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US 6,269,762 B1Granted
Vessel-turret assembly having radially guided bogie wheels
AssigneeIHC Gusto Engineering B.V.
InventorJohan Albert Commandeur
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AssigneeIHC Gusto Engineering B.V.
InventorJohan Albert Commandeur
Estimating the term…
A vessel-turret assembly with an opening (3) in the hull of the vessel wherein a turret (4) is rotatably received. The axial bearings (8) between the hull structure and the turret have a number of circumferentially spaced bogies (12) running on raceways. Each of the bogies (12) is mounted on a displacement element such as an elastically deformable element. The bogie body may comprise a side plate with flange or shaft which in a hingepoint is hingedly attached to the hull structure. This point is located near or on the plane defined by the load bearing surfaces of the wheels. In this way a radial movement of the load bearing surfaces of the wheels. In this way a radial movement of the load bearing surfaces of the wheels due to the elastical deformable elements is prevented. Alternatively, each bogie may comprise one or more axial wheels for engaging the hull structure and/or the turret to prevent radial movement of the bogie structure at the position of the load bearing surface of the wheels. When the bogies are mounted on an elastically deformable element, the bogies can be easily exchanged by compression of this element followed by removal of the bogies.
Vessel-turret assembly comprising a hull structure (2) for accommodating a turret (4), wherein bearing means are provided between said hull structure and said turret, comprising axial bearing means (8) supporting the weight of said turret, said axial bearing means (8) comprising a raceway (14,15) on either the hull structure or on the turret (4) as well as rolling members running on said raceway, the turret being provided with a collar (11), said rolling members comprising at least three circumferentially spaced sets of bogies (12), each comprising at least two rolling wheels (17) rotating on shafts (24) mounted in a bogie body (18), comprising a supporting base structure (20) which is connected to an attachment surface (26) on either the hull structure or on the collar of the turret, wherein the other one of the hull structure or collar is provided with said raceway (14,15), wherein between said bogie body and the attachment surface a displacement element (19) is situated for allowing radial displacement of the bogie body with respect to the raceways, the bogie body comprising at least one side support member (30) substantially perpendicular to the shafts of the wheels and guide means (32,33,36) cooperating with the side support member (30) or with the shafts (24) and with the hull structure to reduce radial movement of the bogies (12) substantially at the load-bearing surface of the wheels.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.