1757results about "Movement controllers" patented technology

An offshore floating production, storage, and off-loading vessel has a monolithic non ship-shaped hull of polygonal configuration surrounding a central double tapered conical moon pool and contains water ballast and oil storage compartments. The exterior side walls of the hull have flat surfaces and sharp corners to cut ice sheets, resist and break ice, and move ice pressure ridges away from the structure. An adjustable water ballast system induces heave, roll, pitch and surge motions of the vessel to dynamically position and maneuver the vessel to accomplish ice cutting, breaking and moving operations. The moon pool shape and other devices on the vessel provide added virtual mass capable of increasing the natural period of the roll and heave modes, reducing dynamic amplification and resonance due to waves and vessel motion, and facilitate maneuvering the vessel. The vessel may be moored by a disconnectable turret buoy received in a support frame at the bottom of the moon pool and to which flexible well risers and mooring lines are connected.

The subject invention is a wake enhancement assembly to vary a configuration of a wake produced by the hull of a boat. The assembly preferably includes three or four fluid chambers adapted to be disposed within the hull of the boat. The fluid chambers can be filled to provide added weight in selected areas of the hull. The added weight alters how the hull rides within a body of water and as such will alter the wake of the boat. A plurality of hoses are mounted to and in fluid communication with the fluid chambers for selectively filling and draining the fluid chambers. The assembly is characterized by a manifold having an inlet and a plurality of outlets. Each of the outlets has a valve disposed in fluid communication therewith. The filling hoses are connected to the outlets such that the valves of the manifold control a flow of fluid to and from the fluid chambers independently of each other. The valves and manifold electronically and remotely control the selective filling and draining of the fluid chambers.

A load carrying structure having a selectively rigid or flexible characteristic includes a thermoplastic material (7) having a softening temperature above the operating temperature range of the load carrying structure, and a heating arrangement (8) provided to selectively heat the thermoplastic material to above its softening temperature. During normal operation, the thermoplastic material is in a rigid state and the overall load carrying structure is rigid to the prevailing loads. By activating the heating arrangement to heat the thermoplastic material to at least its softening temperature, the thermoplastic material and therewith the load carrying structure becomes flexible so that it may be deformed to a different configuration by applying a deforming load. Once the desired deformed configuration is achieved, the heating arrangement is deactivated, and the thermoplastic material is allowed to cool below its softening temperature so that it once again becomes rigid and rigidly fixes the new deformed configuration. The deforming force may be applied by any actuating mechanism, or for example by arranging shape memory alloys in connection with the thermoplastic material.

A trim tab control system adapted to adjust trim tabs to optimize the velocity of a water vessel. The trim tab control system is adapted to have a tilt sensor and a velocity sensor in communication with the microcontroller where the microcontroller records the position of the trim tabs based on trim tab adjustments that the trim tab control system initiates, as well as trim tab adjustments initiated by the helmsman of the water vessel.

A floating power generation assembly comprises at least three floating units (900) floating on a body of water, and at least three anchors (916) secured to a solid surface beneath the body of water, each of the floating units (900) being provided with a power generator, the floating units (900) being arranged substantially at the vertices of at least one equilateral triangle. Ship borne apparatus for deploying the floating units of such a power generation assembly and a novel multiple wind turbine assembly are also described.

A floating power generation assembly has at least three floating units (3400) provided with power generation means (3402, 3404) and floating in a body of water. At least one of the three floating units (3400) is a tension leg platform. The assembly also comprises first anchors secured to a surface beneath the water, and first cables (3414, 3416) connecting the buoyant body (3400) to the first anchors. Second anchors are secured to the underwater surface and connected by second cables (3412) to the floating units (3400). The floating units (3400) are arranged substantially at the vertices of at least one triangle or quadrilateral.

