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:
Oct. 20, 1998
Filed:
Nov. 14, 1997
L Terry Boatman, Houston, TX (US);
Ron L Kelm, Houston, TX (US);
Brent A Salyer, Cypress, TX (US);
Jerry L McCollum, Hempstead, TX (US);
Charles O Etheridge, Spring, TX (US);
FMC Corporation, Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
A riser buoy (36) supports a plurality of risers (19) and is releasably docked within a generally cylindrical turret (20) of a floating storage vessel (10) at a location above the sea level (12) to provide dry access to quick disconnect/connect mating couplings (32, 40) on the turret (20) and riser buoy (36). A weight (58) connected by anchor chain (44) to riser buoy (36) is connected at its upper end to a retrieval line (60) which is controlled by a winch (62). Riser buoy (36) upon disconnection from vessel (10) is positioned at a predetermined submerged water depth below tanker traffic and high wave loads. Riser buoy (36) is docked within turret (20) independently of positioning means such as anchor chains (17) between the sea bed and the turret, or a thrusting positioning system including thrusters (16) of the vessel.