BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates in general to a vessel, such as a ship, a boat or the like, and more particularly to a device for prevention of pitching rolling of the vessel for the purpose of absorbing the rolling motion of the vessel and of providing the passengers with comfortable voyage.

Description of the Prior Art

It is known that there happens pitching rolling in a vessel, such as a ship, a boat or the like, on a voyage and particularly cutting through a rough sea, and such a pitching rolling makes the crew as well as the passengers of the vessel lose the balance and fell, thereby causing a safety accident. Particularly, since the passengers of a passenger ship have little experience of voyage, they are suffered from a seasickness attended with a sick headache when the ship is in the pitching rolling. Such a seasickness with the sick headache due to the pitching rolling troubles the passengers with uncomfortable voyage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a device for prevention of pitching rolling of a vessel which is installed under the bottom of a cabin of the vessel and prevents the pitching rolling of the vessel body from being transferred to the cabin, thereby providing the passengers in the cabin with a safety and comfortable voyage irrespective of the pitching rolling. To accomplish the above object, a device for prevention of pitching rolling of a vessel in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a

lead container containing lead therein and having an opening at its top, a heating coil arranged on a bottom surface of the lead container to heat and melt the lead in the container and covered with a heat insulating cover, a support frame connecting the lead container to a bottom plate of the vessel, a support column connected to a bottom surface of a cabin and inserted in the lead container through the opening of the container and having a plate floater at its lower end, the plate floater contacting with the surface of the lead of the container, and a l id covering the container to hermetically seal the opening and tightly engaging with the support column, the lid being slidable with respect to an outer surface of the container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partially broken view of a vessel provided with a pitching rolling prevention device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2A is a sectional view of the pitching rolling prevention device of the present invention;

Fig. 2B is an enlarged sectional view showing a support column and a steel plate floater connected to the column and floating on liquid lead of a lead container of the pitching rolling prevention device of Fig. 2A; and Figs. 3A and 3B are sectional views of the pitching rolling prevention device, respectively, for showing a pitching rolling absorbing operation of the device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Fig. 1 shows a vessel provided with a device for prevention of pitching rolling 100 (hereinafter, referred to

"the pitching rolling prevention device") in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2A shows in a sectional view the pitching rolling prevention device of this invention, and Fig. 2B shows a support column 13 and a steel plate floater 14 connected to the column 13 and floating on a lead 30 of a lead container 20 of the pitching rolling prevention device 100 of Fig. 2A.

The pitching rolling prevention device 100 includes a ball-shaped lead container 20 which has a flat top surface provided with a center opening 21 and contains the lead 30 therein. The container 20 is also provided with a heating coil 40 arranged under the bottom of the container 20. A heat insulating cover 50 having a higher structural strength encases the heating coil 40 to restrict the heat loss of the heating coil 40 caused by the heat transferring to the outside. The container 20 is connected to a bottom plate 70 of the vessel body through a support frame 60 which connects the bottom of the container 20 to the bottom plate 70.

The support column 13 connected to the steel plate floater 14 at its lower end is received in the center opening 21 of the container 20 such that the steel plate floater 14 is placed in the center of the container 20 and contacts with the surface of the lead 30. Here, the diameter of the opening 21 is larger than the outer diameter of the support column 13 to provide a remarkable space between the periphery of the opening 21 and the column 13. The top end of the column 13 is connected to a bottom plate 11 of a cabin of the vessel.

Here, the support column 13 is provided with an outer threaded portion 13n at its top section. This outer threaded portion 13n engages with an inner threaded center hole 22h of a dome-shaped lid 22 to cover the top section of the container 20 including the center opening 21. At this time, the dome-shaped lid 22 is tightened by a nut 22n with a heat resisting packing 9 interposed between the nut 22n and the upper surface of the lid 22, thereby hermetically sealing the top section of the container 20 including the

center opening 21. The circular periphery of the dome- shaped lid 22 hermetically contacts with the upper outer surface of the ball-shaped container 20, however, it slides on the outer surface of the upper section of the container 20. The column 13 has an inner cavity 13a in its lower section. This inner cavity 13a communicates with the outside of the column 13 through at least one radial hole 13h formed at the lower section of the column 13.

