AU613460B2

AU613460B2 - Frame for pearling net panel

Info

Publication number: AU613460B2
Application number: AU31536/89A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Christine Ventouras; Jerry George Ventouras
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-03-18
Filing date: 1989-03-20
Publication date: 1991-08-01
Anticipated expiration: 2009-03-20
Also published as: AU3153689A

Description

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRAL Patents Act 1952 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (Original) FOR OFFICE USE

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1*' Application Number: PI7337 Class Lodged: 18 March, 1988 Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority: Related Art: Int. Class TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT Name of Applicants: JERRY GEORGE VENTOURAS and CHRISTINE VENTOURAS Address of Applicants: both of Unit 3, 7 Pritchard Street, O'Connor, in the State of Western Australia, Commonwealth of Australia.

Actual Inventors: POO0 1 565 2 0 0 3 0 C-/ Address for Service:- JERRY GEORGE VENTOURAS and CHRISTINE VENTOURAS Wray Associates Primary Industry House 239 Adelaide Terrace Perth Western Australia 6000.

Complete Specification for the invention entitled: "Frame for Pearling Net Panel" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:- 1 2 THIS INVENTION relates to a frame for a pearling net panel and a method of forming the same.

In the farming of cultured pearls, a pearl shell which contains the live oyster is usually deposited within a pocket provided within a net which is attached to a substantially rigid frame. The frame and net combine to form a panel which usually has a series of pockets for supporting a multitude of oyster shells therein.

Different panels can be provided with pockets of varying 10 sizes to accommodate different sizes of oyster shell dependent upon the particular stage of the farming o operation. Initially, very small oysters 'are housed .within transportation panels having correspondingly small pockets and are used to hold the oyster shells during transport from their natural environment to the farming area. Upon residence at the farm, the oyster shells are s placed into holding panels which are generally provided S with a larger sized pocket to allow growth of the oyster shell. When the oyster shells have outgrown the holding 20 panels, they are transferred into growing panels having a larger size pocket again, to accommodate relativr"y large size oyster shells.

In some circumstances, the panels may be stored under the ocean for a period of two to four years and during handling may be subjected to awkward stresses.

Accordingly, it is necessary for the frame of the panels to be constructed in such a manner as to accommodate these stresses which generally arise from flexure of the panel during handling.

In recent times, cost cutting measures in reducing production costs of panels and particularly the frames therefor have led to the production of mechanically inferior frames. These frames generally comprise an outer 3 enclosed rectangular virgulate member and a series of cross virgulate members, whereby the cross virgulate members are simply welded at their ends to the opposing sides of the outer enclosed member. In this arrangement, the welds themselves are subject to stresses upon flexure of the panel rather than the frame of the panel itself and hence the welds are subject to fracture when the panel is exposed to heavy handling.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to 10 provide a frame for a pearling net panel which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and which tolerates flexure to a better degree than was the case with previous frame designs.

*0 In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a frame for a pearling net comprising an outer enclosed virgulate portion and a cross virgulate portion interconnecting opposite sides of said closed virgulate portion, said cross virgulate portion being curved at each end thereof so as to define a curved portion and a transversely extending portion contiguous with said cross virgulate portion at each end thereof for fixedly attaching said cross virgulate portion to said enclosed virgulate portion at one or more specific points of attachment along said transversely extending portion.

In this manner, the curved portion can be sufficiently curved and the point of fixed attachment of the transversely extending can be is sufficiently spaced from the curved portion to enable stresses resulting from flexure of the frame to be predominantly accommodated by the curved portion rather than the point of fixed attachment.

4 Preferably, the frame is formed from a unitary piece of virgulate material such as mild steel or the like.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of forming a frame for a pearling net comprising:obtaining a length of virgulate material; bending said material in a convolved manner to form an outer enclosed virgulate portion; bending the remainder of said material in a convolved S, 10 manner to form one or more cross virgulate portions extending across opposite sides of said enclosed virgulate portion, so that said cross virgulate portions are curved at each end thereof to define a curved portion and a transversely extending portion and a transversely extending portion contiguous therewith at each end of said cross virgulate *0 portions; and fixedly attaching said transversely extending portions to said enclosed virgulate portion, wherein in the case of there being more than one cross virgulate portion adjacent cross virgulate portions are interconnected and spaced apart by adjoining transversely extending portions at one end or the other thereof.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of forming a frame for a pearling net comprising:obtaining a length of virgulate material; bending said material in a convolved manner so that the opposing ends of said material meet; fixedly adjoining the opposing ends of said material to form an enclosed virgulate portion; 5 obtaining a further length of virgulate material; bending said further material in a convolved manner so that the opposing ends of said further material meet and a pair of cross virgulate portions for extending across opposite sides of said enclosed virgulate portion are formed, so that said cross virgulate portions are curved at each end thereof to define a curved portion and a transversely extending portion contiguous therewith at each end of said 10 cross virgulate portions and said cross virgulate portions are spaced apart by interconnected transversely extending portions at one end of said virgulate portions; fixedly adjoining the opposing meeting ends of said further material to form an inner enclosed virgulate portion; and fixedly attaching said transversely extending portions of said inner enclosed virgulate portion to 0 opposite sides of said outer enclosed virgulate portion.

