Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to a sys-tem for mooring a ship or like
floating vessel, particularly an oil-~anker to an off-shore tower or column,
e~ a tower or column fixedly or pivotally mounted on a sea bed or ocean floor,
and for transferring a fluid cargo suoh as petroleum oil or the like.
It is known to plaoe on the tower or platform the major part of a sys-
tem in-tended to ensure the conneotion between the upper end of the conduit or i~
conduits of the tower, on the one hand, and the conduits of the vessel on the
other hand. Such sy~tem~ comprise particularly an arm carried by the platform,but
it is always necesgary to provide flexible oormecting pipes between the free endof the a~m a~d the conduits of the vessel.
~he in~ention aims at providing an assembly which i~ entirely rigid, thus
avoiding the agency of flexible pipes.
To this end, according to the invention, the systems of the kind in ques-
tion comprise at lea3t one arm : pivotally carried by the tower, particularly
by the rotating head of the latter, if any, the end of the aaid arm supporting
preferably by means of a telescopic or extensible rigid device, a connector sys-tem adapted to be fitted onto a hollow mouth-piece or like'fi-tting head mountedon the vessel and connec-ted to the stationary conduit of the latter.
In such an assembly, any oonduit between the platform and the ves~el oan
be carried by the arm and its appended device~. In partioular this oonduit may
comprise only rigid element~, possibly common to those of the said arm and to the
~aid appended devioe~, particularly to the extensible or telescopio 3ystem.
Within this tele~oopio system, where such a 3ystem i8 used, the liquid can
be made to pass in pipes which also are telescopic, or use can be made of an
arrangement capable of being u3ed independently, i.e. of being applied to any
fluid connector system, whatèver the general arrangement, in which arrangement the
extensible 3ystem carried by the aforesaid arm is designed in the form of ~ucces-
sive deformable element~ constitutin~ four-bar linkages,of the pantograph type,
at least some of the said elements being hollow to serve a~ passages for the
fluid, in combination with ap~ropriate rotary ~oints.
It is under~tood that instead oi a ~ingle arm there can be provided ~eve-
ral a~ms interoonneoted by movable ~oints, with mean~ provided at the said mo-
vable joints and oontrolled by servo-motors to open or olose their mutual angle
; of incidenoe, this solution allowing the assembly to be ooll~psed, retraoted or
folded up on the tower during the period of rest.
~he ~ingle arm, or the first arm from the tower, may be fixedly or pivo-
~; ~ tally assembled to the rotatable head of the tower in proximity to the vertioal
;` axis of the latter, or alternatively, it may be pivotally assembled to the end
of a horizontal or inolined beam seoured to the said tower or to its rotatable
head if any.
As for the mooring proper it oan be perjformed by means of a hawser, one
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end o~ which is attached for example to the aforesaid connector
device, therefore to the vessel, once the sa.id device is put
in place for the tran~fer o~ the fluid, whereas its other end
is attached to a wench or, preferably, to a balance or counter-
weight capable of being retracted together with a portion of
the hawser into the tower.
As another possible alternative, the hawser can be
done away with and use can be made of the arms, especially where
several such arms are provided, to support the mooring strain
once the connection is performed, in combination with absorbing
or damping means maintaining the assembly constituted by the
arms and the connector in a predetermined relative position
while at the same time allowing a certain resilienc~ to sub-
sist in the connection.
It should be noted, in any case, that owing to the
presence of extensible or telescopic devices, the structure
as a whole, after the connection and the mooring, o~fers
possibilities of deEormations, preferably absorbed by the a~ore- `:
said absorbing or damping means, and can there~ore withstand
without danger the relative mo~ions of the vessel and the
tower under the action of sea heave.
~s for the connector device, it is advanta~eousl~ ob-
tained according to an arrangement described in Canadianpatent application S.N. 2~8,53~, ~iled October 12, 1977 in khe
name of ENTREPRISE D'EQUIPEMENTS MECANIQUES ET H~DR~ULIQUES
E.M.~I., and in which a device is used comprising on the one
hand a hollow body with a centring and guiding cone adapted to
operate with the aforesaid mouth-piece or like fitting head and,
on the other hand, with a sliding connector element suitably
operated to be engaged into the said mouth-piece and thus ensure
the connection, in conjunction with packing or sealing means,
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and lastly locking means for maintaining the connecting
position.