The steel plate floater 14 is a circular plate having the same diameter as the inner diameter of the ball-shaped container 20 and is placed in the center of the container 20.

A plurality of pitching rolling devices 100, each having the aforementioned structure, are installed in several positions of the bottom plate 11 of the cabin, that is, at several corners, at peripheries and at the center of the bottom plate 11 of the cabin.

In the aforementioned preferred embodiment, the container 20 has a ball shape, however, it may have different configurations, such as a semicylindrical shape and a bowl shape, which yield the same result as that described for the preferred embodiment without affecting the functioning of this invention.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 10 denotes the cabin and the numeral 12 denotes a fixing hole for hinging the bottom plates 11 of the cabin 10 to each other or to a side wall of the vessel.

The pitching rolling prevention device 100 uses a natural phenomenon that the surface of a liquid in a container always maintains its perpendicular position to the gravity direction irrespective of inclination of the container. When the vessel cuts through a rough sea, each of the heating coils 40 of the pitching rolling prevention devices 100 placed in several positions under the bottom plate 11 of the cabin 10 is applied with an electric power and heats the solid lead 30 in the container 20 to melt the lead 30.

At this time, the steel plate floater 14 placed in the container 20 of the device 100 has a specific weight less than that of the liquid lead 30 and, in this regard, it floats on the surface of the liquid lead 30. The container 20 is hermetically sealed by the lid 22 as described above, so that the poisonous component of the gaseous lead is prevented from being leaked from the container 20. The inner pressure of the container 20 increasing in accordance with the boiling of the lead 30 is transferred to the cavity 13a of the column 13 through the radial hole 13h to be released.

Even when there occurs the pitching rolling in the bottom plate 70 of the vessel body due to force of wind and waves to incline the bottom plate 70, the surface of the liquid lead 30 in the container 20 maintains its perpendicular position to the gravity direction irrespective of inclination of the container 20. Thus, the steel plate floater 14 floating on the surface of the liquid lead 30 maintains its horizontal position, and this makes the bottom plate 11 of the cabin 10 connected to the vertically- positioned column 13 maintain its horizontal position irrespective of the inclination of the bottom plate 70 of the vessel body as shown in Figs. 3A and 3B.

Here, it is preferred to cool the bottom plate 11 of the cabin 10 heated by the liquid lead 30 of a high temperature. In order to achieve the above cooling object, the sea water may be preferably introduced to the lower surface of the bottom plate 11 or a blower (not shown) may be installed in a space between the container 20 and the bottom plate 11 to cool the heated bottom plate 11 of the cabin 10. When the blower is aided to the pitching rolling prevention device 100, the heated air may be expelled from the stern of the vessel .

The pitching rolling prevention device 100 of the present invention makes the passengers together with the crew feel no pitching rolling even when there occurs the pitching rolling in the bottom plate 70 of the vessel

cutting through a rough sea and provides comfortable voyage for the passengers.

When the vessel is at a gentle sea or at anchor in the harbor, the heating coil 40 is applied with no electric power to cause the lead 30 in the container 20 to be solidified, thereby saving the electric power and making the steel plate floater 14 to closely contact with the surface of the solid lead 30.

As described above, the present invention provides a pitching rolling prevention device which is installed in a place between a bottom plate of a vessel body and a bottom plate of a cabin for absorbing the pitching rolling of the vessel cutting through a rough sea. Thus, the pitching rolling prevention device of this invention frees the passengers of the vessel from a seasickness attended with a sick headache and provides comfortable voyage for the passengers, and achieves a desired safety transportation of shipping goods.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.