Method and apparatus for laying elongated articles
AssigneeStolt Offshore Limited
InventorsStig Jarle Andersen, Øivind Stangeland
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Fiber reinforced flexible adhesive tape is used to bind an elongate article or bundle of articles during subsea laying operations and apparatus for laying the elongate articles. The apparatus includes at least one carrier for a tape spool arranged to rotate while moving bodily around the axis of the article during laying.
Claims25
A method of binding together a plurality of conduits during sub-sea laying, comprising the steps of:
- providing a sea-going vessel having equipment operatively connected to the vessel for laying conduits at sea;
- providing a plurality of conduits on the vessel;
- positioning the vessel at sea;
- paying out the plurality of conduits from the vessel using the equipment;
- binding the plurality of conduits together using an adhesive tape;
- laying the conduits in the sea by advancing the conduits from the vessel and the equipment.
An apparatus for laving conduits sub-sea, the apparatus including at least one carrier for a tape spool, arranged for the spool to rotate while moving bodily around the conduits during laying beneath the sea surface and said apparatus is mounted on a laying vessel downstream of equipment which supports the weight of the conduit during paying out of the conduits, wherein guide means are provided between the spool carrier and the axis of the article for impinging on a non-adhesive surface of the tape, and wherein the guide means and the rotary arrangement of the spool carrier about the axis of the conduits to be laid are made openable.
An apparatus for laving conduits sub-sea, the apparatus including at least one carrier for a tape spool, arranged for the spool to rotate while moving bodily around the conduits during laying beneath the sea surface and said apparatus is mounted on a laying vessel downstream of equipment which supports the weight of the conduit during paying out of the conduits, and wherein the apparatus is mounted permanently in a laying arrangement, to be retracted when not in use, and to be deployed about the axis of the conduit being laid as required.
An apparatus for laying conduits sub-sea, the apparatus including at least one carrier for a tape spool, arranged for the spool to rotate while moving bodily around the conduits during laying beneath the sea surface and said apparatus is mounted on a laying vessel downstream of equipment which supports the weight of the conduit during paving out of the conduits, and wherein the apparatus is mounted permanently in a laying tower, to be retracted when not in use, and to be deployed about the axis of the conduit being laid as required.
A method for binding together a plurality of conduits during subsea laying, comprising:
- providing a sea-going vessel including means for storing a plurality of conduits, the vessel including conduit support equipment and a binding apparatus having more than one rotary spool carrier to carry flexible adhesive tape;
- positioning the vessel at sea;
- loading the plurality of conduits into the support equipment;
- advancing the plurality of conduits into the binding apparatus;
- binding the plurality of conduits using the binding apparatus which binds the plurality of conduits using the flexible adhesive tape, wherein the tape is drawn automatically from the spool carriers by rotation of the spool carriers turning in response to the axial progression of the conduits during laying.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.