Did You Know...
...that the Eveready Battery began as an invention called the "electric flowerpot," which was a tube with a battery and light bulb inside? The idea was to fasten this gizmo to the side of a flowerpot so it would illuminate the flowers from the bottom. The idea died on the vine and the businessman who licensed the flower pot, Conrad Huber, was left with a pile of useless tubes -- until he found a way to market them as batteries to light the world!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7717646 | Method and apparatus for deploying a tubular The invention provides an apparatus and a method of deploying a tubular along a predetermined path. The method includes the steps of: coiling a tubular; accommodating the tubular in a deployment unit such that at least a portion of the coiled tubular is biased radia... | 05/18/2010 |
| 7350587 | Pipe guide A guide is disclosed for facilitating the movement of tubulars in well operations. In one aspect, the guide is a pipe guide with a base, an upper extension apparatus, a lower extension apparatus with a first end pivotably secured to the upper extension apparatus and... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7246971 | Stabilisation of submarine elongate structures A stabilization system (10) for a section of submarine pipeline (11) comprising an end restraint (15) at each end of the section of pipeline and intermediate restraints (20) between the two end restraints (15) for limiting lateral ... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7226244 | System for overload protection for pipe or cable laying structures The invention is vessel with a tower adapted to be inclined for handling of tubulars mad of a vessel, a tower with a mast that can be inclined, a pipe reel for storing passing tubulars, a strut with a sleeve for engaging and enabling tower inclination, and a tension... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7189028 | Underwater pipe-laying A pipe-laying vessel includes an upwardly extending tower (14) assembly defining a path down which the pipe passes as a pipeline (40) is being laid by the vessel, and a lower guide arrangement for guiding the pipeline after it has passed down the tower... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7178708 | Longitudinal load varying device for elongate members A tensioner for deploying a member such as a pipe or cable, such as a sub-sea cable deployed from a ship, comprises an endless track and drive means for driving the track. The track includes a plurality of traction elements mounted thereon for movement with the trac... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7073592 | Jacking frame for coiled tubing operations A modular work system permits Rig Up time to be substantially reduced by reducing the number of crane lifts required to offload equipment for a transport boat or vehicle. This is achieved by developing transport skids capable of holding multiple system components. T... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7029206 | Reel type pipeline laying ship and method A pipeline laying ship and an improved method of laying a pipeline in a marine environment is disclosed. The pipeline laying ship is a dynamically positioned barge or self-propelled dynamically positioned vessel with a hull having a deck area that supports a pair of... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7004680 | Temporary support assembly and method of supporting a flexible line A support assembly for a flexible line comprises a hanger to suspend the flexible line from an offshore oil rig without subjecting the line to a bending stress adjacent the support assembly, a frame supporting the hanger, and a connector coupled to the frame to remo... | 02/28/2006 |
| 6968899 | Drilling-workover vessel having a drill string extending through at least one swivel A vessel (1) comprises a rotatable turret (14) and a supporting structure (3) over or on the turret for supporting a swivel (5). The swivel comprising an inner and an outer ring (21, 21′; 22, 22′) which can rotate with respect ... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6957929 | Single and dual reel flying lead deployment apparatus The flying lead deployment apparatus with one reel assembly is made of a frame assembly; a reel assembly with flying lead disposed in the frame assembly adapted to rotate to distribute the flying lead; a first ROV-flying lead interface connected to the frame assembl... | 10/25/2005 |
| 6926084 | Apparatus for transferring hydrocarbons from a subsea source to a vessel An apparatus for transferring hydrocarbons from a subsea source to a vessel, wherein the risers are suspended from a rotating body and communicate with a swivel unit including a number of swivel rings having outlets connected to a pipe system on the vessel. The appa... | 08/09/2005 |
