Did You Know...
...that a workman who left the soap mixing machine on too long was responsible for making Ivory Soap? He was so embarrassed by his mistake that he threw the mess in a stream. Imagine his dismay when the evidence of his error floated to the surface! Result: Ivory soap, the soap that floats.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7824131 | Building over the water, group of buildings, their maneuvering methods and their hosting sites A building over the water, maneuvering methods for the building and hosting sites of the building. The buildings including a superstructure (A) provided a floor structure (1) that is placed over a water surface (2) on which an inhabitable subassembly (... | 11/02/2010 |
| 7293516 | Apparatus for reconfiguration of a variable-draft vessel A vertical translation mechanism for reconfiguring the hull form of a reconfigurable vessel having independently movably side hulls and a center hull is disclosed. The vertical translation mechanism includes a hydraulic-force actuator and a nonmetallic bearing. The ... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7293939 | Inclined leg floating production platform with a damper plate A floating moored oilfield production structure for deepwater application. An apparatus and a method for the construction and installation of floating oilfield production structures, wherein the deck structure is supported by multiple pairs of inclined buoyant legs ... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7287484 | Berthing method and system A method and a system are provided for the safe berthing of marine vessels in the high seas and other unprotected open waters. The invention allows a large vessel to be berthed alongside in close enough proximity to a marine structure so that conventional loading ar... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7264057 | Subsea intervention A method and system of subsea intervention comprises lowering one or more assemblies of intervention equipment into the sea. Underwater marine units (such as remote operated vehicles or small submarines) may be employed to connect the assemblies to each other and to... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7117810 | Platform structure The invention relates to a floating platform (1) for offshore drilling or production of hydrocarbons, comprising a topsides (2) and a substructure (3) having a lower pontoon (4) and columns (5) connecting the pontoon (4) to ... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7086809 | Minimum floating offshore platform with water entrapment plate and method of installation An apparatus for use in offshore oil or gas production in which a plurality of vertical stabilizing columns are supported on a submerged horizontal water entrapment plate is provided to support minimum offshore oil and gas production facilities above a subsea wellhe... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7044685 | Method of installation of a tension leg platform A method and system for attaching a TLP to its tendons using pull-down lines to rapidly submerge the hull to installation draft while compensating for inherent hull instability during submergence and to provide motion arrest and aid in station keeping. The system in... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7033115 | Temporary floatation stabilization device and method A temporary stability module and method for marine structures during construction, transportation and installation is taught. The device and method permit the structure, including platforms, deck and equipment to be constructed in an upright position, towed to an oc... | 04/25/2006 |
| 7001108 | Mat supported offshore structure A bottom-supported jack-up rig has a hollow ring mat with a central opening for accommodating a lower portion of a hull nested therein when the rig is in transit. The ring mat has a predetermined surface footprint sufficient to provide stability to the rig when embe... | 02/21/2006 |
| 6945736 | Offshore platform for drilling after or production of hydrocarbons Platform for drilling after or production of hydrocarbons at sea, consisting of a semi-submersible platform body which supports drilling and/or production equipment on its upper surface. The platform body is designed as a vertical mainly flat bottomed cylinder which... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6942427 | Column-stabilized floating structure with telescopic keel tank for offshore applications and method of installation A floating offshore fluid storage caisson platform has a large diameter vertically oriented buoyant column or caisson, or multiple caissons, defining a storage chamber, and a telescopic keel tank disposed at the bottom end thereof, and may have deck on top of the ca... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6935810 | Semi-submersible multicolumn floating offshore platform A semi-submersible, multicolumn, deep draft, floating offshore oil and gas drilling and production platform comprises a floating hull having an adjustably buoyant base, a plurality of columns vertically upstanding from the base, and an equipment deck that is support... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6869251 | Marine buoy for offshore support A marine buoy for the offshore support of subsea production and drilling activities that has a closed-bottomed base section with a solid ballast and variable ballast chambers, a chamber in the base section for storing equipment and supplies, and an upper section wit... | 03/22/2005 |
| 6652192 | Heave suppressed offshore drilling and production platform and method of installation A heave suppressed, floating offshore drilling and production platform comprises vertical columns, lateral trusses connecting adjacent columns, a deep-submerged horizontal plate supported from the bottom of the columns by vertical truss legs, and a topsid... | 11/25/2003 |
| 6564873 | Apparatus for offshore production of hydrocarbon fluids An apparatus for offshore production of hydrocarbon fluids is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a base and a buoyant structure secured to said base and connected or adapted to be connected to a subsea well or wells. The key characteristics of the apparat... | 05/20/2003 |
| 6409431 | Submersible floating dock A submersible floating dock which can be sunk beneath the water line in the event of the approach of a violent storm for protection of the dock against wave action, storm surge, and high winds. A dock with a deck supported on hollow floatation chambers is... | 06/25/2002 |
| 6305881 | Barge stabilization method An oil drilling barge stabilization system and method provide that an array of substantially vertically-oriented piles is formed in the sea bed to a depth beneath the sea bed that finds solid support. A barge is towed into position over the array of piles... | 10/23/2001 |
| 6276876 | Offshore exploration or production operation Apparatus for providing an offshore drilling operation in a sea, the apparatus comprising a drilling derrick support structure (2) having a base (4) to rest on the sea-floor (5) and a deck (7) to support a drilling derrick (1), the structure being in the ... | 08/21/2001 |
