Title of invention: Submarine resource collection device
Technical field
[0001]
　The present invention relates to a device for collecting an object from the seabed. In particular, regarding the system for collecting and collecting mineral resources on the seabed, and for the device that uses the buoyancy of a liquid with a lighter specific gravity than water to lift up to the sea surface without inputting recovery energy, gas is discharged from the components. This balances the internal and external pressures to avoid the need for pressure resistance on the seabed, and by autonomously navigating, it eliminates the need for structures between the sea surface and the sea floor.
Background technology
[0002]
Attempts to recover objects from the seabed have traditionally been made in the fields of salvage, dredging, and drilling of offshore oil fields. Regarding the collection of seafloor minerals, the trial of collecting seafloor minerals at the 1000m level has started, and the recovery of seafloor resources at the 2000m to 5000m level has not been carried out because even a methodology has not been established and there is no economic prospect. The present invention relates to a device that economically recovers seabed resources up to the 6500 m level, and exhibits cutting-edge technologies of control engineering, space engineering, information engineering, and acoustic optics, which are other fields that have not been used in ocean development in the past. By combining them, it was newly devised so that it could be realized by existing hardware technology without taking a mechanical challenge in a high pressure environment.
[0003]
　Hereinafter, the prior art will be described. The collection of seabed minerals has been discussed as an extension of salvage technology, dredging technology, and seabed oil drilling technology. As for salvage technology, as outlined in Non-Patent Document 1, there are a "large turning method" in which a wire is pulled up, a "balloon method" in which buoyancy is used, and a "grasping method" in which the salvage technology is directly grasped. The "large turning method" involves diving work with wires, so it is not performed in the deep sea. In the "balloon method", a metal or rubber balloon filled with compressed air is used to pull up the sea, but due to gas expansion accompanying a change in depth, horizontal movement is the main factor, and the depth is shallower than 100 m. The "grabbing method" is a method of grasping by extending the arm directly to the seabed. In the 1970s, the US CIA raised the Soviet submarine submarine from 5000m under the seabed, disregarding its profitability in order to collect nuclear strategic information. It is the only record raised from the deep sea, and there is no example after that. According to public information, it appears to be an extension of submarine oil drilling technology. In either method, the quietness of the sea surface is indispensable because the work boat on the water is directly involved in the dynamics, and it is not suitable for collecting mineral resources from the deep sea.
[0004]
At present, mineral sampling from the seabed is not economically feasible, and sampling by deep-sea exploration boats, unmanned robot arms, or boring is the best. Exceptionally, in oil fields and gas fields, if a hole is made, it will be pushed out by internal pressure and ejected, so it can be mined at a relatively low cost by installing a recovery facility such as a pipe at the opening, so it is an extension of submarine oil drilling technology. A method of pumping up hot water in which mineral resources are dissolved from a hydrothermal pool on the seabed has been proposed (Patent Document 1). In this method, as in the case of shale gas mining, a special solvent can be poured into the deposit, the dissolved minerals can be vacuumed onto water, and then separated from the solvent for collection.
[0005]
As a method of recovering mineral resources from the surface layer of the seafloor, as an extension of the dredging technology, test development of elemental technology for excavating a seafloor hydrothermal deposit (chimney, etc.) at a depth of 1000 m, making it into a slurry, and sending it out to the sea with a submersible pump. (Patent Document 2) (Non-Patent Document 5). A pilot project for mining and unloading hydrothermal deposits with a seabed of 1600 m was carried out in 2017, and 16 tons were unloaded in 1.5 months, but there is no commercial prospect. (Non-Patent Document 7)
[0006]
Mining and collection of seafloor minerals is at the stage where the trial development of elemental technologies has finally begun for the seafloor hydrothermal deposits at a depth of 1600 m. Cobalt-rich crusts, manganese nodules, and rare earth deposits are distributed on the surface of the deep sea deeper than 1000 m, but they are still in the stage of resource research, and resource recovery, including methodologies, has not yet started. (Non-Patent Document 3)
Similar to the present invention, there is Patent Document 3 of the same applicant as the present invention as a technique for collecting an object from the seabed without challenging the mechanical limit in a high pressure environment. In Patent Document 3, the buoyancy of hydrogen gas generated on the seabed is used to solve mechanical and structural problems such as pressure resistance technology in a high-pressure environment by making the internal pressure of the unloading equipment and the ambient seawater pressure the same, and the buoyancy is used. Furthermore, since hydrogen gas generated on the seabed becomes surplus during the buoyancy process, it was absorbed by toluene and recovered as MCH (methylcyclohexane), which was used as a hydrogen energy source to solve the problem of buoyancy energy efficiency.
[0007]
Patent Document 1: WO2013118876A1 "hydrothermal mineral recovery method and recovery system resources"
Patent Document 2: JP 2011-196047 "Ageko systems and Ageko Method"
Patent Document 3: JP 2017-066850 International Application PCT / JP2016・ 0836 “Freshing resource unloading equipment”
Non-patent Document 1: “Salvage” Nobuo Shimizu Journal of the Japan Shipbuilding Society May 2002
Non-Patent Document 2: “Large particle size particles in the lifting pipe related to the development of marine mineral resources Slurry Transfer Evaluation ”Takano et al. 14th Maritime Technology Safety Research Institute Research Presentation June 2014
Non-Patent Document 3:“ Marine Energy and Mineral Resource Development Plan ”Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry December 2013
Non-Patent Document 4:“ Development Trends of Latest Submarine Mineral Resources ”Yoichi Oda Mitsui Bussan Strategic Research Institute April 2013
Non-Patent Document 5:“ Development of Submarine Hydrothermal Deposit Drilling Element Technology Testing Machine ”Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Report 2013 No. 2
Non-Patent Document 6: Satellite Attitude Tracking By Quaterion-Based Backstepping, Raymond Kristiansen, Norweigian University of Science and Technology, Norway, 2005
Non-Patent Document 7: "Submarine Hydrothermal Deposit Mining and Lifting Pilot Test" JOGMEC NEWS 2018, March
Non-Patent Document 8: Sound Metrics http://www.soundmetrics.com/
Disclosure of invention
Problems to be solved by the invention
[0008]
Cobalt-rich crusts, manganese nodules, and rare earth deposits are deposited on the seafloor, and collection itself is possible on the ground with excavators or bulldozers. The reason why the trial of mining hydrothermal deposits is ahead is mainly because the hydrothermal deposits are relatively shallow inside and outside 1000 m, and the depth is an obstacle to the development of seafloor mineral resources deeper than 1000 m, and conventional salvage technology and dredging technology. , The extension of the submarine oil drilling technology has not solved it.
In the world of living things, sperm whales dive up to 3000m and prey on giant squids and return to the surface of the sea, using no special pressure resistance technology in their living organisms and using almost no energy. The reason why sperm whales can easily reciprocate between the deep sea floor and the sea surface without disturbing the depth is that, firstly, the internal and external pressures of liquid and solid are equalized in the living body to avoid structural problems in a high pressure environment. Secondly, since it can move independently of the seabed and objects on the sea and is autonomous both structurally and as a moving body, there are few restrictions as a structure. Thirdly, whales use the change in specific gravity of "brain oil" due to temperature to adjust their buoyancy and move up and down with almost no energy. It shows that it is the most energy efficient means.
[0009]
However, with the above awareness of the problem, there are only the following two methods to obtain the buoyancy that cancels the underwater weight of the ore on the seabed and to unload the ore.
