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:
Sep. 09, 2008
Filed:
May. 15, 2006
James R. Koon, Katy, TX (US);
Pieter G. Wybro, Katy, TX (US);
Robert M. Kipp, Fulshear, TX (US);
Modec International, Inc., Houston, TX (US);
Sea Engineering, Inc., Katy, TX (US);
Abstract
A tendon for mooring a tension leg platform having an uppermost pipe segment with a reduced diameter compared to at least one of the lower pipe segments. The tendon is watertight and sealed from the ocean environment, preferably filled with air at one atmosphere of pressure. One or more interior bulkheads may be included to divide the tendon into multiple compartments. The reduced outer diameter of the uppermost pipe segment provides reduced drag due to waves and currents and accommodates smaller tendon support buoys and vortex fairings, while the greater diameter of the lower pipe segment provides for increased tendon buoyancy.