DE2348340A1 - Oil rig escape chute assembly - inflates when extended from upper platform and is prevented from sliding sideways - Google Patents

Abstract

The chute (10) is particularly for evacuating offshore oil drilling platforms in the event of fire, and can be inflated so as to extend from a high platform (11) to a lower surface (12). Flexible guide members (18) are attached to opposite sides of an extensible portion of the chute, and fixed to supports mounted on the platform to either side of the chute. These members prevent the chute sliding sideways in the extended position. The chute can hinge on the platform on a horizontal axis, the supports being so positioned that the guide members attached to them are situated at points along the horizontal axis. Thus they resist sideways movement as the chute swings up and down.

Description

Dr.-lng. Wooden houses

Dipl.-Met Gehbach ■ /

Dipl.-π ο. i- '·;' V: cker

605 of == ϋ ^ £ .ν,: ■■; · .-: main

Herrnsiraße 37 Telephone 83 83 84

September 24, 1973 LS / F

The B.F. Goodrich Company Akron, Ohio (V.St.A.) 500 South Main Street

'Escape slide

The invention relates to an inflatable escape slide for rescuing the operating crew of an offshore vehicle Oil rig in case of fire or the like. and aims in particular the creation of a lateral force-absorbing retaining system that holds the slide in its The target position holds and protects it from wind forces and heavy seas. The escape slide is folded into a compact package and stowed away on the deck of the oil rig ready for use at any time. When a fire breaks out, she will unfolded from the deck and inflated when unfolded. The provision of the slide and the inflation process take place within seconds and it is therefore important to have the exact location of the slide both during

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of unfolding as well as when it reaches its full length is controlled and monitored.

One of the problems associated with such provision of slides is the high winds which the slide engages blow in one direction, twisting the chute and rendering it unusable. Another difficulty arises up when the slide hits the sea and the waves, which can be three to four meters high, and raise the slide and reduce. These difficulties are compounded by the fact that the slide can be over 22 meters long, since the Oil rig or its platform has a height of 15 meters or more above the water surface.

; The need to have a reliable evacuation slide for when

The creation of oil rigs used for oil exploration or oil production was evident in fires that resulted in gas explosions connected and where there was not enough time to rescue the crew. This led to the Workers not injured by the explosion descended from the platform of the oil rig from a height of 15 or more meters into the water jumped, and experience has shown that many injured and even died. Furthermore, a rescue option should also be provided be created for those people who are injured in an explosion and who have not been by

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the platform of the drilling rig could be removed.

According to the invention, the lateral movements of the The escape slide is caught with the help of guy ropes, on the one hand on the side η of the slide and on the other hand side-extending bars are attached to a plate on the deck of the platform in the area of the upper end of the slide is attached. There is an upper and a lower guy rope on each side of the slide or two guy straps that are connected to one another near the support rods. Through this construct

tion, the upper guy belt gives the slide a good i

Know lateral stability at the beginning of the inflation process and then the lower guy belt or the lower j

tension belts provide the necessary lateral stability for the full [

i inflated slide. The slide is at its upper end pivotally mounted to allow the upward and downward movements of your lower, on the water surface resting end can be compensated. The guy straps are connected to the support rods at points that lie in the pivot axis of the slide, about its oscillation characteristics balance.

During the inflation process, which only takes a few seconds, the slide and its parts are subject to considerable stress exposed. These burdens and the associated ones

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Vibrations are absorbed by the rods made of an elastic material or metal and the guy straps made of an elastic fabric. This elasticity of the laterally arranged guy belts also serves to absorb those forces _f which act on the fully inflated slide due to rough seas and strong winds. An inflatable raft can be attached to the slide and inflated at the same time as it or shortly afterwards ₀ It is attached to the lower end of the slide and is used to take people off the slide. The connection between the raft and the slide can be released quickly so that the people in the raft can row it away from the danger area of the burning oil drilling platform, for example.

