Fairlead chain stopper for offshore structure mooring system

Abstract

The present invention relates to a fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure-mooring system, the fairlead chain stopper comprising: a body installed on an offshore structure to support a portio

Description

Invention Title: FAIRLEAD CHAIN STOPPER FOR OFFSHORE STRUCTURE MOORING SYSTEM Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an offshore structure mooring system. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system, the fairlead chain stopper being capable of controlling bi-directional movements of a fairlead chain extending from an offshore structure to the water to facilitate mooring tension adjustment of the offshore structure in normal times and to facilitate connection and disconnection of the fairlead chain in emergency situations. Background Art

[0002] In the case of offshore structures, such as offshore wind turbines, they are inevitably affected by waves and currents due to their location on the sea.

[0003] Therefore, an offshore structure is moved due to the effects of waves and currents, and when the offshore structure is excessively moved, this situation may not only lead to the loss thereof, but also lead to damage by collapse.

[0004] Various mooring devices or mooring systems, such as those disclosed in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2014-0126022, are used to secure an offshore structure to a point on the sea.

[0005] At this point, a chain extending from the offshore structure to the water on the water, more specifically, a fairlead chain is connected to 'a chain stopper' or 'a pulley equipped with a stopper'. The chain may be moved and tightened while being pulled in one direction in the connected state, thereby performing adjustment of mooring tension of the offshore structure to stably perform mooring the offshore structure .

[0006] However, a chain stopper or a pulley equipped with a stopper that are applied to a conventional offshore structure mooring system can control movement of the fairlead chain only in one direction, e.g., can pull the fairlead chain from under the water to above the water. Therefore, there may be difficulty in adjusting mooring tension of the offshore structure and it is not easy to remove connection of the fairlead chain without support of large fleet when relocation of the offshore structure is required due to emergency situations such as a typhoon, and it is difficult to quickly respond the situation, which is a problem.

[0007] With the above reason, in this field, attempts are being made to develop a chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system, which can perform bi-directional movement control of a fairlead chain extending from an offshore structure to the water to facilitate adjustment of mooring tension of the offshore structure in normal times and to facilitate disconnection of the fairlead chain in emergency situations, or a pulley equipped with a stopper, but satisfactory results have not been obtained to date.

[0008]     Documents of Related Art

[0009]     Patent Document

[0010] (Patent Document 1) Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2014-0126022 Disclosure Technical Problem

[0011] The present disclosure has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the related art, and the present disclosure is intended to propose a fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system, the fairlead chain stopper being capable of performing bi-directional movement control of a fairlead chain extending from an offshore structure to the water, thereby facilitating adjustment of mooring tension of the offshore structure in normal times and facilitating disconnection of the fairlead chain in emergency situations. Technical Solution

[0012] In order to achieve the above objective, the present disclosure proposes,

[0013] a fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system, the fairlead chain stopper includes: a body provided at an offshore structure and supporting a part of a fairlead chain; an arm connected to the body to extend in an oblique direction and supporting another part of the fairlead chain that extends from the body, and including a pair of support blocks provided between opposite side surfaces thereof and arranged at the front and the rear with a gap therebetween, the pair of support blocks having respective inclined surfaces; a pair of movable members rotatably provided at the arm and arranged at the front and the rear with a gap therebetween, wherein as the movable members rotate forwards or reversely within a predetermined angle range by protrusion or retraction of a rod of a cylinder, one of both the movable members may be bought into contact with the inclined portion of one of the support blocks to control a forward or rearward movement of the fairlead chain; and a wireless controller arranged at one of the body and arm and configured to control operation of the movable members in response to a remote signal input from an outside location. Advantageous Effects

[0014] According to the present disclosure, the fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system includes: the pair of movable members arranged back and forth at the arm with a gap; and the wireless controller controlling operation of the movable members in response to a remote signal. With operation of the movable members performed by control of the wireless controller, bi-directional movement control of the fairlead chain, more specifically, control of a forward or rearward movement thereof can be performed. Therefore, not only is it possible to facilitate adjustment of mooring tension of the offshore structure in normal time to allow a moored state of the offshore structure to be stably maintained, but in emergency situations, emergency disconnection of the fairlead chain can be simply performed to facilitate relocation of the offshore structure.

[0015] Furthermore, according to the present disclosure, the fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system includes the pulling member connected to the movable members. Therefore, operation of the movable members can be performed also by pulling the pulling member so that bidirectional movement control of the fairlead chain can be efficiently performed even in abnormal situations of the wireless controller. Description of Drawings

[0016] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system according to the present disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a view of an example showing a mounting shape of the fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system according to the present disclosure, which is mounted to an offshore structure.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a view of an example showing a firstdirectional movement of a fairlead chain in the fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system according to the present disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 4 is a view of an example showing a seconddirectional movement of the fairlead chain in the fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system according to the present disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 5 is a view of an example showing rotation of a body in the fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system according to the present disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 6 is a view of an example showing rotation of an arm in the fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system according to the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 7 is a view of an example showing offshore structure mooring by using the offshore structure mooring system to which the fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system according to the present disclosure is applied. Best Mode

[0023] Hereinbelow, the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.