20 The invention will be better understood in the light of the following description of two specific embodiments.

The description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:o. Fig. 1 is a plan view of the frame in accordance with the first embodiment; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the frame in accordance with the second embodiment; and Fig. 3 is a close up fragmentary view showing the connection of a cross member to an outer member.

The first embodiment is directed towards a frame for a pearling net panel which generally comprises netting 11 tied to a rectangular frame 13 in such a manner as to I I 6 define a series of pockets (not shown) within the confines of the frame and netting.

The frame 13 is constructed from a single piece of virgulate material such as 5mm diameter mild steel coated with suitable protective material such as polythene which has been stabilised against ultraviolet radiation to enable immersion within sea water.

The frame is essentially arranged into two parts, one part comprising an outer enclosed virgulate portion 15 and the 10 other part comprising a series of cross virgulate portions *17.

The forming of the frame is such that the cross members have opposing curved ends which comprise a curved portion 21 contiguous with the rectilineal extent 23 of the cross o virgulate portion and a transversely extending portion contiguous with the curved portion 21, as shown at Fig. 3 of the drawings.

*9 00 0 0 o The frame material is formed in a series of convoluted right angle bends so that different parts of the virgulate 20 member define the outer enclosed virgulate portion 15 and a pair of cross virgulate portions 17, as shown at Fig. 1 of the drawings. Consequently the cross virgulate portions 17 are fixedly attached to the adjoining opposing sides of the outer closed virgulate portion by a series of welds 19 between the transversely extending portion 25 and the adjoining portion 27 of the outer enclosed virgulate portion The welds 19 are sufficiently spaced from the curved portion 21 to enable stresses resulting from flexure of the frame to be predominantly accommodated by the curved portion 21 rather than at the point of fixed attachment of S-7the weld 19. In the present embodiment, it is found that a sufficient spacing between the innermost weld 19a as shown at Fig. 3, and the rectilineal extent 23 of the cross virgulate portion is anywhere from 15 to millimetres or more, depending upon the resiliency of the mild steel.

Thus, in the present embodiment, the resultant frame is of relatively considerable strength due to the provision of the cross virgulate portions 17 and the fact that these 10 are formed integrally and contiguously as part of the frame member. Furthermore, the frame has enhanced *resiliency to flexure by locating the welds away from the curved portions of the cross virgulate portions so as to allow the curved portions to take up flexing stresses 0 rather than rely upon the strength of the weld itself to oppose the same.

The preferred method of forming the frame involves firstly obtaining a length of virgulate material. This material .is then bent in convolved manner so as to conform an outer enclosed virgulate portion of the kind previously described. The remainder of the material is then bent in a convolved manner to form a series of cross virgulate portions extending across opposite sides of the enclosed virgulate portion so that the cross virgulate portions occur at each end thereof to define a curved portion and a transversely extending portion contiguous therewith at each end of the cross virgulate portions. Finally, the transversely extending portions are fixedly attached to the opposite sides of the enclosed virgulate portion whereby adjacent cross virgulate portions are interconnected and spaced apart by adjoining transversely ?extended portions at one end or the other thereof.

8 It should be appreciated that the frame could also be formed by performing the aforementioned method in reverse.

That is, the cross virgulate portions of the frame may be formed first by bending the material in a convulated manner, and subsequently the outer enclosed virgulate portion is formed by bending the material in a convulated manner to enclose the cross virgulate members, whereupon the transversely extending portions of the cross virgulate members may be fixedly attached to the opposing sides of 10 the outer enclosed virgulate member.

The second embodiment is substantially similar to the preceding embodiment whereby a frame for a pearling net panel is provided, however, in the present embodiment, the frame is formed from two separate pieces of material as opposed to a single piece of material.

1 As shown at Fig. 2 of the drawings, the frame 31 comprises an outer enclosed rectangular virgulate portion 33 and a rectangular inner closed virgulate portion 35. The inner enclosed virgulate portion 35 is arranged so that its longitudinal extent is disposed transversely to the longitudinal extent of the outer enclosed virgulate portion 33, thereby defining a series of cross virgulate portions 37.

The inner enclosed virgulate portion is welded to the opposing sides of the outer enclosed virgulate portion in a similar manner to the cross virgulate portions of the preceding embodiment. Moreover, the welds are made between the transversely extending portions 39 of the cross virgulate portion and the corresponding sides of the outer enclosed virgulate portion 33 at locations sufficiently spaced from the curved portion 21 of. the cross virgulate portions 37 to enable stresses resulting from flexure of the frame to be predominantly accommodated -9 by the .urved portion rather than at the point of fixed attachment of the weld.

