Underwater towing test device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11260940-B2
Application number	US-202017026285-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 20, 2020
Priority date	Mar 9, 2020
Publication date	Mar 1, 2022
Grant date	Mar 1, 2022

Abstract

An underwater towing test device including a driving mechanism, an observation platform disposed under the driving mechanism, a towing member, and a towed body. The driving mechanism includes an operation platform, an extended platform connected to the operation platform, a crane, a first railing, a lifebuoy, a control center, a power distribution room, and a plurality of bus ports. The operation platform includes two rail grooves disposed in parallel and a moon pool provided with two pool slots on both ends thereof. The crane includes a chassis provided with a plurality of first guide rollers. The first railing is positioned along the edge of the operation platform and the extended platform, with the lifebuoy hanging thereon. The control center, the power distribution room, the plurality of bus ports, and the moon pool are fixedly disposed on the operation platform.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device, comprising:
a driving mechanism comprising an operation platform, a crane, a first railing, a lifebuoy, a control center, a power distribution room, and a plurality of bus ports; the crane comprising a chassis provided with a plurality of first guide rollers;
an observation platform disposed under the driving mechanism, the observation platform comprising a first plate, a moon pool, two pool slots, two second plates vertically disposed with respect to the first plate, two L-shaped cantilevers, a plurality of second guide rollers, a second railing, and a ladder;
a towing member comprising a first guide rod, a second guide rod, and a sliding block; and
a towed body comprising an ellipsoid towed body, a box-shaped towed body, a conical towed body, a first tow cable, and a second tow cable;

wherein:
the operation platform comprises two rail grooves disposed in parallel; the crane runs on the plurality of first guide rollers along the two rail grooves; the first railing is positioned along an edge of the operation platform, with the lifebuoy hanging thereon; and the control center, the power distribution room, the plurality of bus ports, and the moon pool are fixedly disposed on the operation platform;
the two L-shaped cantilevers respectively are connected to a bottom of the operation platform, and disposed in parallel to each other; the first plate is connected to the two second plates to form a U-shaped frame connected to the two L-shaped cantilevers via the plurality of second guide rollers; the second railing is positioned along an edge of the first plate, so that both ends of each second railing are connected to both sides of each second plate, respectively; and the ladder is fixedly disposed on the first plate and abuts against each second plate;
the first guide rod comprises a plurality of evenly spaced first through holes, and a plurality of second through holes on both ends thereof; the sliding block comprises a third through hole, a fourth through hole, and a fifth through hole; the first guide rod passes through the fifth through hole and the second guide rod passes through the fourth through hole, thereby forming a cross joint; each end of the first guide rod is inserted into a corresponding pool slot via a snap-fit joint; and the second guide rod comprises a first end comprising a lug, and a second end connected to a towing pole; and
the ellipsoidal towed body is connected to the towing pole by the first tow cable; the ellipsoid towed body, the box-shaped towed body, and the conical towed body are connected to each other by the second tow cable.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein a towing tank is a cube comprising a wall, a base, and a rail consecutively disposed from bottom to top; and the operation platform is provided with a plurality of third guide rollers slidable on the rail.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the driving mechanism further comprises an extended platform; each end of the first guide rod is inserted into a corresponding pool slot via a snap-fit joint; the first railing is positioned along an edge of the operation platform and the extended platform; and the two rail grooves extend from the operation platform to the extended platform.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the crane further comprises a column, a suspension arm, a guide rail, an end stop, a festooning trolley, and a counterweight; the chassis comprises a plurality of first guide rollers upon which the crane runs along the rail grooves; the chassis is connected to one end of the column disposed in a vertical direction with respect to the chassis; another end of the column is connected to the suspension arm to form an included angle of 90 degrees; the end stop is disposed at one end of the suspension arm away from the column, and the counterweight is disposed at another end of the suspension arm which is directly connected to the column; and the festooning trolley is hung on the guide rail fixedly disposed on the suspension arm, and slidable along the guide rail.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the two L-shaped cantilevers are disposed in parallel under the operation platform and symmetrical to each other; a length of each L-shaped cantilever is equal to or greater than a width of the moon pool; each L-shaped cantilever comprises two bosses centered respectively on both ends thereof; the plurality of second guide rollers is positioned outside one end of each second plate close to the operation platform; and the observation platform is slidable on the two L-shaped cantilevers upon the movement of the plurality of second guide rollers.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein a pin is disposed into the third through hole and passes through one of the plurality of first through holes, thereby locking the first guide rod on the sliding block; a bottom end face of the sliding block comprises two male parts bilaterally symmetric, both of which are rotatable about a rotating shaft; the second guide rod comprises a plurality of female parts symmetrically disposed on left and right end faces; each male part is connected to a corresponding female part through a snap-fit joint, so that the second guide rod is connected to the sliding block through a static fraction between the male part and the female part; the second guide rod further comprises a guide slot centered on a forward end face thereof, and a scale disposed on the guide slot and bilaterally symmetric; a guide pole is fixedly disposed in the fifth through hole, and the second guide rod is slidable linearly with respect to the guide slot.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein one end of the towing pole is connected to a towing plate provided with a plurality of towing eyes; and the first tow cable is connected to the ellipsoidal towed body through the plurality of towing eyes.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the control center and the power distribution room are a skid-mounted structure, and are disposed diagonally on the operation platform.

9. The device of claim 7 , wherein a cross section of the towing pole and the towing plate comprises a streamlined edge.

Assignees

• Univ Dalian Tech

Inventors

• Lin Yan
• Jiang Xiaoning
• Li Tieli

Classifications

• G01M99/00

  Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass · CPC title

• G01M10/00 Primary

  Hydrodynamic testing; Arrangements in or on ship-testing tanks or water tunnels · CPC title

• B63B21/66 Primary

  Equipment specially adapted for towing underwater objects or vessels, e.g. fairings for tow-cables ({paravanes for dragging fishing nets A01K73/02; } salvaging underwater vessels or objects B63C7/00; towed underwater vessels B63G8/42) · CPC title

• B66C17/24

  for building ships on slipways · CPC title

• B66C7/02

  for underhung trolleys or cranes · CPC title