TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to gangplanks and, more particularly although not exclusively, to gangplanks deployed from ships at berth.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Cargo harbour operations and efficiency in moving goods from a given number of cargo vessels to shore are limited by the number of operational moorings available in the harbour. To make the most effective use of this limited resource, it is critical to process each cargo vessel as quickly as possible to make the mooring available for a subsequent vessel.

[0003] Additionally, cargo harbours are a necessarily dangerous workplace due to the heavy equipment in use, and the velocity at which heavy items are moved through the workplace seeking to process a cargo vessel as quickly as possible. It is desirable to ensure that equipment used in cargo harbour operations is deployed, and used, in a safe manner to avoid workplace incidents. [0004] One of the operations conducted on arrival of a cargo vessel at a berth is the deployment of a gangway between the cargo vessel and the quay. The gangway is ordinarily provided with a netting for safety, which is deployed underneath and next to the gangway, after the gangway has been deployed. This process can take 20 to 45 minutes, thereby creating a substantial and variable delay in commencing the movement of goods from and to the cargo vessel. This process also involves the presence of workers on the gangway without the netting being fully deployed, in order to deploy the netting, ironically creating a safety hazard in attempting to erect a safety mechanism.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to address or at least ameliorate some of the above disadvantages.

Notes

[0006] The term “comprising” (and grammatical variations thereof) is used in this specification in the inclusive sense of “having” or “including”, and not in the exclusive sense of “consisting only of’.

[0007] The above discussion of the prior art in the Background of the invention, is not an admission that any information discussed therein is citable prior art or part of the common general knowledge of persons skilled in the art in any country. SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Definitions

[0008] Gangplank: In this specification the term “gangplank” is intended to encompass all forms of walkway extending from a vessel to a platform adjacent to the vessel. The platform may be a dockside or it could be another vessel, for example. Hence the term “gangplank” encompasses gangway, accommodation ladder and pilot ladder.

[0009] Accordingly, in one broad form of the invention there is provided a safety netting assembly for a gangplank; the gangplank being deployable between a vessel and a quay; the assembly including: stanchions pivotally connected with railings at an upper end and pivotally interconnected with a beam structure of the gangplank at a lower end; the railings being movable between a stowed position in which the railings are located adjacent to a surface of the gangplank, and a deployed position in which the railings are located at a distance vertically above the gangplank surface, and safety netting.

[00010] Preferably the assembly further includes a safety netting deployment assembly attachable to the beam assembly and to the railings; the safety netting deployment assembly being movable between a stowed position in which the netting deployment assembly projects at least partially across the width of the gangplank, and a deployed position in which the netting deployment assembly extends between the beam assembly and the railings; the safety netting attached to elements of the netting deployment assembly.

[00011] Preferably the safety netting is attached to upper and lower members of a scissor-like mechanism of the netting deployment assembly.

[00012] Preferably lower ends of the lower members are attached to inside surfaces of an elongate members by hinged brackets.

[00013] Preferably the upper and lower members are interconnected by hinged joints.

[00014] Preferably upper ends of the upper members are each provided with a sleeve element; the railings passing through the sleeve elements of respective scissor-like mechanisms at each side of the gangplank as a free sliding fit.

[00015] Preferably the sleeve elements are connected to the upper ends of the upper members by hinged joints.

[00016] Preferably the safety netting is formed of first lengths of chain parallel to the railings and second lengths of chain crossing the first lengths at right angles; the first lengths and the second lengths interconnected at their intersections to form a flexible, substantially rectangular mesh.

[00017] Preferably apertures of the substantially rectangular mesh measure no greater than 190mm on the diagonal. [00018] Preferably the mesh of the safety netting is formed of one or more series of lower and upper panels along each side of the gangplank; lower panels attached to lower members of the scissor-like mechanisms and upper panels attached to upper members of the scissor-like mechanisms.

[00019] Preferably stanchions are urged into rotation about their pivot axles when a railing is moved longitudinally relative the beam structure of the gang plank.

[00020] Preferably the longitudinal movement of the railing raises the railing from the stowed position when moved in a first direction and lowers the railing from the deployed position when moved in a second direction.

