Pile guide frame coupled with rotatable arm

• US 10,494,785 B2
• Filed: 06/11/2018
• Issued: 12/03/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ship and Ocean Industries R&D Center
• Original Assignee: Ship and Ocean Industries R&D Center
• Inventors: Huang, Chun-Chia, Chung, Feng-Yeang, Ou, Chia-Chuan, Liao, Ying-Chao
• Primary Examiner(s): Oquendo, Carib A
• Application Number:
  US16/004,457
• Publication Number:
  US 20180355574A1
• Time in Patent Office: 540 Days
• CPC Class Codes: E02D 13/04 Guide devices; Guide frames as parts of the driver scaffold E02D7/16
• CPC Class Codes: E02D 7/14 Components for drivers inasmuch as not specially for a specific driver construction
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 41/08 Underwater guide bases, e.g. drilling templates; Levelling thereof

Abstract

A pile guide frame is coupled with at least one rotatable arm and includes a plurality of leveling modules for compensating for differences in height of the seabed. The rotatable arm can be rotated along a supporting frame and thereby move a pile guide module to facilitate pile-driving operations.

Claims

1. A pile guide frame coupled with at least one rotatable arm, comprising:

a supporting frame provided with at least one rail surface;

a rotation module provided at a center of the supporting frame;

at least one leveling module connected to the supporting frame;

the at least one rotatable arm, connected to the rotation module and movably in contact with the at least one rail surface; and

a pile guide module connected to each of the at least one rotatable arm;

wherein the supporting frame is provided with at least one set of at least one positioning block and at least one set of at least one locking support, the at least one set of at least one positioning block corresponds in position and number to the at least one leveling module, and so does the at least one set of at least one locking support.

2. The pile guide frame according to claim 1, wherein each of the at least one rotatable arm is provided with at least one swing clamp corresponding to the at least one locking support in each of the at least one set of at least one locking support.

3. The pile guide frame according to claim 1, wherein each of the at least one rotatable arm is connected to the rotation module through at least one locking member.

4. The pile guide frame according to claim 1, wherein each of the at least one rotatable arm is provided with a slide module comprising:

a wheel mount connected to the each of the at least one rotatable arm;

at least one wheel mounted on the wheel mount and each in contact with one of the at least one rail surface; and

at least one guide plate provided on the wheel mount and corresponding in position and number to the at least one positioning block in each of the at least one set of at least one positioning block;

wherein each of the at least one wheel is provided with at least one first actuator connected to the wheel mount and at least one damping member connected to the wheel mount.

5. The pile guide frame according to claim 4, wherein the pile guide module connected to each of the at least one rotatable arm comprises:

a first pile securing member; and

a second pile securing member fastenable to the first pile securing member through a pile securing lock;

wherein each of the first securing member and the second pile securing member is connected to the each of the at least one rotatable arm through a second actuator, and the first pile securing member and the second pile securing member are configured to be opened with respect to each other, thus forming a predetermined included angle which is controlled by the pulling/releasing actions of the second actuator therebetween.

6. The pile guide frame according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined included angle ranges from 0°

to 120°

.

7. The pile guide frame according to claim 5, wherein each said first pile securing member is provided with at least two supporting structures, and so does each said second pile securing member.

8. The pile guide frame according to claim 5, wherein the rotation module is provided with at least one third actuator, and the rotation module is a hydraulic motor.

9. The pile guide frame according to claim 8, wherein a first adjusting member is provided between each of the at least one leveling module and the supporting frame, and each of the at least one leveling module is provided with at least one fourth actuator.

10. The pile guide frame according to claim 4, wherein each said damping member is a spring-loaded shock absorber, a hydraulic shock absorber, a pneumatic shock absorber, or a combination thereof.

11. The pile guide frame according to claim 1, wherein the supporting frame is composed of at least one ring-shaped frame, and a center of the supporting frame is the center of gravity of the at least one ring-shaped frame.