded barges are floated and locked into place between the hulls of the ship 20 for sea transportation by the latter and, at the ships destination or other port of call, the barges are unlocked and floated out of the transport ship.

The barges 21, as illustrated, are more or less in the shape of rectangular, boxlike cargo containers, provided along the top of the deck thereof with plural recesses 22, each having rigidly fixed therein a pair of offset locking books 23, 23a for coaction with jacking means hereinafter described.

The transport ship 20 has twin hulls 24 substantially rigidlyheld apart by suitable, deck supporting cross members 25 to provide a relatively wide well 26 opening at least at one end of the ship 20 and extending throughout at least the greater part of the ship's length. g

The two hulls 24 with the cross members 25 and upper and lower decks 27 and 28 supported by said cross members give the ship 20 an inverted, generally U-shape in transverse section. The bottom of the well26 is open so that barges of diffe rent drafts may be unobstructedly floated thereinto.

The transport ship 20, designed to accommodate a certain number of aligned barges therewithin is provided with a plurality of preferably similar jacking devices 29 to cooperate with the recesses 22 and hooks 23, 23a of loaded barges to raise or lower the latter to bring them into horizontal alignment at drafts most desirable with reference to the draft of the ship 20. It should be understood that the jacking facilities herein detailed, including parts cooperating therewith on the barges, are disclosed as only one of various types of jacking facilities which may be employed within this invention.

A disclosed jacking device 29 (See FIGS. 59), comprises a generally tubular jacking column 30 slidable vertically within suitable bearings 31, 32, and 33 which are shown as rigidly mounted in vertically spaced relationship, located respectively in positions above upper deck 27, and at said deck, and between the decks 27 and 28. The'se bearings are rigidly mounted in their indicated positions on and in the transport ship 20 by suitable mounting means.

A locking head 36, of a character best understood from FIGS. 7 and 9, is suitably fixed rigidly to the lower end of the jacking column 30, and comprises two depending pairs of spaced, rigid, guide arms 37, 37, lower oblique surfaces 38, 38 of which intimately engage opposed surfaces of a related recess 22 of an underlying barge 21. In the spaces between the guide arms of each of the pairs, are pivotally mounted a pair of pivotal books 39, 39a which are offset in opposition to the offset of the barges hooks 23, 23a.

The hooks 39, 390 are shown as having separate hydraulic ram-cylinder assemblies 40 connected between them and the guide arms 37 to enable the books 39, 39a to be held in retracted positions as in FIG. 9 or in closed or interlocking positionsas in FIG. 7. The offset of the hooks 23, 23a and of books 39, 39a is such that book 23 interacts with book 39 and hook 23a interactswith hook 39a in locking the locking head 36 firmly into a related barge recess 22.

The tubular jacking column 30 is uninterruptedly circumferential at both of its ends but an intermediate portion thereof is cut away to form relatively long longitudinal slots 41 at opposite sides of the column. Racks 42 are provided within and at opposite sides of the column 30 in register with the slots 41. These racks may be formed within the column 30 by welding rack teeth 43 in series at their opposite ends to inner margins of the slots 41; and internal primary cross pieces 44 and secondary cross pieces 45 may be welded to the rack teeth 43 and to inner surfaces of the column 30 to reinforce the latter.

A pairof suitably driven pinions 46 are mounted upon and ,driven by shafts 47, borne in brackets 48 which are welded or otherwise fixed rigidly to an adjacent bulkhead or other adjacent part of the ship 20. The pinions 46 mesh with the racks 42 so that reversible operation of the pinions by any suitable driving means causes the jacking column 30 to be raised or lowered. The racks 42 are of such length and so disposed upon the column 30 as to enable the latter to be raised or lowered to present facilities in handling cargoes.

MANNER OF UTILIZING THIS INVENTION In use of this invention as thus far detailed, the transport ship 20, when in port, is ordinarily docked or anchored at docks or anchorages for sea-going vessels. The barges 21, on the other hand, may proceed far upstream of rivers or on inland lakes having water access to the seaport. Thus, in inland areas, the barges may be loaded and then hauled to the transport ship at the seaport.

