Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
TYT ~957
1 --
A SHIP WITH SEPARATE~LY ~BRICATED UNI~
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTXON
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of
building a ship.
2. Description of the Related Art
Usually, ships, in particular small boats,
are built by first fabricating the hull, then
assembling into the thus fabricated hull the internal
structures, and finally attaching the deck and other
: upper structures. Alternativel~, ships may be built by
making them in units, for example, separately
- 15 fabricating the front, center, and rear units and then
joining them together.
If the former method is used, however, it
takes a long time to assemble the internal structures
inside the hull and thus this method is not suited to
mass production. Further, the work efficiency is poor
and quality control becomes difficult.
As opposed to this, if the latter method is
used, slnce the hull of the ship itself is made in a
number of units, when joining these units together,
unevenness is liable to occur at the hull outer
surface. Considerable work is requlred to correct
this. Therefore, leaving aside the case of large sized
vessels where a certain margin of error is allowed,
this technique is not necessarily suited to the
construction of small boats. Further, considerable
dimensional control is required in the process for
joining units together to ensure water-tightness of
the hull.
SUM~ARY OF THE INVEI~TION
The object of the present invention is to provide
a building method which enables mass production of
ships which are ensured to be water-tight and which
are provided with hulls given and design of shape.
According to the present invention, there is
provided a method of building a ship including the
steps of fabricating a hull, separating into a
plurality of units the internal structures to be
assembled into the hull and fabricating these units
separately, and assembling the fabricated units into
the fabricated hull.
Further according to the present inven~ion there is provided
a ship comprising: a hull; a plurality of lateral frames each connected to
said hull and extending along an inner wall of said hull in a lateral
direction of said hull; and a plurality of inner structure units which are
divided in said lateral frames and have an end frame at ends thereof the
adjacent inner ~tructure units being fixed to each other by interconnecting
the ~ace end f~ames thereof $o each other, said inner structure uni1s being
fixed to said hull by connecting the end frames to the corresponding lateral
frames of said hull.
In $he ship, according to the present invention the end ~ame
of the inner structure un~t is connected, on the one hand to the end frame
of the adjacent inner structure un~t and, on the other hand, to the lateral
frame l)f the hull, which is originally prov~ded for re-enforcing th~ hull.
The present invention may be more fully
understood from the description of the preferred
embodiments of the invention set forth ~elow, together
with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings,
Fig. 1 is a view showing the building process as
a whole,
Fig. 2 is a view showing the process of
fabricating the hull,
Figs. 3A and 3B are views showing the process of
fabricating the units,
Fig. 4 is a view showing the process of joining
~he hull units etc.,
,~
-2a-
Fig. 5 is a view showing the sectional structure
of the ship built by the building method according to
the present invention,
Fig. 6 is a view the coupled state of the frames
according to the building method of the pxesent
invention,
Fig. 7 is a view showing another ship building
method, and
Fig. 8 is a view showing the process of
assembling the later-assembled parts.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Figure 1 to Fig. 4 show a first embodiment of the
ship building method.
Figure 1 shows the process of building a small
boat as a whole. The process of building a small boat
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may be roughly divided into a process A of fabricating
the hull, a process B of fabricating the front unit, a
process C of fabricating the center unit, a process D
of fabricating the rear unit, a process E of joining
the units, a process F of joining the units and the
hull, and a process G of assembling the later-
assembled parts.
The hull fabrication process A and the unit
fabrication processes B, C, and D may be completed
before the hull-unit joining process F. These
processes A, B, C, and D may be proceeded with
simultaneously or in any order desired. Therefore, the
work for the processes A, B, C, and D may be arranged
with considerable freedom.
Further, the division of the ship into three
units of the front unit, center unit, and rear unit
represents only one example. Naturally, the ship may
be divided into two or four or more units. In the
embodiments explained below, the ship is divided into
units longitudinally, but if necessary the ship may be
divided into units laterally as well.
The hull fabrication process A, as illustrated in
Fig. 2, consists of the material cutting sub-process
A-1 for cutting the plate materials la, lb, lc, and ld
and frame materials 2 based on the design drawings,
the forming sub-process A-2 for forming the obtained
materials, the sub-process A-3 for welding the formed
plate materials la, lb, lc, and ld to form the outer
shell, and a sub-process A-4 for welding the formed
f~ame materials 2 to the fabricated hull shell. As
shown by the sub-process A-4, in the embodiment
according to the present invention, the left and right
halves of the hull are separately formed, and the pair
of halves are welded together by the sub-process A-5.
Industrial robots 3 and 4 are used for the welding
work at the sub-process A-4 and the welding work at
the sub-process A-5.
2 ~
-- 4
At the sub-process A-6, when the pair of hull
halves are joined, the electrical cables, water pipes,
fuel pipes 6, and the like are laid in the finished
hull 5, then at the sub-process A-7, the engine 7 is
installed into the completed hull 5. Next, the hull-
unit joining process F is entered.
