Buffer members, support ropes, floating structures

Abstract

The present invention aims to provide a novel buffering member for elastically buffering tensile loads in the longitudinal direction, a novel support rope equipped with the buffering member, and a novel floating structure moored by the support rope. [Solution] As a buffering member 1 for elastically cushioning tensile loads in the longitudinal direction, a connecting body is constructed in which a ring 2, formed by spirally winding a resin wire 20 along the circumferential direction of a virtual circle (VC), is connected by a link member 3, and the floating body 101 is moored using a support rope 10 equipped with this buffering member 1.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a buffer member for elastically buffering a tensile load in the longitudinal direction, a support cable body provided with the buffer member, and a floating structure moored by the support cable body.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, wind power generation that utilizes natural wind for power generation has attracted attention from the perspectives of environmental protection and effective utilization of natural energy. As wind power generation equipment for this wind power generation, there are onshore installed types (onshore wind power generation equipment) and offshore installed types (offshore wind power generation equipment). In Japan, which is surrounded by the sea on all sides, offshore wind power generation equipment, which has advantages such as fewer installation restrictions, is particularly suitable, especially floating-type offshore wind power generation equipment that constructs power generation equipment on a floating body floating on the sea. Therefore, conventionally, many proposals have been made regarding the floating structure that serves as the base of offshore wind power generation equipment (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] As this floating structure, there are various structures such as a pontoon-type floating body that floats the floating body on the water surface, a semi-submersible type that floats the floating body in a state of being submerged underwater, or a spar type that floats in a standing state like a fishing float. In any structure, it is necessary to take mooring means to resist waves, wind, tidal currents, etc.

[0005] Here, as a means of mooring, as shown in Figure 10, a common method is to attach one end of a mooring rope 11, which consists of a wire rope (W) or a chain (C), to the floating body 101, and to attach the other end of the mooring rope 11 to an anchor 102 fixed to the seabed.

[0006] However, sudden waves or winds can instantaneously place a load greater than expected on the mooring rope 11, sometimes causing cracks or other damage to the part of the floating body 101 where one end of the mooring rope 11 is attached or to the anchor 102.

[0007] The present invention was developed in view of the above-mentioned technical problems, and aims to provide a novel buffering member for elastically buffering tensile loads in the longitudinal direction, a novel support rope equipped with the buffering member, and a novel floating structure moored by the support rope. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The first buffer member of the present invention, which solves the aforementioned technical problems, is a buffer member for elastically buffering a tensile load in the longitudinal direction, comprising a plurality of ring bodies and link members connecting adjacent ring bodies, characterized in that a resin wire is wound spirally around the ring body along the circumferential direction of a virtual circle (hereinafter referred to as the "buffer member of the present invention").

[0009] In the buffer member of the present invention, a preferred embodiment is one in which ring bodies with a wire twist direction of S and ring bodies with a wire twist direction of Z are alternately connected.

[0010] In the buffer member of the present invention, a preferred embodiment is one in which the arcs facing each other across the center of the ring body are fixed in a state in which they are pushed toward the center.

[0011] The support cable of the present invention, which solves the aforementioned technical problems, is characterized by comprising the cushioning member of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "support cable of the present invention").

[0012] The floating structure of the present invention, which solves the aforementioned technical problems, is characterized in that the floating body is moored by the support rope of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "the floating structure of the present invention"). [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to the present invention, tensile loads in the longitudinal direction can be elastically buffered. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0014] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a front view showing the buffer member of the present invention according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 2] Figures 2(a) to (e) are front views showing the construction of the ring-shaped body that constitutes the buffer member of the present invention. [Figure 3] Figure 3 shows a front view (a) and a cross-sectional view (b) of the ring body. [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows a perspective view (a) and a side view (b) of the link members for constructing the buffer member of the present invention. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a front view showing how the cushioning member of the present invention undergoes elastic deformation. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is a schematic front view showing a floating structure of the present invention constructed by a support rope of the present invention equipped with the buffer member of the present invention. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a front view showing the buffer member of the present invention according to Embodiment 2. [Figure 8] Figures 8(a) to 8(c) are front views showing the construction of the ring-shaped body that constitutes the buffer member of the present invention. [Figure 9] Figure 9 is a schematic front view showing a floating structure of the present invention constructed by a support rope of the present invention equipped with the buffer member of the present invention. [Figure 10] Figure 10 is a schematic front view showing a conventional offshore wind power generation facility. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0015] Hereinafter, embodiments for implementing the present invention will be described based on the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

