The invention relates to a stationary pneumatic bulk material conveying device for loading and/or unloading a ship.

Cranes and arms as components of conveying devices are known, for example from US

7,610,934 B2, US 3,451,427, DE 27 41 801 Al and DE 21 00 940 C3. A ball-and-socket joint for pneumatic conveying pipes is known from DE-OS 1 931 008. An object of the present invention is to develop a conveying device of the type mentioned at the outset in such a way that it is suitable, in particular, for pneumatic slow conveyance, in other words for the plug conveyance of bulk material.

This object is achieved according to the invention by a bulk material conveying device having the features disclosed in claim 1.

It was recognised according to the invention that a ball-and-socket joint for coupling the conveying pipe to the ship leads to the possibility of guiding the conveying pipe on the arm in such a way that along the course of the conveying pipe it is possible to absorb forces which are transmitted from the bulk material to the conveying pipe and the elements carrying it during the slow conveyance, in particular during deflections of the conveying pipe. The ball-and-socket joint simultaneously allows good compensation of relative movements of the arm to the ship in the decisive directions. Adjacent arms, because of the ball-and-socket joint connection of the conveying pipe and the resulting possibility of guiding the conveying pipe in a compact manner, can be arranged closely adjacent to one another, which also allows an advantageous compact guidance of a plurality of conveying pipes. A loading or unloading of a ship with a high conveying throughput can thus be ensured on a relatively narrow space. The arm can be part of a hoist. The at least one conveying pipe of the bulk material conveying device can have pipe portions, which are not flexible per se and consist of a rigid material, in particular of metal. The at least one conveying pipe can thus consist exclusively of rigid conveying pipe portions which can be displaced with respect to one another in an articulated manner or along the conveying direction. The conveying pipe is then, in particular, stable as a whole. Problems, which are to be attributed to this, that flexible conveying pipe portions can absorb lower forces, which the bulk material exerts on the conveying pipe during conveying, are dispensed with.

The conveying device can be configured for pneumatic slow conveyance of the bulk material, in other words for a conveyance of bulk material plugs separated from one another by air cushions, or for pneumatic dense phase conveyance, in other words for a conveyance of the bulk material in the form of a highly loaded flow conveyance, in other words a flow conveyance having a high load, or for pneumatic lean phase conveyance.

The bulk material conveying device may be stationary, in other words with at least one conveying pipe mounted on the land-side and a ship-side connection mechanism, in other words a connection mechanism configured for docking to the ship, or may be mobile, in other words with a conveying pipe mounted on the ship and a land side connection mechanism mounted on the ship, in other words a connection mechanism for docking to harbour-side conveying components.

A lean phase conveyance, a slow conveyance or a dense phase conveyance in the sense of this application is present when the conveying parameters "conveying pressure", "end speed", "starting speed", "load" and "plug formation" satisfy the criteria which are given below for various conveying principles, namely for pressure conveyance, on the one hand, and for suction conveyance, on the other hand, and for two different bulk material types, namely for granules with an average grain size > 500 μπι and for powders with an average grain size < 800 μπι. The end product of a granulating process is called the granulate here. The width of a grain distribution is defined by a relative spacing of a particle size XI 0 and X90. XI 0 here is the particle size in comparison to which the particles of 10 % of the weight of a sample quantity taken are smaller. X90 is the particle size here in comparison to which the particles of 90 % of the weight of a sample quantity taken are smaller. This difference X90 -XI 0 is related to a particle size X50, in other words the particle size, in comparison to which the particles of half a sample weight of a sample quantity taken are smaller. With a narrow grain distribution there applies (X90 - X10)/X50 < 0.5. In addition there applies to a narrow grain distribution X90/X10 < 1.5. As soon as at least one of the two values is exceeded, there is no longer a narrow grain distribution, but a wide grain distribution.

Pressure conveyance granules (> 500 μηι, narrow grain distribution, granulated)

A load in slow conveyance is, in particular, in the range between 3 and 80. A dense phase conveyance is unlikely to be established in the case of granules. Generally, a lean phase conveyance or a slow conveyance takes place there.

Suction conveyance granules (> 500 μιτι, narrow grain distribution, granulated)

A load in slow conveyance is, in particular, in the range between 3 and 80. A dense phase conveyance is unlikely to be established in granules. Generally, a lean phase conveyance or slow conveyance takes place there. Pressure conveyance powder (< 800 μιη)

A load in slow conveyance is, in particular, in the range between 3 and 45. Suction conveyance powder (< 800 μιη)

A load in slow conveyance is, in particular, in the range between 3 and 45.

The pressure of the carrier gas in the region of feeding the bulk material for conveyance is given as the conveying pressure. The end speed is the speed of the carrier gas at the end of the respective conveying path. The starting speed is the speed of the carrier gas at the start of the respective conveying path, in other words at the site of feeding the bulk material. Plug formation is taken to mean a conveying state, in which conveying gas cushions form in the bulk material. The load is defined here as the quotient of the mass of the bulk material conveyed with a specific conveying gas quantity and the mass of the conveying gas used for this purpose. The slow conveyance according to the invention or dense phase conveyance is present when this load has a value of at least 3, if, in other words, in a given conveying volume of the loading system, by which the bulk material is conveyed, the mass of the bulk material is at least three times as great as the mass of the conveying gas present in this conveying volume. If very long conveying paths are bridged by the loading system and these are greater than e.g. 800 m, a dense phase conveyance in the sense of the application is even present when the load falls below the value of three. Transportation of this type was previously not considered in the prior art because of the forces occurring with slow conveyance or dense phase conveyance or with the in particular highly loaded lean phase conveyance in the region of deflections. It was recognised according to the invention that these forces in the region of deflections in the loading/unloading path can not only be managed in the meantime in the stationary conveying sections of the loading system, but also at the interface between the harbour/ship. With the slow conveyance or dense phase conveyance or lean phase conveyance, a very large throughput of bulk material can be realised, so the loading system can be designed for a continuous operation, which corresponds to the production quantity of a bulk material production plant, in particular a plastics material production plant. Efficient transportation of bulk material, in which no large warehousing has to be undertaken, is the result. An average grain size of the bulk material to be loaded may be in the range between 10 μπι and 10 mm, in particular in the range between 50 μπι and 6 mm, for example in the range between 50 μπι and 200 μπι or in the range between 2 mm and 6 mm. In the slow conveyance or dense phase conveyance or lean phase conveyance, in the region of a product feed, in other words in the region of a combining of the bulk material with the conveying gas, a gas speed (starting speed) may be in the range between lm/s and 20 m/s, in particular in the range between l m/s and 8 m/s or in the range between 6 m/s and 20 m/s, for example in the range between 2 m/s and 3 m/s or in the range between 10 m/s and 15 m/s. At the end of a conveying line for slow conveyance or dense phase conveyance or lean phase conveyance, the gas speed (end speed) may be in the range between 4 m/s and 50 m/s, in particular in the range between 4 m/s and 12 m/s or in the range between 8 m/s and 50 m/s, for example in the range between 8 m/s and 10 m/s or in the range between 25 m/s and 30 m/s. The gas speed is predetermined as a function of the type of bulk material, of the conveying line diameter and of the conveying line length for slow conveyance or dense phase conveyance or lean phase conveyance. If granules are conveyed, the gas speed in the region of the product feed is, for example, in the range between 1 m/s and 5 m/s. At the end of the conveying line, the gas speed in the granule conveyance may be in the range to, for example, a maximum of 12 m/s. If a powder is conveyed, the gas speed in the region of a product feed may be e.g. in the range between 5 m/s and 25 m/s and at the end of the conveying line reach a gas speed of, for example, up to 50 m/s. It may be that no further plug formation is present in the region of the high gas speeds. With gas speeds at the end of the conveying line, which are below 15 m/s, there is a slow conveyance. There is generally a dense phase conveyance in the case of gas speeds above this. The greater a conveying line diameter and/or the longer a conveying line is, the greater the predetermined gas speed. The loading system can bridge the entire conveying path between the bulk material production system and the ship. Alternatively, it is possible to bridge a part of the loading path by bulk good transporters, which are independent of the loading system, so the loading system bridges a transport path between an unloading site of the transporters and the ship. The loading system may have a plurality of intermediate storage containers. The bulk material for conveyance into the ship can be removed in parallel simultaneously from at least two of these intermediate storage containers. The bulk material for conveyance into the ship can also be removed simultaneously from three or even more of the intermediate storage containers. A loading system with such a plurality of intermediate storage containers, from which the bulk material can be removed in parallel for conveyance into the ship, is an important aspect of the invention regardless of the conveying method.

The conveying pipe can have a plurality of telescopic sections. The telescopic sections of the conveying pipe may be carried by a support mechanism. The support mechanism for the telescopic sections of the conveying pipe may have a pipe-shaped or box-shaped structure or be configured as a lattice support mechanism. The pipe-shaped or box-shaped structure of the support mechanism can carry precisely one conveying pipe or else a plurality of conveying pipes. The lattice support mechanism can carry a plurality of conveying pipes together. The lattice support mechanism may be manufactured from a solid profile or from a hollow profile.

A conical configuration of the ball-and-socket joint according to claim 2 optimises the use thereof during the slow conveyance, as a pressure loss that is as low as possible results. The cone angle of the conical conveying portion may be a maximum of 20°, may be a maximum of 10° and may, in particular, be a maximum of 5°. The cone may be arranged in an inner or an outer joint part of the ball-and-socket joint. The conical conveying line portion may be displaceable between two connections, in such a way that a direction in which the conical conveying line portion narrows, can be reversed by rotating the ball-and-socket joint relative to the conveying pipe. The bulk material conveying device or the loading system can then be used as a loading conveying device and as an unloading conveying device with a reversed conveying direction with one and the same ball-and-socket joint with the conical conveying line portion. The displacement of the conical conveying line portion may take place in a manual or driven manner, for example driven pneumatically or electrically.

A plurality of conveying pipes according to claim 3 may be mounted on one and the same arm or may be mounted on mutually adjacent arms. This allows a loading and unloading of a ship with a high conveying throughput on a relatively narrow space. A plurality of containers or

compartments in the ship or at the harbour can be loaded and/or unloaded simultaneously. The support frame allows a briding of longer conveying paths with the at least one conveying pipe, as this does not have to be self-supporting. The pipes can be enclosed by the supporting frame. Alternatively, it is possible to guide the pipes below the support frame and/or above the support frame.

An additional carrier gas or conveying gas conveying line according to claim 4 allows carrier gas to be supplied to the ship to unload it. The ship does not then have to have a carrier gas source of its own. Likewise, when loading, the carrier gas can be returned to land, in order to be prepared there and/or to be discharged back to the atmosphere. During the preparation, the carrier gas can be, in particular, filtered. By means of a suction filter, which can act as a breathing filter for the system, additional carrier gas can be sucked in or removed. At least a part of the carrier gas quantity used can be guided in a circuit.