The invention relates to an arrangement and a method for dynamic control of the movements and course of a high-speed vessel hull (100). The arrangement (101) comprises propulsion members (102, 102') and at least one flap member (104, 104', 104'', 104'''). In this connection, the flap member is arranged so as to be capable of being brought adjustably at an angle (105) in relation to a water flow (106) relative to an aft side surface (107) of the vessel hull (100) in order in this connection to generate force components (108, 109) which act on said vessel hull (100) and on a front side (110) of the flap member (104), the flap member (104) being arranged so that the force components (108, 109) generated are directed on the one hand towards the aft side surface (107) of the vessel hull and on the other hand towards the front side (110) of the flap member (104) in the water flow (106) relative to the aft side surface (107) so as in this way to be capable of bringing about a change in the movements and / or course of the vessel hull (100). The invention is particular intended for manoeuvring vessel hulls of high-speed vessels of the type which are provided with water-jet drive, that is to say vessels with a water-free stem while in motion, but can also be applied to other types of high-speed vessels.

A floating wind turbine platform includes a floatation frame that includes at least three columns that are coupled to each other with horizontal main beams. A wind turbine tower is mounted above a tower support column to simplify the system construction and improve the structural strength. The turbine blades are coupled to a nacelle that rotates on top of the tower. The turbine's gearbox generator and other electrical gear can be mounted either traditionally in the nacelle, or lower in the tower or in the top of the tower-supporting column. The floatation frame includes a water ballasting system that pumps water between the columns to keep the tower in a vertical alignment regardless of the wind speed. Water-entrapment plates are mounted to the bottoms of the columns to minimize the rotational movement of the floatation frame due to waves.

A boat with a controllable wake, including a boat hull with a propulsion system. A wake controlling device includes first and second plates with a bottom surface which is convexly curved between their forward and rear ends, and first and second mounts secured to the port and starboard sides, respectively, of the boat transom and securing the forward ends of the plates for pivoting about axes which are behind the boat transom and generally lie parallel to the plane of the aft boat bottom adjacent the first and second mounts. Plate controls extend between the transom and the plates to adjustably pivot the plates relative to the mounts. A plurality of generally triangular fins extend from the plates at substantially right angles to the plate bottom surfaces and extend at substantially right angles from the axes. Side plates are on the lateral edges of the first and second plates.

A method and a system for controlling a marine vessel having first and second trim deflectors is disclosed. The first and second trim deflectors have a first surface having a first area and a second surface having a second area, wherein the second planar surface is coupled to the first surface. The method and system control the first and second trim deflectors to induce any of a net yawing force, a net rolling force, and a net trimming force to the marine vessel without inducing any other substantial forces to the marine vessel by controlling the first and second trim deflectors.

An offshore floating production, storage, and off-loading vessel has a hull of generally cylindrical or polygonal configuration surrounding a central double tapered conical moon pool and contains water ballast and oil and / or liquefied gas storage compartments. The exterior side walls of the polygonal hull have flat surfaces and sharp corners to cut ice sheets, resist and break ice, and move ice pressure ridges away from the structure. An adjustable water ballast system induces heave, roll, pitch and surge motions of the vessel to dynamically position and maneuver the vessel to accomplish ice cutting, breaking and moving operations. The moon pool shape and other devices on the vessel provide added virtual mass for increasing the natural period of the roll and heave modes, reducing dynamic amplification and resonance due to waves and vessel motion, and facilitate maneuvering the vessel. A disconnectable turret buoy at the bottom of the moon pool connects risers and mooring lines.

The present invention is a wake control mechanism for watercrafts comprising flat or upwardly curved wake control plate(s) which is / are connected to the stern in a variety of ways, either fixed or adjustable, such that the water passing beneath and / or beside the transom is scooped upward by the plate(s) and the watercraft is therefore pushed deeper into the water causing a larger wake. Additionally the plate(s) may have walls so that the scooped water is held above water level thus adding weight and further increasing wake size. Adjustments to the plate(s) position may be used to control the shape as well as the size of the wake.

A boat trim tab system having an automatic controller for positioning trim tabs to perform user selected preset functions or maintain previously used positions in response to real time operating conditions. The system is intended to be a stand alone system that is installed on a boat using a master control module to operate the trim tabs and a manual keypad to provide a user interface to the master control module. The system gathers real time data from a variety of onboard sources and uses the data to determine the optimal position of the trim tabs to enhance boat performance.