The first is a method of generating buoyancy from nothing in water, and the method of Patent Document 3 of the same inventor as this patent has worked on the solution from this viewpoint. The most efficient method on the seabed in a high-pressure environment is the generation of hydrogen, which has the smallest molecular weight by electrolysis of water. Can be done efficiently. Hydrogen gas is generated on the seabed and used as a buoyancy source for the collection of seabed resources. The excess hydrogen gas that accompanies the ascent is absorbed by toluene to form MCH, which is then recovered and reused as a hydrogen energy source. However, in this method, (a) electric power for generating hydrogen gas by electrolysis on the seabed, (b) electrolyzer on the seabed, (c) organic hydride reactor for hydrogen absorption in the ascent process, ( d) A hydrogen reaction controller in the unloading process is indispensable.
[0010]
The second is to cancel the buoyancy in the form of "buoyancy" + "ballast" from the sea surface and bring the buoyancy source to the seabed as in the present invention, and separate the "ballast" to generate buoyancy that did not exist before on the seabed. The method. Since the ballast can be considered as a solid or liquid having a heavy specific gravity, it can be considered that it is not affected by water pressure in the process of bringing it from the sea surface to the sea floor, and the specific gravity is also constant. As a buoyancy source, if it is a liquid, it is not affected by water pressure even on the seabed, so n-pentan (boiling point is 36.1 ° C, specific gravity 0.626), which has the lightest specific gravity of liquid at room temperature, and gasoline (specific gravity 0.70), which is inexpensive. ) Meets the most purpose.
In the method of the present invention, the hydrogen-related equipments (a) to (d) required in the first method can be omitted, the cost can be reduced, and the buoyancy source of the liquid can be kept in a sealed state from beginning to end, so that it is easy to handle. However, it is necessary to solve the following two points, which is a problem of the present invention.
(1) The ballast is separated from the buoyancy source brought to the seabed together with the ballast, and the connection is changed to the ore to be collected by remote control for the buoyancy source generating a large buoyancy.
(2) In order to commercially reclaim seabed resources, the process can be repeated continuously.
It should be noted that a pressure hull must be used to bring gas from the sea surface to the seabed as a buoyancy source, and a trial calculation shows that efficiency and cost do not match. It can be said that this deformation is to blow high pressure air from the sea surface with a pipe.
Means to solve problems
[0011]
First, in order to fundamentally avoid obstacles in the high-pressure environment, gas was removed from the constituent equipment, the internal and external pressures were equalized, and the pressure-resistant equipment was eliminated, and the pressure-resistant requirement was avoided. Therefore, a liquid having a specific gravity lighter than that of water at room temperature (for example, n-pentane or gasoline) was used as the buoyancy source for the buoyancy. Subsidence with ballast that counteracts buoyancy to bring the buoyancy source to the seafloor, replacing ballast and unloading ore on the seafloor. In the method of the present invention, since there are no places with high stress mechanically, it is easy to scale up the device.
[0012]
Second, the buoyancy lift method eliminates the need for a high-lift pump, as compared to the method of slurry mineral resources in the sea and lift them to the sea surface with a pump. There are no movable mechanisms with large pressure differences, high-pressure piping, friction mechanisms, and pressure-resistant mechanisms, and there are no problems with transport pipe wear or sealing due to slurry transportation. Further, in the method of the present invention, since the object to be recovered from the sea floor is lifted as it is, there are no restrictions on the dimensional shape and physical properties of the recovered object. Since there is little information on seafloor resources, visibility is poor on the seafloor, and information gathering means are limited, energy input and seawater pollution due to mineral crushing and slurrying can be avoided. There is a great advantage in eliminating mineral processing on the seabed, such as slurrying on the seabed, and collecting the rough stone as it is. In addition, high-altitude mineral pumping from the seabed was avoided to avoid wasting energy.
[0013]
Third, the underwater weight of the constituent equipment has been reduced so that all equipment can ascend to the surface of the sea on its own by buoyancy as part of regular operation. As a result, maintenance and inspection of all equipment becomes easy. Furthermore, since it can be raised and lowered by autonomous navigation, there is no mechanical connection between undersea and submarine structures such as landing pipes and marine vessels, and it is possible to relax the marine conditions and the position control conditions of the marine command ship (mother ship), and at sea. The cost of the command ship will be reduced. At the same time, this facilitates the movement of equipment installed on the seabed, making it possible to realize mobility suitable for collecting minerals that are thin and widespread on the seabed.
Fourth, while improving the equipment utilization rate by improving the movement speed due to the difference in buoyancy, the terminal velocity is decelerated by deploying the resistance wings by actively utilizing the resistance of water, and landing on the seabed and the command ship at sea. Secure your return to.
[0014]
However, the above-mentioned first to fourth means can be a means for solving a problem only when they can be concretely realized in the real world. The method of guaranteeing the realization is described below. The entire operation of the submarine resource collection system is as shown in Fig. 02, and the configuration of the deep-sea crane, which is the main equipment, is as shown in Fig. 01. The buoyancy tank 002 of the deep-sea crane 001, which has a spherical shape from the offshore command ship 010, is filled with a liquid having a specific gravity lighter than that of water, and the cargo compartment is loaded with ballast and lowered to the seabed. And let it rise to the surface of the sea.
(1) Guarantee of feasibility by weight reduction In
order to utilize the buoyancy, the specific gravity of the device must be around 1.0, and the weight reduction of the entire device is indispensable. A lightweight and tough material containing a carbon fiber resin is used as the structural material. In particular, in the realization of a deep-sea crane that collects collected minerals from the sea, the weight ratio of ballast = collected ore can be increased while keeping the total weight around 1.0 when reciprocating between the seabed and the sea surface. Is an important key in terms of economic efficiency. That is, a specific gravity of around 1.0 means that soft implantation on the seabed is possible by free descent due to its own weight.
[0015]
Weight reduction is an important requirement for realization and is the key to realization, so it will be examined below.
(A)
As an example of trial calculation at the time of ascent , an example of specifications (unit: mm) of a typical deep-sea crane that recovers about 10 tons of resources from the seabed of 1000 to 6500 m by one lift from the seabed is shown in FIG. The liquid to be filled is gasoline (specific gravity 0.70). As a buoyancy source, the capacity of the buoyancy tank 002 is 33.51 m 3 , and when a carbon fiber resin having a thickness of 5 mm is used, the volume is 6.4 x 10 6　 cm 3 , and a typical specific gravity is 1. If it is 0.8, the weight in water is 5.1 tons.
(V = 2.0x2.0x2.0xπ x 4/3 = 33.51 m3
　　buoyancy = 33.51x0.30 = 10.05 tons
　S = 4x2.0x2.0xπ
　= 50.26 m2 Underwater weight W = 50.26 x0 .005x0.8 = 0.20 tons The
maximum shear stress applied to the outer wall is 10.05 / 2 tons of buoyancy and is applied to the central outer wall of the sphere in the vertical direction while rising. In the case of 314.2 cm 2 , the typical shear stress of carbon fiber resin is 150 kgf / mm 2 , and the compressive fracture stress is 100 kgf / mm 2.In this case, it can withstand up to 3140 tons. It is 30 times stronger than the load. As described above, it can be said that the present invention is sufficiently feasible with the current technology.
