A submarine optical cable laying device

Abstract

The present invention provides a submarine optical cable laying device, which includes: a frame, a traveling mechanism and a burying mechanism; the frame is used to place the optical cable to be laid, the traveling mechanism includes a front skid and a rear skid, the front skid is connected to the frame through a connecting piece arranged at the front side of the bottom of the frame, and the rear skid is connected to the frame through a connecting piece arranged at the rear side of the bottom of the frame; the burying mechanism is arranged on the bottom of the frame and is located between the front skid and the rear skid, and is close to the rear skid, and the burying mechanism is provided with a conduit for guiding the passage of the optical cable so that the front end of the optical cable is led out from the bottom rear end of the burying mechanism. Since the optical cable is led out from the bottom rear end of the burying mechanism, the burying mechanism buries the optical cable at the same time during the movement of the traveling mechanism, so as to realize the burying of the optical cable while moving.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of optical cable communication, and in particular to a submarine optical cable laying device. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, fiber-optic seismic detection technology has been widely used in the field of geological exploration. Compared with traditional seismic detection methods, fiber-optic seismic detection technology will break the limitations of traditional seismic exploration digital transmission technology and realize large-capacity seismic data optical information transmission. However, when applying it to the seabed, it faces many problems, one of which is how to lay out the sensing fiber on the seabed. The sensing fiber is the sensitive element of the fiber-optic seismic detection system. Unlike on land, the laying of the sensing fiber on the seabed is expensive and difficult.

[0003] Due to the harsh working environment, high pressure and corrosion in the seabed, high-standard double-armored or multi-armored submarine cables are mostly used in shallow sea areas, that is, the optical fiber is sealed in a steel pipe, wrapped with steel wire on the outside, and then covered with polyethylene material on the outside. By using multiple layers of armor on the optical fiber, the corrosion resistance and tensile strength of the optical fiber are improved, and the diameter of the submarine cable can reach more than ten centimeters. In shallow sea areas, water spray equipment and sea plow equipment are used for burial. High-pressure water is used to flush out a deep trench, and the optical cable is placed in and then buried again. The depth of the trench is usually about 1.5 meters, and in some places it is 3 meters or deeper. For the laying of deep-sea submarine optical cables, there are currently some large-scale special engineering ships in the world for laying submarine optical cables, but whether in terms of optical cable prices or construction and personnel, the cost is extremely high, which is not suitable for experimental testing and small-scale applications. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the technical problem that the prior art lacks a small submarine optical cable laying device required for submarine optical fiber seismic detection technology.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present application provides a submarine optical cable laying device, which includes a frame, a traveling mechanism and a landfill mechanism; the frame is used to place the optical cable to be laid, the traveling mechanism includes a front skid and a rear skid, the front skid is connected to the frame via a connecting piece arranged on the front side of the bottom of the frame, and the rear skid is connected to the frame via a connecting piece arranged on the rear side of the bottom of the frame; the landfill mechanism is arranged on the bottom of the frame and is located between the front skid and the rear skid, and is close to the rear skid, and the landfill mechanism is provided with a conduit for guiding the passage of the optical cable so that the front end of the optical cable is led out from the bottom rear end of the landfill mechanism.

[0006] Optionally, a winch and a control motor are arranged on the frame, and the control motor drives the winch to rotate through a chain transmission to control the cable releasing speed of the winch.

[0007] Optionally, a ratchet mechanism is provided at the output end of the control motor to realize one-way transmission of the winch by the control motor.

[0008] Optionally, the frame is provided with a tension testing mechanism located behind the winch for measuring the tension of the optical cable.

[0009] Optionally, the tension testing mechanism comprises a tension meter bracket and a tension meter; a winding pulley is arranged inside the tension meter bracket, and the tension meter is connected to the winding pulley.

[0010] Optionally, the tension meter is a cantilever tension meter, which includes a cylinder and a tension meter body encapsulated in the cylinder, the front end of the cylinder is sealed by a sealing mechanism, and the extension axis of the tension meter center axis of the tension meter body passes through the sealing mechanism and is connected to the winding pulley.

[0011] Optionally, the front skid is an integrated structure and a middle portion of the front side thereof extends forward to form a middle protrusion.

[0012] Optionally, the connecting rod includes a fixed connecting rod and a rotating connecting rod, one end of the fixed connecting rod is vertically fixed to the bottom of the frame, and the other end of the fixed connecting rod is rotatably connected to one end of the rotating connecting rod.

[0013] Optionally, the walking mechanism further comprises an adjusting rod, one end of which is rotatably connected to the other end of the rotating connecting rod, and the other end of the adjusting rod is provided with a plurality of adjusting holes for connection with the frame.

