JP2018058492A - Connection system for underwater vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connection system for an underwater vessel capable of reducing influence of waves and safely connecting the underwater vessel.SOLUTION: The connection system for an underwater vessel includes: an engaging member provided on the underwater vessel; and a member to be engaged provided with a plurality of engagement areas with which the engaging member can engage.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to an underwater vehicle connection system.

  When collecting the underwater vehicle in a mother ship or the like, for example, it is necessary to suspend a suspension line from a lifting machine provided in the mother ship and connect a hook provided at the tip of the suspension line to the underwater vehicle. In the following Patent Document 1, a lifting machine provided on a mother ship, a suspension cable suspended from the lifting machine and having a hook at the tip, a hook guide cable connected to the hook and guiding the hook, A hook lead rope bobbin containing a hook lead rope having a guide net in a part thereof, a mooring tool provided on an underwater suspended matter, and a hook lead rope pulled out from the hook lead rope bobbin moored; An underwater float collection support device comprising a fishing rod provided with a mooring rod provided on a mother ship and hooked to a guide net of a hook lead rope pulled out from a hook lead rope bobbin is disclosed. .

JP 2000-85685 A

  By the way, in the said prior art, since the connection work of an underwater vehicle is performed in the state which the underwater vehicle floated on the water surface, it will receive to the influence of a wave. In addition, this connection work is performed manually, and care must be taken particularly in the case of stormy weather.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an underwater vehicle connection system that can reduce the influence of waves and can safely connect an underwater vehicle.

  The present invention adopts the following configuration as means for solving the above-described problems.

  1st invention is a to-be-engaged member provided with the engagement member provided in the underwater vehicle and the some to-be-engaged area | region which can engage the said engagement member in the connection system of an underwater vehicle The configuration of having

  According to a second invention, in the first invention, the engaged member is a net including a plurality of holes as the plurality of engaged regions.

  According to a third invention, in the first or second invention, the engagement member is a hook that extends in at least one of the left and right directions of the underwater vehicle.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the plurality of engaged regions are deployed in water in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction of the underwater vehicle. Is adopted.

  According to a fifth invention, in any one of the first to fourth inventions, the engaged member is provided on a towline pulled by a ship or an underwater towed body connected to the towline. Adopt the configuration.

  In a sixth aspect based on the fifth aspect, the ship has a hoisting machine that winds up the towing line.

  According to a seventh invention, in the fifth or sixth invention, the underwater towed body has a stabilizing plate that suppresses vertical movement.

  According to an eighth invention, in any one of the first to fourth inventions, the engaged member is provided on a mooring line of a mooring buoy that floats in water.

  According to a ninth invention, in any one of the first to eighth inventions, a configuration is adopted in which a power feeding device that supplies electric power to the underwater vehicle engaged with the engaged member is employed.

In the present invention, the underwater vehicle is provided with an engaging member and engaged with an engaged member having a plurality of engaged regions. According to this structure, even if it receives to the influence of a water flow, the engaging member of an underwater vehicle can engage with either of several to-be-engaged area | regions. Thus, the influence of waves can be reduced by connecting the underwater vehicle in water. Moreover, since the rudder of the underwater vehicle is effective underwater, it is possible to connect the underwater vehicle unattended.
Therefore, according to this invention, the influence system of a wave can be reduced and the connection system of the underwater vehicle which can connect an underwater vehicle safely can be provided.

1 is an overall view showing a configuration of a connection system for an underwater vehicle in an embodiment of the present invention. It is the (a) side view and (b) top view which show the structure of the underwater vehicle in one Embodiment of this invention. It is the (a) side view and (b) top view which show the structure of the underwater towing body in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the mode of the connection of the underwater tow vehicle and underwater vehicle in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows the mode of the underwater vehicle connected to the underwater towed vehicle in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows a mode that the underwater vehicle in one Embodiment of this invention is picked up by the support mother ship. It is a figure which shows the modification of the connection system of the underwater vehicle in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the connection system of the underwater vehicle in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the connection system of the underwater vehicle in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the connection system of the underwater vehicle in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the connection system of the underwater vehicle in one Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a connection system for an underwater vehicle according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following drawings, the scale of each member is appropriately changed in order to make each member a recognizable size.

