MOORING DEVICE

Abstract: Mooring device comprising an element (2) anchored to the water bed (1). This element, such as a column (2) or buoy, carries a weighted structure suspended from the element with its centre of gravity below the point of suspension such that it can swing about a horizontal pin (4) and rotate about a vertical axis. Said weighted structure having a rigid arm (7) which faces away from the structure, the free end of which (8) can be coupled with or without pretension with a ship (11).

Description: The invention relates to a mooring device, compris­ ing an element anchored relative to the water bed, such as a column fixed to the water bed, a column placed on the bed so that it can swing, which column has buoyancy or a buoy fixed with anchor lines relative to the water bed, or a com­ bination of these possibilities, said element having a weighted structure suspended from it in such a way that the latter can swing about a horizontal pin situated above the centre of gravity of the structure, and said element also having an arm which faces away from it in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal hinge pin and is swingable about a vertical axis of the element. Such a mooring device is known, and examples thereof can be found in, for example, British Patent Ap­ plication 2,019,800 or European Patent Application 0,105,976. In these known mooring devices the weighted struc­ ture comprises one or more arms which are suspended - in such a way that they can swing about a horizontal pin-­ from a part which is mounted, in such a way that it rotates about a vertical axis, to the upper end of a column which may or may not be fixed. The arm between the weighted structure and the ship to be moored is here hingedly connected both to the ship and to the struc­ ture, said hinge connection in the case of the ship being a horizontal hinge whose pin is at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the arm, and the connec­ tion to the structure either being a hinge also with a horizontal transverse pin, or being a universal joint. These mooring devices, which are known per se, provide great flexibility between the ship to be moored and the element anchored to the water bed, since the ship retains great freedom of movement relative to the anchored element, and the weighted structure acts any time like a spring to counter and correct undesirable movement of the ship. In European Patent Application 85202075.9, which has not yet been published, it has already been proposed that the connection of the arm between ship and weighted structure should be made at a point which is situated past the vertical axis of the suspension of the struc­ ture, looking from the ship to be moored, and the object of this is to give the spring action such a characteris­ tic that the spring action initially decreases and only later becomes more rigid, in order to obtain an adjust­ ment to the movements made by the ship in each case un­ der the influence of wave forces. The object of the invention now is to produce a flexible mooring device which can be coupled and un­ coupled in a simple manner to and from the bulk of the ship to be moored, making use of a weighted structure. This object is achieved according to the invention in that the arm has an essentially so rigid connection to the structure that said arm faces away from the structure at an angle and with its free end can be freely coupled to a ship by means of a tensionable con­ necting element. The arm is thus now essentially rigidly connected to the weighted structure and has a movable, but ten­ sionable connection to the ship. The ship consequently retains great freedom of movement. If, however, un­ desirable movements occur, either away from the ship or towards it, then the arm is pulled, depending on the na­ ture of the fastening, downwards or upwards, thereby causing the weighted structure to make a swinging move­ ment, which results in a return adjusting force. The connect­ ing element between the free end of the arm and the ship can be made with adjustable length, which makes it pos­ sible to pretension the spring action. Through shorten­ ing the connecting element, one already gives the weighted structure an angular position which results in an adjusting force, but said force does not take effect at that moment, for it is never great enough to raise the moored ship or press it deeper into the water. However, if a shift now takes place in the longitudinal direction of the ship which must be considered to be part of a normal shift under the influence of the wash of the waves, the spring action will increase when the ship moves away from the element and will create a return ad­ justing force. Moreover, by the degree of pretensioning, one can now influence the spring characteristic and its course depending on the bulk of the ship and the weather conditions. Another advantage is that the fastening to the ship can be particularly simple. A winch cable is already sufficient. The invention will now be explained in greater detail with reference to the drawings. Figs. 1 to 6 show various embodiments schematically in side view. Fig. 1 shows a column 2 fixed to the seabed 1, and disposed on the top end of said column a turntable or the like 3, from which is suspended, in such a way that it swivels about the horizontal pin 4, a pulling element such as a bar or cable 5, which bears a weight 6 at the bottom end. This pulling element forms the weighted structure. Such an element can be located on either side of the turntable 3. This element 5 swings in a plane parallel and adjacent to the column 2. The arm 7 coma­ prises a triangle which is fastened to the element 5. The end 