Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
114265000 | Multiple leg | 36 |
20090217856 | FIXED STRUCTURE PLATFORM ON WATER - The invention relates to the fixed platform which enables to locate on the water any fixed structure such as the house, garden, road, airport, car park, children's park and holiday village in the seas, lakes and rivers. Our invention comprises the platform ( | 09-03-2009 |
20090235856 | OFFSHORE FLOATING STRUCTURE WITH MOTION DAMPERS - A semi-submersible floating platform ( | 09-24-2009 |
20100288178 | Offshore Floating Platform with Motion Damper Columns - A semi-submersible floating platform for use in offshore applications having a semi-submersible hull structure including motion damping support columns, a pontoon structure adjoined to the motion damping support columns at a lower end thereof, and a deck structure supported at an upper end of thereof for supporting equipment mounted thereon above the water surface. Each motion damping support column has an inner water trapping damper chamber of closed base or open base construction that allows natural flooding of said inner water trapping damper chamber during installation and before reaching an operating draft of the platform, and which when flooded provides hydrodynamic mass, damping, and in-water weight to said platform during operation. A plurality of smaller columns are disposed on the perimeter of the upper portion of each support column and surround the upper portion of the inner water trapping damper chamber. | 11-18-2010 |
20110114005 | BATTERED COLUMN SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE OFFSHORE PLATFORM - A semisubmersible platform includes a deck supported on the upper ends of support columns extending upwardly from a horizontally disposed pontoon-ring. The columns are battered inwardly and upwardly from the pontoon-ring to the deck. Mooring lines passing through fair leads on the outer faces of the base nodes anchor the platform to the seabed. The footprint of the battered columns is greater than the footprint of the deck supported on the upper ends of the columns. | 05-19-2011 |
20110126750 | Semisubmersible Offshore Platform with Drag-Inducing Stabilizer Plates - A floating vessel is equipped with perforated plates which exhibit both an added-mass effect and a damping effect. The addition of porosity to an added mass plate phase-shifts the added mass force so that it becomes at least partially a damping force which does not depend on large velocities to develop a large damping force. Preferred porosity is in the range of about 5% to about 15% of total plate area. A semi-submersible vessel may have damper plates fitted between its surface-piercing columns, within a support grid in the area between the pontoons and/or extending from the sides of its pontoons. A truss spar offshore platform may have damper plates installed within its truss structure intermediate its hull and ballast tank. Drill ships and similar vessels may be equipped with damper plates extending from the sides of their hulls to reduce both heave and roll. | 06-02-2011 |
20110214596 | VERTICALLY INSTALLED SPAR AND CONSTRUCTION METHODS - A vertically installed Spar-type floater for offshore wind turbine and related construction method are provided. The floating system is a gravity stabilized deep-draft floater including a plurality of vertically extending columns, each column containing a ballast material; a ballast tank coupled to the lower end of each of the columns; a top deck having a plurality of through-bores approximate its periphery coupled to the upper end of each of the columns; a wind turbine assembly supported by the top deck at the center; a plurality of mooring lines linking the floating system to the sea floor. The floating system has a temporary vertically towing configuration which: allows the entire, floating wind turbine system to be assembled at a quayside and towed vertically to an offshore site, and self-installed into operating configuration. | 09-08-2011 |
20110315062 | RISER SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR USE WITH AN OFFSHORE PLATFORM - A riser support system for use in a body of water comprises a buoyant and ballastable support structure and a plurality of substantially vertical and rigid risers each of which is attached to the inside of the support structure at a location below the center of buoyancy of the support structure and below the surface of the body of water. Usually, each riser passes through the inside of a single tube in the support structure. Typically, the riser support system is used to support a plurality of risers and their surface wellheads inside the hull of an offshore platform, usually in such a manner that the axial movement of the risers and support structure is independent of the axial movement of the hull. | 12-29-2011 |