[0024]

[0025] As shown in FIG. 1, a fairlead chain stopper A for an offshore structure mooring system according to the present disclosure includes: a body 10; an arm 20; a movable member 30; and a wireless controller 40.

[0026] The body 10 of the present disclosure is installed at an offshore structure S, more specifically at a bollard constituting the offshore structure S to support a part of a fairlead chain 110.

[0027] At this point, the body 10 includes a wheel 11 rotating forwards and reversely in response to a movement direction of the fairlead chain 110, so that the wheel 11 may allow forward and rearward movements of the fairlead chain 110 (longitudinal direction of the fairlead chain) to be stably performed.

[0028] At this point, the wheel 11 includes a support member lib that is arranged between circular support plates 11a, which face each other with a gap between the left and right circular support plates and has protruding parts (without reference numeral) radially formed along the circumference of a center portion thereof. Accordingly, at least one of the protruding parts is caught by the fairlead chain 110 so that it is possible to prevent the fairlead chain 110 from Slipping and twisting in the body 10.

[0029] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, the body 10 is coupled to the offshore structure S by a hinged manner and rotates forwards and reversely within a predetermined angle range on a shaft 12 extending vertically, thereby corresponding to leftward and rightward movements of the fairlead chain 110. In other words, the body 10 may move leftwards and rightwards together with the fairlead chain 110 so that the body 10 may allow the fairlead chain 110 to be stably supported.

[0030] Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 7, as a part of an offshore structure mooring system 100, an end (e.g., upper end) of the fairlead chain 110 connected to the body 10 may pass through an upper end of the body 10 to extend outwards to be connected to a wire rope 120, and the other end (e.g., lower end) thereof may pass through the arm 20 to a submersible mooring pulley 130 in the water, more specifically to the submersible mooring pulley 130 that is connected to an anchor 150 located in the water via a mooring chain 140, and then may be connected to the wire rope 120.

[0031] Therefore, mooring tension of the offshore structure S may be adjusted by pulling the wire rope 120 connected to one end or the other end of the fairlead chain 110 by using a winch (without reference numeral) of a ship 200 located on the water.

[0032] The arm 20 of the present disclosure is connected to the body 10 while extending from the body in an oblique direction and supports another part of the fairlead chain 110 extending from the body 10.

[0033] At this point, the arm 20 includes a pair of support blocks 21 that are provided between opposite side surfaces thereof and arranged at the front and the rear with a gap, the pair of support blocks 21 each having one inclined surface. When one of the movable members 30 is brought into contact with the inclined part of one of the support blocks 21, movement control of the fairlead chain 110 may be performed.

[0034] At this point, the pair of support blocks 21 include an opening (without reference numeral), thereby allowing the fairlead chain 110 to extend from one end of the arm 20 close to the body 10 toward the other end thereof as the fairlead chain 110 is inserted into the opening.

[0035] Meanwhile, the arm 20 is coupled to the body 10 in a hinged manner as shown in FIG. 6, and rotates forwards and reversely within a predetermined angle range on a shaft 22 extending horizontally, thereby corresponding to upward and downward movements of the fairlead chain 110. In other words, the arm 20 may move upwards and downwards together with the fairlead chain 110 so that the arm 20 may allow the fairlead chain 110 to be stably supported.

[0036] The movable members 30 of the present disclosure are rotatably provided at the arm 20 and arranged at the front and the rear with a gap. As the movable members 30 rotate forwards and reversely within the predetermined angle range with protrusion or retraction of a rod 31a of a cylinder 31, one of both the movable members is brought into contact with the inclined portion of one of the support blocks 21 to control movement of the fairlead chain 110.

[0037] At this point, the movable members 30 include a link 32 rotatably connected to both the movable members 30 while being located therebetween. As one of both the movable members 30 rotates with protrusion or retraction of the rod 31a of the cylinder 31, the other movable member rotates together, and therefore, when one of the movable members 30 is brought into contact with one of the support blocks 21, connection between the other movable member and the other support block 21 may be removed.

[0038] Meanwhile, as the degree of protrusion or retraction of the rod 31a of the cylinder 31 is artificially adjusted, both the movable members 30 may be disconnected from the support blocks 21.

