NZ561697A - Screw in ship anchor with adjustable mooring collar - Google Patents

Abstract

An anchor for difficult founding conditions includes a shaft 10 with a drill auger 13 at one end and a driving connection 15 at the other end, a ring bolt 17 that can slide and rotate on the shaft, and a shaft clamp 18. The anchor is suspended above the seabed and the shaft is turned via the driving connection 15 so that the auger drills into the seabed until the anchor is sufficiently embedded. The ring bolt 17 is slid down the shaft so as to be adjacent the seabed, and the clamp 18 is tightened to prevent the ring bolt from riding up the shaft. The hawser 20 for the vessel to be anchored is attached to the ring bolt 17.

Description

561697 Patents Form # 5 *10056552270* intellectual property office of n.2. 19 SEP 2008 received NEW ZEALAND Patents Act 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION AFTER PROVISIONAL NO.: 561697 PRIORITY PATE : 19 September 2007 TITLE; Adjustable Anchor We, 1) FIELDER, Graham Clyde 2) ROGERSON, Rebecca Address: 1) 29 Colville Road, Coromandel, New Zealand, 3506 2) 29 Colville Road, Coromandel, New Zealand, 3506 Nationality: A 1) citizen of New Zealand 2) citizen of New Zealand do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: 181629NZ_Cap_20080918_1430_MCG.doc FEE CODE 1050 5616972 - Adjustable Anchor The invention relates to an adjustable anchor for mooring and a method of installation. The invention is directed particularly but not solely towards an adjustable anchor for difficult 5 founding conditions.

Background of Invention Anchors for vessels like boats or for floating structures such as for example mussel or pearl 10 farms or any aquaculture structures, are very important in securing such objects especially in extreme weather events such as storms, tides and earthquakes. Another aspect to this is the cost of insurance and the cost of any replacement structure or boat and the impact on your business.

Traditionally there are at least two main methods of anchoring a boat such as by simply dropping an anchor or positively securing an anchor in the sea or lake bed. Dropped anchors rely in their weight and some passive wedging in the lake or seabed to secure the boat at least temporarily. Positive anchoring can include any method that allows an anchor to be directly secured to the lake or seabed such as by impact or drilling.

One type of anchor is called a screw anchor which includes a shaft joined to an anchor means. In this case the anchor is also provided with a securing means whereby the boat can be removably moored thereto by a warp or cable which is secured the structure above to the securing means. In another type of anchor there is a shaftless anchor which as the name 25 implies there is no shaft only an anchor means. In both the anchor means includes a drilling means whereby the anchor is drilled into place but for the shaftless type the cable is directly attached to the anchor means.

The screw type of anchor comprises an anchor portion and shaft with a securing means. In 30 use the anchor portion includes a drilling portion in the form of a helical auger or plate with an angled offset portion which is also able to drill and be embedded in the seabed to do the F:\mgambitsis\181629NZ CompSoec 18Sect2O08 MGO.doc intellectual property office of n.z. 19 SEP 2008 received 56199$ _ 'anchoring' to resist pull out, with the securing means protruding enough to allow removable or permanent securing to any boat or object that requires mooring and/or securing.

Though shaftless type anchors are useful because they are smaller and cheaper and have no 5 shaft sticking out, they make maintenance inspections extremely difficult to carry out and cause the cable to wear and break.

Any drilling can be actuated and operated from the surface using drilling cables etc. However in difficult founding conditions it is not always possible to do this very easily 10 which can then mean extra diving to check any installation and allow for any repairs or removal. With different founding requirements it has often meant that any anchor installers had to carry many different screw anchors with the plate or helical auger being of different diameters with different shaft lengths and diameters. This can be costly in material cost and in labour which can cause some delay in selecting the correct anchor.

This means that the anchor may only be located at a shallow depth which will mean that the shaft will protrude from the surface of the seabed. Any securing to the securing means will then also be protruding which will then cause any force from the boat to form a lever arm force on the anchor which can then easily cause the anchor to either bend or work loose.

