114results about "Boat guiding devices" patented technology

A marine handling craft and system is intended for use in deploying, inspecting and receiving vessels and payloads to and from locations on, under, over or near water and wet soils in potentially turbulent aquatic or atmospheric conditions. The marine handling craft may operate as a robot, or deployed from a crane or boom on a mother ship or other platform or helicopter so that it can transport and mate and dock at various locations, such as supply ships or autonomous marine vessels, at a stand off distance to limit potential harm to valuable assets. A sliding fastener and track are included on the marine handling craft so that it can be tethered and lifted by a single line or cable, and so can be manipulated by a single crane or helicopter. The utility of the handling craft is not limited to the transport of payloads and it may function as a stand-alone vessel for various remote sensing purposes. Smart communication between the marine handling craft and other vessels or other nodes in a distributed computer network facilitates simultaneous, hierarchical and multi-tasking control of the craft and permits verification and inspection of payloads, which might otherwise cause damage when proximate to more valuable assets.

A transom bracket enclosing a hydraulic power cylinder is mounted to the transom of a watercraft. An actuation rod of the power cylinder moves multiple lift arms connected to a platform bracket supporting a platform for supporting a small auxiliary watercraft. Electrical or manual operation of the power cylinder causes the platform bracket to move in a vertical direction either upwards out of the water or downwards into the water. A lock mechanism operated by a lock cylinder locks the lift apparatus in place when not in operation. Grooves on sides of the transom bracket and transversely extended pins connecting the linkage arms provide a downward stop to movement of the lift apparatus.

The invention comprises of a railing (1) which is foldable or and height adjustable or and extendable lengthwise and has rungs (5) or pivotable safety footsteps (14a) which, if necessary, can be kept in the vertical position (V) or horizontal position (Q) or and when tilting down the railing (1) remain in a stable position. The railing (1) has technical mean (4a,40,43a,45a,51) as well as an emergency mean (10,11) and can if necessary take up a tender (42) and other objects and the footsteps (14) can be transparent for example to improve visibility to the rear.

A davit system includes an elongate base having a straight part and a leading part that is angled downwardly relative to the straight part at a predetermined angle. An elongate boom arm is slideably disposed in a hollow interior of the elongate base. The boom arm is fully retracted within the hollow interior of the elongate base when an elongate screw is rotated in a first direction a predetermined number of times and the boom arm is fully extended from the hollow interior of the elongate base when the elongate screw is rotated in a second direction a predetermined number of times. The boom arm is downwardly angled at the predetermined angle when the boom arm is in its fully extended position. In a first embodiment, two elongate bases and boom arms are provided and each boom arm supports a cradle at its leading end for lifting a boat.

Devices, apparatus and systems for raising and lowering watercraft such as personal watercraft, jet skis, inflatables from transoms on boats, from bulkheads and from docks, and for raising and lowering other types of vessels. A single actuator such as a fluid operated cylinder and single piston can raise and lower a cradle that supports the personal watercraft. An crank bracket can be fixably attached to a crank shaft, and an arm which supports the cradle can be fixably attached to the crank shaft. The arm can be extendable to different lengths. The cradle can include a self-leveling carriage that uses rollers to roll on a curved surface of the cradle allowing the supported watercraft to remain in a substantially level position thereon. An adjustable swivel mount can also be used to lock the cradle to the arm in a fixed orientation.

A marine handling craft and system is intended for use in deploying, inspecting and receiving vessels and payloads to and from locations on, under, over or near water and wet soils in potentially turbulent aquatic or atmospheric conditions. The marine handling craft may operate as a robot, or deployed from a crane or boom on a mother ship or other platform or helicopter so that it can transport and mate and dock at various locations, such as supply ships or autonomous marine vessels, at a stand off distance to limit potential harm to valuable assets. A sliding fastener and track are included on the marine handling craft so that it can be tethered and lifted by a single line or cable, and so can be manipulated by a single crane or helicopter. The utility of the handling craft is not limited to the transport of payloads and it may function as a stand-alone vessel for various remote sensing purposes. Smart communication between the marine handling craft and other vessels or other nodes in a distributed computer network facilitates simultaneous, hierarchical and multi-tasking control of the craft and permits verification and inspection of payloads, which might otherwise cause damage when proximate to more valuable assets.