20120055389 | INSTALLATION VESSEL - An installation vessel for installing an offshore structure, the installation vessel comprising a hull and a plurality of legs, each leg comprising vertical chords and cross braces, the hull having a plurality of leg openings each configured for passage of a leg therethrough, each leg opening having a number of jack-cases for supporting pinions thereon, each pinion being configured for rotatably engaging a rack disposed on a chord of the leg to move the leg relative to the hull, each jack-case comprising a number of guides for guiding passage of the leg through the leg opening, each guide comprising a plurality of angled surfaces configured for sliding engagement with a corresponding plurality of surfaces of a rack, each of the plurality of angled surfaces comprising a wear plate. | 03-08-2012 |
20120090524 | ARTICULATED MULTIPLE BUOY MARINE PLATFORM APPARATUS AND METHOD OF INSTALLATION - A marine platform (and method of installation) provides a plurality of buoys of special configuration, a platform having a peripheral portion that includes a plurality of attachment positions, one attachment position for each buoy, and an articulating connection that connects each buoy to the platform at a respective attachment position, the connection allowing for sea state induced buoy motions while minimizing effect on the platform. A method of installation places the platform (including oil and gas drilling and/or production facility) next to the buoys. Ballasting moves the platform and buoys relative to one another until connections are perfected between each buoy and the platform. | 04-19-2012 |
20120103244 | Truss Cable Semi-submersible Floater for Offshore Wind Turbines and Construction Methods - Truss cable semi-submersible floater for offshore wind turbines and construction methods are provided. A floating system includes a hull, a tensioned cable system, and a tower. The hull includes vertical buoyant columns with one column at the center of the pattern, larger size column base tanks, and a truss system, all of which are coupled to each other for supporting the tower and wind turbines. The column can be made of hybrid materials, including steel and composite-concrete. The steel section and the composite-concrete section of the column can be connected by grouting. The tensioned cable system including upper, lower, and diagonal tensioned cables to connect the column, the column base, and the tower to reduce the bending moments and improve stability, strength and dynamic performance of the hull structure. | 05-03-2012 |
20120111256 | SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE FLOATING STRUCTURE FOR VORTEX-INDUCED MOTION PERFORMANCE - The disclosure provides a semi-submersible offshore platform with columns having an enlarged base on the bottom of each column with pontoons coupled between the columns. The enlarged column base can be at least as high as a height of the pontoon and on at least embodiment can be about 50% of the draft of the platform. The enlarged base can change a current flow shape around the base and columns for lower VIM. An outside corner of the base can be trimmed at an angle. Alternatively, the lower portions of the columns can be extended horizontally outward to form an effectively enlarged base having similar characteristics. In some embodiments, the pontoon volume can be reduced inversely proportional to the base enlargement to have comparable total buoyancy. | 05-10-2012 |
20120216737 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DECK-TO-COLUMN CONNECTION FOR EXTENDABLE DRAFT OFFSHORE PLATFORMS - The disclosure provides a system and method for locking and unlocking an extendable column to a deck. A deck-to-column connection assembly includes a pawl and shim used in a sequential de-ballasting and ballasting of the column to the deck that can easily lock and unlock the column with the deck. Generally, the locking method includes ballasting the column to insert a pawl between the column and the deck, de-ballasting the column to raise the column relative to the deck and create a vertical gap between the column and the deck, inserting a shim to fill the gap and secure the pawl in a deployed position, and further de-ballasting the column to raise the deck connected to the column. Generally, the unlocking method lowering the deck to float on water, de-ballasting the column to remove compressive stress on the shim, removing the shim, ballasting the column, and retracting the pawl. | 08-30-2012 |
20120285361 | SEMISUBMERSIBLE WITH FIVE-SIDED COLUMNS - A semi-submersible vessel comprises pontoons having a generally five-sided transverse cross section. In the case of a 4-sided semi-submersible, the columns may be arranged in a generally rectangular form with a column at each corner of the rectangular form, each column having with four sides disposed at a right angle to at least one adjacent side and a fifth side on the exterior of the generally rectangular form disposed at 45 degrees to each adjacent side. | 11-15-2012 |