  In the following description, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is set, and the positional relationship of each member may be described with reference to this XYZ orthogonal coordinate system. In the XYZ Cartesian coordinate system, the direction from the water to the water surface (vertical direction) is the Z-axis direction, the direction perpendicular to the Z-axis direction and parallel to the longitudinal direction (front-rear direction) of the underwater vehicle during horizontal navigation is X The direction parallel to the left and right direction of the underwater vehicle at the time of horizontal traveling is defined as the Y-axis direction.

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing a configuration of a connection system 100 for an underwater vehicle 1 in an embodiment of the present invention.
The connection system 100 of the underwater vehicle 1 according to the present embodiment is a system that connects the underwater vehicle 1 and the support mother ship 2. The support mother ship 2 is a ship that picks up the underwater vehicle 1.

The supporting mother ship 2 is provided with a hoisting machine 3. The hoisting machine 3 winds up the towline 4 towed by the support mother ship 2. An underwater towing body 5 is connected to the towline 4. The underwater towed body 5 is provided with an engaged member 6 and a holding member 7 that holds the engaged member 6.
On the other hand, the underwater vehicle 1 is provided with an engaging member 8 that can be engaged with the engaged member 6.

FIG. 2A is a side view and FIG. 2B is a plan view showing the configuration of the underwater vehicle 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The X axis corresponds to the roll axis of the underwater vehicle 1, the Y axis corresponds to the pitch axis of the underwater vehicle 1, and the Z axis corresponds to the yaw axis of the underwater vehicle 1.
The underwater vehicle 1 is an autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle capable of navigating underwater without a track, and is equipped with, for example, a mission device (not shown) for underwater exploration. The mission equipment is, for example, a sonar for investigating the topography of the seabed or acquiring geological information under the seabed, a thermometer for measuring the temperature of seawater, and information on the distribution of specific chemical substances in seawater from the amount of absorbed light. It is a sensor to measure.

  The underwater vehicle 1 includes, for example, a main thruster 10 and a ladder 11 (rudder fin) at the rear, and a vertical thruster (not shown) and a horizontal thruster (not shown) in order to control the navigation speed and navigation direction. (Not shown). The navigation speed is controlled by changing the rotation speed of the main thruster 10. The navigation direction is controlled by controlling the angle of the rudder 11 as a rudder, and a horizontal thruster and a vertical thruster are used together as necessary.

  The underwater vehicle 1 has a communication antenna 12 and communicates with the support mother ship 2. The underwater vehicle 1 performs acoustic positioning using ultrasonic waves, for example, for positioning the underwater vehicle 1 in water. As the acoustic positioning, for example, a USBL (Ultra-Short Base Line) method can be adopted. In USBL, the distance to the target (for example, the underwater towed vehicle 5) is determined from the round-trip time of the sound wave and the underwater sound velocity, and the angle is determined from the phase difference in the USBL receiving array (a plurality of receiving elements are arranged). The target relative position in the three-dimensional space with respect to the USBL transceiver (transmitter / receiver) can be determined.

  In the support mother ship 2 equipped with a transceiver, the latitude / longitude of the target is obtained by adding the position relative to the target to the position (longitude / latitude) and the attitude angle (tilt and azimuth from the horizontal) of the transceiver. . By transmitting this position to the underwater vehicle 1 by acoustic communication, the underwater vehicle 1 can obtain the current position. Note that the inertial navigation method may be employed for underwater positioning, or may be used in combination with the acoustic positioning in order to increase navigation accuracy.

  Inertial navigation means the attitude angle (roll angle (left / right angle), pitch angle (up / down angle), yaw angle (azimuth angle)) of the underwater vehicle 1 and the three-dimensional space of the underwater vehicle 1 with respect to the bottom of the water. The speed is measured at short time intervals with sensors (for example, gyroscopes and Doppler velocimeters) mounted on the underwater vehicle 1, and it is calculated in which direction and how much it moves in the earth coordinates. . According to this inertial navigation, there is a merit that positioning is possible at a short interval. However, since the position error increases with time, the positioning position by the inertial navigation is changed from the USBL positioning position where the position error does not increase with time and the regular position. Therefore, accumulation of position errors can be prevented.

