KR20170025064A

KR20170025064A - Apparatus for fixation of leg in floating structure

Info

Publication number: KR20170025064A
Application number: KR1020150120939A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 박주신
Original assignee: 삼성중공업 주식회사
Priority date: 2015-08-27
Filing date: 2015-08-27
Publication date: 2017-03-08
Also published as: KR101750889B1

Abstract

A leg locking device for a floating structure is disclosed.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a hull comprising: a hull provided with legs moving in a vertical direction; A jack case provided on the hull for lifting and lowering the legs; And a leg fixing unit which is provided inside the jack case and increases an infiltration force of the bottom of the leg by providing an external force to the legs.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a leg-

The present invention relates to a leg locking device of a floating structure.

As the demand for environmentally friendly energy development grows, the development using wind power generators is getting popular all over the world. However, in order to install wind turbines, severe environmental conditions are required. For example, the place where the wind turbine is installed should be a place where a certain level of wind speed can be guaranteed to obtain a meaningful rotation of the blade, and the pollution caused by the noise generated when the wind turbine is driven should not be a problem. Even if these environmental conditions are satisfied, a very large area of space is required to install the wind turbine generator.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in offshore wind turbines, which are relatively free from the above-mentioned constraints. Offshore wind turbines can be installed in a variety of ways, but generally they are constructed by dividing the components into several units, making them on land, and then transferring the units to sea for assembly. A ship that moves offshore wind turbine units on the sea to the sea and installs offshore wind turbine generators is commonly referred to as a wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV).

Such a wind turbine installation vessel can be operated in a transit mode and a jack-up mode, depending on the nature of the operation. Specifically, the ship installed with the wind turbine moves to the navigation mode to the position where the off-axis wind turbine is to be installed. In sailing mode, the legs can be kept moving up the hull to reduce resistance by sea water. After that, the ship installed with the wind power generator is switched to the jack-up mode, and the leg is fixed to the bottom of the seabed, and the hull is lifted up along the leg so that the hull is separated from the sea surface by a certain distance. When the hull reaches a certain position, the installation ship of the wind power generator stops the movement of the hull and installs the offshore wind power generator. When the installation is completed, proceed in the reverse order of the above procedure and move to the next installation position.

As another example of the floating structure operated in the sailing mode and the jack-up mode as described above, there is a jack-up platform having a drilling function. The jack-up platform includes a derrick for drilling, moves to the drilling position in sailing mode, switches to jack-up mode, locks the leg down to the underside of the ground, and lifts the hull along the leg. The jack-up platform performs the drilling operation while the hull is separated from the sea level. When drilling is completed, the jack-up platform can be moved to the next drilling position in the reverse order of the above procedure.

This floating structure penetrates the legs to the seabed in the jack-up mode. The bottom of the leg is provided with a spud-can to facilitate penetration into the seabed ground and to increase the gripping force, and the legs are immersed in the seabed ground at a certain depth so that the spud can is fixed to the seabed.

However, when the legs are fixed to the seabed, the floating structure floats the spud can by loading the floating structure onto the legs. If the seabed ground is formed of a hard layer rather than a soft ground, The legs can not be stably fixed, which can lead to an accident that the floating structure is rolled over.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2014-0006244

The embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that when the bottom of the seabed is rigid so that it is difficult to stably fix the leg only by the load of the floating structure, the leg can be stably fixed to the bottom of the sea by applying additional external force to the leg, &Lt; / RTI >

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hull comprising: a hull provided with legs moving in a vertical direction; A jack case provided on the hull for lifting and lowering the legs; And a leg fixing unit which is provided inside the jack case and increases an infiltration force of the bottom of the leg by providing an external force to the legs.

Wherein the leg fixing unit comprises: an external force generating means; A moving means for receiving an external force from the external force generating means and moving in the vertical direction within the jack case; And fixing means projecting from the moving means and hooked to one side of the leg.

In addition, a guide rail may be installed in the jack case in a vertical direction to guide the movement of the moving means.

The moving means may include a wheel portion fitted in the guide rail.

The external force generating means may be a hydraulic cylinder whose length is elongated or contracted by the working fluid.

And a controller for transmitting a control signal to the external force generating means to raise or lower the moving means and transmit a control signal to the fixing means so as to protrude the fixing means if necessary.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, when the bottom of the seabed is hard and the legs can not easily penetrate into the seabed sole only by the load of the floating structure, the legs can be stably fixed to the seabed ground by applying additional external force to the legs.

1 is a side view showing a jack-up state of a floating structure,
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the AA line of FIG. 1 schematically showing the engagement relationship of the legs and the jack case of the floating structure,
3 is a schematic view illustrating a leg fixing device of a floating structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are operational state diagrams for explaining an operational process of a leg fixing device of a floating structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, configurations and operations according to embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The following description is one of many aspects of the claimed invention and the following description may form part of the detailed description of the invention.

However, the detailed description of known configurations or functions in describing the present invention may be omitted for clarity.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and its various embodiments, it is intended to illustrate the specific embodiments and the detailed description. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Terms including ordinals such as first, second, etc. may be used to describe various elements, but the elements are not limited by such terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one component from another.

The terminology used in this application is used only to describe a specific embodiment and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a jack-up state of a floating structure, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1 schematically showing a leg-jack coupling relationship of a floating structure.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the floating structure 10 described in the present invention may be a wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) or a jack-up platform. However, the spirit of the present invention is not limited thereto, and the floating structure 10 having a jack-up mode may be included in the scope of the present invention.

The leg 20 of the floating structure 10 can be installed on the hull 11 so as to be movable up and down. In order to improve the supporting force against the seabed ground, the height of the leg 20 And the support structure can be varied.

