Suction pile
AssigneeFMC Kongsberg Subsea AS
InventorsGøran Sundqvist, Hans Kristian Medbøen, Renny Kunkel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a suction pile comprising a cylinder shaped body (1) with a closed end (3) and an open end (2), means (4) for attaching an arrangement to ejecting entrapped water, air and mud, but also provide a pressure difference within the suction pile during installation, and an attachment system (10) for attaching external equipment to the suction pile, the suction pile is formed with a skin portion (17) and at least one flange portion (6). At least one of the flange portions (6) comprises an element (11, 26) that form at least a part of the attachment system (10) for external equipment.
Claims15
1:
- A suction pile comprising:
- a cylinder shaped body having a closed upper end and an open lower end, the body comprising at least one segment which includes a skin portion and at least one flange portion;
- and
- an attachment system for attaching external equipment to the suction pile;
- wherein at least one of the flange portions comprises an increased thickness in at least one direction compared to the skin portion;
- wherein at least one of the flange portions comprises an element that forms at least a part of the attachment system;
- and
- wherein the flange portion comprising the element extends from the closed end and at least partly along the cylindrical shaped body.
2:
- A suction pile according to claim 1, wherein the body is formed of at least two segments.
(canceled)
4:
- A suction pile according to claim 1, wherein the flange portions extend into the interior of the cylinder shaped body and the closed end.
(canceled)
6:
- A suction pile according to claim 2, wherein each segment comprises a flange portion at each of its ends which faces a neighboring segment.
7:
- A suction pile according to claim 6, wherein the element forming at least a part of the attachment system is positioned in a flange portion facing a flange portion of a neighboring segment.
8:
- A suction pile according to claim 1, wherein at least one segment is at least partially formed from a composite material.
9:
- A suction pile according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder shaped body comprises a cylindrical wall portion and the closed end comprises an end portion, and wherein a majority of the segments are substantially equal and each segment forms a part of the cylindrical wall portion and a part of the closed end portion.
10:
- A suction pile according to claim 1, where the attachment system is positioned in the closed end of the suction pile.
11:
- A suction pile according to claim 6, wherein the attachment system comprises:
- at least one recess formed in at least one flange portion of at least one of the segments;
- and
- at least one attachment piece which comprises a first section having complimentary form to the recess and a base section which is connected to the first section;
- where the attachment system is configured such that when one segment is connected to a neighboring segment, the attachment piece is positioned with the first section within the recess and with the base section extending a distance out of the suction pile.
12:
- A suction pile according to claim 11, wherein the attachment system comprises at least three recesses, within each of which one attachment piece is positioned, and wherein each recess is positioned between different neighboring segments.
13:
- A suction pile according to claim 11, wherein the flange portions facing each other are formed with mirrored recesses.
14:
- A suction pile according to claim 11, wherein the first section of the attachment piece has a width which is larger than a width of the base section.
15:
- A suction pile according to claim 11, wherein the attachment system comprises a base plate which is connected to at least one base section and is positioned on an outside of the suction pile.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.