Device for taking bottom soil samples from deep water basins

A device for taking bottom soil samples from deep water basin comprising:

• a frame, a leader rod accommodated in said frame and provided with a float at the top;
• a sampling element located at the lower part of said leader rod and made in the form of a grab with normally open jaws;
• ballast weights removably suspended from said frame and weighing enough to lower the device in the water of the basin until the lower end of said leader rod strikes the bottom of the basin;
• means for closing the grab jaws;
• means for removing the ballast weights from said frame when said leader rod strikes the bottom of the basin;
• wherein said means for removing includes a mechanical lock joint, which connects said weights with the leader rod so that when said leader rod strikes the bottom said lock joint shifts the weights to an unstable state and they are removed from the frame, containers which are articulated at lower points on the jaws of the grab in a state of labile equilibrium and are filled with the ballast weights of a preset mass, and a system of levers, said levers having one end connected with said leader rod and the other end bearing against said containers for holding them in an initial position and for releasing them at the moment when the leader rod strikes an obstacle, said leader rod being movable in an axial direction.