  An engagement member 8 is provided at the front end of the underwater vehicle 1. The engaging member 8 is a hook that extends in one of the left and right directions (Y-axis direction) of the underwater vehicle 1 as shown in FIG. The hook extends forward from the front end of the underwater vehicle 1, then swells to the left of the underwater vehicle 1, and then bends to the right. A tip 8 a bent in the right direction of the engaging member 8 faces obliquely rearward of the underwater vehicle 1.

FIG. 3A is a side view and FIG. 3B is a plan view showing the configuration of the underwater towed body 5 in one embodiment of the present invention.
The underwater towed body 5 is an unmanned underwater towed body towed by the support mother ship 2, and is connected to the end of the towed rope 4 fed out from the hoisting machine 3. The underwater towing body 5 is provided with a connector 20 for connecting to the tow rope 4. The connector 20 is disposed at the front top of the underwater towing body 5. An engaged member 6 and a holding member 7 are provided at the rear portion of the underwater towed body 5.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the engaged member 6 includes a plurality of engaged regions 21 to which the engaging member 8 can be engaged. The engaged member 6 of the present embodiment is a net provided with a plurality of holes as the plurality of engaged regions 21. As this net, an elastically deformable material formed from a fiber material (string material), a resin material, a fiber reinforced resin material, or the like can be used. The engaged member 6 has a rectangular shape (square shape in the present embodiment). The plurality of engaged regions 21 are formed in a grid pattern.

  The holding member 7 holds the engaged member 6 so that the plurality of engaged regions 21 are deployed in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction of the underwater vehicle 1 in water. That is, the holding member 7 holds the engaged member 6 so that the plurality of engaged regions 21 are deployed and arranged on the XY plane in water. In other words, the holding member 7 is configured to attach the engaged member 6 to the underwater towed body 5 so that the front and back surfaces of the net face the horizontal direction (Y-axis direction).

  The holding member 7 holds two sides 6 a and 6 b of the rectangular engaged member 6 that are orthogonal to each other. As shown in FIG. 3B, the holding member 7 of the present embodiment has a triangular shape in plan view that becomes narrower toward the rear, and as shown in FIG. 3A, the rear end of the underwater towing body 5 It is attached to the top and bottom of the section. The two sides 6 a and 6 b of the engaged member 6 are held obliquely by the holding member 7 so as to expand up and down toward the rear of the underwater towing body 5. On the other hand, the other two sides 6c and 6d of the engaged member 6 are not held by the holding member 7, and the rear of the engaged member 6 can be deformed relatively freely as compared to the front.

Subsequently, the operation of lifting the underwater vehicle 1 using the connection system 100 of the underwater vehicle 1 of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state of connection between the underwater towed vehicle 5 and the underwater vehicle 1 in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state of the underwater vehicle 1 connected to the underwater tow vehicle 5 in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a side view showing a state in which the underwater vehicle 1 is picked up by the support mother ship 2 in one embodiment of the present invention.

  In order to withdraw the underwater vehicle 1, first, the towline 4 is unwound from the support mother ship 2 as shown in FIG. 1. An underwater towing body 5 is connected to the towline 4. The support mother ship 2 navigates at low speed (speed v1) while towing the underwater towing body 5.

  The underwater vehicle 1 captures the position of the underwater towed vehicle 5 using communication with the support mother ship 2 via the communication antenna 12 and the various sensors described above, as shown in FIG. Approach the underwater towed vehicle 5. The underwater vehicle 1 navigates such that the engaging member 8 is located at a location away from the engaged member 6 in the Y-axis direction. At this time, the underwater vehicle 1 controls the main thruster 10 and navigates at the same speed v1 as the underwater towed vehicle 5 (support mother ship 2).

