Foot pad for submerged machinery

Abstract

A foot pad removably attachable to a machine and that supports the machine for operation in a fluid. The foot pad includes a support frame, a skirt coupled to the support frame, a bellows coupled to the skirt, a plenum arranged to move within the skirt, a seal between the plenum and the skirt, and a flexible bellows that allows the foot pad to be secured to, or within, a substrate. The skirt includes an edge that can be embedded in a penetrable substrate. The plenum is configured to pump the fluid into or out of a volume formed by a space below the plenum, the interior of the skirt, and the substrate, thus compressing or decompressing the fluid in the space inside the skirt. The foot pad may also include a rolling, flexible diaphragm to seal the space between the plenum and the skirt, wherein the rolling diaphragm minimized the wear compared to other seal mechanisms. The flexible bellows may include a set of radial ridges that aid in sealing the footpad to the substrate.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.