A system for automatically launching and recovering marine or underwater vehicles from a carrier ship which remains under way to limit pitching and rolling movements. The system includes an inclinable articulated ramp including a bottom and edges, and hauling means for controlling sliding of the vehicle along the ramp during launch and for hoisting the vehicle up along the ramp during recovery. The ramp has a free end which varies between an immersed position in water and an emerged position in a horizontal position. The system includes buoyancy means allowing the free end of the ramp to float at the surface or near the surface of the water when lowered. The bottom of the articulated ramp also has an external face that is configured to form streamlining ensuring fluidity of the end of the ramp with the water and limiting vertical dynamic movements caused by waves.

The invention discloses a device for launching and recovering a boat on a mother ship. An opening and a launching and recovering door are arranged on the rear side of a cabin. The launching and recovering door comprises a door plate seat driven by a lifting device to ascend and descend and a door plate hinged on the door plate seat, and the door plate is driven by an opening and closing device to be opened and closed. A rail leading to the opening is arranged in the cabin, a trolley for carrying the boat and moving on the rail is arranged on the rail, and a bracket capable of docking with the rail when the door plate is opened is arranged on the door plate. The door plate is opened to enable the bracket to be docked with the rail, the boat is pushed onto the door plate, the door plate is driven by the lifting device to descend below the water level, and accordingly the boat is launched. When the boat is recovered, the door plate and the bracket are driven to descend below the water level, the boat runs to above the bracket, then the door plate is lifted to enable the bracket to support the boat, the door plate is lifted continuously to enable the bracket to be docked with the rail, and the boat is pulled into the cabin. By the device, launching and recovery of the boat on the mother ship is achieved quite conveniently, and the whole boat launching and recovery process is stable and safe.

The invention discloses a stern ramp type placing and recycling device for aquatic floating bodies. A downward inclined channel is formed in a stern part of a hull. A main rail and an auxiliary rail are arranged in the channel and driven by a first drive mechanism to move up and down along the channel. Guide grooves are formed in the two sides of the main rail. The auxiliary rail is divided into a front segment and a rear segment, the front segment is hinged to the rear segment, guide wheels are installed at the ends of the two sides of the front segment, and guide wheels are installed in the middles of the two sides of the rear segment. The auxiliary rail can move relative to the main rail by arranging the guide wheels installed on the front segment and the rear segment into the guide grooves of the main rail. A bracket is further installed on the auxiliary rail and used for placement of the aquatic floating bodies. Second drive mechanisms are further installed on the two sides of the main rail and used for driving the auxiliary rail to be bent downwards along the hinged part and straightening the bent auxiliary rail upwards. According to the stern ramp type placing and recycling device, the aquatic floating bodies can be recycled quickly, conveniently and automatically; besides, by arranging the auxiliary rail which can rotate obliquely, the damage to the rails on a stern ramp can be effectively avoided, and the maintenance cost can be greatly lowered.

A launch and recovery system for use by host vessel in launching and recovering a sub-ordinate vessel includes a ramp structure that is connected to a host vessel and movable so that at least its remote or distal end can be placed in the water, preferably at the stern of the host vessel. The ramp includes interior portions thereof that can be selectively flooded to control the buoyancy of the ramp at least its distal or remote end thereof to thus effect some measure of control of the inclination of the ramp. Additionally, one or more types of flow structures can be provided that effect control of the ramp as a function of water flow through and / or across the ramp. In one form, the flow structures can take the form of one or more thru-flow passages in the ramp so that water from the forward or leading side of the ramp can pass therethrough to the rearward or trailing side thereof. Various flow-control devices, such as moveable plates, baffles, or other members are controlled to increase or decrease flow rate through the flow passages to control the relative pitch or inclination of the ramp. In another form, the flow structures can take of the form of a movable fin or plane connected to the ramp structure that can be adjusted, either manually and / or as part of a control system, to control the relative pitch or inclination of the ramp.

