Did You Know...
...that Charles Goodyear performed some of his experiments on rubber while in debtor's prison? He was there so often he referred to it as his "hotel". Chronically in debt because of poor business sense and ill health, Goodyear depended on the generosity of friends and family. Even after he unlocked the secret to vulcanizing rubber, he was unable to improve his financial situation. When he died, his estate was $200,000 in debt.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8328466 | Buoyancy stabilized underwater plow and methods for use An underwater plow can include a depressor cam and a chute cam that are pivotably attached to a blade portion. The blade portion can be formed with a trough and the depressor cam can be biased in the trough. The chute cam can be formed with a groove having a minimum... | 12/11/2012 |
| 7264057 | Subsea intervention A method and system of subsea intervention comprises lowering one or more assemblies of intervention equipment into the sea. Underwater marine units (such as remote operated vehicles or small submarines) may be employed to connect the assemblies to each other and to... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7152632 | Systems and methods for pipeline rehabilitation The present disclosure is directed to methods and systems for pipeline rehabilitation. The methods and systems disclosed herein permit the rehabilitation of long lengths of previously installed pipe and minimize the need for creating multiple access points to the pi... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7147402 | Submarine pipeline spoiler A method and apparatus for stabilizing and burying a conduit in a waterbed is disclosed. A plurality of spoilers are placed on the conduit at longitudinally and radially different positions to promote self-burial, reduce vortex-induced vibration, prevent upheaval bu... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7101116 | Cable or pipe retrieval and burial apparatus and methods An apparatus for retrieving a cable or pipe buried under water in bed material comprises a shank (2) having a first surface and a fluke member (5) having a second surface. When the apparatus is towed in a towing direction, the fluke member (5) a... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7085458 | Fire resistant conduit insert for optical fiber cable A flexible fire resistant innerduct structure is configured to contain a cable within a conduit. The innerduct structure includes a pair of adjacent strip-shaped layers of flexible material that are joined along their longitudinal edges to define a channel through w... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7069131 | Apparatus for setting function of switches of construction vehicle The present invention relates to an apparatus for setting a function of switches of a construction vehicle, enabling a construction vehicle driver to freely set or arrange the switches as desired, so that the driver feels more convenient to use the switches and thus... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7025534 | Marine seismic surveying A method of performing a seismic survey of a hydrocarbon reservoir in the earth formations beneath a body of water includes deploying a seismic cable from a drum carried by a remotely operated vehicle on the seabed. The cable is deployed into a lined trench, which i... | 04/11/2006 |
| 6978804 | Systems and methods for pipeline rehabilitation The present disclosure is directed to methods and systems for pipeline rehabilitation. The methods and systems disclosed herein permit the rehabilitation of long lengths of previously installed pipe and minimize the need for creating multiple access points to the pi... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6978197 | Vessel monitoring system The vessel monitoring system of the present invention enables vessel owners to monitor their vessels when they are unable or unavailable to personally do so. The system of the present invention provides an efficient method for inspecting and repairing a designated v... | 12/20/2005 |
| 6837653 | Ploughs A marine plough includes twin, complementary steering mechanisms, one or more soil-engaging fins, which are able to be steered, and a tow rope attachment mechanism that enables adjustment of the position of the tow rope retention point relative to the plough. This a... | 01/04/2005 |
| 6821054 | Method and system for laying pipe through the use of a plow A method and system for laying and burying pipe a seabed using a pipe trenching plow that is advanced along the seabed to form a continuous trench. The pipe trenching plow cuts a pilot hole in the seabed using a cutting apparatus and widens and forms a trench from t... | 11/23/2004 |
