KR101487679B1 - Canister-type thruster - Google Patents

Abstract

A canister thruster is disclosed. The canister type thruster according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a canister which is installed in a trunk of a ship or a floating structure so as to be able to move up and down; A guide device for guiding the lifting and lowering of the canister; A buoyancy regulating tank provided in the canister; And a buoyancy control device for adjusting the buoyancy in such a manner as to fill or discharge water in the buoyancy regulating tank to realize lifting and lowering of the canister.

Description

CANISTER-TYPE THRUSTER {CANISTER-TYPE THRUSTER}

The present invention relates to a canister type thruster capable of lifting and lowering by adjusting buoyancy.

Special vessels, such as drillships, must be able to berth in the working area of the sea, so a Dynamic Positioning System is needed to maintain its position even under the influence of algae, wind and digging. Therefore, these ships have a thruster that can control the position of the ship by generating propulsion force while changing direction in the water.

However, since a normal thruster is installed in the lower part of the hull (under water), it is difficult to repair or replace it if a failure occurs. In the event of a breakdown at sea, it may be necessary to move the hull to the land where the dock is located for repair. A canister type thruster is proposed to solve these operational difficulties and to be able to perform repair or replacement work on the thruster in the maritime work area.

Korean Published Patent Application No. 10-2011-0139545 (published on December 29, 2011) and Published Patent Application No. 10-2010-0074397 (published on May 07, 2010) each show an example of a canister type thruster . The canister type thruster includes a canister installed to raise and lower in a trunk extending from a deck to a bottom of the hull, a propulsion head installed at a lower portion of the canister and capable of switching the direction of 360 degrees, driving devices for operating the propulsion head in the canister An elevating device for elevating and lowering the canister, and a guide device for guiding the elevation of the canister.

The lift device for lifting and lowering the canister may be configured to include a rack gear provided on a side surface of the canister, and a lifting and lowering drive portion having a pinion gear engaged with the rack gear and a motor for driving the rack gear.

Such a thruster can change the position of the propelling head through lifting and lowering of the canister. That is, it is possible to switch to an operation mode in which the propulsion head is positioned below the bottom of the hull, a movement mode in which the propulsion head is pulled up into the trunk when the hull is operated, and the like. It is also possible to use a crane or the like to raise the canister and the propelling head together and separate them from the hull.

However, in such a canister type thruster, since the lifting and lowering device for lifting and lowering the canister is a rack gear and a pinion gear type, the structure is complicated and difficult to manage. Also, it was difficult to install the canister in the trunk of the hull due to the complicated lift device, or to separate it from the hull for repairs and to reinstall it.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2011-0139545 (disclosed on Dec. 29, 2011) Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2010-0074397 (published on Jul. 02, 2010)

An embodiment of the present invention is to provide a canister-type thruster capable of lifting and lowering a canister in a manner of controlling buoyancy.

The embodiments of the present invention are intended to provide a canister-type thruster that can simplify the construction by implementing the lifting and lowering of the canister by the buoyancy control method, and can be easily manufactured and installed.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a canister, comprising: a canister which is installed in a trunk of a hull or a floating structure so as to be able to move up and down; A guide device for guiding the lifting and lowering of the canister; A buoyancy regulating tank provided in the canister; And a buoyancy control device for controlling the buoyancy of the buoyancy control tank by filling or discharging water to implement the buoyancy control of the canister.

The buoyancy regulating tank may be provided to form a partitioned space with a space in which the appliance is installed inside the canister.

The buoyancy regulating tank may be provided to form a space communicating with an outer circumferential portion between the outer case and the inner case of the canister.

The buoyancy control device may include a water supply device for supplying water into the buoyancy control tank and a drainage device for discharging the water inside the buoyancy control tank to the outside.

The water supply device and the drain device may be installed in the canister.

The guide device may include a guide rail provided on an outer surface of the canister and an inner surface of the trunk, and a guide unit coupled to the other of the outer surface of the canister and the inner surface of the trunk.

The canister-type thruster according to the embodiment of the present invention realizes lifting and lowering in a manner of controlling the buoyancy, so that the structure of the apparatus for lifting and lowering can be simplified. Therefore, it is easier to manufacture and install than a conventional canister type thruster employing a rack gear type lift device.

