The present invention relates to a safety device for a manhole on board a vessel or an installation, comprising a body arranged to be placed over the manhole, where the body is internally open and has an internal shape which, in the main,

corresponds to the opening of the manhole, and where the body is formed as a closable unit equipped with a lid. A manhole is an opening in a deck, a bulkhead, pontoons, rig legs or the like on a floating vessel or an installation, such as ships or offshore floating rigs or

offshore/onshore installations, which are normally only opened during construction and servicing periods. The manholes can be placed in locations where there is a need to shut off an area which shall be used, for example, as a tank, or where there needs to be access to an enclosed area of, for instance, a pontoon or a leg of a floating offshore installation.

Normally, the manhole is only large enough so that a person can get through the hole. The hole is usually closed by adding a metal plate over the hole with a gasket in between.

From prior art reference is made to FR 2627468 A1 which describes a short pipe part for placing over the manhole of a tank, where the pipe part can be closed with a hinged lid that sits at the top of the flange of the pipe part. The pipe part is

permanently welded on around the manhole and has a similar internal and open shape as the opening of the hole.

WO2008107792 A1 shows a mechanism to close the window of a porthole using an actuator. The mechanism is additionally equipped with a sensor that sends a signal to the closing mechanism if water is detected, so that the window closes

automatically and the water is prevented from flowing in through the open porthole.

CN202163579 U shows a ceiling plate rotary mounted on a rod, where the rod stands on a mounting plate which can be permanently screwed in a manhole. The ceiling plate can be swung over the manhole to protect the crew that works in the manhole from falling objects.

DE7514170 U shows a winch device which can be fastened to the edge of the flange of a manhole, where the flange is located at the top of a pipe part which projects up from the deck or out from a wall. The winch device has a cable that can run up a rod over the manhole and down through the pipe part to be able to rescue people or objects down in an underlying room. US2010125997 A1 describes a lid which can be installed over manholes of different sizes. The adapter part of the lid has a number of holes which shall be bolted to the flange of the manhole, where there are enough holes so that it can be adapted to manholes of varying sizes.

It is conceivable that the invention can be used in all types of tanks, even if they are also located on land installations or fixed offshore installations, but the invention is particularly useful on floating vessels and installations. It is an object of the present invention to provide a safety device for a manhole, where the safety device helps to prevent that falling objects drop onto or into the manhole.

It is also an object to provide a solution that helps to prevent water ingress during work in the area which the manhole provides access to.

The above objects are achieved with a safety device as given, in which the wall of the body is equipped with passages for introduction of lines for gas, electricity, water and the like, which shall be used during work in a room below the manhole.

The body can be equipped with a sensor for detecting ingress of water and/or angle of the body, and where the signal from the sensor triggers the lid of the tank to be closed. Furthermore, the sensor can be arranged to give an audio or visual signal, which signals that the lid shall be closed.

The lid can be equipped with a simple closing mechanism, preferably one-handed, such as one or more locking handles, where the handle or handles are equipped with a locking hook arranged to be pressed in under the upper flange inside the body.

The sensor can also be arranged to give a signal to a hydraulic actuator which, upon receipt of the signal, is arranged to automatically close the lid.

The wall of the body can be fitted with passages for the introduction of gas, electricity, water, etc., to be used while working in a room below the manhole.

Furthermore, the body can comprise a rod equipped with a ceiling panel, where the ceiling panel is arranged to prevent falling objects from dropping into the body or into the manhole. The rod may be rotary mounted to the body.

The safety device can also include a winch. The winch can be mounted externally on the body, and where a cable to the winch runs up to an upper section of the rod and possibly through the interior opening of the body.

The body may be fitted externally and/or internally with climbing steps.

Furthermore, the body can be equipped in a lower part with an adapter for adjusted mounting to manholes of varying size.

The safety device can be mounted on board a floating vessel or a floating

installation. The invention shall now be described in more detail with the help of the following figures in which:

Figure 1 shows a safety device for manholes according to the invention.

Figures 2 and 3 shows a tank body which is part of the safety device according to the invention, seen in partial cross section from two sides, respectively.

Figure 4 shows a rod with a ceiling that forms a part of the safety device according to the invention.

Figure 5 shows an adapter which forms a part of the safety device according to the invention.

Figures 6 and 7 show a lid that is part of the safety device according to the invention.

Figures 8 and 9 show an alternative embodiment of a safety device for manholes according to the invention.

Figure 10 shows examples of application areas and the placing of the safety device according to the invention.

Figures 1 1 and 12 further show the positioning of a safety device according to the invention, placed on a vertical and a horizontal surface, respectively.

The present invention relates to a safety device which is primarily intended to prevent water ingress in tanks/columns on floating rigs and similar installations, as well as protection against falling objects. However, it is conceivable that the invention can also be used on other floating vessels or installations.

