Abstract: A floating platform structure mounted on ballast tanks disposed in a tank having the liquid to be mixed and/or aerated by an impeller carried by the platform. Guide members on the structure have longitudinally spaced sets of rollers slidably engaging upstanding posts in the tank and restrain the platform against rocking or horizontal movement due to wind or wave action, while allowing the platform to rise and fall with changes in the level of liquid in the tank.

Abstract: A method for transporting goods by freighter over a route from an arctic port to an ice-free port, using ice-breaking freighters, the route including an ice-edge, the method characterized in that the ice-breaking freighters are used only for the route run between the arctic port and the ice-edge, the location of which varies according to the time of the year and wherein ice-strengthened freighters are used for the route run between the ice-edge and the ice-free port, the goods being transshipped, in the ice-edge area, at sea, from the ice-breaking freighters directly to the ice-strengthened freighters.

Abstract: A paravane handling system which includes a wing-shaped paravane (40) connected by four lines to a hitching device (28) which in turn is connected by a main line (26) to a winch onboard a vessel (10). The main line (26) is arranged to have air gun cable arrays attached thereto for surveying the ocean floor. Vessel (10) also includes a drum retrieval winch (18) for controlling a retrieval line (20) which is connected to a latching mechanism (24) arranged to run along the main line (26) and engage with the hitching device (28) of the paravane (40). A unidirectional stop (42) is released when the latching mechanism (24) is pulled back toward the vessel (10) and allows the lower two paravane lines (34) and (36) to slacken so that the paravane (40) assumes a horizontal position and planes along the surface of the water as it is pulled back to vessel (10) by the retrieval line (20).

Abstract: Two embodiments of improved cowling arrangements for an outboard motor that ducts inlet air to the motor without restricting the air flow and while at the same time insuring against water separation. In each embodiment, the cowling member includes both a rearwardly disposed air inlet opening and a sidewardly disposed air inlet opening. The sidewardly disposed air inlet opening is positioned so as to permit drainage of water from the air inlet when the motor is tilted up. In one embodiment of the invention, the sidewardly disposed air inlet openings are positioned at the forwardmost edge of a air inlet chamber so that water can drain from the air inlet when the motor is tilted up without any accumulation.

Abstract: Device for laterally shifting an assembly of apparatuses such as seismic streamer towed behind a ship, with respect to the ship route, comprising a profiled wing, connected to the assembly through a single cable, at the lateral end parts of which are formed two profiled caissons and whose central part therebetween is thinner and is provided in the middle with a profiled central rib extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the wing and protruding downwardly at said last edge beyond the height of the caissons.

Abstract: In a water born vehicle of the type described in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,220 including a pivoted control handle extending rearwardly from the bow the improvement comprising a starting cable arrangement which may be selectively secured to the handle and through the pivotal motion of the handle may be articulated to crank the engine. The engine may be provided with a self-reeling starting cable spool with the cable thereof routed across pulleys to emerge at a point below the free end of the handle. The cable may then be selectively engaged to a hook on the handle which, when articulated, extracts the cable from the spool.

Abstract: A pin extends from the floor near a cargo door and pallets or containers are provided with an attachment which includes a releasable frame with a hinged spring-loaded plate having a bore and runoff surfaces. The bore traps the pin and forces the pallet or container to turn.

Abstract: This floating boom comprises a flexible structure forming a barrier provided with transverse stiffeners to which are secured floats adapted to support this structure in a substantially vertical position in water. The stiffeners are designed so as to be resiliently bent at their lower part under the action of the water current for a velocity of the water current sufficient to cause bending without causing any substantial change in the inclination of the remainder of the boom in water.

Abstract: An aircraft 10 includes a pair of aerodynamic control members 11 pivotally mounted one to each side of the cockpit, each for movement about a pivotal axis P. A probe 13 is carried adjacent the outboard end of each control member in a predetermined orientation by fixed support means 25 anchored to the aircraft body and extending through the aerodynamic control member 11 adjacent the pivotal axis P. By this arrangement, the probe 13 remains in its predetermined orientation with respect to the aircraft irrespective of the angular disposition of the control member. The probe may be an air-data probe.

Abstract: Device for aligning the roll axis of a rotating artificial satellite having radial solar panels equipped with angularly movable control surfaces at their extremities. The device includes a motor associated with each control surface for controlling the angle of the control surface with respect to the solar panel, each motor being actuated by a current which is dependent on the displacement of the roll axis from a desired position and which varies cyclically during the rotation of the satellite. The motor also includes a detector for detecting the angular speed of movement of the control surface and introducing a damping effect.

Abstract: In an ice disaggregation system employing teeth affixed to a bracket which is spirally disposed around the outer periphery of a cylindrical rotating drum and held in spaced relationship therefrom, the cutting capacity is improved by tilting the plane of each tooth with respect to the drum's axis of rotation such that each incremental section of ice which a tooth engages is subjected to a bending force about a pivot near an area from which ice has been removed and is therefore relatively weak. As a result, the ice readily fractures in relatively large chunks.

Abstract: A mooring system is provided, of the type that includes several chains extending in loose curves from a mooring buoy at the sea surface to spaced anchor locations at the seabed, which enables the buoy to deflect sidewardly by a further distance and to absorb more energy during such deflection than heretofor, particularly in shallow water mooring. The system includes an anchoring device which holds the lower end of a chain at a level raised high above the sea floor when the chain is pulled taut, while allowing the lower end portion of the chain to lie at a lower level such as at the sea floor when the chain is loose. One system includes an arm having an inner end pivotally mounted near the sea floor and an outer end connected to the lower end of the chain, so that tension in the chain pivots up the outer end of the arm to thereby raise the lower end of the chain.

Abstract: An exhaust system for an outboard engine that improves exhaust efficiency and silencing at low speeds. The low speed exhaust gases are delivered to the atmosphere through a predetermined water level that is maintained in a separate water reservoir.

Abstract: A chock for use on boats and the like to secure gear to the vessel is made in two halves with identical base plates. The side plates of each half are integral with the base plates, and each half or unit has an upper base plate at one end and a lower base plate at the other end. The upper end of the base plate of one unit is of the same size and shape as the lower end of the base plate of the other unit, and the upper end of the one unit will fit over the lower end of the other unit when they are meshed together. Similarly, the upper end of the base plate of the other unit fits over the lower end of the base plate of the one unit when they are meshed together. Bolts through both upper and lower base plates, at either end, secure both units to any desired location to form a chock, and bolts between the side plates of both units, or other inward projections butting against each other, provide means for securing gear of any kind to any given base.

Abstract: A water-jet drive mechanism for driving and controlling a watercraft. A centrifugal water pump is encased in the support housing so that its inlet and its discharge nozzle open through the undersurface of the support housing. The pump drive shaft is inclined and lies in a vertical plane arranged at an angle to the direction of water discharge from the nozzle. A normally open ventilating valve provided in a wall of the pump is closed by the flow of water through the pump.