Abstract: A floatation apparatus is disclosed wherein a buoy for maintaining the near surface position of marine equipment is mounted on a hydrodynamically advantageous V-shaped frame to reduce frictional drag associated with towing surface equipment.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided wherein one air supply is used to supply compressed air for a plurality of multi-size seismic pulse generators.

Abstract: A system for deploying and retrieving a seismic source assembly from a marine seismic vessel. The system comprises a guide track which is secured to the underside of an upper deck of the vessel. The chain which absorbs most of the strain due to towing passes through the track and is safely confined therein during the deployment and retrieval of the source assembly. A connector is attached to the chain at each point where a seismic source and a buoy line is to be attached. As the chain is unreeled and as each connector approaches the track, a source and a buoy line is attached to that respective connector. The track is constructed so a connector on the chain with both a source and a buoy line attached can pass therethrough. This procedure is continued until the seismic source assembly is deployed. The procedure is reversed to retrieve the source assembly.

Abstract: An apparatus for plotting information, e.g., seismic data, onto a continuous sheet of a recording medium, e.g., photographic film. The film travels from a supply reel, over an advance roller, across a flat exposure surface, and onto a takeup roller. Torque motors apply equal but opposite torques to the supply reel and the takeup reel to maintain the film in tension to insure that the film will lie flat on the exposure surface during the plotting operation. A stepping motor rotates advance roller to move the film a precise amount across the exposure surface at desired times during the plotting operation. A camera, e.g., cathode ray tube, which receives data and projects it onto the film on the exposure surface, is mounted on a carriage which is swept back and forth across the exposure surface by means of a lead screw driven by a precision stepping motor.

Abstract: A structure is provided for protecting a depth control device used on a marine seismic cable where the device is of the type having a hull formed in two parts and a pair of wings pivotably mounted thereon. The protective structure is comprised of a pair of framelike structures and a ring structure. A framelike structure is mounted on the hull just forward of each wing and extends outward at an angle greater than the angle formed by the leading edge of the wing. This provides an unbroken path from the hull to the wing along which an obstacle, e.g., buoy line, can slide over the control device without becoming lodged in the gap normally existing between the wing and the hull. The ring structure is positioned on the seismic cable just forward of the control device to protect the device against a buoy line or the like becoming lodged in the gap which is inherently present when the two parts of the hull are joined about a seismic cable.