JPS6116194A - Remote controlled underwater observing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make an underwater swimming machine small and light by transmitting information on an image from an image-guide object unit loaded on said underwater swimming machine, to an observing ship after converting said information into an image signal by means of a TV camera loaded on a relay unit. CONSTITUTION:An image-guide object unit 12 as an observing head is loaded on an underwater swimming machine 4. TV cameras 51-53 are loaded on a relay unit 7. And, information on an image from the image-guide object unit 12 is transmitted to the cameras 51-53 via an image-guide power composite cable 14. These cameras convert the image information into a TV image signal, which, in turn, is transmitted to a monitor on the observing ship 1 via a composite cable 16 and projected on a monitor screen 17. Since the TV cameras are loaded on the relay unit 7, the underwater swimming machine can be miniaturized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a remote-controlled underwater observation device that remotely controls an underwater swimming device to observe underwater.

[Prior Art] As shown in FIG. 11, a conventional remote-controlled underwater observation device of this kind is equipped with a plurality of propulsion units 13 that are remotely controlled by a remote controller 2 on an observation boat 1, and swims underwater. underwater swimming machine 4
A television camera (hereinafter referred to as TV camera) 5 is mounted as an observation head, and the television image signal observed by this TV camera 5 is transmitted via a cable 6 to a repeater 7.
The signal amplified by this repeater 7 is input to the monitor device 9 on the observation ship 1 through a cable 8 to conduct surveys and observations of the ocean floor, etc. In this case, the underwater swimming machine 4 is the TV camera 5.
It is equipped with a pressure-resistant capsule 10 that stores the contents. A power source 11 is mounted on the observation boat 1 to supply power to various parts.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a structure, the T'V camera 5 itself is quite large, so the pressure capsule 10 becomes large, and the pressure receiving area due to the tidal current becomes large. The disadvantage was that it required three thrusters. For this reason, the underwater swimming machine 4 has the disadvantage of being large and heavy, and consuming a large amount of electric power to drive a large propulsion device. In addition, the pressure capsule 10 in front of the TV camera 5
It was necessary to install a viewing window made of transparent glass or resin in this area, which had the drawback of not being able to observe high water depths due to its pressure resistance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a remote-controlled underwater observation device that can reduce the size and weight of an underwater swimming device and also allows observation at high depths.

[Means of the present invention for solving the problems] The present invention provides an underwater swimming machine equipped with a propulsion device that is remotely controlled by a remote controller on an observation boat, and an observation head that is mounted on an underwater swimming machine that swims underwater. The present invention is based on a remote-controlled underwater observation device in which underwater observation is carried out on the observation boat by inputting the received signal to the monitoring device on the observation boat via an underwater repeater.

In the present invention, an image guide objective unit is used as the observation head. The image guide objective unit and the repeater are connected by an image guide power composite cable. The repeater is equipped with a television camera that converts the image information conveyed by the image guide of the cable into a television image signal. The repeater and observation vessel are connected by a composite cable that transmits signals and power.

[Operation of the invention] When the image guide objective unit is used as an observation head in this way, it becomes significantly smaller and lighter than a TV camera. Therefore, the small size of the underwater swimming machine.

It can be made lighter. In addition, the underwater swimming machine only needs to bear the load from the part below the repeater, and the underwater swimming machine itself can be made smaller and lighter, so the necessary swimming speed can be achieved without significantly increasing the thrust of the underwater swimming machine's propulsion machine. can be made to do so. Furthermore, since the image guide objective unit is small and has a simple structure, it can be easily formed into a highly water pressure resistant structure, thus enabling observation at high water depths.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10. Note that parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 described above are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows the overall schematic configuration of the remote-controlled underwater observation device of this embodiment. In this example,
An image guide objective unit 12 is mounted on the underwater swimming machine 4 as an observation head, and underwater observation is performed using illumination from an illumination means 13. The underwater swimming machine 4 is
It is equipped with a plurality of propulsion devices (thrusters) 31 to 33 so that it can swim in three-dimensional directions. Image information captured by the image guide objective unit 12 is transmitted to the repeater 7 via a plurality of image guides in the image guide power composite cable 14. Further, a plurality of lighting means 131 to 13 are connected to the power line of this cable 14.
3 (only 131 is shown in this figure) and each propulsion device 31 to 33 is supplied with electric power.