A course of conveying pipe portions according to claim 5 has proven to be particularly advantageous for slow conveyance. With a corresponding horizontal or vertical course of conveying line portions or all the conveying lines, a particularly efficient slow conveyance results. Straight portions of the conveying pipe can run exclusively vertically in an angle range of a maximum of 20° or a maximum of 10° deviating from the vertical or horizontally in an angle range of between 20° ascending gradient and 40° descending gradient.

A ratio between an arc radius and a conveying pipe diameter in the range according to claim 6, on the one hand, leads to a low pressure loss during the slow conveyance with deflection forces which are simultaneously as low as possible. The ratio R/D may be in the range between one and ten and in the range between one and seven. The ratio R/D may, in particular, be five.

A symmetrical arrangement of the ball-and-socket joint according to claim 7 prevents undesired torque inputs resulting as a consequence of forces produced during the pneumatic conveyance.

A plurality of swivel joints, according to claim 8, leads to advantageous further degrees of freedom of movement of the conveying pipe in the region of the guidance thereof on the hoist of the conveying device. In principle, it is even possible to work exclusively with swivel joints, in other words to dispense with the ball-and-socket joint. A plurality of swivel joints may then be used instead of the ball-and-socket joint.

A conveying pipe arm mounted in a balanced manner according to claim 9 ensures that the arm does not unintentionally transmit a torque and forces to carrying components of the conveying device.

A pipe joint unit according to claim 10 can be configured in a structurally non-complex manner.

This applies, in particular, to a cylinder joint unit according to claim 11. If the conveying device has a plurality of conveying pipes running parallel to one another, a plurality of cylinder joint units can be arranged next to one another along the joint axis or with joint axes running parallel to one another. Pipe joint connections can be formed by combinations of the various joint types. A combination of at least one joint type, in other words an cylinder joint unit or a swivel joint, with a ball-and-socket joint is also possible.

If cylinder joint units are used, it is, in principle, also possible, instead of a ball-and-socket joint, to use a joint connection with two cylinder joint units, which, in each case, allow a pivoting of two pipe portions about a joint axis, which is perpendicular to the pipeline path for the bulk material, it being possible for the joint axes of the two cylinder joint units to be configured, in each case, parallel to axes perpendicular to one another. If all three joint movement degrees of freedom of a ball-and-socket joint are replaced by a joint connection with two cylinder joint units, in addition to the two cylinder joint units, a swivel joint according to claim 8 can also be used. When using precisely one cylinder joint, a ball-and-socket joint, depending on whether two or three ball-and-socket joint degrees of freedom of movement are to be replaced, can also be replaced by a cylinder joint unit and by two swivel joints. The conveying lines of the conveying device may have a plurality of individual lines running parallel to one another. Individual pipelines for the carrier air supply or for the carrier air removal may be arranged above or below the individual lines running parallel to one another for bulk material conveyance. In this case, in particular a 4+1 structure with four individual lines running parallel to one another for bulk material conveyance and a carrier air feed line or carrier air removal line may be used. Accordingly, a 5+1 structure or in general an X+l structure may be used, wherein X may have the value 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 or even higher. The pipelines for the carrier air feed or for the carrier air removal may, in total or in portions, also be configured as flexible hose lines. A pipe package according to claim 12 increases the conveying throughput.

A rotary feedthrough according to claim 13 facilitates the pipe package guidance and

corresponds to an angle compensation, which can be used, for example, for a horizontal or vertical compensation by the bulk material conveying device. The rotary feedthrough can be designed in such a way that it is possible to pivot the two pipe package portions that are adjacent in the conveying direction about the joint axis through 360° for maintenance purposes. In conveying operation, the rotary feedthrough can allow a pivoting angle which may be greater than 10°, may be greater than 20° and may be greater than 30°. A rotary feedthrough according to claim 14 can be structurally implemented with a low outlay even with rigid conveying pipe portions in the region of the rotary feedthrough. As an alternative, it is possible to provide, in the region of the rotary feedthrough, flexible line portions for the bulk material conveying pipes and/or a carrier gas line portion, which can also be guided through the rotary feedthrough. A carrier gas supply line can also be guided through the rotary feedthrough. The at least one conveying pipe or the conveying pipe package may run horizontally in an angle range between a 30° ascending gradient and a 45° descending gradient and/or vertically in an angle range of a maximum of a 30° deviation from the vertical. A conveying pipe course of this type has proven advantageous, in particular for slow conveyance. With a corresponding horizontal or vertical course of conveying line portions or the total conveying lines, a particularly efficient pneumatic conveyance results. The loading system and the unloading system may have a conveying logistics system, with which a documentation of the loaded bulk material and also a weight balancing of the bulk material loaded onto the ship is possible. Regardless of an incline of the conveying lines, internal walls of the conveying lines, which come into contact with the bulk material, may be smooth or, in an alternative configuration, rough in a defined manner. To implement internal walls which are rough in a defined manner of the conveying lines, the latter may, for example, be shot-blasted with balls. Surfaces shot-blasted with balls are advantageous, in particular in the case of high conveying speeds, as an undesired formation of thin threads of the material of the bulk material, which are known as angel's hair, and can occur in plastics bulk materials, is avoided. The pipes of the conveying lines may either be manufactured from cold-rolled, hot-rolled or extruded materials. The respective composition of the surfaces is selected depending on the conveying method and type of bulk material. In slow conveyance, a smooth surface may be used. In dense flow conveyance, a slightly roughened surface, for example a hot-rolled surface, may be used.

To parameterise the roughness, the parameter mean roughness index Ra according to DIN EN ISO 4287: 1998 and averaged roughness depth Rz may be used. The averaged roughness depth Rz is the mean value of five measured maximum profile heights. For cold-rolled materials, mainly high-grade steel, there applies Ra < 3 μπι, in particular 0.5 μπι < Ra < 1.6 μπι. For hot- rolled materials there applies 3 μπι < Ra < 20 μπι, in particular 2 μπι < Ra < 20 μπι. For surfaces shot-blasted with balls there applies 30 μπι < Rz < 70 μπι. For shot-blasted aluminium surfaces there applies, in particular, 40 μπι < Rz < 120 μπι. If a smooth surface of the pipe interior wall is desired, seamlessly pressed aluminium may also be used. There applies, in particular, here 1 μπι < Ra < 5 μπι. The conveying device can have a measuring and monitoring mechanism to monitor a docking position of the connection mechanism for coupling components mounted on the harbour-side of the conveying device to the ship and vice versa. This measuring and monitoring device may cooperate with an emergency uncoupling mechanism of the conveying device.

For lifting and movement elements of the conveying device, a force activation may be provided.

Lifting and movement elements of the conveying device can be connected to a counterweight, which exerts a compensating torque on another torque of the lifting and movement elements and correspondingly allows a balanced mounting of the lifting and movement elements.

A swivel joint, which will be described in more detail below in conjunction with the figures, independently of the further other bulk material conveying device, is to be a component of the application that is essential to the invention. A combination of a joint unit of the swivel joint with a rapidly assembleable and disassembleable connection between a rotatably mounted conveying pipe portion and the swivel joint, in particular, is important here.

Embodiments of the invention will be described below in more detail with the aid of the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows, highly schematically, a loading system for loading bulk material from lorries onto a ship and an unloading system for loading bulk material from a ship onto lorries; Fig. 2 perspectively shows a stationary pneumatic bulk material conveying

device for loading and/or unloading a ship using the example of an articulated crane;

Fig. 3 shows a course and degrees of freedom of movement of a conveying pipe mounted on a hoist of the conveying device according to Fig. 2; show snapshots of the conveying device coupled to the ship with various movement positions of the hoist and the conveying pipe; shows a ball-and-socket joint arranged on the ship-side end of the conveying pipe, in axial longitudinal section; perspectively shows a swivel joint of the conveying pipe, which allows a rotation thereof in a pipe longitudinal axis portion extending in the region of the swivel joint; shows an axial longitudinal section through the conveying device in the region of the swivel joint according to Fig. 9; show further embodiments of movable conveying pipes with associated joint arrangements in views similar to Fig. 3; shows an outer view of the ball-and-socket joint according to Fig. 8 in the conveying position "straight conveying path"; shows the ball-and-socket joint according to Fig. 13 in the conveying position "angled conveying path"; shows a side view of the ball-and-socket joint in the position according to Fig. 13; side view of the ball-and-socket joint in the position according to

Fig. 17 shows an axial longitudinal section through the ball-and-socket joint in the position according to Figs. 14 and 16; shows a sectional view of the ball-and-socket joint corresponding to Fig.

17 with the outer sealing sleeve omitted; show variants of a mounting of a joint ball of the ball-and-socket joint in a joint socket of the ball-and-socket joint, which can be used instead of a mounting according to Fig. 18; shows the detail XXII in Fig. 20; shows the detail XXIII in Fig. 21; shows the ball-and-socket joint in the configuration according to Figs. 21 and 23 in a perspective view similar to Fig. 14; shows a plan view of one of the conveying devices with a plurality of hoists; schematically shows a further configuration of a loading conveying device with a conveying line, which, between a land-side and a ship-side conveying portion, has pipe portions, which are connected to one another by pipe joint connections, some of the pipe joint connections being divided into pipe joint units, which allow pivoting of the pipe portions with respect to one another about precisely one joint axis; shows a further configuration of an unloading conveying device with a conveying pipe, which, analogously to the loading conveying pipe according to Fig. 26, is divided into pipe portions that are articulated to one another; Fig. 28 schematically shows a variant of bulk material conveyance in the

unloading conveying device according to Fig. 27 in the region of a harbour-side sifter mechanism; perspectively shows one of the pipe joint units of the configuration according to Fig. 26 and 27, configured as a cylinder joint unit; shows an axial longitudinal section through the cylinder joint unit according to Fig. 29 perpendicular to the joint axis thereof; shows a section along the line XXXI-XXXI in Fig. 30; shows a pipe joint connection with two pipe joint units arranged one behind the other according to Fig. 29 with joint axes, which run parallel to axes perpendicular to one another; shows a view from the viewing direction XXXIII in Fig. 32; shows a section along the line XXXIV-XXXIV in Fig. 33; perspectively shows a further configuration of a pipe joint connection with a cylinder joint unit in accordance with Fig. 29 and a swivel joint unit; shows an axial longitudinal section through the pipe joint connection according to Fig. 35 perpendicular to the joint axis of the cylinder joint unit thereof; shows a section along the line XXXVII-XXXVII in Fig. 36; shows, partially in section, a conveying pipe with ball-and-socket joints, which are in each case arranged at both ends and both have conveying line portions tapering conically in the conveying direction, in a loading position "ship empty"; Fig. 39 shows the conveying pipe according to Fig. 38 in the loading position

