Patents by Inventor Timothy O. Weaver

Timothy O. Weaver has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 4696603
    Abstract: A complaint offshore platform in which the primary restoring force to lateral displacement is established by flex piles driven into the seafloor and fixedly secured to the platform legs a preselected distance above the seafloor. The platform includes a substantially rigid space-frame structure extending from the ocean bottom to a position above the ocean surface. A drilling and production deck is secured atop the space-frame structure. Shear piles extend through the base of the space-frame structure to prevent lateral displacement of the base while permitting the space-frame structure to pivot about its base. As the platform sways about its base in response to environmental forces, the flex piles establish a vertical couple at the location at which they are attached to the space frame structure. This couple resists movement of the platform away from a vertical orientation. In the preferred embodiment, the flex piles are secured to the platform at or near one-half the total height of the space-frame structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 1985
    Date of Patent: September 29, 1987
    Assignee: Exxon Production Research Company
    Inventors: Mark A. Danaczko, Lyle D. Finn, M. Sidney Glasscock, Michael P. Piazza, Kenneth M. Steele, Timothy O. Weaver