US3536023A

US3536023A - Stabilized system for handling small submarines

Info

Publication number: US3536023A
Application number: US762226A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert A Toher; Clifford W Bascom
Original assignee: General Dynamics Corp
Current assignee: General Dynamics Corp
Priority date: 1968-09-16
Filing date: 1968-09-16
Publication date: 1970-10-27
Anticipated expiration: 1987-10-27

Description

1 United States Patent [1 13,536,023

[72] Inventors Robert A. Toher, Groton, and [56] R feren e Cit d g z 3mm, New London, UNITED STATES PATENTS can cut 2,398,274 4/1946 Albert 114/435 [211 P 762326 3,294,051 12/1966 Khelstovsky 1 l4/0.5(D)UX [22] Filed Sept. 16, 1968 3,293,867 12/1966 Dean 175/7 [451 Patented (27,1970 3 465 531 9/1969 Burrus 61/46 [73] Assignee General Dynamics Corporation Ne Yo k, N Y k Primary Examiner-Trygve M. Blix a corporation of Delaware Attorney-William C. Everett i ABSTRACT: In the particular embodiment of the invention described herein, a system for handling small submarines includes a buoyant platform through which winch cables pass to large counterweights. The winch cables are connected at their [54] :gm FOR HANDLING SMAL upper ends to a recovery ship and a motor, which raises and 7 Cl 4m m lowers the platform. Snubber links, secured to the counterawmg weights and to the platform, restrict the vertical movement of [52] US. Cl. 114/43.5 the platform and prevent the latter from rising to the surface. [51] Int. Cl B63b 35/44 Navigation aids and a restraining mechanism, carried by the [50] Field of Search 114/05, platform, aid the submarine in locating the platform. and

secure it thereto, respectively.

Patented Oct. 27, 1970 3,536,023

IVVEN'TORS ROBERT A. TOHER 8 CLIFFORD W. BASCOM then 7' ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 27, 1970 Sheet S E 21% S 3 @v 5 :\\\m

N St MM A 8 mfg N mm 5%; i; i on Patented Oct. 27, 1970 Sheet INVENTORS l/lI/I/II/I/III/III/IIIIIIIII/IIII 4 v 5 8M w V m E M J? 0 H B T m T .w A n mm R U m Y B STABILIZED SYSTEM FOR HANDLING SMALL SUBMARINFS BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION In the past, small submarines were primarily research tools utilized by oceanographers, marine biologists and other scientists carrying out investigations under the sea. Today, these craft are becoming more widely used by others as work boats in operations such as underwater survey work on cables, pipe lines, and oil drilling platforms. With the increased use of these craft, it has become more important to provide a safe and efficient system of launch and recovery that minimizes the effect of weather on these operations.

Heretofore, there have been two basic systems of launch and retrieval for small submarines, the crane and the platform. The crane system utilizes a winch, carried by the support ship, to raise and lower cables, which are attached to supports located on the top of the submarine. The platform system utilizes winches to raise and lower a platform or cradle, which engages the underneath portion of the submarine, and is secured thereto.

Both of these systems, at present, require the assistance of swimmers to attach the cable or the cradle to the craft. In rough weather, the swimmers are exposed to the danger of being crushed due to the relative motion between the support ship and the submarine. During bad weather and even during forecasts of bad weather, therefore, small submarines cannot be used because of this inherent danger, and this is quite costly because it requires the maintenance of both the support ship and crew during essentially idle time.

In addition to the economic hardship set forth above, the inability to recover the submarine creates problems of safety to its crew. Delays in recovering the craft and mating to a decompression chamber could be a matter of life and death to an injured diver. This problem becomes more acute as the duration of diving missions becomes longer. Ships launched in relatively good weather could return with an injured diver in bad weather and a delay in recovery could be fatal to the diver.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention overcomes these problems by providing a submarine launch and retrieval system including a counterweight arrangement connected to a surface vessel by cables and disposed below a platform having guides through which the cables pass. Preferably, the platform is linked to the counterweight arrangement by additional cables.

More specifically, this invention comprises a platform carried by the surface ship, a carriage for moving the platform horizontally from the deck of the ship and a hoisting arrangement for raising and lowering the platform and its counterweights below the surface of the water. The platform is preferably slightly buoyant and is restrained from rising to the surface by a linkage to the counterweights such as snubbing lines, which extend from the counterweights to self-winding reels carried by the platform. In a particular embodiment of the invention, the platform also includes guidance devices to enable the submarine to locate it underwater and preferably has a retaining device securing the submarine thereto. In addition, there may be a suitable cable tension control device that reduces the transmission of shocks from the vessel to the platform.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the following description of an exemplary embodiment, taken in conjunction with the FIGS. of the accompanying drawings, in which: a

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a representative support ship and recovery system according to the invention, showing a FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective of the recovery platform used in the system of FIGS. 1 and 2 with parts omitted for the sake of clarity; and FIG. 4 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view of a cable tension control device for the system of FIGS. 1 and 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring more specifically to FIGS. 1 and 2, a surface support ship 12 has four support colunms 14 that carry, at their upper ends, two support girders 16 extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the ship a substantial distance rearward of the stern of the ship 12. The girders 16 are connected at their ends by transverse beams 18 and a brace member 26, carrying struts 28, extends from the lowermost portion of each aft support column to the rearward end of each girder 16. The girders 16 are channel-shaped members and are mounted with their open sides facing the sides of the support ship 12 to form a trackway 17 extending along the entire length of the support frame.