[0016]
(B) falling time
when descending 33.51m gasoline buoyancy unit 3 so are filled, the specific gravity of the entire if 33.51 tons of equipment weight deep sea crane together with ballast cargo compartment 005 is 1. By setting the specific gravity to 1.0 + α by adding a small amount of weight to 0, the crane can be gently lowered toward the seabed and can be softly landed on the seabed. (Fig. 2) The buoyancy tank is estimated to be 0.2 tons, so if the cargo compartment and additional equipment are up to 0.5 tons, the ballast is 9.35 tons and 9.3 tons of ore can be loaded on the seabed. .. Since the deep sea crane 002 has no physical restrictions, resources can be freely taken, and as shown in Fig. 03, if a buoyancy tank with a diameter of 9.0 m is used, 100 tons of minerals can be recovered from the seabed. it can.
[0017]
(2) Realization of commercial operation Since the
system according to the present invention is a system for continuously and continuously collecting and collecting mineral resources on the seabed, such operation must be concretely realized.
An operation mode in line with this purpose is shown in FIG.
The deep-sea crane 001 plays the role of a crane that uses the buoyancy of gasoline to unload seabed resources from the seabed 009. is required. For this purpose, a mineral collecting device (seabed power excavator) 015 will be installed on the seabed.
Submarine resources are widespread on the seafloor at depths of 1000m to 6500m. Submarine hydrothermal deposits are scattered as rock masses, manganese nodules are scattered on the seafloor as gravel, cobalt-rich crusts are deposited as thin pillow lava on the seafloor, and rare earth mud is several to 10 meters deep. It is piled up over.
[0018]
On the ground, these seabed resources can be collected by a power shovel, but on the seabed, there is no means to load them on the deep-sea crane 001, which is a means of collection, so a mineral collecting device (seabed power shovel) 015 is used.
Visibility is generally not guaranteed on the ocean floor. As a countermeasure, an ultrasonic high-definition video camera is mounted on the submarine power shovel 015 and operated by remote control from the maritime command ship 010. At the time of filing the application of the present invention, commercial applications up to a field of view of 35 to 80 m, a field of view of 29 °, a beam number of 96 (resolution), and 20 frames / second have been put into practical use. (Non-Patent Document 8)
FIG. 29 is an example of an electric power excavator. The power shovel is driven by a hydraulic mechanism, but since the drive mechanism operates with a differential pressure, it does not depend on the surrounding pressure environment in principle, so it can operate even in a high pressure environment on the seabed if the electrohydraulic mechanism and the moving mechanism are driven by a motor. Is. Power supply and remote control are performed from Maritime Directive 010. The ultrasonic high-definition video camera 050 is installed on a remote control pan head 265 operated by remote control from the maritime command vessel 010, and a field of view in any direction can be obtained by the maritime command vessel 010. A recovery ring 037 is provided above the center of gravity of the electric power excavator 015 and is used for power shovel recovery operation from the seabed.
[0019]
In FIG. 2, the deep-sea crane 001 that has left the seabed rises toward the maritime command vessel 010 on the ascent route 046 and arrives at the sea level 032. The maritime command module 010 collects the collected minerals 018 from the deep-sea crane 001. After the collection, the ballast is loaded in the cargo compartment 005 and lowered to the seabed by the subsidence route 044.
The maritime command ship 010 carries the ballast from the departure port, collects the collected mineral 018 at the mining point sea, returns to the port of departure, and repeats this round trip.
[0020]
The maritime command vessel 010 is a base vessel that is the core of collecting mineral resources on the seabed, occupies the sea on the seabed where it is collected, directs the collection of mineral resources, maintains equipment, and supplies power. A plurality of deep-sea cranes 001 and submarine power excavators 015 are mounted to advance to a mineral collection site, and a plurality of deep-sea cranes 001 and submarine power excavators 015 are deployed underwater and on the sea surface. Maritime Command Vessel 010 controls the operation of all relevant equipment and equips it with a system for that purpose.
The maritime command vessel 010 can be repositioned depending on the resource status of the seabed. Since all of the deep-sea cranes 001 can have a specific gravity of around 1.0, they can be levitated to the surface of the sea, lifted, and then deployed at a new location.
Effect of the invention
[0021]
According to the present invention, since the substance is lifted from the seabed by buoyancy, energy consumption is low, and since the equipment reciprocating on the seabed does not contain gas, the mechanical influence due to the depth of the seabed is small, and the range is from less than 1000 m to more than 5000 m. Can be applied to. Moreover, since there is no structurally restricted portion of strength, it is easy to scale up. Furthermore, since the collected ore is not pulverized, it does not cause marine pollution.
Mode for carrying out the invention
[0022]
　Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following description, and can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist thereof. In this document, a device that repeatedly unloads resources by reciprocating between the deep sea floor and the sea surface is referred to as a "deep sea crane", and the entire system including surrounding support devices is referred to as a "submarine resource unloading system" ( Fig. 2 Overall view of the submarine resource collection system). The deep-sea crane employs all three points that should be learned from sperm whales.
(1) Balance internal and external pressure
(2) Use buoyancy
(3) Move autonomously (autonomous navigation)
[0023]
The unloading of the present invention is carried out by manipulating the buoyancy of a liquid having a low specific gravity, which is a closed liquid at room temperature, in combination with gravity due to ballast. It is a system that exchanges ballast transported from land to the surface of the sea for ore of almost equal weight on the seabed, and is characterized by not inputting energy itself. Moreover, since the buoyancy source is hermetically sealed, it is not possible to generate an additional buoyancy source due to the method.
(1) Specific gravity control
a. The specific gravity can be reduced by abandoning the mounted ballast and reducing the weight in water to reduce the specific gravity.
b. Specific gravity cannot be increased during ascent or descent.
(2) Terminal velocity control
[0024]
When moving under gravity or buoyancy in a viscous fluid such as water, there is a terminal velocity that is in equilibrium with drag and becomes a constant velocity. The specific gravity is set near the seawater specific gravity, but if the amount smaller than the seawater specific gravity is α, it will ascend at a constant final speed specified by α and the shape of the deep-sea crane. When it is larger than the specific gravity of seawater, letting α be the larger part, it descends at a constant final speed defined by α and the shape of the deep-sea crane. If there is an α adjustment and a reducer, adjust the terminal velocity by increasing or decreasing the resistance by deploying the reducer.
(3) Descent from sea level and landing
a. When descending, set the specific gravity to seawater specific gravity + α. The larger α is, the shorter the descent time is, but the more ballast is consumed. There is a drawback that it becomes difficult to control, and the optimum value is obtained by adjustment.
b. When the implantation approaches, the ballast is dumped and the terminal velocity approaches 0 to softly implant.
(4) Ascending from the sea floor to the sea surface When
ascending, the specific gravity is set to the seawater specific gravity -α and the aircraft ascends, and arrives in the vicinity of the maritime mother ship 010 while adjusting the speed with the control wing and landing leg 006. In the case of excessive buoyancy such as floating from the seabed with an empty load, the deceleration parachute 064 (Fig. 27) is used.
