EP0391034B1 - Support device - Google Patents

Abstract

A support device (10) for accommodating measuring, monitoring, data storage and telemetry means (17) and the like is proposed which is connected by means of a towrope and/or a connecting cable (12) to a vehicle (11) and is towed by the latter in the state immersed in the water (13). The body (14) of the support device (10) is in this case formed at least partially of a metal having a specific gravity of > 15 g/cm<3>. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a carrier device for receiving measuring, monitoring, data storage and telemetry means and the like, which is connected by means of a tow rope and / or a connecting cable to a vehicle and towed by the latter in the state immersed in the water.

A large number of measuring and monitoring systems are required for exploring the sea, the sea floor, for observing and locating objects in the sea and on and in the sea floor, and these are arranged on carrier devices, which in turn are connected to the by a tow rope and / or a connecting cable towing vehicle are connected. The vehicle, which can be both a watercraft and a helicopter, can tow the carrier device at predetermined constant depths or the In another type of measured value acquisition, the carrier device is towed with periodically recurring changes in depth. Finally, such a carrier device can be towed at predetermined courses at a certain distance from the sea floor or vertical profiles of the sea can be carried out continuously at fixed positions.

For a wide variety of measurement and acquisition tasks, for example for measuring suspended matter concentrations in water using optical or acoustic methods, magnetic field measurements or the like, it makes sense to use at least the so-called hydrographic standard parameters such as depth, conductivity, pressure, speed of sound, speed in all three degrees of freedom and to simultaneously record the traction data, such as inclination, direction, acceleration. With an increasing number of measuring, monitoring and other devices for detecting these parameters, however, the volume of the electronic devices required for this and the flow resistance of the carrier device usually also increases, which in turn leads to a very disadvantageous deterioration in the drag properties of the carrier device equipped in this way.

If a watercraft is used for towing the carrier device, various interactions of different sizes occur, for example due to the rolling and pounding of the watercraft, flow resistance due to different orientation of the body of the carrier device to the main flow direction, rope twist, variable rope sag, variable cable pull, etc., so that the carrier device executes more or less uncontrolled horizontal and vertical movements around the target course.

The information content and the quality of the data recorded during such undesirable movements of the carrier device are naturally influenced (noisy), which is particularly the case for remote measurements from the carrier device (echo soundings, Doppler measurement methods, magnetic field measurements) for the time constant due to the constantly changing alignment of the corresponding sensors on the Carrier device plays a large and disadvantageous role.

Attempts have been made with carrier devices known in the prior art to overcome these disadvantages by passively stabilizing carrier devices, i. H. provided the carrier with fins or the like and, to make these fins effective to stabilize the carrier, pull the carrier many hundreds of meters behind the vehicle. It was found that these so-called passively stabilized carrier devices still carried out undesirable horizontal and vertical movements around the set course, with the signals from sound location systems in particular being heavily noisy, i. H. the sound beam changed its direction structurally and thereby covered the seabed or water bodies in an undefined way. The constant change of direction of the carrier device also makes it difficult to determine the exact current position and to maintain it.

Other carrier devices were designed with so-called active controls to show precise orbital behavior in the water. These actively controlled carrier devices require complex sensor and control systems which on the one hand make the carrier device considerably more expensive and on the other hand make it very susceptible to malfunction. Despite these active control devices, not all possible influences on the carrier device when towing in water can be predetermined and cannot be avoided due to control system time constants.

Finally, it was found that even with a dynamically controlled carrier device due to cable sag and cable inclination, this can remain far and completely indefinitely behind the towing vehicle.

In order not to necessarily increase the water resistance on such known carrier devices, additional measuring, monitoring and telemetry means are therefore not arranged on the carrier device, although it would be important for the correct interpretation of special measuring data, which of course for the desired measurement result as a whole is very disadvantageous.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a carrier device which does not require active fin control and can be held in a predetermined position or trajectory which can be towed around the course axis without disadvantageous movements, which essentially always takes place directly below the towing vehicle for determining the position can be performed and is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and not prone to failure.

The object is achieved according to the invention in that the body of the carrier device is at least partially formed from a metal with a specific weight> 15 g / cm³.

The advantage of the device according to the invention is achieved by the optimized use of gravity, ie by using a body as an output weight with a specific weight> 15 g / cm³, the mechanical rigidity of the carrier device is made very large compared to the forces acting on the carrier device, for example through the flow resistance, cross flow influences, rope twist, cable pull and the like.

Another important advantage of the carrier device according to the invention is that, in the case of a cable-guided, balanced output body, the required weight is not achieved by the length of the carrier device and the lowest possible specific weight, as in devices known in the prior art, but the body according to the invention is the cheapest hydrodynamic shape with the largest possible specific weight.

Tungsten (gamma approx. 19.3), tantalum (gama approx. 16.6) and depleted uranium 238 (gamma approx. 18.5) are preferably suitable as metals, the metal of the body of the carrier device also advantageously being composed of mixtures of different materials Metals, including those mentioned above, can exist.