"ship full";

Fig. 40 shows the conveying pipe according to Fig. 38 in the unloading position

"ship full";

Fig. 41 shows the conveying pipe according to Fig. 38 in the unloading position

"ship empty"; Fig. 42 shows a further configuration of a conveying pipe with a ball-and-socket joint with a conveying line portion conically tapering in the conveying direction and a ball-and-socket joint with a cylindrical conveying line portion in a loading position "ship empty"; Fig. 43 shows the conveying pipe according to Fig. 42 in the loading position

"ship full";

Fig. 44 shows the conveying pipe according to Fig. 42 in the unloading position

"ship full";

Fig. 45 shows the conveying pipe according to Fig. 42 in the unloading position

"ship empty";

Fig. 46 shows a cross-section through a plurality of conveying pipes according to

Fig. 38 or Fig. 42, which are arranged in the form of a pipe package, grouped around a central support frame, the pipe package being able to be used in a loading conveying device or in an unloading conveying device;

Fig. 47 to 51 show highly schematically, also in cross-section and in a view similar to

Fig. 46, further package variants of the conveying pipes in pipe packages; shows a conveying tower and a conveying arm of a conveying device, which can be used to unload or load the ship with bulk material, an arm of a conveying tower of the conveying device being relieved of pressure by means of a counterweight; perspectively shows a further configuration of a stationary pneumatic bulk material conveying device for loading and/or unloading a ship using the example of an articulated crane with a plurality of conveying pipelines in a pivoting position about a vertical axis; shows a plan view of the articulated crane in the pivoting position according to Fig. 53; shows a view of the articulated crane, similar to Fig. 53, in a starting pivoting position; shows a plan view of the articulated crane in the position according to Fig. 55; and shows an enlarged plan view of a rotary disc as a rotary feedthrough for a plurality of bulk material conveying pipes for pivoting two crane foot portions of the articulated crane according to Fig. 53 about the vertical joint axis thereof; shows in a perspective detailed view, a further configuration of a rotary feedthrough for a plurality of bulk material conveying pipes for pivoting two crane foot portions of the articulated crane according to Fig. 53 about the vertical joint axis thereof; and Fig. 59 shows in a view similar to Fig. 57, a sectional plan view of the rotary

feedthrough according to Fig. 58. Fig. 1 schematically shows components which are used for the transportation of bulk material from a production plant to a destination a long way away from it. Conveyed as bulk material are plastics material granules, for example common mass plastics materials (polyolefins such as polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE)) or other polymeric plastics materials, such as, for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethersulfone (PES) or polyester. Apart from bulk material in granule form, bulk material in powder form can also be conveyed, for example PTA (purified terephthalic acid) powder.

Fig. 1 is schematically divided into three system portions, which are separated from one another by dash-dot lines. Shown on the left is a loading system 1 for loading bulk material from transporters in the form of trucks or lorries 2 onto a ship 3. Fig. 1, on the right, shows an unloading system 4 for loading bulk material from the ship 3 onto transporters, again in the form of lorries 2. A ship system 5 is shown in Fig. 1 between the loading system 1 and the unloading system 4. The loading system 1 has a bulk material conveying connection with the ship system 5 by means of a shore to ship conveying device 6 with at least one conveying line or a conveying pipe 7. The ship system 5 has a bulk material connection with the unloading system 4 by means of a ship to shore conveying device 8 with at least one conveying line or a conveying pipe 9. The two conveying devices 6, 8 are designed in such a way that they can compensate ship movements relative to a stationary harbour component of the loading system 1 or the unloading system 4.

The bulk material is unloaded in the loading system 1 from lorries 2, which, in the form of tankers, transport the bulk material from a production site to the loading system 1, by means of a flexible conveying line portion 10. This unloading takes place by means of slow conveyance.

Each of the lorries 2 has a carrier gas connection 11, by means of which carrier gas, in the embodiment shown, air, is supplied via a carrier gas feed line 12 from a carrier gas source 13. The carrier gas source 13 is configured as a compressor network with a plurality of compressor mechanisms 14, of which three compressor mechanisms 14 are shown in Fig. 1, which feed a common main carrier gas feed line 15. The carrier gas is sucked in from outside by the compressor mechanisms 14 via suction filters, which are adapted to the surrounding conditions. One suction mechanism with a suction filter of this type can also be used for a plurality of compressor mechanisms 14. The filters in the carrier gas lines in each case have a differential pressure monitoring device, so it can be established when the filter bodies have to be serviced. The carrier gas sucked in through the suction filter(s) firstly passes through a suction sound damper and then enters a compressor stage, driven by a main motor M. After the compressor stage, the compressed carrier gas passes through a pressure sound damper. In a sound hood, indicated by dashed lines, of each of the compressor mechanisms 14, there is also arranged a safety valve. After leaving the sound hood, the compressed carrier gas firstly enters a heat exchanger and then passes through a safety filter with an integrated water separator, before the compressed carrier gas is available in the main carrier gas feed line 15. A carrier gas supply from the main carrier gas feed line 15 into individual carrier gas feed lines 12 located downstream is controlled by an air quantity control device 16.

An air quantity control device of its own for predetermining an air quantity in the respective carrier gas feed line may, alternatively or additionally, also be associated with each of the individual carrier gas feed lines, which branch off from the main carrier gas feed line 15.

The flexible conveying line portion 10 arranged downstream of the loading-side lorry 2, is connected by a rotary valve 17 to an intermediate storage container, not shown, of the loading system 1. A plurality of intermediate storage containers may also be provided. The intermediate storage container has a bulk material conveying connection to a carrier gas feed site 18 by means of a rotary valve 17 on the delivery side. A further carrier gas feed line 19 opens at the carrier gas feed site 18 into the conveying line 7 for the slow conveyance of the bulk material by means of the shore to ship conveying device 6 into ship storage containers 20. From harbour-side components of the loading system or the loading conveying device 1 to the ship, the conveying pipe or the conveying line 7 can horizontally overcome a path of, for example, 10 m to 14 m. Along this path, the conveying line or the conveying pipe 7 may project, in other words not be supported on the base side. In each case one ship-side conveying line portion 21, which is arranged downstream of the shore to ship conveying device 6, has a bulk material conveying connection by means of feed line portions 22 to a plurality of the ship storage containers 20, in the embodiment shown, with three of the respective ship storage containers 20. Conical portions 23 tapering on the base side of the ship storage containers 20 in turn open toward a respective rotary valve 24. The latter have a fluid connection on the delivery side by means of carrier gas feed site 25 with a carrier gas feed line 26. The carrier gas source, which supplies the carrier gas feed line 26 with carrier gas, may be the carrier gas source 30. In this case, the carrier gas feed line 26 has a fluid connection to the main carrier gas feed line 15. As an alternative, or in addition, the ship system 5 may have its own carrier gas source 27, as shown in Fig. 1 using the example of a compressor. The feed sites 25 have a fluid connection by means of a further bulk material conveying line 28 and, during the unloading process, by means of the ship to shore conveying device 8, with the unloading-side conveying line 9. With regard to the projecting design and the overcoming of a horizontal path, that which was already stated for the conveying line or the conveying pipe 7 applies to the conveying line or the conveying pipe 9.

The carrier air source 13 is so efficient that loading of the intermediate storage container of the loading system 1 with bulk material and simultaneously a removal of bulk material from the intermediate storage container of the loading system 1 is possible, in parallel, by means of the shore to ship conveying device 6.

In the unloading system 4, arranged downstream of the conveying line 9 is at least one intermediate storage container, not shown in more detail. The latter has a bulk material conveying connection with delivery connections 29 for connection to lorries 2 receiving the bulk material on the unloading side. The delivery connections 29 may be gas-tight.

For unloading, the ship-side carrier gas feed line 26 may have a fluid connection to an unloading-side carrier gas source 30, the structure of which corresponds to the carrier gas source 13 of the loading system 1, by means of a main carrier gas feed line 15 and an air quantity control device 16.

The capacity of the carrier gas sources 13, 30 is designed in accordance with the number of intermediate storage containers of the loading system 1 or of the intermediate storage containers of the unloading system 4 and in accordance with the conveyed bulk material quantity to be conveyed per time period. The ship storage containers 20 may also have the same capacity as the harbour-side intermediate storage containers. In practice, for example three of the ship storage containers 20 of a storage container group of the intermediate storage containers can be allocated in each case to storage container groups of the ship storage containers 20. When loading the ship 3, three of the intermediate storage containers of the harbour-side storage container group can then still be emptied for the complete filling of the associated storage container group of the ship storage containers 20, while at the same time a fourth of the intermediate storage containers of this storage container group is already filled again to then ensure a seamless filling of the next storage container group of the ship storage containers 20.. In total, for example twenty storage container groups of this type may be present on the ship 3 and in the loading system 1.

The intermediate storage containers of the loading system 1 and the intermediate storage containers of the unloading system 4 may have the same capacity. The loading process is carried out by a central harbour-side, in other words stationary, control mechanism 31, which is shown schematically in Fig. 1 and which, in particular, controls the loading of the intermediate storage container of the loading system 1 and of the ship storage containers 20 by means of the shore to ship conveying device 6. The unloading process is controlled by a central harbour-side, in other words stationary, control mechanism 32, which is also shown schematically in Fig. 1. The control mechanism 32 in particular centrally controls the unloading process from the ship 3 to the intermediate storage container of the unloading system 4 by means of the ship to shore conveying device 8. The control mechanism 32 during the unloading has a signal connection via corresponding signal mechanisms with the ship-side components. This signal connection may be cable-bound and/or wireless.

The conveying lines 7, 9, in which the bulk material is conveyed by means of slow conveyance, run, portion-wise, horizontally in an angle range between a 20° ascending gradient and 40° descending gradient and/or vertically in an angle range of a maximum of a 20° deviation from the vertical. The bulk material conveying line 7 is composed, for example, of a plurality of conveying line portions, which either run horizontally or vertically in the above-described sense. Fig. 2 shows one of the bulk material conveying devices 6, 8 in more detail, which can be used as the shore to ship conveying device 6 or as the ship to shore conveying device 8. This will be described in more detail below with the aid of the shore to ship conveying device 6. The conveying device 6 is configured as an articulated crane, which is stationarily fixed by a crane foot 33 to a harbour-side quay wall 34. A hoist 35 of the conveying device 6 has an arm with a vertical pivot arm 36 and a horizontal pivot arm 37. The vertical pivot arm 36 is articulated about a horizontal pivot axis 39 on the crane foot 33 by means of a vertical pivot arm joint 38, by means of which a vertical pivoting movement of the vertical pivot arm 36 is possible. The horizontal pivot arm 37 is articulated on the vertical pivot arm 36 about a further pivot axis 41 extending horizontally and vertically spaced apart from the pivot axis 39 by means of a further vertical pivot joint 40, by means of which a vertical pivoting movement of the horizontal pivot arm 37 is possible. Compensation weights 42 are fixed to the vertical pivot arm 36 on the side opposing the pivot axis 39. Compensation weights 43 are fixed to the horizontal pivot arm 37 on the side opposing the pivot axis 41. The compensation weights 42, 43, with regard to their weight and their spacing from the pivot axes 39, 41 are dimensioned such that the torques acting on the pivot axes 39, 41 on the one hand of the pivot arms 36, 37, and on the other hand of the compensation weights 42, 43, compensate one another. Practically no resulting torque therefore has to be absorbed to hold the respective pivoting position of the two pivot arms 36, 37 about the pivot axes 39, 41. A conveying pipe arm of the hoist 35, in other words the two pivot arms 36, 37, is thus mounted in a balanced manner on an arm carrier, in other words on the crane foot 33, because of the compensation weights 42, 43.