20130000540 | Offshore Platform with Outset Columns - A hull, suitable for use as a tension leg platform (TLP) or as a semi-submersible vessel, comprises columns having a generally polygonal transverse cross section at least one axis of which is generally radially aligned with the central vertical axis of the hull. Buoyant, subsurface pontoons interconnect adjacent columns. The pontoons are generally rectangular in cross section and the outboard, generally vertical surface of each pontoon is connected to a side surface of an adjoining column at a location which is substantially inboard of the outermost face of the column. In certain embodiments of the invention, tendon porches (configured to receive the upper tendon connectors of a TLP) are mounted to the outboard surface of one or more pontoons. | 01-03-2013 |
20130000541 | Offshore Platform with Outset Columns - A hull, suitable for use as a tension leg platform (TLP) or as a semi-submersible vessel, comprises four columns arranged in a rectangular planform with each column having a generally polygonal transverse cross section at least one axis of which is generally disposed at a 45-degree angle to a line between the center points of adjacent columns. Buoyant, subsurface pontoons interconnect adjacent columns. The pontoons are generally rectangular in cross section and the outboard, generally vertical surface of each pontoon is connected to a side surface of an adjoining column at a location which is substantially inboard of the outermost face of the column. In certain embodiments of the invention, tendon porches (configured to receive the upper tendon connectors of a TLP) are mounted to the outboard surface of one or more pontoons. | 01-03-2013 |
20130032076 | DRY-TREE SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE PRODUCTION AND DRILLING UNIT - A deep draft semi-submersible production and drilling platform unit with dry trees is described. The platform unit preferably comprises four columns, a ring pontoon, a two-axis symmetrical hull with draft in the range of 100 to 155 feet, top-tensioned risers with push or pull tensioners of preferred combined vertical stiffness of 10% to 30% of the platform water plane stiffness, a well-bay with a well spacing in the range of 12 to 18 feet, a riser guiding system supported by the pontoons or at an elevated level, topside facilities supported by a box type of deck structure, mooring lines, and catenary risers. | 02-07-2013 |
20130160693 | SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE VESSEL AND OPERATING METHOD - A semi-submersible vessel for offshore operations is suitable to be operated in icy waters and in ice-free waters. The vessel includes an operating deck, at least one lower hull, an essentially vertical connecting structure between the at least one lower hull and the operating deck, and a ballast system. The connecting structure has a water portion and an icebreaking portion arranged on top of each other. The vessel is configured to have an icebreaking draft for icy waters, and a water draft for ice-free waters in which the waterline is substantially level with the water portion. The icebreaking portion has a closed tapered contour. During the water draft, the collective area of the water portion of the connecting structure intersecting the water surface is smaller than the collective area of the icebreaking portion of the connecting structure intersecting the water surface during the icebreaking draft. | 06-27-2013 |
20130180443 | Offshore Platform Having SCR Porches Mounted on Riser Keel Guide - A floating, offshore drilling and/or production vessel has supports for steel catenary risers mounted on a riser keel guide. This allows the riser attachment points to be located closer to the vessel's center(s) of rotation of pitch, roll and yaw thereby decreasing roll-, pitch- and yaw-induced displacements of the risers. | 07-18-2013 |
20130220203 | Platform Topside for an Offshore Platform and Method for Installing Such a Platform Topside - A platform topside for an offshore platform including a self-floating superstructure with a stable floating position, projections on the superstructure, means for mounting legs in an upright arrangement in the projections, wherein the projections and the means for mounting legs are arranged above the water line or not far below the water line, means for displacing the legs in the longitudinal direction of the legs in the means for mounting and means for fixing the legs in their positions in the means for mounting. | 08-29-2013 |
20130233231 | Floating Wind Turbine Platform and Method of Assembling - A semisubmersible wind turbine platform capable of floating on a body of water and supporting a wind turbine over a vertical center column includes a vertical center column and three or more vertical outer columns spaced radially from the center column, each of the outer columns being connected to the center column with one or more of bottom beams, top beams, and struts, with the major structural components being made of concrete and having sufficient buoyancy to support a wind turbine tower. | 09-12-2013 |
20130239868 | DRY TREE JACKET SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE PLATFORM - Column-stabilized floating offshore platform structure for dry tree application is provided. The offshore floating platform can include a deck, a jacket frame attached to the bottom of the deck for supporting the deck, a hull structurally coupled with the jacket frame for providing buoyancy and a restoring force to stabilize the platform, and a mooring system coupled with the hull for maintaining the position of the platform. A method for providing the offshore floating platform is also provided. | 09-19-2013 |