[0014] Optionally, the front end of the frame is also provided with an underwater lighting lamp and an underwater camera for monitoring the surrounding environment.

[0015] It can be seen from the above technical solution that the beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0016] The present invention provides a submarine optical cable laying device, which includes: a frame, a traveling mechanism and a burying mechanism; the frame is used to place the optical cable to be laid, the traveling mechanism includes a front skid and a rear skid, the front skid is connected to the frame through a connecting piece arranged at the front side of the bottom of the frame, and the rear skid is connected to the frame through a connecting piece arranged at the rear side of the bottom of the frame; the burying mechanism is arranged at the bottom of the frame and is located between the front skid and the rear skid, and is close to the rear skid, and the burying mechanism is provided with a conduit for guiding the passage of the optical cable so that the front end of the optical cable is led out from the bottom rear end of the burying mechanism. Since the optical cable is led out from the bottom rear end of the burying mechanism, the burying mechanism buries the optical cable at the same time during the movement of the traveling mechanism, so as to achieve burying while moving. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a submarine optical cable laying device provided in the present application.

[0018] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Side view of.

[0019] Figure 3 for Figure 2 A partial enlarged view of point A in the middle.

[0020] Figure 4 for Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the structure of the medium tension test mechanism.

[0021] Figure 5 for Figure 4 Axial cross-section of the tensiometer in the medium-tension test setup.

[0022] The following are the descriptions of the reference numerals:

[0023] 10. Frame; 11. Winch; 12. Control motor; 13. Tension testing mechanism; 131. Tension meter bracket; 1311. Upper tension meter bracket; 1312. First lower tension meter bracket; 1313. Second lower tension meter bracket; 1314. Winding pulley; 1315. Guide tube; 132. Tension meter; 1321. Cylinder; 1322. Tension meter body; 1323. Front end cover; 1324. Rubber oil bag; 1325. Pressure cover; 1326. Tension meter center axis; 1327. Tension meter center axis extension axis; 1328. Locking screw; 1329. Sliding bearing; 14. Underwater lighting; 15. Underwater camera; 16. Docking box; 20. Walking mechanism; 21. Front skid; 21a. Middle protrusion; 22. Rear skid; 23. Connecting rod; 231. Fixed connecting rod; 232. Rotating connecting rod; 24. Adjusting rod; 24a. Adjusting hole; 30. Landfill mechanism; 31. Plough body connecting part; 32. Plough body part; 33. Conduit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Typical embodiments that embody the features and advantages of the present invention will be described in detail in the following description. It should be understood that the present invention can have various changes in different embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention, and the descriptions and illustrations therein are essentially used for illustration purposes rather than for limiting the present invention.

[0025] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise" and the like indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "multiple" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0026] In order to further illustrate the principle and structure of the present invention, preferred embodiments of the present invention are now described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0027] See also Figure 1 The present application provides a submarine optical cable laying device, which is suitable for experimental testing of submarine optical fiber seismic detection technology and small-scale submarine optical cable laying, and includes a frame 10, a traveling mechanism 20 and a burying mechanism 30, and the traveling mechanism 20 and the burying mechanism 30 are arranged at the bottom of the frame 10.

[0028] The traveling mechanism 20 includes a front skid 21 and a rear skid 22. The front skid 21 is connected to the vehicle frame 10 via a connecting rod 23 disposed at the front side of the bottom of the vehicle frame 10, and the rear skid 22 is connected to the vehicle frame 10 via a connecting rod 23 disposed at the rear side of the bottom of the vehicle frame 10. Since the front skid 21 and the rear skid 22 slide forward in contact with the seabed, flanges of a certain height are disposed at the front of the front skid 21 and the rear skid 22, which can ensure that when encountering obstacles of a certain height, the obstacles can be smoothly crossed without being blocked from sliding. By adopting a skid-type structure for the traveling mechanism 20, the ground contact pressure can be reduced by increasing the area to prevent sinking.

[0029] The front skid 21 is an integrated structure and the middle part of its front side extends forward to form a middle protrusion 21a, which is used to clear smaller obstacles encountered during the movement to both sides of the device through the middle protrusion 21a of the front skid 21 to avoid obstructing the landfill mechanism 30 and the rear skid at the rear again.

