LASHING BRIDGE FOR A CONTAINERSHIP

Abstract: The present invention concerns a containership (20) having transverse lashing bridges (1) comprising lashing eyes (7) from which lashing rods (9) extend upwards to secure containers (8) at an upper level. The lashing bridges (1) have at least one substantially horizontal walkway (4) for handling of said lashing rods (9). Further, the walking level of the walkway (4) is arranged at a lower level than the lashing eyes (7, 17) to allow a person to carry out the lashing procedure standing in a substantially upright position.

Description: Lashing bridge for a containership Field of the invention The present invention concerns containerships. Container- ships having transverse lashing bridges mounted on the upper deck of the ship are known in this field. The lash¬ ing bridges comprise various types of locks and/or secur¬ ing devices for securing the adjoining containers which are frequently stacked in several levels on top of each other. Closest prior art Containerships are known whose lashing bridges comprise first eyes located at the walking level of the walkway, and from which first lashing rods extend upwards to se¬ cure containers at an upper level in the adjoining con¬ tainer stack. The ships moreover comprise second lashing eyes in the 3-4 m lower deck level, from which second lashing rods extend upwards to secure the containers at an underlying level, which is usually the second level of containers from the deck and upwards. The lower level of the containers is secured directly in the hatch covers of the deck. The lashing rods are formed by strong iron bars in extension of large rigging screws with a total weight of up to 40-50 kg and a total length of about 4 m. During a cycle of securing the containers in a stack the staff first lash all the containers at the underlying level, working in a standing position on the deck with their arms raised high in the mounting of the lashing rods. Then the staff have to walk up to the walkway of the lashing bridge to continue the working process of lashing the containers at the upper level from there. Because the staff has to bend down when working at the lashing bridge, this causes a slow working process when containers are loaded and unloaded. This adds to the costs, which today constitute a too great share of the freight rates. It should be borne in mind here that it is a very large number of containers that have to be lashed, since the ships often carry up to 5000-6000 containers, half of which is stacked on the deck. It should also be mentioned that it is inexpedient that the walking level of the known walkways is located at the height of the lashing eyes, because the staff hereby have to bend down and lift the heavy lashing rods several me¬ ters. This may cause serious accidents and injuries. Object The object of the invention is to provide a containership of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph, which en¬ ables faster lashing of the containers and thus higher earnings in the service of containerships. Another object of the invention is to provide a more "user friendly" lashing bridge which reduces the risk of accidents and which diminishes the physical working load to which the staff are subjected. The novelty of the invention The containership of the present invention is character¬ ized in that the walking level of the walkway is arranged at a lower level than the lashing eyes to allow a person to carry out the lashing procedure standing in a substan¬ tially upright position. Advantages The advantage of the present invention is that, owing to the position of the walking level of the walkway at a lower level than the lashing eyes, it is ensured that the actual lashing takes place at an expedient working height, so that the staff can work in ergonomically cor¬ rect positions, thereby reducing the risk of accidents, and enabling the lashing to take place considerably faster than known in the past. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the lashing bridge also comprises handrails forming an inte- gxal part thereof and arranged at substantially the same level as the lashing eyes. Thus, the handrail is con¬ nected with the underlying structure to provide a par¬ ticularly stabile and load-receiving structure where the lashing eyes may be secured at a location close to the handrail or even directly to the handrail. The handrail moreover ensures that the staff cannot fall down from the lashing bridge. It also adds to the safety of the staff during handling of the containers in that it is dimen¬ sioned to withstand the force of a moving container, thereby protecting the persons working on the lashing bridge from being injuried. Mode of operation When lashing containers, a container stack is placed be¬ tween two successive lashing bridges. The lower level of containers is placed directly on the hatches. Then the staff has to perform the lashing as described above. Preferably the lashing bridge would be provided with lashing eyes for securing of the containers at the upper level