# US 5,707,174 A · Underwater cable burial machine using a single cable for towing and lifting

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- Number: US 5,707,174 A
- Document ID: US5707174A
- Status: Granted
- Kind: A
- Application number: 08/629,122
- Filed: 1996-04-08
- Granted: 1998-01-13
- Earliest claimed: 1996-04-08
- Assignees: AT&T Corp.
- Inventors: Donald Lee Garren
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US5707174A

## CPC

- E02F 5/104: {for burying conduits or cables in trenches under water (floating substructures per se E02F9/06)}
- E02F 5/106: {using ploughs, coulters, rippers}
- E02F: DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING (winning peat E21C49/00)

## Abstract

The underwater cable burial machine uses a single cable for both towing and lifting. The machine includes a retractable cable, which is connected between a retraction mechanism and the towing cable. There is a cable guide through which the retractable cable passes. The cable guide is located over the center of gravity of the machine. In order to use the towing cable to lift the machine, the retraction mechanism pulls the retractable cable and the towing cable until the point where the retractable cable and the towing cable meet is at the cable guide. At that point the towing cable will be over the center of gravity of the machine, and the machine can be lifted onto the surface vessel to which the towing cable is attached.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An underwater cable burial machine which uses a single towing cable for towing and lifting comprises:
(a) a retractable cable;
(b) a cable retraction mechanism mounted on said burial machine, said cable retraction mechanism being attached to said retractable cable;
(c) cable guide means for feeding said retractable cable over the center of gravity of said cable burial machine; and
(d) means for attaching the end of said retractable cable which is remote from said cable retraction mechanism to said towing cable.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The underwater cable burial machine of claim 1 further comprising means for adjusting the location of said guide means, whereby said guide means may be repositioned over the center of gravity of said machine.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The underwater cable burial machine of claim 2 wherein said towing cable is attached to a towing point at the front of said machine, and said retractable cable is attached to said towing cable at a point which is at least as far from said towing point as said cable guide is from said towing point.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The underwater cable burial machine of claim 3 wherein said retraction mechanism includes a dram for collecting and dispensing said retractable cable.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The underwater cable burial machine of claim 4 wherein said retraction mechanism further comprises a drive motor for reversibly taming said drum to selectively retrieve or dispense said retractable cable.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The underwater cable burial machine of claim 5 wherein said motor is hydraulically driven.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The underwater cable burial machine of claim 6 wherein said retraction mechanism further comprises a worm gear for transmitting power from said motor to said drum.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The underwater cable burial machine of claim 6 wherein said retraction mechanism further comprises a chain drive for transmitting power from said motor to said drum.