The repeater 7 is equipped with a plurality of TV cameras 51 to 53 that convert image information transmitted from each image guide of the cable 14 into a television image signal (hereinafter referred to as a TV image signal) consisting of an electric signal. There is. The TV image signals output from the TV cameras 51 to 53 are converted into TV image signals consisting of optical signals by the electric-to-optical converters 151 to 153, which are also mounted on the repeater 7, and sent to the observation ship 1 via the composite cable 16. The signal is input to the upper monitor device 9, converted back into a TV image signal made of an electric signal, and projected onto the monitor screen 17 of the television receiver. The repeater 7 is suspended underwater from the observation boat 1 by a composite cable 16. From the power source 11 on the observation boat 1, a remote controller 2, a monitor device 9. TV camera 51~
53. Propulsion machines 31-33. Power is supplied to the lighting means 131 to 133 and the like.

Figures 2 and 3 show the underwater swimming l used in this example.
114 shows a schematic configuration of 114. This underwater swimming I
14 is provided with a cage-shaped body frame 18 formed of a metal pipe into an open-mesh cage shape. Inside this cage-shaped body frame 18, a longitudinal propulsion unit 13+ for propelling the underwater swimming 1fi4 in the front-back direction, a left-right propulsion unit 32 for propelling it in the left-right direction, and a vertical propulsion unit 3:1 for propelling it in the up-down direction are installed. , capable of three-dimensional propulsion. Each of the propulsion devices 31 to 33 has a propulsion water flow forming cylinder 3A1゜3 with both ends facing in the direction of propulsion.
A2.3A3 and each cylinder 3A1. -Screws 3B+ and 3B2.383 disposed within 3A3 and motors 3G+ and 3G2 that drive these screws 3B1 to 383
．． It consists of 303.

Image guide objective units 12 are removably mounted on all the frames 19 within the cage-shaped body frame 18. The image guide power composite cable 14 connected to the image guide objective unit 12 is detachably supported by a gutter-shaped support 20 with a clip 21 within the cage-shaped body frame 18 . A bell mouth 22 split into two is disposed at the lead-out portion of the cable 14 led out from the cage-shaped body frame 18 to protect the cable 14.

Further, a plurality of illumination means 131 , 132 , 133 are attached to the front part of the cage-shaped body frame 18 to illuminate the observation direction of the image guide objective unit 12 .

FIGS. 4 to 6 schematically show the configuration of the image guide objective unit 12 used in this embodiment.

An image guide power composite cable 14 is installed inside the unit body 23 of this unit 12 via a watertight waterproof processing section 24.
is being drawn in.

That is, the cable sheath 25 is stripped off at the end of the cable 14 and three image guides 26+, 262, 263 are formed.
, a plurality of power lines 27, and a tension member 28 are led out. Each power line 27 is connected to a watertight connector 29 from which each lighting means 131
Wiring cable 30.3 to ~133 and each propulsion machine 31 to 33
1, power is supplied. A lead-in port 32 for the cable 14 is formed in the unit body 23, and a lead-in sleeve 33 is watertightly attached to the lead-in port 32 with an O-ring 34, bolts 35, and the like. cable 1
4 is passed through this sleeve 33 and the unit body 23
The tension member 28 is fixed to the inner end of the sleeve 33 with a fastener 36. The sleeve 33 is filled with a resin 37 such as epoxy and sealed. End of sleeve 33 and cable sheath 25
A heat-shrinkable tube 38 is placed over both ends, a waterproof tape layer 39 is provided on the outer periphery, a rubber boot 40 is placed on the outer periphery, and a waterproof tape layer 41 is provided on each end of the rubber boot 40. .

