Although, chemicals, etc. has been used for removing the spilled oil, the spilled oil is only emulsified or sunk into the sea by the chemical so that the spilled oil is only removed visually.

To settle such disadvantages, the Korean Utility Model Publication No. 82-1602 was proposed. In an oil collecting apparatus of a skimmer ship of this proposal, a spiral rotator whose cross section has a spirally wound shape is movably installed in a frame. A driving device is connected to this spirally wounded rotator for rotating the spirally wounded rotator in its main direction under a state in which an opening part thereof is directed to the fore side. Simultaneously, a rotating blades which rotates a lower connection part sunk into the water in response to a rotation of the spirally wound rotator is geared with an annular rack mounted to a frame by the driving gear at a horizontal position of the spirally wound rotator.

In such apparatus, however, prior to a use of the spirally wound rotator, a work for separating oil from a drum by using a scrubbing roller should be performed, wherein the taking-away roller has a function for eliminating the oil smeared on a brush through a use of a drum on which a plural number of brushes are installed. However, the drum can not be revolved fast due to the viscosity of the oil. Further, there is no means for treating the water adhered to oil, thus, the amount of collected oil and water is increased so that the actual amount of oil received in the storage tank is not so much. As a result, a large storage tank is required.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a proposal comprising a hull having a number of separated tanks, an oil inflow unit for receiving a spilled oil into the hull, an oil drawing means for drawing the inflow oil, an oil separating/ extracting means for separating and extracting the oil from the water and an adjusting means for adjusting the height of the oil drawing means and the oil separating/extracting means is disclosed in the Korean Patent No. 161609. This proposal will be described referring to FIGs. 1 and 4, as follows.

As shown in the drawings, a hull A has a plurality of tank 1 divided by a bulkhead 2, and opening and shutting blades 3,3a which acts an oil inflow unit B, are installed in a folded shape in a front end of the hull. As this installing unit, a rod 4 of a cylinder is fixed to the opening and shutting blades 3,3a, and the cylinder main body 4a is fixed to one side of the hull A made up of the tanks. Also, an oil inflow part 5 provided as a hull bottom is formed in a front inside of the hull A.

In the rear side of the oil inflow part 5, an oil drawing means C for drawing the flowed-in oil and an oil separating /extracting means D for separating and extracting the oil form the water and an adjusting means E for adjusting the height of the oil separating/extracting means D.

Description of construction of the oil drawing unit C will be described in detail. A supporting prop 6 is installed on both sides of the tank for use of the oil separation and removal consisted of the oil separating/extracting means D, and a hydraulic turbine frame 9 having a plurality of hydraulic blades 8 is rotatably mounted to the supporting prop 6 by a shaft 7 so as to be rotated by a driving force. This hydraulic frame 9 has side plates 10, lOa which support and fix the hydraulic turbine blades 8 at both sides thereof. The shaft 7 is installed in axle by supporting bearings 11, lla, a sprocket 12 is also set in axle to the shaft 7, and the sprocket 12 is connected to a driving motor 14 having a driving sprocket 13 by a chain 15.

Detailed description of the oil separating/extracting means D are as follows. An oil separating and storage tank 16 is installed under the hydraulic turbine frame 9, and one side surface of the oil separating and storage tank 16 is formed as a rounding face 17 which has an arc shape such as a circumferential part of the hydraulic turbine blade 8 of the hydraulic turbine frame 9. A gap between the rounding face 17 and an external end of the hydraulic turbine blade 8 is made. An inflow aperture 19 is formed at upper side of the oil separating and storage tank 16 for inflow the draw oil mixed with water to a mixing tub 18. A partition 20 is provided downward a side of the inflow aperture 19 so that a circular stream part 21 is formed at lower portion and a discharging passage 22 is formed at a side portion. A water surface reference plate 23 is projected to an upper side of the discharging passage 22, and a draining passage 25 connected to a draining aperture 24 is installed at side of water the surface reference plate 23. This draining passage 25 is extended outside of the both sides of the hull A as shown in FIG. 3.