| 6015245 | Semisubmersible offshore vessel Improvements to a ring pontoon semisubmersible vessel. The centerlines of the corner columns ar displaced with respect to the axial centerlines of the forward and aft portions of the ring pontoon. Additionally, the centerlines of the corner columns may be... | 01/18/2000 |
| 6012873 | Buoyant leg platform with retractable gravity base and method of anchoring and relocating the same A deep water platform, suitable for use as a hydrocarbon exploration or production facility in very deep offshore waters, and a method of constructing the same are shown. The platform is positioned on top of a buoyant leg structure. During normal drilling... | 01/11/2000 |
| 5379559 | Semisubmersible building A large semisubmersible building is made up of a submerged section installed underwater, an intermediate section consisting of a plurality of column structures erected on the submerged section at specified intervals, and an above-water section built upon ... | 01/10/1995 |
| 5316413 | Offshore double cone structure An offshore double cone structure for operation on an ocean foundation has a double-cone concrete shell having a neck ring at the top of the shell and a base caisson that supports the double-cone shell. The caisson rests on the ocean foundation. The envir... | 05/31/1994 |
| 5292207 | Ice crush resistant caisson for arctic offshore oil well drilling A submersible mobile caisson having ice crush resistance for adapting semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling units and mobile offshore oil well production rigs, which are ice crush sensitive for use in ice bearing offshore ocean waters, is provided. Th... | 03/08/1994 |
| 5226750 | Offshore drilling platform support An improved columnar support for offshore drilling platforms intended for installation in a body of water such as the ocean, comprising a cylindrical shaft of unitary cemetitious construction, a frustrum shaped hollow capital having a first peripheral fla... | 07/13/1993 |
| 5125769 | Floatable structure A structure that is floatable on a ocean surface and that is fixable relative to an ocean bottom. The structure includes an array of floatable, submersible caissons and a floatable box girder capable of supporting a modular superstructure. The box girder ... | 06/30/1992 |
| 5098219 | Mobile submersible caisson for underwater oil-well drilling and production A mobile submersible caisson is employed to drill for and recover petroleum products from subsea wells and to deliver the products to shore or to vessels at the well site. The well drilling technique applies to water depths beyond 300 ft. and in areas whe... | 03/24/1992 |
| 4969776 | Offshore platforms A marine structure, for example an offshore production plantform comprises a floating base section, which can be flooded, having caissons thereon and a topsides mounted on the caissons. The caissons comprise at least two telescopic sections,the uppermost ... | 11/13/1990 |
| 4963058 | Protective barrier for the protection of offshore marine works, and method of installation of the same Protective barrier consisting of at least two ballastable elements (3, 4) adapted to surround at least partially the work to be protected (1). The height of the individual elements is greater than the water depth. The elements comprise a connection device perm... | 10/16/1990 |
| 4907912 | Submersible production storage barge and method for transporting and installing a jack-up rig in a body of water A submersible production storage barge and method for transporting and installing a jack-up rig in a body of water has the submersible production storage barge releasably secured to a jack-up rig while the jack-up rig and submersible production storage ba... | 03/13/1990 |
| 4906138 | Gravity base structure for an offshore platform in arctic regions A gravity base structure for an offshore platform includes a caisson having a bottom slab, a top slab, and inner and outer concentric walls which extend between the bottom and top slabs, and partition walls that form a lattice structure of triangular pris... | 03/06/1990 |
| 4808036 | Mobile marine operations structure A marine operations structure for use in arctic seas having steel/concrete composite ice walls positioned to permit multi-year ice ridges to be broken up with lower vertical forces imposed on the structure than heretofore possible. The structure provides ... | 02/28/1989 |
| 4784527 | Modular drilling template for drilling subsea wells A light-weight, modular drilling template. A template is constructed of light-weight tubular steel having ring stiffeners to provide adequate crush resistance to withstand collapse under hydraulic loading provided by water pressure at 1800 feet water dept... | 11/15/1988 |
| 4767238 | Method of accurately positioning a prefabricated structure on the sea bed or on a river bed by grounding, and a sea or a river construction obtained by said method A method consists in at least partially surrounding a prefabricated structure by means of a floating caisson while leaving a gap of several meters between the caisson and the structure. Then, when the floating assembly constituted by the caisson and the s... | 08/30/1988 |
| 4695194 | Mobile marine operations structure A marine operations structure for use in arctic seas having steel/concrete composite ice walls positioned to permit multi-year ice ridges to be broken up with lower vertical forces imposed on the structure than heretofore possible. The structure provides ... | 09/22/1987 |
| 4674919 | Off-shore platform structure Method for founding and stabilizing an off-shore platform which at its lower end is provided with skirts. The skirt or skirts are forced so deep down in the ground that a significant portion of the foundation area is transferred down to a depth where the ... | 06/23/1987 |
| 4674916 | Offshore platform designed in particular to constitute a pleasure center A platform for use as an artifical island wherein the platform comprises an immersed base of floats, vertical pillars and an emerged structure supported by said pillars. The floating base is formed by a disk of caissons. The vertical pillars are imbedded ... | 06/23/1987 |
| 4624645 | Rapid deployment mooring and discharge system and method An offshore bulk liquid discharge system and method for its deployment are disclosed. The system is adapted for rapid deployment and facilitates rapid unloading of liquids from an ocean tanker to a shore location. The system includes a base, a mooring buo... | 11/25/1986 |
| 4610569 | Hybrid offshore structure A hybrid offshore structure for conducting petroleum drilling and producing operations in very deep waters is disclosed. The structure consists primarily of a substantially rigid lower section extending upwardly from the bottom of the body of water to a p... | 09/09/1986 |
| 4606674 | Structural wheel element At least two generally parallel compression rims are joined by tension element spokes, such as cables. A rim separating means, such as columns, holds the rims apart thus maintaining spoke tension. The resulting structural element, comprising rims, tension... | 08/19/1986 |