| 6679655 | Permafrost support system and method for vacuum-insulated pipe A system for supporting pipe within soil or fill material which minimizes positional disturbances of the pipe despite seasonal fluctuations in atmospheric temperature is provided. The system provides a length of double walled pipe, a support member placed... | 01/20/2004 |
| 6374519 | Dredging apparatus A dredger for removing sand, silt and like material from a river or seabed has application to clearing wrecks and providing trenches in which, for example, pipeline may be laid. The dredger includes a body having first thrusters to direct, in use, a wash ... | 04/23/2002 |
| 6220786 | Underwater burial apparatus Apparatus for locally disturbing an underwater bed to enable the burial of an elongate member (39) comprises a mounting (30,31), resilient means (88-93) such as brush filaments coupled to the mounting, and means (9) for moving the resilient means with res... | 04/24/2001 |
| 6116818 | Underwater plow apparatus and method An ocean plow device and accompanying method which incorporate a passive plow blade and a jetter tool working in conjunction with one another to lower drawbar and increase cable deployment speeds. In order to avoid cavitation due to sand dilation, in one ... | 09/12/2000 |
| 5971665 | Cable-laying apparatus and method A cable-laying technique and apparatus are disclosed. A base is lowered to the seafloor which contains multiple cable reels, each of which is preconnected to a surface production facility. An articulated plow is lowered onto the base and manipulates a ree... | 10/26/1999 |
| 5755530 | Underwater cable burial machine having improved cable laying apparatus The cable laying apparatus, which solves many of the problems heretofore associated with existing cable laying mechanisms for underwater burial machines, uses a pivotally liftable depressor wheel, located within a feed shoe which tracks the groove cut by ... | 05/26/1998 |
| 5722793 | Method and device for continuously laying and burying a flexible submarine conduit It is characterized in that it consists in using a self-propelled sea plough (1) remote-controlled via a control flexible (2), said sea plough carrying at least one reel (6) of flexible conduit (7), controlling said sea plough from a site (5) so as to lay... | 03/03/1998 |
| 5707174 | Underwater cable burial machine using a single cable for towing and lifting The underwater cable burial machine uses a single cable for both towing and lifting. The machine includes a retractable cable, which is connected between a retraction mechanism and the towing cable. There is a cable guide through which the retractable cab... | 01/13/1998 |
| 5100260 | Cable burying equipment A cable burying device (3) comprises several heavy hollow tapered elements (7, 8) coupled to each other (7A, 7B, 8A, 8B) to provide limited flexibility, which is towed along the seabed and which digs a trench, the cable (1) passing through the length of t... | 03/31/1992 |
| 5088857 | Scavenging apparatus for embedding cables or the like into the soil of waters Scavenging apparatus for embedding cables or the like into the soil of waters, comprising an elongated scavenging sword being adapted to be attached at different heights to an embedding vessel movable on the soil of waters or to a surface water vessel, th... | 02/18/1992 |
| 4877355 | Underwater cable laying system A cable embedding device comprising a framework for supporting and hydraulically raising and lowering a rock saw and a cable carrying bellmouth relative to two spaced-apart sled-type runners. Each sled carries part of a jet spray system and an eductor sys... | 10/31/1989 |
| 4844658 | Apparatus for burying pipe under water A sled device for burying a pipe within the ground under water. The sled is arranged to be pulled over the ground and includes a blade adjustably mounted within a tower in the sled. The blade is arranged to cut a furrow in the ground as the sled is pulled... | 07/04/1989 |
| 4802793 | Pipeline or cable plough The plough consists of two portions separable by rams (72). Each portion comprises a beam (14, 16) joined to a plough body part (18, 20). The portions include two pairs of longitudinally-spaced arms (69) interconnected by pivots (70). At each end of the p... | 02/07/1989 |
| 4787777 | Method and device for progressively producing an underwater laying-out channel A method for progressively producing an underwater laying-out channel (3) for an object (53) to be laid out, like a cable or the like, in an underwater ground by flushing and by mechanically loosening ground formations (7) which are resistive against flus... | 11/29/1988 |
