Foldable bridge for multi-hulled vessel

Abstract

The invention relates to boatbuilding, and more particularly to the manufacture of small multi-hulled vessels, preferably with inflatable hulls, and can be used for creating vessels that can be quickly assembled directly at the waterside. Claimed is a foldable bridge for a multi-hulled vessel, comprising at least one longitudinal beam and two hinged transverse beams interconnected therewith. What is novel is that each hinged transverse beam is comprised of a central portion attached to the longitudinal beam or beams, and two pivotable end portions which are connected in an articulated manner to the ends of said central portion, wherein the pivotable end portions of a transverse beam are aligned with the central portion and are immovably interlocked by at least one additional connecting element when the vessel is in a deployed state, and the pivotable end portions of a transverse beam are pivoted at a right angle or an acute angle or an obtuse angle in relation to the central portion when the vessel is in a transportable state.

Description

[0001] Transformer bridge for a multihull vessel

[0002] The invention relates to small-tonnage shipbuilding, in particular to the production of small multi-hull vessels, primarily with inflatable hulls, and can be used to create quickly assembled vessels with the required different number of hulls directly on the shore of a reservoir.

[0003] Prior art

[0004] Currently, small-sized, quickly assembled multi-hull vessels are in demand among fans of fishing, water recreation, and rescue services. These vessels are delivered in a transportable compact form to the assembly site, which is carried out directly on the shore of the reservoir where the vessel is planned to be used. Such vessels are not very sensitive to shallow water, which means they can dock at almost any place on the shore of the reservoir. That is why these vessels can be widely used by professional rescuers, in particular, to provide timely assistance during natural disasters; to deliver goods and food in flooded areas; quickly remove people with limited mobility or sick people from a flooded area to the nearest rescue sites, etc. At the same time, a number of additional, fairly strict requirements are imposed on small-sized, quickly assembled multi-hull vessels used, in particular, by rescue services.

[0005] First, rescue workers must be able to deliver the multihull vessel in a transportable state (i.e. disassembled or partially disassembled) to the emergency site very quickly by road, rail or air. In cases where there are no roads that could be washed away by river floods or dam failures, the only means of delivery is air delivery, for example by helicopter, which can deliver the cargo to a small, unequipped site located near the emergency site.

[0006] Secondly, the multi-hull vessel delivered to the assembly site must have a minimum number of transport spaces. It is known that disassemblable structures contain a significant number of basic structural elements, a large number of units required for their mating, as well as a huge number of fasteners of various nomenclature. To simplify the logistics of delivering consolidated cargo to the vessel assembly site, it is customary to combine small packages into larger ones in order to reduce the total number of transport spaces. This leads to the fact that at the assembly site, on an unequipped site, it is necessary to carry out a complete layout of all elements, mating units and fasteners to them. This not only increases the time of assembly of a multi-hull vessel, but also increases the likelihood of losing some of the units and fasteners.It becomes clear that in emergency situations it is advisable to deliver only those multi-hull vessels that have minimum weight and size characteristics with maximum load capacity, but are at such a stage of delivery that requires the involvement of minimum time and human resources to bring the vessel to operational readiness.

[0007] Thirdly, the time of complete assembly of a multi-hull vessel from the delivered set of equipment is always limited by the speed of rendering rescue services, therefore this time should not usually exceed several minutes, since the said assembly of the vessel is usually carried out in extremely difficult conditions, in particular, unfavorable weather conditions, unsuitable places on the shore of a reservoir or an unexpected water spill, and is also carried out without the use of any slipways for assembling the vessel, network power sources and the absence of specialized tools. Fourthly, the assembly of the main elements of a multi-hull vessel should be carried out according to the principle: "assembly from the box", i.e. any modification of the assembly elements of the structure on site is impossible due to the lack of time, technical means and qualifications of the assembly personnel.

[0008] Fifthly, the multi-hull rescue vessel used must be universal, i.e. its current configuration (with two, three or more hulls) depends on the current situation at the site of the emergency, in particular, on the need to ensure the operating conditions required at the moment: seaworthiness, passenger capacity and cargo capacity of the vessel, as well as the size of its cargo deck. If necessary, the vessel can be easily and quickly transformed, for example, from a two-hull to a three-hull or multi-hull vessel, and vice versa.

[0009] The state of the art contains various technical solutions aimed at creating collapsible multi-hull vessels.

