JPH06187835A - Joint cable for underwater working machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a joint cable whereby underwater work such as submarine prospecting can be restarted readily should' a cable for operating an underwater working machine be damaged. CONSTITUTION:A joint cable comprises a tensile strength body 12 for supporting an underwater working machine 3 to a dither cable 2 and a connecting cable 13 for transmitting power or information between the underwater working machine 3 and the dither cable 2 and connectors 15, 16, which are removably mounted on the underwater working machine 3 and the dither cable 2, respectively, are provided at both ends of the tensile strength body 12. Connectors 21 for connection to the underwater working machine 3 and the dither cable 2 are provided at both ends of the connecting cable 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an underwater working machine joint cable for connecting between an underwater working machine such as an unmanned deep sea exploration machine and a tether cable suspended from the sea or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, underwater working machines such as submersibles and robots for conducting unmanned exploration in the deep sea of several thousand meters or 10,000 meters are driven by power supply from a mother ship on the sea, and the searched information is also used. Is transmitted via cable to the mother ship at sea. This cable is called a tether cable, and it is a composite of power line core, signal line, optical fiber line, etc., but it has a structure in which a tensile strength body is incorporated inside, and the weight of the underwater work machine and the cable It also has the function of a rope that can support its own weight.

FIG. 9 shows an example in which such an underwater working machine is connected to a mother ship on the sea by a tether cable.
The end of the tether cable 2 suspended from a winch (not shown) on the mother ship 1 has an internal strength member (not shown) connected to the underwater working machine 3 by a pulling tool 4, and a line such as a power line core. The core portion 5 is separated from the strength member and drawn out, and the drawn-out core portion 5 is connected to the underwater work machine 3 by the connector 6 so that the core portion 5 is not affected by tension.

[0004]

By the way, while the mother ship 1 is almost at rest on the sea, the underwater working machine 3 is moved for exploration, etc. The terminal portion on the underwater working machine 3 side is easily damaged. Then, when it is severely damaged or the like, it is necessary to repair it. In this case, the damaged portion of the tether cable 2 is cut and a new pull-fastener 4 or connector 6 is added.
I am trying to attach. In this repair work, an extremely long tether cable 2 having a length of several thousand meters is wound and collected on a winch, and each winch is transported to a factory or the like for reworking of terminals. It took a lot of labor and time. In some cases, a spare tether cable may be prepared on the mother ship, but in this case as well, it takes a lot of time and effort to wind up the damaged cable, collect it, and replace the spare cable with the winch. Will be forced to perform complicated work. In addition, it is possible to prepare a spare tether cable for each winch, but since the remounting and re-installation work of both winches is required, this work is also complicated and since there are two winches. The equipment cost will increase and the cost will increase significantly.

An object of the present invention is to provide a joint cable capable of easily resuming underwater work such as seabed exploration even when the cable is damaged.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The joint cable of the present invention comprises a strength member for supporting an underwater working machine on a tether cable and a connecting cable for transmitting electric power or information between the underwater working machine and the tether cable. In addition, at both ends of the strength member, there are provided connectors that are detachably attached to the underwater working machine and the tether cable, and at both ends of the connection cable, connectors that are connected to the underwater working machine and the tether cable are provided. It is characterized by The joint cable according to a second aspect of the invention is characterized in that the strength member and the connection cable are collectively covered with a sheath.

[0007]

The joint cable of the present invention is provided at the connection portion with the underwater working machine that is most susceptible to damage, and can be detachably attached to the underwater working machine and the tether cable by means of a connector and a connector. If it gets damaged, pull it up from the water and remove it from between the tether cable and the underwater work machine.
You can replace it with a new joint cable. Further, in the joint cable according to the second aspect, since the strength member and the connection cable are collectively covered, the handling at the time of storage or the like becomes easier.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the joint cable of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5
Shows an example, and FIG. 1 shows a state in which an underwater working machine is suspended from a mother ship at sea using the joint cable of the example. In FIG. 1, a joint cable 11 according to the present invention is interveningly connected between the tip of a tether cable 2 fed from the mother ship 1 and the underwater working machine 3.