The invention discloses an arresting cable type automatic interfacing recovery device and method during UUV (Unmanned Underwater Vehicle) recovery based on a slideway and belongs to the technology ofwater surface recovery of a UUV. The arresting cable type automatic interfacing recovery device and method adopt a specially designed extending-retracting slideway to perform work of full-automatic UUV recovery and has a main use of solving the problem of needing to consume a great quantity of manpower in traditional UUV recovery. The beneficial effects are concretely implemented through the following technical scheme, a water surface remote control device is utilized firstly to control the UUV to be recovered on the water surface to approach a water surface mother ship; in a next step, the extending-retracting slideway is controlled to unfold, so that the extending-retracting slideway and a floating type anticollision guide frame extend into water; then, a bow of the UUV is remotely controlled to be aligned to the floating type anticollision guide frame and rushes into the guide frame; then a rotatable mechanical arm carrying an arresting cable is controlled to rotate upward, so thatthe arresting cable is hooked with a recovery hook below the bow of the UUV; then a winch integrated on the extending-retracting slideway is utilized to drag the UUV onto the slideway; and finally, the slideway is controlled to swing and retract, and the UUV is recovered onto the water surface mother ship.

A marine propulsion system that utilizes a transmission shift sequence to control shifting of the propulsion system transmission between forward and reverse gears. The marine propulsion system includes a controller that executes the transmission shift sequence using engine speed and transmission fluid pressure signals to determine the timing of various steps in the shift sequence. The controller is connected to a shift actuator for the transmission and to an engine speed throttle to thereby control transmission shifting and engine speed as a part of the transmission shift sequence. By monitoring engine speed and transmission fluid pressure, and by controlling transmission shifting and engine speed settings, the transmission shift sequence can provide the operator with the ability to carry out quick shifts that will neither stall the engine nor damage the transmission clutch.

The invention discloses a device and method for storing small boats. Cabins for storing the small boats are arranged on a boat body of the device, a channel which tilts downwards is formed in the stern portion of the boat body, one end of the channel is connected with the cabins, and a stern door which can rotate downwards is hinged to the other end of the channel. The stern door, the channel and the cabins are respectively provided with an idler roller set which is composed of a plurality of pairs of idler rollers supporting the bottoms of the small boats from the two sides. The two sides of the idler roller set on the cabins are respectively provided with a mobile guide rail, the mobile guide rail on each side is provided with a trolley, and each trolley is provided with a traction device and a boat pushing device. According to the device and method for storing the small boats, the stern door can be rotated downwards, the small boats can slide to the boat body from the idler roller set on the stern door through the channel, then the trolleys are used for pushing the small boats to the corresponding positions of the small boats to be fixed, operation is convenient, the purpose that the storing device in one mother boat can be used for storing a plurality of small boats, operation is convenient, and the safety is high.

A lifting apparatus for raising and lowering a vessel such as personal watercraft, jet skis, inflatables may be mounted to a transom on boats, to bulkheads and to docks for raising and lowering vessels. A single actuator is used for raising and lowering a cradle that supports the vessel. An arm driven by the actuator is pivotally mounted to a mounting bracket and is extendable to different lengths. The cradle includes a self-leveling carriage that may use rollers to roll on a curved surface of the cradle allowing the supported watercraft to remain in a substantially level position thereon. An adjustable swivel mount is used to adjust the cradle to a desired horizontal orientation.

A storage system has a relatively unobtrusive mounting plate which is permanently secured to the edge of a vessel's swim platform and removably receives and captively holds a roller assembly. The mounting plate comprises a generally planar rectangular plate configured to conform to the edge shape of the swim platform and includes a generally U-shaped channel extending around the periphery and open at the top to receive the roller assembly. The roller assembly includes a generally rectangular roller supporting plate shaped to fit within the channel of the mounting plate and be captively held therein and a pair of spaced mounting bosses between which there is mounted a roller which extends above the surface of the swim platform for assisting in the loading and unloading of a personal watercraft onto the swim platform. Locking pins extend between the roller plate and the mounting plate for locking the roller assembly in position for use.