[0039] Therefore, as both the movable members 30 are disconnected from the support blocks 21, the fairlead chain 110 may be freely moved in a longitudinal direction in the body 10 and the arm 20. Accordingly, it is possible to facilitate an initial connecting work of the fairlead chain 110 to the fairlead chain stopper A for an offshore structure mooring system according to the present disclosure.

[0040] At this point, the case in which both the movable members 30 are disconnected from the support blocks 21, as described above, is artificially performed only in special situations such as the initial connecting of the fairlead chain 110 to the fairlead chain stopper A for an offshore structure mooring system according to the present disclosure, but in general situations, at least one of both the movable members 30 are in contact with at least one of the support blocks 21.

[0041] The wireless controller 40 of the present disclosure is arranged at one of the body and arm 10 and 20 to control operation of the movable members 30 in response to a remote signal input from the outside space.

[0042] At this point, the wireless controller 40 controls operation of the movable members 30, and controls protrusion or retraction of the rod 31a of the cylinder 31 in response to a remote signal. Therefore, as one of both the movable members 30 is brought into contact with one of the support blocks 21 by protrusion or retraction of the rod 31a of the cylinder 31, a forward or rearward movement of the fairlead chain 110 may be controlled.

[0043] Meanwhile, the wireless controller 40 may use any known structures and methods as long as it can control the operation of the movable members 30 in response to a remote signal input from a remote location, for example, from a communication device of the ship 200 on the water, and detailed description of the wireless controller 40 will be omitted.

[0044] Furthermore, additionally, the fairlead chain stopper A for an offshore structure mooring system according to the present disclosure may include a pulling member (without reference numeral) connected to the movable members 30.

[0045] Therefore, since the movable members 30 may rotate by pulling the pulling member in abnormal situations of the wireless controller 40, one of both the movable members 30 may be brought into contact with one of the support blocks 21.

[0046] At this point, the pulling member may use any known shapes and types as long as it can pull the movable members 30, for example, the pulling member may be a rope.

[0047]

[0048] The fairlead chain stopper A an offshore structure mooring system according to the present disclosure may adjust the mooring tension of the offshore structure S by bidirectional movements of the fairlead chain 110. The above configuration will be described in detail as follows.

[0049] As shown in FIG. 2, the body 10 of the present disclosure is installed at the offshore structure S exposed on the water, and as the fairlead chain 110 is inserted into the body 10 a part of the fairlead chain 110 is supported by the body 10 and exposed above the water.

[0050] At this point, the body 10 includes the wheel 11 rotating forwards and reversely in response to a moving direction of the fairlead chain 110, and the wheel 11 includes the support member lib arranged between the circular support plates 11a, which are arranged on left and right with a gap therebetween and face each other, and having the protruding parts formed radially along the circumference of the central portion. The wheel 11 may allow the fairlead chain 110 to be stably moved forwards or rearwards, and particularly as at least one protruding part of the support member lib is caught by the fairlead chain 110, it is possible to prevent the fairlead chain 110 from slipping and twisting at the body 10.

[0051] Furthermore, the arm 20 is connected to the body 10, and the fairlead chain 110 extending from the body 10 is inserted into the arm 20 thus a part of the fairlead chain 110 extending into the water may be supported by the arm 20.

[0052] At this point, when the fairlead chain 110 supported by the body 10 and the arm 20 is freely moved in the forward or rearward direction, i.e., the longitudinal direction, the fairlead chain 110 may be separated from the body 10 and the arm 20, thereby causing unintentional separation thereof.

[0053] However, the present disclosure includes the movable members 30 arranged at the arm 20, and the movable members 30 are brought into contact with the support blocks 21 provided at the arm 20 to partially block the openings formed in the support blocks 21, so that movement of the fairlead chain 110 passing through the openings may be controlled and thus unintentional separation of the fairlead chain 110 can be prevented.

[0054] However, when movement control of the fairlead chain 110 by the movable members 30 is limited to one direction, e.g., in a direction from the arm 20 to the body 10, there may be difficulty in controlling mooring tension of the offshore structure S.

[0055] However, the pair of movable members 30 of the present disclosure is provided at the arm 20 and arranged at the front and the rear with a gap therebetween, and the pair of support blocks 21 of the arm 20 is also provided and is arranged at the front and the rear with a gap therebetween. As one of the movable members 30 is brought into contact with one of the support blocks 21, as shown in FIG. 3, movement of the fairlead chain 110 in one direction, e.g., a direction from the arm 20 to the body 10 may be controlled, and furthermore, as the other of the movable members 30 is brought into contact with the other of the support blocks 21, as shown in FIG. 4, movement of the fairlead chain 110 in the other direction, e.g., in a direction from the body 10 to the arm 20 may be controlled. As a result, the movable members 30 may allow control of bi-directional movements of the fairlead chain 110 to be performed so that adjustment of mooring tension of the offshore structure S in normal times can be efficiently performed, and furthermore, as the fairlead chain 110 may be rapidly withdrawn from the body 10 and the arm 20 by pulling one end of the fairlead chain 110 at one side where the fairlead chain extends outwards from the body 10 and the arm 20 longer than another side, i.e., disconnection of the fairlead chain 110 can be simply performed. Accordingly, the offshore structure S can be rapidly relocated in emergency situations such as typhoons.

