Teledyne Instruments, Inc.

George, Ronald, A.

Klinke, Jochen

Abordo, Adrian

Lovejoy, Mariah, Shannon

Moldovan, Matthew, A.

Ronald A George

Matthew Moldovan

Adrian M Abordo

Jochen Klinke

Mariah Shannon Lovejoy

Adrian Abordo

Matthew A Moldovan

A winch is employed for deploying a probe to a precise depth within a water column for making and recording physical measurement within such water column. More particularly, the winch rapidly unspools a line from an underway vessel, while maintaining minimal but constant line tension, as a probe, tethered to such line, descends within the water column in a 'near' free-fall to a predetermined depth and then stops. The line lacks means for communicating its depth to the winch. The probe achieves a predictable descent behavior, even though it is tethered by a line to a winch onboard an underway vessel of unknown velocity and in variable weather conditions. The predictable descent behavior is achieved by maintaining a minimal constant tension on the line within a narrow range. The descent behavior of a probe in 'near' free-fall has sufficient predictability to construct an algorithm to correlate descent time with depth. The predictability is sufficient to reduce the risk of collision between the probe and the water bottom to an acceptable level.

Shipboard winch with computer-controlled motor

Growing community of inventors

Oceanside, CA, United States of America

Ronald A George