US3643448A

US3643448A - Floating landing stages

Info

Publication number: US3643448A
Application number: US30419A
Authority: US
Inventors: Walter Bower
Original assignee: Thos Storey Engineers Ltd
Current assignee: Thos Storey Engineers Ltd
Priority date: 1969-04-24
Filing date: 1970-04-21
Publication date: 1972-02-22
Anticipated expiration: 1989-02-22
Also published as: ZA702718B; AU1427970A; NL7006002A; DE2020063A1; FR2046450A5; ZA702720B; NL7006004A; AU1427770A; FR2039448A1; NL7006003A; FR2039447A1; ZA702719B; DE2020073A1; AU1427870A; DE2020064A1

Abstract

A floating landing stage including a plurality of floating jetties the free ends of adjacent jetties being interconnected by ties which prevent any substantial movement of the jetties relative to each other or to the remainder of the landing stage and which are located beneath the surface of the water so as to allow passage of craft between the jetties. Guide means is provided to restrain the movement of the landing stage relative to the shore so that the landing stage can rise and fall with the water in which it is floating without any substantial lateral movement.

Description

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[54] FLUATIING LANUIING @TAGEfi UNITED STATES PATENTS [72] Inventor: Walter Enwer, Newark, England 3,091,203 5/ 1963 Usab ..l l4/0.5 F

3,362,172 1 1968 R tt ..6l 67 X [73] Assignee: Thus. fitorey (Engineers) Limited, London, I u er I England Primary ExaminerJacob Shapiro Filed: p 21, Attorney-Dowel] & Dowell [21] Appl. No.: 30,419 [57] ABSTRACT A floating landing stage including a plurality of floating jetties 30] Foreign Appuicaflon Priority Dam the free ends of adjacent jetties being interconnected by ties which prevent any substantial movement of the jetties relative Apr. 24, 1969 Great Britain ..20,976/69 to each other or to the remainder of the landing stage and which are located beneath the surface of the water so as to 52 us. Cl ..t3ll/4l8, 61/65 allow Passage of craft between thejetties. Guide means is P 51 llnt. Cll .mzn 3/20, E02c 5/02 vided restrain the mmmem of the landing Stage relativfi [58] Fwd of Search 61/48 65 114/0 5 F 0 5 the shore so that the landing stage can rise and fall with the water in which it is floating without any substantial lateral movement.

[56] References Cited 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEB 22 1912 3, 643 ,448

SHEU 2 [IF 4 W% 8 Inventor FLOATING LANDING STAGES This invention relates to floating landing stages and in particular to floating landing stages including a plurality of floating jetties.

In such a landing stage each jetty may extend outwardly from the waters edge and its outer end (hereinafter referred to as its free end) has to be restrained against lateral movement. It has previously been proposed to restrain the free end of jetties of such a landing stage by providing a pile at the end of each jetty and linking the end of the jetty, by for example a frame to the pile in such a manner as to allow vertical movement between the jetty and the pile.

In accordance with the invention a floating landing stage includes a plurality of floating jetties, the free ends of adjacent jetties being interconnected by ties which prevent any substantial lateral movement of the jetties relative to each other or to the remainder of the landing stage and which are so located as to allow passage of craft between the jetties, guide means being provided to restrain the movement of the landing stage relative to the shore so that the landing stage can rise and fall with the water in which it is floating without any substantial lateral movement. This arrangement has advantages over that previously proposed in that a pile is not required for each jetty and further, as a consequence it is more feasible to adjust the spacing between the jetties in order for example to accommodate craft of different sizes.

The ties may be flexible in which case they preferably comprise ropes or chains. In this context by the term ropes I mean to include all means of a like nature for example cords, hawsers and cables, and which may be manufactured from any convenient material. In the preferred form of the invention I prefer to use steel ropes.

At least a portion of the flexible ties preferably pass beneath the surface of the water and in this case the ends of the ties are preferably secured to respective jetties above the surface of the water, each jetty including guide means which extend downwardly beneath the surface of the water and through which a respective tie passes. The arrangement should be such that the ties pass a sufficient distance beneath the surface of the water to allow craft to pass over them. Each tie preferably is secured to screw adjusting means at least one end whereby the tension in the tie may be adjusted.

The guide means for restraining the movement of the landing stage relative to the shore may comprise any suitable means for example it may comprise at least two piles one of which is located adjacent to the end of both of the outermost jetties, these two jetties being secured to the piles by means of frames so as to allow vertical movement between the piles and landing stages. However in the preferred embodiment of the invention the said guide means comprises a number of pairs of guide rails, each pair of rails defining a vertical channel therebetween, respective cooperating guide means extending into each channel being guided by the rails so as to allow vertical movement of the jetty and restrain lateral movement of the 'etty.

J One embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a general perspective view of a part of a landing stage in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation, on an enlarged scale of one of the jetties of the landing stage of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective end view of a modification of a jetty of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 shows a detail of guide means for restraining movement of the landing stage of FIG. I relative to the shore.

As will be seen from the drawings the waters edge is defined by sheet piling 2. The landing stage illustrated has perimeter stages 4 and 6 along side the piling 2 and jetties 8 extending outwardly from the stage 6 into the water. The perimeter stages 4 and 6 and the jetties 8 are supported over the water by floats 9. The jetties 8 are interconnected by flexible ties 110 at their outer ends and are also connected by a tie 112 to the perimeter stage 4. The ties 10 are so positioned as to allow the passage of craft between the jetties and extend beneath the surface of the water between downwardly extending brackets 14 each mounted beneath the end of a respective jetty 6 and perimeter stage 41. The ties 12 (one of which is shown) are similarly positioned and extend beneath the surface of the water between a bracket 1141 and a bracket I6 mounted beneath each of the perimeter stages.