[0010] A design of a multi-hull vessel (catamaran) with a collapsible (quickly assembled) bridge is known (see patent US7137349, class B63B 7 / 02, 2006), including a pair of elongated rigid hulls and a pair of powerful cross beams (see Fig. 2), each of which is secured to the vessel hulls on two thick studs with quick-release nuts in special oval supports (see Fig. 3). The size of the deck space of the known catamaran is determined by the dimensions of the rigid hulls and the length of the cross beams secured to them. The design of the collapsible bridge used on the known catamaran is not only simple in technical implementation, easy to disassemble and assemble, but also easy to deliver to the assembly site in a normal (non-emergency) situation.

[0011] However, in an emergency, the known design of the dismountable catamaran bridge has significant shortcomings. Firstly, a set of dismountable bridge elements (a pair of rigid hulls and a pair of powerful cross beams) in a disassembled state can hardly be delivered to the catamaran assembly site by a conventional vehicle, including a helicopter. This is due to the large dimensions of the main elements of the dismountable catamaran bridge (the dimensions of the rigid hulls and the length of the cross beams).

[0012] Secondly, the multi-hull vessel delivered to the assembly site is not universal, since during the rescue operation it cannot be quickly reconfigured into a vessel with a different number of hulls, and therefore with a different carrying capacity. Its overall dimensions, the mass of the cargo carried and the configuration of the beams relative to the hulls solve their own, purely utilitarian task, for example, they serve as the basis for a rowing, motor or sailing vessel for tourism or sports.

[0013] The closest to the claimed transforming bridge is, taken as a prototype, a transforming bridge of a multi-hull vessel (see Russian Federation patent for utility model No. 85142, class B63B 7 / 08, 2009), consisting of two rigid side hulls and a central ridge beam, which is made in the form of an additional rigid hull, connected by each of its side sides with two hinged sliding and sliding transverse half-beams, which in turn are attached to the side hulls. Due to the presence of hinges between the three rigid hulls, the vessel can change its width quite quickly.

[0014] The main disadvantages of the well-known transformable ship bridge, which prevent its use on multi-hull vessels, which are appropriate for rescue operations in emergency situations, include the following.

[0015] Firstly, the well-known transformable bridge is not universal, i.e. capable, for example, of transforming a catamaran into a trimaran, but is intended exclusively for changing the distance between the floats.

[0016] Secondly, each transverse beam of the known transformable bridge is four transverse folding half-beams connected to each other (through the center beam) by six hinged joints. The presence of the said transverse beams, which have low rigidity, does not allow the multi-hull vessel to ensure reliable operation related to evacuation activities in an emergency, since any rigid interaction of one of the hulls of a loaded vessel with a mechanical obstacle (a tree trunk slightly buried in water, an underwater rock or shallow water) will lead to mechanical damage or even destruction of one or more hinged joints, and therefore to damage to the vessel as a whole.

[0017] Thirdly, the known technical solution of the transformable bridge allows only changing the distance between the two hulls of the vessel, without increasing its carrying capacity. The carrying capacity of the vessel can only be changed by changing the volume of the hulls.

[0018] Fourthly, the known technical solution of a transformable bridge is not compact when assembled for transportation, since the main dimensions of the vessel are strictly determined by the dimensions of the central hull (backbone beam) and the rigid hulls of the catamaran.

[0019] Disclosure of invention

[0020] The technical result of the claimed technical solution is the elimination of the indicated shortcomings of the prototype, namely:

[0021] - expansion of the functional capabilities of the transformable bridge of a multi-hull vessel due to the fact that the same bridge can be used unchanged both on a double-hull vessel (catamaran) and on three- or multi-hull vessels;

[0022] - significant increase in the rigidity of the vessel’s transverse transformable beams;

[0023] - rapid change of the vessel's carrying capacity while maintaining its operational reliability;

[0024] - reduction of the vessel's dimensions during its delivery to the place of operation.

[0025] The specified technical result in the claimed transformable bridge for a multi-hull vessel, containing at least one longitudinal (backbone) and two transverse hinged beams, is achieved in that each transverse hinged beam is made of a central part, secured to a longitudinal beam or beams, and its two end rotary parts, pivotally connected to the ends of the central part, wherein the end rotary parts of the transverse beam in the operational state of the vessel are located in one line with the central part of the transverse beam and are fixedly fixed to each other by at least one additional connecting element, while in the transported state the end rotary parts of the transverse beam are turned relative to the central part of the transverse beam at a right or acute or obtuse angle.

[0026] The claimed bridge-transformer allows eliminating the indicated shortcomings of the prototype invention.