[00021] Preferably the panels of the safety netting are brought into a substantially vertical plane relative the gangplank when the railing has been raised to the deployed position.

[00022] Accordingly, in a further broad form of the invention there is provided a method of deploying railings and safety netting on a gangplank; the method including the steps of: lowering the gangplank from a stowed position towards a quay, pulling the railings longitudinally relative the gangplank surface to rotate stanchions from a stowed position into a raised position normal to the gangplank surface, securing the railings in the raised position, and wherein the rotation of the stanchions brings the safety netting into a deployed position in which the safety netting substantially fills space between the gangplank and the railings.

[00023] Preferably the safety netting is comprised of first lengths of chain generally parallel to the railings when in the raised position, and second lengths of chain at right angles to the first lengths to form a flexible rectangular mesh.

[00024] Preferably panels of the safety netting is supported by scissor-like mechanisms disposed along each side of the gangplank.

[00025] Preferably the scissor-like mechanisms each include an upper member and a lower member; the lower member attached to sides of the gangplank by a hinged bracket; a sleeve element at an upper end of the upper member allowing passage of a railing as a free sliding fit.

[00026] Accordingly, in a further broad form of the invention there is provided a method of stowing railing and safety netting on a gangplank; the method including the steps of: moving railings at each side of the gangplank longitudinally relative the gangplank to rotate stanchions from a position substantially normal to the gangplank towards a position substantially parallel to the gangplank.

[00027] Preferably rotation of the stanchions unfolds upper and lower members of scissor-like mechanisms arranged along each side of the gangplank from generally coplanar positions between the gangplank and the railings towards substantially folded positions. [00028] Accordingly, in a further broad form of the invention there is provided a safety netting, stanchions and railing assembly for a gangplank; the gangplank being deployable between a vessel and a quay; the assembly including; railings pivotally interconnected with the stanchions at an upper end and a beam structure of the gangplank at a lower end; the railings being movable between a stowed position in which the railings and stanchions are located adjacent to a surface of the gangplank, and a deployed position in which the railings are located at a distance vertically above the gangplank surface and the stanchions are substantially normal to the gangplank, wherein the safety netting comprises a mesh of netting supported by the stanchions; the warps and wefts of the mesh formed of lengths of chain crossing one another at right angles when in a deployed position; the lengths of chain interconnected at their crossover points.

[00029] Preferably the lengths of chain are interconnected at their crossover points by rings interconnecting adjacent chain links.

[00030] Accordingly, in a further broad form of the invention there is provided a safety netting, stanchions and railing assembly for a gangplank; the gangplank being deployable between a vessel and a quay; the assembly including; railings pivotally interconnected with the stanchions and a beam structure of the gangplank; the railings being movable between a stowed position in which the railings and stanchions are located adjacent to a surface of the gangplank, and a deployed position in which the railings are located at a distance vertically above the gangplank surface and the stanchions are substantially normal to the gangplank, wherein the safety netting comprises a mesh of netting supported by the stanchions; the warps and wefts offset one from the other; the mesh formed of wire or cable crossing one another at right angles when in a deployed position; the lengths of wire or cable interconnected at their crossover points.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[00031] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

[00032] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a gangplank having a railing along one side in a partially deployed position, according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention. [00033] Figure 2 is a perspective view of a portion of one side of the gangplank of FIG. 1 with the railing and side safety netting in a fully deployed position.

[00034] Figure 3 is a perspective view of portions of both sides of the gangplank of FIG. 2 at an intermediate position between the fully deployed position of Fig. 2 and a stowed position. [00035] Figure 4 is a perspective view of the portion of the gangplank of Fig. 2 with the railing and safety mesh in a fully stowed position.

[00036] Figure 5 is a perspective view of the gangway provided with railings and safety netting assemblies according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention.

[00037] Figure 6A is a detailed view of a section of mesh of a first preferred form.

[00038] Figure 7A is a detailed view of a section of mesh of a second preferred form.

[00039] Figures 6 to 8 are various perspective views of the gangplank and netting assembly of fig 5 in various states of deployment.