[0030] See also Figure 2The burying mechanism 30 is arranged at the bottom of the vehicle frame 10 and is located between the front slider 21 and the rear slider 22, and is close to the rear slider 22. The burying mechanism 30 includes a plow body connection part 31 connected to the bottom of the vehicle frame 10 and a plow body part 32 extending downward from the bottom of the plow body connection part 31. The burying mechanism 30 is provided with a conduit 33 for guiding the optical cable to be led out from the bottom rear end of the burying mechanism 30. One end of the conduit 33 is opened at the rear side of the plow body connection part 31, and the other end of the conduit 33 is opened at the bottom rear end of the plow body part 32. After the optical cable enters the conduit 33 from the opening of one end of the conduit 33 located at the plow body connection part 31, it is led out backward from the other end of the conduit 33 located at the plow body part 32. When the traveling mechanism 20 is traveling, the plow body part 32 buries the optical cable at the same time. Since the optical cable is led out from the bottom rear end of the plow body part 32, it can be buried while traveling.

[0031] Further, the connecting rod 23 connecting the bottom of the frame 10 and the front skid 21 or the rear skid 22 includes a fixed connecting rod 231 and a rotating connecting rod 232, one end of the fixed connecting rod 231 is vertically fixed to the bottom of the frame 10, and the other end of the fixed connecting rod 231 is rotatably connected to one end of the rotating connecting rod 232; the walking mechanism 20 also includes an adjusting rod 24, one end of the adjusting rod 24 is rotatably connected to the other end of the rotating connecting rod 232, and the other end of the adjusting rod 24 is connected to the frame 10 and has a plurality of adjusting holes 24a. By adjusting the connection position between the frame 10 and the adjusting holes 24a, the height of the bottom of the frame 10 from the ground can be adjusted. Since the landfill mechanism 30 is fixedly connected to the bottom of the frame 10, the height difference between the plow body 32 and the bottom of the frame 10 is fixed. After the height of the bottom of the frame 10 from the ground is reduced, the distance between the bottom end of the plow body 32 of the landfill mechanism 30 and the seabed can be adjusted, thereby achieving the purpose of adjusting the cable burying depth.

[0032] Please refer to Figure 1 A winch 11 and a control motor 12 are provided on the frame 10. Specifically, the winch 11 is provided on the front side of the frame 10. The control motor 12 drives the winch 11 to rotate through a chain transmission. The optical cable is wound around the winch 11 so that the cable can be better released when the winch 11 rotates. A ratchet mechanism (not shown in the figure) is provided at the output end of the control motor 12, which can realize one-way transmission of the winch 11 and prevent the reverse torque of the winch 11 from being transmitted to the control motor 12.

[0033] Furthermore, the vehicle frame 10 is also provided with a tension testing mechanism 13 located behind the winch 11 . The tension testing mechanism 13 includes a tension meter bracket 131 and a tension meter 132 connected to the tension meter bracket 131 .

[0034] See also Figure 3 and Figure 4The tension meter bracket 131 includes an upper tension meter bracket 1311, a first lower tension meter bracket 1312 and a second lower tension meter bracket 1313 located at the bottom of the upper tension meter bracket 1311. A guide tube 1315 is provided at the upper end of the upper tension meter bracket 1311. A winding pulley 1314 is provided in the chamber formed by the first lower tension meter bracket 1312 and the second lower tension meter bracket 1313. The front end of the optical cable enters the chamber through the guide tube 1315 through the upper tension meter bracket 1311, and passes through the winding pulley 1314 and then passes out from the lower end of the chamber. In this way, the angle value of the optical cable entering and exiting the winding pulley 1314 can be guaranteed to be constant, thereby ensuring the reliability of the cable tension measurement. The tension meter bracket 131 is designed as a combined structure of the upper tension meter bracket 1311, the first lower tension meter bracket 1312 and the second lower tension meter bracket 1313, so as to facilitate the installation of the optical cable and the winding pulley 1314.

[0035] See also Figure 5 The tension meter 132 is a cantilever tension meter, which is connected to the winding pulley 1314 to measure the tension of the optical cable, and includes a cylinder 1321 and a tension meter body 1322 encapsulated in the cylinder 1321. The front end of the cylinder 1321 is sealed by a sealing mechanism, and the tension meter central axis extension shaft 1327 of the tension meter body 1322 passes through the sealing mechanism and is connected to the winding pulley 1314. The sealing mechanism includes a front end cover 1323, a rubber oil bag 1324 and a pressure cover 1325.