The invention is explained in more detail below using an exemplary embodiment that is shown in the drawing. Show;

Fig. 1: a top view of an inflatable hot slide, ι from the upper platform of a Bohr

island extends to the surface of the water, being

j is fully inflated and parts have broken off;

! Fig.2: a side view of the escape slide according to Fig.1J

; with parts broken away; j

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Fig. 3: a view of the fully inflated escape slide according to Figures 1 and 2 from the front ·;

4: a view of the escape slide in the storage container before inflating;

Fig. 5; a side view of the escape slide in partial inflated state, whereby the mode of action of the upper spare belts becomes clear;

FIG. 6: a sectional view through the inflated escape slide along the line VI-VI in FIG. 2;

7i shows a sectional view through the inflated

Emergency slide along the line VII-VII in Fig.2 and

Fig.8: a partial view on a larger scale of the Attachment of the inflated escape slide to a base plate along the line VIII-VIII in j

Fig.3ι with parts also broken away.

In Figures 1 to 3, a multiple tube or Multiple tube existing inflatable escape slide 10 reproduced in the inflated state in such a position, in which it is used to rescue the operating team from platform 11 of an oil drilling platform. At the bottom of the

Emergency slide 10 is detachably connected to it with an inflatable raft, that takes over the evacuees from the slide and

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Should be carried to a safe place. The platform 11 has a base or cover plate 13 made of sheet steel or a other suitable material, which extends outward at the edge of the platform and a rounded lip 14 forms over which the upper end of the escape slide 10 is able to hang. The base or cover plate 13 has an obliquely inclined piece 15 which extends from the lip-shaped part 14 extends downward and toward the platform 11 or inwardly from the edge to form a shoulder under the plate 13. The shoulder takes a between a lower support wall 17 of the plate 13 and the upper part of the escape slide 10 Hose or tube 16, with the help of which the slide is brought into its correct position.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 to 3, flexible guide parts such as guy straps 18 are on the sides of the

ι Emergency slide attached, the guy belts 18 are on support parts !!

attached, which are designed as three-legged arms 19 and extend sideways from the plate 13 to the outside,

so that lateral displacements or movements of the escape slide 10 are prevented. j

-j.
Because the guy straps on one side

the escape slide are designed identically to the belts i
on the other side of the slide, the following applies ^!

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detailed description only on the straps on one side of the slide. The guy belts 18 can be made of an elastic! flexible material such as nylon, which is able to absorb shocks and sideways movements to catch elastic «The guy belts 18 include a

upper part or an upper guy belt 22, which with its upper end 23 at the tip 24 of the boom or tripod; 19 is attached with the help of a hook or a Q & se, | The lower end 25 of the upper guy belt 22 is attached to the side of the escape slide 10. The attachment to the The escape slide can be opened with the help of a hook on a D-ring.

follow attached to the side of the escape slide, or j

it can, as can be seen from Fig.2, two D-mounting rings on two tubular or hose-shaped parts of the emergency slide 10 and to the lower end 25 of the upper guy belt 22 with the aid of two connecting belts 27 be connected, which are attached to the upper guy belt 22 to form a Y-shaped connection. The liaison, on which the upper guy belt 22 is attached to the side of the escape slide 10 is preferably located in the middle between the two ends of the escape slide.

The guy belt 18 also has a lower part 28, the upper end 29 of which with the upper belt part 22 on one

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Point is connected, which is between the upper end 23 and the lower end 25 of the upper Gurtte.llos 22. The lower Belt part 28 is with its lower end 31 on the side of the Hot slide 10 fastened at a point which is close to its pivotable end »The fastening is carried out with the aid from belts 32 to D-rings 33, which are attached to the pipe or tubular. Parts of the escape slide are located.

The upper end of the escape slide 10 is attached to the base or cover plate 13 with the aid of a rod 34 which is fastened directly to the plate 13 and extends through a loop 35 which is formed from the material of the slide. The loop or sling 35 hangs over the lip 14 so that there is a rotatable connection between the platform and the slide, the axis of rotation extending essentially along the line denoted by XX in FIGS »The articulated attachment is necessary because the lower end of the escape slide rests on the surface of the water, where waves of 10 or 12 feet high can be and accordingly the free; Move the end of the slide up and down. Each boom or each tripod 19 has rods 36, 37 and 38 which extend from the tip 24 forth at the sides to the plate i 13, where they are _(welded to it, for example. Struts 39 may be between the bars 36, 37 and \

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38 are located to give the tripod 19 the desired strength j

to rent. The tripods 19 are attached so that: its tip 24, to which the upper guy belt 22 or 23 is attached, lies in the axis of rotation X-X, so that the ab- ' tension belts 18 for oscillating or rotating movements of the emergency!

i slide around the axis of the lateral movement an equal to j

to oppose lasting great resistance. Preferably! is the tip 24 of the tripod 19 in one ^; such a distance from the side of the escape slide that is at least

l corresponds to one fifth of the height of the platform above the water level 40 when the desired stability "is achieved
target.