The crane foot 33 is divided into two crane foot portions, namely into a lower crane foot portion 33a, which is fixed on the quay wall 34, and into an upper crane foot portion 33b, which is fixed by the crane pivot arm joint 38 to the vertical pivot arm 36. The two crane foot portions 33a, 33b can be rotated relative to one another about a vertical rotational axis 44 and correspondingly connected to one another by a crane foot swivel joint 45. The conveying pipe 7 is mounted on the hoist 35 in such a way that it can be moved by a plurality of degrees of freedom of movement.

To facilitate the description of the positional relationships, a Cartesian xyz-coordinate system will be used below in conjunction with the conveying device 6, 8, in other words in conjunction with the articulated crane. The x-axis runs parallel to the pivot axes 39, 41 and along the quay wall 34. The y-axis runs horizontally, i.e. when the horizontal pivot arm 37 extends precisely horizontally, along the latter, and perpendicular to the quay wall 34. The z-axis extends vertically, in other words parallel to the crane foot 33.

Fig. 3 shows a guiding and degrees of movement freedom of the conveying line 7 of the conveying devices 6, 8 in the region of the hoist 35, not shown there, of the articulated crane. The conveying line or conveying pipe 7 has a conveying line swivel joint 46 at the site of the crane foot swivel joint 45. The conveying line swivel joint 46 allows a rotation of the conveying pipe 7 around the pipe longitudinal axis portion 47 thereof which extends in the region of this swivel joint 46 and extends along the rotational axis 44, which coincides with a central axis of symmetry of the crane foot 33. The swivel joint 46 and the swivel joints described below in conjunction with the conveying line 7 define joint axes, which coincide with rotational and pivot axes of the articulated crane.

From a quay-side conveying line portion 48 to a ship-side conveying line portion 49, the conveying line 7, proceeding from the pipe longitudinal axis portion 47, firstly extends in a curved portion 50 in a 45° bend, which passes from a course leading along the z-direction into a course lying in the xz-plane. Arc angles of the bends between the various conveying line portions of the conveying pipe 7 may be 30° to 90°. An arc radius R of this curved portion 50 relates to a pipeline diameter D of the conveying line 7 as follows: 1 < R/D < 15, preferably 3 < R/D < 10 and more preferably 4 < R/D < 7. In the embodiment shown R/D = 5.

After the curved portion 50 in the direction of the ship-side conveying line portion 49, the conveying line 7 firstly runs for a distance in the xz-plane and then runs over a further curved portion 51 for a distance parallel to the z-direction and then passes via a further curved portion 52 into a pipe longitudinal axis portion 53, which predetermines a rotational axis for a further conveying line swivel joint 54 along the x-axis, which coincides with the rotational axis 39. The pipe longitudinal axis portion 53 passes via a further curved portion 55 into a portion extending parallel to the z-axis of the conveying line 7 and then via a further curved portion 56 into a further pipe longitudinal axis portion 57 extending parallel to the x-axis, which predetermines a rotational axis for a further conveying line swivel joint 58, which coincides with the rotational axis 41. The pipe longitudinal axis portion 57 passes via a further curved portion 59 into a portion of the conveying line 7 extending parallel to the y-axis, via an adjoining further curved portion 60 into a further portion of the conveying line 7 extending in the xy-plane and via a further curved portion 61 into the ship-side conveying line portion 49 extending along the y-axis. The R/D ratios given above for the curved portion 50 apply to all the curved portions 50, 51, 52,

55, 56, 59, 60 and 61. In total, the conveying line 7 has eight curved portions of this type in the region of the conveying device 6, 8. Instead of a 90° bend, in the curved portions 50, 51, 52, 55,

56, 59, 60 and 61, in particular in the curved portions 50, 51, 60 and 61, a 45° bend can also be used in each case. Bends in the range between a 30° bend and a 60° bend can be used for the curved portions 50, 51, 52, 55, 56, 59, 60 and 61.

Straight conveying pipe portions of the conveying line 7, in the region of the conveying devices 6, 8, extend exclusively vertically in an angle range of a maximum of a 20° deviation from the vertical or horizontally in an angle range between a 20° ascending gradient and 40° descending gradient. The details "ascending gradient" and "descending gradient" in each case relate to the conveying direction of the bulk material.

A ball-and-socket joint 62 of the conveying pipe 7 is arranged at the end of the ship-side conveying line portion 49 facing the ship.

The ball-and-socket joint 62 allows a pivoting of the ship-side conveying line portion 49 with respect to the conveying line portion 64 of the conveying line 7, which is secured to the ship and connected to the conveying line portion 21 of the ship system 5 by a connection mechanism 63, for example a flange, independently about two pivot axes 65, 66 located parallel to the x-axis and parallel to the z-axis. As a further degree of rotational freedom, a rotation of the ship-side conveying line portion 49 relative to the conveying line portion 64 secured to the ship can be ensured about a rotational axis extending parallel to the y-axis. The ball-and-socket joints described below also ensure relative movements of this type about two or three degrees of freedom 17.

The ball-and-socket joint 62 may be cardanically suspended on the horizontal pivot arm 37. Instead of a cardanic suspension, a connection of the ball-and-socket joint 62 to the pivot arm 37 may be present, in which a joint element of the ball-and-socket joint 62 is rigidly connected on the pivot arm and the other joint element of the ball-and-socket joint 62 is rigidly connected to the connection mechanism 63. The conveying line portion 64, in particular in the interior of the ball-and-socket joint 62, has a conical course. Generally, the ball-and-socket joint 62 is arranged in such a way that the conveying line portion 64 tapers conically in the conveying direction. Alternatively, a conical tapering portion of the conveying pipe can also be arranged downstream of the ball-and-socket joint, as will be described below using the example of a hopper pipe portion in conjunction with Fig. 42 to 45.

In other words, the conveying line 7 in the arrangement according to Fig. 3 in total has at least six degrees of pivoting freedom, namely a degree of pivoting freedom about an axis parallel to the z-axis by means of the swivel joint 47, a degree of pivoting freedom about an axis parallel to the x-axis by means of the swivel joint 54, a further degree of pivoting freedom about an axis parallel to the x-axis by means of swivel joint 58 and three degrees of pivoting freedom about pivot axes 65, 66, 66a parallel to the x-axis, to the y-axis and to the z-axis by means of the ball- and-socket joint 62. The ball-and-socket joint 62 is arranged on a plane of symmetry of the hoist 35, which is spanned by the two pivot arms 36, 37.

The conveying devices 6, 8 may in each case have a plurality of hoists 35 with associated conveying lines 7 as described above in conjunction with Fig. 2 and 3, which are arranged in an arcuate manner on the quay wall 34 at a spacing of, for example 4 m from one another in such a way that the associated ship-side conveying line portions 49 can be guided in parallel at a spacing of 0.5 m to 1.5 m with respect to one another. A corresponding arrangement of the conveying devices 6, 8 is shown in Fig. 25.

A plurality of ship-side conveying line portions 49 of this type may also, as indicated

schematically in Fig. 3, be carried by a common conveying pipe support frame 67, which is connected to a support frame of the hoists 35 of the associated articulated cranes. Basically, a single articulated crane may also carry a plurality of, for example precisely two, ship-side conveying line portions 49 of this type by means of a conveying pipe support frame 67 of this type, which is then connected, for example, to a horizontal swivel arm 37 of the hoist 35. The horizontal pivot arm 37 may also take on the function of the support frame 67. In the

embodiment as a ship to shore conveying device 8, a conveying pipe support frame 67 of this type may simultaneously also carry the carrier gas feed line 15, which is indicated by dot-dash lines in Fig. 3. By means of the ship to shore conveying device 8, the carrier air can then be supplied for the, for example, pneumatic unloading of the bulk material from the ship storage containers 20.

Fig. 4 to 7 show various snapshots of the conveying devices 6, 8 during loading of unloading operation. Two situations are shown in Fig. 4 and 5, in which, on the one hand, the ship 3 is present lowered a long way relative to the quay wall 34 and, on the other hand, raised a long way (relative movements ship/quay wall in the z-direction). Fig. 6 and 7 show situations

corresponding to Fig. 4 and 5, in which the ship 3 is in each case additionally distanced slightly from the quay wall 34 (additional relative movement ship/quay wall in the y-direction).

A vertical movement of the ship 3 (cf. the difference between Fig. 4 and 5 and Fig. 6 and 7) is followed by the articulated crane of the conveying devices 6, 8 by pivoting substantially about the pivot axis 41. The further pivot axis 39, which is parallel to this, allows the adaptation of the articulated crane of the conveying devices 6, 8 to the spacing of the ship 3 from the quay wall 34. A further adaptation of a relative movement of the ship 3 relative to the quay wall 34 along the x-direction is compensated by a pivoting of the articulated crane of the conveying devices 6, 8 about the rotational axis 44. The ball-and-socket joint 62 ensures here that in the various joint angles of the ship-side conveying line portion 49, depending on the relative position of the ship 3 to the quay wall 34, a conveying connection of the ship-side conveying line portion 49 of the conveying line 7 to the conveying line portion 64 secured to the ship and further to the conveying line portion 21 of the ship system is present.

Fig. 8 shows the ball-and-socket joint 62 in detail. The ball-and-socket joint 62 is designed for a conveying device in Fig. 8 from left to right. In the orientation shown in Fig. 8, the ball-and- socket joint 62 could be installed in the articulated crane according to Fig. 4 to 7 if the latter is part of the shore to ship conveying device 6. For installation into a ship to shore conveying device 8 in the orientation according to Fig. 4 to 7, the ball-and-socket joint 62, proceeding from the orientation according to Fig. 8, would have to be installed rotated through 180° about the z- axis. The ball-and-socket joint 62 will be described below as a component of the shore to ship conveying device 6.

