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In a message dated 8/29/2010 11:46:17 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
vbra676539@aol.com writes:
the spring loaded ears latch the unit Hi Vance. The male connector we saw at HBOI had no springs. It appeared
gravity was all that was required to expand the "ears" due to the location of
the pins. This was an extra one sitting on the floor so maybe it has springs
when deployed. One thing for sure, it was very heavy. I picked it up and
guess it was at least 40 pounds.
Hugh....The lifting eyes on my sub are "rings" within a welded collar so
they DO rotate. They were purchased from a trailer building shop and used as
tie-downs for heavy equipment.They're rated at 12K pounds each so just grabbing
one gives me almost a 200% safety factor "in air" and even more submerged. The
ring is 3/4 inch diameter forged steel. My sub should weigh 6840 pounds as dive
ready.
My thought was that a ring that rotates up would be easier to grab. The
buoy line passing through the ring will lift it up off the hull when the surface
support crew pulls the buoy line tight. I can see how a spring on the "hooks"
would improve the grab.
As you mentioned, anything going on the sub will be tested thoroughly
before being put into actual use. This being a "life safety issue" means the
testing will be quite extensive, under various conditions and circumstances.
I liked the Harbor Branch device we saw but just not sure how much of an
angle it could tolerate . The "hook and eye" that Phil sketched seems like it
would still grab even in severe angles. The three prong approach seemed to give
the most flexibility in grabbing the ring at different angles. Two was not
enough, while 4 was too many and got in the way.
Like Alan mentioned, maybe just a rubber band could provide the closure
pressure for the hooks.
Frank D.
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