| 4758116 | Multi-blade ditching machine A ditching machine for digging a ditch or a trench for submarine cables having at least several pairs of blades disposed along the longitudinal direction of the center body of the machine. At least the blades in the forward position have a ditching portio... | 07/19/1988 |
| 4749308 | Self-propelled underwater cable burying machine A self-propelled underwater bed cable burying machine is disclosed, which comprises a bottom running gear body with a high pressure water generator mounted therein and an arm-shaped water jet trenching unit mounted the base end capable of revolution in a ... | 06/07/1988 |
| 4721409 | Method and device for progressively producing an underwater laying-out channel A method for progressively producing an underwater laying-out channel (3) for an object (53) to be laid out, like a cable or the like, in an underwater ground by flushing and by mechanically loosening ground formations (7) which are resistive against flus... | 01/26/1988 |
| 4712946 | Assembly and installation of pipes The invention provides a method of assembling and installing pipes comprising disposing at least one cable between a first station and a second station; attaching and clamping a first pipe to the cable at or adjacent one of said stations; moving the pipe ... | 12/15/1987 |
| 4648745 | Method and device for burying a conduit in the bottom of a waterbed For burying conduits in the bottom of a waterbed the invention proposes to provide protruding parts such as fins on or in the proximity of the conduit, which cause disturbances in the flow of water near the conduit to erode the bottom of the waterbed in s... | 03/10/1987 |
| 4616955 | Method and apparatus for encasing pipeline or cable An encasing method and apparatus in which an external casing, has an insulating, tubular liner therewithin, and one or more pipes or electrical cable are located within the liner. The liner and pipe or cable are floated into the casing after the casing ha... | 10/14/1986 |
| 4615645 | Pipeline trenching A hollow curved auger is provided for simultaneously laying and trenching a pipeline, as from the surface of an ice-covered body of water. The pipeline passes through the auger which comprises rotary teeth encircling the pipeline and turning in opposed di... | 10/07/1986 |
| 4588329 | Propulsion method and apparatus for advancing a marine pipeline excavation shield One construction method for burying offshore pipelines utilizes a segmented excavation shield for forming a trench in the seafloor. The present invention provides a propulsion method for advancing the shield which eliminates the need to pull the shield. T... | 05/13/1986 |
| 4585372 | Pipeline plough with lifting assemblies The plough has a front and a rear lifting assembly (60, 62) each including an arm (64, 80) which is extensible and angularly adjustable by hydraulic rams (65, 68; 81, 84). The arms carry rollers (74, 76, 78; 94, 96, 98) upon which the pipeline (110) is li... | 04/29/1986 |
| 4575280 | Underwater trencher with pipelaying guide A process and apparatus are provided for the simultaneous trenching and installation of submarine pipelines. The apparatus is based on a single unit which includes an excavating portion, an attached ditch sidewall retention shield, and a pipeline installa... | 03/11/1986 |
| 4545139 | Under ice pipelay apparatus and method A construction machine with a cutter is provided to simultaneously cut a slot in an ice sheet, to excavate a trench in the underlying seabed, and to bottom-tow a pipeline in the trench formed by the cutter.... | 10/08/1985 |
| 4488836 | Method and apparatus for embedding a pipe in a trench in weak ground A trench is dug under the pipe. A collapsible means formed by a supple and deformable envelope is conveyed into the trench as it is dug in a state folded or coiled upon itself. The envelope is filled with water by a pump assembly and unfolded in a divergi... | 12/18/1984 |
| 4487230 | Increasing the output of a pipeline anode In the cathodic protection of tubular goods transporting fluids above 100° F. with aluminum or zinc anodes, the output efficiency of the anode is increased by thermally insulating the anode from the tubular goods on which the anode is placed.... | 12/11/1984 |
| 4409747 | Digging apparatus An apparatus for digging a trench under a pipeline or cable which has been placed on the sea bottom. A carriage moves along the pipeline. Two forward digging chains are mounted on the carriage so as to be disposed on each side of the pipeline, and so that... | 10/18/1983 |
