Method and apparatus for continuously determining the inclination and draft of a waterborne floating vessel to enable automatic loading of the vessel

An apparatus for automatically loading a waterborne floating vessel with flowable materials, said apparatus including:

• a plurality of pressure sensors, each of which is attached to said vessel and positioned such that it is below the surface of the water in which said vessel is floating;
• a computer;
• and
• a loading controller coupled to said computer,
• wherein each of said pressure sensors generates a depth signal, and
• wherein said computer receives each of said depth signals and provides control signals to said loading controller in response thereto so as to control the delivery of flowable materials into said floating vessel.

An apparatus for automatically loading a water borne floating vessel with flowable material, said apparatus comprising:

• a pressure sensor, said pressure sensor attached to said vessel and positioned such that it is below the surface of the water in which said vessel is floating, said pressure sensor generating a depth signal;
• an inclinometer, said inclinometer attached to said floating vessel such that the artificial horizon of said inclinometer corresponds to a level trim condition of said vessel with respect to the surface of the water in which it is floating, said inclinometer generating a list signal corresponding to the list of said vessel;
• a computer;
• and
• a loading controller,
• wherein said computer receives each of said depth signal and said list signal and provides control signals to said loading controller in response to said depth and list signals as to control the delivery of flowable materials into said floating vessel such that said vessel is in a level trim condition and at a desired draft upon completion of loading.

A method of automatically loading a water borne floating vessel with flowable material comprising the steps of:

• delivering flowable material into said vessel at one location on said vessel;
• sensing the draft of said vessel near the one location at which said flowable material is being delivered;
• moving said vessel relative to said one location at which flowable material is being delivered in response to said sensing;
• delivering said flowable material into said vessel at a second location thereon and sensing the draft of said vessel near said second location;
• moving said vessel in response to said sensing near said second location and repeating the delivering, sensing and moving until the vessel is fully loaded with flowable materials;
• sensing the overall draft and inclination of said vessel during all of the above procedures and controlling and terminating the delivery of flowable materials into said vessel to maintain said overall draft and inclination within predefined limits, such that when said vessel is fully loaded it is in a level trim condition and at a selected draft.

A method of automatically loading a water borne floating vessel with flowable material comprising the steps of:

• attaching a plurality of pressure sensors to said floating vessel at strategic points on said vessel, each of said pressure sensors being positioned below the surface of the water in which said vessel is floating, each of said plurality of pressure sensors producing a depth signal proportional to the depth of the corresponding pressure sensor below the surface of the water;
• monitoring each of said depth signals and continuously determining the corresponding draft and inclination of said vessel therefrom;
• delivering flowable material into said vessel at one location on said vessel while monitoring each of said depth signals;
• moving said vessel relative to said one location at which flowable material is being delivered in response to said depth signals;
• delivering said flowable material into said vessel at a second location thereon while monitoring each of said depth signals;
• moving said vessel in response to said depth signals and repeating the monitoring, delivering and moving until the vessel is fully loaded with flowable materials;
• and
• terminating the delivery of flowable materials into said vessel in response to said depth signals when a desired draft for said vessel has been reached and the inclination of said vessel is such that said vessel is in a level trim condition.