The high specific weight of the metals used according to the invention means not only a high level of persistence with respect to horizontal and buoyancy forces, but also that the attack surfaces on the carrier device can be reduced on all sides during towing under water, since a very large mass is available in the smallest space. In addition, a reduction in the water attack surfaces on the carrier device is also achieved in that, in contrast to the devices known in the prior art, this does not require control fins for horizontal and vertical deflection.

It is known that the metals with a specific weight> 15 g / cm³ are normally difficult to machine mechanically or not at all. In order to be able to bring the body of the carrier device into a desired shape of any kind, the metal is advantageously sintered to form the body, so that it can be used, for example, to create the final one desired shape can be machined like normal gray cast iron.

In order to prevent a torque being exerted on the carrier device when towing in the water by the twist of the tow rope used, which would falsify or noise the measurements with the carrier device, the body is advantageously provided with a swivel device, via which the body with the Tow rope and / or the connecting cable is connected.

In order to be able to immediately transmit the data to the vehicle in certain applications in which instantaneous data which are recorded by the carrier device or the measuring and monitoring means arranged thereon, the swivel device is advantageously provided with a slip ring device, so that data on the connecting cable, the can be integrated in the tow rope, can be transferred to the towing vehicle.

Experiments have shown that in an advantageous, simply designed device, the body is essentially cuboid, since the forces exerted on the body by the water during the towing process are due to the large mass and extremely small volume of the body due to the high specific weight of the metal used are negligibly small. The cuboid body also allows a relatively simple way of attaching the measuring, monitoring, data storage and telemetry means and also allows them to be exposed to the water to perform their tasks completely unhindered.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the device, any number of bodies arranged side by side or one above the other can form the device, specifically each as required for measuring, monitoring, data storage and telemetry means and the like to be fastened thereon, and as a function of the desired degree of overall stability of the device when used in water. The bodies can be assembled as identical units in the sense of an expandable system.

In order to be able to attach the measuring, monitoring, data storage and telemetry means and the like to the body in a relatively simple manner, according to a further advantageous embodiment, the body has an opening which essentially passes through it and into which the aforementioned means are inserted or can be inserted and fastened there.

With a relatively simple means, the stability of the carrier device when towing in water can be increased, preferably by arranging on the body a guiding device which protrudes from it in the towing direction and which can preferably be essentially in the form of a baffle, for example made of stainless steel or the like. In order to keep the influence of cross currents on the guide device as low as possible, the guide device has a plurality of through openings running transversely to it, which for example can be suitably distributed over the entire surface of the guide device.

The carrier device advantageously has a device for recording hydrographic standard parameters of the water (temperature, conductivity, speed of sound, pressure, speed _{x, y, z} , inclination, direction, depth, acceleration, etc.), when the recording device is preferably highly miniaturized for minimization of the water resistance is formed, the carrier device allows the provision of two of these devices without difficulty, which applies equally to the telemetry means for transmitting the data from the detection device to the vehicle.

Fig. 1

eine Trägervorrichtung der erfindungsgemäßen Art und der bisher bekannten Art in unterschiedlicher Schleppstellung relativ zu einem schleppenden Fahrzeug,

Fig. 2

in perspektivischer Darstellung eine mit einer Erfassungseinrichtung sowie einer Leiteinrichtung bestückten Trägervorrichtung,

Fig. 3

in perspektivischer Darstellung eine Ansicht auf die Öffnung zweier zusammengefaßter Körper im bestückungslosen Zustand,

Fig. 4 a

eine Seitenansicht auf einen einzelnen der in Fig. 3 dargestellten Körper,

Fig. 4 b

eine Draufsicht auf eine Darstellung gemäß Fig. 4 a,

Fig. 5 a

eine Seitenansicht auf ein den Körper abschließendes Element und

Fig. 5 b

eine Draufsicht auf die Darstellung von Fig. 5 a.

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the following schematic drawings using an exemplary embodiment. In it show:

Fig. 1

a carrier device of the type according to the invention and the previously known type in a different towing position relative to a towing vehicle,

Fig. 2

a perspective view of a carrier device equipped with a detection device and a guide device,

Fig. 3

a perspective view of the opening of two combined bodies in the unassembled state,

Fig. 4 a

3 shows a side view of a single one of the bodies shown in FIG. 3,

Fig. 4 b

4 a, a top view of an illustration according to FIG.

Fig. 5 a

a side view of an element closing the body and

Fig. 5 b

a plan view of the illustration of Fig. 5 a.

In Fig. 1, a watercraft 11 is shown, which tows the device 10 hanging on a tow rope or a connecting cable 12 in the water 13. At the same time in Fig. 1 is a hanging on a tow rope Apparatus visible that shows a typical known arrangement behind the towing vehicle 11 far behind the vehicle 11 itself. The device 10 according to the invention also hangs almost vertically under the towing vehicle 11 during the towing process, which can be not only a watercraft, as shown, but also a helicopter.

