Laitram, LLC

Digicourse, Inc.

Other

Tiax LLC

John T Fowler

Douglas C Gilbert

Darrell R Morrison

Donald R Furey

William H Key

Joseph B Mccabe

Jacques Andre Saint-Michel

A sensor system includes a first measurement subsystem including a driver and a measurement component. The measurement component includes a set of sensors for generating complementary signals representing each of one or more characteristics. The complementary signals representing a characteristic include related error components. The driver is configured to accept the complementary signals for a characteristic and to determine a measurement value for the characteristic by combining the complementary signals to reduce effects of the error components in the complementary signals.

Sensor system error reduction

An integral heat sink and fan rectifier assembly comprises a disk fastened to a rotor of a synchronous motor or generator, the disk having a central bore, a plurality of fan blades disposed on the outer periphery and a circular array of recesses that receive insulation encapsulated rectifier units that are fastened to the disk and a have a heat transfer plates that engage the bottom of the recesses to transfer heat to the disk which conducts the transferred heat to the fan blades, which transfer the heat to the cooling air as rotor rotates and blows cooling air through a portion of the motor or generator.

Integral heat sink and fan rectifier assembly

The present invention is designed to be mounted over a flaming oil wellhead to extinguish the flames. The invention includes a base having hydraulically operable arms designed to allow secure support of the base over the oil wellhead even in uneven terrain. A cap device is mountable on the base and includes tangentially arranged ports designed to supply the interior of the cap with a fluid such as liquid nitrogen to cool and extinguish the flames. The cap may include a labyrinth tortuous path restrictor forcing escaping combustion products and other gases to follow a tortuous path to atmosphere to thereby cause the gases to lose energy and cool as they escape.

Oil wellhead fire extinguishing apparatus having adjustable support feet

Apparatus and method for determining the azimuth (heading), pitch and roll which include a magnetometer-type sensor providing signals measured in three axes relative to a reference frame, and coil elements wound around the magnetometer which selectively impose specific magnetic fields about the sensor. Three axes field components of the magnetic field are measured from the sensor with and without the selective energization of the magnetic coils and stored, from which the azimuth, pitch and roll are calculated. Furthermore, quadrant correction is applied such that a unique reading is produced for all angles through 360.degree. of azimuth, pitch or roll.

Apparatus and method for determining azimuth, pitch and roll

A communication system for a seismic streamer by which all power and data signals are inductively coupled to the cable leveling devices or instrument pods disposed along the streamer cable. A high permeability ring of magnetic material is dispose around the streamer, and a coil is wound around a segment of the core and connected to circuitry within the bird. The coil can be part of a resonant circuit. Power signals transmitted along the streamer are inductively coupled via the ring core and associated coil to each bird to provide charging of a battery source in the bird. Control signals transmitted along the streamer are coupled via the ring core and coil to the electronics via the ring core and coil to the streamer for transmission to a receiving site. Alternative embodiments are also disclosed in which inductive coupling structures include a portion within the streamer in efficient coupling relationship for power and data transmission.

Seismic streamer communication system

A method for compensating for pitch and roll misalignment in 3-axis magnetometer-type compasses wherein the magnetometer during factory calibration is subjected to magnetic fields corresponding to at least two different latitudes, and correction coefficients for the measured x and y (or horizontal) magnetic field components are derived from signals derived from the z axis (or vertical) magnetic field sensor. The correction coefficients are permanently stored in the compass to provide a heading corrected for internal pitch and roll misalignment of the magnetometer field measuring elements relative to the true vertical that would normally cause errors in azimuth with changes in latitude. No further correction or misalignment is necessary in the field for compass use.

Method of calibrating a compass heading

A cartridge retention system includes a cartridge carrying electronic, compressed gas or other components which has a spring-loaded button at one end and which is removably mounted in the breech of an adapter module connected either in a streamer section or between opposing ends of adjacent streamer sections of a towed array. The cartridge is demountably retained within the adapter by providing an adapter housing with a breech which is somewhat longer than the cartridge, and by providing the housing with an overlying two part shell which is rotatable about the housing, with one of the shell parts containing an aperture to accommodate cartridge insertion and with both parts containing an internal circumferential groove adapted to coact with the spring-loaded button on the cartridge to move the cartridge from one end of the breech to the other end upon rotation of the shell. The part of the shell opposite that containing the cartridge insertion aperture is provided with a button retaining aperture such that upon a 180.degree. revolution of the shell, the button is captured in the button retaining aperture to secure the cartridge in the breech such that the cartridge is pressed to the opposing end of the breech and into a connector at the opposing end. When the cartridge is inserted through the shell and into the breech, the button is depressed prior to rotating the shell, with the groove-button camming action forcing the cartridge to the opposite end of the breech.