An oil extracting part 26 is formed at an upper portion of the mixing tub 18, and an oil removing inflow pipe 27 is installed at lower side of the oil extracting part 26 and a lower portion of the oil removing inflow pipe 27 is formed in U-shape and connected to an oil discharging pipe 28. An additional water discharging pipe 29 is connected to a lower portion of the U- shaped oil removing inflow pipe 27. An oil inflow pipe 30 for controlling a height is combined with an upper portion of the oil removing inflow pipe 27 by a screw combination to control the height. Opening and shutting valves 31,31a are provided at the oil discharging pipe 28 and the water discharging pipe 29, respectively.

For the adjusting mean E for adjusting the height of the oil drawing means C and the oil separating/extracting means D, a cylinder 32 is installed at an upper side of a rear outer surface of the oil separating and storage tank 16. The rod 33 of the cylinder is fixed to an outer side wall of the oil separating and storage tank 16, and a cylinder body 34 is fixed to an external side wall of any one tank of the hull A, and a hinge part 35 is installed on a bottom surface of the hull.

An operating room 36 is provided in the rear portion of the hull A, and an engine room is provided in both sides of rear portion of the hull. Engines 37,37a are provided for rotating propellers 39,39a. Each of the tanks 1 of the hull A has an aperture 40 so that the oil discharging pipe 28 is inserted into aperture 40. Therefore, the collected oil is discharged into the inside of the tank 1. A character P shown in FIGs. 2 and 3 indicates the water surface of the sea.

In the ship having the above-mentioned constructions, the opening and shutting blades 3,3a are expanded by the cylinder 4a and the rod 4, when oil outflown on the sea from a ship such as an oil carrier, etc., The ship also moves towards an oil floating position, thus the spilled oil is flowed into the oil inflow part 5. At this time, the oil mixed with water flows-in on the bottom of the oil inflow part 5. Then, the hydraulic turbine frame 9 which is the oil drawing means C is rotated to draw the oil mixed with the water and having a high consistency.

Next, the oil is drawn through the inflow aperture 19 of the oil separating/extracting means D and then the pure oil whose consistency is much high, is extracted.

That is, the driving motor 14 is driven to transfer the driving force through the driving sprocket 13, the chain 15 and the sprocket 12 installed in axle on the shaft 7, the hydraulic turbine frame 9 rotates about the shaft 7, therefore, the hydraulic turbine blade 8 also rotates along the rounding face 17 of the mixing tub 18 in direction of an arrow so that oil (mixture of the oil and water) located between the rounding face 17 and the hydraulic turbine blade 8 is drawn simultaneously. The drawn oil is floated on the water since the oil is lighter than water, the oil flows into the mixing tub 18 which is a part of the oil separating and storage tank 16 through the inflow aperture 19.

At this time, when the drawn oil flows in successively, the water located at a lower portion of the oil separating and storage tank 16 flows out over the water surface reference plate 23 through the circular stream part 21 and the discharging passage 22. The flowed-out water is discharged outside of the hull A along the draining passage 25 and the draining aperture 24. The water surface is generated in the oil extracting part 26 by the water surface reference plate 23 of the oil separating and storage tank 16, and the oil floated on this water flows into the oil inflow pipe 30 for controlling a height installed in the oil extracting part 26. The flowed oil is sent to each tank 1 along the oil discharging pipe 28 through the oil removing inflow pipe 27. In other words, the extracted oil is discharged to the tank 1 through the hole of the each tank 1 by the oil discharging pipe 28. Also the oil flowed into the tank 1 is transferred to other oil carrier through a pipe not shown in the drawings. That is, the oil spilled on the sea is collected and stored in the other oil carrier. The water mixed with the oil sinks downwards according to the U-shape of the oil removing inflow pipe 27 in case that only oil flows in through the oil inflow pipe 30. The sunk water is discharged outside of the hull A through the water discharging pipe 29. That is, only the pure oil is collected and the water is discharged so that the polluted sea can be cleaned in a short time by a removal of only the oil.

