RU2459905C2 - Shoe for support pillar of self-lifting platform - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: construction.

SUBSTANCE: shoe comprises a body and a unit of shoe attachment to a support pillar. It has zero or positive buoyancy and is arranged as capable of changing zero or positive buoyancy to buoyancy of a low negative value. The shoe body comprises a hole for stretching of a support pillar, besides, the specified hole is arranged in the centre of the shoe and comprises vertical guide slots for interaction with racks of the support pillar. The unit of shoe attachment to the support pillar comprises two stops, every of which is equipped with a guide sleeve placed in a body, a sliding block installed in the guide sleeve, and a manual drive to move the block in the guide sleeve.

EFFECT: simplified assembly of a shoe to a pillar.

11 cl, 5 dwg

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to hydraulic structures, in particular to a shoe for a support column of a self-lifting platform.

State of the art

To ensure the construction of various offshore hydraulic structures, marine self-lifting platforms (with an all-welded hull or with a hull of modular pontoons), installed on supporting columns using, for example, hydraulic lifts, have been widely used.

Platforms can be installed both on dense (crushed stone, gravel, coarse sand, etc.), and on weak (fine sand, etc.) soils. On dense soils, columns are usually used without shoes due to insignificant penetration of the columns into such soil under the influence of the platform's own weight. On weak soils, in order to prevent significant deepening of the columns, the latter are used with special shoes having a larger supporting surface compared to the end area of the supporting column.

Known removable shoe for the support column, described in patent document RU 2133794 C1, comprising a housing and a unit for attaching the shoe to the support column. The shoe body is made in the form of an all-welded structure, the mass of the shoe can reach 10 tons or more.

The shoe is attached to the column as follows: the column is brought into the hole in the platform body, then the shoe is lowered at the side of the platform and brought under the end of the column and pulled to it, after which the shoe is connected to the column by means of fixing devices.

The operations of pulling the shoe to the end of the column and their connection are quite laborious, as they are carried out underwater using divers, which is further complicated by the large mass of the shoe.

In addition, the large mass of the shoe also negatively affects the draft of the platform hull when it is transported on it to the platform installation site, which leads to the need to reduce the payload placed on the deck.

Disclosure of invention

The basis of the invention is the task of developing a shoe for a support column of a self-lifting platform, the design of which greatly simplifies the process of mounting the shoe on a column located in the hole of the platform body and does not lead to additional load on the platform as a whole, therefore, does not lead to additional settlement of the body from the shoes during their installation on support columns.

The essence of the invention is to give the shoe a buoyancy close to zero, or a small negative buoyancy, in which manipulations with the shoe under water require less effort than a shoe with a large negative buoyancy, and the load on the platform is minimized. To simplify the installation process, means are also provided for simplifying the fit and securing the connection of the shoe to the column.

The shoe according to the invention comprises a housing and a unit for attaching the shoe to the support column. A distinctive feature of the shoe is that it has zero or positive buoyancy.

In one embodiment, the shoe body is made of a material having a density corresponding to the density of sea water.

In another embodiment, the shoe body is made of a material having a higher density than the density of sea water, and is equipped with at least one body with positive buoyancy or contains a substance having a lower density than the density of sea water.

In a preferred embodiment, the shoe body is made of metal, for example iron or steel.

In another preferred embodiment, the housing includes at least one compartment filled with air as a substance having a density lower than the density of sea water.

The shoe is preferably provided with means for attaching, with the possibility of releasing the specified at least one body to the body.

In a further embodiment, the housing contains at least one ballast compartment, configured to place in it a body with negative buoyancy or a substance having a density corresponding to the density of sea water, or greater than the density of sea water.

The ballast compartment is preferably configured to fill with sea water.

The shoe may have at least two compartments, the first of which is filled with air, and the second is configured to fill with outboard water.

Most preferably, the first compartment is located at the top of the shoe, and the second compartment is located at the bottom of the shoe.

The shoe body may comprise a hole for passing the support column, preferably extending in the center of the shoe.

The vertical passage for the passage of the column may contain vertical guide grooves for interaction with the rails of the supporting column.

The unit for attaching the shoe to the support column preferably comprises two stoppers, each of which is provided with a guide cup located in the housing, a sliding cracker located in the guide cup, and a manual drive for moving the cracker in the guide cup.

In a preferred embodiment, the manual drive is made in the form of a helical gear with a flywheel.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Various embodiments of the present invention are described below using the accompanying drawings and non-limiting examples.

Figure 1 in cross section shows a shoe for a support column afloat near the side of the platform body.

Figure 2 shows a section aa in figure 1.

Figure 3 in cross section shows a shoe for a support column in a submerged state on auxiliary ropes.

Figure 4 shows in cross-section a shoe for a support column mounted on a column.

5, a stopper is shown in longitudinal section.

