AU621418B2 - Demountable hydrophone cable connector - Google Patents

Description

AOOO764 18/I/388 DESIGNS

SUB-OI-+H

18 O0V 1988 SOUTH AUSTRALIA

I

rtd i i al cr 37563 JCS:PFB COMMONWEALTH OF AUf A 1 4 Fol 18 Patents Act 1952-1969 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

0 FOR OFFICE USE: Application Number: Lodged: Complete Application No: Specification Lodged: Published: Priority: Class Int. Class 0 a 0 0 00 1 o co Related Art: TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT 00 00 o o o o Name of Applicant: Address of Applicant: PLFSSEY AUSTRALIA PTY. LIMITED FARADAY PARK, RAILWAY ROAD, MEADOWBANK, STATE OF NEW SOUTH WALES, COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA NICHOLAS JEROME REED Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Collison Co. 117 King William Street, Adelaide, SOUTH AUSTRALIA Complete Specification for the invention entitled: DEMOUNTABLE HYDROPHONE CABLE CONNECTOR The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 3. 7/ 1. 1 89 PATENT TRADE MARKS DESIGNS SUB.OFFICE 17 NOV 1989 SOUTH AUSTRALIA a t cb t t t e et to i a u ll f s la This invention relates to a demountable hydrophone streamer cable connector.

Hydrophone cables are well known in the art and usually comprise an elongated cable adapted to be buoyant in the medium in which it is submerged and arranged to transmit signals from sensor means such as hydrophones along the cable to the towing end. These are usually arranged to act as streamers when pulled through h supporting fluid in which they are 1 0 buoyant.

Such cables require to be of effective streamlined form and jacketed to allow correct towing and usually are of modular form so that the necessity arises of joining the modules together.

Because of their length, such cables require special strength members positioned longitudinally in the cable to transmit the load from the towing end "g along the length of a cable, and it is important therefore that any connector Co1 am between modules correctly transfer the load along the strength members of 20 each module.

o %n Reference is made to the specification of United States Letters Patent No.

o 3,376,948 of D.E. Morrow, assigned to Texas Instruments Incorporated, which refers to the state of the art in 1968 and relates to streamer couplers in :o 25 which strength members are joined to transmit the stress longitudinally along the streamr and includes data bearer members disposed axially in such a streamer.

Reference is also made to the specification of two other United States Patents, Nos. 3,812,455 and 4,351.036 dated respectively "1974 and 1982 to show the ongoing state of te art and being involved with slmilar objects, namely to effectively transmit towing stress along the streamer strength members and to provide coupling means for the signal dacta bearer members, the coupling means being demountable to allow ready 3 5 interconnection of adjacent modular sections of such streamer cables.

The object of the present invention is to provide an effective demountable connector for modular hydrophone cables which is an improvement on those RAI tramr 2 previously known, which will allow the connection to be made without interruption to the streamlined form of the cable, will transfer the load along strength members through the demountable connector, and will allow microelectrical connectors to be used for coupling the signal transmission means which exiend along the length of the streamer cable.

The object is achieved by providing a demountable hydrophone cable connuctor for interconnecting two parts of a hydrophone cable, said connector comprising a pair of members adapted to be interconnected with 1 0 one another and each adapted to be connected to one of the two parts of the cable, said connector characterised by; a hollow socket member, a hollow spigot member engageable in the hollow socket member, a longitudinally split detachable joining sleeve to axially lockably engage the hollow socket member and the hollow spigot member to lock the said members together, 1 5 terminal hollow bosses on the hollow socket member and the hollow spigot member to engage strength member terminator units whereby to transmit stress between the hollow socket member through the split detachable joining sleeve to the hollow spigot member and vice versa, and sealing mears between the hollow socket member and the hollow spigot member to 20 prevent ingress of fluids to the hollow of the hollow socket member and the S° hollow in the hollow spigot member.

It is a further object to allow disconnection of the connector including the data bearer connections by movement in the axial direction of the streamer o' 25 cable.

0* 0 The actual construction of the device can of course take various forms but to enable the nature to be fully appreciated an embodiment thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: j FIG. '1 shows a longitudinal central section in which two modules are joined together by the demountable connector of this invention, the ends of the cable modules being shown in dotted outiine only.

FIG. 2 is a transverse section, line 2-2 of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 shows a longitudinal section of the principal members of the connector in disassembled position, and T (I J1. 3 FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the socket member and the spigot member about to be joined, showing the rotational indexing means.