Figure 1 shows a safety device 10 for a manhole (the manhole is not shown). As can be seen, the safety device 10 comprises a unit in the form of a body 12 which can be placed over the manhole in a known manner. For fitting to the manhole, the body 12 is equipped with a lower flange 26 with holes which can be attached in a known manner, for example, by means of bolts, to the manhole. The body 12 can also be equipped with a transition in the form of an adapter 22, for example, a plate with holes for adaptation to manholes of different sizes and that are bolted or otherwise secured to the lower flange 26. An example of an adapter 22 is shown in figure 5. A typical manhole is oblong and oval and has, for example, the dimensions 600x400 mm or 700x500 mm according to the Norwegian standards. The size 800x600 is also used. A common denominator is, however, the size of 600x400 and is probably the most used on offshore vessels.

The body 12 is preferably designed as a tank or a container, i.e., that it has internally at least a mainly cylindrical shape possibly with a corresponding oval shape that is common for the manholes. The tank or container can be understood here in a way that the body 12 is at least able to be closed to the environment. The height of the tank body 12 can vary, but it is large enough so that a person and/or equipment can fit inside the tank body. Furthermore, the height also helps to prevent splash water from waves coming into the tank body 12 and down into the manhole. Because of the height, the tank body can be equipped with external ladder rungs 28a to facilitate access. Similarly, ladder rungs 28b can also be provided inside the tank body 12.

It is common to pull hoses and cables through the manholes during servicing and construction work. The tank body 12 according to the invention can, in its wall 12a, have passages 30 for the supply of wires 31 or lines for, for example, gas, electricity, water, sludge suction and other equipment that may be needed down in the manhole, so that wires will not hang down through the lid that closes. It can also be connected to gas measurement equipment and also other electrical equipment or sensors. The passages 30 can be equipped with seals to prevent water ingress.

In an upper part, the tank body 12 is fitted with a lid 14, so as to be closable and sealable when mounted on the manhole. The lid 14 is articulately attached to an upper flange 24. The lid 14 can be of any shape, but it is often appropriate that the shape corresponds to the upper flange 24 with respect to the possible use of gaskets between the flange and the lid.

If the safety device 10 or the surface it is attached to tilts or the water level rises, the tank body 12 can be shut down automatically or optionally have a simple one- handed closing mechanism. For this a sensor 38 can be used which detects the ingress of water and which is connected to a hydraulic system (not shown) that can automatically close the lid 14.

The sensor 38 can also be arranged to give an audio or visual signal, such as a sound or light signal, so that the lid 14 can be closed manually by the personnel. Figures 6 and 7 show a lid 14 with a simple closing mechanism. As mentioned, the lid 14 is attached to the upper flange 24 by hinges, for example, by means of a conventional hinge 34. The lid 14 may further be equipped with one or more locking handles 32 or a handgrip, where the handle is provided with a locking hook 32a which is pressed, for example, in under the upper flange 24 inside the body 12.

In addition to securing the tank body 12 against ingress of water, the safety device 10 can also be equipped with a protective ceiling to prevent that falling objects from upper levels could drop on personnel. For this reason, a rod 16 or hoop can be fitted to the tank body 12, as shown in figure 4, where the rod during normal use on a horizontal surface extends mainly straight up from the tank body 12. At the top, the rod 16 is equipped with a ceiling 18 in the form of a plate. The ceiling 18 will normally be large enough to cover the opening of the tank body 12 so that falling objects are prevented from hitting the opening. The rod 16 can be permanently bolted to the tank body 12. Alternatively, the rod 16 can be rotary mounted to the tank body 12, so that when the safety device 10 is used on an inclined or vertical surface (for example, a leg of a rig), the rod with the ceiling can be rotated to protect the opening of the tank body. The safety device 10 can also be equipped with a rescue device which makes it possible to lift injured personnel out of the tank with a stretcher without having to connect extra equipment. This can be carried out by using a winch 20 which is connected to the outside of the tank body and in which a cable (not shown) to the winch 20 passes through a fulcrum, pulley or the like in, or near, the ceiling 18 and down into the tank body 12 or the manhole. Naturally, the winch 20 can also be used for the introduction of equipment to be used in the manhole and the equipment's retrieval.

Figures 8 and 9 show an alternative embodiment of a safety device 1 10 for manholes. This is especially intended to be mounted on a mainly vertical surface, such as, for example, a leg of a floating offshore platform or vessel. As it will be generally impractical to fit the rod 1 6 and the ceiling 18 to this embodiment, these parts are removed. The safety device 1 10 would otherwise be correspondingly shaped and equipped as described above and be mounted in the same way, but the body 1 12 is usually formed lower, i.e. the wall 1 12a has a lower height, so that the interior volume is slightly less than the first embodiment. The body 1 12 can correspondingly be provided with passages 30 as described.

Figure 10 shows illustrative examples of the use of the safety devices 10,1 10 according to the invention. The X's illustrate the location of the safety devices 10,1 10. Figures 1 1 and 12 show the location in more detail. As can be seen from figure 12, the safety device 10 can be mounted on a manhole up on the horizontal section of a pontoon 52 to a floating rig 50. With such a location, the manhole could be particularly susceptible to falling objects or water ingress from the surrounding sea. In figure 1 1 an alternative embodiment is shown, where the safety device 1 10 is shown mounted on a manhole in a vertical leg of a rig 54.