Seismic Cable Container with Segmented Storage Bays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current seismic cable storage, deployment, and retrieval systems are inefficient, leading to volume underutilization, special handling requirements, and a high risk of cable damage due to entanglement and kinking, especially when dealing with long, heavy cables and multiple seismic stations.
Innovation Solution
A container system with asymmetrical coiling elements and storage means that allows for efficient spooling and unspooling of seismic cables, minimizing strain and entanglement, and enabling easy loading and unloading, while accommodating seismic stations and couplers/splices with different cross-sectional arrangements to prevent cable trapping and tangling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If seismic cable is spooled on a drum or coiled on deck, then storage and transportation is simplified, but the cable may become entangled and trapped between layers or behind seismic stations, leading to kinks and breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The cable storage system is divided into multiple bays (first bay, second bay, third bay) that separate different sections of the cable. Each bay contains specific components (drums, coiled cable, seismic stations) to prevent entanglement between cable sections and stations during storage and deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediate structures such as the second bay that acts as a buffer zone between the first bay (containing drums) and third bay (containing coiled cable and stations). This intermediary space prevents direct contact and potential entanglement between cable sections and seismic stations.
2Quantity of substance
If conventional storage systems are used, then cable can be stored, but volume utilization is inefficient and special handling solutions are required for drums due to their size
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system utilizes three-dimensional space efficiently by arranging components vertically and horizontally across multiple bays. Drums are positioned in the first bay, coiled cable in the second bay, and seismic stations in the third bay, maximizing volume utilization through spatial optimization.
3Adaptability or versatility
If seismic stations are included on the cable, then sensing capability is improved, but the cable becomes more prone to entanglement and requires special handling during deployment
Solution Approach 1:
Seismic stations are segregated into a dedicated third bay, separated from the cable storage areas (first and second bays). This segmentation allows the cable to be handled and deployed without dragging seismic stations along, reducing entanglement risks while maintaining full sensing capability.
Data Source
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AI summary
Container systems used in storage, deployment or retrieval of a seismic cable array comprise a container, at least two coiling elements attached to a bottom side of the container, and storage means for allocating or accommodating, in an ordered arrangement, a number of seismic stations and/or a number of couplers/splices and/or other discontinuities which are being interconnected by sections of the seismic cable. Said storage means is arranged between said coiling elements and are attached to the bottom side of the container. The seismic cable is spooled or wound around said coiling elements. Corresponding methods of storing a seismic cable and deploying/retrieving the seismic cable are based on the use of at least two coiling elements and storage means for allocating or accommodating a number of seismic stations and/or a number of couplers/splices and/or a number of other discontinuities and arranged between said coiling elements.