GEAR PAIR FOR A LIFTING VESSEL

Abstract

A gear pair for a lifting vessel includes two gear units driving in opposite directions of rotation and configured for engagement in two tooth racks on a jack-up leg, respectively. Each gear unit includes a drive shaft for connection to a drive, an output shaft for connection to a drive pinion, a transmission housing, a planetary stage mounted in the transmission housing, and a torque support configured to enable support of the gear unit on the other gear unit. The torque support surrounds the transmission housing of the other gear unit in a pincer-like manner and contacts the transmission housing symmetrically with respect to a straight line connecting the output shafts of the gear units at two support points which in relation to a vertical plane extending through the output shaft of the other gear unit are located offset towards the gear unit having the torque support.

Claims

1.-10. (canceled)

11. A gear pair for a lifting vessel for a rack and pinion drive for lowering and raising a jack-up leg of a lifting vessel, said gear pair comprising: two gear units driving in opposite directions of rotation and configured for engagement in two tooth racks on the jack-up leg, respectively, each said gear unit comprising a drive shaft for connection to a drive, an output shaft for connection to a drive pinion, a transmission housing, a planetary stage mounted in the transmission housing; and a torque support configured to enable support of the gear unit on the other gear unit, said torque support of the gear unit surrounding the transmission housing of the other gear unit in a pincer-like manner and contacting the transmission housing symmetrically with respect to a straight line connecting the output shafts of the gear units at two support points which in relation to a vertical plane extending through the output shaft of the other gear unit are located offset towards the gear unit having the torque support so that the support points are located between the vertical planes extending through the output shafts of the gear units.

12. The gear pair of claim 11, wherein the transmission housing has a ring-shaped cross-section in an area in which the torque supports are mounted or fitted.

13. The gear pair of claim 11, wherein the vertical plane and a section between the output shaft of the other gear unit and support points define an angle in a range of 5 to 10 degrees.

14. The gear pair of claim 11, wherein the transmission housing of one of the gear units has in a region of maximum diameter a ring-shaped flange for fastening of the torque support, said support points of the torque support of the other one of the gear units being located on the flange.

15. A rack and pinion drive for lowering and raising of a jack-up leg of a lifting vessel, comprising: a support structure configured for connection to the lifting vessel and having symmetrical circular recesses on both sides of a line along which a jack-up leg with mounted toothed racks is movable; a gear pair radially separated from the support structure and rotatable in two horizontally adjacent ones of the recesses, said gear pair including two gear units driving in opposite directions of rotation and configured for engagement in two tooth racks on the jack-up leg, respectively, each said gear unit comprising a drive shaft for connection to a drive, an output shaft, a transmission housing, a planetary stage mounted in the transmission housing, and a torque support configured to enable support of the gear unit on the other gear unit, said torque support of the gear unit surrounding the transmission housing of the other gear unit in a pincer-like manner and contacting the transmission housing symmetrically with respect to a straight line connecting the output shafts of the gear units at two support points which in relation to a vertical plane extending through the output shaft of the other gear unit are located offset towards the gear unit having the torque support so that the support points are located between the vertical planes extending through the output shafts of the gear units; two motors connected to the drive shaft of the gear units; and two drive pinions connected to the output shafts of the gear units in one-to-one correspondence.

16. The rack and pinion drive of claim 15, wherein each of the gear units includes a transmission housing and a planetary stage including a planet carrier, said transmission housings of the gear units mounted on a double bearing of the planetary carrier.

17. The rack and pinion drive of claim 15, wherein each the gear units includes a transmission housing and two planetary stages with a transmission housing mounted on a double bearing of a planetary carrier of a planetary main stage of the two planetary stages.

18. The rack and pinion drive of claim 15, wherein each the gear units includes a transmission housing having a flange on an output side, said drive pinions having each a drive pinion shaft, with the flanges of the transmission housings being each arranged in a region of a spherical roller bearing of the drive pinion shafts.

19. A lifting vessel, comprising a rack and pinion drive, said rack and pinion drive comprising: a support structure configured for connection to the lifting vessel and having symmetrical circular recesses on both sides of a line along which a jack-up leg with mounted toothed racks is movable; a gear pair radially separated from the support structure and rotatable in two horizontally adjacent ones of the recesses, said gear pair including two gear units driving in opposite directions of rotation and configured for engagement in two tooth racks on the jack-up leg, respectively, each said gear unit comprising a drive shaft for connection to a drive, an output shaft, a transmission housing, a planetary stage mounted in the transmission housing, and a torque support configured to enable support of the gear unit on the other gear unit, said torque support of the gear unit surrounding the transmission housing of the other gear unit in a pincer-like manner and contacting the transmission housing symmetrically with respect to a straight line connecting the output shafts of the gear units at two support points which in relation to a vertical plane extending through the output shaft of the other gear unit are located offset towards the gear unit having the torque support so that the support points are located between the vertical planes extending through the output shafts of the gear units; two motors connected to the drive shaft of the gear units; and two drive pinions connected to the output shafts of the gear units in one-to-one correspondence.