Unit body 23 on the side opposite to the introduction side of the cable 14
There are three objective unit heads 42.43.4 at the tip of the
4 are provided protrudingly at approximately 40° intervals. Inside these objective unit heads 42 to 44 are image guides 261 to 2.
63 are retracted, and each has the same internal structure, so the structure will be explained using the objective unit head 42 as an example. This objective unit 1-head 42
The head sleeve 46 has a head sleeve 46 that is attached through the hole 45 of the unit body 23, and the head sleeve 46 has a flange 47 attached to the inner surface of the unit body 23 around the hole 45 via an O-ring 48. The head sleeve 7 is in contact with the outside of the unit body 23! I6
It is watertightly attached by tightening a fixing nut 49 screwed onto the outer periphery of the holder. The end of the image guide 261 is retracted into the head sleeve 46 and
By compressing the image guide fixing gasket 50 fitted around the outer periphery of the image guide 261 inside the head sleeve 46 by the stepped portion 51 inside the head sleeve 46 and the gasket presser 52 screwed into the head sleeve 46 from the rear end, The image guide 261 is fixed within the head sleeve 46. At the tip of the image guide 261, an objective lens 53 with a fixed focus is mounted within a collar 54 and fixed to the head sleeve 46. A pressure-resistant glass 55 is attached to the O-ring 5 at the tip of the head sleeve 46 in front of the objective lens 53.
6, and is watertightly attached by screwing the retaining ring 57 onto the head sleeve 46. The objective units l to heads 42 to 44 capture phenomena in the outside world and provide image information to each image guide 261 to 26.
3 to transmit the information to the repeater 7 side.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the internal structure of the image guide power composite cable 14. In this cable 14, image guides 261 to 263 of 30,000 to 50,000 pixels are assembled in the center by bundling a large number of optical fibers, an interposer 58 is packed between pis around the guide, and a polyethylene sheath 59 is placed around the outer periphery of the image guide 261 to 263. Tension member layers 60 and 61 are sequentially installed, and an interlocking flexible metal tube 62 and a polyethylene sheath 6 are placed around the outer periphery of each tension member layer 61.
3 are provided in sequence. A plurality of power lines 27 are twisted around the outer periphery of the polyethylene sheath 63, and a jute layer 64, a tension member layer 65, a polyethylene sheath 66, and a urethane layer 67 are sequentially provided on the outer periphery to form an I-shaped structure.

8 to 10 show the structure of the repeater 7 and the image guide take-up reel 68 for winding the image guide power composite cable 14 connected to the repeater 7. The repeater 7 has three built-in TV cameras 51, 52, 53, and each image guide 261 of the cable 14.
The end portions of the guides 261 to 263 are retracted to face the respective TV cameras 51 to 53, and the image information sent through the image guides 261 to 263 is converted into a TV image signal consisting of an electric signal. Each work ■Camera 51-53
Electric-to-optical converters 151, 152, and 153 are connected to the output ends of the converters 151, 152, and 153 to convert a TV image signal consisting of an electric signal into a TV image signal consisting of an optical signal. The TV image signal is sent to the observation node 1 via a composite cable 16. A water depth gauge 70 is attached to the outer surface of the repeater 7, and the detected water depth signal is sent to the observation node 1 via the composite cable 16.

The repeater 7 is mounted in a repeater frame 71 formed in a rectangular cage shape using a metal pipe.

Further, within the repeater frame 71, an image guide take-up reel 6B, in which a body portion 68A, a collar portion 68B, etc. are formed of metal pipes, is rotatably supported by a reel rotation shaft 72. The image guide power composite cable 14 is wound and stored around the outer periphery of the reel 68 during storage on board the ship.

The image guide objective unit 12 is not separated from the cable 14, and the image guide objective unit 12 removed from the underwater swimming machine 4 is supported on the outer periphery of the reel 68. In order to prevent the cable 14 from being excessively bent during winding, a bell mouth 73 is attached to the repeater 7, and a cable winding guide 74 is installed between the bell mouth 73 and the reel 68. In order to allow the reel 68 to rotate, the composite cable 16 is disconnected from the repeater 7 at the underwater connector 75 when the reel 68 rotates.

The composite cable 16 has the same configuration as the composite cable 14 described above, but has a larger diameter than the composite cable 14 so that it can withstand a large load.

It is preferable that the composite cable 14 be constructed so that the weight of the cable in water becomes approximately zero, such as by using a material with a low specific gravity.

In a device having such a structure, each propulsion 1131 to 3 of the underwater swimming device 4 is controlled by operating the remote controller 2 on the observation section 1.
By driving 3, the underwater swimming machine 4 can be made to swim in any direction. During swimming of the underwater swimming machine 4, each of the objective unit heads 42 to 44 of the re-imaging guide objective unit 12 captures an underwater scene with a wide field of view in the range of approximately 120° to 150°, and each of the image guides 261 to 44 captures the underwater scene as image information. 263 to each of the TV cameras 5) to 53 of the repeater 7. The TV cameras 51 to 53 convert this image information into TV image signals consisting of electrical signals,
Next, each electric-to-optical converter 151 to 153 converts the optical signal into a TV image signal, and transmits it to the monitor device 9 on the observation section 1 through the composite cable 16, and after optical-to-electrical conversion, receives the TV image. It is projected onto the machine's motor screen 17-. If the TV image signal transmitted within the composite cable 16 is an optical signal, the amount of attenuation will be reduced, making it suitable for measurements at high water depths.