Stationarily connected to the ship side conveying line portion 49 is a socket or joint receiver 68 of the ball-and-socket joint 62. A joint ball 69 slides in the socket 68. The joint ball 69 is mounted in the socket 68 by abrasion-resistant bearing elements 70 made of plastics material. Alternatively, the storage elements 70 can also be produced from metal.

The joint ball 69, when the ball-and-socket joint 62 is mounted on the ship-side for loading, predetermines the conveying line portion 64 secured to the ship of the conveying line 7. The connection mechanism 63, in other words the connecting flange to the conveying line portion 21 of the ship system 5, is configured at the ship-side end of the conveying line portion 64 secured to the ship. If the ball-and-socket joint 62 is mounted for unloading, the socket 68 is mounted on the ship-side.

The conveying line portion 64 secured to the ship is conical in design for the transition to the conveying line portion of the socket 68, which leads to the ship-side conveying line portion 49, with a cone angle between the mutually opposing walls of the conveying line portion 64 secured to the ship of 5°. This cone angle in an alternative configuration of the ball-and-socket joint 62 may be a maximum of 20°, a maximum of 10° and, in particular a maximum 5°. The ship-side conveying line portion 64 secured to the ship tapers in the conveying direction. In the ball-and- socket joint 62 according to Fig. 8, this cone portion is arranged in the joint ball 69, in other words, in the inner joint part of the ball-and-socket joint 62. Alternatively, it is also possible to arrange the cone portion in the outer joint part of the ball-and-socket joint 62.

Details of the swivel joints 46, 54, 58 will be described with the aid of Fig. 9 and 10 using the example of the swivel joint 54. The other two swivel joints 46, 58 are constructed in accordance with the swivel joint 54. The swivel joint 54 has a fixed bearing 71 in the form of a holder of a part of the pipe longitudinal axis portion 53 facing the curved portion 52 on a frame portion 72 of the crane foot portions 33b. A conveying feed-through is integrated in the fixed bearing 71. The curved portion 52 is connected to the fixed bearing 71, on the one hand, and, on the other hand the swivel joint 54 is connected to the fixed bearing 71 by flange connections 73, 74. A joint unit 54a of the swivel joint 54 connects the fixed bearing-side portion of the pipe longitudinal axis portion 53 to a guide bearing-side portion of the pipe longitudinal axis portion 53, which is guided in a guide bearing 75. The guide bearing 75 is in turn secured to the frame portion 72 of the crane foot portion 33b. The guide bearing 75 can rotate about the pivot axis 39 in the associated region of the pipe longitudinal axis portion 53.

The fixed bearing 71 is configured as an axial/radial bearing. The guide bearing 75 is configured as a radial bearing.

Arranged between the guide bearing-side region of the pipe longitudinal axis portion 53 and the joint unit 54a is a pipe connecting piece 76 of the pipe longitudinal axis portion 53. The pipe connecting piece 76 allows easy and rapid disassembly of a connection between the guide bearing-side pipe longitudinal axis portion 53 and the joint unit 54a of the swivel joint 54. The pipe connecting piece 76 can be designed as a sleeve, for example, as a hose portion, which is connected by clips, on the one hand, to the joint unit 54a, and is connected, on the other hand, to the guide bearing-side pipe longitudinal axis portion 53. Instead of the joint unit 54a, in the swivel joint 54, a correspondingly longer pipe connecting piece 76 designed as a flexible hose may also be arranged between the fixed bearing 71 and the guide bearing 75, so the pipe connecting piece 76 allows a pivotability of the guide bearing-side pipe longitudinal axis portion 53 for execution on the fixed bearing side about the pivot axis 39.

The fixed bearing 71 may be equipped with rubber buffers in order to transmit forces, which occur on the conveying pipe 7 in the region of the curved portions 52, 55 and in the region of the bearing 71 and the joint unit 54a, in a damped manner, to the frame portion 72. All the wall transitions between the individual components of a pipe inner wall of the conveying line 7 following one another and building up the joint connection 54 along the conveying direction are configured as smooth, edge-free transitions.

Fig. 11 and 12 show two alternative directions of the conveying line 7 in the region of the conveying devices 6 and 8, which can be used instead of the direction of the conveying line 7, as was explained above in conjunction with Fig. 2 to 7. These alternative directions of the conveying line 7 will only be described below where they differ from the direction according to Fig. 2 to 7. Proceeding from the quay-side conveying line portion 48, which runs along the z-axis, the conveying line 7 in the direction according to Fig. 11 initially passes via a first ball-and-socket joint 77 into a further conveying line portion 78, also running along the z-axis, which firstly passes via a curved portion 79 configured in the manner of a swan neck and curving accordingly from the course leading away from the ship-side quay wall 34 and then into a course leading to the ship-side quay wall 34. The curved portion 79 is connected there by a further ball-and-socket joint 80 to the ship-side conveying line portion 49 of the conveying line 7.

A pivoting of the conveying line portion 78 relative to the quay-side conveying line portion 48 about two axes is possible by means of the ball-and-socket joint 77, the axes extending, on the one hand, parallel to the x-axis and, on the other hand to the z-axis. This pivotability is indicated in Fig. 11 by dashed pivotability limits of the conveying line portion 78. The further ball-and-socket joint 80 in turn allows a pivoting of the ship-side conveying line portion 49 relative to the curved portion 79 about two axes perpendicular to one another, which extend, on the one hand, parallel to the x-axis and, on the other hand parallel to the z-axis. This pivotability of the ship-side conveying line portion 49 is also indicated by dashed pivoting range limits.

The curved joint 79 is configured as a swan neck portion. The curved joint 79 can be

dimensional stable. The three ball-and-socket joints 77, 80, 62 are in turn carried by the crane foot 33, the vertical pivot arm 36 and the horizontal pivot arm 37.

The course of the conveying line 7 with the three ball-and-socket joints 77, 80, 62 also allows a compensation of relative movements of the ship 3 with respect to the quay wall 34, as described above in particular in conjunction with Fig. 4 to 7. As an alternative to the guidance of the conveying line 7 according to Fig. 11 with three ball- and-socket joints 77, 80, 62, a guidance with two ball-and-socket joints at the site of the ball- and-socket joints 77 and 62 is also possible, in which the intermediate ball-and-socket joint is replaced by at least one swivel joint in the manner of the swivel joint 58 of the configuration according to Fig. 3 with an associated curved course of the conveying line 7. Instead of the ball- and-socket joint 80, a swivel joint may this also be used, which allows a pivoting of the curved portion 79 with respect to the ship-side conveying line portion 49 about a pivot axis parallel to the x-axis.

In the conveying line course according to Fig. 12, which otherwise corresponds to the course according to Fig. 3, the ball-and-socket joint 62 is replaced by three conveying line swivel joints 81 to 83 arranged one behind the other. Toward the connection mechanism 63, the ship-side conveying line portion 49 passes firstly via a curved portion 84, which extends parallel to the xy- plane into a longitudinal axis portion 85 extending along the x-direction with the swivel joint 81, then via a further curved portion 86, which extends parallel to the xz-plane, into a further pipe longitudinal axis portion 87 with the swivel joint 82 and finally via a further curved portion 88, which extends parallel to the yz-plane into a pipe longitudinal axis portion 89 with the swivel joint 83. A joint axis of the swivel joint 81 extends parallel to x-axis. A joint axis of the swivel joint 82 extends parallel to the z-axis. A swivel joint axis of the swivel joint 83 extends parallel to the y- axis.

The conveying line portion 64 secured to the ship is in turn located between the ship-side last swivel joint 83 and the connection mechanism 63.

The arrangement with the three swivel joints 81 to 83 adopts the function of the ball-and-socket joint 62, as described above.

With the aid of Figs. 13 to 24, various configurations of the ball-and-socket joint 62 will be described below, which can be used at the site of the above-described ball-and-socket joints of the conveying devices 6 or 8. The ball-and-socket joint 62 has the joint ball or the joint head 69, which is received in the joint receiver of the joint socket 68 so as to be pivotable about three axes. The conveying line portion 64 is conical in the region of the ball-and-socket joint 62. A cone angle of this conical conveying line portion 64 is 5°. This cone angle may, in an alternative configuration of the ball-and-socket joint 62 be a maximum of 20°, a maximum of 10°, and in particular a maximum of 5°. The conical configuration, as shown in Figs. 13 to 24, may be arranged in an inner joint part of the ball-and-socket joint 62, in other words in the joint ball 69, or alternatively also in an outer joint part of the ball-and-socket joint. The cone of the conveying line portion 64 tapers in the conveying direction.

At the transition between the portions which are movable relative to one another upon pivoting of the ball-and-socket joint 62 and are accessible from outside, a sealing sleeve 91 is arranged between an outer wall of the conveying line portion 64 and a flange ring 90 of the joint receiver 68. Said sealing sleeve ensures a tight transition to the environment between the conveying line portion 64 secured to the joint ball and the joint receiver 68 independently of a pivoting position of the ball-and-socket joint 62.

Various solutions for mounting the joint ball 69 in the joint receiver 68 will be described below with the aid of Figs. 18 to 21. In the configuration of the joint ball 69 according to Fig. 17 and 18, a steel ring 92 which is coated with PTFE and is fixed to the joint receiver 68 is used for mounting and a chrome-plated cap portion 93 of the joint ball 69 slides on said steel ring when the ball-and-socket joint 62 is pivoted. The steel ring 92 is screwed to the flange ring 90, which is in turn screwed to an outer housing of the joint receiver 68.

In the configuration of the ball-and-socket joint 62 according to Fig. 19, the steel ring 92, facing the cap portion 93, has a plastics material insert 94, on which the cap portion 93 slides. The latter is not chrome-plated in the configuration according to Fig. 19. In the configuration of the ball-and-socket joint 62 according to Fig. 20, instead of the steel ring 92, a plastics material ring 95 is inserted, on which the cap portion 93 of the joint ball 69 slides. In the embodiment according to Fig. 20, the cap portion is also not chrome-plated.

In the configuration of the ball-and-socket joint 62 according to Fig. 21, the latter is not fastened separately for screwing the flange ring 90 to the outer housing of the joint receiver 68 with its own fastening elements on the flange ring 90, as is the case in the configuration according to Fig. 20, but is clamped between a clamping plate 96 and the outer housing of the joint receiver 68, screw connections, by means of which the clamping plate 96 is screwed to the outer housing of the joint receiver 68, passing through the plastics material ring 95 in the configuration according to Fig. 21.

The plastics material ring 95 is designed, in the configuration according to Fig. 21, as a ring configured in multiple parts about a conveying axis in the peripheral direction, as can be inferred from Fig. 24.

Figs. 22, 23 show two variants of a seal between the joint ball 69 and the joint receiver 68. These two joint bodies are sealed relative to one another in a pressure-tight manner by means of this seal, so a conveying pressure required for the pneumatic slow conveyance can be held in the ball-and-socket joint 62.