Carried on top of the support girders 16 and in sliding relation therewith are two channel-shaped carriage beams 22 having their open sides facing outwardly from the longitudinal small submarine approaching the platform for retrieval; FIG. 2

is a side view of the support ship and recovery system of FIG. I

axis of the support ship. At its forward end each carriage beam 22 has connected thereto a transverse beam 23 to prevent lateral movement thereof.

On the top flange of the carriage beams 22 and spaced at each end thereof are four mounting brackets 30 that support the recovery and launching apparatus. Each mounting bracket comprises a base 31 and two inwardly extending fingers 32 between which a sheave 34 is rotatably carried. Each base 31 carries an electric motor 35 which is operatively connected to the sheave in any well-known manner. In this embodiment, the sheaves 34 are driven by belts 39 carried by the shaft of the motor.

The lower flanges of the carriage beams 22 carry a plurality of L-shaped mounting brackets 36. One leg of each bracket is attached to the lower flange and the other leg extends downwardly in proximity to the trackway l7. Rollers 37 are rotatively carried by the proximal leg of the mounting brackets 36 and ride in the trackway 17 of the support girders 16. This arrangement allows for sliding movement of the carriage along the girders, so that a platform 40 for receiving a small submarine can move from a retracted position over the deck of the ship 12 to an extended position over the water at the ends of the girders 16.

A suitable drive system is operatively connected to the carriage for effecting this movement and includes a rack member 20 carried along the inside of each support girder 16 with the rack teeth facing upwardly. To drive the carriage. the transverse beam 23 carries an L-shaped bracket 21 in a position above and adjacent to each rack 20 and each bracket 2 carries an electric motor 24, the shaft of which extends outwardly and above the racks 20. Each shaft has a pinion gear 25 fixedly mounted thereon so that the teeth of the pinions 25 mesh with the teeth of the racks 20. I

A cable 38 extends downwardly from each of the sheaves 34 and slidably through corresponding guides 54 on the platform 40. At their lower ends the cables are attached to two counterweights 42, extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the ship, two cables being attached to each counterweight. These counterweights 42 serve to tension the cables 38 and to stabilize the platform 40.

As pointed out previously, the platform 40 is slidably guided on the cables 38 by the four guides 54 and can therefore move relative to the counterweights 42. On the deck of the platform 40 there are two tanks 58, only one of which is shown in FIG. 3, and these tanks are filled with air in order to provide a slightly buoyant platform. The platform 40, therefore, is essentially decoupled from the support ship, when it is posiby movement of the ship caused by wave action.

In order to restrain the platform 40 and prevent it from rising to the surface of the water, it is connected to the counterweights 42 by four light snubber lines 46. One snubber line 46 is connected near each end of the two counterweights 42 and extends to one of a plurality of self-winding reels 44 carried on the sides of the platform 40.

Mounted on the underneath side of the platfonn 40 within the guides 54 are suitable shock absorbers 55 that reduce the impact of the counterweights 42 as they are winched up and engage the bottom of the platfonn 40. These shock absorbers may be of any well-known telescoping type and are concentric with the cables 38, so that the latter slide therethrough and are then connected to the counterweights 42. As the counterweights are winched in, they engage the bottom of the shock absorbers 55 and are pulled upwardly against the resistance of the shock absorber spring system. Extending downwardly from the sides of the platform 40 are four counterweight latches 56 which are snapped into engagement with apertures 57 in the counterweights as the counterweights move upwardly against the spring, so as to secure the counterweights against the bottom of the platform and prevent accidental disengagement therefrom.

The top of the platform 40 carries a sonar beacon 50 and flood lights 52 which serve as navigational aids for the submarine as it approaches the platform.

The upper side of the platform 40 also carries a suitable retaining device for holding the small submarine on the platform. In this embodiment, two electromagnetic plates 48 are'secured to the top of the platform 40 and arranged to be controlled from inside the submarine 10. The advantage of this type of lock is that it is not position sensitive, that is, no matter where the submarine lands on the deck, the magnets will be operative to hold it thereto. This feature not only obviates the need of swimmers, but also does not require a pinpoint handling of the submarine in order to lock it to the platform.

As clearly shown in FIG. 3, the platform has a recessed portion 71 in its upper surface, so as to receive a dolly 72 which facilitates handling of the submarine once it is brought aboard the support ship. This arrangement need not be used, but when it is, the sonar beacon 50 and magnetic plates 48 are carried on the dolly 72. With this dolly arrangement, handling of the submarine on board the surface vessel is facilitated and permits the surface vessel to carry a plurality of submarines.