In this specification unless the contrary is expressly stated, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge; or known to be 25 relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.

Object of the Invention It is an object of the invention to provide an improved anchor and method of installation that ameliorates some of the disadvantages and limitations of the known art or at least provide the 30 public with a useful choice.

F:\mgambitsis\181629NZ CompSpec 18Sept2008 MCG.doc intellectual property OFFICE OF N.2. 19 SEP 2008 received 561697 Summary of Invention In a first aspect the invention resides in an adjustable anchor for difficult founding conditions of a seabed or lakebed having an upper surface, the anchor including a shaft having a driving means at one end and a drilling means at the other end and adjustable mooring means such 5 that the mooring means in use is slidably moved up and down the shaft and is removably fixed about the shaft to abut the seabed or lakebed surface and prevent any further movement up and down the shaft while allowing rotation about the shaft.

Preferably, the adjustable mooring means includes a swivel eye comprising a ring shaped 10 portion which has a diameter greater than the diameter of the shaft to provide slidable clearance herebetween and a U shaped portion radially attached to the ring portion to provide a closed loop for mooring wherein the swivel eye in use abuts the seabed surface.

Preferably the adjustable mooring means includes a clamping means which comprises a 15 removable means to clamp to allow the clamping means to removably clamp against the shaft which in use lies on top of the swivel eye.

Preferably the clamping means includes two C shaped half rings having fixing wings that are dimensioned to allow clamping of the shaft therebetween.

Preferably the drilling means includes a plate which forms a helical auger being fixedly attach at right angles to the shaft.

In a second aspect the invention resides in a method of installing an adjustable anchor for 25 difficult founding conditions of a seabed or lakebed having an upper surface, the adjustable anchor including a shaft having a driving means at one end and a drilling means at the other end and adjustable mooring means such that the mooring means in use is slidably moved up and down the shaft and removably fixed about the shaft to abut the seabed or lakebed surface and prevent any further movement up and down the shaft while allowing rotation about the 30 shaft, adjustable mooring means includes a movable swivel eye and fixing means, the driving means able to move the drilling means to cause the drilling means on the shaft to be drilled into the seabed or lakebed and the method includes the following steps of: Providing adjustable anchor with driving means, drilling means and adjustable 35 mooring means; G:\181629NZ AMNDCOMPSPEC 12JAN2010 EHRDOC 561697 Driving the drilling means to move the shaft to cause the adjustable anchor to be drilled into seabed; Adjusting by moving the swivel eye of the adjustable mooring means, down the shaft to abut the seabed or lakebed 5 Affixing the fixing means to the shaft immediately above the swivel eye thereby holding the swivel eye against the seabed or lakebed thereby installing said adjustable anchor.

Brief Description The invention will now be described, by way of example only, by reference to the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a schematic close up perspective view of the installed anchor.

Figure 2 is a schematic side view of the anchor being installed.

Figure 3 is a schematic plan view of the set up in a boat to arrange for the installation of the adjustable anchor.

Figure 4 is a schematic side view of the anchor after installation.

Figure 5 is a schematic close up view without the adjustable anchor.

Figure 6 is a schematic top plan view of the swivel eye of the anchor.

Figure 7 is a side view of the swivel eye of figure 6.

Figure 8 is a schematic top plan view of the locking ring of the anchor.

Description of Drawings The following description will describe the invention in relation to preferred embodiments of the invention, namely an adjustable anchor and method of installation. The invention is in no way limited to these preferred embodiments as they are purely to exemplify the invention G:\181629NZ_AMNDCOMPSPEC_12JAN2010_EHB.DOC 5616376 - only and that possible variations and modifications would be readily apparent without departing from the scope of the invention. In the figures various arrows show the general direction of movement or rotation of various components.

As shown in figures 1-9 an adjustable anchor 1 for mooring is used to be removably fixed to the seabed or lake bed 2 of a body of water 3 having a surface 4 and any floating structures 5 such as a boat, vessel or aquatic structure can be moored to the anchor.