Then, plural loaded barges (four as illustrated) are floated into the well 26 of the transport ship 20, either by being propelled or pulled thereinto by suitable means. After proper positioning of a barge or barges within the transport ship, the then raised jacking columns 30 (eight as shown for each barge) are lowered by operation of the pinions 46 to engage their locking heads 36 firmly within the recesses 22 of the barges. I

Next, the hydraulic assemblies 40 of the plural columns 30 jacking columns 30, some or all of the latter are raised or lowered by operation of their related pinions 46 to bring the plural barges to a common level which preferably, is such that the barges cooperate to a desired extent with the ship 20 in providing buoyancy for the composite sea-going assembly.

At a port where the barges are to be unloaded or are to be hauled to an inland or upstream destination for unloading, the hooks 39, 39a are disengaged by suitably operating the ramcylinder assemblies 40, and the jacking columns 30 -are then raised, preferably to their upper limits. As a result, the barges assume their individual draft characteristics and are floated from the transport ship 20 and unloaded or hauled to their ultimate destinations for unloading.

As may be understood from FIGS. 1 and 4, the plural barges are preferably located in close end-to-end relationship within the ship 20, and, with the barges held at a common level during a voyage, they offer a minimum of resistance to movement through the water. Thus, during a voyage, the barges combine with the ship 20 to form a composite sea-going vessel.

It will be understood that suitable motor and motor control means for operating the pinions 46 and suitable control means for operating the ram-cylinder assemblies 40 may be suitably located on the ship 20. However, the several means mentioned in this paragraph are not illustrated as they are more or less conventional in character. '5

OPTIONAL COMBINATIONS WITH THE ABOVE DESCRIBED FACILITIES While the described jacking devices 29 hold the barges firmly in place in the ship 20, any strains involved in thus holding the barges may be additionally assumed by plural secondary clamping or locking means 51 as illustrated in FIGS. and 11. The means 51 are preferably located at plural points at op posite sides of the barges toward the bottoms thereof, as indicated in FIGS. 4 and 5.

Referring to FIGS. 10 and II, each clamping or locking means 5l comprises a recess 52, in the side of the bargeZl, provided with an oblongmouth 53, and a ram 54 formed with an oblong locking nose 55. The ram 54 works in a suitably powered hydraulic posed inner side wall of an adjacent one of the twin hulls 24.

Operation of the cylinder 56 pushes the ram 54 leftwardly (FIG. 10) into the oblong mouth 53 of. the recess 52 in the barge; and toward the end of that stroke of the ram, the latter is rotated 90 about its axis to cause its oblong nose 55 to extend transversely of the mouth 53 to lock said ram firmly into the barges recess 52.

The mentioned 90 by separate design the interior of the cylinder 56 and the exterior of the ram portion located within said cylinder so that as the ram is advanced into the recess 52, it is automatically given the mentioned rotation of 90.

rotation of the ram 54 may be effected cylinder 56 water tightly mounted in an opmeans not illustrated, but it is advantageous to One way of deriving such automatic rotation of the ram 54 is shown somewhat diagrammatically in broken lines in FIG. 10, wherein a stud 57 fixed into the ram slides in an axially extending portion 58 of an internal groove 59 in the cylinder 56 during the greater part of said rams advance movement into the barges recess 52. Then, as the ram nears completion of its advance movement, the stud 57 is constrained to slide in a chiefly circumferentially extending portion 60 of said groove. Retraction of the ram 54 causes reverse rotation thereof to enable it to withdraw from the recess 52. v

It will be realized that when the just described clamping or locking means 51 are employed at plural points along the several barges, the latter become substantially integrated with the hulls 24, thus affording an improved distribution of stresses to which the composite sea-going vessel is subjected in transit.

If desired, the recesses 52 may be dispensed with and the ends of the rams 54 may be merely pads pressing against the adjacent sides of the barges, thereby contributing to the holding of the barges in place within the ship 20.

It may often be found to be advantageous to pull a complete, coupled train of barges 21 (four barges in the illustrated embodiment) into the ship 20 rather than to float them in separately. Suitable, similar, barge-coupling means as illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 15, are used as connections between adjacent barges of such a train and suitable means for pulling the train of barges into the transport ship are illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13.

Referring to FIGS. 14 and 15, the disclosed coupling means comprise vertical rods 61, inturned ends 61a of which are welded to or otherwise rigidly fixed to sides of a related barge adjacent to opposite ends of the latter to space the upright portions of said rods from the sides of the barge. The coupling means also comprise a hook assembly 62 slidably carried on each of said rods and pivotable thereabout to enable hooks 63 of the hook assembly to hook upon one of said rods at the adjacent end of the next barge of such a train, as shown in full lines in FIG. 15 and at the center of FIG. 14. Each of the rods 61 has an integral collar or enlarged portion 61b which prevents the assembly 62 from sliding down too far on the rod 61.

