Patents by Inventor Norio Yamakado

Norio Yamakado has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 4368923
    Abstract: A nodule collector for deep sea mining includes an outer sledge and an inner sledge disposed in and connected to the outer sledge for trailing movement therewith. The inner sledge is provided with a transversely extending cutting blade, a plurality of jet nozzles arranged along the cutting blade, and a longitudinally oriented duct. When the collector travels across the seafloor, the cutting blade cuts into the seafloor and raises it thereover. The water jets from the nozzles impinge upon the summit of the raised seafloor material so that nodules and sediments at the summit are carried away by the water jets and introduced through the duct into a collecting chamber provided in the outer sledge. The collecting chamber has a special design to prevent entrance of undesirably large sized nodules thereinto and residence of undesirably small sized nodules and sediments therein. The nodules collected in the collecting chamber are successively transported up to the mining ship for recovery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 1981
    Date of Patent: January 18, 1983
    Assignee: Director-General of Agency of Industrial Science & Technology
    Inventors: Keiji Handa, Norio Yamakado