20130319314 | C-SEMI WITH MINIMUM HYDRODYNAMIC FORCES - An offshore floating structure ( | 12-05-2013 |
20140014020 | WIND POWER PLANT - The wind power plant includes blades mounted on an annular pontoon. The pontoon is rotatable about a vertical axis. An energy converter is situated on a platform that is encircled by the annular pontoon. A kinematic mechanism is designed so as to be capable of transmitting the rotational energy of the annular pontoon to the receiving unit of the energy converter. The floating platform is equipped with positioning means that include at least six anchors located on the bottom of a body of water. The anchors are connected to the platform by flexible members and are offset in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the annular pontoon relative to the point at which the flexible member is attached to the platform. The technical result is an increase in the number of places where the wind power plants can be installed and an increase in electric power generation. | 01-16-2014 |
20140020615 | PRODUCTION UNIT HAVING A BALLASTABLE ROTATION SYMMETRIC HULL AND A MOONPOOL - A floating production unit is operable for production and storage of hydrocarbons. The production unit exhibits in operation movement properties rendering connection of one or more loose hanging risers ( | 01-23-2014 |
20140196654 | Floating Wind Turbine Platform with Ballast Control and Mooring System - A floating wind turbine platform includes stabilizing columns, a tower, water-entrapment plates connected to the stabilizing columns, and a ballast control system. The tower is mounted over one of the columns. The stabilizing columns include internal volumes for containing a ballast. The ballast control system includes an alignment sensor and a controller. The alignment sensor is configured to detect a rotation of the tower. The controller is configured to direct a transfer of ballast from one column to another column to adjust an alignment of the tower. | 07-17-2014 |
20140238289 | MOBILE OFFSHORE DRILLING UNIT - A mobile offshore drilling unit is described that has an operating deck supported on a submersible deck, which may be a pontoon deck or a mat deck, by four or more columns, wherein a ratio of displacement of the mobile offshore drilling unit to total column cross-sectional area is at least about 40 mT/m | 08-28-2014 |
20140299032 | SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE FLOATING STRUCTURE FOR VORTEX-INDUCED MOTION PERFORMANCE - The disclosure provides a semi-submersible offshore platform with columns having an enlarged base on the bottom of each column with pontoons coupled between the columns. The enlarged column base can be at least as high as a height of the pontoon and on at least embodiment can be about 50% of the draft of the platform. The enlarged base can change a current flow shape around the base and columns for lower VIM. An outside corner of the base can be trimmed at an angle. Alternatively, the lower portions of the columns can be extended horizontally outward to form an effectively enlarged base having similar characteristics. In some embodiments, the pontoon volume can be reduced inversely proportional to the base enlargement to have comparable total buoyancy. | 10-09-2014 |
20140305363 | MULTI-SIDED COLUMN DESIGN FOR SEMISUBMERSIBLE - A support structure includes a column having multiple sides. A first side and a second side of the column are disposed at a first angle with respect to another. The second side and a third side of the column are disposed at a second angle with respect to another. The third side and a fourth side of the column are disposed at a third angle with respect to another. The fourth side and a fifth side of the column are disposed at a fourth angle with respect to another. The fifth side may be disposed at a fifth angle with respect to a sixth side and/or the first side of the column, in which the sixth side and the first side of the column may be disposed at a sixth angle with respect to another. | 10-16-2014 |
20150027358 | FRAME SHAPED SUBMERSIBLE DECK BOX STRUCTURE COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE STRUCTURAL MODULE - A semi-submersible offshore platform comprises a main structure comprising two longitudinal lower side beam structures, two transverse lower side beam structures and four columns, the longitudinal and transverse lower side beam structures are located between the four columns connecting the four columns with each other such that the semi-submersible offshore platform exhibits a frame shaped submersible pontoon having a lower central opening the four columns extends upwards from the frame shaped submersible pontoon. The main structure of the semi-submersible offshore platform comprises two longitudinal upper side beam structures and two transverse upper side beam structures, the longitudinal and transverse upper side beam structures are to located between the four columns connecting the four columns with each other such that the semi-submersible offshore platform exhibits a frame shaped deck box structure having an upper central opening for receiving at least one structural module. | 01-29-2015 |