[0036] Specifically, the cylinder 1321 is filled with oil, the tension meter body 1322 is encapsulated in the cylinder 1321, the front end cover 1323 is arranged at the front end of the cylinder 1321, and the front end cover 1323 and the tension meter body 1322 are screw-locked to prevent the tension meter body 1322 from sliding axially; a rubber oil bag 1324 is arranged between the tension meter central axis 1326 and the front end cover 1323, and a pressure cover 1325 is arranged on the outside of the front end cover 1323. The threaded connection with the cylinder 1321 further compresses the front end cover 1323 to ensure the sealing of the front end of the cylinder 1321; the front end cover 1323 is also provided with an oil leakage groove (not shown in the figure) to ensure that the interior of the cylinder 1321 and the rubber oil bag 1324 are internally connected, so that the sensor and its electronic module in the tensiometer body 1322 can be isolated from the external seawater in the oil-filled environment of the cylinder 1321, and the rubber oil bag 1324 can also play a role in pressure supplement in the deep sea environment; the tensiometer central axis extension shaft 1327 is formed by extending the tensiometer central axis 1326, and the front end cover 1323 is provided with a through hole for the tensiometer central axis extension shaft 1327 to pass through. The tensiometer central axis extension shaft 1327 passes through the front end cover 1323 through the through hole and is then connected to the winding pulley 1314 through a sliding bearing 1329, and the end of the tensiometer central axis extension shaft 1327 is locked by a locking screw 1328. The above-mentioned underwater improvement of the cantilever tensiometer makes it suitable for deep-sea environment to ensure the reliability of tension test data.

[0037] Since the tensile strength of the optical cable is limited, in order to prevent the optical cable from being damaged due to excessive tension in the optical cable during the laying process, a tension testing mechanism 13 is configured on the line where the optical cable is laid. The tension condition is fed back to the control motor 12 through the tension testing mechanism 13 for speed control, so that the speed of the winch 11 can be adjusted in real time as needed, so that the tension of the optical cable is kept within a reasonable range. When the tension testing mechanism 13 detects that the tension is too large, the control motor 12 increases the speed to speed up the cable release of the winch 11, thereby reducing the tension of the optical cable and preventing damage to the optical cable; when the tension testing mechanism 13 detects that the tension is too small, the control motor 12 reduces the speed to slow down the cable release of the winch 11, preventing the accumulation and entanglement of the released optical cable due to over-release of the winch 11.

[0038] In order to prevent sudden changes in seabed conditions during the laying of the submarine optical cable, such as encountering large obstacles such as ditches and ridges, the submarine optical cable laying device is also provided with underwater lighting 14 and underwater camera 15. The underwater lighting 14 and underwater camera 15 are both arranged at the front end of the frame 10. The surrounding environment is monitored in real time through the underwater lighting 14 and underwater camera 15, and the surface operator can make timely adjustments according to the specific situation.

[0039] Since the data collected by the submarine cable laying device needs to be sent to the case base station in real time, and the submarine cable laying device also needs to receive relevant instructions from the case base station, a junction box 16 for centralized processing and scheduling of power and data signals is also provided on the frame 10.

[0040] The operation mode of the present invention is as follows:

[0041] 1. The submarine cable laying device is slowly hoisted to the seabed through the hoisting device on the surface mother ship. The Kevlar optical composite cable is laid from the surface mother ship to the seabed through the A frame. The submarine cable laying device is dragged forward by the Kevlar optical composite cable, and the optical cable laying operation is carried out during the movement. At the same time, the surface mother ship supplies power to the submarine cable laying device to ensure the normal operation of the control motor 12 installed on the frame.

[0042] 2. The arrangement route of the optical cable in the device is as follows: the front end of the optical cable on the capstan 11 enters the chamber in the tension meter bracket 131 through the guide tube 1315, and passes through the winding pulley 1314 in the chamber and then passes through the lower end of the chamber, then enters the conduit 33 set in the landfill mechanism 30 and finally leads out from the bottom rear end of the landfill mechanism 30, and directly passes through the conduit 33 to the bottom of the plow body of the landfill mechanism 30 to achieve the landfill of the optical cable.

[0043] 3. During the laying of the optical cable, the control motor 12 uses unidirectional torque transmission to the winch 11 to prevent the reverse transmission of torque and excessive tension in the optical cable; the tension testing mechanism 13 detects the tension of the optical cable during the laying process and feeds back to the motor for adjustment. When the tension is too large, the motor accelerates to drive the winch 11 to accelerate and rotate to actively release the cable. When the tension is too small, the motor decelerates to drive the winch 11 to decelerate and slow down the cable release to prevent the optical cable from being damaged due to excessive tension; when the front skid 21 is moving, the protrusion 21a in the middle helps to clear obstacles during the movement.