[0027] Firstly, it allows to expand the functionality of the bridge, because on its basis one and the same bridge-transformer it is possible to implement various variants of multi-hull vessels - from a two-hull vessel (catamaran) to a multi-hull (three-, four- or more-hull) vessel, i.e. a polymaran. Secondly, due to the use of at least one additional connecting element installed in the spacer between the rotary parts of two transverse beams located on one side of the longitudinal beam or beams, it is possible to significantly increase the rigidity of fixation, both of the transverse hinge beams and of the entire structure of the bridge-transformer. It is promising to use as an additional connecting element:

[0028] - one or more pipe sections;

[0029] - one or more pieces of deck or terrace board;

[0030] - one or more fragments of a plywood sheet;

[0031] - one or more fragments of a flat horizontal truss;

[0032] - one or more inflatable or rigid hulls of a vessel.

[0033] Thirdly, unlike the prototype, the claimed transforming bridge allows for quick changes, depending on the need, in the carrying capacity of a multi-hull vessel by increasing or decreasing the number of hulls. For this purpose, it is advisable to use inflatable hulls that can be quickly filled with air and secured to the transforming bridge. When not inflated, such hulls take up little space. Modern materials used for the manufacture of inflatable hulls, even with excess air pressure within about 0.3 atmospheres (300 mb), allow for sufficient rigidity comparable to rigid materials.

[0034] Fourthly, it is known that if initially only two hulls are attached to the bridge-transformer, i.e. the vessel is used as a catamaran, which will reach the loading point faster than a trimaran or polymaran. When the vessel moves backwards, having quickly added a couple of additional hulls, it can go slower, but at the same time, take on a larger load, which the original catamaran would not be able to transport at all.

[0035] Fifthly, the claimed bridge-transformer allows to significantly increase the compactness of a multi-hull vessel, reducing the number of its elements during delivery to the place of operation, which plays a significant role during its transportation to the place of assembly. When using inflatable hulls, the main dimensional element of the vessel transported in parts is the bridge-transformer, and not the rigid hulls, which allows to deliver the vessel to the place of its assembly by a car or truck, and in the absence of roads, for example, during a river flood - by an amphibious vessel or a small helicopter.

[0036] Thus, the claimed bridge-transformer allows to create a multi-hull vessel that is compact for transportation to the place of operation, which can be easily and quickly transformed for various tasks that arise, for example, in emergency situations and related to the emergency evacuation of people or cargo from flooded areas, as well as when used in the design of tourist, pleasure or sports multi-hull vessels, which has no analogues among known devices, and therefore meets the criterion of "inventive level".

[0037] Brief description of the drawings

[0038] The essence of the claimed technical solution is explained by the presented drawings in Figs. 1-12.

[0039] Fig. 1 shows a front (rear) view of the design of the claimed transforming bridge in operation on a catamaran vessel (under the transforming bridge, the catamaran hulls are conventionally shown with dotted lines from below), the central part and the end rotating parts of the vessel's crossbeam are made of fragments of a pipe of a round or rectangular cross-section, where: 1 is the central part of the vessel's crossbeam, connected to the longitudinal beam 2 by means of a connection 3 (the element of the fixed connection is hereinafter conventionally shown by a crosshair); 4 is the left end rotating part of the vessel's crossbeam is rigidly connected to the connecting element 5 by means of a connection 6, and is also connected to the central part 1 of the vessel's crossbeam by means of a hinge 7 (the hinged movable connection is conventionally shown by a vertical-horizontal crosshair in the top view of the transforming bridge) and is secured to the catamaran hull 8;the right end rotary part 9 of the transverse beam 1 of the vessel is connected to the additional connecting element 10 by means of a connection 11, and is also connected to the central part 1 of the transverse beam of the vessel by means of a hinge 12 and is secured to the hull 13 of the catamaran.

[0040] Fig. 2 shows a top view of the design of the claimed transformer bridge, shown in Fig. 1, in operational mode on a catamaran vessel (the dotted lines conventionally show the catamaran hulls).

[0041] Fig. 3 shows a front (rear) view of the design of the claimed transforming bridge installed on a three-hull vessel (under the transforming bridge, the trimaran hulls are conventionally shown with dotted lines below), the central part and the end rotating parts of the vessel's cross beam, made from fragments of a pipe of a round or rectangular cross-section, where: 14 is the central part of the vessel's cross beam, connected to the longitudinal beam 15 by means of a connection 16 and secured to the hull 17; the left end rotating part 18 of the cross beam, connected to an additional connecting element 19 by means of a connection 20, and also connected to the central part of the cross beam 14 by means of a hinge 21 and secured to the hull 22; the right end rotating part 23 of the ship's cross beam is connected to an additional connecting element 24 by means of a connection 25, which is also connected to the central part of the cross beam 14 by means of a hinge 26 and is secured to the hull 27.