| 6910830 | Method for pipelaying from a coil to the sea bed, controlling thermal expansion A method for laying a pipeline on the sea bed from a lay barge in order to achieve controlled thermal expansion, comprises the following steps: Feeding out of the pipeline having a radius of initial residual curvature from a pipeline reel, preferably via a stinger t... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6796742 | Apparatus for the connection and laying of the successive parts of an offshore supply line from a vessel and applications thereof A device for laying submarine pipeline from a vessel at sea. The device has a support or laying tower that can be inclined in a variable manner. The device has a workstation for assembling the successive parts of an offshore pipeline with the workstation attached to... | 09/28/2004 |
| 6761506 | Pipe lay system with tension compensator A pipe lay vessel with a reel for carrying a length of pipe and first drive part for controlling rotation of the reel. A substantially vertical guide structure includes at its upper end a deflection member for deflecting the pipe from a first trajectory extending be... | 07/13/2004 |
| 6733208 | Reel type pipeline laying ship and method A pipeline laying ship and an improved method of laying a pipeline in a marine environment is disclosed. The pipeline laying ship is a dynamically positioned barge or self-propelled dynamically positioned vessel with a hull having a deck area that supports a pair of... | 05/11/2004 |
| 6702519 | Reel type pipeline laying ship and method A pipeline laying ship and an improved method of laying a pipeline in a marine environment is disclosed. The pipeline laying ship is a dynamically positioned barge or self-propelled dynamically positioned vessel with a hull having a deck area that support... | 03/09/2004 |
| 6685393 | Method for installing an undersea catenary riser A method for launching a steel catenary riser (SCR) from the seabed to the surface comprising three stages. During the first stage, joints are continually welded to the metal pipe resting on the seabed to form the length of the steel catenary riser (SCR) ... | 02/03/2004 |
| 6588980 | Underwater cable deployment system and method An underwater cable deployment system includes a series of cables, pre-wound on a set of reels, disposed upon a pallet and connected to a distribution hub on the pallet. The pallet is lowered to the ocean floor and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is als... | 07/08/2003 |
| 6588981 | Pipe handling apparatus A pipe handling apparatus for laying elongate articles in deep waters includes a tiltable pipe handling structure housing a traveling clamp for holding and/or paying out under tension the elongate article and a fixed clamp. The traveling clamp is driven v... | 07/08/2003 |
| 6554538 | Reel type pipeline laying ship and method A pipeline laying ship and an improved method of laying a pipeline in a marine environment is disclosed. The pipeline laying ship is a dynamically positioned barge or self-propelled dynamically positioned vessel with a hull having a deck area that support... | 04/29/2003 |
| 6540440 | Method and means for storing and/or transporting an elongated tube or cable Method for preparing an elongated object (22) having a relatively high bending stiffness, such as an elongated tube or cable, before storing and/or transporting object, wherein a) the elongated object is provided with sufficient buoyancy capacity to enabl... | 04/01/2003 |
| 6386290 | System for accessing oil wells with compliant guide and coiled tubing The disclosure describes a spoolable compliant guide, a system including a spoolable compliant guide and injector and methods for using the compliant guide, where the guide is designed to connect at one end to the injector and at its other end to a remote... | 05/14/2002 |
| 6371694 | Vessel for laying rigid pipes at great depth A vessel for laying rigid tubular pipes has two vertically upright wheels for storing tubular pipe which is wound with plastic deformation. An inclinable laying davit is arranged approximately above a moon pool. An arched chute deflects the pipe at the to... | 04/16/2002 |
| 6361250 | Device and method for installing pipes at very great depths A device for laying flexible pipes from the moon pool of a laying vessel comprises an inclinable tower arranged in and essentially a great height above the level of the moon pool, designed to place therein a certain length of pipe to be laid, and two memb... | 03/26/2002 |
