RU2497710C1 - Device and method of placing and clearing flexible long towed antenna - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: transport.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to hydroacoustic, particularly, to handling long flexible towed antennas by surface sups and submarines. Propose device comprises winch to wind the tow rope and section of antenna, tubular store for another section of antenna and antenna end stabiliser, tubular store end seals, one arranged at store end nearby said winch and the other one arranged at store opposite end, composed of curved-surface washer to fit in end stabiliser front surface, device to create excess hydraulic pressure inside said tubular sore connected by sealed pipe with seal arranged nearby the winch. Seal at tubular store end nearby said winch is composed of a cylinder module with ID equal to that said store rigidly and tightly coupled therewith. Set of elastic membranes is fitted in said module, OD of each being equal to module ID. Every said membrane has central bore in diameter equal to antenna shell diameter or smaller than that. Note here that every said membrane is divided into segments by radial cuts. Note also that said membranes are fitted via circular gaskets so that cuts on every next membrane are shifted in circle relative to those of previous one.

EFFECT: higher safety and reliability of placing and clearing.

3 cl, 3 dwg

Description

The invention relates to hydroacoustic technology and relates to the creation of devices for setting and retrieving (UPV) flexible extended towed antennas (GPAA) in submarines and surface ships.

GPBA is intended for receiving hydroacoustic information, its preliminary processing and transmission to on-board equipment to form a fan of directivity and secondary processing. Extended hydroacoustic antennas towed by a vessel are known, which are series-connected in a single cable towing system and GPBA, containing acoustic sound pressure detectors and electronic pre-processing and information sealing devices located inside a sealed hose shell filled with a liquid or pseudo-fluid (gel) filler ( RF patents No. 2136019 dated 08/27/1999, No. 2229734 dated 05/27/2004). GPAA have a length significantly exceeding the linear dimensions of the carrier ship and, using the tug cable, are separated from the ship by a distance sufficient to reduce the level of their own ship interference. The length of such antennas can range from several tens to several hundred meters. The necessary manipulations associated with the release and cleaning of GPAA are carried out using staging and sampling (UPV) devices (Yu.A. Koryakin, S.A. Smirnov, G.V. Yakovlev, Shipborne sonar equipment, St. Petersburg, "Science", 2004, p. 62]). Such devices are designed for storage, etching at sea for their intended purpose, towing and reeling of GPBA after the end of work. As a rule, the UPV includes a winch, on the drum of which they are wound in various cases, depending on the conditions for placing the winch on the ship and how to set up the GPBA, either a cable tug and GPBA completely, or only a cable tug. In the latter case, the antenna is placed in a tubular storage (hangar) for GPBA, which is a pipe in the form of an extended cylindrical shell, laid from the winch along the ship's hull to its aft end.

Through the tubular storage GPBA is put into the stream. To stabilize the movement of the antenna in the stream, it is equipped with an end stabilizer, the casing of which is made in the form of a hollow body of revolution, consisting of thin-walled metal parts welded together in the form of a hemisphere, cylinder and cone. In both cases, the end body also performs the role of “tube” of the tubular storage. In a number of design solutions, the winch and tubular storage form a single sealing circuit, in a number of others - the winch and tubular storage are leaky. (Yu.A. Koryakin, S.A. Smirnov, G.V. Yakovlev, Ship sonar equipment, St. Petersburg, “Nauka”, 2004, p. 62). To etch the GPAA, a hydraulic method is used, in which an excess (relative to the external hydrostatic) hydraulic pressure is created in the sealing circuit of the winch - the tubular storage, or only in the tubular storage. This pressure pushes the end body out of the hangar and then a pulling force is created on the antenna, which, like the flow, is directed towards the exit from the hangar.

The staging-sampling device according to the patent of the Russian Federation No. 2171197 from 01.24.2000. is the closest analogue in technical solution to the proposed device.

The prototype device includes:

- a winch for winding a cable tug on it,

- tubular storage, which hosts the GPA and the end body with the nasal tip in the form of a hemisphere,

- devices for sealing the ends of the tubular storage, one of which is located at the inlet (closest to the end of the winch) of the tubular storage and is made in the form of an oil seal through which the cable tug passes, the other at the outlet (opposite the end) of the tubular storage, in the form of a concave hemisphere mating with the spherical tip of the end body,

- a device for creating excess hydraulic pressure in the internal volume of the tubular storage, made in the form of a centrifugal pump connected to the tip closest to the winch by a sealed pipe.