Adjustable anchor 1 includes a shaft 10 having two ends 11 and 12. End 11 is closest to the 10 surface 4 and is called the driving end 11 while end 12 is distal to the surface 4 or mooring end 11 and can be termed the anchoring end 12. Anchoring end 12 also has a drilling means 13. The drilling means 13 also acts as the anchor means when the drill is finished drilling. As shown in figure 3 the drilling means/anchor means comprise a circular plate member which is centrally oriented at an angle A to shaft 10. In this case angle A is most likely to be 15 90 degrees. The plate member 13 has a portion partially curvalinearly offset from the rest of the plate to form a gapped wedge, to enable it to act when in use as a helical auger to drill out or drill into seabed material when being rotated by shaft 10 which is being driving via a driving means 14 at the driving end 11. To assist in the drilling, the tip of the shaft 10 can be pointed or have some other appendage to assist. The drive means 14 which is located and 20 provided at the driving end 11 consists of a V or U shaped portion 15 attached to the end of the shaft 10 to form a closed loop portion as shown in figure 4.

Also removably attached to the driving end 11 or close to or near or at a distance from the plate member 13, is mooring means 16. Mooring means 16 includes a movable holding 25 means 17 (which for example can be a swivel eye) and clamping means 18.

As shown in figures 1 and 2 other equipment is needed to carry out the installation of the •adjustable anchor 1 from the floating structure which can be a barge or boat 5. There is the warp cable 20 which is used to moor any other intended structure (not shown) to the anchor 30 1. There is a drill which includes a main body portion 21 which provides the actuation and torque to rotate the drive head 15 and initiate drilling. A drill rig 22 can be provided and conveniently located on the boat deck which includes a drum with a rope attachable 23 to the drill body 21 to support it. Also attached to drill body 21 is an umbilical wheel and chord 24 F:\mgambitsis\181629NZ CompSpec 18Sept20G8 MCG.doc intellectual property office of n.z 19 SEP 2008 received 5616977 - to provide power thereto. The rope 23 also allows the drill to be lowered and retrieved and makes sure that there is no tension on the power cable 24 Also able to be used with the adjustable anchor, there is some means to stabilize and hold the 5 barge 5 in place to allow drilling in the one position on the seabed 2. The stabilizing means includes a winch 25 & 26 and winch wire 27 & 28 attached to clump weights 29 & 30 which can be lowed as required. In this example there is a winch 25 and 26 on either side of the adjusting anchor 1. Also included is a drill arm 31 which is flexibly located a slidably movable loop 32 & 33 connected to both winch wires 27 & 28. When the warp cable 20 is 10 being attached to the swivel eye 17 is can. be guided or lashed to one of the drill arm loops 32 and 33.

In figure 1 there is shown the barge 5 which can have the following components on its deck such as adjustable anchors 1 unassembled as plates 13 and shafts 10 with the drive heads 15 15 thereon, warps or warp cables 20, winches 25 & 26 with clump weights 29 & 30 and drill arm 31 therebetween. The drill rig 22 and umbilical chord 24 is also present to allow proper installation on the seabed 2 In use the drill rotates and drills the anchor 1 within the seabed 2 to as far as it can go while 20 minimally allowing drive head 15 to be left exposed with enough shaft 10 left to allow the adjustment means to be clamped in place. However as shown in figures 4 and 5 there will be situations where the drilling goes through good firm substrate 2A and then can not go very far which may be due to a very hard seabed layer 2B like for example rock.

Normally the swivel eye 17 of the mooring 16 is slidably fitted to the shaft before drilling and while assembling the anchor 1. Because of the clearance from the ring portion of the swivel eye 17 to the shaft 10 during any drilling, the swivel eye 17 merely stays stationary while the anchor rotates and moves downward into the seabed, which causes the swivel eye 17 to drop towards the level of the seabed depending on how tough the drilling is so there is 30 likely to be some clearance between the swivel eye and the seabed thereby causing there to be some exposed portion of shaft 10 that is not within the seabed. Therefore if a warp cable 20 is attached to swivel eye 17 or to the drive head 15 the top exposed portion of the shaft 10 will then bend over time or during any mooring as shown by 33. Eventually the anchor may F:\mgambitsis\181629NZ CompSpec 18Sept2008 MCG.doc 5616278 _ pull out of the seabed or it may snap at 34 so what should happen to prevent this is that the swivel eye 17 should be moved down 35 the shaft 10 towards the seabed to eventually rest thereon so that a clamp 18 can then be attached over the top end of the swivel eye 17 to hold it on to the sea bed as shown in figure 4.