Next, an explanation will be made of the front
unit fabrication process B, the center unit
fabrication process C, and the rear unit fabrication
process D referring to Figs. 3A and 3B. In the
embodiment shown in Figs 3A and 3B, the units B, C,
and D comprise three sections of the hull 5 along the
reinforcing frame 2a (Fig. 2) extending across the
hull 5. The construction of the units s~ C, and D
starts with the preparation of the frames.
That is, first of all, at the sub-processes B~
C-l, and D-1, the frames of the units B, C, and D are
formed by bending aluminum extrusions 12, 14, and 15.
Next, at the sub-processes B-2, C-2, and D-2, these
aluminum extrusions 12, 14, and 16 are welded or
bolted together so as to form reinforcing frame
structures 18, 20, and 22 for the units B, C, and D.
Note that in these reinforcing frame structures 18,
20, and 22, the frames 18a, 20a, and 22a are comprised
of high rigidity aluminum extrusions having large
sectional shapes and that the frames 18b, 20b, and 22b
are comprised of low rigidity aluminum extrusions
having a small sectional shape.
Next, in the sub-process B-3 of the front unit
fabrication process B, the uppex deck 26 and other
external structures and the floor plate 24, the side
plates 18, and other internal structures are attached
to the frame structure 18. Next, at the sub-process B-
4, the bed 32 and other interior fittings are
attached, thereby completing the front unit 25.
On the other hand, in the sub-process C-3 of the
center unit fabrication process C, the main panels 27
-- 5 --
and other external s~ructures are attached to the
frame s-tructure 20. Next, in the sub-process C-4, the
operatin~ panel 34, the throttle 36, the chair 38, and
other internal structures are attached in the frame
structure 20, whereby the center unit 28 is completed.
Further, in the sub-process D-3 of the rear unit
fabrication process D, the main panels 29 and other
external structures are attached to the frame
structure 22. Next, at the sub-process D-4, the seats
40 and other internal structures are mounted in the
frame structure 22, thereby completing the rear unit
30.
After the front unit 25, the cen~er unit 28, and
the rear unit 30 are individually completed in this
way, the units 25, 28, and 30 are joined at the unit
joining process E by bolting together the
corresponding frames 18a, 20a, and 22a.
Next, in the hull-unit joining step F of Fig. 4,
the joined structure 42 is attached inside the hull 5.
At this time, the frames 18a, 20a, and 22a (Fig. 3A)
of the units B, C, and D are bolted to the frame 2a
(Fig. 2) of the hull 5. Next, at the process G for
assembling the later-assembled parts, the hand rail
44, the platform 46 for supporting the radar and
lights, the ladder 48, and other later-assembled parts
are attached so as to complete the ship 50. Next, the
completed ship 50 is inspec~ed and shipped out to its
destination.
Note that the embodiment discussed up to now had
the units B, C, and D joined together and then the
joined structure 42 installed in the hull 5, but
instead of this it is possible to separately attach
the units B, C, and D in the hull 5 and simultaneously
affix the units B, C, and D to each other in the hull
5.
Figure 5 shows schematically the section of the
portion where the front Ullit 25 and the center unit 28
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of the completed ship 50 are joined. ~s shown in Fig.
5, the portions of -the frame 2a shown by X and Y have
formed on them the support seats 2b and 2c projecting
out toward the inside. The frame 18a of the front unit
25 and the ~rame 20a of the cen-ter unit 28 are bolted
on the support seats 2b and 2c.
Further, as shown in Fig. 6, when, for example,
the frame 18a of the front unit 25 and frame 20a of
the center unit 28 are joined together, it is
sufficient if the required strength is obtained,
therefore, the width L1 of the frame 18a and the width
L2 of the frame 20a do not necessarily have to be made
equal.
; Figure 7 and Fig. 8 show another embodiment. In
this embodiment, the upper structure 66, the three
inner structures 60, 62, and 64, and the hull 5 are
separately formed. The three inner structures 60, 62,
and 64 consist of the front unit 60, the center unit
62, and the rear unit 64. The units 60, 62, and 64 are
fabricated using the frame structures 18, 20, and 22
shown in the sub-processes B-2, C-~, and D-2 of Fig.
3A. In this embodiment, -the units 60, 62, and 64 are
joined together simultaneously with the mounting of
the finished units 60, 62, and 64 in the hull 5, then
the upper structure 66 is mounted to the units 60, 62,
and 64. Next, as shown in Fig. 8, the later-assembled
parts 44 and 46 are installed, whereby the ship 50 is
completed.
According to the building method of the present
invention, it is possible to prepare the hull water-
tightly and with a precise shape desired by old
traditional techniques and at the same time enjoy the
advantages of the unit work method for the preparation
of the internal structures, so it becomes possible to
efficiently construct ships precisely and with
` beautiful appearances.
~hile the invention has been described by
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reference to specific embodiments chosen for purpose
of illustra~ion, it should be apparent that numerous
modifications could be made thereto by those skilled
i.n the art witho~t departing from the basic concept
and scope of the invention.