As can be seen from FIGS. 6 and 7, the cloth has
or an existing escape slide 10 in the form of a fabric
Multiple hose and is covered with an elastomeric coating,. for example rubber, which makes them airtight.
Several interior transverse walls 42 made of cloth can
be provided so that you can get the desired cross-sectional shape
obtained, which in the present case is X-shaped, with
there is a groove at the top of the X-shape through which
a slide 43 is created. A special cloth insert or a lining 44 can be provided to the
Knock out slideway 43. The chuck 44 has preferential

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wise an elastoraeren or rubber-like cover with the help of which achieves an essentially unchangeable coefficient of friction for wet and dry conditions will. As can also be seen from Figure 2, a curved piece is built into the lower end of the slide 10, so that the users are slowed down before they get to the raft 12. A material with an extremely high Coefficient of friction is used on the curved piece to form the surface 45 on the chuck 44, in order to bring about an additional deceleration and to achieve that the user can control the raft 12 can enter. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, a stiffener consisting of inflatable support members 46 and 47 is provided mounted in the bottom of the X-shaped structure located groove and a cloth or the like. Existing tension band 48 increases the stiffness of the escape slide 10 and every deflection under heavy load arises.

To inflate the escape slide 10, gaseous nitrogen is used, which is in three tank containers 49 under one Pressure of 2000 pounds per square inch. The tanks are equipped with a fast acting ball valve, this via a pressure regulator with six air suction pumps connected, which are located in the wall of the escape slide 10 «When the valve is opened, the under

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High pressure air flowing through the suction pumps creates a low pressure level in the pump chambers and leads to that Ambient air is sucked into the inflatable escape slide 10. Close several spear flaps in each air intake device, when the filling is finished to prevent air from escaping from the evacuation slide.

According to FIG. 4, the hot slide 10 and the raft 12 are shown in the empty state and wrapped into a compact unit in a plastic cover part 52 reinforced with fiberglass, the upper guy belt 22 leading into the cover part, but with the tip 24 of the tripod 19 is connected _o Under the support wall 17 of the plate 13 is another area used for supporting, in which a network 53 consisting of cables and used to accommodate large loads is arranged between the platform 11 and a component 54 of the platform extending in the horizontal direction is suspended to prevent |

the slide moves under the platform when it inflates. I.

The cover part 52 is attached to the plate 13 with the aid of a device attached, which allows an automatic φ release or removal of the cover part from the slide in a suitable manner, when this is unfolded over the lip-shaped part 14 of the plate 13.

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According to Figure 5, the slide 10 is partially in a inflated state, it being clear that the upper guy belt 22 is an effective guide for the slide forms and holds them in the desired position or lateral orientation. The lower strap piece 28 is in this case not tensioned and has no special function. It is also clear that the raft 12 is not inflated is. To fill up the raft 12, gaseous nitrogen or air, which is in a special, on the raft, is used self-attached tank container is located. The gas is kept in the container with the help of an automatic valve control system. When the valve is activated or responds, the gas flows through the two air suction pumps, which are located in the wall of the inflatable raft 12 are located. There is an air intake device in each of the two raft chambers 55 and 56 arranged. By using a check valve in In each air duct, the two chambers 55 and 56 of the raft become independent of one another in the inflated state held so that damage to one of the two chambers after completion of the filling process does not result in a Emptying both chambers leads. The raft is filled automatically with the help of a rip cord attached to the upper end of the escape slide 10 is attached in such a way that by the weight of the raft when the slide falls down the pull cord suddenly releases from platform 11, where-

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inflated by the raft while it is still falling down. The degree of filling of the raft 12 is almost 9050 when it hits the surface of the water and is likely to be fully reached before the first user of the slide reaches the raft. To connect A part 57 serves between the raft 12 and the slide 10, which can be released quickly and easily, so that the After the crew to be rescued has been picked up, the raft can be paddled away from the slide.