However, such system has a good effect in a removal of oil but it has the problems that it is difficult to move to the polluted-oil area rapidly since the surface area of the ship is too large. Meanwhile, an apparatus comprising conveyer belt is provided for collecting a trash consisted of the floated matter on the water, the function in this system was simple and an efficiency in its practical use was low. The ship mounting that such device was proposed, but a complete collection and separation of all the trash was difficult. Also the trash is flowed into an oil drawing device so that a life of the oil drawing device becomes short.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a ship for removing floated matter which can be moved rapidly to an accident area (that is, pollution area), separate a trash from the water flowed therethrough and collect it and separate an oil from the water and collect the separated oil.

A ship for removing floated matters according to the present invention comprises a floated matter inflow unit being installed at front end of ship for receiving the floated matters (e. g., oil and trash) floated on the sea; a floated matter guiding passage formed by buoyancy means located at both sides of the ship and a first tank formed at a lower portion of the ship.

The floated matter guiding passage guides the floated matters flowed through the floated matter inflow unit.

The ship of the present invention further comprises a trash removing device for removing the trash contained in the floater matter, the trash removing device comprises a plate installed at constant depth in the first tank having a plurality of holes for dispersing the water to the lower portion of the ship, a filtering net installed upward on the plate for blocking the trash of the floated matter, and a lift means for lifting said trash blocked by the filtering net.

The present invention further comprises an oil separating unit for separating and collecting oil floated on the water along said floated matter guiding passage, the oil separating unit being located at rear portion of the floated matter guiding passage. Also, present invention comprises water discharging means installed at both sides of the ship stern and separated from an oil tank and said oil separating means, respectively, the water discharging means receives water dispersed through the first tank and discharges it outside the ship.

The oil separating means used in the present invention comprises a rotor assembly for separating oil from the water and each of the water discharging means has rotor assembly for discharging the water. A horizontal plate is installed in a constant depth of the first tank, and the plate can disperse uniformly and supplying the water to said water discharging means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects and features of the instant invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a top view showing one example of conventional oil skimmer ships; FIG. 2 is a side view of a conventional oil skimmer ship; FIG. 3 is a rear view of a conventional oil skimmer ship; FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view providing one example of an oil separation extraction unit for a conventional oil skimmer ship; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the ship in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line I-I of FIG.

5; FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 5; FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 5; and FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 5.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail referring to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the ship according to the present invention, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line I-I of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 5. At a bow of the ship, a floated matter inflow unit 100 is installed. A floated matter guiding passage 200 is installed at rear part of the floated matter inflow unit 100. The floated matter guiding passage 200 is extended to longitudinal direction of the ship.

At rear end of the floated matter guiding passage 200, an oil separating unit 300 is located. At rear end adjacent to the oil separating unit 300, an oil storage tank 400 is disposed. A filtering net 610 is fixed upward at a position adjacent to the floated matter guiding passage 200 to separate the trash from the floated matter. A lift means 620 for lifting the trash is installed at a position neighboring to the filtering net 610.

The floated matter inflow unit 100 has a front wall 111 which can be moved upward or downward by means of a hinge means 110 mounted at low portion of the bow. When the front wall 111 is moved downward as shown in FIG. 5, sea water flow into the floated matter guiding passage 200 through the floated matter inflow unit 100 The floated matter guiding passage 200 is connected to the floated matter inflow unit 100, and two buoyancy means 210 for supplying a buoyancy to the ship are located at the both side the floated matter guiding passage 200, respectively. The buoyancy means 210 are formed at upper portions of the right and left sides with walls 212 having a regular interval. A tapered guiding wall 211 is formed at front portion of the each buoyancy menas 210 to guide the floated matter into the floated matter guiding passage 200.

