The present invention relates to a floating walkway construction, for transport of people and goods between installations at sea and on land, or between two floating installations, such as ships, or between two land areas, such as across a river or a strait or between islands. Furthermore, the invention relates to methods to unfold and retract such floating walkway constructions. Furthermore, the invention relates to methods to produce floating walkways. In addition, the invention relates to different applications of the walkway construction.
Walkways have been known for many years. For example, a previously granted patent in Great Britain GB 353 257 (from 1930) describes a construction for loading and unloading a ship. The construction comprises a pontoon adapted to be anchored in the vicinity of the ship and a gangway adapted to couple the pontoon to a point connected to land. On land, a universal coupling is used and also a universal coupling is used at the pontoon so that the gangway shall be able to be swung out to the ship and be pulled back and be parked in parallel along the shore.
This construction has several disadvantages. It takes up too much space in harbour areas and the ship must still lie very close to land corresponding to the length of the gangway which is pushed out. As a consequence, the construction is not normally used in harbours today as it is more common that the gangway has a rolling support from the harbour and is rolled out when used to be connected to a ship. Furthermore, it is necessary that the ship is manoeuvred very close to the edge of the pier, something which can be technically difficult in today's modern harbours.
An aim of the present invention is to provide a more suitable and advantageous way to implement a connection between land and a ship which lies near land.
According to a first aspect of the invention, a floating walkway construction is described, characterised in that it comprises bridge elements coupled in between floating elements fitted with horizontal and vertical segments so that the floating elements can be pulled out in use to connect the installation, and folded up when the walkway is not in use, as defined in claim 1.
The invention is advantageous because the walkway can be folded up into a compact shape, and can also be pulled out into a relatively long, zigzag concertina shape to be coupled to either a ship or an adjoining land area, for example, across a strait, a river, or between two islands.
The invention is advantageous because the bridge elements and the floating elements of the walkway are coupled together via horizontal and vertical segments which makes it possible for the walkway to be folded out a relatively great distance from the coast, and that the walkway can be pulled back into a compact form on land, namely in a concertina-type movement.
Alternatively, the flexible, floating walkway is constructed so that the bridge elements are designed, together with the floating elements, to unfold and fold up in a zigzag concertina-type formation.
According to one embodiment, the flexible, floating walkway is constructed such that the bridge elements are coupled to the floating elements in a way that prevents rotation of the bridge elements about their longitudinal axes.
According to one embodiment the flexible, floating walkway is constructed so that the floating elements are of an alternating type, and where a first type of floating element has segments that swing relative to the vertical axis when it is in use, and a second type of floating element has segments that swing relative to a horizontal axis when it is in use.
According to an embodiment, the flexible, floating walkway is constructed such that it includes fittings to pull out the walkway from a first installation and up to a second installation and to fold the walkway the other way, for example, to pull the walkway out to the ship and to fold the walkway back to the shore.
According to one embodiment, the flexible, floating walkway is constructed such that the walkway is adapted in use to receive several bridge elements, or that the bridge elements can be removed from it, to adjust the length of the walkway according to need.
According to one embodiment, the flexible, floating walkway is constructed such that one end of the floating element of the walkway is adjusted to be coupled to one side of the ship to provide access for personnel and/or goods to/from the installation/ship.
According to yet another preferred embodiment, the propulsion bodies of the outer floating element are comprised of a form of propellors or water-jet appliances, and with associated drive motors, to pull out and manoeuvre the walkway in to the ship to be coupled up, and back to the shore.
According to a second aspect of the invention a method is described as defined in claim 9, to connect a walkway construction according to a first aspect of the invention, characterised in that the method comprises:
According to a third aspect of the invention, a method is given as defined in claim 10; a method is given to couple a walkway construction according to the first aspect of the invention from a ship, characterised in that the method comprises steps:
According to a fourth aspect of the invention a method is given which is defined in claim 11; a method to implement a bridge construction/walkway according to the first aspect of the invention, characterised in that the method comprises steps:
The walkway construction according to the invention can be used to form a connection between two installations/ships, land and an anchored ship, or across a strait or a river between two land areas or between two islands where the construction is in a parked position on the one land bank, and it is taken into use by being pulled out over the strait/river and secured to the bank on the other side of the strait.
According to a preferred embodiment, bridge constructions are used as a transportation thoroughfare for people, goods and vehicles.
The components of the invention are adjusted to be combined as given in the subsequent claims.