The joint cable 11 comprises a strength member 12 having the same strength as that of the tether cable 2, and a connection cable 13 for transmitting electric power or information between the underwater working machine 3 and the tether cable 2. When the length of the tether cable 2 is 3000 meters, for example, the length is set to several hundred meters.

The strength member 12 is made of a high-strength fiber rope, and connecting members 15 and 16 are attached to both ends thereof. Of these, the connector 15 provided at the connection end with the tether cable 2 is provided with a slot 18 into which the plate-shaped end 17 of the pull-fastener 4 of the tether cable 2 is inserted, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. By fixing the plate-like end portion 17 of the pull-fastener 4 inserted in the slot 18 with the bolt 19, the tensile strength body 12 and the tether cable 2 are connected as shown in FIG. Then, on the side part of the connector 15, the clamp 2 having a split shape is formed.
Two 0s are provided, and these clamps 20 fix connectors 6 and 21 to be described later as shown in FIG.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the connecting tool 16 on the side connected to the underwater working machine 3 has, at its end, the pull-fastening tool 4 described above.
A plate-shaped end 22 of the same shape as the plate-shaped end 17 of
The plate-shaped end portion 22 is attached to the locking tool 23 of the underwater working machine 3 by the bolt 2
By being fixed by 3a, the tensile strength body 12 and the underwater working machine 3 are connected. Note that FIG. 3 and FIG.
Reference numeral 24 in FIG.
It shows the pin that locks.

On the other hand, the connection cable 13 is attached to the strength member 12 and is fixed to the strength member 12 at a plurality of positions by a binding tool 25. The connection cable 13 is bent at the connection end side. A hole 27 (FIG. 5) which is inserted into the free pipe 26 integrally with the strength member 12 and penetrates the connector 16.
(See) and pulled out to the outside. Then, connectors 21 are attached to both ends of the connection cable 13, and each connector 21 is attached to the tether cable 2 respectively.
Connector 6 of the wire core portion 5 and the underwater working machine 3 pulled out from the
It is designed to be connected to the connector. Of these, the connectors 6 and 21 for connecting the tether cable 2 and the connection cable 13 are the connector 1 as shown in FIG.
Each of the clamps 20 on the five sides is held.

The tether cable 2 and the underwater working machine 3 are connected as shown in FIG. 2 via the joint cable 11 thus constructed, and the work intended for the underwater working machine 3 in the state shown in FIG. But at this time,
In the joint cable 11, the tensile strength body 12 bears the weight of the underwater working machine 3, and no tension acts on the connection cable 13. When the joint cable 11 is damaged during the underwater work, the tether cable 2 is wound up by the winch of the mother ship 1,
The joint cable 11 and the underwater working machine 3 are pulled up to the mother ship 1, and the connecting tools 15 and 16 of the joint cable 11 are connected.
By removing the bolts 19 and 23a of the
The connection between the tether cable 2 and the underwater working machine 3 is released, and the connectors 21 at both ends of the connection cable 13 are separated from the tether cable 2 and each connector of the underwater working machine 3, respectively. Then, the tether cable 2 and the underwater working machine 3 are reconnected by a new joint cable 11,
The underwater working machine 3 is again suspended in the water and the intended work is restarted.

That is, if a spare joint cable 11 is prepared for the mother ship 1 and needs to be replaced during underwater work, only this joint cable 11 needs to be replaced. And this joint cable 11
Is a few hundred meters long and relatively short, so
Easy to handle. If the damage is only one of the strength member 12 and the connection cable 13, the tie 25 fixing these members may be removed and only the damaged member may be replaced.

Further, the joint cable 11 is interposed between the tether cable 2 and the underwater working machine 3 which have been directly connected to each other in the related art.
Since 16 is also adapted to the conventional shape, the tether cable 2 and the underwater working machine 3 do not need to adopt a special structure for connection with the joint cable 11, and the conventional structure may be used.