In the configuration of a seal 97 according to Fig. 22, the seal 97 closes the conveying line portion 64 toward the joint receiver 68 by means of a peripheral sealing ring 98. The sealing ring 98 is held in a sealing groove 99, which is configured in the joint ball 69 and seals the joint ball 69 against the joint socket 68 by means of a freely projecting edge region of the sealing ring 98. This free edge region of the sealing ring 98 rests on an inner jacket wall 100 of the joint receiver 68.

In the configuration of the seal 97 between the joint ball 69 and the joint receiver 68 according to Fig. 23, a peripheral sealing ring 101 with a contour tapering in a convex manner to the inner jacket wall 100 is used as the only sealing element. The sealing ring 101, similarly to the sealing ring 98 of the configuration according to Fig. 22, is held in a peripheral groove of the joint ball 69 and rests by means of the convexly tapering portion on the inner jacket wall 100.

By a corresponding rotation of the at least one ball-and-socket joint and corresponding adaptation of the conical course of the conveying line portion 64 secured to the ship to the respective conveying direction, an articulated crane configured as a shore to ship conveying device 6 can be converted into a ship to shore conveying device 8. A corresponding rotation of the at least one ball-and-socket joint may take place manually, or driven pneumatically or else electrically.

The conveying devices 6, 8 may have an emergency uncoupling mechanism, not shown in more detail in the drawing, to ensure an emergency rapid uncoupling between the harbour -side conveying line 7 and the ship 3. This emergency uncoupling mechanism may have a plurality of claws engaging behind connection flanges of the conveying line 7, which is released from a predetermined tensile force that is exerted on the main conveying device 6, 8 or on the conveying lines 7, 9.

Other systems are also possible for fixing the conveying lines 7, 9 to the ship 3 by means of an emergency uncoupling mechanism, for example a connection by means of a ship-side or harbour-side coupling ball with a harbour-side or ship-side coupling ball receiver, the coupling ball receiver releasing the coupling ball from a predetermined tensile force. The emergency uncoupling mechanism may have a measuring and monitoring mechanism for measuring a coupling connection between the harbour-side conveying line 7 and the ship 3, in particular for measuring and monitoring a docking basket. After docking, the connection mechanism 63 can be switched to be without power. A movement space between the ship 3 and the quay wall 34 can be monitored by a measuring and monitoring mechanism. This measuring and monitoring mechanism may contain a path measuring system, which measures lengths and angles in relation to a relative displacement of the ship 3 with respect to the quay wall 34. This measuring and monitoring mechanism may have a signal connection to the emergency uncoupling mechanism.

A further configuration of a loading conveying device 102, in other words a shore to ship conveying device, will be described below with the aid of Fig. 26. Components which correspond to those which have already been described above with reference to Figs. 1 to 25 have the same reference numerals and will not be discussed again in detail.

A conveying pipe 7, which, in the loading conveying device 102, connects the bulk material storage container 103 of the loading system 1 to a ship-side docking station or connection mechanism 63, is divided into a plurality of rigid pipe portions. Each of these pipe portions is therefore not flexible per se and is made of a rigid material, in particular of metal. A first conveying pipe portion 104 runs between a delivery portion of the storage container 103 and a first pipe joint unit, which is configured as a cylinder joint unit 102. The conveying pipe portion 104, between the storage container 103 and the cylinder joint unit 105, has two 90° bends. The further course of the conveying pipe 7 is shown, from the cylinder joint unit 105, in two different positions of the ship 3. The cylinder joint unit 105 connects the conveying pipe portion 104 to a straight conveying pipe portion 106 arranged downstream in the conveying direction. The latter is carrier by a vertical pivot arm, not shown, which corresponds to the pivot arm 36 of the hoist 35 according to Fig. 2. The cylinder joint unit 105 allows a pivoting of the conveying pipe portion 106 relative to the conveying pipe portion 104 about a joint axis 107, which is perpendicular to the pipe line path for the bulk material at the transition between the pipe portions 104, 106. This joint axis 107 is perpendicular to the plane of the drawing of Fig. 26. Fig. 29 to 31 show the cylinder joint unit 105 in more detail. The cylinder joint unit 105 has a rigid conveying portion 108, which is connected by a flange connection to the adjacent conveying pipe portion 104. Adjacent to the joint axis 107, the rigid pipe conveying portion 108 widens into a cylinder joint housing 109, which has two opposing joint receivers 110.

Furthermore, the cylinder joint unit 105 has a conveying joint portion 111, which can in turn be connected by a flange connection to the conveying pipe portion 106. A conveying interior of the conveying joint portion 111 runs cylindrically to approximately the height of the joint axis 107 and from then conically widening to the outlet toward the conveying path of the rigid conveying portion 108. The conveying joint portion 111 has two joint shaft stumps, which are received in the joint receivers 110.

A peripheral seal 112 seals the rigid conveying portion 108 against the conveying joint portion 111, so that when conveying the bulk material, the cylinder joint unit 105 is sealed to the outside regardless of the position of the rigid conveying portion with respect to the conveying joint portion 108.

The conveying joint portion 111 can be pivoted between the two pivoting extreme positions shown in Fig. 30 relative to the rigid conveying portion 108 about a pivot angle S of 60° about the joint axis 107. Other pivoting angles S in the range between 20° and 90° are also possible.

Downstream in the conveying direction, the conveying pipe portion 106 is connected to a further cylinder joint unit 113, which is constructed in accordance with the cylinder joint unit 105. A joint axis 114 of the cylinder joint unit 113 runs parallel to the joint axis 107 of the cylinder joint unit 105, in other words also perpendicular to the plane of the drawing in Fig. 26.

A further conveying pipe portion 115 of the conveying pipe 7 is arranged downstream of the cylinder joint unit 113 in the conveying direction. From the cylinder joint unit 113, the further course of the conveying pipe 7 is in turn shown in two positions of the ship 3 relative to the harbour, one of these positions being indicated by dashed lines.

The conveying pipe portion 115 is configured as a 90° bend. The conveying pipe portion 115 connects the cylinder joint unit 113 to a further cylinder joint unit 116 with the joint axis 117. The cylinder joint unit 116 is in turn constructed in accordance with the cylinder joint unit 105. The joint axis 117 in turn runs perpendicular to the pipe line path for the bulk material, but simultaneously in the plane of the drawing of Fig. 26 so that the joint axes 107 and 114, on the one hand, and the joint axis 117 on the other hand, run parallel to coordinate axes perpendicular to one another.

A further, straight conveying pipe portion 118 is arranged downstream of the cylinder joint unit 116 in the conveying direction of the bulk material. Said conveying pipe portion connects the cylinder joint unit 116 to the ship-side ball-and-socket joint 62. The ball-and-socket joint 62 is connected by a further conveying pipe portion 119 to the docking station 63.

The straight conveying pipe portion 118 is carried by a horizontal pivot arm, not shown, which corresponds to the horizontal pivot arm 37 of the configuration according to Fig. 2.

By means of the pivoting movement which the cylinder joint unit 105 allows, a displacement movement of the ship 3 relative to the quay wall 34 in the y-direction of +/- 4.5 m can be compensated. A relative movement of the ship 3 relative to the quay wall 34 in the z-direction of +/- 3 m can be compensated by means of the pivoting mobility of the cylinder joint unit 113 and the ball-and-socket joint 62. A displacement of the ship 3 relative to the quay wall 34 in the x- direction by +/- 4 m can be compensated by the pivoting mobility of the cylinder joint unit 116 and of the ball-and-socket joint 62. Depending on the dimensioning of the conveying pipe portions of the loading conveying device 102, horizontal displacements and vertical displacements of the ship 3 in a movement range +/- 10 m can be compensated.

Instead of the cylinder joint unit 116, a ball-and-socket joint in the manner of the ball-and-socket joint 62 can also be inserted between the conveying pipe portions 115 and 118, which helps to increase the vertical compensation of the z-direction.

The conveying pipe portions 104 and 119 are two rigid pipe end portions of the conveying pipe 7, in other words they are not flexible per se. These pipe end portions are connected by a pipe central portion which has the conveying pipe portions 106, 115 and 118. Each of these conveying pipe portions 106, 115, 118 is rigid per se. Because of the pipe joint connections with the joint units 106, 115, 118 and 62, which also belong to the pipe centre portion, the two pipe end portions of the conveying pipe 7 can be moved in a translational manner with respect to one another. A displacement of these two pipe end portions relative to one another by at least one translational degree of freedom is thus possible, in the case of the configuration according to Fig. 26, even by all three translational degrees of freedom x, y and z.

With the aid of Fig. 27, a further configuration of an unloading conveying device 120, in other words a ship to shore device, will be described. Components which correspond to those which have already been described above with reference to Fig. 1 to 26, and in particular with reference to Fig. 26, have the same reference numerals and will not be discussed again in detail.

A conveying pipe 9 belongs to the unloading conveying device 120. Said conveying pipe on the ship side has a conveying pipe portion 121 which, as already described above, can be connected by a connection mechanism to a docking station 63 of the ship 3. The conveying pipe portion 121 is connected by means of a ball-and-socket joint 62 to a straight conveying pipe portion 122 of the conveying pipe 9. The straight conveying pipe portion 122 is carried by a horizontal pivot arm, not shown, in the manner of the pivot arm 37.

A cylinder joint unit 123 connects the conveying pipe portion 122 to a conveying pipe portion 124 configured with a 90° bend and arranged downstream in the conveying direction. The cylinder joint unit 123 is constructed in accordance with the cylinder joint unit 105 of the configuration according to Fig. 26. A joint axis 125 of the cylinder joint unit 123 lies in the plane of the drawing of Fig. 27 and is perpendicular to the pipe line path for the bulk material.

A further cylinder joint unit 126 connects the conveying pipe portion 124 to a further straight conveying pipe portion 127 downstream in the conveying direction. The cylinder joint unit 126 is in turn constructed in accordance with cylinder joint unit 105 of the configuration according to Fig. 26. A joint axis 128 of the cylinder joint unit 126 is perpendicular to the plane of the drawing of Fig. 27. The substantially vertically running straight conveying pipe portion 127 is carried by a vertical pivot arm in the manner of the pivot arm 36. The two pivot arms for carrying the conveying pipe portions 122, 127 form an arm in the configuration according to Fig. 27, on which the conveying pipe 9 is mounted.

A further cylinder joint unit 129 connects the conveying pipe portion 127 to a further conveying pipe portion 130, which is arranged downstream in the conveying direction and has several 90° bends. A joint axis 131 of the cylinder joint unit 129 is perpendicular to the plane of the drawing of Fig. 27. The conveying pipe portion 130 is a pipe end portion, which connects the conveying pipe 9 to the sifter mechanism 132 for the bulk material. On the exit side, a plurality of storage containers 133 receiving the unloaded bulk material has a conveying connection with the sifter mechanism 132, of said storage containers, one of said storage containers 133 being shown in Fig. 27. A conveying line 134, which connects the sifter mechanism 132 with the storage containers 133, runs horizontally.

