WATERTIGHT WALLS ON FERRIES

Abstract: A partition wall system for ships comprising a wall panel (3) and a storing means (6), where the wall panel (3) comprises several module elements (4) mutually interconnected or otherwise provided end to end in a watertight and flexible manner allowing for gradual extension and retraction of the requested number of elements (4) from the storing means (6).

Description: Watertight walls on ferries The present invention relates to lightweight partition walls (doors) for installation on ships, and more particularly watertight walls on board of ferries and ro-ro types of ships, in order to comply with the recently imposed severe regulations regarding safety on board in the case of incoming bilge water. The new regulations, requiring avoidance of the bilge water flow both in the longitudinal and in some cases also in the transversal (lateral) extension of the ship hull, represent a considerable challenge for the presently applied ferries exhibiting a variety of designs with regard to location of the casing (centre or side casing), provision of suspended decks etc. in order to provide a cost and weight efficient and flexible system of the partition walls to be (after) installed on the existing ferries. The hitherto known solutions are based on provision of integral doors pivotally attached to the ceilings allowing for a 90° swinging movement of the door in order to close/open the sections (chambers) provided along the longitudinal extension of the ship. Swedish Patent No. 464 016 discloses an improvement of the above constructional principle by allowing a 180° movement for the doors and thus the possibility of loading/unloading in both directions. However, none of the known constructions, besides the necessity to be "tailored" for each individual design and dimensions of the ship hull, will comply with the new safety requirements combined with minimal time in the harbour for the ferries (dis- embarcation/embarcation within 1 hour for the "high intensity" lines).. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved lightweight partition wall system exhibiting great flexibility with regard to the actual dimensions (cross-sections) of the hull cavities to be closed and requiring minimal floor area for its installation. Another object of the invention is to provide a partition wall system which is completely removable during loading/unloading and which can be installed even after allocation of cars/cargo on the deck and does not interfere with other installations during storage. Still another object of the invention is to provide a self-supporting lightweight wall system requiring no special bearing structure and offering simplified routines for the loading/unloading activities. These and other objects and features of the partition wall system according to the present invention are met by provision of a wall system as it appears from the attached patent claims 1 -5, and the following detailed description of preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings Figs. 1-6, where Fig. 1 shows in a schematical vertical cross-sectional view an applicable partition wall system according to the invention, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional partial schematical view of a car deck having installed the wall system taken along line I-I in Fig. 1 , Fig. 3 shows schematically in a vertical cross-sectional view another embodiment of the partition wall system, and Fig. 3a a partial vertical side view taken along line II-II in Fig. 3, Fig. 4 illustrates the wall system in a partial horizontal cross-section taken along line I-I in Fig. 3, Fig. 5 shows schematically in a partial vertical cross-sectional view a variant of the wall system from Fig.1 adapted for a partial coverage of the available height between two permanent decks. Fig. 6 illustrates schematically in a partial vertical cross-sectional view another variant of the system. Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 illustrates schematically in a partial vertical cross-sectional view a permanent car deck 1 and a suspended deck 2 on a ferry and defining the area further (de)limited by side walls of the hull structure to be closed in a watertight manner. The provided partition wall panel (door) 3 comprises several module elements 4 arranged horizontally, mutually interlinked or otherwise provided butt to butt and extending laterally between a pair of guiding rails 5 attached to the structural members of the ship (side walls, centre/side casing). The flexible system of a subsequent extraction/retraction of the individual module element 4 from and into storing means is more apparent from Fig. 2. The partition wall 3 shown in fully operative (closed) condition extends between the suspended deck 2 and one of the permanent decks 1. The storing means depicted as 6 in the form of a pair of guiding (storing) rails 7 providing a sort of cartridge is provided below the suspended deck 2. This new and flexible system of building up the partition wall of a variable number of elements offers several advantages compared to the commercial "fix sized" door. First of all, the applied elements 4 being provided as self-supporting hollow shapes extruded in aluminium (alloys) material do not require any special reinforcing/- supporting structures and can be installed practically on any requested location along the deck's extension. Secondly, neither their function (closing/opening) or storing requires any significant deck area so that practically all the available deck area can be applied in an optimal manner. Furthermore, this inventive way of extracting/retracting the elements from the storing cartridge makes it possible to erect such watertight partition walls after loading of cargo (cars) based on simple routines, and thus substantially contributes to reduce the time needed for embarcation/disembarcation of vessels. Finally, there is no need for any special locking or sealing arrangement (means) in the case of the illustrated embodiment of the partition wall. The last (uppermost) element will automatically exercise sufficient pressure on the extracted (remaining) elements to ensure the watertight sealing between the elements. Fig. 3 illustrates another embodiment of the partition wall according to the present invention. In this case the module elements 4 are arranged vertically side-by-side across the cavity between the suspended deck 2 and the car deck 1 being extracted/retracted laterally and stored in storing means 6 composed of simple guiding rails forming a cartridge and extending along the hull side, optimally on one or the other side of the partition or even possibly split with some of the elements stored on each side as it appears from Fig. 4. The possibility of individual extraction/retraction of each module element is an important feature of the provided partition wall system allowing for a flexible height of the wall (partial or complete coverage of the available cross-sectional area between the decks). Furthermore, the individual manipulation/storage of the module elements ensures erection of the partition walls on any desired location on the deck since flexible storage of individual elements does not interfere with other installations, e.g. fire extinguishing means on board. Another particular advantage of the partition wall system according to the preferred embodiment based on the vertical side-by-side arrangement of the individual module elements 4 is a flexibility also with regard to vertical adaptation for transporta¬ tion/storage of the individual module elements, several interlinked elements or the whole partition wall panel, by provision of a suspended transport/locking beam 8. The special configuration and function of this beam is schematically illustrated in Fig. 3a showing a partial cross-sectional side view taken along line II-II in Fig. 3. The beam 8, exhibiting two longitudinally extending interconnected chambers 81 ,82 defining a cavity designed for accomodation/fixation of the vertically arranged module elements 4, can be relocated both in the vertical and horizontal direction perpendicular (normal) to the extension of the partition wall panel by means of hydraulic or electric powered transport devices (not shown in the Figure). A complementary designed bottom member 9 transversally fastened to the deck floor on the location of the partition wall ensures a combined watertight locking of the module elements and an adequate support for the partition wall. This particular design of the suspended beam ensures an optimal strength/load distribution across the partition wall between the supporting side walls of hull, the bottom member and the top suspended beam, thus providing an adequate sealing both vertically and horizontally transversally across the partition wall. Furthermore, thanks to the combined integrated transport/locking function of the beam being movable both vertically and optionally also longitudinally along a deck (perpendicular to the extension of the partition wall panel), there is no need for any guiding rail across the deck on the location of the partition wall. The suspended beam can be stored independently of the storage location of the elements/panel in any convenient height and location along the hull both under the ceiling, suspended deck(s) and, if applicable, even on or in the deck. Still another embodiment of the partition wall system is shown in Fig. 5 covering a variant of the partition wall 3 extending only over a part of the available height between the permanent car decks 1 ,2. Also in this case the storing means 6 will be provided as guiding rails forming the "cartridge" for the retracted elements situated below the upper deck 2. An adequate pressure ensuring the watertight connection between the elements will be provided by a hydraulic system (not particularly shown in the Figures) applied for manipulation of the elements (extraction/retraction). In the simplest embodiment according to the present invention the specially designed elements composed of extruded closed (box shaped) profiles will under the pressure interact with each other ensuring sufficient pressure on the sealing member located between the elements and the integrity of the composed partition wall even without any additional fastening/guiding means incorporated in the construction. According to another aspect of the present invention, as illustrated in Fig. 6, the provided partition wall 3 could even be extended through a split suspended deck 2 so that the vertical guiding rails 5 extend on both sides of the deck 2 and provides simultaneously partition walls on both decks 1 ,2. Also in this case, as shown in the Figure, the storage cartridge is situated below the suspended deck 2. As is apparent from the above descriptions of the examples, illustrating different embodiments of the partition wall system according to the present invention, the partition walls are completely removed from the deck when stored. The storing of the partition walls is based on a flexible retraction of the individual module elements requiring typically under 200 mm of the available height between the decks. The superior flexibility of the new partition wall system allows in a simple and cost efficient way to provide the requested watertight sealing on all types of existing ferries designed with or without suspended decks, split suspended decks and also covers the possibility of longitudinal partition if requested.