20. The lifting vessel of claim 19, wherein each of the gear units of the rack and pinion drive includes a transmission housing and a planetary stage including a planet carrier, said transmission housings of the gear units mounted on a double bearing of the planetary carrier.

21. The lifting vessel of claim 19, wherein each of the gear units of the rack and pinion drive includes a transmission housing and two planetary stages with a transmission housing mounted on a double bearing of a planetary carrier of a planetary main stage of the two planetary stages.

22. The lifting vessel of claim 19, wherein each of the gear units of the rack and pinion drive includes a transmission housing having a flange on an output side, said drive pinions having each a drive pinion shaft, with the flanges of the transmission housings being each arranged in a region of a spherical roller bearing of the drive pinion shafts.

Description

[0031] The aforementioned properties, features and advantages of this invention and the manner in which they are obtained will be clearer and easier to understand in connection with the following description of exemplary embodiments which are explained in more detail in connection with the drawings. These show:

[0032] FIG. 1 a view from above of a jack-up leg with a gear pair,

[0033] FIG. 2 a side view of a gear pair,

[0034] FIG. 3 geometric details concerning the position of the support points of the torque supports,

[0035] FIG. 4 a side view of an individual gear,

[0036] FIG. 5 in a perspective view a support structure of a lifting vessel for a lowerable leg of a lifting vessel,

[0037] FIG. 6 an axial section of a planetary gear stage, and

[0038] FIG. 7 a bearing of a drive pinion shaft in a transmission housing.

[0039] FIGS. 1 and 2 show a torque support of a gear pair 1 comprising two parallel planetary gears 2a, 2b with a fixed center distance and opposing direction of rotation. The gear combination 1 serves to drive jack-up systems by means of a drive pinion 3 and toothed racks 4.

[0040] For offshore work in limited depths of water, as a rule vessels or working platforms which can be raised out of the water with so-called jack-up systems are used. Raising and lowering takes place by means of three or more vertically movable stilts 5, so-called support legs or jack-up legs, driven by means of toothed racks 4 with so-called drive pinions 3 on both sides, wherein the pinions 3 are pivoted in a support structure 6 connected to the working deck for storage of the gear, a so-called lifting frame and the toothed racks 4 are permanently connected to the stilts 5. The drive pinions 3 drive the tooth racks 4 as a result of which the stilts 5 are moved relative to the vessel or the platform. The individual drive pinions 3 are driven by means of an electric motor 7 and gears 1a, 1b.

[0041] The stilts 5 are supported in a lowered position on the seabed and then raise the vessel or the platform out of the water in order to obtain a stable position regardless of wave movement. During the journey between two working areas, the stilts 5 are in a raised position, the water supporting the vessel or the working platform.

[0042] The cross-section of the stilts 5 is triangular or rectangular; each stilt 5 comprises three or four toothed rack systems connected in parallel. Raising of the vessel the platform out of the water requires very strong force which is generated by means of electric motors 7 in combination with a gear unit 1a, 1b as a torque amplifier in the gear tooth engagement of the drive pinion 3 with the toothed rack 4. For this reason, the gear units 1a, 1b have a greater gear ratio, e.g. in the range of 1:3500 to 9000, and the hoisting speeds of the toothed racks 4 are low, e.g. in the range of 0.5 to 1 m/min, whereby the entire motor power to be installed remains at a moderate level.

[0043] In addition to the circumferential forces in the gear tooth engagement which generate the actual lifting power, as a result of the contact angle of the gear teeth so-called spreading forces or thrust forces are also generated. To neutralize the thrust forces, the toothed racks 4, which have a rectangular cross-section, are given a tooth profile on both sides and the drive pinions 3 are arranged in equal numbers on both sides of the toothed rack 4. Each toothed rack 4 therefore always has an even number of pinions 3 and therefore also an even number of gear units 1a, 1b.

[0044] As the forces to be generated are very great, several pinions 3 are necessary for each toothed rack 4; these pinions 3 are arranged vertically one above the other. The size of the gear stage with the highest torque of the gear units 1a, 1b determines the vertical distance of the pinions 3. As planetary gears raise less in terms of volume than spur gears with the same torque, for the stages for which the gear size is decisive for these lifting vessel applications planetary stages 2a, 2b are used. Upstream are several spur gear stages 8a, 8b which are elongated in the transmission housing 9 so that apart from generating the gear ratio, a certain minimum distance is obtained between the gearbox output shaft 10 and the gearbox input shaft 11. This is necessary so that the motors 7 can be mounted laterally outside the lifting frame 6.