The implementation of the invention

As indicated above, the objective of the invention is solved by giving the shoe a buoyancy close to zero, or a small negative buoyancy, which requires less effort to manipulate the shoe under water than a shoe with a large negative buoyancy. In this case, the shoe may have constant zero or positive buoyancy, which is changed in such a way that during the installation of the shoe on the column it acquires close to zero or a small negative value.

In this case, a small negative buoyancy is understood as such buoyancy, in which a body immersed in water drowns, however, a slight effort is required to lift or hold it at any level relative to the surface of the water. In the shoe, means may be provided for attaching bodies giving the shoe a small positive buoyancy.

The shoe may be made of a material having a density close to that of sea water. As a material having a density close to the density of sea water, some types of foam concrete, plastic, etc. can be used. It should be borne in mind that the density of water can be different depending on the type of water, region, climatic and weather conditions, etc., and in the design and manufacture of the shoe for the support column, the possible conditions for its use should be taken into account.

The shoe may also be made of a material having a lower density than the density of sea water and contain a substance or material whose density is greater than the density of sea water and / or at least one body with negative buoyancy. The specified body can be enclosed inside the shoe body or held outside the shoe independently or with the help of holding means. As an example of a material having a density lower than the density of sea water, some types of concrete, plastic, polystyrene, wood, etc. can be used, and as a material having a density higher than the density of sea water, metals can be used. , sand, etc.

Further, the shoe may be made of a material having a density higher than the density of sea water, and may contain a substance whose density is less than the density of sea water, and / or at least one body, with positive buoyancy. As in the previous case, the specified body can be enclosed inside the shoe body or held outside the shoe independently or with the help of holding means. As a substance having a density lower than the density of sea water, for example, air can be used. As means for holding air outside the shoe, hermetic containers can be used, which can be attached to the shoe body and made of metal, fabric, glass, elastic materials, etc.

In a preferred embodiment, the shoe for the support column is made of metal, preferably iron or steel, and has at least one airtight compartment, the total volume of the airtight compartments being calculated so that the shoe as a whole has zero or positive buoyancy.

If the shoe initially has zero or little negative buoyancy, installation is as follows. A shoe with attached bodies is lowered into the water near the platform body to give it positive buoyancy and, using divers, connect the shoe to the platform or column body with auxiliary ropes, after which these bodies are disconnected and the shoe is immersed in water. The operation of attaching the ropes to the shoe can be carried out before launching, in which case these bodies are absent. Ropes are not included in the shoe, as they are accessories used in mounting the shoe.

Shoe immersion in water is carried out without the use of lifting means, while ensuring the shoe is immersed along a predetermined path and the shoe is held at a predetermined depth using auxiliary ropes. After the shoe is immersed in water on the ropes under the supporting column of the platform, the shoe mount and the counterpart are combined on the column and the shoe is fixed on the column, after which the auxiliary ropes are disconnected. The combination of the shoe attachment unit and the counterpart on the column can be made by lowering the column down with the help of the hoist, pulling the shoe on the ropes to the column using winch ropes or by any other method.

The shoe can be mounted without fixing the shoe on the column, while the shoe is held on the column in the required position by ropes, with which the shoe is pulled to the column, and then, after lowering the column with the shoe on the ground, the shoe is fixed between the column and the ground under the weight of the supporting column and self-lifting platform, and auxiliary ropes can be disconnected.

In another embodiment, the shoe initially has positive buoyancy and the possibility of ballasting, giving it zero or little negative buoyancy. Positive buoyancy can be achieved in several ways.

The shoe may be made of a material having a density close to that of sea water or less than the density of sea water, or contain a body made of such material. Alternatively, the shoe may be made of a material having a density higher than the density of sea water and contain a body (s) whose density is less than the density of sea water. The specified body can be either enclosed inside the shoe body, or held outside the shoe independently or with the help of holding means. The number of bodies is determined based on the required buoyancy of the shoe.

Ballasting of a shoe with positive buoyancy can be carried out in the following ways.

Firstly, bodies, substances or materials having a density higher than the density of sea water can be attached to or introduced into the shoe, for example, weighting materials made of metal, heavy concrete or plastic can be introduced into the shoe, or it can be poured, for example sand.

Secondly, bodies made of materials having a density lower than the density of sea water can be disconnected from the shoe, moreover, such bodies are under water or near the surface of the water. For example, when you detach from the shoe attached floats made of wood, lightweight concrete, polystyrene or plastic, or air floats in the water, the shoe will sink.

Shoe ballasting can also be carried out by replacing substances, materials or bodies with other substances, materials or bodies that have a higher density compared to replaceable materials, and the materials, substances or bodies to be replaced can be either in the shoe body or held on or near it using holding means. For example, the buoyancy of a shoe will decrease when water is replaced by sand or air by water or sand.

It should be understood that the above ballasting methods are not exhaustive and can be combined.

