Apparatus for towing arrays of geophysical devices
AssigneeTeledyne Exploration Company
InventorsRobert R. Bell, Louis I. Schneider, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ship is provided with booms that may be extended outwardly from the ship. Geophysical devices of different genera are towed from the booms, in the water behind the ship. A UHF antenna is located at the outboard tip of each boom. A line joining the two antennas defines a long reference base line for determining the absolute heading of the ship with respect to a meridian and to locate the absolute positions of selected towed geophysical devices with respect to two-dimensional space. The booms may be automatically oriented along a line perpendicular to the ship's track, independently of the ship's heading.
Claims19
An arrangement for deploying a plurality of geophysical devices of different genera in a body of water, comprising:
- a ship having a bow and a stern for towing said geophysical devices;
- an elongated boom pivotally mounted on each side of the stern of the ship, means for rotating each said boom from a stowed position on deck to an outboard extended position, each said boom having an inboard portion and a horizontally-hinged outboard portion;
- means, mounted on the inboard portion of each said boom for counterweighting the respective booms;
- a first plurality of geophysical devices of a first genus suspended from each said boom for towing in the water behind the ship when said booms are in the extended position;
- a trolley means, movable along the outboard portion of each said boom for handling selected ones of the first plurality of geophysical devices when the booms are in the extended position;
- at least one carriage means movable along the outboard portion of said booms for distributing a second plurality of geophysical devices of a second genus at spaced apart intervals along the outboard portion of the booms and for towing the second plurality of geophysical devices through the water behind the ship when the booms are in the extended position;
- and
- means mounted on the end of the outboard portion of each said boom for receiving electromagnetic navigation signals having a preselected frequency, a line joining the signal-receiving means defining a long reference base line for determining the absolute positions in twodimensional space, of said pluralities of geophysical devices.
An arrangement for towing a plurality of geophysical devices of different genera through a body of water comprising:
- a ship;
- a pivotally-mounted horizontally-hinged boom on each side of said ship, extending outwardly therefrom;
- means for counterweighting the outwardly extended booms;
- means for towing a first plurality of geophysical devices of a first genus through the water at first spaced apart intervals from said booms;
- a trolley means for retrieving from the water a selected one of said plurality of geophysical devices of said first genus;
- at least one carriage means, movable along said booms for distributing a second plurality of geophysical devices of a second genus in the water at second spaced apart intervals;
- and
- antenna means, mounted on the outboard ends of the booms for receiving electromagnetic navigation signals, a line joining said antennas defining a reference base line that is long relative to the wavelength of the navigation signals for determining the absolute positions in two-dimensional space of the towed geophysical devices.
An arrangement for towing a plurality of geophysical devices of different genera through a body of water, comprising:
- a ship;
- a pivotally-mounted horizontally-hinged boom on each side of said ship, extending outwardly therfrom;
- means for counterweighting the outwardly extending booms;
- means for towing a first plurality of geophysical devices of a first genus through the water at first spaced apart intervals from said booms;
- a trolley means for retrieving from the water a selected one of said plurality of geophysical devices of said first genus;
- at least one carriage means, movable along said booms for distributing a second plurality of geophysical devices of a second genus in the water at second spaced apart intervals;
- and
- means for automatically orienting each boom in a direction perpendicular to the ship's track independently of the ship's heading.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.