On the other hand, FIGS. 6 to 8 show another embodiment of the present invention. In this joint cable 31, as shown in FIG. 7, a tensile strength member 32 and a connecting cable 33 are shown.
And are collectively covered by the sheath 34 to form a composite structure. In this case, a braided wire of high-strength fiber is used as the tensile strength body 32, and is arranged so as to surround the inner sheath 35 that covers the connection cable 33, and the sheath 34 that covers the whole is provided outside thereof. The joint cable 31 is configured.

A connecting tool 3 for connecting the joint cable 31 to the tether cable 2 and the underwater working machine 3.
8 shows one of the connecting members 37 in FIG. 8, it has a double structure of an inner cylinder 38 and an outer cylinder 39 fitted by a tapered surface, and a tensile strength member is provided between the both cylinders 38, 39. 32 is fixed in a sandwiched state, and the connection cable 33 is inserted into the inner space of the inner cylinder 38 and pulled out to the outside.

Therefore, in the joint cable 31 of this embodiment, the strength member 32 and the connection cable 33 are provided.
Since the and are integrated into a composite cable, storage on the mother ship can be further facilitated.

[0019]

As is apparent from the above description, the joint cable of the present invention has the following effects. (A) Since it is detachably connected to the tether cable and the underwater working machine by the connector and the connector, it can be easily replaced when damaged, and the recovery work can be performed quickly. Therefore, underwater work such as seabed exploration can be restarted promptly. (B) It is provided near the connection with the underwater work machine that is easily damaged, and its length is much shorter than that of the tether cable. Therefore, even if a spare joint cable is prepared. Easy to store and handle,
There is no significant cost increase. . (C) Since the joint cable according to the second aspect has a structure in which the strength member and the connection cable are collectively covered, storage and the like can be further facilitated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a usage state of a joint cable according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a specific configuration of the joint cable of FIG. 1 and a connecting portion between the joint cable and the tether cable.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a connecting portion between a tensile strength member of the joint cable in FIG. 2 and a tether cable.

FIG. 4 is a view taken along the line AA of FIG.

5 is a partially cutaway front view showing a connecting portion between a tensile strength member of the joint cable in FIG. 2 and an underwater working machine.

FIG. 6 is a front view corresponding to FIG. 2 showing another embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a cross-sectional view of the joint cable in FIG.

8 is a partially cutaway front view showing a connecting portion between a tensile strength member of the joint cable in FIG. 6 and an underwater working machine.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a conventional example in which an underwater work machine is connected to a tether cable to perform underwater work.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... Tether cable, 3 ... Underwater work machine, 4 ... Pulling tool, 6 ... Connector, 11 ... Joint cable, 12 ...
Strength members, 13 ... Connection cables, 15, 16 ... Couplings,
21 ... Connector, 23 ... Locking tool, 25 ... Binding tool, 31 ...
Joint cable, 32 ... Strength member, 33 ... Connection cable, 34 ... Sheath, 36, 37 ... Coupling tool

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshiharu Sonoda 2 Natsushima-cho 15 Yokosuka City Kanagawa Prefectural Marine Science and Technology Center (72) Inventor Noro Monromoto 5-6-4 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Mitsui Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A joint cable (11, 31) for connecting an underwater working machine (3) and a tether cable (2) suspended from the water, wherein the underwater working machine (3) is connected to the tether cable (2). ) To be supported by ()
2) and a connection cable (13, for transmitting power or information between the underwater working machine (3) and the tether cable (2)
33), and a connector (15, 16, 36, 3) detachably attached to the underwater working machine (3) and the tether cable (2) at both ends of the strength member (12, 32).
7) is provided, and a connector (21) connected to the underwater working machine (3) and the tether cable (2) is provided at both ends of the connection cable (13, 33). Machine joint cable. 2. The joint cable for an underwater working machine according to claim 1, wherein the strength member (32) and the connection cable (33) are collectively covered with a sheath (34).