Lastly, the operation of the various motors or servo-
motors or actuators to ensure the necessary movements of the
assembly carried by the tower, can be controlled either from
the latter or from the vessel itself by radio tra~smission act-
ing upon receiver relays associated with the said motors, the
latter solution allowing tower personnel to be dispensed with
or to be reduced to the necessary number for simple supervision
or watching purposes.
Apart from the above arrangements, the invention com-
prises some other arrangements, which are used preferably at
the same time and which will be referred to more clearly later.
It is more particularly directed to certain forms of
application, as well as certain forms of embodiment, of the
said arrangements, and it is directed still more particularly
and as novel industrial products to systems of the kind
considered involving an application of the said arrangements
as well as the special elements appropriate to achieve the
same, and the assemblies or groups of devices, or specifically
the towers or columns and the oil-tankers, comprising such
systems and elements.
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The inven-tion will be better under~tood and other pu~po~es, featurea,
de-tail~ and advantages of the latter will appear more olearly from the following
explanatory description made with reference to the appended diagr&mmatic drawings
given solely by way of ex~mple illustrating one form of embodiment of the in-
vention and wherein :
- ~igure 1 is a diagrammatio elevational view, with portions removed, of
an assembly constituted by an oil-loading or-~torage power or column, a ve~el
and a system for mooring the latter and transferring the oil, the whole asaembly
being designed according to the invention ;
- Figure 2 is a diagrammatic top view, to a larger scale, of certain ele-
ments of the extensible portion carrying the connector system compri~ed in the
said assembly ;
- Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, illustrating another form of
embodiment of the invention.
According to the invention and according more specially to its form of
application and to the forms of embodiment of its various portions, which seem
to deserve preference, considering an off-~hare tower or column, for example a
tower 1 (Figure 1), connected to the sea bed or ocean floor either pivotally or
not and reoeiving the oil through conduits or lines such as 5, the means for
mooring a ship or like floating vessel 6 and ensuring the transfer (in one direo-
tion or other dependi~g upon the purpose to be aohieved) of oil be-tween the
conduit 5 and another oonduit or line 7 seoured to the vessel are provided as
follows or in a similar manner.
Use is made essentially of at least one arm 8 which oan ~e secured onlthe
rotary head 9 of tower l,where such a rotary head is provided, or pivotally
assembled to the latter, the said arm being of suitable len~th to allow the
connection to be performed when the bow of the vessel is loca-ted a ~ultable di~-
tanoe from the tower, the free~end of the said arm supporting at 10, preferably
through a universal or Cardan joint, a oonneotor devioe C adap-ted to be fitted
onto a hollow mouth-pieoe or flttin~ head oonneoted to the end of the fixed oon-
duit~ of the ves~el, the oonneo-tion between the Cardan ~oin-t 10 and the saidoonneotor bein~ pref0rably ensured by rigid a~d ex-tensible or telescopio means ~
(Figures 1 and 3) the length of whioh is therefore variable (it being understoodhowever, that the inventionlalso inolude~ the ca~e where the said oonnector is
simply pivo-tally oonnected to the said a~m, the latter being pivotally oonneoted
to the ro-tary head of the tower).
I-t is under~tood tha-t several arms can be used, for example two axms 81
and 82, one (81) of the latter being pivotally assembled either to the head of
the tower or, if suitable and as shown in ~igure 3, to the end of a support beamor ilate 51 rotating together with the said head, whereas the ~eoond arm (82) ishingedly assembled at 10' to arm 81.
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It i~ al~o under~tood that i the tower i8 not provided wi-th a rotary
head, the a~m 8 or 81 may be mounted on the tower ~tationary platform or top in
swivelling relationship to the latter.
As for the conduit portions to be provided in thi~ aasembly b~tween the
platform, i.e. between the oonduit 5, on the one hand, and the oonnector C, on
the other hand, they may be oonstituted by rigid pipes oarried by the struoturesof the said aasembly, the said portions being for example telesoopio or exten-
sible within the exten~ible system ~ interoonneoting the oonnector C and the arm
8 or 82 at 10.
