US3118307A

US3118307A - Apparatus for effecting

Info

Publication number: US3118307A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1964-01-21
Anticipated expiration: 1981-01-21

Description

Jan. 21, 1964 o. PETTERSSON 3,118,307

APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING, IN A SUBMERGED CONDITION, THE DISPLACEMENT OF A MOVABLE MEMBER FROM oNE POSITION INTO ANOTHER Filed June 6. 1961 INVENTOR LARS OLOF PETTLRSSOI ATTORNEYS United States Patent APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING, IN A SUBMERGEI) CONDITION, THE DISPLACEMENT ()F A MGV- ABLE MEMBER FRSM ONE PGSITIGN INTG ANGTHER Lars Olof Pettersson, Ljungskile, Sweden Filed June 6, 1961, Ser. No. 115,156 Claims priority, application Sweden June 8, 1960 5 Claims. (Cl. 73425.4)

The present invention relates to an apparatus for effecting, in a condition of being submerged into water, the displacement of a movable member from one position into another.

The invention is mainly characterised in that the apparatus comprises two rods or the like slidably mounted in a carrier to be displaceable longitudinally towards and away from each other therein, one of these rods being adapted on being displaced from one position to another position relative to the carrier to etfect displacement of said movable member, and the other rod being adapted to be connected at its end remote from the first-mentioned rod and projecting from the carrier, with a handling line or the like serving for submerging the apparatus into water, and in that a permanent magnet and an armature co-operating therewith are secured to the respective ones of the two adjacent ends of the two rods in order to efiect releasable magnetical interconnection of the rods.

According to the invention, one rod is suitably dis placeable relative to the carrier by an amount which is greater than the extent of displacement of said other rod in the same sense, whereby, from a state of being interconnected through the magnet and armature, the rods can be separated from each other by moving the rod connected to the handling line towards its end position in said sense of displacement while overcoming the magnetic attraction.

In this instance, the rod connected to the handling line may advantageously be influenced, at least along the portion of its path of displacement adjacent to the end position thereof stated in the preceding paragraph, by a spring urging the rod away from said end position.

In its position of use, the apparatus is suspended on the handling line through the intermediary of the rod connected thereto and being in an uppermost end position, while the other rodbeing disposed below the firstmentioned rod in the position of use of the apparatusis disposed in a lowermost end position, provided the two rods are not at the moment interconnected. If the apparatus is subjected to acceleration for a brief moment by making a sudden jerk on the handling line, then this will result in a relative movement between the various parts of the apparatus causing the displaceable rods to approach each other sufiiceintly to enable the permanent magnet disposed on one rod to attract the armature provided on the other rod, thereby interconnecting the two rods. As will be appreciated, as the movement of the pulled line ceases, the carrier will move by gravity downward relative to the interconnected rods. Thus the lower rod will have been caused to move from a lowermost end position into an uppermost end position relative to the carrier, and it is this movement which is intended to be utilized for actuating an adjustable member. In the case of the above-specified embodiment in which the upper rod is displaceable by a greater amount than the-lower rod, it is possible by a jerk on the handling line to disconnect the upper rod from the lower one, whereby the upper rod will be moved into its topmost end position relative the carrier, and the lower rod will drop by gravity into its lowermost end position then executing a renewed adjustment of the adjustable member.

One field of application to which the invention is particularly advantageously adapted is the bringing up of samples of water from various depths in a watercourse, well or the like. In this case the member to be adjusted comprises a closure for a test bottle or similar receptacle for the water sample. An embodiment of the invention which is particularly designed for this purpose is characterised in that the carrier is provided with means for securing the test bottle thereto with its mouth facing the end of the rod not connected to the handling line and projecting from the carrier, said end carrying the closure which is in the form of a cap of soft rubber or the like, the whole arrangement being such that, in the interconnected state of the rods, the cap is removed from the mouth of the bottle, whereas, in the disengaged state of the rods, the cap is maintained by the weight load of its carrying rod in sealing engagement with the edge of the bottle month. By means of an apparatus constructed in this way, the test bottle in a condition of being sealed by the closure member may be submerged to the desired depth after which, by a jerk on the handling line, the closure member is moved to a position uncovering the bottle mouth, whereby the bottle is filled with water. By a further jerk on the handling line, the closure member is returned into its position sealing oif the bottle.