[0056] At this point, there may be difficulty in controlling the operation of the movable members 30.

[0057] However, the present disclosure includes the wireless controller 40 that controls the operation of the movable members 30 in response to a remote signal input from the outside space, so that the operation of the movable members 30 is controlled by the wireless controller 40 thereby reducing difficulty of controlling the operation of the movable members 30.

[0058] At this point, the wireless controller 40 controls the operation of the movable members 30, and the wireless controller 40 controls the protrusion or retraction of the rod 31a of the cylinder 31 in response to the remote signal, and the movable members 30 connected to each other via the link 32 rotate forwards and reversely with protrusion or retraction of the rod 31a of the cylinder 31. Accordingly, one of both the movable members 30 may be brought into simple contact with one of the support blocks 21 to reduce the difficulty of controlling the operation of the movable members 30.

[0059] Meanwhile, the fairlead chain stopper A for the offshore structure mooring system according to the present disclosure may control bi-directional movements of the fairlead chain 110 even in abnormal situations of the wireless controller 40.

[0060] In other words, the present disclosure may include the pulling member connected to the movable members 30, so that in abnormal situations of the wireless controller 40, the movable members 30 connected to each other via the link 32 may rotate by pulling the pulling member. Therefore, one of both the movable members 30 may be brought into contact with one of the support blocks 21 thereby controlling bidirectional movements of the fairlead chain 110.

[0061]

[0062] The present disclosure described above is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment and those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions, and substitutions are poss ible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure as disclosed in the accompanying claims, and the modifications, additions, and substitutions are within the scope of the protection of the patent right of the present disclosure that is defined by description of the claims.

[0063]

[0064] [Description of Reference numerals]

[0065] 10 : body 11 : wheel

[0066] 11a : circular support plates lib : support member

[0067] 12 : shaft 20 : arm

[0068] 21 : support block 22 : shaft

[0069] 30 : movable member 31 : cylinder

[0070] 31a : rod 32 : link

[0071] 40 : wireless controller 100 : mooring system

[0072] 110 : fairlead chain 120 : wire rope

[0073] 130 : submersible mooring pulley 140 : mooring chain

[0074] 150 : anchor 200 : ship

[0075] A : fairlead chain stopper 5 S : offshore structure Industrial Applicability

[0076] The present disclosure is configured to control bi-directional movements of the fairlead chain extending from 10 the offshore structure to the water to facilitate mooring tension adjustment of the offshore structure in normal time and to facilitate connection and disconnection of the fairlead chain in emergency situations. Therefore, the present disclosure has the industrial applicability in relation to 15 manufacturing of the fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system.

Claims

05 01 261. A fairlead chain stopper for an offshore structure mooring system, the fairlead chain stopper comprising:5 a fairlead chain;a body provided at an offshore structure and supporting a part of the fairlead chain;an arm connected to the body to extend in an oblique direction and supporting another part of the fairlead chain 10 that extends from the body, and comprising a pair of support blocks provided between opposite side surfaces thereof and arranged at a front portion and a rear portion of the arm with a gap therebetween, the pair of support blocks having respective inclined surfaces;15 a pair of movable members rotatably provided at the armand arranged at the front and the rear with a gap therebetween, wherein as the movable members rotate forwards or reversely within a predetermined angle range by protrusion or retraction of a rod of a cylinder, one or both of the movable members 20 are brought into contact with an inclined surface of one of the support blocks to control a forward or rearward movement of the fairlead chain; anda wireless controller arranged at one of the body and arm and configured to control operation of the movable members 25 in response to a remote signal input from an outside location.05 01 262. The fairlead chain stopper of claim 1, wherein the body comprises a wheel rotated forwards and reversely according to movement directions of the fairlead chain.

53. The fairlead chain stopper of claim 2, wherein the wheel comprises a support member arranged between circular support plates facing each other and spaced apart from each other, the support member comprising protruding parts formed 10 radially along a circumference of a center portion.

4. The fairlead chain stopper of claim 1, wherein the movable members comprise a link rotatably connected to both the movable members while being located therebetween.

155. The fairlead chain stopper of claim 1, wherein the wireless controller is configured to control operation of the movable members, and to control protrusion or retraction of the rod of the cylinder according to the remote signal.

206. The fairlead chain stopper of claim 1, further comprising:a pulling member connected to both the movable members.

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