System for removably housing and aligning components in a towed array

A cable leveling device is attached to a streamer cable by providing an adapter module secured between two seismic streamer cable sections with one of the cable strain members secured to the adapter. An overlying coaxial housing is mounted for rotation about the adapter module so as to rotate with respect to the module. The overlying housing carries leveling apparatus in the form of paravanes as well as depth sensing and other apparatus, with the top part of the overlying housing containing a hollow or foam-filled buoyant portion, and with the bottom portion of the housing containing batteries, electronics and sensing devices, such that the housing is maintained in a vertical orientation because of its buoyant top portion and weighted bottom portion. The cable leveling device is secured not by collars to the resilient outer casing of a seismic streamer cable but rather to a rigid adapter module between cable sections, which in turn is secured to a single strain member, with the adapter providing a relatively short base line and thus a shorter leveling device. In one embodiment the housing is divided to provide a two-part clamshell arrangement clamped over the adapter module, with the adapter module having circumferential slots at either end thereof into which circumferential inwardly protecting ridges of the housing project such that rotation of the housing relative to the adapter module is facilitated.

Streamer interface adapter cable mounted leveler

A method and apparatus for providing a magnetic compass, and system to accurately calibrate the compass with a rotation of the vessel on which the compass is mounted through a single rotation of 360 degrees. The compass comprises gimballed field sensing elements, and processor to provide a signal which is corrected for compass offsets, for permanent magnetic field anomalies and for induced magnetic field anomalies.

Magnetic compass calibration

A combined heading and depth sensor for acquisition of both compass heading and depth data and transmission of the combined data over a two wire communication link as a single packet of information to a remote data acquisition unit. The sensor includes a remote reading compass assembly, a depth sensor and circuitry to interface the compass and depth sensors to the communication link. A communication protocol is defined permitting addressable interrogation of a plurality of combined heading and depth sensors over the two wire link.

Combined heading and depth sensor

A cartridge carrying electronic or other components is removably mounted in the breech of an adaptor module connected either in a streamer section or between opposing ends of adjacent streamer sections of a towed array. The adapter module is provided with channels for loosely guiding all but one strain member, one strain member being clamped to the module, with the longitudinal axis of the module breech being established by the longitudinal axis of the clamped strain member such that alignment of the cartridge is uniquely keyed to the single clamped strain member, the loose mounting of the unclamped strain members preventing differential forces being applied to the adapter module. In one embodiment, a spring-loaded pin and shuttle connector arrangement severs connection for an empty breech and provides for both point contact to an inserted cartridge and relatively long leakage paths so that any entrained sea water will not short out the adapter module or connector system.

A solid state compass having a pair of flux gates orthogonally disposed on a gimballed platform and coupled by a single pair of conductors to an electronic subsystem which includes a current source for energizing the respective flux gates and a detection and control circuit to provide control of flux gate energization and to detect signals derived from each flux gate and from which compass heading is derived.

Solid state compass

A cylindrical compass gimballing and data readout system permitting 360.degree. rotation about both yaw and roll axes includes a cylindrical compass housing flooded with semiconductive fluid to permit transmission of a digitally multiplexed signal from a remote reading compass to a processing unit in which the fluid is interposed between spaced-apart plates located along and perpendicular to the roll axis of the compass. This permits electrical connection to and from the compass, and permits not only 360.degree. rotation about the yaw axis for compass heading readout, but also 360.degree. rotation of the compass about the roll axis to permit use in seismic streamers.

Remote reading compass with 360 degree roll capability

A remote indicator displays data contained in a transmitted signal by angular displacement of a rotor. In essence, the indicator comprises a rotatably mounted magnetic rotor, a plurality of controllable magnetic field generators disposed circumferentially around the rotor, and appropriate selection circuitry. A sector selection circuit responsive to the transmitted data selectively enables at proper polarity a plurality of generators appropriate for controlling the rotor within the sector representative of the data, and an angle selection circuit responsive to the transmitted data alternately drives selected generators by electrical pulses time modulated to drive the rotor within the sector to the angular position representative of the transmitted data. Distortions due to residual magnetism are substantially eliminated by the use of AC pulsing, and non-linear salient pole effects are eliminated through the use of look-up table techniques.

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Marblehead, MA, United States of America

John T Fowler