Ships – Mooring device – Line type
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-28
2001-05-01
Avila, Stephen (Department: 3617)
Ships
Mooring device
Line type
C114S295000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06223671
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to mooring systems, particularly those for use with floating rigs.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
When laying anchors for a rig in the conventional manner, a supply vessel tows the anchor, chains, and sometimes a polyester mooring line as far out from the rig as possible. The anchor is then dropped, and when it has reached the seabed the rig uses winches to pull upon the anchor by the mooring line. Hopefully the anchor gets a grip and buries itself in the seabed helped by the weight of the chain and the angles of the anchor's blades, however this process can be very laborious and time consuming, Two opposing mooring lines have to be deployed before they can be tensioned and tested. If one anchor has failed to become embedded, it must be retrieved and re-laid. It can take a rig sometimes seven days or longer to achieve a secure mooring position.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a means for quickly and easily securing an anchor for a mooring line upon the seabed, with less chance that the anchor point will not be property embedded.
A flier object of the present invention is to provide a means of applying further treatments to the anchor upon the seabed in order to ensure that it is more reliably secured.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided a mooring apparatus for a mooring line for a floating rig or the like, including a soil penetration means, and an anchoring means, the mooring apparatus being lowered upon coiled tubing or the Like.
The soil penetration means, and the anchoring means activation, may powered by fluid, which may be supplied via the coiled tubing. A transmission cable may be disposed along the coiled tubing.
The soil penetration means may include a helical element which screws into the seabed
Preferably there is included a mooring line or a guide line for a mooring line, this line being partly releasably attached to the anchoring means. Preferably a buoy device stores the line and a buoy for releasing the line when needed. The buoy may be released by an remote signal.
The anchoring means may be able to alter its profile and/or shape. To this end, the anchoring means may include inflatable members.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of forming an anchor point including deploying a mooring apparatus as described above.
Preferably the anchoring means includes a pulley and a guide line by which a larger mooring line may be brought to the anchoring means. Preferably the mooring line includes an latching element and the anchoring means includes a corresponding mating part.
The anchoring means may include a buoy device which stores a line (whether a guide line or a mooring line) for mooring to the anchoring means and a buoy for releasing the line when needed. Preferably this buoy is released by an remote signal.
A major advantage of using coiled tubing is that the anchoring means can be drilled to a depth where its mechanical strength is sufficient to retain it, if necessary hundreds of meters into the seabed. The coiled tubing can also be used to deliver power to penetration means or anchoring means, and to protect transmission cables if used. The coiled tubing may also be used to inject a suitable bonding material such as cement around the anchor to lock the anchor in place once set to the required depth.
The mooring apparatus may also be equipped with additional apparatus in order to further secure the anchor to the seabed if desired. Preferably the securement members' change of profile should be reversible so that the mooring apparatus may be retrieved when it is no longer needed at its initial position.
Where the mooring apparatus is capable of altering its shape, it may be driven into the seabed in a state in which its drag or friction against the material of the seabed is low, and then switched such that its drag is increased to such an extent that the mooring apparatus is firmly embedded in the seabed An important method disclosed herein of increasing the drag of the mooring apparatus is to increase the area of the apparatus perpendicularly to the direction of pull from the mooring line. Increased drag may also be achieved through altering the fluid/viscous dynamic qualities of the shape, so that the apparatus tends to catch the material of the seabed in front of it. The use of the word aerodynamic here is in the loosest sense, that is, it refers to the resistance of the mooring apparatus through the material of te seabed in a particular direction.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3646598 (1972-02-01), Chelminski
patent: 3786525 (1974-01-01), Christians
patent: 3910218 (1975-10-01), Taylor
patent: 4312289 (1982-01-01), Conrad
patent: 4318641 (1982-03-01), Hogervorst
patent: 4356788 (1982-11-01), Stern et al.
patent: 5431219 (1995-07-01), Leising et al.
patent: 5671811 (1997-09-01), Head
patent: 6066015 (2000-05-01), Brown
patent: 325836 (1930-02-01), None
patent: 1 249 548 (1969-09-01), None
Avila Stephen
Dubno Herbert
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