1 shows an internal configuration of a canister type thruster according to an embodiment of the present invention and a hull mounted state.
2 is a perspective view of a canister type thruster according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in Fig. 1, showing a guide device for guiding the lifting and lowering of the canister.
Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in Fig. 1, showing a cross-sectional structure of a canister and a trunk, and a configuration of a restraining device for restricting a canister.
5 shows a state in which the canister type thruster according to the embodiment of the present invention is switched to the moving mode.
6 shows a state in which the canister type thruster according to the embodiment of the present invention is switched to the maintenance mode.
7 shows an example in which the canister-type thrusters according to the embodiment of the present invention are installed into the trunk.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments are provided to fully convey the spirit of the present invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown herein but may be embodied in other forms. For the sake of clarity, the drawings are not drawn to scale, and the size of the elements may be slightly exaggerated to facilitate understanding.

1 shows an internal configuration of a canister type thruster and a hull attachment state according to the present embodiment.

The canister type thruster 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention can be applied to a ship or a floating structure that needs to maintain an anchoring state in a working area in the sea. For example, it can be applied to drillships drilling for oil and gas resources, floating production storage offloading (FPSO), and so on. The canister type thruster 100 can be applied to special ships such as a tugboat, icebreaker, and the like as well as ordinary transportation vessels in addition to the case where position control is required in an anchored state.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a ship 1 (or a floating structure) of a ship to which a canister type thruster 100 is applied has a trunk 2 penetrating in the vertical direction. The thruster 100 includes a canister 110 installed in the trunk 2 so as to be able to ascend and descend, a propulsion head 130 installed at a lower portion of the canister 110, a guide device 140 guiding the elevation of the canister 110, And a buoyancy control tank 150 and a buoyancy control device 160 to implement lifting and lowering of the canister 110 by adjusting buoyancy.

 1, 2, and 4, the canister 110 may be provided in the form of a rectangular box whose bottom and side surfaces are watertight. The trunk 2 of the hull 1 may be in the form of a rectangular barrel slightly larger than the canister. As an example, the canister 110 and the trunk 2 may have a rectangular cross-sectional shape, but the cross-sectional shape of the canister 110 and the trunk 2 may be variously changed, such as hexagon, octagon, .

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the canister 110 includes a buoyancy regulating tank 150 provided on the outside in a state partitioned with a space in which devices are installed. The canister 110 has an outer case 111 in the form of a rectangular barrel, a space provided to the inner side of the outer case 111 to be smaller than the outer case 111, And an inner case 112 for partitioning the tank 150. The buoyancy regulating tank 150 may be provided to form a space communicating with the outer case 111 and the inner case 112 at four corners thereof.

The inner space of the inner case 112 may be divided into a plurality of spaces by a plurality of decks 114, 115, 116, and 117 spaced from each other in the vertical direction. A lower compartment 119 between the bottom plate 113 and the first deck 114 from the lower side of the canister 110, a drive machine room 120 between the first deck 114 and the second deck 115, A buoyancy control chamber 122 between the third deck 116 and the fourth deck 117 and a second deck 117 between the fourth deck 117 and the upper deck 117. The auxiliary equipment room 121 between the deck 115 and the third deck 116, 118). ≪ / RTI >

A drive motor 125 for driving the propulsion head 130 to be described later is installed in the drive machine room 120 and various control equipment and power supply equipment for controlling the operation of the thruster 100 are installed in the auxiliary equipment room 121 Can be installed. The buoyancy control unit 122 may be provided with a buoyancy control unit 160 for implementing the buoyancy control by adjusting the buoyancy of the buoyancy control tank 150 by filling or discharging the water. Here, as an example, the configuration of the inside of the canister 110 is presented only, and the internal configuration of the canister 110 is not limited to this form. The arrangement of the spaces inside the canister 110 and the devices installed therein can be variously changed according to the design.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the propulsion head 130 includes a propeller 131, a streamlined propeller support 132 for supporting the propeller 131, an upper propeller support 132 extending upwardly from the propeller support 132, And a cylindrical shroud 135 provided around the propeller 131 for guiding the propulsion water is provided in the vertical support portion 133. The vertical support portion 133 includes a vertical support portion 133 rotatably supported by the bottom plate 111 of the canister 110, can do.

A drive shaft 136 for transmitting the rotation of the drive motor 125 to the propeller 131 is installed in the lower compartment 119 of the canister 110 and a vertical support portion 133 of the propulsion head 130 and a propeller support portion 132 , Rotation shafts and gears for connecting the drive shaft 136 and the propeller 131 for power transmission are installed. Steering motors 137 may be installed in the lower compartment 116 to rotate the rotation link 134 to rotate the propulsion head 130 360 degrees.

The propelling head 130 may be rotated below the bottom surface of the hull 1 as shown in FIG. 1 to rotate the propeller 131 by the operation of the driving motor 121 to generate propelling water. In addition, the propulsion head 130 can be rotated by the operation of the steering motors 137 to control the direction of the propulsion water. The propulsion water can move the hull 1 to a desired position so that the hull 1 can maintain its position in the sea despite the influence of algae or waves. The propeller in which the propelling head 130 rotates at the bottom of the hull 1 is also referred to as an azimuth thruster.