Claims: Claims 1. A partition wall system for ships comprising a wall panel (3) and a storing means (6), characterized in that the wall panel (3) comprises several individual module elements (4) mutually engaged in a watertight and flexible butt to butt manner allowing for gradual extension and retraction of the requested number of elements (4) from the storing means (6). 2. The wall system according to claim 1 , c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the module elements (4) are arranged longitudinally vertically side by side extending from a suspended beam (8) and being extracted/retracted laterally from/into the storing means (6) allocated along the walls of the ship cavity and where the suspended beam (8) has an integrated transport/locking function being relocable vertically and optionally also perpendicularly to the extension of the wall panel (3). 3. The wall system according to claim 1 , c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the module elements (4) are arranged longitudinally horizontally (side by side) being extracted from and retracted vertically into the storing means (6) allocated under a deck (1 ,2). 4. The wall system according to claim 3, cha ra cterized i n that the top element of the wall panel (3) has an integrated sealing/locking function for the installed partition wall. 5. The wall system according to one or more of the preceding claims, c h a r a k t e r i z e d i n that the module elements are provided as aluminium alloy extrusions.

Inventors: OLSEN BJOERN RAGNAR, RUI SVEIN ALBERT, SCHIERNING TOM, VALNUMSEN HARALD ARVID, OLSEN, BJOERN, RAGNAR, RUI, SVEIN, ALBERT, SCHIERNING, TOM, VALNUMSEN, HARALD, ARVID
Applicants: NORSK HYDRO AS, OLSEN BJOERN RAGNAR, RUI SVEIN ALBERT, SCHIERNING TOM, VALNUMSEN HARALD ARVID, NORSK HYDRO A.S, OLSEN, BJOERN, RAGNAR, RUI, SVEIN, ALBERT, SCHIERNING, TOM, VALNUMSEN, HARALD, ARVID
Application year: 1996
Main classification: B63B3
IPC codes: B63B11, B63B43