| 6328502 | Horizontal reel barge An apparatus for laying deep water sub sea pipelines either by means of reeled pipe or conventional pipelay ("stock on") is disclosed. The vessel is equipped with a dynamic positioning system that is integrated into the pipelay control system. Both method... | 12/11/2001 |
| 6276456 | Riser system for sub-sea wells and method of operation A riser system connecting a oil or gas well head and a surface vessel comprises a first riser section maintained substantially vertically under tension, attached for example by a tension cable to a constant load tensioner means mounted on the vessel, and ... | 08/21/2001 |
| 6120212 | Marine pipelaying and handling of rigid pipelines A support elelment (12) for supporting a rigid pipeline (10) during plastic bending of the pipeline has a transverse cross-sectional configuration such that, in use, a pipeline supported by the support element contacts said support element is at least fir... | 09/19/2000 |
| 6089489 | Pipeline storage A storage system for storing continuous lengths of rigid pipe, particularly for storage of pipe prior to the spooling of the pipe onto the pipe storage reel of a marine pipelay vessel. The system comprises a loop of rail track with a plurality of rail bog... | 07/18/2000 |
| 5718538 | Vertical reel pipe laying vessel A vertical reel pipelaying vessel having a vertical pipe storage reel rotatably positioned aft of midship and a vertical aligner wheel positioned forward of the reel. A guide means includes supports for the aligner wheel on the vessel to permit rotational... | 02/17/1998 |
| 5711638 | System for deploying cable having nodes into a fluid medium and a blowout preventer The system for deploying cable having nodes according to the present invention includes a tubular member, first and second restrictors, and a controller. The cable having nodes travels through the tubular member from a cable supply point to a deployed poi... | 01/27/1998 |
| 5630678 | Apparatus for use in laying an elongated article An apparatus for laying out a cable comprising a frame structure through which the cable is moved. The apparatus has a top side cable guiding means which is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis of the frame structure.... | 05/20/1997 |
| 5590915 | Pipelay method and devices A reel pipelay vessel is used to lay a first pipeline (6) and a second pipeline (7) subsequently. The second pipeline (7) is spooled on top of the first pipeline (6) at a shore base by use of transition joint (11) secured to the trailing end of the first ... | 01/07/1997 |
| 5580187 | Apparatus for laying and/or retrieving elongate flexible elements Apparatus for laying and/or retrieving elongate flexible elements, such as pipes and cables having accessories at spaced intervals, is mounted on a floating vessel such as a barge an comprises two self powered conveyors pivotally connected together throug... | 12/03/1996 |
| 5573353 | Vertical reel pipe laying vessel A vertical reel pipelaying vessel having a vertical pipe storage reel rotatably positioned aft of midship and a vertical aligner wheel positioned forward of the reel. A guide means includes supports for the aligner wheel on the vessel to permit rotational... | 11/12/1996 |
| 5533834 | Pipelay stinger A reel pipelaying vessel includes pipe conditioning apparatus at its stern. The pipe conditioning apparatus includes a radius control device for imparting a substantially uniform curve to the pipe after it is unspooled from the reel, straightening apparat... | 07/09/1996 |
| 5527134 | Pipelaying vessel A reel pipelaying vessel includes pipe conditioning apparatus located at its stern. The pipe conditioning apparatus includes radius control apparatus for imparting a substantially uniform curve to the pipe after it is unspooled from the reel, straightenin... | 06/18/1996 |
| 5348423 | Device and process for unrolling flexible tubular conduits essentially vertically A device for laying flexible tubular conduits from a floating support comprises rigid accessories the outer diameter of which is greater than the outer diameter of the conduit. It comprises main, linear winch-type tensioning means (6) for normal lowering ... | 09/20/1994 |
| 5346333 | Process for laying flexible tubular conduits using a plurality of ships A process for laying flexible conduits on an ocean floor by continuous unrolling of the conduit at a laying site from at least one supply ship to a laying ship, wherein the flexible conduit is gradually transferred from the supply ship to a storage means ... | 09/13/1994 |
| 5240351 | Hydrodynamic cable deployment system A hydrodynamic cable deployment system suitable for deploying cable from a oil on a moving underwater vessel is disclosed. The present invention provides hydrodynamic assist means for cooperation with a system for the deployment of a cable tether used for ... | 08/31/1993 |
