Adjustable Cable Carousel Layout for Heavy Umbilical Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing cable carousel systems for heavy-duty electric cables or umbilicals are costly and inefficient due to the time-consuming process of embarking and disembarking the cables during transportation, which includes significant idle time for ships and high labor costs.
Innovation Solution
The cable carousel system features adjustable shores and reinforcement beams in a star pattern, with a central connecting point and extendable horizontal beams, allowing for precise tailoring to cable dimensions and secure mounting, along with a modular design for easy assembly and disassembly, enabling efficient use of space during transport and robust handling of heavy cables.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the cable carousel is tailored to exact cable dimensions, then the transportation efficiency improves and idle time reduces, but the device complexity increases due to adjustable components
Solution Approach 1:
The cable carousel employs adjustable shores that can be positioned at different locations along the inner barrier, allowing the carousel dimensions to be dynamically adapted to match different cable lengths. This dynamic adjustability enables the carousel to be optimized for each specific cable being transported, improving transportation efficiency while managing device complexity through standardized adjustment mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The carousel structure is divided into modular components including the support grid, upstanding supports, and adjustable shores. This segmentation allows each component to be independently positioned or adjusted, enabling precise dimensioning of the carousel to match cable requirements without requiring a completely custom-built structure for each cable length.
2Strength
If the cable carousel is made robust for heavy-duty cables, then the strength increases, but the weight of the carousel increases
Solution Approach 1:
The carousel employs reinforcement beams in a star pattern concentrated at the central connecting point and key support locations, rather than uniformly distributing material throughout the entire structure. This local reinforcement provides the necessary strength for heavy-duty cables while minimizing the overall weight by avoiding unnecessary material in less critical areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The support grid and structural components are designed to utilize composite construction methods, combining different materials or structural forms (such as the combination of the support grid, upstanding supports, and reinforcement beams) to achieve high strength-to-weight ratio, enabling the carousel to handle heavy cables while maintaining reasonable weight for transportation.
3Manufacturing precision
If the cable carousel is customized for each cable, then the manufacturing precision improves, but the ease of manufacture decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The cable carousel is designed as a universal platform with standardized components (support grid, upstanding supports, shores) that can be configured for different cable dimensions. The adjustable shores and modular structure allow the same basic carousel design to serve multiple cable lengths and types, achieving manufacturing precision for each specific application while maintaining ease of manufacture through repeated use of standardized parts.
Data Source
AI summary
A cable carousel including a support grid and upstanding supports on the support grid that confine a region in which a heavy-duty electric cable or umbilical can be received and supported by the support grid. The upstanding supports are placeable on the support grid at preselected positions defining both an inner barrier and an outer barrier so as to tailor the cable carousel to a dimension between the inner and outer barriers to store a predetermined length of the electric cable or umbilical. The cable carousel may also include shores connecting the inner barrier to the support grid.