Portable Barge

Abstract

The invention relates to a sectional, portable barge construction which is transportable over land, each section of which is subsequently lowered into a body of water and assembled into a predetermined overall size and shape preparatory for use.

Description

This invention relates to barges and more particularly to the provision of a plurality of portable, sectional, self-contained, floatable units which are capable of being transported over land by a suitable vehicle with the sections being later assembled in the water or along the banks of a stream, if desired, and later dragged or slid into the water.

Portable barges of this type, which are transportable either by truck over a highway or by railroad car to landlocked or otherwise inaccessible bodies of water (lakes, canals, river cut-offs, etc.), have considerable utility. Thus, the utility of portable assemblable barges has been well-known heretofore and although patents have been obtained thereon, it has been found during usage of these known barges that their design features leave much to be desired, particularly since their manner of construction has been expensive and the means by which the plurality of sections are locked in assemblable relation have not proved to be entirely satisfactory; thus, their public acceptance has been anything but phenomenal.

Such barges are easily transportable overland, in the form of a plurality of stacked units, to a particular site by a large motor vehicle or flat bed truck as well as by railroad flat cars and they afford an expedient answer to the desirability of moving heavy equipment across bodies of water, and may be also secured when in assembled relation in a mud flat or marsh land by suitable retractable pile members when this is desired.

Thus, it is the principal object of the invention to provide a plurality of self-contained, floatable barge sections which are capable of being more readily assemblable than any known heretofore by reason of the construction and design of the units, the end and side walls of each of which are formed complementally to one another.

Another object of the invention is to provide a plurality of sections of a barge which have a latching means insertable from the deck of the barge.

Still another object of the invention is to provide portable barge units and ramps therefor, all of which are assembled in adjacent relationship and latched together into a complete organization of predetermined size by locking members.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a novel interlocking system for innumerable other types of float sections such as dredges, pontoons as well as towboats.

Another object of the floatable elements described herein combines the weight advantage achieved by the utilization of complementally formed corrugated side and end platings with the precise interfitting of the walls of adjacent units upon assembly.

Another object of the invention is to provide buoyant units of almost any size and shape consistent with the specific purposes for which they are desired.

The invention will be better understood, and further objects and advantages will become more apparent, from a reading of the following detailed specification taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a barge of predetermined size constructed of a plurality of floatable units, to one edge portion of which is secured a series of ramps;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of a barge assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3. is a partial side elevational and partial cross-sectional view of a spud socket used for positioning the portable units individually or as a group in a body of water or marsh land;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view in vertical cross section through two adjacent units illustrating the complementally abuttable adjacently arranged wall sections with a pin in position to be inserted as soon as the units are attached;

FIG. 5 is a section on line 5--5 of FIG. 1 showing the units of FIG. 4 in assembled condition with the latching means in position; and

FIG. 6 is an alternative embodiment of a male and female assembly for abuttable sections with the pin inserted to lock them in position.

Turning now to FIG. 1, there is shown a barge indicated generally at A which has been assembled from a plurality of floatable units 10 and each of which is provided with a forwarding projecting ramp section 11. These units can be of any width and length desired and the construction shown in FIG. 1 will be best understood by stating that its overall length including the ramps is approximately 90 feet; however, the standard length of a unit for a portable barge has generally been chosen to be 40 feet, although they may be built in increments extending anywhere from 10 feet up to 60 feet.

The floatable units 10 are each provided with at least a pair of equally spaced means defining vertical openings or recesses 13 that are provided with fixed bar members 15 by means of which the units may be lifted from a suitable land vehicle or railroad flat car by manual or power-driven means and lowered into the water and vice versa.

The portable units from which the barge is constructed are built up from vertically disposed and longitudinally extending framing members 16 and 17, respectively, (see FIG. 4), which are welded to diagonal braces 18 with the complementally formed side walls 20 and end walls 21 and 21' being welded to the framing members 16 and 17 and plate steel top and bottom elements 22 and 23, respectively.

Also shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and in greater detail in FIG. 3, are means S--S which represent floatable spud sockets that are availed of for securing the assembled units in a body of water such as mud or marsh land. With further reference to FIG. 3 the floatable spud socket unit 15' is provided with corrugated front and rear walls 16' and 17', respectively, which may be positioned against a mating surface on any side or end wall of the floatable units 10. As shown best in the plan view of FIG. 1, the spud socket includes a perpendicularly disposed aperture 18' through which a spud device 19' may be inserted for firmly positioning the portable barge relative to the bed of a stream or river.

As shown in the side elevational view of FIG. 2 and still better in the fragmentary views of FIGS. 4 and 5, each of the floatable units 10 is provided with corrugated side walls 20 and end walls 21 and 21', the corrugations of each of the ends of which are provided with vertically aligned perforations. See, for example, those shown in wall 21 as at 25. The top deck portion 22 is also provided with an aperture 27 that is aligned with the series of apertures 25 previously described.

It will be observed that each of the corrugations in the end wall 21 which is apertured, as described, is also provided on the interior thereof with socket members 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d secured thereto. These socket members are provided for a dual purpose, first as a reinforcement and strengthening means for the corrugations to prevent distortion thereof if a unit happens to be mishandled in transit and while being assembled and disassembled, and secondly, as a guide for the locking shaft member 32.

The corrugated wall 21' at the opposite end of this barge unit is also provided with a series of vertically disposed, aligned openings 35 with each corrugation through which the openings extend being provided with aligned socket members 33a, 33b and 33c which serve not only to reinforce each of the outwardly projecting corrugations, but also to guide the locking shaft 32 into its seated position when any two of the floating units are brought into abutting relation.