The buoyancy control device 160 includes a water supply device 161 installed in the buoyancy control chamber 122 for supplying water into the buoyancy control tank 150 and a drainage device 161 for discharging the water inside the buoyancy control tank 150 to the outside. (Not shown).

The water supply device 161 includes a water supply pump 161a, a water supply and suction pipe 161b extending from the water supply pump 161a to the outside of the bottom plate 113 of the canister 110, And a water supply and discharge pipe 161c extending to the inside of the water supply and discharge pipe 161c. The water supply device 161 sucks the seawater under the canister 110 through the water supply and suction pipe 161b when the water supply pump 161a operates and feeds the seawater to the inside of the buoyancy control tank 150 through the water supply and discharge pipe 161c The buoyancy control tank 150 can be filled with seawater.

The drainage device 162 includes a drainage pump 162a and a drainage suction pipe 162b extending from the drainage pump 162a to a position close to the bottom inside the buoyancy control tank 150 and a drainage pipe 162b extending from the drainage pump 162a, And a drainage discharge pipe 162c extending outward (on the side of the bottom plate) of the drainage pipe 110. The drainage device 162 sucks the seawater in the buoyancy control tank 150 through the drainage suction pipe 162b when the drainage pump 162a operates and supplies the seawater to the outside of the canister 110 through the drainage discharge pipe 162c The seawater discharged from the buoyancy control tank 150 can be discharged.

As such, the buoyancy control device 160 can adjust the buoyancy of the canister 110 by filling or discharging seawater (which may be freshwater when a ship or the like is operated in a lake) in the buoyancy control tank 150, The lift of the canister 110 can be realized. In the present embodiment, the buoyancy control device shows a case where the water supply device 161 and the drainage device 162 are separately constructed. However, when the buoyancy control device employs a valve system or the like capable of switching the flow path, The device may be in an integrated form.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the guide device 140 for guiding the elevation of the canister 110 includes guide rails 141 extended on both sides of the canister 110 in the elevating direction, And a plurality of guide units 142 installed on the inner surface of the trunk 2 so as to be associated with the guide rails 141 for guiding the elevator 141 to / Each guide unit 142 is provided so as to have a C-shaped cross-sectional structure and can support the outer surface of the guide rail 141 in a slidable manner.

2 shows a case in which three guide units 142 are provided on the movement locus of the guide rail 141. However, the number of the guide units 142 is not limited to this. The guide unit 142 can be provided in a larger number on the locus of the guide rail 141 so that the guide rail 141 can be stably supported by the guide units 142 at least two at the top and bottom. The guide unit 142 may be connected to the lower portion of the trunk 2 continuously from the upper portion to the lower portion. Although the present embodiment shows a case where the guide rails 141 are provided on the outer surface of the canister 110 and the guide units 142 are provided on the inner surface of the trunk 2, their positions may be mutually changed. The guide rail 141 may be provided on the inner surface of the trunk 2 and the guide unit 142 may be provided on the outer surface of the canister 110. [

The canister type thruster 100 can realize the lift of the canister 110 by adjusting the buoyancy of the canister 110 in such a manner that the buoyancy control device 160 fills or discharges water in the buoyancy control tank 150 So that the position of the propulsion head 130 installed under the canister 110 can be changed. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, an operation mode in which the propulsion head 130 is positioned below the bottom of the hull 1 to perform position control of the hull 1, It is possible to switch to the moving mode in which the propelling head 130 is pulled up to the inside of the trunk 2 in order to reduce it.

As shown in FIG. 1, the operation mode allows the canister 110 to descend by filling a relatively large amount of water in the buoyancy control tank 150. When the buoyancy control tank 150 is filled with water, air in the buoyancy control tank 150 must be discharged, so that a vent hole 151 through which the air enters and exits may be formed in the upper plate 118 of the canister 110 .

1, when the buoyancy regulating tank 150 is filled with water, the canister 110 has its own weight and the weight of the mounted equipment, and the water level inside the buoyancy regulating tank 150 is the height of the water surface WL The buoyancy is reduced and the propulsion head 130 can be lowered so as to be located below the bottom surface of the hull 1. When the lower end of the canister 110 reaches the bottom surface of the hull 1 in the descending process, the lowering of the canister 110 can be further restricted by stopping the stopper 5 provided at the lower end of the trunk 2, (1).

