EP-4737304-A1 - MOVABLE FENDER APPARATUS

EP4737304A1EP 4737304 A1EP4737304 A1EP 4737304A1EP-4737304-A1

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a movable fender apparatus that can be folded for storage or expanded for use. The movable fender apparatus includes: a rail which is supported on a hull and inclined downward to the outside of the hull; an arm of which one end is slidingly coupled to the rail; at least one tension-adjusting pulley which is installed at the top of the rail, and at least two tension-adjusting pulleys which are installed at one end and the other end of the arm; a drive wire which extends from the outside of the rail to the other end of the arm via the tension-adjusting pulley; an actuator which adjusts the length of the drive wire by winding and unwinding one end of the drive wire located outside the rail; and a fender unit which is connected to the other end of the drive wire located at the other end of the arm, wherein when the drive wire is wound, the fender unit pushes the arm to locate the arm at the top of the rail, and when released, the fender unit is released from the arm and falls into the water by its weight.

Inventors

LIM, JONG WOO
JEONG, Sung Yun
PARK, JANG-IK
PARK, DONG JIN

Assignees

HD Hyundai Mipo Co., Ltd.
Daelyun Engineering Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20241105

Claims (13)

A movable fender apparatus comprising: a rail which is supported on a hull and inclined downward to the outside of the hull; an arm of which one end is slidingly coupled to the rail; at least one tension-adjusting pulley which is installed at the top of the rail, and at least two tension-adjusting pulleys which are installed at one end and the other end of the arm; a drive wire which extends from the outside of the rail to the other end of the arm via the tension-adjusting pulley; an actuator which adjusts the length of the drive wire by winding and unwinding one end of the drive wire located outside the rail; and a fender unit which is connected to the other end of the drive wire located at the other end of the arm, wherein when the drive wire is wound, the fender unit pushes the arm to locate the arm at the top of the rail, and when released, the fender unit is released from the arm and falls into the water by its weight.
The movable fender apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fender unit is automatically released from the arm when the arm stops by reaching the lowermost end of the rail.
The movable fender apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the rail includes a curved section that changes the path of the arm before reaching the lowermost end to change an angle of the arm in a direction that the inclination of the arm decreases.
The movable fender apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: interlocking parts which are arranged at the other end of the arm and the other end of the drive wire to engage with each other when adjacent, and are away from each other to be separated from each other as an included angle formed between the other end of the arm and the other end of the drive wire is increased by the angle change of the arm.
The movable fender apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the interlocking parts are separated from each other when the included angle exceeds a limit angle just before the arm reaches the lowermost end of the rail.
The movable fender apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tension-adjusting pulley includes a first direction-changing pulley installed at the top of the rail, a second direction-changing pulley installed at the other end of the arm, and an arm-adjusting pulley installed at one end of the arm and positioned between the first and second direction-changing pulleys to be lower than the first and second direction-changing pulleys, thereby distributing the load of the arm to both sides of the drive wire of the first direction-changing pulley side and the drive wire of the second direction-changing pulley side.
The movable fender apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: a tensioner pulley provided between the first direction-changing pulley and the actuator and between the arm-adjusting pulley and the second direction-changing pulley to increase tension by pressurizing the drive wire.
The movable fender apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an independent drive unit applying towing force to the arm independently from the drive wire to adjust only the position of the arm when the fender unit is released.
The movable fender apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the independent drive unit includes: a pulley unit including a fixed pulley and a variable pulley; a towing wire, one end of which is connected to the arm and the other end winds around the fixed pulley and the variable pulley at least once and is connected to a weight block; and a cylinder unit connected to the variable pulley to be extendable to adjust a distance between the fixed pulley and the variable pulley, thereby providing towing force to the arm.
The movable fender apparatus according to claim 9, wherein in a fixed state of the cylinder unit, the towing wire is pulled by the weight block to maintain tension.
The movable fender apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a locking hook formed on one side of the arm; and a clip module installed at the top of the rail and repeatedly varied between an opening position and a coupling position coupled with the locking hook by pressure of the locking hook.