As is well shown in both FIGS. 4 and 5, each of the corrugated end walls 21 and 21' are bent backwardly toward the top deck and bottom wall of the unit at 38, 39 and 40, 41, respectively, to provide horizontally extending flanges to which the plate steel skin top and bottom elements 22 and 23, respectively, can be attached.

In an alternative form of the invention, as shown in FIG. 6, each of the end and side walls of the floatable units is provided with complemental interengaging male and female portions 50 and 51, respectively.

Further, the end wall 60 is deformed in such a manner as to provide opposed horizontal walls 61 and 62 which are integral with the vertically extending wall 51 and thus provide the outwardly projecting male member or elongated nose section. This wall 51 is reinforced by welding thereto a laterally extending rib 64 which is, in turn, welded to a brace 65 that is secured to top and bottom horizontally disposed framing members 66--66.

The companion barge unit adapted for attachment to the previously described unit is in substantially all respects similar in construction except for the fact that it includes outwardly extending, spacedly arranged ledges 70 and 70' which extend transversely the full length of the elongated nose or male portion 51.

As in the first embodiment of this invention, the deck is provided with a transverse series of perforations (one shown as 75 in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 6), each of which is in vertical alignment with other perforations provided in the bottom of ledge 70 and the top of ledge 70'.

The male member 51 is correspondingly perforated transversely thereof so that the locking pins 80 (one shown) may be inserted in each opening.

As is also clearly shown in the second embodiment of the invention, vertically arranged sleeve members secured to adjacent structure for guiding pins 80 into proper position through the abutting hull sections are provided.

It is to be understood that the walls of the spud socket which are shown as being complemental to the barge structure of FIGS. 1 and 2 may be modified to mate with the alternative form of the invention shown in FIG. 6.

Furthermore, it is contemplated that in lieu of the structure shown in FIG. 3 being provided with an aperture to receive the spud its body portion can be made of any configuration and be provided with a power plant which may be attached to any side or end wall of the barge to power the barge or any floatable unit thereof in a stream or other body of water.

From the disclosure of this application it will be apparent that since the side and end walls of the floatable units are designed in the manner described that any particular assemblage of units can be achieved. For example, longitudinal sections can be arranged to abut the side walls of an adjacent section to an L-shaped assembly, or three sections can be arranged to form a "U." Thus, any conceivable arrangement of elements can be provided to meet the desires of the customer.

Claims

That which is claimed is:

1. A portable, floatable unit adapted to be assembled with other like units to form a floating structure, said portable unit being hollow and having a top surface, a bottom surface and a plurality of side walls to form an enclosed space, one of said side walls comprising a portion protruding beyond the perimeter of said top surface, said protruding portion extending horizontally for substantially the length of the wall in which it is positioned and comprising a top member and a bottom member, horizontally spaced, vertically extending socket members extending between and secured to said top and bottom members to reinforce said protruding portion and to receive pins for holding a plurality of units in assembled relation, an oppositely positioned side wall comprising a recessed portion which is recessed inwardly from the perimeter of said top surface a distance substantially equal to the distance the protruding portion extends beyond said top surface and which is complemental in shape to the shape of the protruding portion whereby when the units are assembled said top surface of the structure is substantially continuous and the protruding and recessed portions function as horizontal beams to reinforce the structure and form a rigid joint.

2. A portable, floatable unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein horizontally spaced, vertically extending socket members are secured to a wall of said recessed portion, and to at least said top surface the number and position of socket members being such that when the units are assembled socket members extend in aligned position from said top surface to the bottom surface.

3. A portable, floatable unit as claimed in claim 2, wherein the top and bottom surfaces are rectangular and there are four side walls, each of which is rectangular in elevation view, the protruding portions being on adjacent walls and the recessed portions being on adjacent walls.

4. A portable, floatable unit as claimed in claim 3, in which there is a single protruding portion on a wall and a single recessed portion on a wall, one series of socket members which are secured to the walls forming the recessed portion being secured to a top surface and another series of said socket members being secured to a bottom surface.

5. A portable, floatable unit as claimed in claim 3, in which each wall is made of corrugated metal and the corrugations form a plurality of protruding portions on each of two of said walls and a plurality of complemental recesses on each of the remaining walls, there being socket members secured to the walls of adjacent protruding portions.

6. A floatable structure assembled from units as claimed in claim 1 held together by pins extending through the socket members.

7. A floatable structure assembled from units as claimed in claim 5 held together by pins extending through said socket members.

8. A floatable structure as claimed in claim 7 in which a supplementary unit is provided with protruding and recessed portions for mating with and securement to any wall portion of a principal unit, said supplementary unit being provided with auxiliary equipment.

9. A floatable structure as claimed in claim 8 in which said auxiliary equipment is a socket member for receiving a spud.

10. A floatable structure as claimed in claim 7 in which each unit is longer than it is wide and the units are assembled side by side and end to end, each of said units having recesses in its top surface and bars in said recesses for engagement by a lifting means, and ramp sections having end walls which are complemental to the side walls of the units which are positioned at the ends, said ramp sections being secured to the units at one end of said structure by the interfitting of the complemental walls, said ramp sections having bottom surfaces which slope upwardly.

11. A floatable structure as in claim 10, wherein a supplementary unit is provided with protruding and recessed portions for mating with and securement to a wall portion of a principal unit, said supplementary unit having a socket for receiving a spud.