[0025]
I Submarine resource collection equipment components
1. Deep-sea crane The
deep-sea crane 001 has a structure similar to that of a balloon as shown in FIG. Minerals are collected by a submarine. Adopting a spherical buoyancy tank 002 is easy to manufacture, has a large volume with respect to the surface area, is easy to obtain strength compared to other shapes, has simple characteristics as an underwater vehicle, and has simple structural calculations. By being easy. No pressure resistance is required to operate with almost equal internal and external pressure regardless of the depth in the sea. The buoyancy tank 002 is composed of a lightweight metal such as duralumin or a lightweight and strong carbon fiber resin, and is liquid at room temperature and has a lighter specific gravity than water, such as ncyclopentane (specific gravity 0.63) or gasoline (specific gravity 0.70). Is sealed and filled. Gasoline has the advantage of low buoyancy but low price.
[0026]
The deep-sea crane 001 reciprocates between the seabed and the sea surface by autonomous navigation, but is set to a specific gravity larger than that of water when descending and smaller than water when ascending. When descending from the sea surface, ballast is loaded and sinks, and when ascending, minerals are loaded instead of ballast and ascend. Buoyancy commensurate with the loaded minerals during ascent is obtained by dumping ballasts on the seabed.
Further, a control wing and a landing leg 006 that can be opened and closed is installed in the cargo compartment 005, and wing for control and deceleration are installed. In FIGS. 1 and 23 (a) , two control blades and landing legs 006a and b in the positive and negative directions of the X axis and two in the positive and negative directions of the Y axis symmetrically with the Z axis of the cargo compartment 005 of the deep sea crane 001. , C, d are provided. Since the control wing and landing leg 006 balances the weight of the load in the buoyancy tank 002 and the cargo compartment 005, the load to be borne at the time of landing is small. The greatest feature of the deep sea crane 001 is that it uses gravity to replace ballasts and collected minerals with a lightweight and simple mechanism. On the seabed, the cargo compartment 005 is landed using the control wings and landing legs 006, and the buoyancy tank is floating upward. There is a mineral charging gap 092 between the buoyancy tank 002 and the cargo compartment 006, and by loading the collected minerals from above the cargo compartment, the ballast is pushed out from below and the ballast is replaced with the collected minerals. The amount of ballast dumped is adjusted to control the maintenance of implantation and ascent on the seabed.
[0027]
Since the deep-sea crane 001 is an autonomous underwater navigation system, guidance control is indispensable, and control theory is applied in addition to underwater acoustics, image processing, and inertial navigation. An optical fiber cable is used for control and communication of image signals with the maritime command ship 010.
FIG. 17 (a-1) is a top view of the deep sea crane 001 for guiding to the maritime command ship mother ship 010 when ascending. Sounding elements 230 and sound sensing elements A to D 231 to 234 are installed. Further, FIG. 17A-2 is a bottom view of the cargo compartment 005 of the deep-sea crane 001, and similarly, the sounding element 230 and the sound sensing elements A to D 231 to 234 are used to guide the cargo compartment 005 to the landing point 011 when descending. , The image sensor 235 is installed. These operational methods and examples will be described in detail in the section "II Navigation System".
In FIG. 2, the power signal cable 012 is connected to the deep sea crane 001, and the control signal and the power are supplied from the maritime command ship 010. The weight of the signal cable will be reduced by using an optical fiber. The electrical equipment must be completely oil-immersed or water-immersed, and the electronic circuit also secures pressure resistance by a method including resin encapsulation.
[0028]
1. 1. 1 The ore unloading
deep-sea crane 001 by the cargo compartment approaches the seabed with the buoyancy of the buoyancy tank 002 and the weight of the ballast mounted in the cargo compartment 005 slightly heavier than the specific gravity of water. The landing speed can be adjusted by finely adjusting the amount of ballast dropped from the bottom of the cargo compartment, but once it becomes lighter than the specific gravity of water, there is no means to increase the specific gravity or propel it downward, so the landing speed Is set to a constant value determined by the mechanical strength of the deep-sea crane, approximately 0.7 meters per second. The control wing and landing leg 006 automatically adjusts the opening degree according to the undulations of the seabed.
[0029]
The descent path and ascent path of the deep-sea crane 001 are controlled by controlling the degree of opening and the angle of rotation of the control wing and landing leg 006 in FIG. 23 (a). A mesh-like wing is installed on the control wing and landing leg 006 to control and brake the water flow. The control to input energy is not performed, and the potential energy at the time of descent or ascent is converted by the control blade to be a control force. FIG. 23 (c) is a diagram showing a mechanism of generating a control force by the control wing and landing leg 006, and FIG. 23 (a) shows a sedimentation process in which the gravity vector 309 is larger than the buoyancy vector 300 by the sedimentation force 303. At this time, if the tilted control blade 006 as shown in (b) is present, the control blade drag 302 is generated at right angles to the control blade 006, and as a result, the blade thrust 314 is generated. (C) The deep-sea crane drag 315, which moves diagonally downward due to the wing thrust 314 but cancels the wing thrust 314 in the opposite direction, descends at a constant speed in the wing thrust 314 direction. FIG. 23B shows the wing thrust on each control wing and landing leg.
In FIG. 26A, each control blade is tilted in the same direction around the axis to rotate the deep-sea crane. The direction of rotation is opposite when descending and ascending. In FIG. 2650 (b), two opposing control blades are tilted in the same direction on the horizontal coordinate plane. The remaining two sheets should be oriented vertically so that no control force is generated in the horizontal direction. FIG. 25A is a case where the leg opening degree is minimized to minimize the braking force, and FIG. 25B is a case where the leg opening degree is maximized to maximize the braking force. In FIG. 1, a landing leg opening / closing mechanism / weight sensor 007 is provided at each base of the control wing / landing leg 006, and the opening angle of the control wing / landing leg 006 is set within the opening adjustment range 048. It is controlled by the deep sea crane control device 284. The braking force is adjusted by the control blade control system 222 according to FIG. 14 reducer individual control amount calculation 220 for the deep sea crane 001.
[0030]
FIG. 4 shows the loading status of collected minerals on the deep-sea crane 001. The collected minerals are charged from above the cargo compartment 005 by an electric power excavator, but the amount charged is monitored by a weighing scale (opening / closing mechanism and weight sensor 007) at the base of the landing leg, and the amount is commensurate with the input amount. The ballast is dumped from the load discharge mechanism. Even if all the ballasts are dumped, if the specific gravity of the deep-sea crane becomes larger than that of seawater, it will not be able to ascend. The input of collected minerals is stopped and the surface emerges.
[0031]
(1) Composition and operation of
cargo compartment The cargo compartment 005 is configured according to the following policy.
First, the structure of the cargo hold 005 carrying the ballast and the collected ore is determined in order to use the natural gravity to exchange the ballast and the minerals to be collected on the seabed. The cargo compartment 005 uses gravity to abandon the ballast, has an upwardly open shape for loading the collected minerals, and has an openable and closable outlet at the lower end. A shape that fits this purpose is a truncated cone that opens upwards. The collected ore is thrown in from above so that the ballast can be released from the discharge port at the lower end. Ballast uses fine-grained earth and sand to ensure fluidity.
Secondly, in order to avoid and prevent mixing of ballast and unloaded ore, a partition wall that covers the upper part of the cargo compartment 005 is provided. The structure is such that as the cargo is thrown in, it moves to the outlet at the lower end while occupying the boundary with the ballast. The partition wall may be bellows type and extends downward, or may be membranous.