[0044] The present invention provides a submarine optical cable laying device, which includes: a frame 10, a traveling mechanism 20 and a burying mechanism 30; the frame 10 is used to place the optical cable to be laid, the traveling mechanism 20 includes a front skid 21 and a rear skid 22, the front skid 21 is connected to the frame 10 through a connecting piece arranged at the front side of the bottom of the frame 10, and the rear skid 22 is connected to the frame 10 through a connecting piece arranged at the rear side of the bottom of the frame 10; the burying mechanism 30 is arranged at the bottom of the frame 10 and is located between the front skid 21 and the rear skid 22, and is close to the rear skid 22, and the burying mechanism 30 is provided with a guide tube 33 for guiding the passage of the optical cable so that the front end of the optical cable is led out from the bottom rear end of the burying mechanism 30. Since the optical cable is led out from the bottom rear end of the burying mechanism 30, the burying mechanism 30 simultaneously buries the optical cable during the traveling process of the traveling mechanism 20, so as to achieve burying while traveling. The submarine optical cable laying device is relatively lightweight and can lay small ordinary armored optical cables mainly used for underwater earthquake detection. The optical cable is carried by the frame 10 and can be laid up to 10 km in length at one time, which helps to break through the limitations of traditional multi-channel seismic 2D / 3D large-scale sea surface observations, realize high-precision multi-channel seismic observations near the bottom of the abyss, fill the gap in my country's deep-sea submarine multi-channel seismic, and make the submarine optical fiber seismic system effectively serve my country's South China Sea resource exploration and development, deep-sea environmental detection, deep-sea scientific research and national defense security, and has great application promotion and industrial development significance.

[0045] Although the present invention has been described with reference to several typical embodiments, it should be understood that the terms used are illustrative and exemplary, rather than restrictive. Since the present invention can be embodied in a variety of forms without departing from the spirit or essence of the invention, it should be understood that the above embodiments are not limited to any of the foregoing details, but should be interpreted broadly within the spirit and scope defined by the appended claims, so all changes and modifications falling within the scope of the claims or their equivalents should be covered by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A submarine optical cable laying device, characterized in that: include: A frame, a traveling mechanism and a landfilling mechanism; the frame is used to place the optical cable to be laid, the traveling mechanism includes a front skid and a rear skid, the front skid is connected to the frame via a connecting rod arranged at the front side of the bottom of the frame, and the rear skid is connected to the frame via a connecting rod arranged at the rear side of the bottom of the frame; the landfilling mechanism is arranged at the bottom of the frame and is located between the front skid and the rear skid and close to the rear skid, and the landfilling mechanism is provided with a conduit for guiding the passage of the optical cable so that the front end of the optical cable is led out from the rear end of the bottom of the landfilling mechanism; The frame is provided with a winch and a tension testing mechanism located behind the winch for measuring the tension of the optical cable, wherein the tension testing mechanism comprises a tension meter bracket and a tension meter; A winding pulley is provided inside the tension meter bracket, and the tension meter is connected to the winding pulley; The tension meter is a cantilever tension meter, which includes a cylinder and a tension meter body encapsulated in the cylinder, the sealing mechanism includes a front end cover, a rubber oil bag and a pressure cover, a rubber oil bag is arranged between the central axis of the tension meter and the front end cover, a pressure cover is arranged on the outside of the front end cover, the front end cover and the tension meter body are locked by threads, the threaded connection between the pressure cover and the cylinder further compresses the front end cover, and an oil leakage groove is also provided on the front end cover to ensure that the inside of the cylinder and the rubber oil bag are internally connected, the extension shaft of the central axis of the tension meter passes through the front end cover through the through hole and is then connected to the winding pulley through a sliding bearing, and the end of the extension shaft of the central axis of the tension meter is locked by a locking screw.

2. The submarine optical cable laying device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The frame is also provided with a control motor, which drives the winch to rotate through a chain transmission so as to control the cable-releasing speed of the winch.

3. The submarine optical cable laying device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The output end of the control motor is provided with a ratchet mechanism for realizing one-way transmission of the control motor to the winch.

4. The submarine optical cable laying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The front skid is an integrated structure and the middle part of the front side thereof extends forward to form a middle protrusion.

5. The submarine optical cable laying device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The connecting rod comprises a fixed connecting rod and a rotating connecting rod, one end of the fixed connecting rod is vertically fixed to the bottom of the frame, and the other end of the fixed connecting rod is rotatably connected to one end of the rotating connecting rod.

6. The submarine optical cable laying device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The walking mechanism also includes an adjusting rod, one end of which is rotatably connected to the other end of the rotating connecting rod, and the other end of the adjusting rod is provided with a plurality of adjusting holes for connecting with the vehicle frame.

7. The submarine optical cable laying device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The front end of the vehicle frame is also provided with an underwater lighting lamp and an underwater camera for monitoring the surrounding environment.

Images