[0042] Fig. 4 shows a top view of the design of the claimed bridge-transformer, shown in Fig. 3, in operational mode on a three-hull vessel (the dotted lines conventionally show the trimaran hulls).

[0043] Fig. 5 shows a front (rear) view of the design of the claimed transforming bridge in operation on a vessel with six hulls (the vessel hulls are conventionally shown with dotted lines below the transforming bridge), the central part and the end rotating parts of the cross beams of which are made of fragments of a pipe of circular or rectangular cross-section, where: 28 is the central part of the vessel's cross beam, connected to the longitudinal beam 29 by means of a connection 30; 31 is the left end rotating part of the vessel's cross beam, connected to the additional connecting element 32 by means of a connection 33, and also connected to the central part of the cross beam 28 by means of a hinge 34; 35 is the right end rotating part of the vessel's cross beam, connected to the additional connecting element 36 by means of a connection 37, and also connected to the central part of the cross beam 28 by means of a hinge 38;the transforming bridge is fixed on six ship hulls 39 - 44.

[0044] Fig. 6 shows a top view of the design of the claimed transformer bridge, shown in Fig. 5, in operational mode on a vessel with six hulls.

[0045] Fig. 7 shows a top view of one of the embodiments of the claimed transformable bridge in the transport mode (the arrows indicate the directions of rotation in the hinges of the end rotary parts of the vessel's cross beams, made from fragments of a pipe of circular or rectangular cross-section, wherein the cross beams are made of different lengths), where: 45 is the central part of the front (shortened) cross beam of the vessel, fixedly connected to the longitudinal beam 46, and also connected by a hinge 47 to the left end rotary part of the cross beam 48, and by a hinge 49 - to the right end rotary part of the cross beam 50; the central part of the rear (extended) cross beam 51 is fixedly connected to the longitudinal beam 46, and by a hinge 52 it is connected to the left end rotary part of the cross beam 53, and also by a hinge 54 - to the right end rotary part of the cross beam 55.

[0046] Fig. 8 shows a top view of another embodiment of the claimed transformable bridge in the transportable mode (the arrows indicate the directions of rotation in the hinges of the end rotary parts of the vessel's cross beams, made from fragments of a pipe of circular or rectangular cross-section, wherein the cross beams are made of the same length), where: 56 is the central part of the vessel's front cross beam, fixedly connected to the longitudinal beam 57 and connected by a hinge 58 to the left end rotary part of the cross beam 59, and by a hinge 60 to the right end rotary part of the cross beam 61; 62 is the central part of the vessel's rear cross beam, fixedly connected to the longitudinal beam 57 and connected by a hinge 64 to the left end rotary part of the cross beam 65, and by a hinge 66 to the right end rotary part of the cross beam 67.

[0047] Fig. 9 shows a top view of another embodiment of the claimed transformable bridge in the transportable mode (the arrows indicate the directions of rotation in the hinges of the end rotary parts of the vessel's cross beams, made from fragments of a pipe of circular or rectangular cross-section, wherein the cross beams are made of the same length), where: 68 is the central part of the vessel's front cross beam, fixedly connected to the longitudinal beam 69 and connected by a hinge 70 to the left end rotary part of the cross beam 71, and by a hinge 72 to the right end rotary part of the cross beam 73; 74 is the central part of the vessel's rear cross beam, fixedly connected to the longitudinal beam 69 and connected by a hinge 75 to the left end rotary part of the cross beam 76, and by a hinge 77 to the right end rotary part of the cross beam 78.

[0048] Fig. 10 shows a front (rear) view of the design of the claimed transforming bridge in operation on a three-hull vessel (under the transforming bridge, the trimaran hulls are shown with dotted lines). The main feature of this bridge is its rigidity, due to the fact that it is made from a combination of fragments of flat and volumetric trusses. The central part of the transverse beams and its end rotary parts are made from fragments of volumetric trusses, and two longitudinal beams and additional connecting elements are made from fragments of flat trusses.The structure of the transforming bridge includes the following elements, where: 79 is the central part of the transverse beam of the vessel, connected to two longitudinal beams 80 and 81; 82 is the left end rotating part of the transverse beam of the vessel, connected with an additional connecting element 83 and a hinge 84 with the central part of the transverse beam 79; 85 is the right end rotating part of the transverse beam of the vessel, connected with an additional connecting element 86 and a hinge 87 with the central part of the transverse beam 79; 88-90 are conventionally shown trimaran hulls.

[0049] Fig. 11 shows a top and side view of the structure of the claimed transformable bridge, which is in operational mode on the trimaran vessel shown in Fig. 10; the longitudinal and transverse beams are made from fragments of flat and volumetric trusses.

