SINKABLE DEVICE PROVIDED WITH OPERATING GATES FOR USE AS BARRIER IN A CHANNEL, AND BARRIER INSTALLATION

SINKAB E DEVICE PROVIDED WITH OPERATING GATES FOR USE AS BARRIER IN A CHANNEL, AND BARRIER INSTALLATION

The present invention relates to a sinkable device used to make a removable barrier 5 for a channel or, generally, for in any waterway. This invention also relates to a removable barrier installation for a channel, which uses such a sinkable device. Elements or caissons to be sunk in a channel and lined up so as to create a barrier against the passage of water for several reasons, as for example to avoid flooding, 10 overflows and the likes, are already known. These caissons have compartments which are filled with the water of the channel to be blocked in order to sink and lay them down on the bottom of the channel. To remove the caissons, it is sufficient to expel the water contained inside, thus making them float again and then move them away to free the channel. 15 In order to reach this aim, hydraulic systems are provided so as to discharge the water contained in the compartments and, if required, also to introduce it inside. It is clear that this barrier is of a removable type. Such elements or caissons, although they operate well, have some drawbacks. In fact, once the channel has been closed by this barrier, the passage of any vessel is 20 blocked causing evident inconvenience. Even more so, when the channel allows the access into a harbour or a river navigation. Theoretically, it could be possible, to expel the water from the sunk caissons, move them away so as to free the channel and allow the passage of vessels, to replace the caissons in the previous position and, finally, to sink them again. 25 However, this operation takes a long time and, moreover, considerable work by the operators but, above all, once the caissons have been removed, the channel is free and then there is no barrier for the water which can pass through and flood the area which had to be protected. The aim of the present invention is then to construct a sinkable device, that is a 30 device inside which water can be introduced or expelled to make a removable barrier for a channel and the like, overcoming the limitations and drawbacks quoted above with reference to the cited prior art. This aim is reached by a sinkable device of the type indicated above, that is a device for the barrier of a channel or waterway comprising at least one inner compartment and hydraulic means designed to introduce and expel the water of the channel in said at least one inner compartment to make the device sink or float again, characterized in that this device comprises at least one operating gate for the total or partial closure of said channel.

In particular, these aims are reached by a removable barrier installation for a channel or a waterway which comprises said at least one sinkable device and, if required, barrier elements to make at least one barrier for said channel.

In this way, when the sinkable device is filled with water so as to sink it and laid on the bottom of the channel, by manoeveuring the gates it is possible to allow for the partial opening of the channel and, in this way, for the free passage of vessels.

It is sufficient, then, to move the gates and replace them in the initial closing position to block the channel again.

It can be noted that the sinkable device always stays in the initial position, filled with water and sunk, whereas to partially or totally open or close the channel it is only sufficient to operate the gates.

This operation is very simple and rapid. Moreover, in the short time when the gates are opened, the amount of water which passes through the opening is little, so as not to compromise in any way the functionality of the device. More specifically, as stated in the following claims, the removable barrier installation has at least one sinkable device and at least two movable gates, the two movable gates being separated from each other and each of which is able to close the channel, so as to define a chamber.

In this manner, it is sufficient to open one gate to allow for the passage of vessels, to let them pass, to reclose the first gate, to open the second one in order to let the vessel go to the other side of the channel overcoming the barrier and, finally, to reclose the second gate.

With this system the channel remains constantly closed, even during the passage of vessels, thus being able to protect the facilities and the area which it has to preserve in the best way.

Further advantages will be evident in the following detailed description of some embodiments of the invention, given for an illustrative and not limitative purpose, with reference to the following enclosed drawings: - figure 1 is a cross section of a sinkable device according to the present invention;

- figures 2, 3 and 4 are perspective views of a device according to figure 1, in three different variants;

- figure 5 is a perspective view of a removable barrier installation for a channel wherein a sinkable device is used;

- figures 6 to 9 are perspective views of a removable barrier installation for a channel whererein two sinkable devices are used in order to make a chamber wherein the different operating phases are represented;

- figures 10 to 14 are perspective views of some variants of the barrier installation; - figures 15 and 16 are perspective views of the sinkable device provided with watertight means;

- figure 17 is a perspective view of the sinkable device with the gate divided in three parts.

Figures 1 and 2 show a sinkable device or hull 20 to be used to make a removable barrier for a channel or waterway, as represented in figures 5 to 13.

The device 20 has a substantially parallelepipedic shape comprising a first side wall

24a, a second side wall 24b, a bottom 25, an upper part 27, a front wall 26 and a rear wall 28. Moreover, the device 20 is divided into compartments 30 by means of watertight bulkheads 32. The device 20 comprises a hydraulic system 40 for each compartment 30 for filling and emptying it with the water of the channel wherein it is immersed.

Each hydraulic system 40 comprises a water intake 42a, a water oulet 42b, four shutoff valves 44a,44b,44c,44d, a pump 46 and connecting ducts 48.