Fig. 28 shows a variant of a conveying connection of the sifter mechanism 132 to the unloading- side storage containers 133, which can be used in the unloading conveying device 120. The sifter mechanism 132 has a conveying connection there to the storage containers 133 by means of conveying lines 155, which run between the sifter mechanism 132 and the storage containers 133 in a slightly inclined manner. The two variants of the conveying connection between the sifter mechanism 132 and the storage containers 133 according to Fig. 27 and 28 ensure gentle transportation of the bulk material from the sifter mechanism 132 into the storage containers 133 with very low abrasion, which may be less than 50 ppm. The articulation ability of the conveying pipe 9 about the cylinder joint unit 129 ensures a horizontal compensation (y-direction) of a ship movement relative to the quay wall 34 by +/- 4.5 m. An articulation ability of the conveying pipe 9 by means of the cylinder joint unit 126 and the ball-and-socket joint 62 ensures a vertical compensation (z-direction) of the ship movement relative to the quay wall 34 by + 6 ml- 4m. In addition, an articulation ability of the conveying pipe 9 about the cylinder joint unit 123 and the ball-and-socket joint 62 ensures a horizontal compensation (x-direction) of a relative movement of the ship 3 along the quay wall 34 by +/- 4 m. Depending on the dimensioning of the conveying pipe portions of the unloading conveying device 120, horizontal displacements and vertical displacements of the ship 3 can be

compensated in a movement range +/- 10 m.

Fig. 32 to 34 show a double cylinder joint unit 136, which is composed of two individual cylinder joint units assembled together in the manner of the cylinder joint unit 105. The joint axes 107 of the two cylinder joint units 105 constructing the double cylinder joint unit 136 run parallel to coordinate axes perpendicular to one another. In the double cylinder joint unit 136, the two rigid conveying portions 108 of the two cylinder joint units 105 are connected to one another by their associated flanges.

The double cylinder joint unit 136 may, with corresponding adaptation of the course of the adjacent conveying pipe portions, be used as a replacement for the two cylinder joint units 113, 116 of the configuration according to Fig. 26 or 123, 126 of the configuration according to Fig. 27. Assuming a corresponding adaptation of the course of the adjacent conveying pipe portions, the double cylinder joint unit can also replace one of the above-described ball-and-socket joints 62. A swivel joint (swivel) may also be provided in addition here, as already described above, e.g. with respect to the swivel j oint 46 or 81. Further, a swivel j oint will be explained hereinafter with respect to Fig. 37 (compare swivel joint 140).

A further double joint unit 137, which can be used for the articulated connection of conveying pipe portions of the variants described above of conveying devices, will be described below with the aid of Fig. 35 to 37. Components which correspond to those which have already been described above with reference to Fig. 1 to 34, in particular with reference to Fig. 29 to 34, have the same reference numerals and will not be discussed again in detail.

The double joint unit 137 firstly has a cylinder joint unit 138, which apart from an end-side connecting portion of a conveying joint portion 139, corresponds to the cylinder joint unit 105 according to Fig. 29 to 31. The conveying joint portion 139 of the double joint unit 137 connects the rigid conveying portion 108 to a swivel joint in the form of a conveying line swivel joint unit 140. The latter has a rotary connection conveying portion 141, which, by means of a rotary bearing 142, which is configured as a ball-bearing, is connected to the conveying joint portion 139. The conveying joint portion 139 is sealed against the rotary connection conveying portion 141 by means of an O-ring seal 143. The rotary bearing 142 allows a pivoting of the rotary connection conveying portion 141 relative to the conveying joint portion 139 about a joint axis 144, which runs along the pipeline path for the bulk material. During the pivoting of the conveying joint portion 139 about the joint axis 107 of the cylinder joint unit 138, the joint axis 144 also pivots. This is shown in Fig. 36, which shows various pivoting positions of the conveying joint portion 139. The pivoting movement of the joint axis 144 takes place here over the pivoting angle S.

Depending on the requirements made of the degrees of freedom of a movement of conveying pipe portions articulated to one another, the double joint unit 137 can be used to replace joint connections between conveying pipe portions, which were described above, for example to replace a ball-and-socket joint or to replace two cylinder joint units.

Two variants of a conveying pipe portion with two ball-and-socket joints will now be described with the aid of Fig. 38 to 45, which are able to be used in the conveying device described above. Components which correspond to those which have already been described above with reference to Fig. 1 to 37 and, in particular with reference to Fig. 8 and 13 to 24, have the same reference numerals and will not be discussed again in detail.

A bulk material conveying device is shown in Fig. 38 to 45 by direction arrows F.

The configuration according to Fig. 38 to 45 has a conveying pipe portion with ball-and-socket joints 62 attached at the two ends of the conveying pipe portion 145, in the manner of Fig. 8 and 13 to 24.

Fig. 38 shows the loading position "ship empty" of the conveying pipe portion 145, in which the entry-side ball-and-socket joint 62 is located lower than the exit-side ball-and-socket joint.

Fig. 39 shows the loading position "ship full" of the conveying pipe portion 145, in which the entry-side ball-and-socket joint 62 is located higher than the exit-side ball-and-socket joint 62. A dead space 146, which is indicated by hatched lines in the Fig. 39, is produced here in the region of an inlet of the conveying pipe portion 145 into the conical conveying line portion 64 of the exit-side ball-and-socket joint 62. The corresponding conditions in the unloading positions "ship full" and "ship empty" are shown in Fig. 40 and 41. In the unloading position "ship empty", in which the entry-side ball-and- socket joint 62 is higher than the exit-side ball-and-socket joint 62, a dead space 147, which is also indicated by hatched lines, is in turn produced in the region of the transition between the conveying pipe portions 145 and the conical conveying line portion 64 of the exit-side ball-and- socket joint 62.

For the dead spaces 146, 147 to be blasted empty or blasted out, the conveying pipe portion 145 can be equipped with a suitable emptying aid, for example in the form of at least one pressure blast-in point.

A device of this type for blasting empty can also be used in the cylinder joint units described.

Fig. 42 to 45 show the conveying pipe portion 145, in which a ball-and-socket joint 62 in the manner of Fig. 8 and 13 to 24 with a conically tapering conveying line portion 64 is attached to one end of said conveying pipe portion and, attached at the other end, is a ball-and-socket joint 148, which, instead of the conical conveying line portion, has a conveying line portion 149 cylindrically continuing the conveying pipe portion 145.

A joint receiver 150 of the ball-and-socket joint 148, in the conveying path adjoining the ball- and-socket joint 148, passes via a conically tapering hopper pipe portion 151 into the conveying pipe portion 152 arranged downstream in the conveying direction.

Fig. 42 to 45 in turn show the loading positions "ship empty" (Fig. 42), "ship full" (Fig. 43) and the unloading positions "ship full" (Fig. 44) and ship empty (Fig. 45). Because of the step-free transition of a lower conveying pipe portion in the direction of gravity of the respective conveying line portion 149 in the region of the ball-and-socket joint 148 toward the joint receiver, in the configuration according to Fig. 42 to 45, a dead space comparable to the dead spaces 146, 147 is dispensed with.

Instead of individual conveying pipes 7 or conveying pipe portions 9 arranged next to one another in a row, as in the configurations described above, a plurality of conveying pipes may also be guided in a pipe package of conveying pipes. Various designs of pipe packages of this type will be described below with the aid of Fig. 46 to 51. Fig. 46 to 51 in each case show a cross-section through the respective pipe package. Fig. 46 shows a conveying pipe package 153 with conveying pipes 154, which are grouped around a common support frame 155. The function of the support frame 155 corresponds to that of the pivot frames 36, 37, which have already been described above. The support frame 155 has a central support pipe 156, which is reinforced by an inner profile structure 157 with

reinforcement and profile structures. The profile structure 157 can also be a component of a coupling mechanism or connection mechanism for the support frame 155. The conveying pipes 154 are grouped equally distributed in the peripheral direction about the support pipe 156.

In the configuration according to Fig. 46, five of the conveying pipes 154 are present with a nominal width in the range between 200 mm and 350 mm, in particular in the range of 300 mm. Other nominal widths are also possible. In configurations of the package 153 which are not shown, three, four, six, seven, eight, nine or even more of the conveying pipes 154 may be grouped around the support frame 155 in the peripheral direction.

Fig. 47 shows a variant of a conveying pipe package 158, in which the support frame 155 is configured as a rectangular profile. Four of the conveying pipes 154, which are held, in a manner not shown, by the support frame 155 coupled by means of connecting struts, are grouped around the support frame 155 in a manner of a 2 x 2 array.

Fig. 48 shows a further configuration of a conveying pipe package 159. Two rows 160, 161 of the conveying pipes 154 are arranged there offset with respect to one another by half the spacing of two conveying pipes 154. Each of the rows 160, 161 comprises four of the conveying pipes 154. Another number of conveying pipes within one of the rows 160, 161 is also possible. The two conveying pipe rows 160, 161 are both carried by the support frame 155 by means of struts, not shown. The support frame 155, which is in turn configured as a rectangular profile, is arranged above the two conveying pipe rows 160, 161 in the configuration according to Fig. 48. Fig. 49 shows a further configuration of a conveying pipe package 162. Five of the conveying pipes 154 are arranged like the eyes of the dice number "five". The conveying pipes 154 are carried by a support frame 155 configured again as a rectangular profile, which is arranged below the central conveying pipe 154 in the configuration according to Fig. 49. Fig. 50 shows a further configuration of a conveying pipe package 163. In total, the package 163 has nine conveying pipes 154, which are arranged in the manner of a 3 x 3 array, which is rhombic in cross-section in the arrangement according to Fig. 50. The conveying pipes 154 in the configuration according to Fig. 50 are carried by a support frame 155, which is in turn configured as a rectangular profile and is arranged close to a conveying pipe 154 on the corner- side in relation to the 3 x 3 array in the configuration according to Fig. 50. The course of main connecting struts 164 for connection of the conveying pipes 154 to the support frame 155 is indicated by dot-dash lines in Fig. 50. Other connecting struts have been omitted.

Fig. 51 shows a further configuration of a conveying pipe package 164. This has a total of six conveying pipes 154, which are arranged hexagonally densely packed in the total package cross- section in an approximately triangular manner in such a way that three of the conveying pipes 154 are arranged in a base row, two of the conveying pipes 154 are arranged in a row above it and one of the conveying pipes 154 is arranged again thereabove and on the support frame side. The support frame 155 is in turn configured as a rectangular profile in the configuration according to Fig. 51.