In the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1, the shoe 1 for the support column 10 of the self-elevating platform comprises a buoyancy housing with air compartments 2 and ballast compartments 3, with a central vertical hole 4 for passing the support column and two guide grooves 5 for centering the shoe with laths 11 of the support column 10. Performing buoyancy with two guide grooves 5, interacting with the laths 11 of the columns 10, prevents the shoe from turning in a horizontal surface (plan). Ballast compartments 3 are designed to receive ballast in the form of sea water.

In a preferred embodiment, the ballasting is carried out by replacing part of the air in the ballast compartment 3 of the body of the shoe 1, made of metal, preferably iron or steel, with outboard water. Ballast compartment 3 is located in the lower, bottom of the shoe 1.

This embodiment of the buoyancy body with air and ballast compartments 2, 3 allows for the self-immersion of shoe 1 under water by filling the ballast compartments with outboard water, as a result of which the shoe acquires a small negative buoyancy.

The installation of the shoe 1, with positive buoyancy, is as follows. Shoe 1 with positive buoyancy is lowered into the water near the platform body and using the divers connect shoe 1 to the platform body, or columns 10 (Figs. 1, 2) with auxiliary ropes 12. The operation of attaching ropes 12 to the shoe 1 can be carried out before descent to water. Next, the shoe 1 is ballasted until it acquires a small negative buoyancy, under the action of which the shoe 1 begins to sink into the water. The shoe 1 is immersed in water without the use of lifting means, while the shoe 1 is immersed along a predetermined path and the shoe 1 is held at a predetermined depth using auxiliary ropes 12. As a result, the shoe 1 hangs on the ropes 12 under the platform support column 10 (Fig. 3), after which the attachment of the shoe mount 1 in the hole 4 and the mating part 11 on the column 10 is made and the shoe 1 is fixed on the column 10, and the auxiliary ropes 12 are disconnected. The shoe mount 1 is aligned etnoy part 11 on the column 10 may be made via lowering the lift column 10 downwards (Figure 4) via winches pulling shoe 1 on the ropes 12 to the column 10 or in any other way. As already noted, the shoe 1 can be mounted without fixing the shoe 1 on the column 10 using the mount.

The shoe 1 also includes a node for joining the support column 10. Figure 5 shows a preferred embodiment of this node, which contains two stoppers, each of which includes a guide cup 6 mounted in the housing 1 at the level of the air compartment 2, a sliding cracker 7 located in guide cup 6, and a manual drive, made, for example, in the form of a helical gear 8 with a flywheel 9. This embodiment of the attachment of the shoe 1 to the column 10 allows you to quickly fix the shoe 1 on the column 10, introducing crackers 7 stoppers in the holes of the rails 11 of the column 10 when placing the rails 11 in the grooves 5 of the shoe 1.

The fixing shoe 1 on the support column 10 is as follows. After combining regular openings in the column with rusks 7, divers using hand drives rotate the handwheels 9 and insert rusks 7 into the openings of the column 10. The return openings in the column 10 are preferably made in the rails 11 of the column 10.

Claims (11)

1. A shoe for a support column of a self-elevating platform, comprising a housing and an attachment point for the shoe to the support column, characterized in that it has zero or positive buoyancy and is configured to change zero or positive buoyancy until the buoyancy of a small negative value, wherein the shoe body has an opening for a pass a support column, wherein said hole is located in the center of the shoe and contains vertical guide grooves for interacting with the rails of the support column, wherein risoedineniya shoe to the supporting column comprises two stops, each of which is provided with a guide cup, placed in a housing, retractable biscuit disposed in a guide cup, and a manual drive for moving the guide in a cracker glass. 2. The shoe according to claim 1, characterized in that the shoe body is made of a material having a density corresponding to the density of sea water. 3. The shoe according to claim 1, characterized in that the shoe body is made of a material having a higher density than the density of outboard water, and is equipped with at least one body with positive buoyancy or contains a substance having a lower density than the density of the overboard water. 4. The shoe according to claim 3, characterized in that the shoe body is made of at least one metal, such as iron or steel. 5. The shoe according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the housing includes at least one compartment filled with air as a substance having a density lower than the density of sea water. 6. The shoe according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that it is equipped with means for attaching with the possibility of releasing said at least one body to the body. 7. The shoe according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the housing contains at least one ballast compartment, configured to place a body with negative buoyancy or a substance having a density corresponding to the density of sea water, or greater than density of sea water. 8. The shoe according to claim 7, characterized in that the ballast compartment is configured to fill with sea water. 9. The shoe according to claim 1, characterized in that the shoe has at least two compartments, the first of which is filled with air, and the second is configured to fill with sea water. 10. The shoe according to claim 9, characterized in that the first compartment is located in the upper part of the shoe, and the second compartment is located in the lower part of the shoe. 11. The shoe according to claim 1, characterized in that the manual drive is made in the form of a helical gear with a flywheel.

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