Movable Floating Moorage With Flexible Line Tensioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing movable floating moorages face issues with rigidity in water movement adaptation and jamming due to rigid connections, and require significant investment for installation on existing systems, leading to inefficiencies in mooring space utilization.
Innovation Solution
The floating booms are connected to fixed supports for free movement in all directions perpendicular to the main direction, using a system of lines and winches that allow for independent movement and tensioning, preventing jamming and allowing for easy integration with existing moorages without heavy investment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If floating booms are connected to rigid elongate members for controlled movement, then movement control is improved, but adaptability to water surface movements deteriorates and jamming occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces rigid elongate members with flexible lines (cables, chains, or ropes) that connect the floating booms to fixed anchorages. These flexible lines allow the booms to move freely with water surface movements while still enabling controlled positioning when tensioned by winches, thus resolving the contradiction between movement control and adaptability to water movements.
2Ease of operation
If multiple access channels are provided for ship maneuvering, then ship access is improved, but mooring surface area deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the floating booms movable rather than fixed, allowing them to be dynamically repositioned. When access channels are needed, winches relax the flexible lines to allow booms to move apart; when mooring capacity is prioritized, winches tension the lines to bring booms together. This dynamic configuration eliminates the need for permanent access channels, resolving the contradiction between ship access and mooring surface area.
3Stability of the object's composition
If floating booms are permanently secured for stability, then structural stability is improved, but flexibility in reconfiguration deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces flexible lines as intermediaries between the floating booms and fixed anchorages. These lines provide continuous connection and stability while allowing the booms to be repositioned by winches that tension or relax the lines. This intermediary system enables both structural stability and flexible reconfiguration, resolving the contradiction between these two requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
Movable floating moorage including a set of n parallel floating booms (5), each comprising a main pontoon (6) and secondary pontoons (7,8) extending in a transverse direction. Some of the secondary pontoons are in register with one another in two adjacent booms and are adapted to bear on one another in the transverse direction. The moorage includes two series of n+1 lines (14) actuated by winches (13) and including, for each boom, two lines extending from this boom in two opposite ways in the transverse direction and connected respectively, either to an adjacent floating boom, or to a fixed anchorage. The booms are connected together and to any fixed support solely by these two series of lines.