Mooring systems with active force reacting systems and passive damping

In a mooring system for maintaining a vessel at the surface of a body of water in a position in relation to a body which is secured to the bottom of the body of water, where the mooring system includes at least one arm coupled at a first end of the arm to the body, said arm having a second end coupled to a frame secured to said vessel, said arm having a pendular weight coupled to said frame, said vessel moving closer to and away from said body about a neutral position in response to environmental conditions of said body of water, said pendular weight providing increasing force to said arm in a direction to move said vessel toward said neutral position as a function of increasing distance that said vessel has moved from said neutral position, an improvement comprising

• a damping element (310) coupled between said frame and said arm, said damping element being in addition to the damping effect of water acting against the vessel or the arm.

In a mooring system for maintaining a vessel at the surface of a body of water in a position in relation to a body which is secured to the bottom of the body of water, where the mooring system includes at least one arm coupled at a first end of the arm to the body, said arm having a second end coupled by connecting means to said vessel, said vessel experiencing oscillation in displacement about a quiescent position in response to environment conditions of said body of water, an improvement comprising

• passive damping means for damping said oscillation of said vessel about said quiescent position, said passive damping means being in addition to the damping effect of water acting against the vessel or the arm, whereby magnitude of said oscillation of said vessel is reduced, and
• means for generating a displacement signal representative of displacement of said vessel from said quiescent position, and
• means responsive to said displacement signal for applying a substantially constant force to said arm in a direction to move said vessel toward said quiescent position, whereby magnitude of said oscillations of said vessel are reduced.

In a mooring system for maintaining a vessel at the surface of a body of water in a position in relation to a body which is secured to the bottom of the body of water, where the mooring system includes at least one arm coupled at a first end of the arm to the body, said arm having a second end coupled by connecting means to said vessel, said vessel experiencing oscillation in displacement about a quiescent position in response to environmental conditions of said body of water, an improvement comprising

• passive damping means for damping said oscillation of said vessel about said quiescent position, said passive damping means being in addition to the damping effect of water acting against the vessel or the arm, whereby magnitude of said oscillation of said vessel is reduced, and wherein
• said connecting means includes a rocker arm (12) having top, middle and bottom portions with said middle portion pivotably coupled to said vessel, said bottom portion pivotably coupled to said second end of said arm and said passive damping device is a hydraulic cylinder pivotably coupled to said top portion of said rocker arm and to said vessel.

In a mooring system for maintaining a vessel at the surface of a body of water in a position in relation to a body which is secured to the bottom of the body of water, where the mooring system includes at least one arm coupled at a first end of the arm to the body, said arm having a second end coupled by connecting means to said vessel, said vessel experiencing oscillation in displacement about a quiescent position in response to environmental conditions of said body of water, an improvement comprising

• passive damping means for damping said oscillation of said vessel about said quiescent position, said passive damping means being in addition to the damping effect of water acting against the vessel or the arm, whereby magnitude of said oscillation of said vessel is reduced,
• said passive damping means includes a hydraulic cylinder (47) coupled between said second end of said arm (14) and said vessel, and
• a buoyant strut (48) is coupled between said hydraulic cylinder (47) and said vessel.

In a mooring system for maintaining a vessel at the surface of a body of water in a position in relation to a body which is secured to the bottom of the body of water, where the mooring system includes at least one arm coupled at a first end of the arm to the body, said arm having a second end coupled by connecting means to said vessel, said vessel experiencing oscillation in displacement about a quiescent position in response to environmental conditions of said body of water, an improvement comprising

• passive damping means for damping said oscillation of said vessel about said quiescent position, said passive damping means being in addition to the damping effect of water acting against the vessel or the arm, whereby magnitude of said oscillation of said vessel is reduced,
• said passive damping means includes a hydraulic cylinder (47) coupled between said second end of said arm (14) and said vessel, and
• said damping cylinder (47) includes a damping mechanism and a coiled spring to provide a direct spring restoring force and damping to reduce vessel motion due to environmental forces.