The floated matter guiding passage 200 is a space which are formed by the two buoyancy menas 210, bottom of the each buoyancy menas 210 (that is, a bottom of housing in which the buoyancy menas 210 is received) is inclined toward bottom of the ship, therefore, a first collecting tank 240 is formed at a central space. In the first collecting tank 240, a plate 241 having a plurality of holes 242 is installed at certain depth thereof for dispersing the seawater to the bottom portion. At the rear end of the buoyancy means 210, the floated matter guiding passage 200 is inclined towards both sides of the ship by a first bulkhead 230 as shown in FIG. 7.

Although, a pair of the first bulkheads 230 are shown in FIG. 7, only one of the first bulkheads will be described. The first bulkhead 230 is integrated with a second bulkhead 232 forming an oil storage tank 400 and a third bulkhead 233 extended toward the second bulkhead 232 and a side of the ship. That is, a rotor assembly 311 of the oil separating unit 300 and rotor assemblies 511 of a water discharging unit 500 are not in contacted with the water by the second and third bulkhead 232 and 233.

As shown in FIGs. 6 and 7, a lower part of the third bulkhead 233 is connected to a water flow passage 231 for flowing the water filled in the first collecting tank 240 to the water discharging unit 500. Therefore, the water flowed and collected the first collecting tank 240 through the floated matter guiding passage 200 is moved to the rotor assemblies 511 of the water discharging units 500.

The floated matter guiding passage 200 and the oil collecting tank 400 located at a rear portion of the ship are divided by the second bulkhead 232 acting as a wall of the oil collecting tank 400 and the third bulkhead 233 extended to a width direction. Height of the second bulkhead 232 adjacent to the rotor assembly 311 is higher than a level of water so that the rotor assembly 311 can separate an oil floated on the water.

As a desirable example of the rotor assemblies 311,511, it may be presented the construction for receiving a driving force of motors M1, M2. Also, the rotor assembly 511 of the water discharging unit 500 can be replaced by a pump for discharging a water which is a function of the rotor assembly. The each rotor assembly 511 is constructed at rear portion of the buoyancy body 210 so as to discharge the water flowed through the floated matter guiding passage 200 and the water flow passage 231 of the third bulkhead 233. A wall 212 on which the rotor assembly 311 of the oil separating unit 300 is mounted has a rounded surface 312 for guiding the sea water to the rotor assembly 311. It is more desirable to form a buoyancy means or a buoyancy space under the rounded surface 312.

A low member 512 located under the rotor assembly 511 and connected to water flow passage 231 has a rounded shape. The second bulkhead 232 acting as a tank walls forms the oil collecting tank 400 at rear portion of the ship. If necessary, an engine room can be provided with the oil collecting tank 400.

Also, a discharging pipe 410 connecting a lower portion of the oil collecting tank 400 and the rotor assembly 511 of the water discharging unit 500 can be provided for discharging the water contained with the oil collecting tank 400 to the rotor assembly 511. Probably, an outlet of the discharging pipe 410 is located at higher position than the seawater level so that the seawater cannot be flowed in the discharging pipe 410, but be only discharged. In FIG. 6, space except the third bulkhead 233, the rounded surface 512 and the water flow passage 231 can be utilized as a buoyancy mean or a buoyancy space. A space formed under the rounded surface 312 shown in FIG. 7 is sealed to form the auxiliary buoyancy space 313.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 5, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 5. A buoyancy space 130 is formed at lower portion of a bow of the ship, and a top face of the buoyancy space 130 becomes a bottom face 131 of the bow of the ship. The front wall 111 is mounted movably at the bottom face 131 by a hinge 110. For convenience, a means for operating the front wall 111 is not shown in the drawing. When the front wall 111 is moved downward as shown in FIG. 5, the water is flowed into the floated matter guiding passage 200 along with the floated matter and oil covering the water.