[0032]
Third, when exchanging ballast and buoyancy ore, the buoyancy generated by the buoyancy source is the sum of the weights of the ballast, buoyancy minerals, and unloading equipment (hereinafter referred to as the deep-sea crane) (referred to as the total weight of the deep-sea crane). ) Control the amount of ballast dumped so that it is smaller. For this purpose, a sensor that measures the total weight of the deep-sea crane will be installed, and the amount of ballast dumped will be predicted and controlled by a computer. When the loading of the collected ore is completed and the ascent is started, the total weight of the deep-sea crane should be smaller than that of water.
Fourth, it is necessary to ensure the liquidity of the ballast. This is because it is necessary to accurately control the total weight of the deep-sea crane according to the collected ore to be loaded, and it is necessary to be able to accurately control the ballast discharge amount by controlling the ballast discharge port, and the flow of ballast. Gender is essential. For this purpose, the ballast has a structure in which a water stream is injected in order to reduce the particle size of the ballast and at the same time increase the fluidity.
[0033]
FIG. 5 shows a mechanism for exchanging the ballast and the input ballast with the collected minerals, and has the shape of a truncated cone having a structure of squeezing downward. FIG. 5A shows that the cargo compartment 005 at the time of landing is filled with ballast. The ballast is fine-grained earth and sand, and the amount of dumping can be finely adjusted by the discharge discharge mechanism 008 provided at the lower end of the cargo compartment 005. Ballast dumping is carried out by gravity, and transportation costs and environmental load can be reduced by using beneficiation slag and smelting slag of collected minerals. Even if the upper part is covered with the partition mechanism 016, the collected minerals are put in from the upper part, and the ballast is dumped from the load discharge mechanism 008 at the lower end, the mixture of the two and the collected minerals are prevented from being dumped. Although FIGS. 5 (d) and 5 (e) show an example of a partition mechanism having a bellows structure that can be extended downward, a membrane structure may be used. FIG. 5 (b) shows the process of inputting the collected minerals, and FIG. 5 (c) shows the end of the input of the collected minerals. In actual operation, it is necessary to make the specific gravity of the deep-sea crane lighter than that of seawater when ascending, so it is necessary to leave a ballast for dumping.
[0034]
FIG. 7A-2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AB. An opening / closing mechanism / weight sensor 007 is provided at each base of the speed reducer / landing leg 005 to control the opening angle of the control wing / landing leg 006 within the opening adjustment range 048. FIG. 2 shows an operation example of the deep-sea crane 001 of FIG. From the Maritime Directive 010, the control wing and landing leg 006 of the cargo compartment 005 was folded (Fig. 2 (a)), and the ballast was mounted on the cargo compartment 005 to lower the overall specific gravity to the seabed at 1.0 + α. Let me. For navigation control, after passing through the inertial navigation section 090 and the acoustic navigation section 091, the control wing and landing leg 006 was opened near the seabed (Fig. 2 (c), decelerated, and ballast was dropped as necessary. Then make a soft landing (Fig. 2 (c)).
[0035]
Figure 3 shows an example of ore loading on the seabed. Is shown. Collected minerals 018 are charged from the ore input gap 092 between the buoyancy tank 002 and the cargo compartment 009 by the submarine power excavator 015. The submarine power excavator 015 drives a flood control system by an electric motor. Since the weight is about 6 to 8 tons and the buoyancy of the gasoline filled in the buoyancy tank 002 is about 10 tons in the case of the system of FIG. 1, it can be hung in the cargo hold 005 and brought to the seabed. The cargo compartment 005 is equipped with a ballast that balances the buoyancy of the buoyancy tank 002 and softly implants on the seabed. The submarine power excavator 015 throws the collected minerals 018 into the cargo hold 005, but the deep sea crane 001 dumps the ballast corresponding to the collected minerals 018 from the load discharge mechanism 008 so that the deep sea crane 001 does not float. Adjust the amount. At each base of the control wing / landing leg 006 of FIG. 1, there is an opening / closing mechanism / weight sensor 007, and if the sum of the weight measurement values ​​of each landing leg is positive, the landing state is reached. When the collected mineral 023 is put into the deep-sea crane 001 in the landed state, the weight measurement value increases, so the weight corresponding to the increase amount is dumped from the load discharge mechanism 008.
[0036]
Various attachments (FIG. 27 (b)) can be attached in advance to the submarine power excavator 015 for convenience in the collection mineral injection work. It is desirable that the ballast 017 be replaced with the collected mineral 018 as much as possible in the collected mineral input shown in FIG. The following measures are effective for this purpose.
(1) A discharge throttle mechanism with an adjustable opening degree is installed at the outlet of the load discharge mechanism 008, and the ballast is prepared in fine particles so that only the ballast is dumped and a loading space for the final mineral is secured.
(2) Cover the upper surface of the ballast with a blocking sheet or a stretchable partition mechanism so that the collected mineral 018 can handle fine particles such as rare earth mud, and dump the part below the partition mechanism 016. To do.
When the loading of the collected mineral 018 on the deep-sea crane 001 is completed in FIG. 2 (d), the remaining ballast is dropped to obtain buoyancy and ascend (FIG. 2 (e)). Furthermore, the control wing and landing leg 006 was folded (Fig. 2 (f)) to reduce resistance and rise, and as the sea surface approached, the control wing and landing leg 006 was opened to decelerate. FIG. 14 Guides to the vicinity of the maritime command ship 010.
[0037]
An operation example of ore loading on the seabed will be described with reference to FIG. Since the cargo compartment 005 is suspended from the buoyancy tank 002 by three hanging ropes 004, there is a mineral input gap 092 between the buoyancy tank 002 and the cargo compartment 005, and the collected minerals 018 are input by the submarine power shovel 015. be able to. FIG. 5A shows a state when the ballast 017 is loaded into the cargo hold 005 and brought to the seabed. There is a partition mechanism 016 that covers the ballast 017. FIG. 5 (e) is a top view seen from above, and FIG. 5 (d) is a partition mechanism 016 for cutting. The partition mechanism 016 is a bellows mechanism that can be expanded and contracted as shown in FIG. 5 (d), and is in the state of FIG. 5 (a) when compressed. When the collected mineral 023 is put into the cargo compartment 005 from above, the ballast 017 is discarded downward by gravity by the load discharge mechanism 008 as shown in FIG. 5 (b), and the collected mineral 018 is mounted on the upper side of the partition mechanism 016. .. FIG. 5C shows the state when the collection mineral loading is completed, the ballast 017 is completely discarded below the cargo discharge mechanism 008, the collected mineral 018 is mounted on the upper side of the partition mechanism 016, and the partition mechanism 016 is extended. However, it is in close contact with the inside of the cargo compartment 005. Collected mineral 018 pushes ballast 017 by gravity.
[0038]
FIG. 6 shows an example of a water flow mechanism installed on the inner wall of the cargo compartment 005 under the partition mechanism 016. Water is injected from the water injection mechanism 1 023 and the water injection mechanism 2 025 through the water injection hole 027 of the water injection pipe 026, and the ballast 017 The fluidity is increased, and the ballast 017 is easily pushed out by the collected mineral 018 from the cargo discharge mechanism 008 by gravity. In the example of FIG. 6, the water flow mechanism is divided into two systems in order to improve reliability so that the total weight control of the deep sea crane is not hindered even if one system does not operate. Water flow generators 1, 2 023, 025 that drive the water flow are also installed in each system and duplicated.
FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of the discharge throttle mechanism. FIG. 7 (a-2) shows the state when the outlet is opened. In the case of the configuration example, the opening / closing mechanism is arranged so that fan-shaped openings are opened in the disk at intervals of 22.5 degrees (a-3) and are stacked one above the other as shown in the cross-sectional view of CD (a-3). (A-2) When the diaphragm plate 1 028 and the diaphragm plate 2 029 are overlapped as shown in the cross-sectional view taken along the line AB, the diaphragm plate 1 028 is opened. (B-2) When arranged as shown in the cross-sectional view taken along the line AB, the state is closed. The opening / closing operation is shown in (a-1) top view and (b-1) top view.
[0039]
The rotation drive mechanism 1 028 rotates the drawing plate 1 028 via the motor 1 021-1 and the worm gear 1 033-1 by moving the gears carved around the drawing plate 1 028, and the rotation drive mechanism 2 031 rotates the drawing plate 2 The 029 is rotated by moving the gear carved around the drawing plate 2 029 via the motor 2 021-2 and the worm gear 2 033-2 to control the open / closed state of the load discharging mechanism 008. The opening and closing of the discharge throttle mechanism 008 of the cargo compartment 005 is extremely important for controlling the overall weight of the deep-sea crane 001. When the specific gravity is less than seawater, unintended ascent occurs. In order to prevent such a situation, the discharge throttle mechanism of the cargo compartment divides the throttle plate into two parts so that even if one system of the rotation drive mechanism malfunctions, the remaining system can be used to ascend. .. The dual system is also introduced in the water flow mechanism of the cargo compartment shown in FIG. 6, and is configured so that even if either the water injection mechanism 1023 or the water injection mechanism 2205 fails, the function does not stop.
[0040]
The cargo hold control system shown in FIG. 8 controls the entire unloading mineral loading mechanism. The system itself is a microcomputer control system, and the load applied to each leg of the control wing and landing leg 006 is measured by the train gauge of the opening / closing mechanism and weight sensor 007. Implantation continues if the underwater weight measurement is positive. The weight of the water at the time of the first implantation increases with each addition of the collected mineral 018. Since the ballast weight discharged from the load discharge mechanism 008 can be measured, the residual ballast amount can be calculated from the known ballast weight brought to the seabed at the time of landing. If all the remaining ballast is discarded, the collected mineral 018 may be added as long as it can surface. Since the opening / closing degree of the cargo compartment discharge throttle mechanism shown in FIG. 7 is adjusted to adjust the amount of ballast released, the rotation drive mechanism 1030 and the rotation drive mechanism 2031 are controlled by the 2-channel motor control device 204 to control the rotation position. It is captured by the rotation position capture device 205. In order to control the two-channel water flow mechanism of FIG. 6, the water flow generator 11019 and the water flow generator 2020 are controlled by the two-channel motor control device 204, and are taken in by the rotation speed acquisition device 205. The state value including the total weight of the deep sea crane 001 is reported to the deep sea crane power supply and control device 278 via the interface 203, and at the same time, the ballast is abandoned by controlling the discharge throttle mechanism of the cargo compartment of FIG. 7 based on the ascent command of the deep sea crane. The specific weight of the total weight of the deep-sea crane 001 is made smaller than that of seawater to ascend.
[0041]
FIG. 9 is a graph showing an example of the time transition of the cargo compartment load configuration, and what can actually be measured is the weight of the ballast brought to the seabed, the deployment of the landing leg, and the strain gauge 050 installed in the weight measurement mechanism 014. It is the underwater weight of the entire deep-sea crane (hereinafter referred to as "total underwater weight"). The thick line in FIG. 9 shows the time change of the total underwater weight, which is a actually measurable value. (E) indicates the total underwater weight = 0, and floats when the total underwater weight falls below this value. (D) The total underwater weight threshold is controlled so that the total underwater weight does not fall below (d) the total underwater weight threshold in order to avoid unplanned ascent during the stay on the seabed. (H) is the state when the deep-sea crane has landed on the seabed, and the total underwater weight> 0. Total underwater weight> (d) If the total underwater weight threshold is satisfied, the ballast is dumped. (B) The total underwater weight change due to ballast dumping control indicates the weight change at this time. The estimated ballast remaining amount is reduced by the decrease value at this time (thick dotted line curve in the figure). When the collected minerals are put into the cargo hold 005, the total weight in the water increases by the amount of one ore put in. In response to this increase, the ballast is dumped until the total underwater weight reaches (d) the total underwater weight threshold. If the loading of the collected minerals into the cargo hold 005 is permitted at this point, the total weight in the water will increase by (b) the amount of the ore input at one time. By repeating this process, when the estimated remaining amount of ballast reaches (c) the estimated remaining amount of ballast threshold at (g), the amount of ore input must be stopped and the remaining ballast must be dumped. Since it cannot be done, the ballast is dumped so that the total underwater weight becomes (f) the levitation threshold.
[0042]
The system configuration for realizing the time transition of the cargo compartment load configuration shown in FIG. 9 is the cargo compartment control system of FIG. 8, and the software is shown in the processing flow of the cargo compartment control system of FIG. The operation of the processing system is periodic processing by a timer, and in FIG. 10A, periodic processing is started at the time of initial startup. FIG. 10B defines the entire periodic processing. FIG. 10 The processing block 502 captures the weight measurement data which is the plant measurement data, the rotation positions of the rotation drive mechanisms 1 and 2, and the rotation speeds of the jet pumps 1 and 2. The processing block 503 calculates the amount of change and the rate of change of plant measurement data including rationality check and noise removal. The processing block 504 permits the input of ore when the amount of ballast that can be disposed of is larger than the upper limit of the amount of minerals that can be collected at one time, the dumping of ballast is stopped, and the total underwater weight is settled. The amount of ballast that can be disposed of is the weight of the ballast brought to the seabed minus the integrated value of the dumped ballast, minus the safety value.
The processing block 505 is for displaying a warning of prohibition of collecting minerals on the mineral collecting device console 441 of the maritime mother ship 010 in order to prevent the ore from being charged into the cargo hold 005. It is transmitted via device 278.
[0043]
The processing block 504 determines whether or not the unloading ore is allowed to be input. Since the permission to put in the collected ore is only allowed while the ballast dumping is stopped, the value of the strain gauge 049 that is taken in periodically is set, and the permission to put in the collected minerals from the deep sea crane console 210 of the maritime command ship 010? If it does not appear, it is determined that the ore input permission is not permitted, and the process moves to the processing block 505. When it is determined that the ore injection permission is being granted, it is determined that it is dangerous to control the plant (deep sea crane) because the state is fluctuating, and the process shifts to the processing block 507.
[0044]
In the processing block 507, it is determined that there is no request for ballast dumping and that ballast dumping is not in progress. Since ore injection is permitted only when there is no ballast dumping, the processing block 508
erases the ore injection disapproval display on the remote control panel of the maritime command ship 010. If there is ballast dumping, the discharge throttle mechanism of the cargo compartment is closed at the processing block 513, and the processing block 514 requests the deep sea crane console 210 of the maritime command vessel 010 to indicate that ore injection is not permitted.
[0045]
When the processing block 504 disallows the ore injection, the ballast dumping control is permitted, and the processing block 505 requests the deep sea crane console 210 of the maritime command ship 010 to display the ore disapproval warning. The processing block 506 determines whether the levitation command is not given, the ore is not being charged, and the weight measurement data is normal. YES means ballast dumping control, and NO means emergency command from the deep-sea crane console 210 of the maritime command ship 010 or ascent control by completing the loading of the ore. In the processing block 509, the overall underwater weight threshold of FIG. 9 (d) is set as the target value for ballast dumping control. In the processing block 510, the levitation threshold value in FIG. 9 (f) is set as the target value for ballast dumping control.
