TITLE

Mobile passenger tower for transferring passengers between a quay apron and a chosen door / deck of a ship

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a mobile passenger tower according to the preamble to the following patent claim 1.

BACKGROUND ART

Mobile ramp arrangements are previously known, which are built with long gangways to meet stipulated handicap requirements, which is taxing for passengers and occupies a large space on the quay and also has limited flexibility as regards adaptability to the position of the access door of the ship.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The object of the invention is to make the embarkation and disembarkation of passengers more efficient, so that it requires a more limited space and involves shorter transfers for passengers and great adaptability to the position of the ship and the relevant access door.

This object is met by means of a passenger tower, the characteristics of which emerge from patent claim 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in greater detail below with an illustrative embodiment with reference to the following drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the passenger tower according to the invention,

Fig. 2 is a view from the front, i.e. from the sea side, Fig. 3 is a side view of the passenger tower, and Fig. 4 is a view from above of the passenger tower.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

As can be seen from the figures, the passenger tower 1 is built as a house construction having a shell in the form of a front wall 2, facing the water, two side walls 3, 4, a rear wall 5 and a roof 6. The tower 1 can be built from a framework with steel girder structures, for example, and clad with transparent facade surfaces, such as glass facades, or covered surfaces with window openings. The tower 1 is movably supported on a quay apron 7 and is transportable along the quay edge 8, in the shown example along a track 9, which, for example, is fixed and consists of two rails 10, 11. The framework is supported by a wagon construction having a number of, for example four wheels 12, which with a motor drive can transport the tower along its track 9 and is stopped in chosen position so as to end up in the desired position directly in front of, for example, a chosen door of a ship. Alternatively, the tower can be freely movable with steerable wheels on a flat ground surface.

In the bottom of the tower there are arranged entrance openings 13, 14, in the example two such situated in the rear wall and having, for example, sliding doors, situated level with a fixed waiting platform 15 on the quay apron outside the tower. The waiting platform 15 is advantageously raised somewhat above the quay apron in order, at the same time, to serve as a platform for comfortable alighting and boarding with respect to buses or coaches, etc.

Inside the tower 1 there is disposed an access platform 16, which is movable in the vertical direction between a lower level close to the level of the waiting

platform and a highest level below the roof 6 and which is designed to be placed level with the relevant access door 18 or entrance deck of the docked ship 17 and to follow changes of level of the chosen access door due to tidal changes and other slow movements. The access platform can be an open platform with railings, or a more closed cage or box with sliding doors for passage in and out. For the transport of passengers to/from the access platform and the fixed waiting platform 15 at the lower level, the tower contains one or more, in the example two lifts 19, 20, which move like shuttles between the lower level and the upper level, where the access platform 16 is found precisely at the moment of arrival of the lift. According to the invention, the upper level for the lifts 19, 20 is automatically adaptable to the current level for the access platform, i.e. the lifts are designed to, in their upper waiting position, follow changes of the access platform in the vertical direction. The lifts 19, 20 are expediently realized as lift cages with doors or gates, for transporting the passengers firstly from/to the fixed platform and secondly to/from the access platform. The lifts are each placed in a respective lift shaft 21 , 22 beside a shaft 23 for the access platform 16, which latter shaft is situated symmetrically in the tower 1 and, to the front, adjoins the front wall 2 of the tower and, to the rear, the rear wall 5. The tower 1 has in its front wall 2 an access opening 24, through which the access platform gives access to the ship 17. In the shown example, the access opening 24 is limited to a door opening which accompanies the access platform in its level-change movements, i.e. other surfaces can be covered by some roller-blind-like arrangement, which accompanies the access platform in its movements and covers the surfaces both above and below the access platform. The opening can be closable with a door, for example of the roller blind type, in order, in the non-access position, to fully close the tower and preserve a fully controlled environment in the tower.

The access platform 16 extends between the lift shafts 21 , 22 and rearwards towards the rear wall 5 of the tower and, in the shown example, extends in front over the full width of the front wall, i.e. up to the side walls 3, 4, and is

provided with a substantially horizontally expandable platform extension 25, which, in a retracted position, is located fully inside the access opening and, in a protruding position, is telescopically extended through the access opening 24 to a suitable length for reaching close to the side 26 of the ship 17. With an articulation 33, such as a hinge, at a place on the platform extension 25 a bit away from the outer end 27 of the platform extension a flap 34 is articulately arranged, which with an outer end 35 protrudes somewhat beyond the outer end of the platform extension. Connected to this flap is a bridge part 28, which can be lowered towards a bearing surface 29 on the ship, for example the floor plate by the relevant access door 18, in order to bridge the gap between the end of the flap 31 and the ship's side. More precisely, the bridge part 28 at its inner end 30 is articulately fastened with an articulation 31 , in the form of a hinge, to the outer end 27 of the flap 31 and rests with its outer, free end 32 against the bearing surface 29 in the ship. In the example, the bridge part 28 is somewhat arched to create a good bearing contact, even in the event of minor changes in level. The flap 31 can be actively adjusted by means of a drive mechanism into different angular positions relative to the access platform and its extension.

