Patents by Inventor Walter L. Stefens

Walter L. Stefens 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: 4326821
    Abstract: A system for installing one or more side-by-side submerged pipelines from the shore while preventing abrasive contact between the pipe and any of the ground, the seabed or the equipment used. The line is assembled from joints on shore, clamped between timbers at spaced intervals, hauled down a track supported by the timbers to the water's edge where buoyant spherical wheels are detachably secured to the clamping timbers. The pipeline is pulled into the water, rolling on the wheels which maintain it in spaced relation to the seabed and which when the pipeline reaches its final destination, are released to float to the surface for retrieval. Additional lengths of pipe may be added periodically on the shore so that pipelines of any desired length can be installed. The wheel assemblies are released by pulling buoyed trip lines whose buoys floating on the surface mark the path of travel of the pipeline as it is pulled along the seabed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 1980
    Date of Patent: April 27, 1982
    Assignee: Solus Ocean Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Walter L. Stefens