The invention shall now be described in more detail with reference to the figures, in which:
In summary the invention relates to a flexible, floating bridge construction/walkway set up to be connected between a ship and land. The walkway is comprised of a combination of bridge elements and floating elements fitted with horizontal and vertical segments with the result that the walkway has a zigzag shape in use, seen from above, that makes it possible for the walkway to be unfolded a relatively long distance from land, and to be folded up into a compact folded shape on land, namely in a so-called concertina type movement. It is advantageous to pull the walkway out to the ship with a boat and/or winch and be fastened to, for example, the side of the ship. Furthermore, the walkway is returned to a parked state by using winches. Alternative ways of moving the walkway are also possible, for example, via electric motors fitted on the walkway and/or propellors fitted on the walkway.
Nearby, out on the sea, a ship 30 is fastened to land 20 with at least one or more hawsers 40. The walkway 10 comprises several bridge elements 50 that are coupled together in a zigzag formation as shown in
From a folded state of the walkway 10 as shown in
As mentioned, at the transition between the bridge elements 50 and the segments, a walkway and railing are arranged to avoid damages from pinching. Safety is thereby increased. The walkway 10 can possibly be fitted with at least one of: Special railings, ceiling, light arrangement, sound arrangement, seats, or different types of conveyor belts to transport people and/or goods.
The concept of the flexible walkway 10 is a reasonable and environmentally friendly alternative to the standard, well-known and costly cruise ship piers. Furthermore, the concept removes the need for use of tender vessels to transport people between the ship and the shore. The walkway 10 has the considerable advantage that it requires minimal installation costs and minimal environmental interference of the shore zone 20.
When the walkway 10 is not in use, it will lie parked, namely folded up, by the shore side, namely along the shoreline 20 as shown in
A method to use the walkway 10 will now be described. When the walkway 10 is used, the ship 30 is placed with the stern towards the shore and fastened with the hawsers 40 to land and hawsers to an anchor or buoy for fastening of the bow. The ship 30 preferably keeps its engines running and is ready to be able to manoeuvre with the propellors, or to leave the harbour quickly, for example, in 15 minutes. Such quick implementation and retraction of a walkway is not previously known.
When the ship 30 is securely moored by the shore 20, the support boat pulls out a pulling out line from the walkway 10 to a hatch or the like in the side of the ship 30. A winch on an end pontoon, namely the floating element 60Z, pulls the walkway 10, namely the pier, out to the hatch and hawsers, alternatively magnet and/or vacuum, fastens the end pontoon to the side of the ship 30. Alternatively, the support boat or the ship 30 itself can pull the end pontoon in place at the side of the ship 30. The ship 30 preferably uses its own gangway between the hatch at the side of the ship 30 and the end pontoon, namely the floating element 60Z.
The walkway 10 is advantageously designed to withstand a weight concentration in the form of a downward oriented pressure of at least 400 kg/m2 and, in addition to people, it shall be able to withstand vehicles, for example, vehicles for the disabled and/or small vehicles to deliver consumer goods to the ship 30. Furthermore, the walkway 10 is made sufficiently robust to withstand current in the sea of a speed of 0.75 meter/second and wind up to a strong breeze with a wave height up to 1.5 metres. When the walkway 10 is fastened to the ship 30 a winch is preferably used with an anchor line that regulates the distance from the ship 30 automatically. As an alternative to a winch, an anchor line with a weight can be used to control the walkway 10.
To pull the walkway 10 into a parked state as shown in
Modifications of the embodiment examples of the invention described in the above are possible without deviation from the extent of the invention defined by the subsequent claim.
Expressions such as “included”, “comprising”, “incorporate”, “consisting or, “have”, “are”, which are used to describe the present invention, are meant to be interpreted in a non-exclusive way, namely such that for elements, components or elements that are not explicitly described also to be present. References to singular are also interpreted to deal with plural.
Numbers included in brackets in the claims in the accompanying documents are meant to help the comprehension of the claims and ought not to be interpreted in any way to limit the field covered by these statements.
Alternative Application Areas:
The walkway construction can be used for tasks other than transferring people and goods between land and a ship.
One can also visualize that the walkway is used as a bridge across a strait or a river between two land areas or two islands, where the construction is in a parked state on the one land bank with the necessary land installation. When it is taken into use it is pulled across the strait and secured to the land bank on the other side and prepared for traffic. This is very relevant when traffic by larger ships shall pass through the strait. Then, the walkway is moved to a parked position, the ship passes through the strait and the walkway can be set out again to form the connection between the two land areas for the passage of people and goods. It can also be used as a drive way where both cars and lorries can drive on the bridge, thus it must then be constructed to withstand such transport.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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20092548 | Jul 2009 | NO | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/NO2010/000270 | 7/6/2010 | WO | 00 | 2/22/2012 |