Hydraulic and electric umbilical connection for an inspection vehicle for inspecting a liquid-filled tank
AssigneeAST Services LLC
InventorsEugene Silverman, David Gilbert, Richard Skallos, Joel Lautenschlager
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An umbilical connection for use in a hazardous environment like a floating roof storage tank has one or more hydraulic hoses, one or more electrical cables or a combination thereof Each hydraulic hose has a static dissipative and abrasion resistant covering. Each electrical cable has an abrasion resistant coating. The hoses and cables are bundled and wrapped in a static dissipative and abrasion resistant open mesh sheath or an overbraid to form the intrinsically safe umbilical connection.
Claims11
A method for inspecting a liquid-containing storage tank, comprising:
- deploying an inspection vehicle into the tank;
- linking the inspection vehicle to a source of hydraulic and/or electric power with an umbilical connection comprising one or more hydraulic hoses or electrical cables or a combination of hydraulic hoses or electrical cables aligned to form a bundle;
- and a sheath wrapped around the bundle to form the umbilical connection, wherein said sheath comprises an open mesh or braid formed from a first plurality of polymeric strands, a second plurality of polymeric strands, and one or more electrically conductive strands, such that said electrically conductive strand or strands extends along the length of the sheath, wherein said sheath is wrapped around the bundle to form the umbilical connection.
The method of claim 26, wherein the sheath is formed as a triaxial overbraid having the first plurality of polymeric strands together with the at least one electrically conductive strand forming a bias weaving with a braid angle in the range of 45 to 80 degrees with the second plurality of polymeric strands extending axially within the overbraid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.