Of course, if the amount of attenuation is not a problem, the TV image signal consisting of an electric signal may be transmitted to the observation boat 1 via the composite cable 16.

Further, as in this embodiment, the body frame 1 of the underwater swimming machine 4 is
If the underwater swimming device 8 is made into a basket shape, the underwater swimming device 4 will be less affected by tidal currents, etc., and will not become an obstacle to underwater swimming, which is very suitable.

In the case of the present invention, the image guide objective unit 12 is
Since it is very small compared to the camera, the aircraft frame 1
Even if 8 is made into a pressure vessel type, it will be smaller than a conventional pressure vessel and will be less susceptible to the effects of tidal currents and the like.

Even if the image guide objective unit 12 is exposed underwater as shown, the objective unit heads 42 to 44 have a small diameter and have a small pressure receiving area, so they can be easily formed into a structure that can withstand high water pressure. .

It is preferable that the image guide objective unit 12 has a structure including a plurality of objective units/heads 42 to 44 as in this embodiment, since a wide field of view can be obtained.

After use, the whole thing is pulled up onto the observation boat 1,
The image guide objective unit 12 is removed from the underwater swimming machine 4, the composite cable 16 is also removed from the repeater 7, the reel 68 is rotated, the composite cable 14 is wound around the outer circumference of the reel 68, and the image guide objective unit 12 is also removed from the reel 68.
fixed around the outer periphery of the

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, in the remote-controlled underwater observation device according to the present invention, the underwater swimming device is equipped with an image guide objective unit instead of the television camera, and the television camera is mounted on the repeater. Since the image guide objective unit is significantly smaller than that of a television camera, it is possible to downsize the underwater swimming machine, making it less susceptible to the effects of tidal currents, etc., and allowing for good underwater swimming.

In addition, for underwater swimming machines, the load burden on the part below the repeater is reduced by 1
Since the underwater swimming device itself can be made smaller and lighter, the required swimming can be performed without significantly increasing the thrust of the propulsion device of the underwater swimming device. Furthermore, because the image guide objective unit is small and has a simple structure, it can be easily formed into a highly water pressure resistant structure, and therefore can also enable observation at high propulsion.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a remote-controlled underwater observation device according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are a plan view and a side view of an underwater swimming device used in this embodiment. , FIG. 4 is a plan view of the image guide objective unit used in this example, FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the objective unit head of the image guide objective unit shown in FIG. 4, and FIG.
7 is a cross-sectional view of the image guide power composite cable used in this example, and FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the repeater used in this example. A block diagram showing the configuration, FIGS. 9 and 10 are a side view and a front view showing the relationship between the repeater and reel used in this embodiment, and FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a conventional remote-controlled underwater observation device. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration. 1...Observation ship, 2...Remote controller, 31-33...
・Propulsion machine, 4...Underwater swimming machine, 51-53...TV
Camera, 9... Monitor device, 10... Power supply, 12
・・・Image guide objective unit, 131-133・
...Illumination means, 14...Image guide power composite cable, 151-153...Electric-optical converter, 16...
・Composite cable, 18...Cage type aircraft frame, 23
...Unit body, 261-263...Image guide, 27...Power line, 42-44...Objective unit head, 68...Monitor E1 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 1O Fig. 11

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An observation head is mounted on an underwater swimming machine that is equipped with a propulsion device that is remotely controlled by a remote controller on an observation boat, and the signal observed by the observation head is transmitted to the observation vessel via an underwater repeater. In a remote-controlled underwater observation device that performs underwater observations onboard the observation boat by inputting information to a monitor device on board,
An image guide objective unit is used as the observation head, the image guide objective unit and the repeater are connected by an image guide power composite cable, and the repeater transmits the image guide information transmitted by the image guide of the cable to the television. 1. A remote-controlled underwater observation device, characterized in that it is equipped with a television camera that converts into a video image signal, and the repeater and the observation boat are connected by a composite cable that transmits signals and power. (2) The underwater swimming machine includes a cage-shaped body frame,
The remote-controlled underwater observation device according to claim 1, wherein the image guide objective unit is mounted within the cage-shaped body frame.