Method and apparatus for inserting an elongate object into a trench in a sea floor
AssigneeSoil Machine Dynamics Limited
InventorsJohn Graeme Walker, Roger Paul White
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle for deploying a cable into a trench in the sea bed is disclosed. The vehicle comprises a body adapted to move relative to the trench in the sea bed, and a bellmouth for engaging the cable and mounted to the body, wherein the bellmouth is adapted to define an open channel in a direction facing the trench for engaging the cable.
Claims18
An apparatus for deploying an elongate object into a trench in a floor of a body of water, the apparatus comprising a body adapted to move relative to a trench in a floor of a body of water, and an engaging device for engaging an elongate object and mounted to the body, wherein the engaging device is adapted to define an open channel in a direction facing the trench for engaging the elongate object, wherein the engaging device comprises at least one first position detector device located forward of the body and adapted to detect a forward position of a first part of the elongate object forward of the body prior to insertion of said first part into the trench, the apparatus further comprising at least one second position detector device located rearward of the body and adapted to detect a rearward position of a second part of the elongate object rearward of the body subsequent to insertion of the second part into the trench, wherein the forward position and the rearward position enable determination of a curved path of the elongate object being deployed.
A method of inserting a cable into a trench in a floor of a body of water, wherein the cable extends from a vessel on a surface of the body of water to the floor of the body of water, the method comprising determining the position of a first part of a cable before insertion of said first part into a trench;
- determining a position of a second part of the cable after insertion of the second part into the trench;
- determining the path of the cable from the vessel to the trench from the positions of said first and second parts;
- and
- adjusting the position of the vessel relative to the trench to adjust the path of the cable from the vessel to the trench.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.