Subsea Mining Vehicle Unloading Rescue Device
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Subsea mining vehicles face frequent sinking due to the soft and weak seabed soil, leading to energy inefficiencies and reduced mining efficiency, as existing rescue methods are complex and energy-intensive, especially when multiple sinking events occur.
Innovation Solution
An unloading type sinking rescue device equipped with a counterweight system and an ejection mechanism, which reduces the vehicle's weight by unloading counterweights and uses anchors to facilitate escape by leveraging buoyancy and soil strength, allowing the vehicle to move out of the sinking area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the mining vehicle carries counterweights to maintain stability during diving and walking, then the vehicle maintains proper balance and diving capability, but the vehicle weight increases causing it to sink into the soft seabed soil
Solution Approach 1:
The counterweights are designed to be dynamically adjustable rather than fixed. The mining vehicle can add counterweights before diving to maintain stability, then remove them when walking on the seabed to reduce weight and prevent sinking. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction between needing weight for stability and needing low weight to avoid sinking.
Solution Approach 2:
The counterweight system is segmented into removable modular units that can be independently added or removed based on operational needs. This allows the vehicle to optimize its weight configuration for different phases of operation (diving vs. walking), resolving the contradiction between stability requirements and sinking prevention.
2Reliability
If the mining vehicle uses traditional rescue methods (telescopic devices and supporting steps) to escape sinking areas, then the vehicle can be rescued from sinking, but the rescue process becomes complex and energy consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the heavy counterweights that caused the sinking in the first place. By taking out the excess weight rather than attempting to pull the vehicle out with complex telescopic devices, the rescue process becomes simple and energy-efficient. The vehicle naturally rises when counterweights are removed, avoiding the need for energy-intensive rescue mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of applying force to pull the sinking vehicle out (traditional rescue approach), the invention applies the opposite approach by removing the weight causing the sinking. This inversion of the rescue logic - removing weight rather than adding pulling force - simplifies the rescue process and dramatically reduces energy consumption.
3Reliability
If the mining vehicle encounters multiple sinking accidents, then the vehicle can be rescued each time, but the cumulative energy consumption becomes excessive leading to vehicle stoppage
Solution Approach 1:
The counterweights are removed as a preliminary action before the vehicle needs to be rescued. By proactively removing the weight excess that causes sinking, the vehicle prevents the need for energy-intensive rescue operations, thereby extending its operational duration even when multiple sinking events occur.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device effectively reduces energy consumption and prolongs the mining vehicle's operation by allowing flexible direction changes and utilizing buoyancy to escape sinking areas, ensuring continuous mining operations.
Implementation Method 1
the counterweight is configured to be stored in the counterweight recovery cavity... reduces the weight of a sinking subsea mining vehicle by unloading
Implementation Method 2
the anchor recovery shaft, the spring and the boosting device are arranged in the ejection cavity
Implementation Method 3
the anchor includes two anchor plates with built-in electromagnets, and includes an anchor controller
Implementation Method 4
utilizing buoyancy to escape sinking areas
Data Source
AI summary
An unloading type sinking rescue device of a subsea mining vehicle and a use method thereof are provided. The unloading type sinking rescue device includes an assembly support, an unloading system, an ejection system and a control system. The assembly support is box-shaped, fixed to a subsea mining vehicle, and provided with a plurality of enclosed cavities. The unloading system includes a counterweight, a counterweight cable, a counterweight fixing bracket and a counterweight recovery cavity. The ejection system includes an anchor, an ejection cavity, an anchor cable, an anchor recovery shaft, a pulley, a spring and a boosting device. The control system controls the operation of the unloading system and the ejection system. The use method includes: (1) unloading; (2) ejection; (3) recovery of a part of counterweights; (4) recovery of the anchor; and (5) recovery of remaining counterweights.