By opening the water intake 42a and the shutoff valves 44a and 44b, water is introduced into the compartments 30 in order to voluntarily sink the device 20, so that its bottom 25 touches the bottom of the channel.

On the other side, by opening the shutoff valves 44b,44d and operating the pump 46, water is expelled from the compartments 30 and the device 20 floats again.

The device 20 is provided with an operating gate or door 50 hinged at the intersection between the side wall 24b and the front wall 26 and its height is equal to the height of the device 20. At the intersection between the side wall 24b and the rear wall 28, there is a recess 56.

The gate 50 is provided with motor means 51, such as marine screw propellers, so as to be movable between an operative position wherein it is arranged in a direction substantially perpendicular to the side wall 24b (see Fig. 6) and an inoperative position (see Fig. 9) wherein it is arranged parallel with respect to the side wall 24a or against the front wall 26. In particular, the gate 50 is vertically slideable and is provided with compartments designed to be filled with water and with a hydraulic system for its emptying, so as to be vertically moved. When the device 20 is laid down on the bottom 60c of the channel 60, if the compartments are filled with water, the gate 50, due to its weight, lowers itself until it lays down onto the bottom 60c and aligns itself in height with the device 20. Afterwards, if the compartments are emptied, the gate 50, due to the Archimede' thrust, begins to rise up and move away from the bottom 60c. The raised position is necessary in order to close or open the gate 50, thus avoiding the contact with the bottom 60c of the channel 60, in the manner which will be described subsequently. In figures 3 and 4, two variants of the device 20 are represented.

Figure 3 represents a device 21 similar to the device 20 but, differently, it comprises a second gate 51, similar to the gate 50, hinged at the intersection between the side wall 24b and the rear wall 28. Figure 4 represents a device 22 similar to the device 20, but having four gates 50,51,52,53, the gates 50 and 51 are positioned at the intersection between the side wall 24b and respectively the front wall 26 and the rear wall 28, and the gates 52 and 53 are positioned at the intersection between the side wall 24a and respectively the front wall 26 and the rear wall 28. Figure 5 shows a removable installation 250 for the barrier of a channel or waterway 60 delimited by a first bank 60a, a second bank 60b and a bottom 60c. The removable installation 250 comprises a sinkable device 20 provided with a gate 50, similar to the previous one, a device 120 similar to the device 20 but without gates, and there caissons 71,72,73. The caissons 71,72,73 have compartments which can be flooded with the water of the channel 60, so that they can be sunk and laid down onto the bottom 60c. When the caissons have to be removed, it is sufficient to expel the water contained inside and, then, to move the caissons away. The caissons 71,72,73 are positioned inside the channel 60, so as to form a barrier 70, since they are sunk and then, laid down on the bottom 60c with the caisson 71 in contact with the first bank 60a of the channel 60, the second caisson 72 in contact with the caisson 71 and the caisson 73 in contact with the second bank 60b of the channel 60. The two caissons 72 and 73 are spaced apart to form a passage opening 76 which is delimited by a first end 76a formed by the part of the caisson 72 opposed to that resting on the caisson 71, and a second end 76b formed by the part of the caisson 73 opposed to that resting on the bank 60b. The device 20 and the device 120 are arranged inside the opening 76 so that, once they are sunk, the side wall 24a of the device 120 is resting against the caisson 72 and, then in contact with the end 76a of the opening 76, whereas, the side wall 24a of the device 20 is resting against the caisson 73 and then, is in contact with the end 76b of the opening 76. The two devices 20 and 120 are parallely arranged and spaced apart from each other, thus defining a passageway channel, which can be closed with the gate 50 which allows for the passageway of vessels.

Figures 6 to 9 depict a removable installation 300 for the barrier of a channel or waterway 60 similar to the removable installation 250, wherein there are two sinkable devices 20A,20B of the previous type and three caissons 71,72,73 which make a barrier 70, as described above, having a passage opening 76 delimited by a first end 76a and a second end 76b.

The two devices 20A,20B are arranged inside the opening 76 so that, once they are sunk, the side wall 24a of the device 20A, at its rear wall 28, is resting against the caisson 72 and then, is in contact with the end 76a of the opening 76, whereas the side wall 24a of the device 20B, at its front wall 26, is resting againt the caisson 73 and then, is in contact with the end 76b of the opening 76. The two devices 20A and 20B are parallely arranged and spaced apart from each other, thus defining a passageway channel 90 delimited by the side walls 24b of the devices 20A,20B which allows for the passage of vessels. The distance between the two devices 20A and 20B and, then, the width of the passageway channel 90 is so that their gates 50 and 51 are able to completely close the passageway channel 90 when they are in the operative position, that is perpendicularly arranged with respect to the side walls 24b. Therefore, the two gates 50,51 define a chamber which functions as follows. At the starting point, the removable installation 300 is installed, that is the caissons 71,72 and the devices 20A,20B are sunk in the desired position and the two operating gates 50 and 51 are opened. The two gates 50,51 do not contain water inside and then, they are vertically raised. If required, the two gates 50,51 are closed, as illustrated in figure 6, with their ends resting against the recess 56 of the opposite device. Moreover, the gates are filled with water and then, laid down onto the bottom 60c of the channel 60. If a vessel 92 has to pass, one of the two gates, for example the gate 51 is emptied of water, whereby it rises and moves away from the bottom 60c and then, it is opened, as illustrated in figure 7.