Each hook assembly 62 comprises a frame 64 with a vertical bore therein through which the related rod 61 extends with an accurate sliding fit. The frame 64 is formed with similar upper and lower cutouts 65 within which are separately carried internally threaded handwheels 66 working on a threaded end portion 63a of a related hook 63, the end portion 63a of the hook being slidable within a bore 67 in the frame 64.

The rods 61 and hook assemblies 62 are preferably disposed within vertically extending recesses 68 in opposite end portions of each side of the barge. In FIG. 14, the lower, leftward assembly 62 on its related rod 61 of the leftwardly indicated barge appears in full lines as having its hooks 63 in interlocking connection with the rod 61 of the other, adjacent, barge. When the hook assembly is not in use for coupling purposes, it is swung approximately about the rod 61 to its broken line position, as shown in FIG. 15, where it is held by any suitable latch or holding means 69.

It will be understood that similar coupling means interconnect opposite sides of barges of a train and that the slidability of the assemblies 62 on the rods 61 enable coupling of barges of different drafts as shown in FIG. 14; and permit the coupling to continue in effect during the already described jacking of the barges to a desired uniform level, and also during a sea voyage. Such coupling, during a voyage or at other times, constitutes means, additional to the jacking means 29 and/or to the clamping or locking means 51 for holding barges securely within the transport ship.

Assuming that a train of thus coupled barges has been floated to a position wherein a lead barge of the train projects partly into the transport ship's well 26, the barge pulling means of FIGS. 12 and 13 may then be utilized to pull the entire train of barges into the transport ship.

The barge-pulling means comprise an arm 71 or preferably, a separated pair of such arms actuated by similar actuating means. Each arm 71 is pivoted at its forward endiat .72 to a cross member 73 of a carriage 74, suspended from wheels 75 running on fore-and-aft extending tracks 76 which are fixed to the underside of the transport ships lower deck 28 toward 0p,-

posite sides of the ships well 26 and extend from a .point at or near the forward end of said well to a point at or near the rearward end of said wcll.

At the rearward end of arm 71, or each of them, is a downwardly facing hook 77 arranged to engage a generally complementally shaped recess or recesses 78 formed in a top surface at one end of a lead barge 21 of a train thereof. All barges used according to this invention, wherein the optional barge pulling means are employed, have such a recess or recesses at both ends thereof so that any one of plural barges may be used as a lead barge irrespective of which end thereof heads the train.

Suitable carriage-moving means are provided to move carriage 74 rearwardly on rails 76 to a point near the aft end of the transport ship where the hook or hooks 77 of the arms 71 may be engaged within the recess or recesses 78 at the head end of lead barge 21 of the train and then to move said carriage forwardly on sail rails to pull the train of barges into the transport ships well 26. Thereafter, the already described jacking and securing of the barges within the transport ship may be effected.

Means for thus moving the carriage 74 are diagrammatically shown in FIG. 13 as comprising an endless cable 79 connected to opposite forward and rearward ends of the carriage and working about drums 80 and 81, the latter being driven by a reversible motor 82 and having plural turns of said cable ex tending thercaround to eliminate slippage of the cable on the driven drum.

Two arms 71 are shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 with operating means mounted on the carriage 74 for raising and lowering them to enable their hooks 77 to be engaged with the barge recesses 78 as already explained. Said operating means comprise a air of drums 83 similarly driven in unison by a motor 83a, and similar cable arrangements working with the two said drums to operate the two said arms.

Describing one of said cable arrangements, as applicable to both of them, a cable 84, of which one end is fixed to a related drum 83 toward one end thereof, extends about said drum and about guide pulleys 85, 86, and 87, thence around a pulley 88 secured to the arm 71 near its outer end, and back to a point 89 where the cable's other end is suitably fixed to the carriage 74.

It will be understood that all mentioned motors or driving or operating means are suitably connected by wiring and/or piping to suitable power sources and control means carried upon the transport ship the control means, of course, being conveniently accessible to said ships personnel.

It will also be realized by those familiar with the subject art, that this invention may be practiced in ways other than those illustrated and described herein.