A motion control system for a ship has one or more sensors generating sea condition data and at least one ship control system. Analyzer software receives the sea condition data and predicts a sea condition event. Calculator software calculates one or more commands in preparation for the sea condition event. Interface software communicates the one or more commands to the at least one ship control system and the at least one ship control system implements a command in advance of the event. The at least one ship control system may comprise a ride control system having one or more motion control devices. The at least one ship control system may also comprise an auto pilot system.

A floating power generation assembly comprises at least three floating units (900) floating on a body of water, and at least three anchors (916) secured to a solid surface beneath the body of water, each of the floating units (900) being provided with power generation means, the floating units (900) being arranged substantially at the vertices of at least one equilateral triangle. The invention also provides ship-borne apparatus for deploying the floating units of such a power generation assembly and a novel multiple wind turbine assembly.

Variation in the contours of first and second compliant surfaces is produced by a compliant frame having a first resiliently variable frame element (120) having a corresponding first outer surface (122) and a first inner surface (124), and a second resiliently variable frame element (130) having a corresponding second outer surface (132) and a second inner surface (134). The first and second outer surfaces (122, 132) communicate with respective ones of the first and second compliant surfaces. A linkage element (141-144) having a predetermined resilience characteristic is coupled at a first end thereof to the first inner surface (124) and at a second end thereof to the second inner surface (134). A frame coupler (151) couples the first resiliently variable frame element (120) to a support element (150). An actuator (106) applies a force to the second resiliently variable frame element (130) with respect to the support element (150), resulting in a corresponding variation in the contour of the first and second compliant surfaces.

A recreational sport boat includes a hull, having starboard and port sides and a transom, and a pair of wake-modifying devices positioned aft of the transom. One of the wake-modifying devices is positioned on a port side of the boat's centerline and another of the wake-modifying devices is positioned on a starboard side of the boat's centerline. Each wake-modifying device includes a plate-like member and at least one downturned surface at a trailing portion of the plate-like member. Each wake-modifying device is pivotable between a non-deployed position and a deployed position about a pivot axis that is horizontal or inclined no more than about 35° from horizontal. When a wake-modifying device is in the deployed position, the downturned surface is lower than it is in the non-deployed position so as to be able to modify the boat's wake.

A boat control system includes trim tabs mounted on the lower transom of a boat, with an electric trolling motor attached to each tab. The control system controls positioning of the trim tabs within a trim range and within a troll range. If a main engine ignition switch changes from off to on while the trim tabs are within the troll range, the control system automatically moves trim tabs positions out of the troll range, and disables the trolling motors.

The invention provides a portable ship water gauge automatic detection and identification method based on machine vision. Video data of a ship water gauge in the overwater environment are used as a main research object, the machine vision and the image processing theory are used as main means, so as to detect and identify the scale of the ship water gauge and perform statistical analysis on detection results of continuous video frames, and finally, a ship draft value is obtained. According to the system, the relatively objective ship draft value can be obtained in accordance with image data, the detection results are visually displayed, the workload of ship draft detection personnel can be reduced, the measurement stability and accuracy of the ship water gauge are increased, and an objective measuring means and reference data are provided for determining ship draft.

A trim tab (18, 204) hinged (19) at the bottom edge of a boat transom (12, 179) is rotated into a position below the boat when the drive (58, 186) is in a lowest-most trim position, and is raised up, when the drive is above a selected pickup trim position. A push tube (58) connected to the motor (16) operates a push rod (49) and a trim tab (18). A push bar (96, 97) is moved by the drive, causing pieces (104, 105) to rotate trim tabs (18a). A fluidic slave cylinder (142) is operated by a master cylinder (134) or by a pump (148) responding to a position detector (150). Levers (164, 167) may be connected by a cable (155). A hydraulic master cylinder (195) is disposed on a part (186) of an outdrive that rotates for trim, its cylinder rod (200) contacting a fixed part (184), driving fluid to a slave cylinder (201) mounted on a fixed part (183) with its piston rod (202) moving a trim tab (204).