A system for automatically launching and recovering marine or underwater vehicles from a carrier ship which remains under way to limit pitching and rolling movements. The system includes an inclinable articulated ramp including a bottom and edges, and hauling means for controlling sliding of the vehicle along the ramp during launch and for hoisting the vehicle up along the ramp during recovery. The ramp has a free end which varies between an immersed position in water and an emerged position in a horizontal position. The system includes buoyancy means allowing the free end of the ramp to float at the surface or near the surface of the water when lowered. The bottom of the articulated ramp also has an external face that is configured to form streamlining ensuring fluidity of the end of the ramp with the water and limiting vertical dynamic movements caused by waves.

The invention relates to a hull element (7) which is fixed to the stern (1) or hull bottom (1b) by means of a hinge (6,6a) and enables an active as well as a passive trim of the watercraft (1a) and at the same time also supports a watercraft lift (2) or a watercraft stair (11) by means of the connector (8) or a connecting cylinder (18). By means of cylinder (17b) and the connector (8) or connecting cylinder (18) on the hull element (7) the platform (3) or the watercraft stair (11) can be activated. In case the watercraft lift (2) or the watercraft stair (11) is operated by means of cylinder (17a), the hull element (7) folds away, so that the stroke (H) of the watercraft lift (2) respectively the stroke (HT) of the watercraft stairs (11) is not impaired or restricted.

The invention provides a marine working boat automatic storing device which comprises a working boat and a sliding way matched with the working boat. The sliding way is arranged on a boat side face and is of a downward-oblique structure. A trolley and a track matched with the trolley are arranged below the tail end of the sliding way. The axis of the track and the axis of the sliding way are on the same straight line. The height of the surface of the trolley on the track is the same as the height of the surface of the sliding way. A buffering and fixing device is arranged on the trolley. According to the working boat automatic storing device, full automation of a working boat automatic storing process can be achieved, the device is suitable for automatic storing of the working boat under the state that a mother ship navigates at medium-low speed, and system operation is convenient and reliable.

The invention belongs to the field of auxiliary equipment of ships and relates to a work boat launching and restoring device, in particular to a stern slipway type work boat launching and restoring device. The stern slipway type work boat launching and restoring device comprises a chute which is obliquely and downwardly arranged on a stern portion of a ship body, the tail end of the chute is movably connected with a stern door, a traction device is arranged on the two sidewalls of the chute, a traction slipway assembly matched with a line type of the work boat is arranged in the chute along the oblique direction of the chute, and a stern door slipway matched with the traction slipway assembly is arranged on the stern door. By arranging the chute on the stern portion and the stern door matched with the chute, a passageway allowing the work boat to go in and go out of the ship body is formed; the traction device arranged on the chute is used for providing power for the work boat to go in / go out; the stern slipway type work boat launching and restoring device is simple in structure, highly reliable, capable of working in severe sea conditions or sailing processes of a mother ship and free from potential safety hazards.

The invention relates to a variable-height platform, which is fitted to a watercraft and has an additional travel and / or a longitudinally movable mounting plate, by means of positive control means such that obstructions by technical means in the pivoting area can be fully bypassed without long pivoting arms and special linear-movement cylinders, and a reasonable immersion depth of the platform is ensured in all cases and, in the event of failure of the linear-movement cylinder, the platform can always be moved to the position A by means of an energy store or accumulator.

Device (10) or apparatus for launching at least one boat (12) from a structure (14), that is at least partially surrounded by water (16), into the water. The device (10) comprises at least one launch ramp (18) and means to effect translational displacement of said at least one launch ramp (18) when the device (10) has been mounted on said structure (14) in order to enable the position of said at least one launch ramp (18) to be changed before launching said at least one boat (12) into the water (16).

A launch, recovery, and handling system includes a track system arranged on a deck of a ship and a stern door of the ship. The launch, recovery, and handling system also includes an aft cradle and a forward cradle that are connected to the track system and moveable in first and second directions along the track system. The aft cradle is moveable from a first position at a first area inside the ship to a second position on the stern door for at least one of launching and recovering a payload.

A parallelgram arrangement of linkages interconnect a stern ramp frame with a plurality of parallel rails vertically adjusted to positions above the ramp frame by actuators for reception and maintenance of a watercraft thereon with minimized vibration, further reduced by shock-absorbing springs positioned in engagement with the rails and the rail actuators. Rail positioning adjustment by the actuators is effected under computer control to match different hull shapes of the watercraft that are curved or v-shaped and therefore non-flat.