However, as ~hown in the drawings, the said extensible means ~ may advanta-
geously be constituted by a set or series of artioulated element~ in the nature
of pantograph~ or the like, at least some of the articulated elements, in the form
of tubes, in oombination with rotary joints, being used to ensure the passage
of the liquid between the rotary joint 10 and the oonneotor C.
There is shown in Figures 1 and 2 a form of embodiment of an extensible
system of this kind, whioh oomprise~ for example a set of rectilinear elements
in the form of rhombuses 11, 12, pivotally oonnected to one another around axes
13 and 141, 142, some (13) of the said axe~ bein~ located along a oentral line
AA, on either side of whioh are looated the axes 141, 142 forming the vertioes of
the rhombuse~ oonstituted by the imbrioation of two broken lines.
For the sake of simplifioation lt i~ a~sumed in Figures 1 and 2 that
only one of the broken lines 11 i~ used to transfer the liquid and i~ aonstituted
to this end by hollow elements, with oorresponaing rotary joints at 141, whereas-the other broken line 12 is aonstituted by any conneoting elements jointed at 142.
It i8 understood, however, that both broken-line paths can be used to tran~fer
the liquid.
~he assembly of articulated element~ i~ pivotally connected at 10 and 15
to the conduit oarried by the arm 8 and to the inlet of oonneotor C, respeotively.
~he ao-tuation of this artioulabed system or it~ exten~ion or its retraotion
3Q can be performed in an~ appropriate m~nner, for example by means of a oable 32
pa~ing round a pulley 33 and whioh is wound onto or unwound ~rom a winoh 34
operatod by motor 35~
As regards the conneotor C, it is ~ub~tantially oonstituted, as pointed
out above, in the manner desoribed in the afore,mentioned patent applioation
filed at the same time ae the present applioation, or in any other suitable manner.
Shown diagrammatioally in ~igure 1 are the essential elements of this
oonneotor, whioh oomprises for example, in order to co-operate with a mouth-
pieoe or fitting head 20 to whioh the oonduit 7 of the vessel leads :
- a hollow body 21 supported by a support pivotally oonnected to the base
4 of the extensible system ~ (or direotly to the arm 8 if such a system is not
used) whioh hollow body oan be fitted with an appropriate olearance onto the head
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20 and is provided at ita bottom with a centring cone 23,
- a sliding hollow connector element hydraulically connected to the con-
duit proceeding from the tower or the exten~ible system T and operated by an
actuator to sealingly engage into the outlet passage 24 of the head 20,
- and locking means ensuring a stable conneoting posi-tion, e.g. locking
pins or the like adapted to co-opera-te with a slot 25 provided on the said head.
~ he assembly can be completed by television cameras 36 carried by the
connector sy~tem T and allowing it to be readily located with respect to the
vessel during the manoeuvring operation.
The whole of this a~sembly carried by the tower i8 completed by means
ensuring the mooring of the ves~el once the connection is accQmplished, the saidmeans compri~ing for example a hawser 26 of the usual type, one end of which,
according to an advantageous form of embodiment, can be attached to a ring 27
mounted freely around the body 21 of the connector system C, whereas the other
end can be at-tached at a fixed point 52 of the tower (F~gure 1) or to a winch
orl preferably, after passing on a guiding pulley 28, to a counter- or balance-
weight 29 hanging freely within the tower as shown in Figure 3.
It is al~o po~sible, if suitable, to dispense with the ~aid hawser and
to ensure the mooring by means of the ri6id system constituted by the arm or arms
such as 8, 81~ 82 and by the oonneotor C. It is suffioient, to this end, to fix
this assembly after the oonneo-tion while at the same time allowing for a oertain
deformation thereof, in oombination with ~hook-absorbing or damping means.
The presenoe of ~uoh ab~orbing means is always useful sinoe it allows -the
whole struoture to follow, owing to the relative dqformations of its various
elements but without danger of resonanoe, the relative motion~ of the vessel
(rolling, pitohing~ and of the osoillating tower under the aotion of the heave
of the sea.