When the pump and the winch are turned on for staging in the tubular storage, due to the cable gland seal, excessive pressure is created that pushes the end stabilizer from the hangar into the stream and, under the influence of the pressure drop in the hangar and the drag resistance of the GPA stabilizer, is etched into the stream.

The known device is effective only when the GPBA is completely in the tubular storage, and only its cable-tow is located on the winch. A significant difference in the diameters of GPAA (60-80 mm) and cable tug (15-20 mm) and significantly greater radial stiffness of the cable allows you to create an effective stuffing box seal at the inlet of the tubular storage (RU 217197 C1 24.01.2000) and provide the necessary for setting the antenna traction.

With large apertures of GPBA, when it cannot be completely placed in the tubular storage, most of the GPBA is wound on the winch drum, and a smaller one is in the tubular storage. In this case, problems arise in which the known device does not provide GPBA for the following reasons. For GPBA, which is a thin-walled elastic hose filled with gel or liquid, inside of which acoustic receivers, electronic information processing units, wire transit and power elements are located, it is impossible to use an stuffing box seal, because when the antenna is pulled through such a seal, the shell will be deformed and contracted relative to the antenna power elements in the direction opposite to the setting, and liquid or gel will flow inside the antenna in the same direction (the “tube effect”), which leads to a violation of the fastening of acoustic and electronic blocks inside it and bloating of the shell near the rigid partitions in the antenna when approaching the stuffing box packing, and ultimately - to stop the process of installation and damage to the antenna. This is a significant disadvantage of the prototype device.

The objective of the claimed invention is to remedy these shortcomings of the known technical solution, while the technical result is the implementation of the staging-sampling of an extended GPBA, part of which is wound on the UPV winch, and part is located in an extended tubular storage without damage.

In order to achieve the indicated technical result, a flexible extended towed antenna (HBA), containing a winch, with a cable tug and a part of the HBA, a tubular storage, in which the other part of the HBA and its terminal stabilizer, the device sealing the ends of the tubular storage, one of which is located at the inlet of the tubular storage, the other at the opposite end of the tubular storage, a device for creating excessive hydraulic pressure in the inner volume In addition to the tubular storage, new features were introduced, namely: the sealing device at the end of the tubular storage closest to the winch is made in the form of a cylindrical module of the same internal diameter as the tubular storage, rigidly and hermetically connected to it, a set of diaphragms made of elastic material is installed inside the module , the outer diameter of each of the diaphragms is equal to the inner diameter of the cylindrical module, in each of the diaphragms a central hole is made with a diameter equal to or smaller than the diameter of the GPBA shell, while each diaphragm is divided into segments using radial cuts, and the diaphragms through the annular gaskets are installed so that the cuts on the subsequent diaphragm are displaced in a circle relative to the previous one.

The fastening of the cylindrical module to the tubular storage can be done using end flanges.

To increase the processability of UPV, ring gaskets can be made as a single unit with diaphragms made of elastic material.

The main idea of the invention is that at the inlet of the tubular storage instead of a hard packing, a device is installed made in the form of a cylindrical module with a set of diaphragms made of elastic material, the outer diameter of each of which is equal to the inner diameter of the cylindrical module, and the inner diameter is less than or equal to the diameter shell passing through it GPBA. The geometry of such diaphragms is such that, under the action of excess pressure, the segments of each diaphragm deviate from the vertical location, come out of contact with the surface of the GPBA hose shell and form an annular gap, the length of which is equal to the length of the set of diaphragms, and the hydraulic flow resistance in it ensures the creation of excess pressure in the tubular a storage sufficient to push the terminal stabilizer, “plug”, out of the tubular storage and pit the GPBA into the stream. At the same time, the occurrence of an increase in the diameter of the hose shell in a certain portion of the HPBA due to the pressure drop arising on the antenna shell when it enters the tubular storage does not stop the GPBA or its damage, since when passing this portion of the GPBA through a set of diaphragms, the thickening of the GPBA with approaching the entrance to the tubular storage causes an increase in the pressure head from the centrifugal pump, which pushes the segments of the diaphragm in the area of contact with the shell, and increases the diameter of the inner hole to a diameter Greater than or equal to the diameter of the thickening GPBA. Since the material of the diaphragms is elastic, and the friction between the surface of the antenna and the surface of the diaphragms due to the presence of a water flow is minimal, there is no damage to the GPA shell or its stop in the tubular storage.

