The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 05, 1998
Filed:
May. 10, 1996
Pierre C Delago, Afton, MN (US);
Other;
Abstract
A radial roller assembly for passively providing radial support to a cylindrical turret to resist horizontal forces. The turret is moored to the sea bottom for rotation of a vessel around the turret, where the vessel includes a circumturret passing through the vessel and surrounding the turret. The radial roller assembly comprises an outer housing, which is connected to the circumturret and an inner support carriage, which is located within the outer housing. The inner support carriage has a wheel support assembly for supporting a wheel which has its outer bearing surface in contact with a circular radial support rail attached to the turret. There is a bearing structure interposed between the outer housing and the inner support carriage for slidably connecting the inner support carriage and the outer housing. The radial roller assembly further comprises a guide shaft, which is connected to the circumturret so that the guide shaft can be tilted slightly. The second end of the guide shaft is slidably connected to the inner support carriage. A plurality of springs having a bore for slidably receiving the guide shaft are placed on the guide shaft. The springs are located within the inner support carriage and the wheel support assembly.