JPH0921658A - Towing cable for test - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a cable which is variable among neutral buoyancy, a heavy specific gravity and a floatable specific gravity by a sealing liquid for adjusting the specific gravity or the like in a through pipe passing through an approximately entire towing cable. SOLUTION: The cable 100 comprises a tension member 104 or a buoyancy adjusting material for resisting against drag at the time of towing, a signal line 103 and a through pipe 105. The tension member 104, the signal line 103 and a power supply line 102 entirely pass through an inner sheath 106, while the through pipe 105 approximately entirely passes through in an outer sheath 107 along the inner sheath 106. A nozzle 108 connected to a feed hole for sealing or discharging fluid for adjusting specific gravity is provided at an end or at both ends of the through pipe 105. In order to adjust the cable 100 to the specific gravity of the sea water at a site, the through pipe 5 is filled with oil for adjusting specific gravity to obtain neutral buoyancy.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tow cable for conducting an underwater exploration instrument electrically connected by a cable containing a conductor, and more particularly to a test tow cable used for testing the performance of the observation instrument. It is a thing.

[0002] When the performance of an underwater exploration instrument is to be grasped, a test tow cable having a measurement sensor attached to its tip is put underwater through a cable guide by a winding device installed on the quay. A method is used in which the ship is unwound, expanded by an auxiliary ship, etc., and then wound at the required speed. In this case, the cable is designed to be neutrally buoyant so that it can be towed horizontally underwater. In addition, it is desirable that the following items be satisfied as the environment for conducting these tow tests. a. No tide b. Low background noise c. Being able to extend up to 800-1000m offshore d. There shall be no nearby vessels or crossing vessels during the test. E. There is a required depth of water so that the sample does not touch the seabed f. Ensure that the required power supply for the winder drive and measuring equipment is secured. G. It is a place where you can bring in the sample and the required generator h. A temporary building for measurement can be brought in. There are few places where the above conditions are met, but the dock used for ship repairs and the sea surface in front of it are 8-10m.
Since the test environment is almost satisfied, except for the depth of water, it can be used for this type of test. However, in the case of the acoustic measurement of the measurement sensor, the data cannot be used when there is a towing while levitating and making a draining sound on the surface of the sea, or an impact sound generated when the sample is too heavy and comes into contact with the seabed. . When the water depth is about 8 to 10 m, the extended cable of several hundred meters will not float on the sea surface at the above water depth.
Moreover, it cannot be used as data for test evaluation unless it is towed almost horizontally in the sea without touching the sea floor. In order to do so, it is necessary to horizontally tow the sea, and it must have the same specific gravity as the surrounding seawater.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when used in a river or the like, a cable designed and manufactured aiming at a specific gravity of 1 for fresh water was previously wound around a winder and conveyed, and temporarily installed on the quay at the site. Further, when used in the bay, a cable designed for seawater with a specific gravity of 1.25 was previously wound around a winder and transported, and was temporarily installed on a quay or the like. Furthermore, in the past, in the case of contacting the sea floor after several pre-towed voyages, buoyancy material was used over the entire length of the cable.
In addition, in order to float, a lead wire is wound around each tape.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional work is cumbersome, requires a lot of labor, and is time-consuming. Furthermore, when various cables with different specific gravities are manufactured and prepared, it is necessary to rewind the cables each time depending on the specific gravity of the test site. It will be complicated and will have many workers. In particular, a combination of a winder driven by strong power and a cable drum temporarily fixed on a cable jack called a giraffe will further mobilize a skilled worker to perform the winding work. However, it takes considerable experience to work smoothly with the winder and cable drum working together. In this kind of cable rewinding work,
The cable drum for rewinding is often rotated too much by inertia, causing the cable to come out too much, causing kinks and scratches. In addition, the cable drum may roll over the cable jack and expose the worker to dangerous eyes, which is not a safe method, and the time required and the cost required therefor are enormous. In addition, due to changes in seawater specific gravity and changes in water temperature due to the inflow of rivers after rainy weather, it is difficult to realize tow navigation between the sea surface and the sea floor. I had no choice but to do it. If such a situation is repeated, the man-hours may increase, the reliability of measurement may be deteriorated, and the morale of the worker may be affected, and the safety may be deteriorated. Furthermore, when designing a cable with neutral buoyancy,
Generally, the cable specific gravity is determined depending on whether the destination is seawater or fresh water. Further, from the viewpoint of performance and cost, the cable is often made of synthetic resin, and the contraction or expansion of the same material due to temperature change is remarkable, and the specific gravity of the cable also changes accordingly. Further, the specific gravity also changes slightly depending on the air content of the impregnating material inside the cable. Therefore, the specific gravity of the design value and the specific gravity of the finished cable have not been made equal. Furthermore, the specific gravity of the water at the site of use also changes subtly due to the mixture of seawater and rainwater after precipitation or due to the flow of tide,
It is extremely difficult to design a cable that has neutral buoyancy in response to these changes.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and a neutral buoyancy force, a weight specific gravity and a buoyancy force are applied to a cable by enclosing a specific gravity adjusting liquid or the like in a conducting tube in a test tow cable. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a test tow cable having a function that can be changed according to the specific gravity of sex. For example, when conducting a tow test of a measurement sensor by unwinding a test tow cable with a measurement sensor at its tip into the water from the quay via a cable guide, stretching it offshore, and then winding it with a winder. When used as a buoyancy cable and connected to a measuring device temporarily installed in the offshore area, the cable floats during extension,
We will provide a test tow cable that can sink while collecting data from the measuring device so that it will not interfere with the navigation vessel and that can be raised during withdrawal.