The vessel 92 comes inside the passageway channel 90 and the gate 51 is closed carrying out the previous operations in the opposite way, that is, the gate 51 is closed and then, is filled with water to lower it until it touches the bottom 60c of the channel, as indicated in figure 8. In figure 9, the gate 50 is opened as previously described, the vessel 92 comes out from the passageway channel 90 and, finally, the gate 50 is closed again. Figure 10 shows a first variant of the sinkable device and a removable installation depicting an installation 400 similar to the the installation 300, wherein a device 120, similar to the device 20 but without operating gates is used and also the device 21 is used with the two operating gates 50,51 provided at the intersection between the side wall 24b and the front wall 26 and the rear wall 28 respectively. Figure 11 shows a second variant of the installation 500 similar to the installation 400 comprising a further second barrier 80 with three caissons 81,82,83, similar to the barrier 70, where the caisson 81 is resting against the bank 60a of the channel 60, the caisson 82 is resting against the caisson 81, and the caisson 83 is resting against the bank 60b. The caissons 82 and 83 are spaced apart from each other to define an opening 86.

The device 21 is positioned in the openings 76 and 86 of the barriers 70 and 80, so that its side wall 24a is resting against the caissons 73 and 83, thus defining two passageways between the other side wall 24b and the caissons 72 and 73 which can be closed by the operating gates 50 and 51 of the device 21 respectively. It can be noted that the operating gates 50 and 51 define a chamber and, moreover, inside the two barriers 70 and 80 there is sufficient space, accessible through the gates 50,51, to also allow the simultaneous passage of several vessels and even, to form a shelter.

Figure 12 shows another variant of the installation indicated as reference 600, wherein the sinkable device 22 is used. Similarly to figure 5, the installation 600 comprises a barrier 70 formed by two caissons 71,72 which are resting and aligned with each other and a caisson 73 spaced apart from the previous ones to form an opening.

Two devices 120A and 120B, similar to the sinkable device 20 but without gates, rest against the caissons 72 and 73 respectively. The device 22 is interposed between the devices 120A and 120B, so as to define two passageway channels 90a and 90b respectively. The passageway channel 90a can be closed by means of the two gates 50,51, whereas the passageway channel 90b can be closed by means of the gates 52,53. Each pair of operating gates 50,51 and 52,53 define a chamber. Figure 13 shows another variant of the installation indicated as reference 700, wherein there are two barriers 70 and 80 comprised respectively of caissons 71,72,73 and 81,82,83 in a similar way to figure 11, but using the sinkable device 22 with four gates 50,51,52,53. Between the device 22 and the caissons 72,82 and the caissons 73,83, four passageways are defined which can be closed by two pairs of gates 50,51 and 52,53, thus defining two chambers. Similarly to that described with reference to figure 11, inside each chamber there is sufficient space to hold several vessels.

Figure 14 shows an installation 800 comprising a device 23 similar to the device 20, wherein there is a passageway channel 90c in the upper part 27 which can be closed by two gates 54,55, thus defining a chamber. The installation 800 comprises a barrier 70 made up of caissons 71,72,73 and, similarly to figure 5, the caissons 72 and 73 are spaced apart from each other, so as to hold the device 23 which is placed in contact with the caissons. From figure 2, it can noted that the device 20, and the devices 21,22,23, are also provided with inflatable tubular elements 102 which function as watertight elements. After positioning the caissons 71,72,73 and the device 20, the tubular elements are inflated, thus assuring a watertight seal.

Fgures 15 and 16 show a variant of the watertight means which consist of small doors 110 and 112 which in figure 15 are first represented in the inoperative position and, then opened, whereas in figure 16 they are represented in the operative position and then, closed. The small doors 110,112 allow for an easy positioning of the device 20 and of the caissons, and furthermore it makes them independent from each other, thus facilitating both the installation and the removal of each of them. Finally, figure 17 shows another variant of the sinkable device 20, wherein the gate 50 is divided in three parts or gates 50a,50b,50c, so as to adjust the rate of the opening.

It is evident that the height of the devices 20,21,22,23 and of the caissons 71,72,73,81,82,83 is greater than the depth of the channel to be blocked and, moreover, the number of caissons may vary according to the width of the channel. It is also possible to create a removable barrier for a channel or a waterway and, at the same time, to allow the passage of vessels, without compromising the efficiency of the barrier thanks to the chamber.