The device 10 according to the invention essentially consists of a body 14; 140, as shown in a side by side in FIG. 3. For reasons of simplification, only a single body 14 is described below, although a plurality of such bodies 14 can form the carrier device 10 in the manner of a modular system. As can be seen from FIGS. 4 a, b, the body 14 is constructed almost cuboid and has an almost circular opening, cf. Fig. 3 or a semicircular opening, see. Fig. 4 a, b, on. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the opening 14 is closed by a plate-shaped closure element 21. The opening 16 crosses the body 14 completely.

At the upper end of two cuboid bodies 14, 140, a swivel device 15 is formed, on the upper part of which the tow rope 12 or the connecting cable 12 is fastened.

Measuring, monitoring, telemetry and data storage means 17, which can be seen by way of example from the illustration in FIG. 2, are fastened in a suitable manner to the body 14, 140 and connected to the detection device 20 by cables and the like. A detection device 20 is arranged in each of the two openings 16 of the bodies 14, 140. With the detection device 20, which in principle is intended to record any data, depending on the predetermined task of using the carrier device 10, As a rule, at least the so-called hydrographic standard parameters of water (temperature, conductivity, speed of sound, pressure, speed _{x, y, z} , inclination, direction, depth, acceleration, etc.) are recorded. In order to reduce the water resistance, the detection device has a modular, highly miniaturized hybrid technology. Via a highly miniaturized telemetry device also attached to the carrier device 10, data recorded by the detection device 20 by the measuring and monitoring means 17 can be connected bidirectionally to the corresponding systems on the towing vehicle.

The carrier body 14 consists of a metal with a specific weight> 15 g / cm³, the metal being used either elementarily or in the form of metal mixtures, for example a sintered tungsten-copper alloy, which has cutting properties like conventional metals (gray cast iron) and is very different can be easily machined.

When the carrier device 10 is also used as a sampler for trace analysis, the body 14 is preferably covered by a Teflon or titanium layer, which can equally apply to the other components 10 of the device. Due to the use of completely non-magnetic metals for the output body and the other parts of the device 10, the device 10 is particularly suitable for use for high-precision magnetic field measurements.

The device 10 can also have a guide device 19 which is arranged on the body 14, 140 in the towing direction 18, the guide device 19 generally only having to consist of a normal guide plate. The guide plate 19 is advantageously with a plurality of not shown separately here Provide holes so that an impact on the position of the device 10 is reduced to a minimum. Experiments have shown that a guide device 19 designed in this way creates a very good position stabilization with respect to the horizontal deflection of the device 10.

Reference symbol list

10th

contraption

11

vehicle

12

Tow rope / connecting cable

13

water

14

body

140

body

15

Swivel device

16

opening

17th

Measuring, monitoring, telemetry and storage means

18th

Towing equipment

19th

Control device

20th

Detection device

21

Launching element

Claims (14)

1. A carrier device to accommodate measuring, monitoring, data storage and telemetry means and the like and connected by a tow cable and/or a connecting cable to a vehicle by which it is towed in a condition in which it is immersed in the water, characterised in that the body (14) of the carrier device (10) consists at least partly of a metal having a specific weight greater than 15 g/cm³.
2. A carrier device according to Claim 1, characterised in that the metal is tungsten, tantalum or uranium.
3. A carrier device according to one or both of Claims 1 or 2, characterised in that the metal consists of mixtures of different metals.
4. A carrier device according to one or more of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the metal is sintered.
5. A carrier device according to one or more of Claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the body (14) comprises a rotary spinner means (15) via which the body (14) is connected to the tow cable (12) and/or the connecting cable.
6. A carrier device according to Claim 5, characterised in that the rotary spinner means (15) comprises a slip-ring arrangement.
7. A carrier device according to one or more of Claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the body is of substantially parallelepiped construction.
8. A carrier device according to one or more of Claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the device is formed by a plurality of adjacently disposed or superposed bodies (14, 114).
9. A carrier device according to one or more of Claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the body (14) has passing substantially through it an aperture (16) for accommodating the measuring, monitoring, telemetry and data storage means (17) and the like.
10. A carrier device according to one or more of Claims 1 to 9, characterised in that there is on the body (14) a guide means (19) projecting from it in the towing direction (18).
11. A carrier device according to Claim 10, characterised in that the guide means (19) is substantially constructed in the form of a guide baffle.
12. A carrier device according to one or both of Claims 10 or 11, characterised in that the guide means (19) has a plurality of apertures passing through and extending transversely to it.
13. A carrier device according to one or more of Claims 1 to 12, characterised in that it has at least one device (20) for recording hydrographic standard parameters of water (temperature, conductivity, sound velocity, pressure, speed_{x, y, z}, inclination, direction, depth, acceleration etc.).
14. A carrier device according to Claim 13, characterised in that the recording means (20) is of highly miniaturised construction to minimise the water resistance of the carrier device (10).

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