Referring to FIG. 2 the bracket M provides two downwardly extending guide means [16 in the form of hollow arms 18 through which the flexible ties pass. The flexible ties are preferably chain or rope and I prefer to use steel rope. The end of one of the ropes is bolted at 20 to the jetty. The other end of this rope is secured to the adjacent jetty by means of a screw adjuster. Such a screw adjuster is indicated at 22 in FIG. 2. The other rope of this jetty passes round a pulley 24 and is secured to the jetty by means of the: screw adjuster 22. The tension in the ropes may be adjusted by adjustment of the respective screw adjuster 22.

The arms 18 of the bracket 14 are of such a length as to position the ropes sufficiently deeply for the craft intending to use the landing stage to pass thereover. If it is desired to make provision for craft of deeper draught than normal an extension bracket such as that indicated at 26 in. FIG. 3 may be bolted to the bottom of the bracket 14 so as to position one of the ropes at a greater distance beneath the surface of the water. A similar bracket 26 is required on the adjacent jetty.

It will be appreciated that the position of the jetties 6 may be quickly adjusted at their free ends by adjusting the length of the respective ties 10 or 12.

The guide means for restraining the movement of the land ing stage relative to the shore are illustrated in detail in FIG. 4i. The two outermost jetties 8 are tied to adjacent perimeter stages 4 by means of ties 12 which pass through a hollow arm 28 of bracket 16 and are bolted to the perimeter stage 30. The perimeter stage 4 is restrained against substantial lateral movement by means of a pair of guide rails 32 and cooperating guide means mounted on the perimeter stage 4- which comprise two pairs of wheels 34. Each pair of wheels 34l is rotatably mounted on a common axle 36. The upper pair of wheels 34 are mounted on a member 38 extending outwardly from the deck 40 of the perimeter stage. The lower pair of wheels 34 are mounted on a member 40 extending outwardly from the lower end from the bracket 116. The rails 32 are L- shaped and are so arranged as to form a channel from which the wheels 34 cannot be withdrawn laterally. The wheels 34! run on the rails 32 and thus confine the landing stage to vertical movement. The rails 32 are mounted in a recess M in the sheet piling 2 by means of braces 46.

The landing stage may be modified, for example: one or both of the perimeter stages 4 may not be required-or indeed there may be no waters edge along which a perimeter stage may run, in this case the free ends of the outermost jetties may be tied to free standing piles in such a manner as to allow vertical movement between the jetties and the piles; the perimeter stage 6 may not be required in which case the inner ends of the jetties may either be connected by rigid tie members or by an arrangement flexible tie members similar to that at their outer ends, the inner end of the jetties also being restrained by similar guide means allowing vertical movement but not lateral movement; the jetties may, if long, be interconnected by ties and restrained by guide means at one or more additional positions between their ends; the perimeter stage may itself extend into the water so that it has a free end, in this case the perimeter stage 48 in fact constitutes a jetty and its free end must be restrained against substantial lateral movement by for example a connection to a pile adjacent its end, the connection allowing vertical movement of the perimeter stage relative to the pile.

I claim:

1. A floating landing stage including a plurality of parallel floating jetties each having at least one free end; flexible ties, each having two ends, connecting the free ends of adjacent jetties to prevent any substantial lateral movement of the jet ties relative to each other or to the remainder of the landing stage, the ends of the ties being secured to respective jetties above the surface of the water, each jetty including guide means which extend downwardly beneath the surface of the water and through which a respective tie passes to so locate 3. A floating landing stage as claimed in claim 1 wherein the guide means to restrain the movement of the landing stage relative to the shore comprises a number of pairs of spaced L- shaped guide rails, each pair of rails defining a vertical channel therebetween, respective cooperating guide means extending into each channel and being guided by both arms of the L- shaped rails so as to allow vertical movement of the jetty and restrain lateral movement of the jetty.

4. A floating landing stage as claimed in claim 3 wherein the cooperating guide means each comprise at least one wheel or roller.

Claims

1. A floating landing stage including a plurality of parallel floating jetties each having at least one free end; flexible ties, each having two ends, connecting the free ends of adjacent jetties to prevent any substantial lateral movement of the jetties relative to each other or to the remainder of the landing stage, the ends of the ties being secured to respective jetties above the surface of the water, each jetty including guide means which extend downwardly beneath the surface of the water and through which a respective tie passes to so locate the ties as to allow passage of craft between the jetties, guides means being provided to restrain the movement of the landing stage relative to the shore so that the landing stage can rise and fall with the water in which it is floating without any substantial lateral movement.

2. A floating landing stage as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one end tie is secured to screw adjusting means whereby the tension in the tie may be adjusted.

3. A floating landing stage as claimed in claim 1 wherein the guide means to restrain the movement of the landing stage relative to the shore comprises a number of pairs of spaced L-shaped guide rails, each pair of rails defining a vertical channel therebetween, respective cooperating guide means extending into each channel and being guided by both arms of the L-shaped rails so as to allow vertical movement of the jetty and restrain lateral movement of the jetty.