In the above-described variants of conveying pipe packages, if the conveying pipes 154 are connected to one another in a self-supporting manner, the respective support frame 155 can also be dispensed with.

With the aid of Fig. 52, a further configuration of a conveying tower 166 and a conveying arm 167, which can be used, for example instead of the crane foot 33 and the pivot arms 36, 37 of the configuration according to Fig. 2, will be described below. Components which correspond to those which have already been described above with reference to Fig. 1 to 51 have the same reference numerals and will not be discussed again in detail. A conveying pipe support frame 168, which can be used instead of the above-described conveying pipe support frame 67 or 155, is arranged above the conveying pipes of the conveying arm 167, of which, in Fig. 52, only the conveying pipe and the ship-side conveying line portion 49 is visible. In total, the conveying pipe support frame 168 carries six conveying pipes, which are arranged next to one another perpendicular to the plane of the drawing of Fig. 52.

The conveying support frame 168 has a central rectangular frame profile 169, which is carried by the conveying tower 166 by means of a connecting cable 170. The cable 170 guided by additional deflection pulleys 171, 172 onto the side of the conveying tower 166 remote from the conveying arm 167. One end of the cable 170 guided in this manner is connected to a counterweight 173. The counterweight 173 exerts a torque that compensates the torque of the conveying arm 167 on the conveying tower 166, so a winding force to change an arm angle of the conveying arm 167 can be kept small. The counterweight 173 thus allows a balanced mounting of the arm 167 on the conveying tower 166. The rectangular frame profile 169 carries a docking station 174, which corresponds to the function of the docking station or connection mechanism 63 of the configuration according to Fig. 2 or 26.

With the aid of Fig. 53 to 57, a further configuration of a conveying device will be described below, which can be used as a shore to ship conveying device 6 or as a ship to shore conveying device 8. Components which correspond to those which have already been described above with reference to Fig. 1 to 52, and in particular with reference to Fig. 2, have the same reference numerals and will not be discussed again in detail.

The conveying device 6, 8 according to Fig. 53 to 57 carries a total of four conveying lines or conveying pipes 7 running next to one another, which, in particular, are numbered consecutively in the plan views of Fig. 54 and 56 by 7a, 7b, 7c and 7d. The conveying pipes 7a to 7d are guided from the level of the quay wall 34 firstly to a rotary device or rotary feedthrough 175 in the form of a rotary table that can be pivoted about a pivot axis parallel to the z-axis. The rotary table 175 is carried by a crane foot portion 33a, which is secured to the quay wall, of the conveying device 6, 8. The rotary table 175 allows a pivoting of a pipe package portion 176 on the quay wall side with portions of the conveying pipes 7a to 7d to a pipe package portion 177 guided in the crane foot portion 33b. The joint axis 178 running parallel to the z-direction of the rotary table 175 runs parallel to the conveying path for the bulk material by the rotary table 175.

Fig. 57 schematically shows a plan view of the rotary table 175. The latter has a rotary disc 179, secured to the quay wall, with conveying feedthroughs 180a, 180b, 180c and 180d, to which the conveying pipe portions 7a to 7d are closely flanged from the quay wall 34. Furthermore, the rotary table 175 has a second rotary disc that can be pivoted about the joint axis 178 and which closely rests flat on the rotary disc 179 and of which only conveying feedthroughs 182a 182b, 182c and 182 d are shown in Fig. 57 by dashed lines, which are in each case flush with the conveying feedthroughs 180a to 180d of the rotary disc 179 secured to the quay wall. The conveying pipes of the pipe package portion 176 open into the conveying feedthroughs 180a to 180d of the rotary disc 179. The conveying pipes of the pipe package portion 177 open into the conveying feedthroughs 182a to 182d of the rotary disc that can be pivoted with respect thereto. In the starting pivoting position through-openings of the conveying feedthroughs 180, 182 overlap to a maximum extent in the rotary table 175. The situation is shown, in which the rotary disc that can be pivoted about the joint axis 178 and is part of the pivotable crane foot portion 33b, is pivoted through a pivoting angle a of about 10° in the anti-clockwise direction about the joint axis 178 relative to the rotary disc 179 secured to the quay wall. Those cross-sectional regions of the conveying feedthroughs 180, 182 are shown by hatched lines in Fig. 57, which overlap at this pivoting angle and by means of which a bulk material conveyance by the rotary table 175 can take place. Assuming a corresponding diameter of the conveying feedthroughs 180, 182 and/or a correspondingly small spacing of these feedthroughs 180, 182 from the joint axis 178, these flush passages are also adequately large with relatively large pivoting angles of the rotary device 175 for conveying the bulk material through.

Fig. 53 and 54 show by way of example a pivoting of the rotary device 175 about an angle a of about 30° in the anti-clockwise direction about the joint axis 178, proceeding from a starting position shown in Fig. 55 and 56, in which a projection of the horizontal pivot arm 37 on the xy- plane runs parallel to the y-direction. In the pivoted-out position according to Fig. 53 and 54, a horizontal compensation Δχ of about 4 m is produced. In the conveying device 6, 8 according to Fig. 53 to 57, the vertical pivot arm 36 has two pivoting part arms 183, 184 running in parallel and spaced apart from one another, which are pivotably articulated about a common horizontally running joint axis 185 on the crane foot portion 33b. At the opposing ends, the pivoting part arms 183, 184 are articulated to a yoke 186, on which the horizontal pivot arm 37 is in turn fixed. Arranged between the joint connections of the pivoting part arms 183, 184 on the crane foot portion 33b are cylinder joint units 187 in the manner of the cylinder joint units 105 of Fig. 29 to 31, which connect portions of the conveying pipes 7a to 7d together in an articulated manner about a horizontal joint axis 188 in each case.

The joint axes 188 of the cylinder joint units 187 only run coaxially with respect to one another in the pivoting starting position according to Fig. 55 and 56. At a pivoting angle a≠ 0, the pivot axes 188a to 188d run spaced apart from one another for the length compensation of horizontally extending portions 189a to 189d of the conveying pipes 7a to 7d. Above the cylinder joint units 187, the conveying pipes 7a to 7d run via a curved section to further cylinder joint units 190, which in each case in turn have a horizontally running joint axis 191 and are configured in the manner of the cylinder j oint units 105 according to Fig. 29 to 31. The j oint axes 191a to 191d also run, with a pivoting angle a≠ 0 at a spacing with respect to one another (cf Fig. 54) for the length compensation of the horizontally extending portions 189a to 189d of the conveying pipes 7a to 7d. The conveying pipe portions 189a to 189d connect the respective cylinder joint unit 190 to a ball-and-socket joint 62, which is part of the docking station 174.

Between the cylinder joint units with joint axes 188 and 191, each of the conveying pipes 7a to 7d also has a swivel joint in the manner of the swivel joints 46 or 54 of the configuration according to Fig. 3. The joint axes 191 of the cylinder joint units 190 also run coaxially with respect to one another only in the pivoting starting position according to Fig. 55 and 56. In pivoting positions with α≠ 0, the joint axes 191a to 191 d, which are allocated to the cylinder joint units 190 of the respective conveying pipes 7a to 7d, run spaced apart from one another (cf Fig. 54). This displaceability of the joint axes 188a to 188d and 191a to 191d and the associated degrees of freedom of movement of the pipe portions of the conveying pipes 7a to 7d allow a pivoting of the docking station 174, in particular, about the z-axis, so that, for example, in the pivoting position according to Fig. 53 and 54, the docking station 174 can also be arranged parallel to a ship-side counterpiece for the docking station 174, as indicated by dashed lines in Fig. 54.

In the region of the transition between the through-openings 180a to 180d and 182a to 182d, the rotary feedthroughs 175, 192 can have pressure blast-in points, by means of which optionally present dead spaces can be blasted out.

In Fig. 55, counterweights 192a, 192b are indicated by dashed lines. The counterweight 192a is an extension of the horizontal pivot arm 37 beyond the joint axis running parallel to the yoke 186 between the horizontal pivot arm 37 and the pivoting part arms 183, 184. The counterweight

192b is an extension of the respective pivoting part arms 183, 184 beyond the joint axis 185. The horizontal pivot arm 37, on the one hand, and the vertical pivot arm of the conveying device 6, 8 formed by the pivoting part arms 183, 184, on the other hand, are mounted in a balanced manner by means of the counterweights 192a, 192b. The counterweights 192a, 192b, with regard to their function, correspond to the compensation weights 42, 43.

With the aid of Fig. 58 and 59, a further configuration of a rotary feedthrough 192 for the conveying pipes 7a to 7d for pivoting the crane foot portions 33 a, 33b of the conveying device 6, 8 about the vertical joint axis thereof will be described below. Components which correspond to those which have already been described above with respect to Fig. 1 to 57 and, in particular to Fig. 53 to 57, have the same reference numerals and will not be discussed again in detail.

In contrast to the configuration according to Fig. 57, in the configuration according to Fig. 58 and 59, the conveying feedthroughs 182a to 182d in the disc configured rigidly with respect to the pivotable crane foot portion 33b of the rotary feedthrough 192 are configured as elongate hole openings, which extend in the peripheral direction about the joint axis 178. A width of the elongate hole openings 182a to 182d in the radial direction corresponds to a nominal width of the conveying pipes 7a to 7d. From above, in other words from the pivotable crane foot portion 33b, the conveying pipes 7a to 7d open into the elongate hole openings 182a to 182d, in each case, via an elongate hole pipe widening portion 193a to 193d. To increase the clarity, the elongate hole pipe widening portion 193d in Fig. 58 is shown transparently. Proceeding from the respective elongate hole openings 182a to 182d, the elongate hole pipe widening portions 193a to 193d taper conically to a connection flange, the nominal width of which corresponds to the nominal width of the conveying pipes 7a to 7d. By means of the rotary feedthrough 192, a pivoting of the crane foot portion 33b with respect to the crane foot portion 33a about the joint axis 178 is possible about a pivoting angle a (cf. Fig. 59) through about 30°, without a conveying passage through the rotary feedthrough 192 being smaller than the nominal width of the conveying pipes 7a to 7d. The elongate hole pipe widening portions 193a to 193d taper conically in the conveying direction of the bulk material.

The pivotable disc of the rotary feedthrough 192 formed by the crane foot 33b is sealed against the rotary disc 179 secured to the quay wall.

The carrier gas feed line 15 can run along the joint axis 178 through the rotary feedthroughs 175, 192, as shown in Fig. 57 to 59. Above-described configurations of loading conveying pipes can just as well be used as unloading conveying pipes. For unloading, the arrangement of these conveying pipe designs has to be precisely reversed, so in the conveying path for unloading, the sequence of the components of the conveying pipes is the same as in the conveying path for loading. The same applies if unloading conveying pipes are described above, which can also be used in the reverse arrangement as loading conveying pipes.