The legs 20 are provided so as to penetrate the hull 11 in the vertical direction and have a rigidity enough to withstand the load of the hull 11 in a working state and have various shapes such as a cylindrical shape, a square truss structure, . &Lt; / RTI >

Further, a spud can 21 for stably fixing the floating structure 10 to the seabed ground can be provided at the lower end of the leg 20. The spade can (21) may be formed in a pointed lower structure to facilitate penetration into the seabed ground, and may have a large area so as to sufficiently support the legs (20) by abutting against the floor of the seabed.

The hull 11 of the floating structure 10 may be provided with a jack case 30 for raising and lowering the legs 20. The jack case 30 may include a driving device for moving the legs 20 up and down.

3 to 5, a leg fixing device for a floating structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 3 is a structural view illustrating a leg fixing device of a floating structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate operation of a leg fixing device of a floating structure according to an embodiment of the present invention Fig.

Referring to FIG. 3, an embodiment of the present invention may include a hull 11, a jack case 30, and a leg fixing unit 100.

The hull 11 may be provided with a leg 20 passing through the hull 11 and moving up and down. The legs 20 have already been described above, and they are well known in the art, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The jack case 30 is provided to the hull 11 so as to move up and down the leg 20. The jack case 30 may be provided with a driving device necessary for raising and lowering the legs 20. [ have.

The leg fastening unit 100 may be provided inside the jack case 30 as shown in FIG. 3 to provide an external force to the leg 20 to improve the penetration of the leg 20 into the seabed .

The leg fixing unit 100 may be provided with a plurality of legs 20 which are provided on the leg 20 so that when the bottom of the legs 20 is difficult to infiltrate the spud can 21 only by the weight of the hull 11, (11) Providing a separate external force other than its own weight to support the penetration of the sprue can (21) into the seabed so that the legs (20) can be stably fixed to the seabed.

The leg fixing unit 100 may include an external force generating unit 110, a moving unit 120, and a fixing unit 130.

The external force generating means 110 is configured to generate an external force to provide an external force to the leg 20. The external force generating means 110 may be implemented with various various means. And a hydraulic cylinder which is extended and contracted by generating hydraulic pressure through a working fluid such as a hydraulic cylinder.

The moving means 120 is configured to move in the vertical direction within the jack case 30 by receiving an external force from the external force generating means 110. The external force generated by the external force generating means 110, (Not shown).

More specifically, the external force generated by the external force generating means 110 is provided to the moving means 120, and the moving means 120 may be lowered or elevated in the jack case 30 by receiving external force .

The fixing means 130 protrudes from the moving means 120 toward the leg 20 and is hooked on one side of the leg 20. The securing means 130 may be extended from the moving means 120 or inserted into the moving means 120 if necessary. The legs 20 may be formed with hooking grooves 20a so that the fastening means 130 can be easily hooked. The latch groove 20a may be formed separately, or a rack gear already formed in the leg may serve as the latch groove 20a.

The fixing means 130 may be realized by a hydraulic cylinder or a motor having a flexible connecting rod. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, however, that the detailed description and drawings are omitted.

When the fixing means 130 is hooked on the leg 20, when the moving means 120 is lowered or raised, an external force is transmitted to the leg 20 to lower or raise the leg 20 together.

Therefore, if the bottom of the seabed becomes hard when the leg 20 is fixed to the bottom of the seabed so that the penetration of the leg 20 is difficult, the fixing means 130 is protruded to hook the leg 20, When the moving means 120 is lowered inside the jack case 30 by operating the external force generating means 110 after the legs 20 are connected to each other and the moving means 120 is lowered, So that the penetration force of the leg 20 to the seabed ground can be increased.

At this time, a guide rail 140 may be installed inside the jack case 30 to guide the movement of the moving means 120 in the vertical direction. The guide rail 140 guides the moving unit 120 to move smoothly along a predetermined path within the jack case 30, and a "C" shaped channel can be used.

In addition, the moving means 120 may include a wheel portion 121 so as to be easily moved along the guide rail 140. The wheel 121 may be inserted into the guide rail 140 and move along the guide rail 140.

Meanwhile, the embodiment of the present invention may further include a control unit 200.

The control unit 200 sends a control signal to the external force generating means 110 to raise or lower the moving means 120 and to transmit the control signal to the fixing means 130, Can be protruded.

4, the control unit 200 transmits a control signal to the fixing unit 130 to fix the fixing unit 130 to the fixing unit 130, So that the means 130 can engage the legs 20. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the moving means 120 can be lowered by transmitting a control signal to the external force generating means 110. The moving means 120 is guided by the guide rails 140 and moves downward. As the moving means 120 descends, the legs 20 also move downward, It is possible to increase the ground penetration ability.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto.

10: Floating structure 11: Hull
20: leg 20a:
21: Spud can 30: Jack case
100: leg fixing unit 110: external force generating means
120: moving means 121:
130: fixing means 140: guide rail
200:

Claims

A hull provided with legs moving in the vertical direction;
A jack case provided on the hull for lifting and lowering the legs; And
And a leg fixing unit provided inside the jack case and providing an external force to the leg to increase the penetration force of the bottom of the leg.

The method according to claim 1,
The leg fixing unit includes:
External force generating means;
A moving means for receiving an external force from the external force generating means and moving in the vertical direction within the jack case; And
And a fixing means protruded from the moving means and hooked to one side of the leg.

3. The method of claim 2,
And a guide rail is provided inside the jack case in a vertical direction to guide movement of the moving means.

The method of claim 3,
Wherein the moving means comprises a wheel portion fitted in the guide rail.

3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the external force generating means is a cylinder whose length is expanded and contracted by a working fluid.

3. The method of claim 2,
Further comprising a control unit for sending a control signal to said external force generating means to raise or lower said moving means and transmit a control signal to said fixing means to project said fixing means if necessary.