Patent ID: 6230644
Filing Date: 2001-05-15
Classification: B63B

Abstract:
A buoyant module for securing other buoyant structures of a floating dock to a cylindrical pile fixedly mounted in a body of water, the pile having an exterior cylindrical wall and an upper segment extending substantially above the surface of the body of water, the module comprisingan arrangement for connecting the module to the other buoyant structures,an upper deck portion and a lower buoyant portion,an interior wall arrangement forming a passage extending between bottom and top surfaces of the buoyant module, the passage including plural sides joined to form plural corners in a horizontal plane,a roller having a horizontally disposed axis at each of the corners,the sizes, geometry and locations of the passage and rollers relative to the pile being such that (a) the pile is always spaced from the sides, (b) there can be a gap between exterior cylindrical walls of all the rollers and the exterior cylindrical wall of the pile, (c) different ones of the rollers contact the upper segment of the pile at different times as the dock bobs in response to wave action of the body of water, and (d) only one of the rollers contacts the pile at a time.