Patent ID: 8671864

Claim:
A radial bearing arrangement ( 2 a ) comprising, a turret ( 14 ) carried by a vessel ( 10 ), said turret ( 14 ) having an outer circumferential rail ( 38 ) secured about its outer circumference; a plurality of roller ( 104 )/bearing assembly ( 74 ) arrangements attached to said vessel ( 10 ), said roller/bearing assembly arrangements placed circumferentially about said outer circumferential rail ( 38 ) of said turret ( 14 ), said roller/bearing assembly arrangements having a circumferential space between each of said arrangements ( 104 , 74 ), with bearing assemblies ( 74 ) designed to urge associated rollers ( 104 ) into contact with said circumferential rail ( 38 ) and to limit radial movement of said vessel ( 10 ) relative to said turret ( 14 ); and a plurality of bearing pads ( 114 ) attached to said vessel ( 10 ), each bearing pad of said plurality of bearing pads ( 114 ) positioned in a circumferential space between said rollers ( 104 ), each of said bearing pads ( 114 ) arranged and designed to contact said circumferential rail ( 38 ) of said turret ( 14 ) under peak loading to further limit radial movement of said vessel ( 10 ) relative to said turret ( 14 ) and increase radial load capacity of said bearing arrangement.