An adjustable surf wake system enhances a wake formed by a watercraft travelling through water. The system may include a flap for deflecting water traveling past the stern of the watercraft, and / or a positioner operably connected to the flap for positioning the flap relative to a longitudinal axis of the watercraft between a neutral position and an outward position. Positioning a port flap in its extended position enhances a starboard surf wake, and positioning the starboard flap in its extended position enhances a port surf wake.

A water craft having a bow and a stern including an engine of sufficient thrust to create an enlarged wake at the stern of the boat as the boat moves along the surface of a body of water.The water tight compartment is positioned to carry water below the water line and essentially astride the centerline or keel of the boat. The compartment is adapted to contain liquid water in an amount sufficient to enhance or equalize the size of the boat wake.The compartment extends from a point forward of the transom and engine, and extends to a point forward of the midpoint between the bow and the stern, and terminates short of the bow while serving to exert downward force on the bow against the water when the water craft is underway and the compartment carries water.

A multihull hydrofoil watercraft incorporates a stabilization system wherein the buoyancy of the hulls is used as a sensing and control mechanism for the hydrofoils. The use of hull buoyancy to adjust the hydrofoil lift provides for automatic control of altitude, pitch and roll, and allows the craft to accommodate varying weather and sea conditions while providing a smooth ride for passengers. The stabilization technique eliminates the need for extraneous sensing mechanisms placed in or on the water surface which are subject to fouling, damage, or disruption by localized surface disturbances.

A boat control system includes trim tabs mounted on the lower transom of a boat, with an electric trolling motor attached to each tab. A user control provides commands to control positioning of the trim tabs and operation of the motors. Steering with the motors is provided by controlling the relative speed and propeller direction of the motors. The user control includes an input for generating a return-to-center command that causes the motors to be driven at the same speed and in the same direction.

A hydrofoil unit for attaching to the stern of the hull of a boat. The unit includes a mount that mounts to the stern of the hull of the boat, a hydrofoil that is pivotally attached to the mount, a pivot assembly that pivotally attaches the hydrofoil to the mount, and apparatus for pivoting the hydrofoil relative to the mount. In one embodiment, the apparatus is automatic and includes an hydraulic cylinder that is pivotally attached to the transom of the boat and a strut that is pivotally attached to the hydraulic cylinder and the hydrofoil. In another embodiment, the apparatus is manual and includes an upper threaded rod that is pivotally attaching to the transom of the boat, a turnbuckle that is attached to the upper threaded rod, and a lower threaded rod that is attached to the turnbuckle and the hydrofoil.

A multiple trim modulation system for efficiently and simultaneously controlling multiple trim devices upon a marine vessel. The multiple trim modulation system generally includes a plurality of trim devices movably mounted to a watercraft and a controller adapted to control the plurality of trim devices. The controller includes a plurality of adjustment modes, wherein each of the plurality of adjustment modes moves the plurality of trim devices in a simultaneous manner. The plurality of trim devices either move towards a similar direction or move towards an opposing direction depending on a corresponding mode of the plurality of adjustment modes.

An elongated, annular hull of a floating offshore platform includes one or more segmented, helical strakes disposed on an outer peripheral surface of the hull to reduce vortex-induced vibrations resulting from water currents. The hull may comprise a single annular hull or a plurality of parallel, adjacent hulls. Each strake includes a plurality of generally rectangular segments extending substantially radially outward from the hull. Each of the segments includes a pair of spaced-apart radial stanchions supporting a generally rectangular frame to which a corresponding panel is attached. The panels have a radial width that is about 13 percent of the effective diameter of the hull. The segments are arranged in a spaced-apart, end-to-end relationship that defines a discontinuous, but generally helical band extending around the circumference of the hull from about 35 feet (11.7 m) below the mean water line of the hull to its lowermost end.

A Method and Apparatus for Wake Enlargement System have been disclosed. By using water pick ups that are mounted or deployable on a boat controlled filling of ballast tanks is possible without the use of pumps.