The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 23, 1990
Filed:
Jul. 11, 1989
James H Dombrowski, San Diego, CA (US);
Herbert L Mummery, Kaneohe, HI (US);
Roger W Buecher, Kaneohe, HI (US);
Isao R Yumori, Kaneohe, HI (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
A system which limits the intensity of a snap load imposed in a tether or cable, used, for example, in the recovery of an object at sea, includes a floating plate for connection to the cable and a support housing for connection to the object being recovered. The system also includes an actuatable mechanism extending between and connected to the plate and housing. The actuatable mechanism is movable from an initial position toward a deflected position in response to the introduction of a snap load in the cable caused by the occurrence of the sudden removal of a slack condition in the cable. The system further includes a hydraulic or other fluid arrangement coupled to the actuatable mechanism for generating a shock load within the mechanism in response to the introduction of the snap load in the cable which permits movement of the mechanism toward the deflected position while limiting the tensile load imposed on the cable to a known value that the cable can withstand and reducing the separation velocity toward zero. The system also includes a restoring mechanism operable for causing extension of the actuatable mechanism from the deflected position back to the initial position in response upon reintroduction of another slack condition in the cable.