In order to enable the sealing cap, in the immersed condition of the apparatus, to be readily removed from the bottle mouth irrespective of the ambient water pressure, according to the invention, the cap is suitably provided in one side thereof with a lateral slit cut into it from its external peripheral surface to a passageway formed in the cap and opening at its portion facing the mouth of the test bottle. Owing to this arrangement, on exerting a pull on the cap, the interior of the bottle will be placed in communication with the ambient water through said pasasgeway and slit enabling a pressure equalization to occur which in turn enables the cap to be removed from the bottle mouth.

According to a further feature of the invention, the means for securing the test bottle to the carrier suitably comprises an internally screw-threaded ring or nut screwable to be axially displaceable along an externally screwthreaded cylindrical portion of the carrier and carrying two levers pivoted thereto at substantially diametrically opposite positions, said levers being provided at their ends directed away from the carrier with elements adapted to grip the neck portion of the test bottle, and engaging at their opposite ends a preferably conically tapered cam portion of the carrier.

The accompanying drawing illustrates an apparatus for bringing up water samples and constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal section through the apparatus, and

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross section taken on line 11-11 in FIGURE 1.

In the detailed description to follow hereinafter, for the sake of simplicity, the relative positions of the various parts of the apparatus will be related to the position of use of the apparatus, i.e. the terms top and bottom ends of the apparatus refer to the position thereof shown in FIGURE 1. The apparatus comprises a carrier 1 in the form of an elongated hollow body of revolution, the carrier being, in the embodiment shown, composed of two parts, the upper one of which, designated by 2, having an externally screw-threaded end portion 3 which is threadedly engaged into an internally screwthreaded portion of the lower part designated by 4.

The upper carrier part 2 is formed with a cylindrical bore 5 which is open at its bottom end and connects at its upper end to a bore portion 6 of reduced diameter, the latter portion in its turn connecting to a bore 7 open ing in the top end of the carrier part and being of smaller diameter than the bore portion 6. Longitudinally slidably mounted in the bore 7 is a rod 8 which is provided in its upper end portion projecting from the carrier with a hole 9 for fastening a handling line. At its opposite, bottom end the rod 8 is provided with a circumferential collar 10 adapted by engagement with the annular shoulder 11 forming the transition between the

bores

5 and 6 to limit the upward movement of the rod relative to the carrier. Surrounding the lower end portion of the rod is a compression coil spring 13 having one end supported on the collar 19 and its other end on the annular shoulder 12 forming the transition between the

bores

6 and 7. In addition, the rod 8 carries at its bottom end a plate 15 secured to the rod by a screw 14 and being made of a magnetic material, preferably soft iron.

The internal bore of the lower carrier part 4 and having the upper carrier part 2 threaded into it at its end portion 3, is designated by 16 in the drawing. Extending from the bottom of the bore 16 is a bore 17 which opens in the bottom end of the carrier and is coaxially aligned with the bore 7 in the upper carrier part 2, this bore 17 having longitudinally slidably received therein a rod 18 having its lower end projecting from the carrier and carrying at its top end disposed within the bore 16 a permanent magnet 19.

The carrier part 4 is formed at its bottom end with a downwardly conically tapering portion 2t? and, extending downwardly from the latter, with a screw-threaded end portion or boss 21 along which an internally screwthreaded ring or nut 22 is displaceable by screwing. The ring 22 carries two diametrically oppositely disposed levers 23 which, at points spaced from their upper ends, are pivotally mounted on pivot pins 25 in radial slots 24, respectively, formed in the ring. These levers 23 are provided at their lower ends with jaws 26 facing each other in a plane at right angles to the longitudinal axes of the levers and adapted to grip the neck portion of a bottle indicated in FIGURE 1 by double-dot-and-dash lines and designated by 27. The levers 23 are formed at their upper ends with rounded edge portions or cam surfaces 2-8 adapte to engage the comically tapered portion 21) of the carrier. The cam surfaces 28 co-operate with the conical portion 2i) of the carrier in order to rock the bottom ends of the levers towards each other as the ring 22 is screwed to move upward along the screwthreaded extension or boss 21 of the carrier, thereby causing the jaws 26 to close and grip the neck of a bottle in the manner indicated in FIGURE 1. By screwing the ring 22 with its levers 23 in a direction to move downward along the boss 21, it will be possible to rock the lower ends of the levers away from each other to release the bottle.