[00040] Figure 9 is a perspective view of the gangplank and netting assembly of figures 5 to 8 in a stowed condition.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

First Preferred Embodiment

[00041] With reference to figures 1 to 4, a gangplank safety deployment system 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, is incorporated in a gangplank formed as spaced apart, parallel elongate members 110 of a beam structure. Elongate members 110 may comprise steel RHS or channel section, for example. Secured between the elongate members 110 may be rungs 114, as shown for example in figures 1 to 4, or steps as shown in figure 5 defining in effect, a notional gangplank surface.

[00042] The safety deployment system 100 further includes railings 120, at either side of the gangplank pivotally interconnected with the beam structure which, when deployed, lie generally vertically above elongate members 110.

[00043] The railings 120 are part of a safety netting deployment assembly 122 as shown in figures 2 to 4, which allows the railings to be raised and safety netting deployed from the stowed position of figure 4 into a deployed position as shown in figures 2. Note only one side of the safety netting deployment assembly is shown in figures 1, 2 and 4.

[00044] Turning again to figures 2 and 3, the railing and safety netting deployment assembly 122 includes a number of spaced apart stanchions 160 along each side of the beam structure, each of which is pivotally supported at a lower end 132 by a short pivot axle 134 which extends outwardly from an outer surface of the elongate member 110 and around which the stanchions 160 rotate in a vertical plane, that is, a plane normal to the notional gangplank surface and parallel to the elongate member 110. The stanchions 160 are further pivotally connected at their upper ends 164 to the railing 120. As can be seen in figure 4, when in the stowed position, the stanchions and the railing lie parallel to, and generally within the depth, of the elongate member 110. [00045] It will be understood that, when the railing 120 in figure 4 is pulled longitudinally relative the notional gangplank in a first direction indicated by the arrow, (in practice in the “up” direction along the gangplank towards the deck level of a ship), the stanchions 160 will be gradually rotated about their pivot axles 111 into a deployed position to lie substantially normal to the notional gangplank surface. Stops (not shown) may be provided at the pivot axles 134 to restrict rotation of the stanchions between the railing stowed position and the deployed position. The railing may be secured in the deployed position of figure 2 by lashing from a suitable fixture, either on the gangplank itself or on the ship.

[00046] Safety netting 162, as shown in figures 2 to 4 is attached to the lower and upper members 148 and 150 of the deployment assemblies 122, which are located at intervals along the length of the longitudinal members 110 with the netting substantially covering the space between the elongate members 110 and the railings 120 when in the deployed position of figure 2. Preferably, the netting 162, as shown in figure 6A, is formed of first lengths of chain 162A parallel to the railing when in the deployed position, and second lengths of chain 162B crossing the first at right angles, interconnected at their intersections, as shown for example by connecting rings 163 passing through adjacent links to form a flexible, substantially rectangular mesh with apertures no larger than 190mm across the diagonal. Preferably, the mesh is formed in lower panels supported by elements 148, and upper panels supported by elements 150 of the deployment assemblies 122. The chains may be of galvanized iron or stainless steel. A similarly formed panel of mesh safety netting is secured beneath the elongate members to catch falling objects from a gangplank formed with rungs or steps, as can be seen in figures 5 to 9.

[00047] Referring again to figures 2 and 3, each railing deployment assembly 122 comprises a folding or scissor-like safety netting control mechanism which, when in the stowed position of figure 4, extends at least partially across the width of the gangplank. A lower end 142 of lower member 148 of the scissor-like mechanism, is pivotally attached by a doubly hinged bracket 130 (see the inset enlargement figure 3B) at an inward side of the elongate member 110 and attached to the upper member 150 by hinged joint 146. The upper member 150 is connected at its upper end to a sleeve element 152 through which passes the railing 120 as a free sliding fit. Preferably, the upper member 150 is provided with a further hinge joint 164 to allow the railing 120 to fully lower to lie along the stanchions 160 when these lie substantially parallel beside the elongate member 110, as can be seen in figure 4.

[00048] It can be seen in the sequence of figures 2 to 4, that when the railing 120 is pushed in the direction of the arrow in figure 2, as the railing lowers by virtue of the rotation of the stanchions 160 about pivot axles 134, the railing slides through sleeve element 152 while at the same time forcing the scissor-like arrangement 140 to fold and eventually assume the substantially flattened position of the lower and upper members 148 and 150 and of the mesh panels, substantially aligned with the gangplank surface shown in figure 4.