In a mooring system for maintaining a vessel at the surface of a body of water in a position in relation to a body which is secured to the bottom of the body of water, where the mooring system includes at least one arm coupled at a first end of the arm to the body, said arm having a second end coupled by connecting means to said vessel, said vessel experiencing oscillation in displacement about a quiescent position in response to environment conditions of said body of water, an improvement comprising

• passive damping means for damping said oscillation of said vessel about said quiescent position, said passive damping means being in addition to the damping effect of water acting against the vessel or the arm, whereby magnitude of said oscillation of said vessel is reduced, and wherein
• said connecting means including a shaft (72) rotatably supported on said vessel (20) and first and second torque arms (78, 75) secured to said shaft (72),
• said second end of said arm (82) secured to said first torque arm (75) and said passive damping means is coupled between said vessel (20) and said second torque arm (78).

In a mooring system for maintaining a vessel at the surface of a body of water in a position in relation to a body which is secured to the bottom of the body of water, where the mooring system includes at least one arm coupled at a first end of the arm to the body, said arm having a second end coupled by connecting means to said vessel, said vessel experiencing oscillation in displacement about a quiescent position in response to environmental conditions of said body of water, an improvement comprising passive damping means for damping said oscillation of said vessel about said quiescent position, said passive damping means being in addition to the damping effect of water acting against the vessel or the arm, whereby magnitude of said oscillation of said vessel is reduced, and wherein

• two arms are coupled between said body and said vessel, with each of said two arms having a first end coupled to said body, each of said two arms having a second end coupled by connecting means to opposite sides of said vessel,
• each of said connecting means including a shaft (72) rotatably supported on said vessel and a torque arm (78) secured to said shaft (72) and to a respective second end of said first or second arm (82), and
• said passive damping means including first and second hydraulic cylinders coupled between said vessel and said respective shaft torque arm.

In a mooring system for maintaining a vessel at the surface of a body of water in a position in relation to a body which is secured to the bottom of the body of water, where the mooring system includes at least one arm coupled at a first end of the arm to the body, said arm having a second end coupled by connecting means to said vessel, said vessel experiencing oscillation in displacement about a quiescent position in response to environmental conditions of said body of water, an improvement comprising

• passive damping means for damping said oscillation of said vessel about said quiescent position, said passive damping means being in addition to the damping effect of water acting against the vessel or the arm, whereby magnitude of said oscillation of said vessel is reduced, and wherein
• said connecting means includes a torsion spring element (514) mounted on said vessel, and
• a torque actuator (512) is coupled to said torsion spring element (514) and pivotably coupled to said second end of said arm.

In a mooring system for maintaining a vessel at the surface of a body of water in a position in relation to a body (10′″) which is secured to the bottom of the body of water, where the mooring system includes at least one arm (311) coupled at a first end of the arm to the body (10′″), said arm (311) having a second end coupled to a frame (300) secured to said vessel, said arm having a pendular weight (302) coupled to said frame (300) by means of a tension member(304), said vessel characterized by oscillating displacements about a neutral position in response to environmental conditions of said body of water, said pendular weight (302) providing increasing force to said arm (311) in a direction to move said vessel toward said neutral position as a function of increasing distance that said vessel moves from said neutral position, and where the improvement comprises

• a damping element (310, 315) coupled between said frame (300) and said arm (311).

In a mooring system for maintaining a vessel at the surface of a body of water in a position in relation to a body (10′″) which is secured to the bottom of the body of water, where the mooring system includes at least one arm (311) coupled at a first end of the arm to the body (10′″), said arm (311) having a second end coupled to a frame (300) secured to said vessel, said arm having a pendular weight (302) coupled to said frame (300) by means of a tension member(304), said vessel characterized by oscillating displacements about a neutral position in response to environmental conditions of said body of water, said pendular weight (302) providing increasing force to said arm (311) in a direction to move said vessel toward said neutral position as a function of increasing distance that said vessel has moved from said neutral position, an improvement comprising,

• means for generating a displacement signal representative of displacement of said vessel from said neutral position, and
• means responsive to said displacement signal for applying a force to said arm in a direction to move said vessel toward said quiescent position.

In a mooring system for maintaining a vessel at the surface of a body of water in a position in relation to a body which is secured to the bottom of the water, where the mooring system includes at least one arm coupled at a first end of the arm to the body, said arm having a second end coupled by connecting means to said vessel, said vessel experiencing oscillation of a certain magnitude in displacement about a quiescent position in response to environmental conditions of said body of water, an improvement comprising,

• coupling said first end of said arm to said body at a vertical position of said body which is at the intersection of a projection of an average roll axis of said vessel on said body.