The essence of the invention is illustrated in figure 1, 2, 3, where figure 1 shows the design of the proposed UPV, figure 2 shows a cylindrical module with a set of diaphragms from an elastic material and a longitudinal and cross section of a diaphragm from such a set in two projections, fig. 3 illustrates the interaction of the antenna shell and the segments of the diaphragms of the cylindrical module when creating excessive pressure (ID) in the tubular storage

The proposed UPV (Fig. 1) contains a winch drum 1 with GPBA 2 wound on it, a tubular storage 3 with a sealing device for the tubular storage 4 at the end of the tubular storage, distant with respect to the winch, in the form of a washer with a concave surface mating with the surface of the frontal end of the end body 5, a device 6 for creating excess hydraulic pressure in the internal volume of the tubular storage, made in the form of a centrifugal pump, the sealing device was stored at the end of the tubular near the winch 2 3 as a conductive cylindrical unit 7 with a set of diaphragms 8.

The cylindrical module 7 (figure 2) contains a cylindrical body 9, the inner diameter of which is equal to the inner diameter of the housing of the tubular storage 3 with a flange 13, thrust washers 10 and 11, rigidly connected to the housing 9, for example, a threaded connection between which a set of diaphragms 8 are installed. The outer diameter of the diaphragm 8 is equal to the diameter of the cylindrical body 9, and the inner hole 12 is equal to or less than the diameter of the GPAA 2, while each of the diaphragms is divided into segments 13 (for example, in figure 2 into four segments) using radial cuts 14, di aphrages through the annular gaskets 15 are installed in such a way that the incisions 14 on the subsequent diaphragm 8 are displaced in a circle relative to the previous one.

The diaphragms 8 are made of rubber, but they can also be made of other elastic material, such as polyurethane. Ring gaskets can be made in the form of separate parts from the material of the diaphragms

The operation of the proposed device is illustrated in figure 3. and is carried out as follows: due to the proposed geometry of the diaphragms 8, under the action of excessive pressure, the segments 13 of each diaphragm deviate from the vertical location, come out of contact with the surface of the hose shell of GPBA 2 and form an annular gap around it, the length of which is equal to the length of the set of diaphragms 8, and the excess the pressure in the tubular storage 3 is sufficient to push the terminal stabilizer “plug” 5 out of the tubular storage 3 and bleed GPBA 2 into the stream. At the same time, the occurrence of a thickening of the diameter 16 of the hose shell 2 in a certain portion of the GBA 2, for example, due to the pressure differential arising on the GBA 2 shell when it enters the tubular storage 3, will not lead to the GBA 2 stopping or damage, since this section GPBA 2 through a set of diaphragms 8, a thickening of 16 GPBA when approaching the entrance to the tubular storage causes an increase in the flow head from the centrifugal pump, which moves apart segments 13 of the diaphragm 8 in the contact area with the shell 2, and increases the diameter of the inner aperture 12 to a diameter greater than or equal to the thickening diameter of 16 GPAA 2. Since the material of the diaphragms 8 is elastic, and the friction between the surface of the GPA 2 and the surface of the diaphragms 8 is minimal due to the presence of a water flow, damage to the shell of the GBA 2 or its stop in the tubular storage 3 or damage to it.

Thus, the proposed UPV solves the problem of the safe setting and selection of GPBA, part of which is wound on the UPV winch, and part is located in the tubular storage without damage or stops.

Claims (3)

1. Arrangement and retrieval device (UPV) of a flexible extended towed antenna (GPBA), comprising a winch for winding a cable tug and parts of GPBA, a tubular storage for accommodating another part of the GPBA and its terminal stabilizer, a sealing device for the ends of the tubular storage, one of which are located on the end of the tubular storage closest to the winch, the other on the opposite end of the tubular storage, in the form of a washer with a concave surface, mating with the frontal surface of the terminal stabilizer, a device for creating a hydraulic pressure in the internal volume of the tubular storage connected to the end closest to the winch by a sealed pipe, and the sealing device on the end of the tubular storage closest to the winch is made in the form of a cylindrical module of the same internal diameter as the tubular storage, rigidly and hermetically connected to it, inside the module there is a set of diaphragms made of elastic material, each of the diaphragms has an outer diameter equal to the inner diameter of the cylindrical module, in each of the diaphragms The central aperture has a central hole with a diameter equal to or smaller than the diameter of the GPBA shell, with each diaphragm being divided into segments using radial cuts, the diaphragms being installed through the ring gaskets so that the cuts on each subsequent diaphragm are displaced in a circle relative to the previous one. 2. UPV according to claim 1, in which the connection of the cylindrical module with the tubular storage is performed using end flanges. 3. UPV according to claim 1, in which each diaphragm is made as a unit with one ring gasket.

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