I claim:

I. A combination of sea-going transportation facilities comprising a transport ship having twin bulls, and unifying means rigidly interconnecting upper portions of said hulls in spaced relationship to provide, therebetween and below said unifying means, a downwardly opening well extending lengthwise of said ship and opening at at least one end ofthe latter; a cargocarrying barge floatable into said well through the latters open end; and oppositely operating, vertically rigid, jacking means coacting between said transport ship and said barge for selectively raising and lowering the barge in the water in the well to so correlate the position of the barge to the positions of the twin hulls as to constitute a composite sea-going vessel of said barge and said transport ship; said barge and said jacking means including releasable interlocking members holding the jacking means and the barge securely together irrespective of whether the barge is being depressed in the well's water or being elevated therein by said jacking means.

2. The combination according to claim 1, said jacking means being carried by said transport ship.

3. The combination according to claim 1, comprising plural, substantially similar barges floatable-into said well to form a series of barges therein extending longitudinally of the transport ship, and the latter having a plurality of said jacking means spaced apart longitudinally of the transport ship in positions enabling them to coact separately with said barges to selectively adjust the latters' positions in the water to a common level and to correlate their said positions to the positions ofthe twin hulls. 1

4. The combination according to claim 1, said jacking means comprising a jacking column vertically slidably borne by said unifying means, means for selectively raising and lowering said column, and said interlocking members coacting between the lower end of said column and an underlying barge to lock said barge and said column together against material relative movement thereof.

5. The combination according to claim 4, further comprising a rack on said column and driven pinion means coacting with said rack for raising and lowering said column.

6. The combination according to claim 4, said interlocking members comprising a hook on said column and a hook on said barge, and hook-operating means coacting with one of said hooks to adjust said two hooks between hooking engage--,

ment and nonhooking engagement.

7. The combination according to claim 6, further comprising a guide member depending from the lower end of said column and having surfaces engageable with complemcntal surfaces on the underlying barge to hold the latter and said column in substantially rigid relationship while said two hooks are in hooking engagement.

8. The combination according to claim 7, said hook on lhc column being pivotally connected to the latter, and said hook operating means comprising a fluidoperable cylinder-ram assembly coacting between said guide member and said pivotally connected hook to operate the latter.

9. The combination according to claim 1, further comprising barge-steadying means coacting between opposite sides of the barge and inner sides of the twin hulls to restrain the barge against lateral shifting within said well.

10. The combination according to claim 9, said bargesteadying means comprising recesses in opposite sides of said barge and locking members, carried by said transport ship at inner sides of said twin hulls and having locking heads extending lockably into said recesses.

11. The combination according to claim 10, said recesses being formed with oblong mouths and said locking heads being complementally oblong to enable them to enter said mouths, and said locking members being angularly rotatable to secure said locking heads within said recesses.

12. The combination according to claim 11, each of said locking members being a ram and the combination further including a cylinder within which said ram extends for fluid operation thereof, and said ram and an inner surface of said cylinder being provided with a stud and groove combination thcrehetween, the groove of the latter combination extending in directions causing the ram to turn angularly in response to advance movement thereof.

13. The combination according to claim 1, further comprising barge-pulling means for pulling a floating barge into said well, said pulling means comprising a carriage, means carried by said transport ship for guiding and moving said carriage longitudinally of said ship within an upper area of said well, and hooks on said barge and carriage, coacting to pull the barge into said well upon forward movement of said carriage.

14. The combination according to claim 13, the hook on said carriage being carried on the rearward end of an arm pivotally connected at its forward end to said carriage to enable the carriage's hook to be raised and lowered, and the hook on said barge being a recess in the latter having a hook surface for engagement with the hook on said carriage.

15. The combination according to claim 14, further including motor-operated means for moving said carriage and for raising and lowering said arm.

16. The combination according to claim 1, further including barge-coupling means at opposite ends of opposite sides of said barges to enable said barge to be coupled with other similar barges to form a barge train; said coupling means comprising a vertical rod, rigidly fixed to the barge in spaced relation to the latter adjacent to an end of a side of the barge, a frame slidable vertically on said rod and a hook member carried by said frame and disposed in hooking engagement with a similar vertical rod on a next adjacent barge.

[7. The combination according to claim 16, said hook member being slidable horizontally in said frame to tighten its hooking engagement with said rod of the adjacent barge, and said frame also carrying manually operable hook-tightening means, controlling said horizontal sliding of the hook member.

sides of the barge, and being swingable in a horizontal plane between an operative coupling position and a noncoupling position.

20. The combination according to claim I, the twin hulls being rigidly interconnected at their forward ends by a prow of single hull form.

Images