WO1997010143A1

WO1997010143A1 - Shaft bollard

Info

Publication number: WO1997010143A1
Application number: PCT/EP1995/003540
Authority: WO
Inventors: David Cole
Original assignee: David Cole
Priority date: 1995-09-14
Filing date: 1995-09-14
Publication date: 1997-03-20
Also published as: AU3564695A

Abstract

A shaft bollard (1) for mooring and releasing a vessel, comprising a body placed on board the vessel or on a jetty, wherein a guiding means (3) is attached to said body (1) which means extends at least partially within said body, and a shaft (4) is provided slidably and removably within said guiding means (3).

Description

Shaft bollard.

Description

The present invention relates to a shaft bollard for mooring and releasing a vessel, comprising a body on a base fitted on a jetty or vessel.

Bollards or bittes are well known and comprise a hollow body or a body out of full material, and a lid on top. When mooring a vessel the eye of a mooring line is cast on a bollard. When unmooring the vessel the mooring line has to be loosend, unwound and drawn off the bollard. Especially in case of large sea vessels and thick mooring lines, this is a hard and time consuming task for a man to do. In harsh conditions it is sometimes necessary to cast off the mooring line very quickly. The object of the invention is to provide a bollard or bitte with which a moored vessel is more readily and quickly cast off. Particularly, the object is to provide a bollard or bitte for a jetty which is simpler and more efficient than conventional mooring systems, and which allows for maximum lateral and vertical movement of the vessel's mooring lines between a jetty and the vessel, and whereby a tug's towing line may be released from a ship's deck by only one man, manually.

This object is achieved according to the invention by a guiding means being attached to the bollard body which means extends at least partially within εaid body, and a shaft is provided slidably and removably within said guiding means. The mooring vessel is readily and quickly cast off by sliding away a shaft which is slidably guided by those guiding means, whereby the mooring line is released. Said shaft may be provided slidably and removably within said guiding means. Said guiding means may be a tube part, which is easily welded to the bollard body.

According to another aspect of the invention the shaft comprises at least one tapered or rounded end, enabling a taught mooring line to become slackened when the shaft is retrieved, thus assisting in the release. Hereby sliding away the shaft and thereby releasing the mooring line is even easier accomplished, because a form of the shaft end can be applied whereby the pull tension in the mooring line aids in pushing away the shaft when said shaft is first slightly pulled away by (manually) applying any suitable means.

According to another aspect of the invention at least two bollards may be placed next to eachother with the axes of at least one guiding means per bollard aligned, wherein at least one shaft may span the distance between said bollards. Hereby a mooring line may be cast on a bollard appropriately in several ways while being readily releasable. Hereby maximum lateral and vertical movement of the mooring line is achieved while the mooring line is unable to slip off.

According to another aspect of the invention a locking means is provided to lock the shaft against sliding. Hereby accidental sliding away of the shaft may be prevented. According to another aspect of the invention an actuation means is provided to slide the shaft, because sliding the shaft manually may be hard to do although the shaft surface may be greased. Moreover, said actuation means may be remotely controllable.

The invention will be further elucidated referring to one embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of the invention in perspective; Figure 2 shows a cross sectional view over line II-II of the embodiment according to figure 1;

Figure 3 shows the arrangement of two bollards adjacent to eachother according to the invention.

In figure 1 the bollard according to the invention is shown, comprising a body 1, a lid 2, a guiding means 3 within said body 1 and a shaft 4 being slidably present in said guiding means 3- The bollard is placed on a base 5 ^on board a vessel or on a jetty. The eye of the mooring line 6 is cast around the shaft projecting from the bollard body. A second assembly of guiding means 7 and εhaft 8 is shown in the slided in position. The ends of the shafts and 8 may lay flush with the outer surface of the bollard body.

In figure 2 the bollard according to the invention is shown in cross section, comprising the bollard body 1, the guiding means 3 and the shaft

. in slided out position. The end of shaft . may be tapered or rounded, or may have any other form suited for a quick release of the mooring line

6.

In figure 3 the arrangement of two bollards adjacent to eachother according to the invention is shown, comprising two bollard bodies 20 and 21, three slidable shafts 22 _t 23 and 2. spanning the distance between said bollards, and one guiding means 2 to 30 per shaft. Obviously, the eye of a mooring line (not shown) may be cast around any one of εaid εhafts. Then, the release of one or more mooring lines is readily achieved by sliding away one or more of the shafts 22, 23 and 2., by example manually or by means of any remotely controlled device.

Claims

C L A I S

1. Shaft bollard for mooring and releasing a vessel, comprising a body placed on board the vessel or on a jetty, wherein a guiding means is attached to said body which means extends at least partially within said body, and a shaft is provided slidably and removably within said guiding means.

2. Shaft bollard according to claim 1, wherein εaid guiding meanε iε a tube part.

3. Shaft bollard according to any of the preceeding claims, wherein said shaft comprises at least one tapered or rounded end.

4. Shaft bollard according to any of the preceeding claims, wherein at least two bollards are placed next to eachother with the axes of at least one guiding means per bollard aligned, wherein at least one shaft may span the diεtance between εaid bollards.

« Shaft bollard according to any of the preceeding claims, wherein a locking means is provided to lock the shaft against sliding.

6. Shaft bollard according to any of the preceeding claims, wherein an actuation means is provided to slide the shaft.

7. Shaft bollard according to any of the preceeding claims, wherein εaid actuation meanε iε remotely controllable.

8. Shaft bollard according to any of the preceeding claims, wherein εaid εhaft and guiding means have a round or oval section.