8 thereof is fixed at 10 by a connecting element 9 to a ship 11. In Fig. 1, broken lines indicate what happens if the ship shifts to the position indicated by the broken lines, and the fastening point 10 is at 10′. Arm 7 with, for example, bar 5 and weight 6 are then swung into the position indicated by broken lines, and the weight 6 produces the return adjusting force. It can also be seen from Fig. 1 that if the con­ necting element 9 is shortened in such a way that it, for example, runs between the point 10 and the point 8′, the arm - and thus also the weight - will also be shifted, but then exert a constant upward force on the ship 11, which itself, due to its extensive bulk, cannot move in the vertical direction under the influence of the weight. Each horizontal movement now taking place first has to overcome the already existing return adjusting force or reach its level before a further swing of the structure and increase in the return adjusting force can take place. In the embodiment of Fig. 2 the element anchored relative to the water bed comprises a column-shaped buoy 12, which is fixed with anchor chains 13 and bears a turntable 14, which is rotatable about the vertical axis 15, and from which swinging bars 16 and 17 are suspended, each provided with weights 18 and 19, with duplication of what is shown in Fig. 2 on the other side of the buoy 12, said bars 16 and 17 being coupled together to a parallel guide by means of a hinged con­ necting rod 20. The bar 16 is again rigidly connected to the arm 21, which - essentially as shown in Fig. 1 - can consist of a triangular structure. The end of the arm 21 is connected at 22 to a ship, again by means of a con­ necting element 23. In the embodiment of Fig. 3 a column 24 stands on the water bed, said column having on its top end at 25 a closed conical element 26 which is supported by means of a ball joint, so that it can move in all directions. The element 26 preferably has a closed jacket and bears on the underside an annular weight 27, for example, a concrete-filled circular pipe running around it. Fixed on this conical element 26 is an arm, comprising a lower girder 28 and two upper girders 29 ending in the point 30, from which the flexible connecting element 31 runs again to a ship 32. Fig. 4 shows an embodiment in which the element fixed to the water bed comprises a column 33 which at 34 is fixed to an anchor plate 35 in such a way that it swings about a hinge, for example, a cardan joint. This column again has a turntable 36, from which are suspended bars 37, which in the same way as shown in Fig. 1 are connected to the ship 40 by means of a rigid triangular arm 38 with a flexible connecting element 39. The bars 37, forming the weighted structure, carry weights as indicated at 41. In Fig. 4 broken lines indicate what happens when the ship moves from the normal initial position indi­ cated by solid lines, i.e. without pretensioning being created by means of the connecting element 39. The column 33 is always pressed to the vertical position by floating capacity present therein. In the embodiment of Fig. 5 a rigid column 41 is shown, i.e. a column which is placed firmly on the water bed and from which an annular weight is 42 suspended by means of flexible connecting elements 43, which at 44 are rotatably fixed to a ring which is rotatable about the column. This rigid annular weight has attached to it an arm 45, whose top end 46 can be connected to a ship (not shown). The connection can have a support by means of a tensionable connecting element 47 and, instead of the rigid arm 45, or in addition thereto, a rigid connection can also be provided as shown at 48. Another advantage of the above-described structures is that lines and hoses can be carried easily to the ship over the rigid arm. In the embodiment of Fig. 6 the mooring device coma­ prises a rigid column 50 from which bars 51 are again suspended in such a way that they swing about the horizontal pins 52 and are rotatable about a vertical axis which is not shown, and carry a weight 53, and also comprises a rigid arm 54 whose end 55 which is con­ nected by means of the flexible tensionable connecting element 56 to an arm 57 fixed to the ship. This embodiment serves to demonstrate that the flexible connecting element can run not only from an end of the rigid arm above the ship downwards to the ship, but also from a lower point. The system according to the invention is also suitable for supporting the dynamic positioning of a ship.

Claims: 1. Mooring device, comprising an element anchored relative to the water bed, such as a column fixed to the water bed, a column placed on the bed so that it can swing said column having buoyancy, or a buoy fixed with anchor lines rela­ tive to the water bed, said element having a weighted structure suspended from it in such a way that the lat­ ter can swing about a horizontal pin situated above the centre of gravity of the structure, and said element also having an arm which faces away from it in a direc­ tion perpendicular to the horizontal hinge pin and swings about a vertical axis of the element, charac­ terized in that the arm has an essentially so rigid con­ nection to the structure that said arm faces away from the structure at an angle and with its free end can be freely coupled to a ship by means of a tensionable con­ necting element. 2. Mooring device according to Claim 1, charac­ terized in that the length of the connecting element be­ tween the free end of the arm and the ship is adjus­ table.

Inventors: HERVOUET, RAYMOND, POLDERVAART, LEENDERT
Applicants: SINGLE BUOY MOORINGS INC.
Application year: 1987
Main classification: B63B22
IPC codes: E02B3, B63B21, B63B22