After the counterweights 42 have been secured to the platform and while the resultant assembly is being winched in, the platform is coupled to the support ship and the motion of the surface of the water creates some impact loads on the platform assembly 40 and the submarine 10. In order to the effect of these loads, four cable-tensioning control devices are provided that allow the support ship 10 to move without transmitting large forces to the platform until the platform 40 is lifted out of the water. These devices comprise housing 60, two of which are mounted on each of the carriage beams 22 at points directly beneath the sheave 34, and through which each of thecables 38 pass. A slack portion of each line is held under tension by a resilient means that varies the amount of the slack in proportion to the motion of the support ship 10 so as to leave the platform unaffected.

FIG. 4 clearly illustrates a representative type of tensioning device that can be utilized. Since they are all the same, only one will be described in detail. On the bottom wall of the housing 60, there are two idler pulleys 62 and 64 mounted in spaced relation to each other. On the side wall of the housing, there is another idler pulley 66 extending inwardly toward the center thereof. The cable 38 enters the housing through an opening in the top wall and extends downwardly around the first pulley 62 then changes its direction and extends upwardly and passes over a movably supported pulley 68, changes its direction and extends downwardly around the pulley 64, thereby forming the slack portion of the cable. As it passes around the pulley 64, the cable 38 again changes its direction and extends upwardly to the pulley 66 where it again changes its direction and extends downwardly through an opening in the bottom wall. After it leaves the housing, the cable 38 passes through the platform 40 to the counterweight 42, as described in the preceding portion of the specification.

The movable pulley 68 is suspended on a cable 74, the other end of which is connected to a compression spring 72, the upper end of which is rigid to the housing. Between the movable pulley 68 and the compression spring 72, the cable 74 passes over another idler pulley 70, so that its direction is changed from an upwardly to a downwardly one. The cable 74 extends through the center of the spring 72 and its lower end is connected to a force transmitting cup 76, which bears against the lower end of the spring.

From the preceding description, it should be clear how the cable-tensioning device operates. As the platform and submarine are being winched in, the resultant assembly tensions the cable and can receive impact loads if the support ship 10 is tossed about by the surface wave action. When this happens, the springs 72 will be compressed and the movable pulley 68 will move downwardly, as will the slack part of the cable 38, thereby increasing the eflective length of the cable 38 and compensating for the increased distance between the surface support ship 10 and the platform 40. As the support ship 10 moves downwardly on the surface of the water, the compression spring will be extended, thereby pulling the movable pulley 68 upwardly and shortening the effective length of the cable 38 to compensate for the decreased relative distance between the surface ship 10 and the platform 40.

From the preceding description, the operation of the entire system should be clear. When it is desired to retrieve a submarine, the electric motors 24 are actuated to drive the carriage from its storage position to a position extending past the stern of the ship. The motors 36 are then actuated to lower the support platform 40 and the counterweights 42. When the platform 40 and the counterweights 42 extend a sufficient distance below the surface of the sea to minimize the effect of the surface wave action, the retrieval operation can proceed. As the platform 40 and the counterweights 42 are lowered, the platform 40 will ride up on the cables 38, due to the buoyancy tanks, so as to be decoupled from the motion of the support ship 10.

The small submarine l0 approaches the platform 40 and is aided by the beacon 50 and floodlights 52, so as to land on the platform 40, where the pilot actuates the magnetic lock 48 from inside the submarine and thereby secures the submarine to the surface of the platform. The motors 36 areagain actuated to winch in the platform and submarine to a position directly adjacent the deck of the support ship 10. During this winching in, the effect of motion between the support ship 10 and the platform 40 is minimized due to the cable-tensioning device 60. When the platfonn is adjacent the deck of the ship, the motors 24 are actuated to bring the carriage inboard to its storage position. It should be clear from the preceding description that the launching of the submarine is accomplished by the converse of the steps described above.

While in the foregoing there has been described a preferred embodiment of the invenn'on, various modifications may become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates. Accordingly, all such modifications are included within the intended scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A submarine handling system comprising submergible platform means for supporting a submarine, cable means movably guided with respect to the platform means to a depth below the platform means, counterweight means connected to the cable means below the platform means, and carriage means mounted for horizontal movement above the platform means, the upper end of the cable in being operatively attached to the carriage means.

2. A submarine handling system as defined in claim I including tension control means operatively connected to the cable means to reduce the transmittal of shocks from the carriage means to the platform means. 1

4. A submarine handling system comprising a support vessel, a buoyant platform, a plurality of cable guides on the platform, a plurality of cables connected to the vessel and extending through the guides, counterweight means attached to the lower ends of the cables, and snubber means for restricting the movement of the platform with respect to the counterweight means beyond a predetermined limit, the snubber means being connected at one end to the counterweight means and at the other end to the platform.

5. A submarine handling system as defined in claim 4 including a carriage mounted for movement in a horizontal direction on the support vessel.

6. A submarine handling system as defined in claim 5 including cable tension control means connected to the cables for reducing the transmission of shocks between the support vessel and the platform.

7. A submarine handling system as defined in claim 6 wherein the cable tension control means comprises a movably supported pulley around which a portion of a cable extends; biasing means operatively connected to the pulley for urging it to a first position, the biasing means being operative to move the pulley and the cable to other positions to compensate for motion between the support vessel and the platform.