[0016] [Embodiment 1] <The buffer member 1 of the present invention> Fig. 1 shows the buffer member 1 of the present invention according to Embodiment 1. The buffer member 1 of the present invention includes a "ring body (2)" and a "link member (3)".

[0017] - Ring body 2 - As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the ring body 2 is formed by winding a resin wire 20 spirally along the circumferential direction of a virtual circle (VC). In this embodiment, an aramid fiber rope (manufactured by Tokyo Seiren Co., Ltd., product name: Ace Line T108B-TB) is used as the wire 20, and the ring body 2 is formed by winding it spirally along the circumferential direction of the virtual circle (VC). Also, the end of the wire 20 is fixed with an adhesive. Further, in this embodiment, for the ring body 2, a plurality of ring bodies (2S) with the S twist direction of the wire 20 and a plurality of ring bodies (2Z) with the Z twist direction of the wire 20 are prepared respectively.

[0018] - Link member 3 - The link member 3 plays a role of connecting adjacent ring bodies 2. As shown in Fig. 4, in this embodiment, an iron link member 3 is used, which includes a bottom plate 31, a pair of support columns 32 fixed at intervals on the bottom plate 31, and a top plate 33 detachably attached to the upper end of each support column 32. This link member 3 is configured such that after the ring body 2 is respectively wound around each of the pair of support columns 32 with the upper end exposed by removing the top plate 33 of one link member 3, the adjacent ring bodies 2 are connected by attaching the top plate 33. Note that a round-bottomed groove 34 is provided in the middle of the support column 32 to constrict it, and when a tensile load is applied to the ring body 2 wound around the support column 32, the ring body 2 enters the groove 34 and contacts the bottom of the groove 34.

[0019] The buffer member 1 of the present invention is constructed by sequentially connecting adjacent ring bodies 2 via link members 3 (see Figure 1). In this embodiment, the buffer member 1 of the present invention is constructed by alternately connecting S-twisted ring bodies (2S) and Z-twisted ring bodies (2Z).

[0020] The buffer member 1 of the present invention, having the above configuration, has the property of elastically deforming ring bodies 2. As shown in Figure 5, when a tensile load is applied in the longitudinal direction, it stretches in the tensile direction and can elastically buffer the applied load. It has been confirmed that the elastic deformation of the ring bodies 2 constituting the buffer member 1 of the present invention occurs with a load of less than 10% of the standard breaking load. Furthermore, when the buffer member 1 of the present invention was subjected to a load of 40% of the standard breaking load and then released from the load, it was confirmed that each ring body 2 recovered to almost the same annular shape.

[0021] <Support rope 10 of the present invention, floating structure 100 of the present invention> Figure 6 shows the floating structure 100 of the present invention, in which a floating body 101 is moored by a support rope 10 of the present invention equipped with the buffer member 1 of the present invention. In this embodiment, the support rope 10 of the present invention has a structure in which a wire rope (lifting rope (W)) is connected to one end via a link member 3, and a chain (C) is connected to the other end via a link member 3. The floating structure 100 of the present invention is designed in which a spar-type wind power generation facility, which serves as a floating body 101, is anchored to an anchor 102 fixed to the seabed by a plurality of support ropes 10 of the present invention.

[0022] In the floating structure 100 of the present invention having the above configuration, since the support rope 10 of the present invention is used as a mooring rope, even if a load exceeding expectations is instantaneously applied to the support rope 10 of the present invention due to the influence of sudden waves or wind, the load applied can be elastically buffered by the elastic deformation of the buffer member 1 of the present invention. This effectively prevents damage such as cracks from occurring in the floating body 101 and anchor 102.