5, the moving mode further increases the buoyancy of the canister 110 by further draining the water in the buoyancy control tank 150 so that the propulsion head 130 can move into the trunk 2 ) Can be increased.

6, the canister 110 can be switched to a maintenance mode for lifting the propulsion head 130 to the maintenance position on the upper portion of the trunk 2 for maintenance of the propulsion head 130 . At this time, the canister 110 can be lifted by using a lifting device 200 such as a crane installed on the hull 1 in a state where the drainage device 162 discharges the water from the buoyancy control tank 150. A case where a lifting device 200 such as a crane or the like is used is shown, but on the inner surface of the trunk 2 where the canister 110 is installed or on the deck side of the hull 1, A separate lift device such as a hydraulic cylinder may be employed.

6, a maintenance space 6 for maintenance of the propulsion head 130 may be provided on the side of the trunk 2 at a height where the propulsion head 130 is located in the maintenance mode . The maintenance space 6 may be of sufficient size to separate the components of the propulsion head 130 and store them therein or to allow the operator to access the propulsion head 130 to perform maintenance, And may be located above the water surface WL.

3 and 4, the canister-type thruster 100 includes a plurality of restraining devices 170 that can restrain the canister 110 without shaking in a state of being switched to an operation mode, a moving mode, Respectively.

The restraining device 170 is installed in the canister 110 and includes a drive unit 171 including a motor or a hydraulic cylinder and a latching rod 172 for projecting outwardly of the canister 110 by the operation of the drive unit 171, And a plurality of engaging members 173 fixed to the inner surface of the trunk 2 at a position corresponding to the restraining device 170 and having grooves in which the engaging rods 172 enter. The plurality of latching members 173 may be provided at positions corresponding to the engagement of the latching rod 172 in a state in which the canister 110 is moved to the operation mode, the movement mode, and the maintenance mode.

On the other hand, when the canister type thruster 100 is initially installed in the hull 1 or is detached from the hull 1 for repairs and is installed again, as shown in Fig. 7, the canister- The canister 110 is lowered so that the canister 110 enters the opening in the upper portion of the trunk 2 in a state where the lifter 110 is lifted by the lifting device 200 such as a crane.

At this time, since the buoyancy control tank 150 of the canister 110 is not filled with water, buoyancy is applied to the canister 110 when the lower end of the canister 110 is lowered below the water level WL in the trunk 2 . Therefore, the canister 110 can maintain a floating state in the trunk 2. [ When the canister 110 is lifted, even if the cable 201 connected to the lifting device is separated, the canister 110 does not descend. Of course, since the canister 110 has its own weight and the weight of the propelling head 130 or the like, the lower end of the canister 110 may be positioned below the water surface WL in the floating state as shown in FIG.

When the canister 110 is further lowered in the state of FIG. 7 to switch to the operation mode as shown in FIG. 1, the buoyancy adjusting tank 150 may be filled with water by operating the water supply device 161 to lower the buoyancy, The canister 110 can be stably fixed by the restraining device 170. [0063]

As described above, the canister type thruster 100 of the present embodiment realizes lifting and lowering by a method of adjusting buoyancy without adopting a rack gear type lifting device as in the prior art, thereby simplifying the structure of the device. Therefore, it is easy to manufacture and install. Since the canister 110 can be simply inserted into the trunk 2 and only the coupling between the guide rail 141 and the guide unit 142 can be realized, the conventional canister- It is easier to install than the thruster.

2: trunk, 110: canister,
130: propelling head, 131: propeller,
140: lifting device, 141: guide rail,
142: guide unit, 150: buoyancy control tank,
160: Buoyancy control device, 161: Water supply device,
162: drainage device, 170: restraint device.

Claims (6)

A canister capable of being raised and lowered in a trunk of a ship or a floating structure;
A guide device for guiding the lifting and lowering of the canister;
A buoyancy regulating tank provided in the canister; And
And a buoyancy control device for controlling the buoyancy by filling or discharging water in the buoyancy regulating tank to realize lifting and lowering of the canister,
Wherein the buoyancy regulating tank is provided to form a space communicated at four-sided portions between the outer case and the inner case of the canister. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the buoyancy regulating tank is provided to form a partitioned space with a space in which the device is installed inside the canister. delete 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the buoyancy control device includes a water supply device for supplying water into the buoyancy control tank and a drainage device for discharging the water inside the buoyancy control tank to the outside. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the water supply device and the drain device are installed in the canister. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the guiding device includes a guide rail provided on an outer surface of the canister and on an inner surface of the trunk, and a guide unit provided to be coupled to the other of the outer surface of the canister and the inner surface of the trunk in correspondence with the guide rail.

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