The access platform 16 with its platform extension is designed to maintain an unchanged angular position relative to the quay apron 7, i.e. normally horizontal position, whilst changes of level between the access platform and the chosen bearing surface 29 on the ship 17 result in angular changes of the bridge part 28 relative to the access platform and the absolute angle depends on the difference in level. Minor differences in level, i.e. minor inclinations and angles of the bridge part 28, can therefore be accepted, but in case of larger differences the level of the access platform must be adjusted until the inclination of the bridge part again becomes acceptable.

When a ship has put into port and is moored to the quay, it has assumed a substantially fixed position in longitudinal direction along the quay line and, in an initial position, also a certain position in the vertical direction, which can

alter with time, however, due to tidal changes for example. By means of a control system and a drive system for the passenger tower 1 according to the invention, the tower, in an adjustment mode, seeks out a specific position along the quay relative to the ship by transport along the track 9 until the access platform 16 has assumed its position in the longitudinal direction relative to the chosen access door 18 on the ship. By means of the control system, the drive system is also activated to change the level of the access platform 16, which is made to assume the same level as has just now been assumed by the chosen bearing surface 29 by the access door 18 of the ship. The drive system is hereupon activated for expansion of the platform extension 25 of the access platform, which is expanded towards the ship so that the front end 35 of the flap 31 ends up close to the ship's side 26 on the bearing surface 29. The control system, in the adjustment mode, comprises a positioning system, which can be known per se and can comprise, for example, a number of different sensors which detect the position of the ship or can alternatively be controlled according to inputted position data based on a reference system. Alternatively, the platform extension 25 can be hooked up to the ship by means of some rigid element and the extension is allowed to be floating, i.e. to accompany the lateral movements of the ship away from and towards the quay, whereby the gap to the vessel is kept substantially unchanged.

Under the adjustment mode, the bridge part 28 is raised towards the platform extension 25 of the access platform and, upon completed adjustment of the access platform, can be lowered, for example manually, towards the ship and can rest with its free end 32 against the bearing surface 29.

In an access mode, i.e. a stage for the transfer of passengers between ship and quay, the angular position of the bridge part relative to the access platform is monitored by means of a control system and, within a chosen, limited angular range, a level-adjustment of the access platform 16 is constantly made with the aim of maintaining a chosen reference value, for

example 0 degrees, relative to the horizontal plane. The angle is most simply detected with angle sensors situated by the hinged fastening of the bridge part and also in the hinged fastening of the flap 31 in the platform extension 25, and angle signals from the sensors control the drive system for changing the level of the access platform 16. This change of level can actually be manually effected by staff engaged in observing the current differences in level and the inclinations.

According to the invention, a control system for the lifts 19, 20 is designed to ensure that the lifts, in their upper position, always stop at and adapt to the current, variable level for the access platform, whereby passengers can continually embark or disembark without pause for adjustment of the access platform and adjustment of the upper level or waiting position of the lifts, unless the differences in level between the reference level of the ship, for example the bearing surface 29, and the access platform 16 become excessive, i.e. the inclination of the flap 31 and the bridge part 28 exceeds the chosen angular range and, should this occur, an alarm is raised and access is prevented. Should the differences in level become excessive, i.e. the measured angle value exceeds the limit value, then the necessary larger vertical positional movement of the access platform 16 is performed, and should one or both lifts 19, 20 be in their upper end positions, then the lifts automatically accompany the change in level of the access platform. Detection of the current level of the lifts at the access platform 16 and controlling of these to the current level can be done with a technique which in itself is conventional, such as end position switches for controlling the drive system of the lifts, or contactless optical or electronic sensors.

The invention is not limited to the above-described examples but can be varied within the scope of the following patent claims. For example, the number of lifts can vary and the tower can be realized differently. Instead of a combination of flap and bridge part, just a somewhat longer bridge part is conceivable.