In figures 6-8 the anchor adjustment means is shown whereby in figure 6 the swivel eye 17 which includes a ring portion 34 and a radially extending U shaped portion 35. As shown by the side view of the swivel eye 17 of figure 7 there can also be an inner sleeve portion 36 which is made up of a cylindrical portion 37 joined to a flared or flanged portions 38 at both 10 ends to form a ringed sleeved protective member 36. Member 36 can be made up to form this member using 10mm flanges and light pipe which can be welded together. A clearance of say 2mm may be provided between the sleeve 36 and ring 34 of the swivel eye 17. Sleeve member 36 of swivel eye 17 can also have adjustable fixing means 39 (e.g. alien bolt) which allows the sleeve and hence swivel eye to be temporarily attached to the shaft 10 during 15 installation and before actual clamping by the clamping means 18.

Figure 8 shows the clamp or lock ring 18 which in use is applied over the top of the swivel eye. Clamp 18 as shown in figure 1 and can be made up of two C shaped halves 40 and 41 with extending abutting wing portions 42 & 43 (at say 35mm in length) with complementary 20 apertures 44 therebetween which allows for the insertion of a bolt 45 which can be tightened by a nut accordingly. C shaped halves form an aperture of say 65mm having an inner surface to clamp around the shaft pipe 10 of say 80mm. Bolt 45 can be any bolt that allows such tightening eg hypertension bolts at 16mm diameter or allows mechanized tightening such as used for tensioned bolts.

To install the adjustable anchor 1 in the seabed, the following steps can be used: - arrange shafts 10 with plates 13 and assemble if necessary on boat or barge deck - provide warps 20, winches 25, 26, drill rig 22and umbilical cord & wheel 24 on boat; - use winches 25 and 26 to let down clump weights 29 and 30 to seafloor on either side 30 of probable anchor location; - attach drill arm 31 between said winch cables 27 and 28 using slidable rings; - attach anchor to drill with swivel eye temporarily tied to the shaft 10; - attach drill rig rope 23 to drill 21 and attach umbilical power chord 24 to drill 21; F:\mgambitsis\181629NZ CompSpec 18Sept2008 MCG.doc intellectual property office of n.z. 19 SEP 2008 recel ven| 5616979 - attach warp cable 20 to drill arm 31 by lashing and to the swivel eye 17; drill the anchor into the seabed 2 as far as it will go minimally leaving the drive head exposed; undo swivel eye 17 fixing means 39 to allow the swivel eye 17 to be slid down to then rest on seafloor 2; attach locking ring 18 to immediately above swivel eye 17 whereby a portion of the seabed 2 between the swivel eye 17 and the plate 13 is clamped together to hold the anchor 1 in place; undo drill 21 and drill arms 31 and winch up drill and clump weights 29 and 30.

These steps can be altered without departing from the general idea of an adjustable anchor. For example preassembling the anchor before start of process or assembling most at the surface and then lowering down or attaching the warp cable after the drilling has finished rather than before. Optionally the fixing means can be temporarily attached to the shaft at 15 any time before drilling or before the downward sliding of the swivel eye down to meet the seabed or lake bed surface. Alternatively the fixing means can simply be attached to the shaft just after the swivel eye has been moved down.

Advantages a) Adjustable positioning. b) One standard anchor. c) Simple installation. d) Secured mooring. e) Modest manufacturing costs. f) Able to cope with any type of founding. g) Standard dimensions for all founding types. h) Interchangeable anchor components. i) Easy to inspect by divers. j) Dependable service. k) Little or no bending of the shaft above the seabed.