In this state, the floated matter comprising the oil is floated on the water by the buoyancy, wherein the floated matter comprises a floated oil and/or floated trash. The floated matter and water are received into the first collecting tank 240 connected to the floated matter guiding part 200. The buoyancy means 210 is located at the upper portion of the first collecting tank 240 to provide the buoyancy to the ship.

The horizontal plate 241 having a plurality of holes 242 is positioned in the first collecting tank 240. On the plate 241, the filtering net 610 for blocking and separating an inflow of trash in the floated matter is fixed in a perpendicular direction. It also is possible to change a direction of the filtering net 610 in a perpendicular direction or a slanted direction etc., if necessary.

The lift means 600 for lifting the trash blocked by the filtering net 610 is mounted on the filtering net 610. The oil separating unit 300 comprising the rotor assembly 311, the rounded surface 312 and the motor M1 shown in FIG. 5, and the first collecting tank 240 are formed by the second bulkhead 232 which block an upper portion (that is, oil floated on the water) of the water and separate the oil storage tank 400. The water flow passage 231 for guiding the water to the rotor assembly 511 is formed on the third bulkhead 233 separating the both rotor assemblies 511 from the first collecting tank 240. Character M2 indicates a motor used for driving of the both rotor assemblies 511.

The water discharging unit 500 comprising the rotor assembly 511 and the rounded surface 512 is constructed so as to constantly supply the water received in the frist collecting tank 240 through the holes 242 of the plate 241. A lower end (inlet) of the water flow passage 231 formed by the third bulkhead 233 is oriented to the lower portion of the first collecting tank 240 to supply the water to the water discharging unit 500 which can discharge the water.

In the present invention with such construction, when water filled within the buoyancy spaces 130,313 shown in FIG. 8 or FIG. 9 is discharged at the time of closing the front of the floated inflow unit 100 as shown in a dotted line of FIG. 5, the buoyancy of the ship rises and the bow of the ship or the ship itself floats. Preferably, if the water filled in the first collecting tank 240 is discharged by a pump (not shown in the drawings), an additional space together with the buoyancy spaces 130,313 is provided; therefore, the buoyancy is increased relatively. For example, if the ship floats as much as S2-S1 (S2: position in working, S1: position in moving) of FIG. 6, a resistance caused by the water becomes relatively small so that the ship can move rapidly to an accident area. Although the buoyancy spaces 130,313 are provided only in the bow and the stern of the ship as shown in the drawing, is desirable to add or change a construction and a number of the buoyancy space, if necessary, When the ship arrives at the accident area, water is again filled within the buoyancy spaces 130,313 to sink the ship to position of S2 shown in FIGs. 8 and 9. In this state, the front wall 111 is moved downward as shown by a real line of FIG. 5.

Thus, the floated matter flows in the ship. Hereinafter, the trash and oil are separated from the water and collected. At this time, the front wall 111 rotated around the hinge 110 is moved downward or upward by a known operating means such as a motor or a cylinder, etc., (not shown in FIG. 5.) In other words, the front wall 111 is opened from the dot line state of FIG. 5 to the real line state.

The floated matter, e. g., oil and trash flowed into the ship along with the water flows in the floated matter guiding part 200 along the guiding wall 211 having a dustpan shape. At this time, the buoyancy means 210 located at both sides of the ship provide a buoyancy as shown in FIG. 7. The oil separating unit 300 in the present invention has the rotor assembly 311 installed at the center thereof. The both rotor assemblies 511 of the water discharging unit 500 receive the water flowed-in through the water flow passage 231 of the third bulkhead 233 from a lower portion of the first collecting tank 240 shown in FIGs. 6 and 7 and then discharge water via the rounded surface 512 shown in FIG. 6. These both rotor assemblies 511 may be replaced by a water discharging pump having a hydraulic function if necessary.

Since the water is heavier than oil and the lower end (inlet portion) of the water flow passage 231 is positioned at the bottom portion of the ship, only the water is supplied to the water discharging unit 500 through the water flow passage 231.

