Delivery and recovery apparatus, method, and applications
AssigneeFairfield Industries Incorporated D/B/A Fairfieldnodal
InventorStephen W. Jewell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Machinery and methods are described whereby a free flying, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) can safely capture and take on board lightly managed seismic sensor devices (payload) while they are in-transit via a surface vessel in a (deep) water column. ROV payload can be replenished without the need for the ROV to return to the surface vessel to receive additional payload and to do so without the need for heavy launch and recovery machinery. The reverse process of returning payload from the ROV to the surface vessel is also disclosed.
Claims16
A method for deploying and manipulating a payload in an unstable environment, comprising:
- deploying a plurality of unit payloads from a marine surface vessel, further comprising:
- providing, on the marine surface vessel, the plurality of unit payloads each having a plurality of affixment devices connected thereto;
- detachably linking at least two of the plurality of unit payloads via respective ones of the affixment devices on the marine surface vessel to form a payload chain;
- detachably coupling the payload chain to a lift line that is controllably deployable from the marine surface vessel into/out of a water column;
- and
- deploying the lift line and the coupled payload chain into the water column.
A method for manipulating and recovering a payload from a submerged ROV in an unstable environment to a marine surface vessel, comprising:
- providing an ROV including a robotic arm and a payload stowage compartment including a payload chain consisting of a plurality of detachably linked unit payloads each having a plurality of affixment devices connected thereto;
- providing a deployed lift line including a tag line having a passive affixment device attached to a first end thereof and being fixedly coupled at a second end thereof to the deployed lift line from the marine surface vessel;
- capturing the passive affixment device attached to the first end of tag line with the robotic arm and engaging it with an active affixment device disposed on a leading stowed end of the payload chain;
- and
- extracting the node chain from the stowage compartment of the ROV.
An ocean bottom sensor (OBS), comprising:
- a housing;
- a plurality of affixment devices connected thereto, wherein the plurality of affixment devices includes at least one passive affixment device and at least one active affixment device diametrically disposed.
The ocean bottom sensor (OBS) of claim 16, comprising a plurality of the OBSs detachably linked to form a chain of OBSs, wherein a passive affixment device of one OBS is connected to an active affixment device of an immediately adjacently disposed OBS.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.