as well as for the underlying level. In such case the staff have access to all lashing rods from the walk¬ way of the lashing bridge, the lashing eyes of said lash- ing rods being moreover located at a suitable working height, e.g. 1 m above the walking level. The first lashing rods are then secured upwards to the containers which are located at an upper level in a stack, and second lashing rods are secured substantially horizontally outwards to the containers which are located at an underlying level, preferably the second level of containers in a stack, seen from the hatches and upwards. Finally, the containers are clamped in a stack by tight- ening the rigging screws of the lashing rods. The substantially horizontal course of the second lashing rods ensures a very "user friendly" lashing, where the staff do not have to lift the lashing rods noticeably, while permitting a higher weight of the containers in the stack during a voyage, seen in relation to what has pre¬ viously been possible with the known lashing bridges. Advantageous embodiments In an advantageous embodiment of the invention the level of the lashing eyes may be disposed at a distance of be¬ tween 2.59 m (8.5 feet) and 2,90 m (9.5 feet) above the level that supports the container stack. In another expedient embodiment of the invention the walking level of the walkway is lowered between 0.5 and 1.5 in relation to the level of the lashing eyes. This ensures that the staff can work in a standing position and do not have to bend to catch the lashing rods during the mounting thereof, which also reduces the number of injuries. Furthermore, the lashing bridge may be provided with di- agonal struts which expediently absorb the transverse forces from the horizontal lashing rods which act on the bridge. This is particularly the case during a voyage in rough weather. Descriptions of drawing The invention will be explained more fully below with reference to the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a containership according to the invention, Fig. 2 is a lateral view of one of the lashing bridges of the containership, and Fig. 3 is an end view of the same. Detailed description of an advantageous embodiment The containership 20 shown in Fig. 1 comprises lashing bridges 1. The lashing bridges 1 extend transversely to the ship 20 to secure intermediate stacks of containers (not shown), which are placed on the hatch covers in the deck of the ship. As appears from Figs. 2 and 3, the lashing bridge 1 is constructed as a column structure which is supported by vertical columns 2 which stand up from the deck 18 of the containership 20. In an embodiment of the invention di¬ agonal struts are inclined between the columns 2 to ab- sorb transverse forces which act on the lashing bridges during a voyage. Each lashing bridge 1 comprises first lashing eyes 7, from which first lashing rods 9 extend upwards to secure the containers 8 at an upper level, which, in the shown embodiment, is the third level of containers in a stack, seen from the hatch covers and upwards. According to the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings, the lashing bridge also comprises second lashing eyes 17 which are located at substantially the same level as the first lashing eyes 7, and from which second lashing rods 10 ex¬ tend laterally substantially horizontally to secure con¬ tainers 8 at an underlying level, which, as shown, may be the second level of containers in a stack. The lower level of containers rests directly on the hatches. The lashing rods are secured to the bottom of the containers concerned and extend diagonally laterally with a view to absorbing transverse forces during a voyage. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 2 and 3, all the lashing eyes 7, 17 are located at a level of between 2,59 m (8.5 feet) and 2.90 m (9.5 feet) above the deck level, i.e. corresponding to a level between the lowest and the high¬ est standard height of a container. A high flexibility is obtained in particular when the lashing eyes are located at a level halfway between the two mentioned standard heights, since the horizontal lashing rods then either extend slightly obliquely downwards when the container stack (or at least the lowermost container) has the low¬ est standard height (8.5 feet), or extend slightly obliquely upwards when they have the greatest standard height (9.5 feet). The lashing bridge comprises an upper, horizontal walkway 4. The staff 5 can move to and from along it and handle said lashing rods 9, 10. According to the invention, the walking level of the walk-way 4 is at a lower level than the lashing eyes 7, 17. In the shown embodiment, the walking level of the walkway 4 is thus at a level which is about 1 m below the lashing eyes 7, 17. The walkway 4 moreover has strong handrails 6 which constitutes the upper boundary of the lashing bridge 1. In the shown embodiment, the handrail 6 is connected with the underlying column structure 2 to provide a particu¬ larly stabile and load-receiving structure, so that the lashing eyes 