Cable fairing attachment
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorAnthony A. Ruffa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for automatically applying fairings to a cable as the cable is deployed from a winch are provided. Each fairing has two halves, with each half having a recess, or groove, to accommodate the cable. Like halves are connected together and the two halves are stored on separate spools. Counter-rotating wheels adjacent to and on opposite sides of the cable serve to feed the fairing halves from the spools to the cable as the cable is deployed. As the fairing halves approach the cable, magnets in the fairing halves are attract each other and bring the two halves together around the cable and firmly hold the two halves together. When the cable is retrieved, guides align the fairings such that a wedge can pry the two halves apart. The halves can be picked up by the wheels and fed back onto the spools.
Claims14
A system for applying fairings to a cable, said system comprising:
- a first spool of first fairing halves;
- a first wheel, rotation of said first wheel capable of feeding said first fairing halves from said first spool to a first location proximate to said cable;
- a second spool of second fairing halves complimentary to mate to said first fairing halves;
- a second wheel, rotation of said second wheel feeding said second fairing halves from said second spool to a second location proximate to said cable, said second location being diametrically opposed to said first location with respect to said cable;
- and
- at least one magnet in each of said first and second fairing halves, a magnetic attraction between said magnets in said first and second fairing halves capable of clamping said first and second fairing halves about said cable to form a full fairing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.