~hus, assuming that use is made, a~ shown is Figure 3, of two a~ms oom-
bined with a hawser 26 attaohed (by any suitable means after the mooring position
3 i~ obtained) at one end to the oonneotor and at the other end to the tower, and
a~suming also that the relative displaoements of arm~ 81~ 82 aro performed for
example by an aotu~tor 31 pl~oed betwe0n two pivot axes 31 and 32~ the absorbing
or damping effeot oan be ensured by an oleopneumatio devioe 38 oonneoted to the
said aotuator and oomin~ into aotion after the latter has moved both arms to therequired position.
~owever, there oan be provided for the same purpose a ri~id looking of the
artioulated assembly and the mouth-pieoe or fitting head 20 oan be oonstituted
by a body conneo-ted to the vessel not rigidly as previously but through absorbing
or damping means.
4 Con~equently, a ves~21 mooring and oargo transferring assembly is obtained
whioh allows all apparatus to be grouped on the platform, but withoub requiring
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the presence of flexible pipe~, the said assembly being simple to operate and, if
suitable, controllable Irom the ves~el (remote radio aontrol). ~he a~embly
operates during the mooring as follow~.
Considering for example the form of embodiment of ~igure 1, with a haw~er
26 connected to the oormector system C, before the mooring the latter together
with the extensible device T is in retraoted position and the arm 8 i~ oriented
in the direotion of the wind.
~ he ve~sel then manoeuvres, in particular by means of a bow thruster 37,so as to move clo~er to, and to assume a position in the vertical plane of, the
connector device C.
~hereafter, the extensible system ~ i6 moved downwards by means of the
motor 35, this operation being controlled either from the tower by a qualified
personnel or preferably directl~ from the ves~el if the latter is equipped with
radio means capable of remotely acting on relays controlling the motor 35 as well
as the other means of operation of the a~sembly.
Once this operation is over and the hollow body 21 of the conneotor devioe
C is fitted on the mouth-pieoe 20 looated on the vessel, the whole arrangement
is looked by means of the looking pins co-operatin~ with the slot 25.
~he mooring is then ensured for example by the hawser 26 tensioned by the
balanoe-weight 29 (~igure 3).
A ~imilar prooedure is u~ed in the oa~e o the aosembly aooording to Figure
3, the exten~ion of the said a~eembly being en~ured by the aotuator 31 and the
motor 35.
Owing to this arrangement, the assembly oan be easily moved to a spaGe-
savin~ retraoted idle po~ition.
Lastly, if the plat~orm is not provided with a rotary head, in whioh oase
the a~m 8 or 81 is neoessarily mounted direotly on the tower and movablè about
a vextioal pivot and pos~ibly also about a horizontal axis, the operating ~teps
still remain ~ub~tantially the same, again allowing the presenoa of flexible
oonneotin~ pipes to be avoided as muoh as po~sible.
In any oaee, the, invention of:~ers a great many advantages over the already
exl0tin~ equipment~ o:~ the kind oon0idered, par-tioul~rly:
- that of ~ubstantially using only elemen-t~ that are rigid and easy to
look after,
- that of requiring simple operating s-teps, oontrolled from the ve~el bg
radio mean~ l:E sui-table,
- tha-t o:E ensuring all the neoe~sary aoouraoy of the said operating steps,
- that of allowingt by folding the retraotable devioe ~ and, in the ¢ase of
two arms, by folding the latter, the whole assembly to be folded up ~o as to
4~ oooupg minimum spaoe,
- that of allowing the relative displaoements of the vessel and the tower
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to be ea~ily followed in the mooring po~ition, owing to the u~e 3f the said
retractable device and, po~ibly oE movable ioints between the arms in oaoe
several arms are u3ed.
Of course, the invention is by no msans limited to the form of embodiment
desoribed and illustrated which has been givsn by wag of example~only. In parti-oular, it oomprises all the meano oon~tituting teohnioal equivalents to the
mean~ de~oribed as well as their oombinations should the latter be oarried out
aooording to its gist and used within -the scope oP the following claim~.
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