JPS63166689A - Roped, unmanned diving machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To aim at miniaturization in a cable drum, a winch or the like on a ship, by connecting a mother ship to an unmanned diving machine with a communication signal core optical fiber alone. CONSTITUTION:A large depth diving machine is slung down by a crane device 8 and splashed on the water. At the time of splashing down, a tether cable 13 consisting of a signal core optical fiber is successively delivered out of a crane device 8 on a mother ship 7 and each of spoolers 14 and 14a provided in the inner part of a machine body 1 of the large depth diving machine. The large depth dividing machine is connected to the crane device 8 by a remote- separable hook 12, so that at a time when the diving machine starts to go down into the water, it is separated from the hook 12, going down in depth by weights 3 and 5 that the diving machine has. According to this method, the tether cable 13 is of fine diameter so that influence by a tide is so little and, what is more, a drum and a winch are also miniaturizable.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field of the Invention) The present invention relates to an untethered unmanned submersible vehicle such as a television exploration device.

(Prior art and its problems) A device has been developed that can widely explore underwater patterns and observe them on a monitor on a ship. In particular, deep-depth unmanned underwater vehicles (hereinafter referred to as "deep-depth ROVJ") such as television exploration devices used in deep depths have the following problems in their operation.

1) Cables for power, communication, control, etc. are becoming larger in diameter,
Become longer. For this reason, the cable operating device has become larger and
And it will be large scale.

2) A large dedicated mothership with a large deck area necessary to mount large-scale cable handling equipment, crane equipment, etc. must be prepared.

3) The operating cost of the entire system, including the operating cost of the dedicated mother ship, will rise.

4) In the case of a cable-type deep-depth ROV, there are operational limitations such as difficulty in penetrating into underwater structures due to problems such as entanglement of cables.

5) As the diameter of the cable increases, the resistance acting on the cable increases, so the degree of freedom of the deep-depth ROV is small.

(Objective of the Invention) The present invention solves the problems of the prior art described above, and achieves the following: 1) Eliminating the need for a large-scale cable system in deep-water ROVs; 2) Making it possible to operate from a large dedicated mother ship to a small ship. 3) As a result, it is possible to significantly reduce operating costs, and 4) The resistance caused to the cable due to ocean currents can be significantly reduced, increasing the degree of freedom in operating the deep-depth ROV. The purpose is...

(Solution by the invention) It has a thruster for horizontal and vertical movement, and is equipped with two weights that can be automatically separated, and when the first weight and the second weight are equipped, the aircraft can sink. In an unmanned underwater vehicle that is designed to be in a neutral buoyancy state when the first weight is detached at a predetermined depth, and to surface when the second weight is detached, the cable connecting the mother ship and the unmanned underwater vehicle is By installing only a single-core optical fiber for communication between the spooler on the submersible's side and the spooler on the mother ship's side, the degree of freedom for the unmanned submersible is increased, and in the event of an emergency, it can be cut and escaped, increasing safety. did.

(Example) Referring to the second @, a lifting device for a deep-depth ROV, for which a patent application was filed at the same time as this application, will be described. A is RO for deep depth
It is V. 1 is the body of the deep-depth ROV (A), and 2 is the thruster installed on both sides of the body 1.

3.5 is a first weight and a second weight attached to the lower part of the fuselage 1. These two weights 3 and 5 are attached to the husband's body 1 so that they can be separated by remote-controlled electromagnetic disconnection devices (hereinafter referred to as weight disconnection devices) 4 and 6.

Figure 3 shows the relationship between the deep-depth ROV (A) and the mother ship 7. A crane device 8 is provided on the deck of the mother ship 7, and a rope 10 wound around a drum 9 on the deck is connected to the crane device. 8, and is detachably connected to a hook 12 provided at the top of the body 1. 13 is a communication tether cable that is fed out from a cable spooler 14 supported on the deck, and is used as a deep-depth RO.
Continuing with V (A).

The elevating and lowering action of this configuration will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4(a) to (f).

For example, the deep-depth ROV (A) was initially equipped with the first weight 3 and the second weight 5 at the bottom of the fuselage on the mother ship.

When it is suspended by the rope 10 of the crane device (Fig. 3) and enters the water, it freely sinks in the seawater under the weight of the first weight 3 and the second weight 5 (Fig. 4-a).

When the target depth is reached, the disconnection device 4 of the first weight 3 is activated to disconnect it (Fig. 4-b).Since it has been adjusted in advance to be in a neutral state in this state, the ROV for large depths (A)
becomes stationary in the water and ready for work (Figure 4-○).

If you want to move the aircraft 1 while stationary underwater, use the thrusters.
2 is driven to move vertically or horizontally to perform exploration work, etc.

When attempting to surface on the sea surface after completing the exploration work, etc., the second weight 5 installed at the bottom of the body 1 is separated by further actuating the separation device 6 (Fig. 4-d).

Then, due to buoyancy, the deep-depth ROV (A) rises (Figure 4-○) and comes to float on the water surface (Figure 4-f).
).

