USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

William D Briggs

Jeffrey V Wilson

Leroy W Tucker

Alan T Inouye

A system for operating a lifting cable over the side of a ship at sea in ch a spar buoy having an adjustable lifting capacity is coupled to the ship by a rigid linkage which is free to pivot on an axis attached to the deck. The lifting cable is suspended from a first sheave which is mounted above a central, longitudinal channel in the spar buoy. The linkage is attached to the top of the spar buoy such that the spar buoy may rotate about an axis normal to the deck axis of the linkage and pivot on an axis normal to the longitudinal axis of the spar buoy. A second sheave is mounted on the deck axis so that the distance between the sheaves does not change as the linkage rotates on its axis. The lifting cable is fed from a winch on the ship over the sheaves and falls through the longitudinal channel. The invention operates to decouple the motion of the ship from the lifting cable so that the vertical motion of the cable is controlled by the motion of the spar buoy. A topping lift technique for deck-handling the system and an emergency disconnect feature are also disclosed.

Linked-spar motion-compensated lifting system

A quick disconnect intercell busbar for providing an easily removable, inidually insulated bussing system for deep submergence batteries. A bussing conductor having silver plated copper pin terminations carries battery currents with a minimal voltage drop. The busbar is insulated to provide sealing of the battery electrical circuits thereby eliminating shorts caused by electrolyte contamination or seawater intrusion. A low current conductor connected to the bussing conductor with suitable insulation provides for monitoring of intercell voltages.

Quick disconnect intercell busbar for deep submergence batteries

A quick disconnect intercell busbar for providing an easily removable, inidually insulated bussing system for deep submergence batteries. A bussing conductor having silver plated copper pin terminations carries battery currents with a minimal voltage drop. The busbar is insulated to provide sealing of the battery electrical circuits thereby eliminating shorts caused by electrolyte contamination or seawater intrusion. A low current conductor connected to the bussing conductor with suitable insulation provides for monitoring of cell voltages.

Growing community of inventors

Camarillo, CA, United States of America

William D Briggs