US 11,754,051 B2
Floating windmill installation
Kåre Olav Krogenes, Haugesund (NO); Lars Helge Helvig, Tananger (NO); Antonie Oosterkamp, Kopervik (NO); Henning Heiberg-Andersen, Bergen (NO); and Lars Henning Helvig, Sandnes (NO)
Assigned to BLUE-WIND AS, Stavanger (NO)
Appl. No. 17/435,259
Filed by Blue-Wind AS, Stavanger (NO)
PCT Filed Mar. 5, 2020, PCT No. PCT/NO2020/050059
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 31, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/180194, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 10, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 20190299 (NO), filed on Mar. 5, 2019; and application No. 20191414 (NO), filed on Nov. 28, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0128034 A1, Apr. 28, 2022
Int. Cl. F03D 13/25 (2016.01); F03D 9/30 (2016.01); F03D 13/10 (2016.01); F03D 13/40 (2016.01)
CPC F03D 13/25 (2016.05) [F03D 9/30 (2016.05); F03D 13/10 (2016.05); F03D 13/40 (2016.05); F05B 2220/30 (2013.01); F05B 2230/50 (2013.01); F05B 2230/60 (2013.01)] 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A floating windmill installation (1, 1′, 1″), comprising:
a windmill (10, 10′) comprising a tower (14),
a floating installation (20, 20′) comprising an aperture (22) penetrating the floating installation (20, 20′) for accommodating the tower (14), and
means for raising and lowering the tower (14) up and down through the aperture (22),
wherein the tower (14) comprises a conical section (14c), and the aperture (22) comprises a mating conical portion (22c), wherein the conical section (14c) is arranged to abut the mating conical portion (22c) when the tower (14) is moved a distance up in the aperture (22) due to an upward directed force from an increase in buoyancy of the tower (14), and the floating installation (20) is affected by means for a downward directed force keeping the floating installation submerged at a first depth,
wherein the upwards directed force is equal to the downward directed force when the floating installation (20) is at a first depth and the upward directed force overcomes the downward directed force when the floating installation (20) is moved by the upward directed force of the tower (14) to a second shallower depth,
wherein said means for the downward directed force on the floating installation (20) is a mooring system (40) comprising an anchor (42), a mooring line (41) and a mooring weight (43), wherein the mooring weight (43) is connected to the mooring line (41) at a point between the anchor (42) and the floating installation (20), so that when the floating installation (20) is at a the first depth the mooring weight (43) will rest on the seafloor (4), and when the floating installation (20) is at a the second shallower depth, the mooring weight (43) will be suspended above the seafloor (4);
wherein the means for raising or lowering the tower (14) comprises pitch rack, gears and motor for providing movement.