[0006]

Means for solving the above problems will be described with reference to the drawings corresponding to the embodiments.
That is, the test towing cable (hereinafter referred to as the cable (100)) of the present invention is a cable (100) containing a conductor (power line (102), signal line (103)),
In a cable towed under the condition that the observation device (2) for underwater exploration is electrically connected, in order to match the specific gravity of the used water area, a cable with a conduit tube (105) in which a gas or liquid for adjusting the cable specific gravity can be enclosed It is characterized in that it is provided almost entirely within (1). Cable (100)
A nozzle (108) having a supply hole for injecting and pouring silicon oil or the like for adjusting the specific gravity from one end or both ends of the conduit tube (105) is openably and closably provided therein.

[0007]

According to the towing cable for test of the present invention, the cable (100) is adjusted to neutral buoyancy by filling the conduit tube (105) with the specific gravity adjusting liquid according to the seawater at the site of use. be able to. As described above, since the cable (100) of the present invention can be adapted to the specific gravity at the site, it is not necessary to perform a troublesome and complicated rewinding work with seawater or fresh water as described above. Further, when carrying out a towing test in a place near a estuary where the specific gravity is different compared to others due to the mixture of freshwater and seawater, according to the present invention, the specific gravity can be adjusted according to the site. It is easy to carry out horizontal towing, which was difficult, safe and economical, and can be performed by a small number of workers and highly reliable test results can be obtained.

[0008]

