JPS5946836B2 - underwater vehicle - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an underwater vehicle used for detonating or destroying mines and the like sunk to the bottom of the water.

Conventional methods of disposal of sunken bed mines include placing timed explosives on them by divers, or transporting timed depth charges by unmanned underwater vehicles and dropping them near the sunken bed mines to induce detonation or destruction. There is.

The former method, which involves divers, has drawbacks in terms of worker safety and economy, as well as the inability to dispose of sunken mines at great depths.

In addition, the latter method of dropping timed depth charges by an unmanned underwater vehicle requires the timed depth charges to be dropped with precision at a distance where the mine can be detonated or destroyed, and the explosion of the timed depth charge will cause the targeted mine to detonate. It has the disadvantage that it is difficult to confirm whether it has been destroyed or destroyed.

Furthermore, the depth charges used in this method must be large in order to compensate for the accuracy and variation in the dropping position and the destructive power of the depth charges, so usually only one depth charge is loaded on an unmanned underwater vehicle. However, after dropping depth charges, the unmanned underwater vehicle must be retrieved onto a ship on the surface of the water and then re-attached with depth charges, which has disadvantages such as lower efficiency when multiple sunk mines are used one after another. There is.

The present invention aims to eliminate the drawbacks associated with the disposal of sunken mines using conventional devices and methods. In addition, it is possible to reliably dispose of explosives in large quantities, and moreover, it is possible to load multiple explosives at a time, recover them after each mine disposal operation, and release the explosives one after another without replenishing the mines. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an underwater vehicle capable of disposing of a plurality of sunken mines while being installed.

For this reason, the underwater vehicle of the present invention uses a ballast rope or an echo sounder to navigate the underwater vehicle at a constant altitude from the bottom of the water in an underwater vehicle that disposes of sunken mines.
An altitude holding device that maintains a constant altitude above the water bottom using vertical control thrusters activated by signals such as A support leg for mitigating the impact when the body lands on the bottom, a return storage located above the bottom member of the support leg to store a plurality of ammunition, and a gripping device provided at one end of the ammunition stored in the return storage. It is characterized by being equipped with a manipulator having a telescoping mechanism and a bending mechanism so as to be installed in the vicinity of the sunken mine, which is separated from the grasping and returning home.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. Figures 1 and 2 show the underwater vehicle of the present invention searching for a sunken sea mine, and Figure 1 shows a state in which the underwater vehicle of the present invention is searching for a sunken sea mine. Figure 2 shows the ship descending to the bottom of the water, and Figure 2 shows the ship searching for mines while maintaining a constant height above the bottom.

Further, FIG. 3 shows a state in which the underwater vehicle of the present invention has landed on the bottom and the explosives carried on the tower are installed near a mine.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the underwater vehicle of the present invention, and FIG.
6 is an enlarged side view of the section taken along arrows 1--2 in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a plan view taken along arrows 2--2 in FIG. 6.

4 is a main body of an underwater vehicle 48 of the present invention, which, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, includes a vertical control thruster 5, a turning control thruster 6, a propulsion control thruster 1, and an elevator 8,
Three-dimensional movement underwater is possible.

As shown in FIG. 1, the underwater vehicle 48 is connected to the other end of a cable 51, one end of which is connected to a ship (such as a minesweeper) 50 that navigates on the surface of the water, and as shown in FIG. A detector 10 such as a direction meter provided inside the main body 4, an acoustic transmitter 11, a multiplex transmission device 12, an electric motor, a hydraulic device 13, a ballast tank 14 provided outside the main body, the above-mentioned attitude control devices 5 to 8, etc. is used to guide the ship 50 to the sea area of the sunken mine 49 detected by the ship 50.

When you reach the vicinity of the mine 49, use the ballast rope 3 installed at the bottom of the main body 4 to maintain a certain distance from the bottom, as shown in Figure 2, and use the underwater television 9 installed in front of the main body 4 to prevent it from sinking. Move underwater while searching for mine 49.

In this case, an echo sounder or the like may be used instead of the ballast rope 3 in conjunction with the vertical control thruster 5 to maintain a constant altitude above the water bottom.

When the underwater vehicle 48 of the present invention discovers the sunken mine 49,
As shown in Figure 3, the main body 4 is on the bottom of the water near the sunken mine 49.
Soft bottoming is achieved using supporting legs 15 provided at the bottom of the bottom.

A manipulator 1 and a return 2 are provided on the upper surface side of the bottom member of the support leg 15.

In the return warehouse 2, as shown in FIG. 6, ammunition 21 is suspended via pins 26 from a holder 25 which stands on a chain 24 suspended from chain wheels 22 and 23.