[0046]
When the total underwater weight of the deep-sea crane falls below the threshold value, the processing block 511 shifts to the processing block 513 and stops the ballast dumping. That is, the rotary drive mechanism 1, 031 032 of the discharge throttle mechanism of the cargo compartment 005 of FIG. 7 is driven to close the throttle mechanism, and the water flow mechanism of the cargo compartment 005 of FIG. 6 for fluidizing the ballast is also stopped. .. When the total underwater weight of the deep-sea crane is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the processing block 512 executes the PID control calculation toward the threshold value. Digital PID control, which is periodically activated by a timer, is a known technique, in which the opening degree of the discharge throttle mechanism of the cargo compartment 005 of FIG. 7 is controlled, and at the same time, water is injected into the water flow mechanism of the cargo compartment 005 of FIG. Increase liquidity.
In the processing block 515, the plant value this time is stored as the previous plant value in preparation for the processing of the next sample cycle, and a timer is set in the processing block 516 to start the processing of the next sample cycle.
[0047]
1.2 Ore
collection operation by collecting mineral container Collection of collected mineral 018 can also be performed by using the mineral collecting container 034 shown in FIG. 11 instead of using the cargo hold 005. It is also possible to collect the collected minerals 018 by the mineral collecting device 015 in the mineral collecting container 034 which has been carried to the seabed in advance by the deep sea crane 001, and to collect the collected minerals by the deep sea crane 001. The advantage is that the mining by the mineral collecting device 015 and the unloading work by the deep sea crane 001 can be separated, so that the unloading by the deep sea crane 001 is concentrated in the quiet time of the sea elephant, and the sea bottom is not easily affected by the sea elephant. Mining by the mineral collecting device 015 in Japan can be continued. Secondly, when the collected mineral 018 is overloaded, the risk that the deep sea crane 001 cannot ascend and is lost can be eliminated. In particular, excess ore can be discharged from the overloaded mineral collecting container 034 by the mineral collecting device 015, and the resistance to erroneous operation is increased. On the other hand, it is necessary to dock the lifting hook 047 of the cargo compartment 005 of FIG. 26 (b) to the recovery ring 037 of the mineral collecting container 034 and lift it, and precise position control of the deep sea crane 001 is required (this is. It can be shared with the collection of mineral collecting equipment 015 from the seabed). The ballast discharge mechanism of the cargo compartment 005 and the collection mineral 018 loading mechanism are not required, but the precision position control mechanism of the deep-sea crane 001 (attachment for precision control in FIG. 26) is required. In addition, a mineral collecting container 034 is additionally required, and a weight sensor 035 for measuring the weight of the collected mineral 018, a control of the recovery ring 037, and a communication function for docking with the deep-sea crane 001 are required.
[0048]
The position / velocity control of the deep-sea crane 001 according to FIG. 24 cannot move upward from the stationary state because there is no active propulsion force. In order to perform precise alignment, the precision control attachment shown in FIG. 24 is added to the cargo compartment 005 to provide the following functions.
(1) Horizontal thrust Fig. 24 (a) Horizontal thrusters a to d
(2) Vertical thrust Fig. 24 (a) Vertical thrusters A to D
(3) Optical navigation imaging device Fig. 24 (d) Imaging device 235
(4 ) ) Lifting hook In FIGS. 24 (d),　
(1) and (2), a thrust for precise alignment is applied, and in (3), the target position for alignment is precisely measured from the captured image by optical navigation. (4) The lifting hook is attached directly below the image pickup device 235, and the precision alignment recovery ring is lifted in FIG. 24 (e). The thrust acting on the cargo compartment 005 when the precision control attachment is attached is shown in FIG. 24 (c) action vector diagram.
FIG. 28B shows the situation when the mineral collecting container 034 is brought to the seabed. Since the mineral collecting container 034 is empty, it is lightweight and can be brought to the seabed in large quantities instead of ballast.
[0049]
FIG. 11 shows a method of collecting minerals using a mineral collecting container 034 installed on the seabed. A mineral collecting container 034 is installed on the seabed and the recovery ring 037 at the tip is collected with the shroud 036 closed. When the device 015 is lightly pressed down, the lock mechanism 040 is released. Therefore, the shroud 036 is lightly pressed by the mineral collecting device 015 to open it. When the lock mechanism 040 is pressed the first time, it is locked together and when it is pressed the second time, the lock mechanism is released. For example, the lock mechanism is a lock of the push latch mechanism. To. The shroud 036 is for suspending the mineral collecting container 034 and when the deep sea crane 001 ascends, it is necessary to dump the ballast loaded in the cargo compartment 005 so that it does not enter the inside of the mineral collecting container 034. It is a thing.
The mineral collecting container 034 is equipped with a microcomputer system and exchanges the following information with the deep-sea crane 001 to load minerals into the mineral collecting container 034 and manage the process of getting out of bed.
The mineral collecting container control device 286 shown in FIG. 12 is installed in the mineral collecting container 034 to perform the processing flow of the mineral collecting container control device shown in FIG. The identification number (ID) of the mineral collecting container 034 installed on the seabed is defined in advance.
[0050]
The series of operations from bringing the mineral collecting container 034 to the seabed to collecting it by loading ore is as follows.
(1) As shown in FIG. 28 (b), a plurality of mineral collecting containers are carried into the seabed. Posture is not guaranteed when placed on the seabed.
(2) The moving image captured by the image pickup device 283 of the mineral collecting device 015 or the ultrasonic high-definition video camera 050 is monitored by the display 255 of the maritime command ship 016, and the arm of the mineral collecting device 015 is operated by the control rod 270. Erect and align each mineral collector.
(3) Since it is necessary to know the identification number (ID) of the mineral collecting container 034 into which the mineral is to be charged, inquiries are made sequentially using an acoustic transponder. The corresponding mineral collecting container 034 blinks the recovery ring 037.
(4) Since the mineral collecting container 034 for charging minerals has been confirmed together with the ID, it is necessary to open the shroud 036. Therefore, since the lock mechanism 040 is a lock of the push latch mechanism, the shroud 036 is held in the locked state from above. Push down with the 015 arm to open the shroud 036.

The scope of the claims
[Claim 1]
It is a seafloor resource unloading device that unloads mineral resources from the seabed to the sea surface, and is composed of a
deep-sea crane, a sea command ship, a seafloor resource collection device, and a part or all of position markers
. A buoyancy tank filled with a liquid containing n-cyclopentane or gasoline, which has a liquid phase and a lighter specific gravity than water at room temperature, a cargo compartment for collecting seabed resources from the seabed, and the cargo compartment are connected to the buoyancy tank. The
deep-sea crane is characterized by including a mechanism and a control device including a control wing and a landing leg for controlling the position and attitude in the sea to land the cargo compartment on the seabed. Together with the ballast mounted in the chamber, the specific gravity of the entire deep-sea crane is made larger than that of seawater and descends to the
seabed. By making it smaller, it floats on the sea surface by buoyancy to collect seafloor resources, and the
deep sea crane is composed entirely of solid and liquid, so that the internal pressure of the deep sea crane is equal to the surrounding seawater and mechanical stress due to high pressure Submarine resource unloading equipment, including deep-sea cranes, characterized by avoiding.