At this time, the plate 241 having a plurality of the holes 242 is mounted in a certain depth of the first tank 240, thus a water level is not increased and maintained at a constant level, and the water is guided to the bottom face of the ship under a uniform pressure. The holes 242 of the plate 241 prevent a movement of an alien substance or a weighed body, so as to prevent a collision with the water discharging units 500. The water discharging units 500 receive the water through the bottom portion of the first collecting tank 240, and then the water discharging units 500 discharge the water from the lower part to the outside of the ship. Therefore, a thickness of the oil layer is increased in the first collecting tank 240. That is, the water is bailed by the both water discharging units 500, but the oil is bailed by the only one rotor assembly 311 of the oil separating unit 300 formed at a central position by the second bulkhead 232 and the spacial wall 212. Therefore, a thickness of the oil collected on the upper portion of the first collecting tank 240 is gradually increased, and the oil is easily moved into the oil collecting tank 400 by the rotor assembly 311 of the oil separating unit 300.

Since the first collecting tank 240 is directly connected to the floated matter guiding passage 200 and the water is supplied to the both water discharging units 500 isolated from the floated matter guiding passage 200 by the third bulkhead 233 by the water guiding passage 231, the water is discharged by both water discharging units 500 and the oil is separated from the water and moved into oil storage tank 400. The oil separating unit 300 separates and removes the oil floated on the water on which the trash has already removed.

That is, the oil floated on the water is guided into the floated matter guiding passage 200 having a narrow width relative to a width of the ship, the water which is discharged through the water discharging units 500. Accordingly, the thickness of the oil becomes relatively thick, the rotor assembly 311 of the oil separating unit 300 is operated to separate the oil from the water and move the separated oil to the oil storage tank 400 like that oil is bailed by a rice scoop, without a change of potential energy of the oil. Thus a consumption of energy caused by a change of the energy is reduced so as to easily remove the oil.

In the oil storage tank 400, the water is located under the oil layer since a specific gravity of the oil is less than that of the water and the upper end of the second bulkhead 232 forming the tank wall of the oil storage tank 400 is located higher than the water level. Consequently, a hydraulic pressure in the oil storage tank 400 is higher than that of the first collecting tank 240; therefore, the water flowed at the lower portion of the oil storage tank 400 is flowed to the water discharging units 500 through the discharging pipe 410 having an outlet end corresponding to the lower end of the oil storage tank 400. Such operation is repeated and a consistency of the oil in the oil storage tank 400 is increased.

Although the above description has been described for removing the floated matter floated on the sea water, the present invention can be used on fresh water such as lake and river.

In the present invention as described above, each of three principal spaces formed by the bulkheads has an opening, and the both water discharging units and the first collecting tank are interconnected by the water guiding passage. Therefore, the water is discharged by the both water discharging units and oil is separated from the water by one oil separating unit formed on the floated matter guiding passage. That is, since a quantity of the discharged water is greater than that of the oil separated from the water by one oil separating unit, an oil layer becomes relatively thick, which makes the oil separating unit to easily separate the oil without a change of potential energy for the oil.

Further, the oil storage tank in which the separated oil is received has a discharging pipe, so that the water received within the oil storage tank can be discharged; thus, only the oil can be received in the oil storage tank. The buoyancy units are provided in the ship of the present invention, the ship can be moved toward an accident area rapidly.

An efficiency in the movement of the ship and its work is improved since a front wall forming a floated matter guiding passage is rotated for working or a movement. In addition, buoyancy means are provided at both sides of the ship in one body so that it is possible to prevent a capsize of the ship and to collect the oil even in nasty weather. The horizontal plate having a plurality of holes is installed at a certain depth in the first collecting tank forming the floated matter guiding passage, the water is moved uniformly to the lower portion of the ship so that the water with a uniform pressure is supplied to the water discharging units. Also, since the plate having a plurality of holes blocks the movement of alien substances, the durability of the water discharging can be enhanced.

Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.