F:\mgambitsis\181629NZ CompSpec 18Sep£2008 MCG.doc 561Q91Q - Variations Throughout the description of this specification, the word "comprise" and variations of that word such as "comprising" and "comprises", are not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps.

The shaft can be any diameter that allows for its use in drilling and anchoring. Suitable coating and or material types can also be applied or used like for example if necessary such as resins, galvanizing or stainless and aluminium. Any number and spacing of stabilizing means can be used such as say one clump weight or several or possibly some other method 10 easy method of gaining temporary removable stabilizing while drilling. Clamping means can also be achieved by other means such as by another alien key which may key directly into the shaft 10. The present invention can be used on any mooring whether it be a sea or lake or any body of fluid or water that requires anything or something that needs to be moored.

It will of course be realised that while the foregoing has been given by way of illustrative example of this invention, all such and other modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as is hereinbefore described.

F:\mgambitsisU81629NZ CompSpec 18Sept2Q08 MCG.doc INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF IM.Z 19 SEP 2008 received

Claims (8)

-11 - 561697 What we claim is:

1. An adjustable anchor for difficult founding conditions of a seabed or lakebed having an upper surface, the anchor including a shaft having a driving means at one end and a 5 drilling means at the other end and adjustable mooring means such that the mooring means in use is slidably moved up and down the shaft and is removably fixed about the shaft to abut the seabed or lakebed surface, and prevent any further movement up and down the shaft while allowing rotation about the shaft. 10

2. An adjustable anchor as claimed in claim 1 wherein the adjustable mooring means includes a swivel eye comprising a ring shaped portion which has a diameter greater than the diameter of the shaft to provide slidable clearance herebetween and a U shaped portion radially attached to the ring portion to provide a closed loop for mooring wherein the swivel eye in use abuts the seabed or lakebed surface. 15

3. An adjustable anchor as claimed in claim 2 wherein the adjustable mooring means includes a clamping means which comprises a removable means to clamp to allow the clamping means to removably clamp against the shaft which in use lies on top of the swivel eye. 20

4. An adjustable anchor as claimed in claim 3 wherein the clamping means includes two C shaped half rings having fixing wings that are dimensioned to allow clamping of the shaft therebetween. 25

5. An adjustable anchor as claimed in claim 4 wherein the drilling means includes a plate which forms a helical auger being fixedly attach at right angles to the shaft.

6. A method of installing an adjustable anchor for difficult founding conditions of a seabed or lakebed having an upper surface, the adjustable anchor including a shaft having a 30 driving means at one end and a drilling means at the other end and adjustable mooring means such that the mooring means in use is slidably moved up and down the shaft and is removably fixed about the shaft to abut the seabed or lakebed surface and prevent any further G:\181629NZ_AMNDCOMPSPEC_12JAN201Q_EHB.DOC - 12- 561697 movement up and down the shaft while allowing rotation about the shaft, adjustable mooring means includes a movable swivel eye and fixing means, the driving means able to move the drilling means to cause the drilling means on the shaft to be drilled into the seabed or lakebed and the method includes the following steps of: 5 Providing adjustable anchor with driving means, drilling means and adjustable mooring means; Driving the drilling means to move the shaft to cause the adjustable anchor to be drilled into seabed or lakebed; 10 Adjusting by moving the swivel eye of the adjustable mooring means, down the shaft to abut the seabed or lakebed Affixing the fixing means to the shaft immediately above the swivel eye thereby holding the swivel eye against the seabed or lakebed thereby installing said adjustable anchor. 15

7. An adjustable anchor substantially as herein defined with reference to the accompanying drawings.

8. A method of installing an adjustable anchor substantially as herein defined with reference to the accompanying drawings. 20 si / /fPWERS Attorneys for the Applicants A ) FIELDER, Graham Clyde 2) ROGERSON, Rebecca G:\181629NZ_AMNDCOMPSPEC_12JAN2010_EHB.DOC