APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING, TOWING AND RECOVERING A SUBMERSIBLE BODY FROM A VESSEL

• US 3,782,319 A
• Filed: 01/26/1973
• Issued: 01/01/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Neville E. Hale
• Original Assignee: Neville E. Hale
• Inventors: Hale, Neville E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Halvosa, George E. A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Basinger, Sherman D.
• Application Number:
  US05/327,003
• Time in Patent Office: 340 Days
• Field of Search: 114/235R,235A,235B,235F,210 37/118R
• US Class Current: 114/244
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 21/663 Fairings
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 27/36 Arrangement of ship-based loading or unloading equipment for floating cargo deployment or recovery of underwater vehicles using lifts of hoists B63B27/16
• CPC Class Codes: B63G 8/42 Towed underwater vessels
• CPC Class Codes: B66C 13/02 Devices for facilitating retrieval of floating objects, e.g. for recovering crafts from water handling live-boats B63B; salvaging, or hauling-out on slipways, waterborne vessels B63C; winding mechanism controls B66D1/52
• CPC Class Codes: B66D 1/36 Guiding, or otherwise ensuring winding in an orderly manner, of ropes, cables, or chains

Abstract

Apparatus for launching, towing and recovering a submersible and towable body from a vessel includes a saddle, a winch and cable spooling and tension apparatus. The saddle includes a roller box which is rotatable about the axis of the tow sheave to maintain constant pressure against the cable during towing. A skewable Aframe for lowering the saddle near the water surface includes a transom arm which is pivotally mounted to the transom and to the tow sheave. The winch may be a multi-drum assembly, where the drums are co-axially mounted; and the drums are rotatably mounted in peripheral bearings at each end, which are mounted in the ends of the winch enclosure. The winch enclosure has a cover plate with a transverse slot to permit reeling and unreeling of cable from a drum. A latch mechanism provides for positive locking of a drum for rotation or non-rotation, depending on whether it or another drum is the one on which cable is being reeled or unreeled. The drums of a multi-drum assembly also have a transverse slot formed in them; and the lips of each slot are profiled to turn inwardly with a smaller apparent radius of curvature than the nominal radius of the drum.

Claims

1. In apparatus for launching, towing and recovering a submersible and towable body from a vessel, where said apparatus includes:

winch means for storing cable, at the outer end of which cable said body is secured;

rotatable sheave means over which said cable runs, said sheave means having an axis of rotation situated lengthwise along said cable between said body and said winch means;

saddle means against which said body is secured when in its stowed position; and

deck frame means upon which said sheave, saddle and winch are mounted;

the improvement comprising;

transom arm means pivotally attached to said vessel to form in combination with said deck frame means, a skewable A-frame, one foot of said A-frame being at the pivot point for said transom arm means, the other foot of said A-frame being at a point on said vessel where loading from said apparatus transfers to the vessel, and the apex of said skewable A-frame being at the axis of rotation of said sheave means; and

actuator means secured to said vessel and to said deck frame means to move said deck frame means with respect to said vessel so as to skew the apex of said skewable A-frame.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 where said transom arm means comprises at least one arm adapted to bearingly support said sheave;

said arm being pivotally mounted to said vessel at an end of said arm remote from said sheave and at a point below the level at which said winch operates.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 where said transom arm means comprises a pair of arms, each pivotally mounted to said vessel at a point below the level at which said winch operates;

the upper end of each of said pair of arms being adopted to bearingly support said sheave for rotation about said axis of rotation.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 when mounted at the aft end of a vessel, said actuator means being adapted to drive the upper ends of said transom arm means, the rear End of said deck frame means, and said sheave, backwardly and downwardly from said aft end of said vessel.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 where said actuator means comprises hydraulic ram means having fore-and-aft ends relative to the fore-and-aft direction of said vessel, where the forward end of said hydraulic ram means is pivotally attached to said vessel and the aft end of said hydraulic ram means is arranged so as to skew the apex of said skewable A-frame backwardly and downwardly with respect to said vessel.

6. In apparatus for launching, towing and recovering a submersible and towable body from a vessel, where said apparatus includes:

winch means for storing cable, at the outer end of which cable said body is secured;

rotatable sheave means over which said cable runs, said sheave means having an axis of rotation situated lengthwise along said cable between said body and said winch means;

saddle means against which said body is secured when in its stowed position; and

deck frame means upon which said sheave, saddle and winch are mounted;

the improvement comprising;

roller box means mounted for rotation about the axis of rotation of said sheave;

said roller box means comprising a frame, a pair of side rollers in said frame and situated so that one of said pair of side rollers lies on each side of said cable when said body is being towed and said cable extends downwardly from said sheave to said body, and a nose roller at one end of said frame adapted to contact the forward edge of said cable when said body is being towed; and

bias means to effect rotation of said roller box about said axis of rotation so as to maintain substantially constant pressure of contact between said nose roller and the forward edge of said cable;

said bias means including cam means adapted for rotation about the axis of rotation of said sheave together with said roller box means, and a cable wrapped around said cam and secured at its end remote from said cam to spring means.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 where said pair of side rollers and said nose roller are mounted so that the direction of the axis of the nose roller is substantially perpendicualr to the direction of the axis of each of said side rollers;

and so that during normal towing operation when said cable extends downwardly from said nose roller and substantially in a perpendicular direction when viewed from above with respect to said nose roller, said bias means is adapted to maintain the position of said roller box with respect to said cable so that the direction of the axes of said side rollers, the direction of the axis of said nose roller, and the direction of the axis of said cable as it passes through said roller box in contact with said nose roller, are all mutually perpendicular.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 where said spring means includes an hydraulic cylinder pressurized by an hydraulic accumulator.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 where said cam means is such that as said remote end of said cable is drawn by said cylinder away from roller box and said roller box rotates about the axis of rotation of said sheave, the torque provided by said cable as it is wrapped around said cam to said roller box varies substantially directly as the amount which the centre of gravity of said roller box changes position, so as to keep substantially constant pressure between said cable and said nose roller.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 where said saddle and said roller box are mounted for rotation with each other about said axis of rotation of said sheave, and said saddle is secured to said roller box.

11. The apparatus of claim 6 where said saddle and said roller box are mounted for rotation with each other about said axis of rotation of said sheave, and said saddle is secured to said roller box.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a curved plate at the end of said frame remote from said nose roller, said plate curving away from said frame and said roller box.