The present invention further improves the tether cable 13 in a deep-depth ROV that has two weights and a lifting device that moves up and down by separating them.

Now, in the case of conventional deep-rope ROVs, a composite cable 15 as shown in FIG. 5 is used for power and communication, but this composite cable 15 has an outer diameter of about 10
FRP rod 16° optical fiber 17, electric wire etc. are built into
has been done.

As described above, if such a composite cable 15 is used, the crane device 8 becomes a large-scale device, and therefore a large mother ship 7 must be prepared.

As mentioned above, one aspect of the present invention is a deep-depth R as shown in FIG.
Like the OV, its elevating device is operated by two weights and their separation, so that it is not restricted by the cables used to support the deep-depth ROV. That is, the tether cable 13 is used only for communication, and only the single-core optical fiber 20 (FIG. 6) is used.

The single-core optical fiber 20 has a diameter of about 1 square inch, and no other cables are used. Single optical fiber 2
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, if the central optical fiber 21 is coated with, for example, an FRP coating 22, the mechanical strength is increased.

Figure 1-a shows a state in which a deep-depth ROV (^) using a single optical fiber 20 as a tether cable 13 is suspended by a crane device 8 installed on the deck of a mother ship 7 and is about to land on water. It shows.

When the deep-depth ROV (A) is suspended by the crane device 8 and lands on water, the tether cable 13 made of a single-core optical fiber is connected to the crane device 8 on the mother ship 7 and the deep-depth RO
The spoolers 141 and 14a installed inside the fuselage 1 of V (A) are sequentially fed out (Fig. 1-b).
. The deep-depth ROV (A) is connected to the crane device 8 by a hook 12 that can be disconnected remotely, but when it starts descending into the water, it is separated from the hook 12, and the deep-depth ROV (A) is held. It is lowered to a deeper depth by weights 3 and 5 (Figure 1-○).

The present invention has been developed for a deep-depth ROV, but it can be used 1) for observing and inspecting complex structures at relatively shallow depths, such as oil drilling rigs, and 2) for applications requiring a wide range of action in the horizontal direction. It can also be applied to searching for lost items, and is not particularly limited to searching at great depths.

(Effects of the Invention) The present invention uses only a single-core optical fiber communication cable for communication in the deep-depth ROV (A).

Various advantages have been created as shown below.

1) Since only the single-core optical fiber communication cable is used as a tether cable, there is almost no need for cable equipment W (drum, winch, etc.) on board.

Operation by small vessels became possible.

2) Because the tether cable has a small diameter (less than 1 inch in diameter), it is hardly affected by cable resistance due to tidal currents or ROV movement, and has a much greater degree of freedom than conventional ROVs.

3) If the tether cable is severed due to an accident and the control signal from the mother ship is stopped, the weight can be automatically disconnected, allowing the ROV to float on its own.

4) Since the tether cable can be cut at the ROV part by command from the mother ship, it becomes possible to operate by penetrating into the structure, etc.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1-a to FIG. 1-0 are diagrams showing an ROV using a single-core optical fiber according to the present invention as a tether cable and a method of operating the ROV on a mother ship. FIG. 2 is a front view of an unmanned underwater vehicle in which the present invention is implemented. FIG. 3 shows the unmanned underwater vehicle being lowered onto the sea surface from a mother ship using a crane device. FIG. 4-a to FIG. 4-f are diagrams showing how to operate the unmanned underwater vehicle to the descending, neutral, and floating positions. In the figure: A Unmanned underwater vehicle (ROV) 1 Airframe 2 Thruster-3 1st weight 4.6 Remote control electromagnetic disconnection device 5 2nd weight 7 Mother ship 8 Crane device 9 Drum 10 Rope 1] Sheave 12 Hook 13 Tether Cable 14.14a
Spooler-15 Composite cable 16 FRP rod
17 Optical fiber 18 Filler 19
PE coating 20 Single optical fiber 21 Central optical fiber 22 FRP coating 23 Cable cutter or above Applicant Marine Science and Technology Center (2 others) Agent Patent attorney Isamu Ohashi 1w (0) Figure 1 (C) 2 Figure 3I2I 5th Figure 4 (0) Number Figure 4 (C) ゛ = "1-1ゝ-゛・-P Figure 4 conversion) Figure 4 (d)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] [1] It has a thruster for horizontal and vertical movement, and includes two weights, a first and a second weight, which can be automatically separated, and a first weight.
An unmanned diving system in which the aircraft sinks when equipped with a weight and a second weight, becomes neutrally buoyant when the first weight is removed at a predetermined depth, and rises when the second weight is removed. A cabled unmanned underwater vehicle characterized in that the cable connecting the mother ship and the unmanned underwater vehicle is only a single-core optical fiber for communication between the spooler on the unmanned underwater vehicle side and the spooler on the mother ship side. [2] The unmanned underwater vehicle according to claim [1], characterized in that the unmanned underwater vehicle is equipped with a cable cutter so that the communication single-core optical fiber can be cut by remote control.