For closing the bottle 27, a cap 2? made of soft rubber or the like is detachably connected to the bottom end of rod 18, whereby, by endwise displacement of the rod 18, this cap is movable towards and away from the mouth of the bottle. The cap 29 is connected to the rod 13 by a shank 39 having one end thereof secured in the cap and having its free end portion introduced into an axial bore 31 formed in the end of rod 18. The rod 18 has formed in its externfl surface a circumferential groove 32 surrounding the bore 31 and having a spring 33 disposed therein. At one side thereof, the groove penetrates the wall thickness of the bore 31, allowing the portion 33a of the spring 33 adjacent this portion of the groove to project into the bore 31 (see FIG. 2). The shank 39 of the rubber cap 29 is formed in one side with a lateral recess adapted to be engaged by said portion 33a of spring 33 to thereby connect the cap cletachably to the rod 18. The cap 2? is further formed with a passageway 34 opening in the surface thereof facing the bottle mouth, and a slit designated by 35 is cut into the same from its peripheral surface to this passageway 34.

The soft-iron plate 15 mounted on the bottom end of rod S'serves as an armature adapted to co-operate with the Permanent magnet 9 o ed on the top end of the lowermost rod 18. If the upper rod 3 is displaced downward towards the magnet 19, then the latter will attract the armature 15, whereby the two

rods

8 and 18 will be detachably interconnected, as indicated by the position of rod 8 shown in double-dot-and-dash lines in FIGURE 1. If the rod 8 is thereupon displaced upward relative to the carrier 1, therefore, it will carry the lower rod 18 with it in this movement, whereby the sealing cap 29 is lifted off the mouth of the bottle '27. The upward movement is limited by the magnet 19 impinging against the annular edge surface of the portion 3 of the upper carrier part 2 received in the lower part 4. To disengage the two

rods

8 and 18 from each other, the upper rod 8 is subjected to an upwardly directed force (or the carrier 1 to a downwardly directed force) sufficient to overcome the magnetic attraction power and by which the rod 8 is moved to its top-end position relative to the carrier. At the same time, the rod 18, owing to its own weight and that of the magnet 19', will drop back by gravity to its bottom-end position, whereby the cap 29 is moved into a position in which it sealingly engages the mouth of the bottle 27. in the actual use of the apparatus, the apparatus is submerged to the desired water depth by means of its handling line (not shown in the drawing) fastened through the hole 9 in rod 8, and with the two rods 8 and '13 separated from each other, whereby the bottle 27 is maintained sealed off by its cap 2d while being lowered to the depth at which the sample is to be drawn. By a jerk on the ling line, a relative displacement is caused to occur between the rod 8 and carrier 1, whereby the rod 8 will slide downwards relative to the carrier and will thus be magnetically interconnected with rod 13 in the manner described hereinbefore. The spring 13 acting on the rod 8 provides an auxiliary force for effecting this relative displacement. When, during the subsequent relative movement between the rod 18 and the carrier 1, the sealing cap is subjected to pull in a direction away from the bottle mouth, it will be subjected to a slight deformation causing the slit 35 to open up allowing water to flow into the bottle 27 through the slit 35 and passageway 34. When, in this wa a sulficient degree of pressure equalization ha been established between the interior of the bottle and the ambient water, then the cap 29 will be released completely from the bottle mouth. This will cause the carrier to drop by gravity relative to the

interconnected rods

3 and 18 suspended on the handling line into the above-described position with the end portion of the upper carrier part 2 engaging the magnet 19. When it is estimated that the bottle has been filled with water, then by a new jerk on the handling line, the upper rod 8 is released from the lower rod and is moved to its topmost end position, whereby the lower rod 18 is allowed to drop to its bottom-end position, thereby moving the cap 25 to its position sealing 0d the bottle mouth.