20150075417 | ARTICULATED MULTIPLE BUOY MARINE PLATFORM APPARATUS AND METHOD OF INSTALLATION - A marine platform (and method of installation) provides a plurality of buoys of special configuration, a platform having a peripheral portion that includes a plurality of attachment positions, one attachment position for each buoy, and an articulating connection that connects each buoy to the platform at a respective attachment position, the connection allowing for sea state induced buoy motions while minimizing effect on the platform. A method of installation places the platform (including oil and gas drilling and/or production facility) next to the buoys. Ballasting moves the platform and buoys relative to one another until connections are perfected between each buoy and the platform. | 03-19-2015 |
20150128840 | Frontier Field Development System for Large Riser Count and High Pressures for Harsh Environments - A system comprising a semisubmersible, at least two offloading terminals and shuttle tankers in optional combination with an FSO may be deployed in deep water harsh environments where riser performance (either SCR or LWSCR) is a key performance parameter. The semisubmersible is used to support the risers because of its favorable motion characteristics under harsh conditions. The semisubmersible supports the entire process train and provides well maintenance, which may include water and/or gas injection. The semisubmersible may provide work-over capabilities for well intervention. The produced hydrocarbons are exported through flexible pipes to at least two off-loading buoys. A FSO or shuttle tanker receives the produced hydrocarbons. Two or more off-loading buoys may be employed to allow for uninterrupted production when a shuttle-tanker-only embodiment is utilized. | 05-14-2015 |
20150291258 | CONVERTIBLE FLOATING PLATFORM - A convertible, floatable platform for use on a body of water has multiple sections hinged together for vertical swinging movement. The main section and two side sections each have an elongated buoyant body connected to support a deck. Hydraulic actuators operably coupled between the main section and each of the side sections serve to raise and lower the side sections relative to the main section so as to convert the platform between an operational orientation, in which it functions as a floating island, and a transportable orientation, in which it can be loaded on a trailer for overland transport. A storage compartment below the main deck houses a number of recreational accessories when not in use. | 10-15-2015 |
20150298775 | Low Heave Semi-Submersible Offshore Structure - A semi-submersible structure with buoyant vertical columns and a buoyant pontoon. Unlike the typical semi-submersible where the pontoons are attached directly between the columns, the pontoon of the invention encircles the columns and is arranged outside of the columns. The pontoon encircling the columns simplifies construction and attachment of the pontoon and columns and improves the heave characteristics of the structure. | 10-22-2015 |
20150321735 | Multi-Column Tension Leg Platform - A multi-column tension leg platform is an offshore floating structure that is used to facilitate production of natural resources contained below the seabed. The multi-column tension leg platform includes a hull which is used to keep the entire structure afloat. The structure also includes a topside which is mounted to the top of the hull. The topside is used as a surface for supporting workers and equipment. The hull is made up of a plurality of flotation columns and a plurality of pontoons. Both the plurality of flotation columns and the plurality of pontoons are positioned about a vertical central axis of the topside. The plurality of flotation columns and the plurality of pontoons are buoyant structures that are aligned vertically and are used to keep the topside above water. The plurality of pontoons is mounted amongst the plurality of flotation columns. | 11-12-2015 |
20150329180 | FLOATING BODY STRUCTURE - The floating body structure is a floating body structure that supports an object to be supported so that the object to be supported floats in the sea, including a floating body section connected to a base end portion of the object to be supported, wherein the floating body section has a lid body made of steel, an outer pipe made of steel, and an inner pipe made of steel and provided inside the outer pipe, and the floating body section is hermetically sealed by the lid body in a state where at least a portion of a gap formed between an outer wall surface of the inner pipe and an inner wall surface of the outer pipe is filled with concrete or mortar. | 11-19-2015 |
20160251059 | LOW HEAVE SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE OFFSHORE STRUCTURE | 09-01-2016 |