  Next, the underwater vehicle 1 gradually approaches to a position where the engaging member 8 is caught by the engaged member 6. At this time, the underwater vehicle 1 uses a ladder 11 or a horizontal thruster. When the tip 8a of the engaging member 8 is inserted into any of the plurality of engaged regions 21 (see FIG. 3A) due to the approach of the underwater vehicle 1, the underwater vehicle 1 is moved to the main thruster 10. 4 (b), the speed is slightly lowered (set to speed v2) from the speed v1 of the underwater towed body 5, and the engaging member 8 is hooked on the engaged member 6.

As a result, the underwater vehicle 1 is connected to the underwater towed vehicle 5 as shown in FIG. When the underwater vehicle 1 is connected to the underwater towed vehicle 5, the main thruster 10 may be stopped and the underwater vehicle 1 may be towed.
Finally, as shown in FIG. 6, the towline 4 is wound up by the hoisting machine 3 provided in the support mother ship 2, and the underwater vehicle 1 is lifted from the water together with the underwater towed vehicle 5.
As described above, the operation for picking up the underwater vehicle 1 is completed.

As described above, in the connection system 100 for the underwater vehicle 1 according to this embodiment, the engagement member 8 is provided on the underwater vehicle 1 and is engaged with the engaged member 6 deployed in water. The plurality of engaged regions 21 of the engaged member 6 are deployed in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction of the underwater vehicle 1 in water. According to this configuration, since the plurality of engaged regions 21 are deployed in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction of the underwater vehicle 1, the pitch angle of the underwater vehicle 1 is affected by the water flow. Even if it fluctuates, the engaging member 8 can engage with any of the plurality of engaged regions 21. Thus, the influence of waves can be reduced by connecting the underwater vehicle 1 underwater. Moreover, since the rudder of the underwater vehicle 1 is effective underwater, the underwater vehicle 1 can be connected unattended.
Therefore, according to the connection system 100 of the underwater vehicle 1 of this embodiment, the influence of waves can be reduced and the underwater vehicle 1 can be connected safely.

  In the connection system 100 for the underwater vehicle 1 of the present embodiment, the engaged member 6 is a net having a plurality of holes as the plurality of engaged regions 21. According to this configuration, since the engaging member 8 can be engaged with substantially the entire surface of the engaged member 6 (substantially the entire surface excluding the boundary portion that forms the hole of the net), the underwater vehicle 1 can be connected. It becomes easy. Further, since the net is flexible, even if the underwater vehicle 1 collides, it will not be damaged.

  In the connection system 100 for the underwater vehicle 1 according to the present embodiment, the engagement member 8 is a hook that extends in at least one of the left and right directions of the underwater vehicle 1. According to this configuration, as shown in FIG. 4, the underwater vehicle 1 is moved closer to the engaged member 6 in the left-right direction (Y-axis direction), so that the distal end 8a of the engaging member 8 can It can be easily inserted into any of the engagement regions 21. Further, in this way, by setting the connection direction of the underwater vehicle 1 to the left-right direction, for example, rather than setting the connection direction of the underwater vehicle 1 to the vertical direction (the direction in which the pitch angle varies), Since the position variation of the engaging member 8 due to the above is small, the connection of the underwater vehicle 1 is facilitated.

  Further, in the connection system 100 for the underwater vehicle 1 of the present embodiment, the engaged member 6 is provided on the underwater towed vehicle 5 connected to the towed rope 4 drawn by the support mother ship 2. According to this configuration, the engaged member 6 is towed together with the underwater towed body 5, and the position variation in the left-right direction of the engaged member 6 is reduced, so that the connection of the underwater vehicle 1 is facilitated.

  Further, in the connection system 100 for the underwater vehicle 1 of the present embodiment, the support mother ship 2 has a hoisting machine 3 that winds the towline 4. According to this configuration, the underwater vehicle 1 can be unloaded from the support mother ship 2 by winding up the towline 4.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. Various shapes, combinations, and the like of the constituent members shown in the above-described embodiments are examples, and various modifications can be made based on design requirements and the like without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  FIGS. 7-11 is a figure which shows the modification of the connection system 100 of the underwater vehicle 1 in one Embodiment of this invention. In the following description, the same or equivalent components as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is simplified or omitted.