[0045] The gear units 1a, 1b arranged next to each other are in a left and right-hand version. The gear units 1a, 1b have two rotational directions and are also loaded in two torque directions. The level of the torque is uneven depending on the load direction during normal operation.

[0046] Over time various structural solutions have been developed for these jack-up systems. On the one hand, there are hydraulically operated systems (pin & hole systems). On the other hand, there are rack & pinion systems driven by electric motor. With regard to the bearings of the drive pinion in combination with connections between gear units and pinion bearings and connection of the gear units on the lifting frame, rack & pinion systems can be roughly divided into two versions.

Variant 1:

[0047] Variant 1, the most common version today and shown in FIG. 7 is characterized by a lantern gear mounted on both sides in two spherical roller bearings 40a, 40b, designed as a drive pinion shaft 10 with a drive-side outer tooth shaft profile 41, consistent with an inner tooth shaft profile of the hollow shaft not shown here. The gear units are thus mounted on the pinion shaft 10, and the splined shaft profile 41 transmits the torque here.

[0048] The spherical roller bearing 40a on the gear unit side has a large bore compared with the second spherical roller bearing 40b because the drive pinion torque must be passed through here. Furthermore, the bearing outer ring is contained in a bushing to be able to insert the tip circle of the drive pinion, which as a rule is larger than the bearing outside diameter, axially into the lifting frame and thus produce engagement with the rack and pinion.

[0049] The gear unit is guided radially by means of cylindrical centering in the lifting frame. The reaction torque of the gear unit is absorbed by means of a flange on the lifting frame connected to the ring gear of the main transmission stage. In a subvariant, on a horizontal plane this flange is often fitted with parallel stop bars arranged symmetrically to the gear center and connected to the lifting frame here free of play and torque-proof by means of fitting pieces.

Variant 2:

[0050] In Variant 2, the gear unit comprises the drive pinion bearing, wherein the drive pinion is arranged in a flying manner on the gearbox output shaft. The smaller spherical roller bearing is missing on the side opposite the gear unit. The second bearing is then either located on the drive pinion shaft in the gear unit or on the geared hub of the planetary carrier. The connection of the transmission housing or the torque support is as in variant 1.

[0051] As a result of the aforementioned connection of the gear unit to the lifting frame, neither of the versions described has sound technical torque support of the gear unit, and this results in undesirable bearing and gear loads in the gear unit and to undefined loads in the two spherical roller bearings in variant 1. This is due to the following factors: in both variants 1 and 2, in which the reaction torque is absorbed by means of square flange with stop bars on both sides, the gear units are rigidly connected to the lifting frame in a circumferential direction by means of fitting pieces between the stop bars and supporting surfaces on the lifting frame. The lifting frame and the transmission housing form a unit as if the combination were a single part.

[0052] With torque transmission, the splines between the hub of the planetary carrier in the gear unit and the drive pinion shaft are resistant to bending and in a position to transfer bending torque as a result of the tooth forces occurring here. In variant 1, planetary carrier and drive pinion shaft thus form a quadruplicate-mounted shaft (two spherical roller bearings of the drive pinion and two cylindrical roller bearings of the planetary carrier).

[0053] Due to different internal clearance in these bearings, elasticity of the components, radial run-outs and angle deviations from the axis of rotation of the splined shaft profiles and eccentricity deviations of the bores in the lifting frame, undefined circumstances arise with regard to bearing forces and bending torques in the splines. Micromovements and consequently fretting corrosion and wear may therefore also occur in the splines.

[0054] A possible solution would be to omit the bearing of the planetary carrier and to mount the planetary carrier in a flying manner on the drive pinion shaft. In this case, however, the carrier is misaligned with the internal gear and the central pinion (=sun) as a result of the bearing play of the spherical roller bearing, and the planetary carrier with the planets is also tilted in relation to the internal gear and the central pinion as a result of the deflection of the drive pinion. This solution is therefore unacceptable.

[0055] A further disadvantage here is that the gear can only undergo a function test in combination with the drive pinion and its two spherical roller bearings.

[0056] The same applies to variant 2. If a planetary carrier bearing on the output side and a drive pinion shaft bearing on the gear side are combined to form one bearing, the result is still a triple bearing with the same aforementioned disadvantages.