[00049] To deploy the gangplank for use, the railings 120 are pulled in the direction of the arrow in figure 4, forcing the stanchions to rotate back towards the upright position of figure 2, with the elements 148 and 150 of the deployment assemblies 122 to gradually unfold as shown in figure 3, and assume the substantially coplanar position of figure 2, thereby erecting the safety netting in the process to lie in a substantially vertical plane relative the gangplank, substantially filling the space between the gangplank and the railings.

Second Preferred Embodiment

[00050] With reference now to figures 5 to 9, in this second preferred embodiment, a gangplank safety deployment system again comprises railings 220 and safety netting 262 installed on a gangplank 200 . As in the first preferred embodiment above, the gangplank may be formed of a pair of longitudinal elements 210 with rungs 214, or steps as in figures 5 to 9 to form a gangplank surface.

[00051] In this embodiment also, stanchions 260 are rotatably attached along each side of the longitudinal elements 210, able to be rotated from the substantially normal to gangplank as shown in figures 5 and 6, to the stowed position shown in figure 9 in which the railings and stanchions lie alongside the longitudinal elements 210.

[00052] It will be noted that, in this embodiment, as can be seen from figures 5 to 9, that there is no netting deployment system. Rather the flexible formed-from-chain mesh netting 262 is attached directly to the stanchions. As stanchions 260 are rotated from the deployed position of figure 5, the flexibility of the netting simply allows the netting to fall into a generally linear bundle alongside the longitudinal elements 210.

Third Preferred Embodiment

[00053] Structurally, this third embodiment is the same as that described for the second embodiment above, that is, the gangplank is provided with rotatable stanchions 260, rotatably attached at their upper ends to railings 220. Again also, in this embodiment a flexible mesh netting 262 is directly secured to the stanchions 260.

[00054] As can be seen in figure 56B, in this case the netting is made up of flexible wire, or thin cable in which the warps 262A and wefts 262B lie in planes offset from one another. The warps and wefts are interconnected at their crossover points by fittings 263 as shown in figure 6A. Fittings 263 are formed of two sections 264 and 266 interconnected by a central rivet 268 allowing the two parts to swivel relative each other. Each section further includes a projecting wire guide 270 through which the wires of the warps and wefts pass, with the wire pinned within the fittings 263 by the rivets 268. The flexibility of the wire or cable and the swivelling freedom of the crossover points provide for a mesh which is sufficiently flexible to behave in the same manner as that of the chain formed mesh of the first and second embodiments described above, that is to assume a generally compact bundle of mesh lying along each side of the gangplank longitudinal members when in the stowed position of figure 9.

[00055] The flexible mesh netting may be made from either metallic materials or plastic materials or fibrous materials or a combination of these. So, for example, the netting may be made from rope. In alternative forms it made be made from plastics materials including polymers. Such materials will preferably be treated to provide for UV resistance given the very exposed environment in which the gangplank safety deployment system of the present application will operate. As previously stated, it may also be made from metallic materials. In preferred forms this will be stainless steel.

[00056] The flexible mesh netting, however composed, in preferred forms required to be interconnected at crossover points. In preferred forms flexibility is required at the crossover points. In preferred forms the component comprising the warp and weft elements may lie in separate planes.

[00057] Although the embodiments described are for an integrated system of gangplank with railing and netting deployment system, it will be understood that the inventive aspects of deployable railing and netting, may be retrofitted to an existing gangplank by providing the pivot points for the stanchions and, in the case of the first embodiment, hinge points for the scissor-like arrangements along the sides of the gangplank.

In Use

[00058] As a ship berths, the gangplank, which is typically supported along the side of the ship at deck level, is lowered towards the quay surface. Winches may be used to pull the railings into the deployed position which at the same time deploys the safety netting to secure the space between the edges of the gangplank and the railings.

Industrial Applicability

[00059] The railing and safety netting deployment system of the invention provides for rapid deployment of a gangplank which is immediately provided with railings and safety netting as it is lowered into position. It avoids the dangerous practice of crew having to access the gangplank to install safety netting, as well as considerably shortening gangplank deployment time.