  In the modification shown in FIG. 7, the engaged member 6 is connected to the towline 4. An underwater towing body 5 is connected to the towline 4 below the engaged member 6. The underwater towed body 5 has a power feeding device 30 that supplies power to the underwater towed body 1 engaged with the engaged member 6. The power feeding device 30 includes a power feeding coil provided at the upper part of the underwater towing body 5. A power receiving device 40 is provided below the underwater vehicle 1, and the power receiving coil of the power receiving device 40 electromagnetically couples with the power feeding coil to receive power in a non-contact manner. This non-contact power feeding can be performed based on, for example, a magnetic resonance method. Thus, the connection system 100 of the underwater vehicle 1 can be applied to the power feeding system of the underwater vehicle 1.

  In the modification shown in FIG. 8, a power feeding device 30 is provided in the support mother ship 2. According to this configuration, electric power can be supplied in a state where the underwater vehicle 1 engaged with the engaged member 6 is pulled up to the support mother ship 2.

  In the modification shown in FIG. 9, the engaged member 6 is provided on a mooring line 51 of a mooring buoy 50 that floats in water. The lower end of the mooring line 51 is anchored to the sea floor by an anchor 52. The upper end of the mooring line 51 is connected to the mooring buoy 50. A plurality of engaged members 6 and a plurality of floats 53 are connected to the mooring line 51. The float 53 includes the power feeding device 30 in the same shape as the underwater towed vehicle 5 described above, and is configured to supply power to the underwater vehicle 1 engaged with the engaged member 6. In this way, if the tidal current can be expected, the engaged member 6 need not be towed.

  In the modification shown in FIG. 10, the support mother ship 2 has no propulsion device and is towed by another ship 60. Thus, the support mother ship 2 does not necessarily have to be a ship, and may have a form like a buoy towed by another ship 60.

  In the modification shown in FIG. 11, the underwater towed body 5 has a stabilizing plate 70 that suppresses movement in the Z-axis direction. The stabilizer 70 has a substantially triangular plate shape in plan view shown in FIG. 11B and is disposed adjacent to the front of the engaged member 6. According to this configuration, since the movement in the engaged member 6Z-axis direction is suppressed, the connection of the underwater vehicle 1 is facilitated.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the form whose to-be-engaged member 6 is a net | network, this invention is not limited to this structure. For example, the engaged member 6 may have a configuration in which a plurality of ring members are joined together, or may be a punch plate or an expanded metal in which a plurality of holes are formed.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the form which the engaging member 8 is a hook extended in the right direction of an underwater vehicle, this invention is not limited to this structure. For example, the engaging member 8 may be a hook extending in the left direction of the underwater vehicle, or may be a hook-like hook extending on both sides in the left-right direction of the underwater vehicle. Good. Further, a hook may be provided at the tip of the manipulator.

1 Underwater vehicle 2 Support mother ship (ship)
3 Hoisting machine 4 Towing line 5 Underwater towed body 6 Engaged member 8 Engaging member 21 Engaged area 50 Mooring buoy 51 Mooring line 70 Stabilizing plate 100 Connection system

Claims (9)

An engagement member provided on the underwater vehicle,
An underwater vehicle connection system comprising: an engaged member having a plurality of engaged regions with which the engaging member can engage.   The underwater vehicle connection system according to claim 1, wherein the engaged member is a net including a plurality of holes as the plurality of engaged regions.   3. The underwater vehicle connection system according to claim 1, wherein the engagement member is a hook that extends in at least one of the left and right directions of the underwater vehicle.   The water according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plurality of engaged areas are deployed in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction of the underwater vehicle in water. A connection system for medium-running vehicles.   The said to-be-engaged member is provided in the towing line pulled by the ship, or the underwater towing body connected to this towing line, The Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Underwater vehicle connection system.   The said ship has a hoisting machine which winds up the said towline, The connection system of the underwater navigation body of Claim 5 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The underwater towed vehicle connection system according to claim 5, wherein the underwater towed vehicle includes a stabilizer that suppresses vertical movement.   The underwater vehicle connection system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the engaged member is provided on a mooring line of a mooring buoy that floats in water.   The connection of the underwater vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a power supply device that supplies electric power to the underwater vehicle engaged with the engaged member. system.

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