[0050] Fig. 12 shows a top and side view of the design of the claimed bridge-transformer, shown in Figs. 10 and 11, but located in the transport position.

[0051] The best embodiment of the invention

[0052] We will consider the operation of the claimed bridge-transformer using various options for its implementation.

[0053] Option 1.

[0054] Let us consider the use of the claimed transforming bridge for the catamaran shown in Fig. 1-2. The assembly of the vessel begins after the delivery of the bridge in the transportable state (see Fig. 7-9, which are functionally no different from each other, but differ only in compactness), as well as two hulls 8 and 13 (for example, inflatable ones - they are more compact) and two additional connecting elements 5 and 10, for example, two pieces of thick plywood. To transfer the transforming bridge to the operating state, it is sufficient to unfold the left 4 and right 5 end parts in hinges 7 and 12 at each of the two cross beams (see Fig. 1) so that they are parallel to the central part 1 of the cross beam. After this, between the ends of the end parts of each beam, install additional connecting elements 5 and 10, as well as hulls 8 and 13 (see Fig. 2).A catamaran vessel is advantageous to use, for example, during an evacuation, when it is necessary to reach the evacuation site with minimal time expenditure (including assembly of the vessel), and then quickly evacuate a person or group of people from this place, and if necessary to increase its carrying capacity, the vessel can easily be transformed into a trimaran or polymaran.

[0055] Option 2.

[0056] Let us consider the use of the claimed transformer bridge for a trimaran, shown in Fig. 3-4. The difference from the above-described variant 1 for assembling a catamaran is that an additional third inflatable hull 17 is installed under the longitudinal beam 15. It is advantageous to use a trimaran vessel in the case when it is necessary, in comparison with a catamaran, to increase the cargo load.

[0057] Option 3.

[0058] Let us consider the use of the claimed bridge-transformer for a six-hull vessel, shown in Fig. 5-6. Unlike options 1 and 2, this is the most load-carrying option. It is advisable to use such a vessel in the case when it is necessary to ensure maximum load-carrying capacity.

[0059] Option 4.

[0060] Let us consider the use of the claimed transformer bridge for the trimaran shown in Fig. 10-11. This version of the bridge is the most rigid, since its design is based on longitudinal and transverse beams made from fragments of flat and volumetric trusses. Such a vessel, having two inflatable hulls, is able to quickly reach the loading point, and before loading, by increasing the number of inflatable hulls from three to six, it is able to accept very heavy or important cargo, which must be guaranteed to be delivered to the unloading site.

[0061] Thus, the claimed bridge-transformer allows to create on its basis a whole line of universal multi-hull vessels, each of which is capable of solving its own specific task, and, if necessary, quickly transform the vessel for another task.

Claims

Invention formula 1. A transformable bridge for a multi-hull vessel, comprising at least one longitudinal and two transverse hinged beams connected to each other, characterized in that each transverse hinged beam is made of a central part secured to a longitudinal beam or beams, and its two end rotating parts, pivotally connected to the ends of the central part, wherein the end rotating parts of the transverse beam in the operational state of the vessel are located in one line with the central part of the transverse beam and are fixedly fixed to each other by at least one additional connecting element, while in the transported state the end rotating parts of the transverse beam are turned relative to the central part of the transverse beam at a right or acute or obtuse angle.

2. A transforming bridge according to item 1, characterized in that the longitudinal beam or beams, as well as the central parts of the transverse beams and their end rotary parts, are made from fragments of a pipe of a round or rectangular or polygonal cross-section.

3. A transforming bridge according to item 1, characterized in that the longitudinal beam or beams, as well as the central parts of the transverse beams and their end rotary parts, are made from fragments of a flat or volumetric truss.

4. A transforming bridge according to item 1, characterized in that one or more pipe sections act as an additional connecting element that secures the end rotary parts of the cross beams located on one side of the longitudinal beam or beams.

5. A transformable bridge according to item 1, characterized in that one or more sections of deck or terrace board or fragments of a plywood sheet act as an additional connecting element that secures the end rotary parts of the cross beams located on one side of the longitudinal beam or beams.

6. A transforming bridge according to item 1, characterized in that one or more fragments of a flat horizontal truss act as an additional connecting element that secures the end rotary parts of the cross beams located on one side of the longitudinal beam or beams.

7. A transforming bridge according to claim 1, characterized in that one or more rigid hulls of the vessel act as an additional connecting element that secures the end rotating parts of the transverse beams located on one side of the longitudinal beam or beams.

8. A transformable bridge according to claim 1, characterized in that one or more inflatable hulls of the vessel act as an additional connecting element that secures the end rotating parts of the transverse beams located on one side of the longitudinal beam or beams.

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