[0057] As a result of the flying arrangement of the lantern gear toothing, the elastic deformation of the drive pinion shaft is very great and in the case of a double bearing with a planetary carrier likewise arranged in a flying manner would likewise result in major center offset and tilting of the planetary carrier.

[0058] Apart from these technical disadvantages, the costs are also very high in comparison with the solution according to the invention.

[0059] FIGS. 1 and 2 show a view from above or a side view of a rack and pinion drive with a gear pair 1 according to the invention. This is a gear pair for a lifting vessel 1 for a rack and pinion drive for lowering and raising a jack-up leg of a lifting vessel. Each gear unit 1a, 1b of the gear pairs 1 comprises a planetary gear 2a, 2b comprising two planetary stages and a multi-stage spur gear 8a, 8b upstream of the planetary gears 2a, 2b. Each of the gear units 1a, 1b is mounted in circular recesses of the lifting frame 6 by way of a cylindrical transmission housing surrounding the planetary stages. The drive shafts 11 of the gear units 1a, 1b are each connected to electric motors 7a, 7b. The output shafts 10 of the gear units 1a, 1b are each connected to the drive pinion 3. The drive pinions 3 each mesh with toothed racks 4 which are attached to opposite sides of the support leg edge 15. Each support leg 5 is designed as a framework-like structure the envelope of which has, for example, the structure of a prism with a triangular base. Each support leg 5 has toothed racks 4 which each extend in parallel along one of the three vertical support leg edges 15 of the support leg 5.

[0060] The axes of the output shafts 10 are aligned in parallel so that the opposing meshing of the pinions 3 in the toothed racks 4 generates uniform but opposing reaction torques. These reaction torques support the two gear units 1a, 1b by means of torque supports 12, 13 on the transmission housing of the other respective gear unit 1b, 1a. Each of the torque supports 12, 13 is fastened to a ring-shaped flange 19 which is arranged on the outer circumference of that part of the transmission housing surrounding the second planetary stage. The torque supports 12, 13 are pincer-like in design, wherein the two pincer arms 12a, 12b or 13a, 13b are located on both sides of a horizontal central axis of the gear units 1a, 1b which is formed by a connecting line of the center points of the output shafts 10 on which the transmission housing 9 is located.

[0061] FIG. 3 shows the position of the pincer arms 12a, 12b of the torque support 12 with regard to the transmission housing of the planetary gear 2a. The support points 18 of the pincer arms 12a, 12b are located towards the gear unit 2b relative to a vertical plane 16 extending through the output shaft 10 of the other respective gear unit which has the torque support 12. The angle , which is enclosed between the vertical plane 16 extending through the output shaft 10 of the other respective gear unit 2a and the section 17 between this output shaft 10 and the support points 18, is in a range of 5 to 10 degrees. A connecting line 20 which runs through the centers of the output shafts 10 of the two gear units 1a, 1b forms a central axis in relation to which the support points 18 are arranged symmetrically.

[0062] For clarification, FIG. 4 shows a side view of an individual gear unit 1b of a gear pair according to the invention.

[0063] The gear pair 1b has a multi-stage helical preliminary stage 8b the output shaft of which is connected to an input shaft of a two-stage, coaxial planetary gear 2b. The input shaft 11 of the helical preliminary stage 8b is connected to a rotor shaft of an electric motor 7.

[0064] The torque support 12 connected via a ring-shaped flange 19 to the transmission housing of the planetary gear 2b forks into two pincer-like arms 12a, 12b with inside support points 18.

[0065] FIG. 5 shows a diagrammatic view of a lifting frame 6 of a lifting vessel in a perspective view. The lifting frame 6 mounted on a lifting vessel 14 has three supporting frames 21 which are interlinked by connecting elements 22 in a framework-like manner. The supporting frames 21 are each adjacent to one of the support leg edges of the respective support leg (see FIG. 1), so that a longitudinal axis of the supporting frame 21 is parallel to this support leg edge 15 and therefore also parallel to the toothed rack extending along this support leg edge 15 of the support leg 5.

[0066] The supporting frame 21 has a rear wall 23 and two side walls 24, 25 at an angle to the rear wall 23. The rear wall 23 has eight continuous, ring-shaped recesses 26 which are designed to accommodate one gear unit 1a, 1b each of the rack and pinion drive of the associated lifting vessel. The recesses 26 are arranged in the form of a matrix with two rows arranged next to each other, wherein each row has four recesses 26 arranged one above the other.

[0067] FIG. 6 shows a transmission housing 9 which is mounted on a double bearing 28 of a planetary carrier 27 of a planetary stage of the gear pair 1 according to the invention. A pivoting planetary gear 30 in the planetary carrier 27 meshes with the internal gear of a ring gear 29 arranged radially in the transmission housing 9.