7, 17 may be secured directly in the hand¬ rail 6. The handrail 6 moreover ensures that the staff 5 cannot fall down from the lashing bridge and adds to the safety of the staff during handling of the containers. The containers 8 are secured in that the outer ends 11 of the lashing rods engage recesses 12 in the lower corners of the containers 8. Fig. 3 shows clearly how first lashing rods 9 extend up¬ wards to containers 8, which are located at a third con¬ tainer level seen in relation to the cover 18 correspond¬ ing to an upper container tier, while second lashing rods 10 extend substantially horizontally outwards to secure containers 8 at a second container level seen in relation to the hatch 18, corresponding to an underlying container level. When the second lashing rods 10 extend substan¬ tially horizontally, it is ensured that the containers can carry a larger weight. The lashing rods 9, 10 moreover extend obliquely up¬ wards/forwards. Each lashing rod 9, 10 is hereby secured to a container 8 which is located at the side of the lashing eye 7, 17 concerned, as appears from Fig. 2. The lashing rods 9, 10 consist of an outer end 11 which is adapted to engage recesses 12 in the containers 8. In addition, the lashing rods 9, 10 have an inner end 13 which pivotally engages the lashing eyes 7, 17, so that the lashing rods 9, 10 may pivot between a position of rest in which they extend substantially in parallel with the lashing bridge 1, and a lashing position in which they are secured to an upper container level and an un¬ derlying container level, respectively. The lashing rods may comprise several detachable parts in a known manner, such as an intermediate part 14, hooks 15, 16 and a rigging screw 22, so that their length may easily be adapted to the various standard sizes of con- tainers. The rigging screws 22 serve to tighten the lashing rods, after mounting, to safely secure the containers. As appears from Figs. 2 and 3, the lashing bridge 1 moreover comprises a lower walking level 21 which is ex¬ clusively used for service, etc. In the example shown in Fig. 1, six lashing bridges 1 are mounted on the container ship. However, the number of lashing bridges may vary depending on the length of the ship 20 and the size of the containers 8. The lashing bridges 1 may likewise be constructed in many ways within the scope of the invention. For example, the diagonal struts 3 might be replaced by whole plates, and the handrail might have another shape, just as the bridge does not necessarily have to be constructed as a column structure.

Claims: Patent Claims : 1. A containership (20) having at least one transverse lashing bridge (1) comprising lashing eyes (7) from which lashing rods (9) extend upwards to secure containers (8) at an upper level, said lashing bridge (1) having at least one substantially horizontal walkway (4) for han¬ dling said lashing rods (9), c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the walking level of the walkway (4) is arranged at a lower level than the lashing eyes (7,17) to allow a person to carry out the lashing procedure standing in a substantially upright position. 2. A containership according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in, that the lashing bridge (1) also comprises at least one handrail (6) forming an integral part thereof and arranged at substantially the same level as the lashing eyes (7, 17). 3. A containership according to claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in, that lashing eyes (7, 17) are secured di¬ rectly to the said at least one handrail (6). 4. A containership according to claim 2 or 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in, that said at least one handrail (6) is dimensioned to withstand the force of a moving container (8), thereby protecting the personal working on the lash¬ ing bridge (1) from being injuried. 5. A containership according to any one of the claims 1 to 4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the walking level of the walkway (4) is lowered between 0.5 and 1.5 m with respect to the level of the lashing eyes (7, 17). 6. A containership according to any of the claims 1 to 5, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the level of the lash- ing eyes is disposed at a distance of between 2.59 (8.5 feet) and 2.90 m (9.5 feet) above the level which sup¬ ports the container stack. 7. A containership according to any one of the claims 1 to 6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the level sup¬ porting the container stack is formed by the hatch covers (18) in the deck of the ship. 8. A containership according to any one of the claims 1 to 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the lashing bridge ( 1 ) has diagonal struts (3) .

Inventors: LINDBERG KARSTEN, RASMUSSEN POUL KELD, LINDBERG, KARSTEN, RASMUSSEN, POUL, KELD
Applicants: LINDBERG KARSTEN, ODENSE STAALSKIBSVAERFT, RASMUSSEN POUL KELD, LINDBERG, KARSTEN, ODENSE STAALSKIBSVAERFT A/S, RASMUSSEN, POUL, KELD
Application year: 1996
Main classification: B63B25
IPC codes: B63B25