Although the invention has been described hereinbefore in an embodiment specifically adapted tothe application of bringing up water samples from different depths, it is applicable also for other purposes, Thus, for example, the apparatus may be equipped with a temperature recording device or any other type of measuring or recording arrangement for exploring underwater conditions, in which case the device or arrangement concerned would be put into operation by means of a member positionable or adjustable in the manner herein described, only after the desired water depth has been reached, and would be disabled after having completed its measuring or recording function in order to maintain the measurements of the like made without any alterations in the course of the apparatus being hauled up through the superimposed layers of water. Also inother respects the invention is not restricted to the embodiment described hereinbefore and as illustrated merely by way of example in the accompanying drawing, since it is susceptible of modifications as to its details without departing from the basic concept of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for efiecting, in a submerged condition, the displacement of a movable member from one position into another comprising a housing, a first rod and a second rod longitudinally slidable through said housing towards and away from each other, a suspending line being connected to the outer end of said first rod, said second rod being operatively connected with the movable member, a permanent magnet and an armature being secured respectively to the inner ends of said rods within said housing for effecting magnetical interconnection of said rods when displaced towards one another, movement limiting means for defining the outer end positions for said rods, spring means urging said first rod from its outer end position towards said second rod, and means limiting the inward movement of said second rod towards said first rod permitting said armature to be disconnected from said permanent magnet by a jerk on said suspending line transmitted to said first rod moving said first rod away from said second rod against the action of said spring means.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, including means for connecting a container to said housing, a closure member for said container being connected to the outer end of said second rod and constituting the movable member, whereby said closure member will be removed from the container opening and closing the same according to whether said second rod is interconnected with said first rod or disengaged therefrom, respectively.

3. A liquid sampler comprising a carrier member, a supporting and control line connected to said carrier member, means for securing a container having an opening to said carrier member, a closure member for said container opening carried by said carrier member and means operable by said supporting and control line for moving said closure member towards and away from said container opening for closing and opening the container, respectively, and said closure member comprising a cap of flexible material having a narrow slit provided in said cap and adapted to be opened up for providing a liquid passage through said cap when the latter is flexed under the influence of a pull in a direction away from said container opening.

4. A liquid sampler comprising a carrier member having a tapering exterior cam portion, a suspending line connected to said carrier member for lowering said carrier member into a liquid, a sample container and means for detachably securing said sample container to said carrier member, said means comprising a cylindrical threaded portion on said carrier member, a nut screwable on said threaded portion for being axially displaceable therealong, a pair of levers pivoted to said nut at substantially diametrically opposite positions and extending in an axial plane relative to said nut, gripping elements provided at those ends of said levers which are directed away from said carrier member, and the opposite ends of said levers engaging said tapering cam portion of said carrier mem er, whereby said levers may be swung towards and away from each other for holding and releasing said sample container, respectively, by axially displacing said nut.

5. A liquid sampling device comprising a housing, a pair of rods slidabiy mounted through said housing with inner ends opposing one another and outer ends exterioriy of said housing, a control line connected to one of said rod outer ends, an armature connected to the inner end of said one of said rods, a magnet connected to the inner end of the other of said rods, means for closing and opening a container carried by the outer end of said other rod, means for detachably connecting a container to said housing, means provided by said housing for limiting the movement of said magnet and resilient means tending to move said armature towards said magnet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,564,894 Glasgow Aug. 21, 1951 2,595,084 Kriegel Apr. 29, 1952 2,933,388 Byrnes lViay 31, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 674,166 Great Britain June 18, 1952.

Claims

1. APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING, IN A SUBMERGED CONDITION, THE DISPLACEMENT OF A MOVABLE MEMBER FROM ONE POSITION INTO ANOTHER COMPRISING A HOUSING, A FIRST ROD AND A SECOND ROD LONGITUDINALLY SLIDABLE THROUGH SAID HOUSING TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, A SUSPENDING LINE BEING CONNECTED TO THE OUTER END OF SAID FIRST ROD, SAID SECOND ROD BEING OPERATIVELY CONNECTED WITH THE MOVABLE MEMBER, A PERMANENT MAGNET AND AN ARMATURE BEING SECURED RESPECTIVELY TO THE INNER ENDS OF SAID RODS WITHIN SAID HOUSING FOR EFFECTING MAGNETICAL INTERCONNECTION OF SAID RODS WHEN DISPLACED TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER, MOVEMENT LIMITING MEANS FOR DEFINING THE OUTER END POSITIONS FOR SAID RODS, SPRING MEANS URGING SAID FIRST ROD FROM ITS OUTER END POSITION TOWARDS SAID SECOND ROD, AND MEANS LIMITING THE INWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID SECOND ROD TOWARDS SAID FIRST ROD PERMITTING SAID ARMATURE TO BE DISCONNECTED FROM SAID PERMA-