Patent ID: 6164233
Filing Date: 2000-12-26
Classification: B63B

Abstract:
An offshore system which includes a vessel hull that floats in a sea and that can weathervane and that forms a vertical opening, a turret that lies in said opening, a mooring structure that extends from said turret to the seafloor, and a bearing structure that rotatably supports said turret on said vessel and that includes an upper bearing assembly, wherein:said upper bearing assembly includes upper and lower bearing parts that have bearing surfaces that substantially face each other, with the upper bearing part connected to said turret and the lower bearing part connected to said hull;a plurality of individual bearing devices that lie between said upper and lower bearing surfaces, with each bearing device having upper and lower elements with upper and lower faces lying respectively against said upper and lower bearing surfaces, with said elements being slidable with respect to at least one of said bearing surfaces, and with said upper and lower elements being biased apart but being largely vertically moveable relative to each other;each of said bearing devices has a diameter at least as great as its height as measured between said upper and lower faces, with said bearing devices each occupying a majority of the vertical distance between said bearing surfaces of said upper and lower parts, at the locations of said bearing devices and between adjacent ones of said bearing devices.