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US 11,685,479 B2Granted
Incremental deployment of a buoy or buoy network
AssigneeHadal, Inc.
InventorRichard J. Rikoski
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mooring system including a plurality of connected floats and weights being positively buoyant on a water surface and being negatively buoyant at a depth below the water surface. The mooring system also includes a trigger mechanism arranged to reduce the buoyancy of a portion of the connected floats and weights from a being positively buoyant to negatively buoyant to cause the portion of the connected floats and weights to sink below the water surface where the trigger mechanism changes the buoyance of the portion of the connected floats and weights by either adding a weight to one end or separating the end from a buoyant element.
Claims16
A mooring system comprising:
- a plurality of connected buoyancy elements being positively buoyant on a water surface and being negatively buoyant at a depth below the water surface;
- and
- a trigger mechanism arranged to reduce the buoyancy of a portion of the buoyancy elements from being positively buoyant to negatively buoyant to cause the portion of the connected buoyancy elements to sink below the water surface, wherein the trigger mechanism changes the buoyance of the portion of the connected buoyancy elements by either adding or removing a mooring element to an end of the connected buoyancy elements;
- wherein the plurality of connected buoyancy elements are connected via a tethering line;
- and
- wherein the trigger mechanism includes the mooring element when the mooring element is attached to a free end of the tethering line adjacent to one of the plurality of connected buoyance elements.
3 more elements
A mooring system comprising:
- a plurality of connected buoyancy elements being positively buoyant on a water surface and being negatively buoyant at a depth below the water surface;
- and
- a trigger mechanism arranged to reduce the buoyancy of a portion of the buoyancy elements from being positively buoyant to negatively buoyant to cause the portion of the connected buoyancy elements to sink below the water surface, wherein the trigger mechanism changes the buoyance of the portion of the connected buoyancy elements by either adding or removing a mooring element to an end of the connected buoyancy elements;
- wherein a weight of least one of the plurality of connected buoyancy elements and a tethering line, while being in a state of positive buoyancy, are sufficiently light to enable delivery via one or more UAVs.
1 more element
A method for deploying a mooring system comprising:
- delivering a plurality of connected buoyancy elements to a body of water, the plurality of connected buoyancy elements being positively buoyant on a surface of the body of water and being negatively buoyant at a depth below the surface;
- connecting the plurality of connected buoyancy elements via a tethering line;
- activating a trigger mechanism arranged to reduce the buoyancy of a portion of the buoyancy elements from a being positively buoyant to negatively buoyant to cause the portion of the connected buoyancy elements to sink below the water surface, wherein the trigger mechanism changes the buoyance of the portion of the connected buoyancy elements by either adding or removing a mooring element to an end of the connected buoyancy elements;
- and
- activating the trigger mechanism by attaching the mooring element to a free end of the tethering line adjacent to one of the plurality of connected buoyance elements.
2 more elements
A method for deploying a mooring system comprising:
- delivering a plurality of connected buoyancy elements to a body of water, the plurality of connected buoyancy elements being positively buoyant on a surface of the body of water and being negatively buoyant at a depth below the surface;
- and
- activating a trigger mechanism arranged to reduce the buoyancy of a portion of the buoyancy elements from a being positively buoyant to negatively buoyant to cause the portion of the connected buoyancy elements to sink below the water surface, wherein the trigger mechanism changes the buoyance of the portion of the connected buoyancy elements by either adding or removing a mooring element to an end of the connected buoyancy elements;
- wherein a weight of least one of the plurality of connected buoyancy elements and a tethering line, while being in a state of positive buoyancy, are sufficiently light to enable delivery via one or more UAVs.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.