With the help of the measures according to the invention, the Inflate the emergency slide 10 within almost 10 seconds and turn the slide and platform 11 into a usable one Bring location. This can happen even when strong winds are blowing and the sea is open because the guy straps 18 and tripods 19 are provided in such an arrangement that lateral drifting of the slide 10 is effective is prevented. The rods 36, 37 and 38 of the tripods consist of an elastic steel and this, together with the elasticity of the guy straps 18, leads to the fact that lateral forces acting on the slide 10 are alleviated and thereby cracks and damage to the slide let prevent. The arrangement of the attachment point for the upper guy straps 22 and the tripods 19 on the

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The tip 24 lying in the pivot axis X-X allows an up and down movement caused by the action of the waves the slide closed. Furthermore, the escape slide does not require any valuable space on the platform 11 and does not interfere with it normal operation on the rig. She is immediately ready to help the operating crew of the oil rig in the event of a problem in an explosion or in the event of a fire. It should be particularly emphasized that injured people Being able to use the escape slide without being exposed to excessive dangers and thereby it is possible, not only to save those survivors who are in good physical shape, but also the injured " Although the preferred embodiment described on an escape slide for an oil rig for the extraction of Petroleum, it is understood that this invention is not limited to this one application, but also in other areas, such as ships, airplanes and other elevated workplaces can be used where there is a risk of fire, explosion or other accidents that may result in it Require that a facility is in place to help those in that area within seconds Acting to be saved.

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Claims (1)

Expectations: Inflatable escape slide to bridge the distance from an elevated platform to a lower one lying. Surface, characterized by flexible guide parts (18,22,23,28) on opposite sides an expandable part of the slide is attached and attached to support parts that are attached to the platform (11) arranged at laterally spaced locations on opposite sides of the slide (10) are, whereby the guide parts counteract lateral movements or displacements of the slide when the Slide is designed. 2. Escape slide according to claim 1, characterized in that it is suspended from the platform (11) to carry out oscillating movements about a substantially horizontal axis and that the support parts are arranged such that the guide parts can be fastened at locations where they lie in the horizontal axis so that they apply sufficient reaction forces to the lateral displacements of the slide during its oscillating movements around said axis. 609815/0108 3. Emergency slide according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the parts used for guiding one comprises a single upper part which is located between one of the support parts and the slide and that he comprises a lower portion that attaches to the chute at a location on the other side of the upper portion from the platform and that the upper part is connected at a point that is at a distance located from the ends of the upper part, causing the upper part to have the lateral dislocations at the beginning of the Laying out the slide offers resistance and that the lower part of the lateral shifts when further laying out the slide also opposes resistance. 4. Emergency slide according to claim 3, characterized in that the upper part of the device used for guiding attached to the slide at a position near the midpoint between the ends of the slide j and that the lower part of the guiding device is attached to the slide in one place; ι that lies next to its free, oscillatable end !. 5. Emergency slide according to claim 1, characterized in that | the guide parts made of an elastic material be j i - 3 509815/0108 stand to bumps when inflating and when laying out the To catch the slide and to counteract the lateral movements in an elastic way. 6. Emergency slide according to claim 1, characterized in that that said laterally spaced locations on opposite sides of the Slide lie and are arranged at such a distance from the slide that is not less than ! a fifth of the height, the platform above the lower ; Reference area. 7. Emergency slide according to claim 1, characterized in that '. in that the support members comprise rods which are attached to the platform in the vicinity of the slide and which extend laterally from the slide to said spaced-apart locations. 8. Emergency slide according to claim 7, characterized in that the rods form a tripod with a tip, that their ends are connected to said guide parts or with guy straps and that their other ends are attached to the platform. 609815/0108 9. Emergency slide according to claim 2, characterized in that the supporting parts comprise rods which are attached to the platform in the vicinity of the slide and which extend to the sides from the slide to places which are laterally spaced from one another and lie in a horizontally extending axis where the guide members are attached to the rods. 10. Emergency slide according to claim 9 »characterized in that the rods are made of an elastic material, to absorb shocks when inflating and laying out the slide and to avoid lateral displacements to absorb elastically. 509815/0108 Blank page