Scaffold for working on a pipeline movable relative to a base
AssigneeSanta Fe International Corporation
InventorWilliam B. Cook, Jr.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention involves working on a pipeline which is subject to movements relative to a base such as ground, the deck of a floating barge, and the like. A rollable scaffold is frictionally coupled to the pipeline so that workers carried by the scaffold can move relative to the base and, therefore, become stationary relative to the pipeline. The scaffold carries a lift means for raising and lowering a pipe support positionable under the pipeline. The scaffold therefore allows the workers to work on the pipeline without being disturbed by the relative movements between the pipeline and the base.
Claims2
A scaffold adapted to follow the movements of a coated pipeline relative to a base having a depressed trackway, comprising:
- a platform supported on a pair of spaced cylindrical rollers having their longitudinal axes transverse to the center line of the scaffold, said trackway limiting the lateral movements of said rollers;
- a fluid-operated system including extensible means movable between said platform and said pipeline;
- a flexible pipe support member carried by said extensible means for frictionally engaging said pipeline, said member having an arcuate surface adapted to engage the coating of the pipeline and being adapted to allow relative movements between said member and said pipeline;
- and
- said system including operating means for selectively moving said extensible means with said pipe support member into and out of frictional engagement with said pipeline.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.