The invention relates to a mooring device for mooring a ship and comprises a base, a movable arm construction supported by the base, and at least one magnet mounted in a frame, which frame is supported by the movable arm construction.

Such a mooring device is known from WO2010/053368. According to this citation the mooring device is placed ashore and is used for moving the magnet to the ship's hull and mounting the ship to the quayside. According to one of the aspects of the invention the mooring device can however also be mounted on the ship, wherein the magnet is connected to a magnetizable fixture onshore. The mooring device can also be used for connecting one ship to another ship. The magnet to be employed can be either permanent, semipermanent or it can be an electromagnet .

Although the mooring device known from WO2010/053368 is devised to be flexible with a view that the surface of the ship's hull need not be perfectly perpendicular to the mooring magnet surface to take care of the fact that most ship hulls are by nature of non-planar design, it is found that the degree of flexibility achieved with the known mooring device is insuf ^¬ ficient in real life. It is therefore a first object of the invention to improve the known mooring device. Secondly it is an object of the invention to accommodate the mooring device to higher degrees of irregularity in the ship's hull than is possible with the prior art mooring device. The third objective of the invention is to provide a mooring device which is easier to handle and which has improved versatility in its use. These and other objectives will become apparent from the following disclosure of the invention.

The mooring device of the invention and/or a ship provided with such a mooring device has the features of one or more of the appended claims .

According to a first aspect of the invention the frame is provided with at least one leaf spring, and the at least one magnet is supported by the at least one leaf spring. Such a leaf spring or leaf springs enable that the magnet or magnets supported thereby can easily accommodate to the curva- ture of the ship's hull.

According to the prior art it is known that the frame is with a hinge connected to the movable arm construction. Ac ^¬ cording to the invention it is preferred that the frame comprises two beams on opposite sides of such a hinge, and that each beam supports at least one leaf spring and a magnet mounted on said at least one leaf spring. By providing the beams on opposite sides of the hinge a balanced construction is possible which supports 'the ease of handling of the mooring device.

To further support the ease of handling by providing a balanced construction, it is preferred that each beam is provided with two leaf springs, wherein each leaf spring supports a magnet, and said two leaf springs are provided on opposite sides of the beam.

A very noteworthy aspect of the invention is that for each leaf spring the magnet or magnets mounted thereon connect to the leaf spring at a position distant from the beam. Quite surprisingly this increases not only the flexibility in moves that the magnet can make with reference to the frame in three degrees of freedom of a coordinate system, but it also arranges that the preferential movement direction of the magnets is per ^¬ pendicular to the frame and consequently also perpendicular to the ship's hull to which the magnets must be applied. It goes without saying that this is very beneficial for connecting the magnets to the ship's hull whilst avoiding that part of the magnets might acquire incomplete contact with the hull .

The mooring device of the invention is suitably arranged such that each beam is embodied as an H-beam, wherein the leaf spring or leaf springs connect to one leg of the H- beam at a backside of the magnet or magnets so as to arrange that in a rest position a front side of the magnet or magnets can be substantially flush with an opposite leg of the H-beam. This provides a suitably balanced construction, which again supports the ease of handling of the mooring device.

It is also preferred that the frame is provided with a counterweight or counterweights so as to provide the magnet or magnets mounted to the frame with a preferential orientation in a vertical plane with reference to the hinge.

In still another aspect of the invention the hinge is embodied as a ball and socket joint. Making use of such a ball and socket joint is beneficial for the manoeuvrability of the frame with the magnets with reference to the movable arm construction to which the frame connects.

Is preferred that the ball and socket joint connects at a central point of the frame so as to arrange that the frame is mirror symmetric left and right of the movable arm construction supporting the frame.

The invention will hereinafter be further elucidated with reference to the drawing of a schematic representation of a single mooring device according to the invention.

In the drawing:

-figure 1 shows the mooring device of the invention in a perspective view;

-figure 2 shows the frame with the magnets of the mooring device of the invention; and

-figure 3 shows in a detailed view the ball and socket joint with which the frame is mounted to the movable arm construction of the mooring device of the invention.

Wherever in the figures the same reference numerals are applied, these numerals refer to the same parts.

With reference first to figure 1, the mooring device

1 of the invention is shown in a perspective view. This mooring device 1 for mooring a ship comprises a base 2, a movable arm construction 3 supported by the base 2, and at least one but in practice usually several magnets 4 mounted in a frame 5. The frame 5 is supported by the movable arm construction 3. Figure

2 clearly shows that the frame 5 is connected to the movable arm construction 3 with an intermediate hinge 7.

According to the invention the frame 5 is provided with at least one but usually several leaf springs 6, wherein each magnet 4 is supported by one of the leaf springs 6. This is also shown in figure 2.

The detail of figure 3 shows that the intermediate hinge 7 is embodied as a ball and socket joint. Figure 2 clearly shows that the frame 5 comprises two beams 5', 5'' on opposite sides of the hinge 7, and that each beam 5', 5'' supports two leaf springs 6', 6'', wherein each leaf spring 6', 6' ' sup ^¬ ports a magnet 4, and said two leaf springs 6', 6'' are provid- ed on opposite sides of the beam 5.

Again referring to figure 2 it is shown that for each leaf spring 6' , 6' ' the magnet or magnets 4 mounted thereon connect to the leaf spring 6' , 6' ' with a constructional element 8 at a position distant from the beam 5. Figure 2 also shows that each beam 5 is embodied as an H-beam, wherein the leaf spring or leaf springs 6' , 6 ' ' connect to one leg 9 of the H-beam at a backside of the magnet or magnets 4 so as to arrange that in a rest position of the mooring device 1 a front side of the magnet or magnets 4 can be substantially flush with an opposite leg 10 of the H-beam.

Both figure 1 and figure 2 show that the frame 5 is provided with a counterweight 11 or counterweights so as to provide the magnet or magnets 4 mounted to the frame 5 with a preferential orientation in a vertical plane with reference to the hinge 7. This ensures that the surface of the magnets or magnets 4 can be oriented perfectly parallel with respect to the ship's hull or other fixture to which it will connect, which will provide optimal mooring results.

Finally it is remarked that from figure 1 it is clear that the ball and socket joint 7 connects at a central point of the frame 5 so as to arrange that the frame 5 is mirror symmetric left and right of the movable arm construction 3 supporting the frame 5.

As remarked above the mooring device of the invention may be placed ashore to connect to a ship' s hull for mooring purposes. According to the invention it is however also possible to provide a ship with one or more mooring devices according to the invention.

The appended claims provide the scope of protection of the instant invention, whereas the foregoing description is intended merely to elucidate any ambiguity that may possibly reside in these claims without the intent to limit the claims to the specific embodiment that has been discussed with reference to the drawing. The scope of protection that merits the invention is therefore solely defined by the appended claims and the construction of these claims should be as broad as is warranted by the invention in view of its contribution to the prior art.