[Claim 2]
In the deep-sea crane of claim 1, the
cargo compartment having a structure in which a load can smoothly fall from above to below by gravity is suspended in water with a gap in the lower part of the buoyancy tank, and the
seabed resource is suspended from the gap. The collecting device throws the seabed mineral resources into the cargo compartment from above,
and uses the gravity of the seabed mineral resources to push the ballast mounted in the cargo compartment downward and dump it, thereby causing the ballast and the seabed minerals. Exchange resources.
For this purpose, an emission control mechanism including a passage blocking function is provided at the lower end of the cargo compartment, and when descending from the sea surface to prevent mixing of ballast brought in from the sea surface and collected minerals introduced from above on the sea floor. A movable film-like or stretchable and movable sorting mechanism is provided on the upper surface of the
ballast so that the ballast can be dropped and discharged from the discharge control mechanism of the ballast at the lower end of the cargo compartment.
The control wing and landing leg A weight scale for measuring the load on the seabed is installed on a part or all of the landing leg, and the underwater weight of the entire deep-sea crane is constantly monitored from the measured value, and above the cargo compartment. After the cargo compartment controls the amount of ballast within the range in which the landing on the seabed can be continued according to the weight of the collected minerals of the seabed mineral resources to be input, and
further, after the loading of the collected minerals into the cargo compartment is completed, A deep-sea crane characterized in that it controls ballast discharge when it leaves the seabed and ascends, and the specific gravity of the deep-sea crane is smaller than that of the surrounding seawater.
[Claim 3]
The control wing / landing leg according to claim 1 is a mesh-like control wing / landing leg whose opening degree can be individually controlled
from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction toward the outer periphery in the radial direction on the upper outer peripheral portion of the cargo compartment. A deep-sea crane characterized in that the horizontal movement and ascending / descending speed of the deep-sea crane can be controlled
by providing legs and
individually controlling the rotation around the support columns of each control wing / landing leg .
[Claim 4]
The deep sea crane according to claim 1 is characterized by including a route guidance control function for guiding and controlling a movement route between the seabed landing point and the sea command ship, and when the
deep sea crane descends from the sea surface, it is in the descent. It is characterized by switching between inertial navigation and acoustic navigation according to the positional relationship with the seabed landing point, which is the target point, and when the
deep-sea crane rises from the seabed landing point, it is the target point at the time of ascent. It is characterized by switching between inertial navigation and acoustic navigation according to the positional relationship with the command ship, and depth data and inertial navigation data within the range where sound waves do not reach due to the seafloor temperature distribution or straightness is not sufficient to measure the target orientation. The feature is that depth data and acoustic measurement data are used in a range sufficient for acoustic measurement to measure the target orientation, and the
acoustic navigation is equipped with acoustic transponders at the seafloor landing point and the maritime command ship. By generating an echo in response to the acoustic oscillator installed in the deep sea crane,
the distance between the deep sea crane and the sea mother ship is measured at the time of ascent from the round trip time, and the position is separated from the deep sea crane. The direction of existence of the marine command ship is detected from the phase difference between the vibration receiving elements, and the distance between the
deep sea crane and the seafloor landing point including the seafloor landing point is measured when descending. A deep-sea crane characterized in that the existing direction of the seafloor landing point including the seafloor landing point can be detected from the phase difference between the vibration receiving elements installed in the seabed.
[Claim 5]
The buoyancy tank of the deep-sea crane according to claim 1 is divided into three or more equal-volume spheres and made of a lightweight tough material containing carbon fiber resin, and a
net is provided to disperse the suspension stress on each sphere. From the upper part of each ball to the side surface
, the cargo compartment is narrowed down to a covering rope , the cargo compartment is suspended by one rope from each ball, and the central part of each ball is in a state where each ball is floating on the sea surface. The cargo compartment is caught from the gap by the onboard crane of the maritime command ship, the collected minerals are collected on the ship, and the ballast is mounted on the cargo compartment and floats on the sea surface. A deep-sea crane characterized by being connected and lowered to the bottom of the sea.
[Claim 6]
The position sign according to claim 1 is an acoustic sign installed on the sea floor corresponding to latitude and longitude, and by a method including guidance by an acoustic signal or inertial guidance directly under the sign ship whose latitude and longitude are measured by GPS on the sea surface. It is characterized in that it is set, and in the
acoustic signal guidance, an acoustic signal is oscillated from the apex of a polygon containing the indicator ship having a different latitude and longitude that surrounds the indicator ship, and the vertical direction directly below the indicator ship is based on the principle of triangular survey. The feature is that the deviation from the line is obtained, the steering blades of each axis are controlled, and the vehicle is landed at the point directly below the
sign ship. It is characterized by
finding the deviation of each axis and controlling each axis steering blade to land on the point directly below the sign ship, and after landing, it functions as a transducer in response to an inquiry signal from a deep sea crane. Position sign.
[Claim 7]
The maritime command ship according to claim 1 supplies power to the mineral collecting device by a comprehensive monitoring and control device, communicates with an optical fiber, and commands the descent of the deep-sea crane from the marine mother ship to the seabed landing point. It controls and controls the getting out of bed from the landing point on the seabed and the ascent to the
marine mothership, and the comprehensive monitoring and control device of the marine mothership controls the power supply from the power generation device and the marine mothership, and controls the power supply from the
marine mothership. The comprehensive monitoring and control device is characterized in that it controls the transfer of the collected minerals from the deep-sea crane to the marine mother ship.
[Claim 8]

A mineral collecting container that can be separated and connected to the cargo compartment and can measure the underwater weight is added to the
deep-sea crane of claim 1 as a component, and the
cargo is lowered from the sea surface to the sea floor of the deep-sea crane. A dumping ballast is loaded in the chamber, the
submarine resource collecting device or one or more of the mineral collecting containers are suspended,
the specific gravity of the deep-sea crane is made larger than that of seawater, and after the
deep-sea crane has
landed on the seabed, it is on land. The driving force of the hydraulic mechanism of the power shovel of the construction machine used in the above is replaced from the prime mover to the electric motor, and is driven by the hydraulic differential pressure motor from the submarine resource collecting device or the cargo hold of the collecting mineral container. The crane is unsuspended, installed on the seabed, and the
seabed resource collection device is remotely operated from the maritime command ship using a video monitoring device including an ultrasonic high-definition video camera to load the collected minerals in the mineral collection container.
The limit of the floating weight of the mineral collecting container in water is monitored, the time when the loading of the collected mineral by the submarine resource collecting device should be stopped in the mineral collecting container is detected, and the subsequent loading of collected minerals and the dumped ballast are performed. In the operation
where the deep-sea crane has a structure capable of covering the inlet of the mineral collection container with a shroud that prevents the mixing of the minerals, and the deep-sea crane collects the mineral collection device or the mineral collection container loaded with the collected minerals to the sea surface. Is
The lifting mechanism including the hook at the lower part of the cargo compartment is guided to the lifting mechanism including the ring provided in the submarine resource collecting device or the lifting mechanism including the ring provided in the shroud of the mineral collecting container. After that,
the ballast in the cargo compartment is dumped, the specific gravity of the deep-sea crane is made smaller than the surrounding seawater, and the crane floats in the vicinity of the maritime command ship to
collect the seabed resource collecting device or the collected minerals. A characteristic deep-sea crane.