Accordingly, the present embodiment achieves a similar advantage in the strength and resiliency of the frame as with the preceding embodiment, although at the cost of requiring butt joints to form the respective enclosed virgulate portions which may detract from the strength of the frare. Additionally, frame construction is a little more complex than in the previous embodiment due to the 10 requirement of separate inner and outer components.

The preferred method of forming the frame in accordance with the present embodiment involves obtaining a first length of virgulate material and bending this material in a convolved manner so that the opposing ends of the material meet. These opposing ends are then fixedly adjoined to each other to form the enclosed virgulate portion. Next a further length of virgulate material is obtained and is bent in a similar convolved manner so that the opposing ends of the further material meet.

Furthermore, the further material is bent in such a manner so that a pair of cross virgulate portions for extending across opposite sides of the enclosed virgulate portion formed, whereby the cross virgulate portions are curved at each end thereof to define a curved portion in the transversely extending portion contiguous therewith at each end of the cross virgulate portions. These cross virgulate portions are spaced apart by interconnected transversely extending portions at one end of the cross virgulate portions. The opposing meeting ends of the further material are then affixedly adjoined to each other to form an inner enclosed virgulate portion. This inner enclosed virgulate portion is then fixedly attached to the outer enclosed virgulate portion by attaching the transversely extending portions of the inner enclosed virgulate portion to opposite sides of the outer enclosed virgulate portion.

It should be appreciated that the scope of the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments herein described.

aI r :sees,.

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Claims

1. A frame for a pearling net comprising an outer enclosed virgulate portion and a cross virgulate portion interconnecting opposite sides of said enclosed virgulate portion, said cross virgulate portion being curved at each end thereof so as to define a curved portion and a transversely extending portion contiguous therewith at each end/ thereof for fixedly attaching said cross virgulate portion to said enclosed virgulate portion at one or more specific points of attachment along said 4* transversely extending portion. 4**

2. A frame as claimed at claim 1, wherein said enclosed virgulate portion and said cross virgulate portion are integrally formed from a unitary piece of partly resilient virgulate material.

3. A frame as claimed at claim 2, wherein a series of cross virgulate portions are provided in succession being spaced apart and interconnected by adjoining transversely extending portions thereof at one or the other ends of said cross virgulate portions. 0"

4. A frame as claimed at claim 1, wherein said enclosed virgulate portion and said cross virgulate portion are formed from separate pieces of partly resilient virgulate material.

A frame as claimed at claim 4, wherein a pair of cross virgulate portions are provided which are interconnected by said transversely extending portions thereof to form an inner enclosed cross virgulate portion which is fixedly attached to said outer enclosed virgulate portion. ij 12

6. A frame as claimed at any of the preceding claims, wherein said outer enclosed virgulate portion is substantially rectangular and said cross virgulate portions are arranged in a rectilinear manner therewith.

7. A frame substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings where appropriate.

8. A method of forming a frame for a pearling net S comprising:- obtaining a length of virgulate material :o bending said material in a convolved manner to form an outer enclosed virgulate portion; *bending the remainder of said mL-terial in a convolved manner to form one or more cross virgulate portions extending across opposite sides of said enclosed S• virgulate portion, so that said cross virgulate portions are curved at each end thereof to define a curved portion and a transversely extending portion 46 contiguous therewith at each end of said cross virgulate portions; and fixedly attaching said transversely extendin portions to said enclosed virgulate portion, wherein Sa" in the case of there being more than one cross virgulate portion adjacent cross virgulate portions are interconnected and spaced apart by adjoining transversely extending portions at one end or the other thereof.

S9. A method of forming a frame for a pearling net comprising:- obtaining a length of virgulate material bending said material in a convolved manner so that the opposing ends of said material meet; 13 fixedly adjoining the opposing ends of said material to form an enclosed virgulate portion; obtaining a further length of virgulate material; bending said further material in a convolved manner so that the opposing ends of said further material meet and a pair of cross virgulate portions for extending across opposite sides of said enclosed virgulate portion are formed, so that said cross virgulate portions are curved at each end thereof to a define a curved portion and a transversely extending portion contiguous therewith at each end of said cross virgulate portions and said cross virgulate d* portions are spaced apart by interconnected •transversely extending portions at one end of said cross virgulate portions; fixedly adjoining the opposing meeting ends of said further material to form an inner enclosed virgulate portion; and r fixedly attaching said transversely extending portions of said inner enclosed virgulate portion to S* opposite sides of said outer enclosed virgulate portion.

10. A method of forming a frame for a pearling net Ssubstantially as herein described. Dated this twentieth day of March, 1989 JERRY GEORGE VENTOURAS and AND CHRISTINE VENTOURAS Applicants WRAY ASSOCIATES Perth, Western Australia, Patet Attorneys for the Applicants.