[0023] Incidentally, in this embodiment, an aramid fiber rope is used for the wire material 20 used to construct the ring body 2, but the material and structure of the wire material 20 are not particularly limited as long as it can be wound spirally along the circumferential direction of the virtual circle (VC).

[0024] Examples of resins used as the material for the wire 20 include, in the case of thermoplastic resins, general-purpose plastics such as polyethylene, polypropylene, ABS resin, polyvinyl chloride, and methacrylic resin, as well as general-purpose engineering resins such as nylon / polyamide, polyacetal, polycarbonate, polybutylene terephthalate, and modified polyphenylene ether, or super engineering resins such as polysulfone, polyether sulfone, polyphenylene sulfide, and polyarate. In the case of thermosetting resins, examples include phenolic resin, epoxy resin, polyurethane resin, melamine resin, and unsaturated polyester resin. In the present invention, one or more resins selected from these resins can be used as the material.

[0025] Furthermore, the structure of the wire 20 may be a single strand of resin, a twisted yarn made by twisting multiple resin fibers together, or an untwisted yarn. Also, the wire 20 may be hollow or have a coating or protective film applied to its surface.

[0026] It has been confirmed that by appropriately selecting the resin and structure that make up the wire material 20, properties such as strength, water resistance, weather resistance, or low friction, which are due to the properties of the resin, can be appropriately imparted to the ring body 2.

[0027] Furthermore, regarding the diameter (outer diameter) of the wire 20, it has been confirmed that increasing the diameter increases the strength, while decreasing the diameter tends to form a ring-shaped body 2 with a dense surface texture. However, since increasing the diameter of the wire 20 makes it difficult to spirally wind it along the circumferential direction of the virtual circle (VC), in this invention, it is preferable to select a wire 20 with an outer diameter of 30 mm or less (more preferably 1 to 20 mm).

[0028] In addition, although the ends of the wire 20 are fixed with adhesive in this embodiment, the means for treating the ends of the wire 20 are not particularly limited. The ends of the wire 20 can also be fixed by, for example, embedding them in the wound wire 20, or by heat sealing or tying. Depending on the elasticity of the wire 20, the ends may also be left untreated and cut.

[0029] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when constructing the buffer member 1 of the present invention, S-twisted rings 2 (2S) and Z-twisted rings 2 (2Z) are alternately connected. However, the rings 2 used to construct the buffer member 1 of the present invention may be either S-twisted or Z-twisted.

[0030] However, alternating the S-twisted ring 2(2S) and Z-twisted ring 2(2Z) has the advantage of making twisting caused by the twisting direction less likely to occur. Furthermore, it has been confirmed that even without alternating the S-twisted ring 2(2S) and Z-twisted ring 2(2Z), if approximately equal numbers of S-twisted ring 2(2S) and Z-twisted ring 2(2Z) are used and randomly connected to construct the buffer member 1 of the present invention, twisting caused by the twisting direction will hardly occur.

[0031] Furthermore, although the link member 3 in this embodiment has the shape shown in Figure 4, the shape of the link member 3 is not limited as long as it can connect adjacent ring bodies 2. For example, a shackle can be used as the link member 3.

[0032] In this embodiment, when a mechanism is adopted in which the ring body 2 is connected by looping it around the support column 32 of the link member 3, the load on the ring body 2 increases as the diameter of the support column 32 (or, if a groove 34 is provided in the support column 32, the diameter around the bottom of the groove 34 (r)) decreases. On the other hand, when the diameter of the support column 32 (or, if a groove 34 is provided in the support column 32, the diameter around the bottom of the groove 34 (r)) increases, the deformation (flattening) rate of the ring body 2 when a tensile load is applied decreases.

[0033] Therefore, it is preferable that the diameter (r) of the portion of the support column 32 in contact with the ring body 2 be at least twice the rope diameter (Φ) of the ring body 2, and at least one-quarter of the diameter (Y) of the ring body 2.

[0034] Furthermore, the support column 32 of the link member 3 may be structured to rotate around its axis, or a nonlinear elastic material such as rubber may be interposed in the part where the support column 32 of the link member 3 and the ring body 2 come into contact.