The demountable connector comprises a socket member 1 and a spigot member 2 interengageable one with the other and provided with "O0" rings 3 at the interengaging faces to prevent the inflow of fluids into the hollows 4 of the socket member 1 and the spigot member 2. The hollow, are adapted to contain the ends of data bearer members which terminate in micro-electrical connector 1 0 means (not shown) disposed within the hollow 4 of the socket member 1 and the spigot member 2.

The data bearer members (not shown) enter the hollow 4 through the hollows outwardly of the hollow 4.

00 0 00 At the outer ends of the socket member 1 and the spigot member 2 are 0 extending threaded hollow bosses 7 which are arranged to engage such as by So°' threading within hollow potted termination members 8 to transmit the load 0 o 0 0:o imposed by strength members 9 from the potted termination members to 20 respectively the socket member 1 and the spigot member 2. The hollows extend through the hollow bosses 7.

o'400 The socket member 1 and the spigot member 2 are provided with expanded 0o portions 10 between the actual socket and spigot and the sleeves which serve to engage the cable or streamer jackets 11 and these expanded portions have annular recesses 12 formed into them into which the jackets 11 of the cables can be pulled by jacket clamps 13, the space outside of the jacket clamp 13 having overpotting means 14 applied to streamline this area with the cable jacket.

The socket member 1 and the spigot member 2 are joined by a joining sleeve which is split longitudinally to allow it to be clamped around the outside of the socket member 1 and the spigot member 2, but this detachable joining sleeve 15 has at its two ends inwardly projecting flanges 16 which are engaged in annular recesses 17 formed respectively in the socket member 1 and the 'pigot member 2 outwardly of the junction between these two members so that, 4 when engaged, the socket member 1 and spigot member 2 will be locked firmly together axially and able to withstand any load applied axially along the cable.

Retaining membbrs 18 which may be in the nature of screws extend through the detachable joining sleeve 15 to project into and engage respectively threaded sockets 19 and 20 in the socket member 1 and the spigot member 2, the detachable joining sleeve matching in diameter the cable or streamer jacket which is attached to the socket member 1 and the spigot member 2 by the jacket clamp so that when the space adjacent the jacket clamp 13 is potted, a smooth 1 0 transition exists from the cable or streamer jacket 11 to the detachable joining sleeve 15 of the connector.

The potted termination members 8 can be of any approved construction but it o will be realized that as these engage and are locked to the threaded hollow bosses 7 projecting from the socket member 1 and the spigot member 2, the load is transmitted directly from the strength members 9 on the one side through 0 o" the socket member 1 and detachable joining sleeve 15 and the spigot member o° 0 2 on the other side to the potted termination member at that side without imposing any load on the data bearer members passing through the join, these transmission means being protected, as well as the micro-electrical connector disposed in the hollow 4 of the spigot member 2, from the ingress of fluids into that area by the rings 3 disposed between the engaging portions of the socket member 1 and the spigot member 2. 4 To rotationally index the hollow socket member 1 and the hollow spigot member o 2 the spigot member has a register groove 21 which is engaged by a tongue 22 as the members are pushed together.

0 oo" 0oo 0 0 From the foregoing it will be realized that a demountable hydrophone cable S3'00 connector according to this invention allows the manufactured modular hydrophone cables which have operational advantages including firstly, reduced cost of repair, secondly, field upgrading of sensor sections to permit optimisation of acoustic performance for specific applications and thirdly, the use of the same sensor section with 'fferent tow sections which are selected for particular operations.

i- I-a-- The invention provides a high efficiency termination of strain members and provides a jacket termination and seal with high integrity in terms of tensile a:id bending loads, watertightness and reliable electrical contact.

It permits simple adaption to different strain member sizes.

The unit is sufficiently low in mass to permit incorporation in neutral buoyancy streamers and provides a join of the same diameter as the cable with advantages in terms of acoustic performance and mechanical handling.

It is easy to decouple and recouple in the field with minimum tooling and is capable of carrying high longitudinal loads as it is necessary only to remove the joining sleeve 15 to allow the socket member 1 and spigot member 2 to be drawn apart, this also disconnecting the micro-electrical connector as its pins are in line with the axis of the cable and connector.

a a It provides positive mechanical location of the cable modules without imposing 0o 0" stress on the data bearer members and permits intermediate coupling of 0 instrumented canisters between the main sections of the cable, It has a long operational life and is adaptable to a range of cable diameters.

It is an advantage that it can be constructed using standard commercial 0° electrical connection components.

o 00 A further advantage is that the cable termination sleeves which carry the loads from high modular strain members enables the sleeves to be tailored to suit different strain member configurations without changing the remaining components of the connector.

It will also be realized that the design facilitates cable jacket termination on the connector and provides structural and environmental integrity within a small space envelope.