The middle portion of the chain 24 is supported by a support 27, and a cover member 28 is disposed above the ammunition other than the removed ammunition to prevent the ammunition from escaping.

The chain wheel 22 is rotated one pitch at a time by a feed pawl 29, and the ammunition 21 is fed to a predetermined position in the return store 2. However, the feed pawl 29 first operates a hydraulic cylinder 30, so that the gear 31 is rotated one pitch at a time. The gear 32 that rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. It is configured in a ratchet type with a spring interposed, and moves the oil field cylinder 30 backward,
When the pin 33 rotates to the right in FIG. 6, it returns to the right until it comes into contact with the pin 33.

The ammunition 21 set at the extraction position is held at its upper part by a gripper 34 provided at the end of the manipulator 1, and the ammunition 21 is held upward by the cylinder 35 until the pin 26 is removed from the holder 25.
After being lifted up by the manipulator 1, it is sent forward by the hydraulic cylinder 36 that constitutes the base end of the manipulator 1.

Note that the gripping tool 34 is moved to the point P1 shown in FIG. 7 by operating the actuator 37. It opens and closes in the left and right directions centering on P2.

Next, the actuator 38 rotates the gripper 34 at 90°.
The actuator 39 is used to raise the mine, and the actuator 39 is used to lower the entire mine to a horizontal position, and the actuator 40 is used to swing the tip part within a range of 900° to locate the position closest to the sunken mine 49. At this point, the actuator 3T is activated, the gripper 34 is opened, and the ammunition 21 is installed.

When taking out the next bullet, the manipulator is returned to the state shown in FIG. 6 in the reverse order to the above.

Each actuator and hydraulic cylinder are operated according to commands from the vessel 50 while monitoring images on the underwater television 9.

The underwater vehicle of the present invention searches for sunken mines using an underwater TV installed in front of the underwater vehicle while holding the underwater vehicle using an altitude holding device that maintains a constant altitude above the water bottom. The ammunition landed on the bottom with less impact nearby, and the ammunition loaded in the return store was taken out one by one using the gripping tool of the manipulator, and the ammunition was removed using the manipulator's telescopic mechanism consisting of a hydraulic cylinder and the bending mechanism consisting of an actuator. Since it is possible to accurately place the mine very close to the sunken bed mine, it is possible to reliably detonate or destroy the sunk bed mine with a small amount of gunpowder, which is advantageous in terms of safety and economy.

In addition, by making the ammunition smaller and allowing a large number of ammunition to be loaded into the return port, underwater vehicles can be lifted and retrieved by ships in Japan and other countries when disposing of multiple sunken mines. There is also the advantage that work efficiency can be increased because there is no need to attach ammunition and disposal work can be carried out continuously.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows the underwater vehicle of the present invention descending through a water area containing sunken mines, and Figure 2 shows it searching for mines while maintaining a constant height above the water bottom. Figure 3 is a diagram showing explosives being placed on the bottom near a sunken mine, Figure 4 is a plan view of the underwater vehicle of the present invention, Figure 5 is a side view of Figure 4, FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view of the section ``■'' in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the arrow ``■--■'' in FIG. 1...Manipulator, 2...Return to the warehouse, 3
...Harrastrop, 4...Underwater vehicle body, 5...Vertical control thruster, 6...
... Thruster for turning control, 7 ... Thruster for propulsion control, 8 ... Elevator, 9 ... Underwater television, 10 ... Direction meter, etc. Detector, 11...
...Acoustic transmitter, 12...Mass transmission device,
13...Electric motor, hydraulic equipment, 14...
Ballast tank, 15... Support leg, 21...
...Ammunition, 22, 23...Chain wheel,
24...Chain, 25...Holder, 26...Pin, 27...Support,
28...Lid material, 29...Feeding claw, 30
......Hydraulic cylinder, 31, 32...
Gear, 33...Pin, 34...Gripper, 36...Hydraulic cylinder, 37°38, 3
9, 40... Actuator, 48...
...Underwater vehicle, 49...Sunk mine, 50...
...Ship, 51...Rope.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. For underwater vehicles that dispose of sunken sea mines, in order to keep the underwater vehicle traveling at a constant altitude from the water bottom, the altitude from the water bottom is controlled by vertical control thrusters activated by signals from ballast ropes or echo sounders, etc. An altitude holding device that maintains a constant altitude, a support leg that is formed at the bottom of the underwater vehicle body and that cushions the impact when the underwater vehicle lands on the bottom to dispose of sunken mines; A retractor is placed on the top of the bottom member of the retractor and stores multiple pieces of ammunition, and the ammunition stored in the retractor is grasped with a gripper provided at one end of the retractor and placed near a sunken mine separated from the retractor. An underwater vehicle characterized by comprising a manipulator having a telescopic mechanism and a bending mechanism.