Loading patent…
AssigneeIHC Gusto Engineering B.V.
InventorsPeter Eric De Lang, Wilhelmus Coenradus Johannes Josephuz Woldring, Johan Albert Commandeur
Estimating the term…
A pipe lay vessel with a reel for carrying a length of pipe and first drive part for controlling rotation of the reel. A substantially vertical guide structure includes at its upper end a deflection member for deflecting the pipe from a first trajectory extending between the reel and the guide structure to a second, substantially vertical trajectory. A clamping member carries the vertical pipe section and has second drive for feeding the pipe along the vertical trajectory. A movable tension compensator (7) is provided at the first pipe trajectory for lengthening or shortening the first pipe trajectory to maintain a substantially constant tension of the pipe along the first trajectory during unwinding of the reel. By displacing the tension compensator, the first pipe trajectory can be lengthened or shortened to compensate for variations in speed due to non-uniform winding of the pipe and varying diameter of the spooled pipe and to compensate for sagging of the pipe due to its own weight and length variations upon unspooling in view of occuring plasticity and partial straightening of the pipe.
Pipe lay vessel (1) with a reel (2) for carrying a length of pipe and first drive means (12) for controlling rotation of said reel (2), and a substantially vertical guide structure (3) comprising at its upper end a deflection member (6) for deflecting the pipe from a first trajectory (4) extending between the reel (2) and the guide structure (3) to a second, substantially vertical trajectory (5), a clamping member (13) for carrying a vertical pipe section having second drive means (17, 18, 19, 20) for feeding the pipe along the vertical trajectory (5), characterised in that a movable tension compensator (7) is provided at the first pipe trajectory (4) for lengthening or shortening the first pipe trajectory (4) to maintain a substantially constant tension of the pipe along the first trajectory during unwinding of the reel (2).
Pipe lay vessel (1) according to any of the preceding claims, three pipe straightener elements (25, 26, 27) being provided along the vertical pipe trajectory (5), at least one pipe straightener element (26) comprising a closed track (42) around two rollers (40, 41), at least one adjustable roller (43) being placed between the two rollers (40, 41) for altering the width of the track.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.