Articulated joints for deep water installations
AssigneeTaylor Woodrow Construction Limited
InventorsReginald Sidney Taylor, Reginald Edward Dowton Burrow
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An articulated joint for a deep water installation in which two structural members are connected by flexible tendons and there is access from one of the members to the other via a hollow shaft.
Claims17
An articulated joint for a deep water installation in which two hollow structural members are connected so as to afford limited pivotal movement between the members;
- the joint comprising flexible tendons connecting the structural members with a clearance between the members, and a hollow convoluted shaft permitting access of men or materials from one of the structural members to the other through the joint, this shaft being sealed in fluid-tight manner to each of the members and being formed by spaced-apart plates connected in fluid-tight manner by members of substantially toroidal form able to withstand hydrostatic pressure in the form of hoop stress and bending stresses resulting from relative motion of the two members.
An articulated joint for a deep water installation in which two hollow structural members are connected so as to afford limited pivotal movement between the members, the joint comprising flexible tendons connecting the structural members with a clearance between the members, and a hollow rigid shaft permitting access of men or materials from one of the structural members to the other through the joint, there being provided between one end portion of said shaft and one of said members, and also between the other end portion of said shaft and the other of said members, a seal assembly comprising a primary seal and a secondary seal located inside the primary seal relative to the seal assembly as a whole, the primary and secondary seals each affording a seal capable withstanding a predetermined hydrostatic pressure which, in use, prevails around the outside of the joint and being arranged such that normally the primary seal isolates the secondary seal from the hydrostatic pressure, there being further provided in each seal assembly an outer sealing arrangement outside the primary seal which for normal operation is capable of being kept in a non-sealing condition and which is adapted to be rendered operable to form a seal capable of withstanding the predetermined hydrostatic pressure thereby to isolate the primary seal from the hydrostatic pressure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.