[0035] In addition, in this embodiment, as an example of the floating structure 100 of the present invention, a spar-type wind power generation facility, which serves as a floating body 101, is shown as being anchored to an anchor 102 fixed to the seabed via a plurality of support ropes 10 of the present invention. However, the floating body 101 is not limited to wind power generation facilities. Other examples of the floating body 101 include offshore solar power generation facilities and work vessels that require long-term mooring.

[0036] [Embodiment 2] <Inventive buffer member 1> Figure 7 shows the buffer member 1 of the present invention according to Embodiment 2. In this embodiment, the buffer member 1 of the present invention uses a ring body 2 in which opposing arcs are fixed in a state where they are pushed toward the center, and adjacent ring bodies 2 are connected in order via a link member 3.

[0037] In other words, the ring body 2 used in this embodiment is first constructed as an annular ring body 2 as shown in Figure 8(a), then deformed by pushing opposite arcs on either side of the center of the ring body 2 toward the center, as shown in Figure 8(b), and then fixed in this state using a fastener 4, as shown in Figure 8(c). Since annular eyes (2A, 2B) are formed at both ends of the ring body 2 with the fastener 4 in between, the buffer member 1 of the present invention according to this embodiment has a structure in which the eyes (2A, 2B) of adjacent ring bodies 2 are connected via a link member 3.

[0038] <Support rope 10 of the present invention, floating structure 100 of the present invention> Figure 9 shows a floating structure 100 of the present invention, in which a floating body 101 is moored by a support rope 10 of the present invention equipped with a buffer member 1 of the present invention. In this embodiment, the support rope 10 of the present invention has a structure in which a wire rope (lifting rope (W)) is connected to one end via a link member 3, and a chain (C) is connected to the other end via a link member 3. Furthermore, the floating structure 100 of the present invention is designed in which a spar-type wind power generation facility, which serves as a floating body 101, is anchored to an anchor 102 fixed to the seabed by multiple support ropes 10 of the present invention.

[0039] In the floating structure 100 of the present invention having the above configuration, since the support rope 10 of the present invention is used as a mooring rope, even if a load exceeding expectations is instantaneously applied to the support rope 10 of the present invention due to the influence of sudden waves or wind, the load applied can be elastically buffered by the elastic deformation of the buffer member 1 of the present invention. This effectively prevents damage such as cracks from occurring in the floating body 101 and anchor 102.

[0040] Furthermore, the buffer member 1, support rope 10, and floating structure 100 of the present invention according to this embodiment have the advantage of lower manufacturing costs because they use fewer link members 3 compared to Embodiment 1. The remaining aspects are the same as in Embodiment 1, and therefore, to avoid repetition, we will omit further explanation here.

[0041] Furthermore, the present invention can be implemented in various other forms without departing from its spirit or main features. Therefore, the embodiments described above are merely illustrative in all respects and should not be interpreted restrictively. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims, and the text of the specification is not restrictive. Moreover, any modifications or changes within the equivalent scope of the claims are all within the scope of the present invention. [Industrial applicability]

[0042] The present invention is suitably used as a means for mooring floating objects. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0043] 1. Cushioning member (Cushioning member of the present invention) 2 rings 20 wire rod 3 Link members 4 Fixtures 10. Support cord (Support cord of the present invention) 100 Floating structure (Floating structure of the present invention) 101 Floating body 102 Anchor

Claims

1. A cushioning member for elastically cushioning tensile loads in the longitudinal direction, Multiple ring bodies, A link member that connects adjacent ring bodies, It is equipped with, The buffer member is characterized in that the ring body is made of a resin wire that is spirally wound along the circumferential direction of a virtual circle.

2. In the cushioning member according to claim 1, A buffer member in which rings with S-twist wires and rings with Z-twist wires are alternately connected.

3. In the cushioning member according to claim 1, A buffer member in which opposing arcs, with the center of the ring in between, are fixed in a state where they are pushed toward the center.

4. A support cable characterized by comprising a cushioning member according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. A floating structure characterized in that a floating body is moored by a support rope as described in claim 4.

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