The movable fender apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the clip module includes: a hook part which is coupled to a hinge shaft to swing vertically and includes a beveled part being in beveled contact with the locking hook to swing by a beveling action of the beveled part; a way plate which is arranged vertically and has a flat cam track connecting a first fixed point and a second fixed point with different heights via a closed loop; and a link, of which one end is connected to the hook part and the other end is inserted into the cam track, and which moves along the cam track as the hook part swings and varies the height of the hook part between the height corresponding to the first fixed point and the height corresponding to the second fixed point.
The movable fender apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: fender storage pockets which extend on both sides of the arm and are in contact with the sides of the fender unit to prevent movement of the fender unit being in contact with the arm.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present disclosure relates to a fender apparatus installed on a hull to provide a buffering effect during docking (or when contacting other vessels), and more specifically, to a movable fender apparatus that can be folded for storage or expanded for use. Background Art Since a ship floats on water, it is difficult to fix the position of the ship accurately. Therefore, the ship is tied or pulled using a rope or a wire for anchoring or mooring to minimize movement. However, it is practically impossible to completely block even small movements caused by waves, etc. Accordingly, there is a possibility that the ship will collide with docking structures (or other ships) when anchored at a dock or a quay wall (or adjacent ships). So, a buffer fender is generally installed between a hull and the docking structure (or adjacent ship) to stabilize conditions by absorbing shocks and fixing the position. Such a fender is typically made of foam or rubber (tube form or other forms) and is placed on a dock or a quay wall, but it is advisable to also apply the fender to the hull. However, for a large vessel like a bunker ship, it is difficult to apply a fender across the entire side of the vessel, and it is also difficult to adjust the height according to the position of a dock, a quay wall, or adjacent ships. Additionally, when the fender is hung by a rope, it may sway during navigation or may be detached from the hull, or the rope may be severed by movement between ships. Even if the fender is fixed to the hull, due to the protruding structure of the fender, the fender may collide against adjacent ships, so it is necessary to find an alternative for practical application. PATENT LITERATURE Patent Documents Patent Document 1: Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2020-0139537 (December 14, 2020) SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior arts, and it is an objective of the present disclosure to provide a fender apparatus applicable to a hull, specifically, a movable fender apparatus that can be folded to be stored inside the hull or expanded to the outside of the hull for use. The objectives of the present disclosure are not limited to those mentioned above, and other objectives not mentioned herein will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description. To accomplish the above object, according to the present disclosure, there is provided a movable fender apparatus including: a rail which is supported on a hull and inclined downward to the outside of the hull; an arm of which one end is slidingly coupled to the rail; at least one tension-adjusting pulley which is installed at the top of the rail, and at least two tension-adjusting pulleys which are installed at one end and the other end of the arm; a drive wire which extends from the outside of the rail to the other end of the arm via the tension-adjusting pulley; an actuator which adjusts the length of the drive wire by winding and unwinding one end of the drive wire located outside the rail; and a fender unit which is connected to the other end of the drive wire located at the other end of the arm, wherein when the drive wire is wound, the fender unit pushes the arm to locate the arm at the top of the rail, and when released, the fender unit is released from the arm and falls into the water by its weight. The fender unit is automatically released from the arm when the arm stops by reaching the lowermost end of the rail. The rail includes a curved section that changes the path of the arm before reaching the lowermost end to change an angle of the arm in a direction that the inclination of the arm decreases. The movable fender apparatus further includes: interlocking parts which are arranged at the other end of the arm and the other end of the drive wire to engage with each other when adjacent, and are away from each other to be separated from each other as an included angle formed between the other end of the arm and the other end of the drive wire is increased by the angle change of the arm. The interlocking parts are separated from each other when the included angle exceeds a limit angle just before the arm reaches the lowermost end of the rail. The tension-adjusting pulley includes a first direction-changing pulley installed at the top of the rail, a second direction-changing pulley installed at the other end of the arm, and an arm-adjusting pulley installed at one end of the arm and positioned between the first and second direction-changing pulleys to be lower than the first and second direction-changing pulleys, thereby distributing the load of the arm to both sides of the drive wire of the first direction-changing pulley side and the drive wire of the second direction-changing pulley side. The movable fender apparatus further includes a tensioner pulley provided between the first direction-chan