ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,252,858, issued on March 18, was assigned to SUBSEA 7 (US) LLC (Houston).
"Seabed foundations" was invented by Richard Haun (Richmond, Texas).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A subsea foundation comprises at least one mudmat having a top panel and a skirt depending from the top panel to be embedded into seabed soil. At least one auxiliary plate is supported by the mudmat, the plate being deployable downwardly like a guillotine blade from a raised, retracted position in which the plate is held above a lower edge of the skirt into a lowered, deployed position in which the plate extends beneath the lower edge of the skirt to be embedded furth...