A boat lift supported completely from land adjacent to water in which a boat is to be operated for movement between storage and launching positions by the use of parallelogram linkage powered by pairs of hydraulic actuators arranged at opposite sides of the boat lift. A walk and handrails are formed between the hydraulic actuators for use by passengers boarding the boat in the boat launch position.

A movable platform for attachment to a transom of a boat is disclosed. The movable platform includes a planar platform disposed horizontally and a planar frame coupled to an underside of the platform. The movable platform further includes at least one elongated tube coupled to the transom of the boat, wherein at least one element of the planar frame is movably disposed within the at least one elongated tube. The movable platform further includes at least one cylinder disposed horizontally, wherein a barrel of the at least one cylinder is secured to the at least one elongated tube and wherein a piston rod of the at least one cylinder is secured to the planar frame, such that the planar frame is moved horizontally when the piston rod moves within the barrel.

A lift apparatus for a watercraft having a plurality of components positioned below the platform at the aft end of a boat. The lift apparatus is configured to lift and deploy a watercraft from an undeployed orientation overlaying a platform to a deployed orientation away from the platform and on the water. In the deployed orientation the platform is substantially free from any lift apparatus component interference.

A system for launching and recovering marine or underwater vehicles from a carrier ship which remains under way which limits the amplitude of pitching and rolling movements. The system includes an inclinable articulated ramp including a bottom and edges, and hauling means for controlling sliding of the vehicle along the ramp during launch and for hoisting the vehicle up along the ramp. The ramp has a free end which varies between an immersed position in the water and an emerged position in a horizontal position. The system also includes buoyancy means allowing the free end of the ramp to float at or near the surface of the water when the ramp is lowered. The bottom of the articulated ramp also has an external face configured to form streamlining thus ensuring fluidity of the end of the ramp in contact with the water and limiting vertical dynamic movements caused by waves.

The invention discloses a mounting precision control method for stern door hinges. The mounting precision control method comprises the steps: A, preparation work before mounting is conducted; B, a ground sample datum line is scribed on the horizontal ground according to theoretical data of a drawing; C, a stern door is hoisted to the designated position, specifically, the stern door is hoisted onto a pier position on one side of the datum line through a crane; D, horizontal measuring points of the stern door are selected; E, the precision of a theoretical centerline is examined, and transversecenterline positioning lines of the hinges are scribed; F, horizontal direction mounting lines of the hinges are scribed; G, machining is conducted, and a dummy shaft and a short sleeve are mounted;H, the longitudinal direction of the dummy shaft is adjusted; I, the transverse central positions of hinge seat plates are adjusted; J, hinge seat fixing spacers are mounted; K, adjusting spacers aremeasured and prepared; L, the adjusting spacers are subjected to point welding; M, drilling, tapping and hinge seat fixing are conducted; N, hinge seats are mounted; O, the adjusting spacers are welded; and P, the dummy shaft is dismounted, and hinge pin shafts are mounted. The mounting precision control method is suitable for mounting of the two or more sets of hinges of the stern door, a hatch cover and a gang plank, a mounting method is simple, and the precision is high.

The invention discloses a skiff retracting and releasing device. According to the device, a cabin for placing skiffs is formed in a hull, a stern of the hull is provided with a channel inclining downwards, one end of the channel is connected with the cabin, and a stern door capable of rotating downwards is hinged to the other end of the channel; the stern door, the channel and the cabin are respectively provided with a plurality of idler roller set formed by idler rollers supporting the bottoms of the skiffs from the two sides, the two sides of each idler roller set of the cabin are respectively provided with a movable guide rail, and a trolley is arranged on the movable guide rail on each side and provided with a draft gear and a skiff pushing device. According to the skiff retracting and releasing device, the stern door can rotate downwards, so that the skiffs slide to the hull from the idler roller sets on the stern door through the channel conveniently and are pushed to the corresponding positions of the cabin through the trolleys to be fixed, the operation is convenient to carry out, the multiple skiffs can be retracted and released through the retracting and releasing device on a mother ship, and the skiff retracting and releasing device is convenient to operate and high in safety.