6 From the above it will be seen that an improvemen! on previously known connectors for modular hydrophone cables results, the invention providing a demountable connector which allows connection to be made without interruption to the streamlined form of the cable.

00'0 o at 0* 0 o0 1 *0 a0 0* 0 00 0 **to 0 0 00 0 to* a at t t I 1

Claims (8)

1. A demountable hydrophone cable connector for interconnecting two parts of a hydrophone cable, said connector comprising a pair of members adapted to be interconnected with one another and each adapted to be connected to one of the two parts of the cable,. said connector characterised by; a hollow socket member a hollow spigot member (2) engageable in the hollow socket member, a longitudinally split detachable joining sleeve (15) to axially lockably engage the hollow socket member (1) 1 0 and the hollow spigot member to lock the said members together, terminal hollow bosses on the hollow socket member and the hollow spigot member to engage strength member terminator units whereby to transmit stress between the hollow socket member through the split detachable joining sleeve (15) to the hollow spigot member and vice 1 5 versa, and sealing means between the hollow socket member and the hollow spigot member to prevent ingress of fluids to the hollow of the hollow socket member and the hollow in the hollow spigot member.

2. A demountable hydrophone cable connector according to claim 1 c',o 20 wherein the longitudinally split detachable joining sleeve (15) has inwardly projecting flanges and the hollow socket member and the hollow spigot member have annular recesses (17) to receive the inwardly o" projecting flanges (16) of the split detachable joining sleeve (15) to prevent outward movement of the hollow spigot mmrnber from the hollow socket 25 member unless the longitudinally split detachable joining sleeve (15) is 0" removed from engagement with the hollow socket member and the hollow spigot member 0

3. A demountable hydrophone cable connector according to claim 2 30 wherein the longitudinally split detachable joining sleeve (15) is formed in two halves, and removable retaining members (18) projecting through the halves of the longitudinally split detachable joining sleeve (15) and engaging the hollow socket member and the hoilow spigot member to draw the two halves of the longitudinally split detachable joining sleeve on to the hollow socket member and the hollow spigot member

4. A demountable hydrophone cable connector according to claim 1 wherein the sealing means comprise rings sengaged in i L 8 circumferential grooves in the hollow spigot member engaging the inner surface of the hollow of the hollow socket member A demountable hydrophone cable connector according to claim wherein the hollow socket member and the hollow spigot member (2) each have an expanded portion (10) disposed outwardly from their interengaging ends, annular recesses (12) in the expanded portions (10) of the socket member and the spigot member positioned outwardly from the first said annular recesses the terminal hollow bosses extending 1 0 axially outwardly from the expanded portions (10) of the socket member (1) and the spigot member

6. A demountable hydrophone cable connector according to claim 1 when connected into a hydrophone cable to join two parts of the cable, the 1 5 hydrophone cable having data bearer members surrounded by strength members encased in at least a streamer jacket the terminal hollow bosses of tle hollow socket member and the hollow spigot member engaging the longitudinal strength members of the hydrophone Lable, and the hollows of the hollow socket member and the hollow of the 20 hollow spigot member housing the data bearer members disconnectab!y joined together by a micro-electrical connector disposed in the hollow of the spigot members to be in-line demountable with the socket member and the spigot member. rsoo O o0 O 91 0 99 00 a 89 0 o 0 0 0 09 a 9 06 DO9 O 9 0 90 099 Q 09 o 0 00 000 0 (9 0 00 0 9 9 0 0 O 9 a«<*6 0O00 0 9 4 0 901 ft o ar 25 30

7. A demountable hydrophone cable connector according o claim wherein the streamer jacket (11) of the hydrophone cable engages the annular recesses (12) in the expanded portions (10) of the hoiiow socket member and the hollow spigot member and by jacket clamps (i3) encircling the streamer jacket (11) and locking the streamer jacket into the annular recesses (12) of the expanded portions (10) of the socket member and the spigot member

8. A demountable hydrophone cable connector according to claim 6 wherein the end portions of the strength members are held in strength member termination units engaged on the terminal hollow bosses and axially confined thereon. r L. 9

9. A demountable hydrophone cable connector according to claim 6 wherein the socket member and the spigot member are rotationally indexed by a groove (21) in one said member and a tongue (22) on the other said member. A demountable hydrophone cable connector according to claim 6 wherein the outer chamber of the cable connector has a cross-sectional area substantially the same as the cross-sectional area of the hydrophone cable 1 0 whereby to allow connection to be made without material interruption to the streamlined form of the cable. Dated this 3rd day of January 1992 PLESSEY AUS i'RALIA PTY. LIMITED By their Patent Attorneys COLLISON CO. 004 0 0 0 0 00 0 00 4 O 0 0 00