US 11,754,048 B2
Tower erection system
Farzad Azizi, Sugarland, TX (US); Travis James Miller, Cypress, TX (US); Anthony Jason Harms, Hockley, TX (US); and Robert Benjamin Donnally, Houston, TX (US)
Assigned to NATIONAL OILWELL VARCO, L.P., Houston, TX (US)
Filed by NATIONAL OILWELL VARCO, L.P., Houston, TX (US)
Filed on Mar. 25, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/212,578.
Prior Publication US 2022/0307478 A1, Sep. 29, 2022
Int. Cl. F03D 13/20 (2016.01); B66C 23/18 (2006.01); E04H 12/34 (2006.01)
CPC F03D 13/20 (2016.05) [B66C 23/185 (2013.01); E04H 12/342 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of assembling a wind tower, the method comprising:
coupling a load-sharing (LS) support member to an upper-most tower section of a partially assembled tower stack of the wind tower, the LS support member extending from a first end to a second end, wherein the first end is coupled to a tower crane and the second end is coupled to the upper-most tower section of the partially assembled tower stack, wherein the LS support member is suspended from the upper-most tower section via tension members, wherein a first set of connection points between the LS support member and the tension members is below a second set of connection points between the upper-most tower section and the tension members; and
lifting a subsequent tower section to be coupled to the partially assembled tower stack,
wherein, during lifting, a portion of vertical load experienced by the tower crane during lifting is transferred to the partially assembled tower stack via the LS support member.