EXAMPLE An example of a test tow cable according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a mode in which the cable 100 of the embodiment is used at a water depth of about 10 m. On the sea side, a measurement sensor 2 as an observation instrument is extended offshore by an auxiliary ship 4 of the measurement ship 3, and on the quay A side, a winder 5 and a cable guide 6 consisting of guide rollers necessary for measurement work are temporarily installed. ing. For the measurement work in this case, the anchor buoy 7 offshore was also taken into consideration, after adjusting the slack of the cable 100, and after receiving a signal to start winding from the quay, the tension and response of the cable 100 was felt and the underwater cutting was performed. The cable 100 is released from the disconnector 8. As a result, the measurement sensor 2 is wound at the required speed of the winder 5 and towed in water. In FIG. 1, 9 is an anchor, 10 is a hauling rope,
Reference numeral 11 is a guide roller. At this time, electrical signals from various sensors with respect to the speed of the measurement sensor 2 are transmitted by the cable 1
00, is sent to the measuring room on land via the winder 5 and is recorded in a data recorder or the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cable 100 of the embodiment is composed of a tension member 104, a buoyancy adjusting member, a signal wire 103, and a through pipe 105 penetrating therethrough to withstand the drag force during towing. , Its specific gravity is
It is designed with the goal of 1.25. In the inner sheath 106 of the cable 100, the tension member 10 is
4, the signal line 103 and the power supply line 102 are all through, along the outer periphery of the inner sheath 106, and the outer sheath 107 has almost one through one or more conducting tubes 105. One end of this conducting tube 105 Alternatively, at both ends, nozzles 108 that communicate with the supply holes for filling or discharging the specific gravity adjusting fluid are provided. The nozzle 108 may be provided in common for each conducting tube 105 or may be provided for each conducting tube 105. In order to match this cable 100 to the local gravity of seawater, a conduit tube 1
No. 05 is filled with a specific gravity adjusting oil to give a neutral buoyancy.

The test site is a part of the harbor and is relatively quiet, surrounded by jetties on three sides. In addition, there is a estuary from the mountainous area in the vicinity, and a large amount of water flows in when it rains. In such a case, the test cable 100 is towed by the sinking and adjusting, the measuring sensor 2 comes into contact with the seabed, an impact vibration voltage is generated, and an abnormal value is displayed on the land-based display. Immediately, in order to cope with the next towing test, the required specific gravity adjusting liquid is filled from the feed hole nozzle 108. In this way, the conduit tube 1 in the cable 100
It is characterized in that the specific gravity of the cable 100 can be made to have neutral buoyancy according to the environment of the test destination by injecting and filling the specific gravity adjusting liquid into 05, and a test towing cable as neutral buoyancy can be obtained.

[0011]

As described above, according to the test towed cable of the present invention, a neutral buoyancy force can be obtained by providing a conducting tube in the inside over substantially the entire length of the cable and injecting and filling the specific gravity adjusting liquid therein. You can This makes it possible to satisfy the intended test with the cable of the present invention, whether the test is carried out in a river, seawater or mixed water. Conventionally, when the cable tends to sink, buoyancy material is wrapped around the outer circumference of the cable until neutral buoyancy is obtained. In addition, when the cable was all floating, a heavy thread lead was wound around the outer circumference of the cable. Such a work of winding a specific gravity adjusting material around the outer circumference over a total length of several hundred meters of cable, a preparatory navigation for confirmation, etc. consumes a great deal of time and manpower, and as a result It will be a waste of rework due to the countermeasures, which in turn will affect worker's morale and affect safety. Further, since the outer peripheral surface of the cable is uneven, the unevenness causes vibration during towing, which is an unfavorable result on the data. With the cable of the present invention, it is not necessary to prepare for fresh water or seawater,
In addition, complicated work that hinders safety, such as rewinding them, becomes unnecessary, and the number of man-hours is reduced, the safety effect is improved, and the workability is significantly improved. Further, with the cable of the present invention, there is no risk of retesting during towing, so a series of towing data can be learned in a short time, and the effects on research and development such as the evaluation of specimens under the same environment are great. Is.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the use of a test tow cable according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the test tow cable of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 cables, power lines as 102 conductors,
103 signal lines as conductors, 105 conduit tubes, 2
Measuring sensor as an observation instrument,

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a cable towed under a condition where an observation device for underwater exploration is electrically connected by a cable containing a conductor, a gas or liquid for adjusting the cable specific gravity can be enclosed in order to match the specific gravity of the water area used. A towing cable for testing, characterized in that the conducting tube is provided almost entirely in the cable.