Patent US3779335A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3779335A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Confined-liquid seismic exploration methods and systems
Assignee: Teledyne Bolt Inc
•
Filing: 1972-02-14
•
Granted: 1973-12-18
•
Expires: 1992-02-14
Abstract
Abstract Confined-liquid seismic exploration methods and systems in which powerful sound impulses are generated by the abrupt release of confined gases into a confined liquid that is coupled to the earth in vibration transmitting relationship during the brief period of time while these impulses are being transmitted into the earth. The repeatability of the powerful impulses is enhanced by permitting the entire mass of confined liquid to jump upwardly in reaction to the powerful impulses transmitted into the earth. Weight may be added to increase the intensity of the impulses transmitted into the earth. After the mass jumps into the air, it is then restrained from immediately returning to the earth, thus avoiding spurious ''''bouncing'''' impulses such as would occur if the liquid mass were allowed to fall back freely to earth. Total confinement of the liquid is provided thus intensifying the seismic impulses transmitted per unit volume of the liquid, enabling a relatively compact system to be utilized. The abruptly released gases are separated from the totally confined liquid in preparation for the next ''''shot'''' to be fired. The methods and systems described are conveniently applicable to many different types of sites, enabling a single survey crew to carry out highly effective survey work on hard ground, soft ground, marshy or swampy ground or submerged ground, as it is encountered on the job site.
Inventors
- 👤 S Chelminski
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-28 10:47
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01V; G01V1/00; G01V1/02; G01V1/04; G01V1/047; G01V1/09
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 28
Claim 1
Independent Claim
287 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth of the type comprising a tank having a bottom adapted for vibration-transmitting coupling with the ground and having a rigid wall at the sides, said tank containing a substantially incompressible liquid, and at least one air gun repeater positioned within the liquid in the tank and capable of repetitively abruptly releasing presssurized gas into the liquid to generate powerful acoustical impulses to be coupled into the ground through the liquid mass and tank bottom, wherein the improvement comprises: said tank being massively weighted, having a rigid wall at the top, and being completely filled with the incompressible liquid to intensify the impulse coupled into the ground upon abruptly releasing pressurized gas into the liquid, the wave generator apparatus being arranged to remove released gas from the tank and to refill the tank with the incompressible liquid for generation of the next impulse by means of gas-liquid separation means located outside the tank for separating the released gas from the liquid expelled therewith, a continuously open flow-restraining passage through the top of the tank providing continuous communication between the interior of the tank and said gas-liquid separation means for conducting passage of the gas-and-liquid mixture expelled by said released gas, said flow-restraining passage having a small cross-section to present a substantial liquid flow resistance path to maintain effective confinement of the liquid within the tank as the pressurized gas is abruptly released to generate an acoustical impulse, said gas-liquid separation means having means for intercepting the liquid in said gas-and-liquid mixture, and means for returning the separated liquid from said gas-liquid separation means to the interior of said tank to refill the tank with incompressible liquid.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
287 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth of the type comprising a tank having a bottom adapted for vibration-transmitting coupling with the ground and having a rigid wall at the sides, said tank containing a substantially incompressible liquid, and at least one air gun repeater positioned within the liquid in the tank and capable of repetitively abruptly releasing presssurized gas into the liquid to generate powerful acoustical impulses to be coupled into the ground through the liquid mass and tank bottom, wherein the improvement comprises: said tank being massively weighted, having a rigid wall at the top, and being completely filled with the incompressible liquid to intensify the impulse coupled into the ground upon abruptly releasing pressurized gas into the liquid, the wave generator apparatus being arranged to remove released gas from the tank and to refill the tank with the incompressible liquid for generation of the next impulse by means of gas-liquid separation means located outside the tank for separating the released gas from the liquid expelled therewith, a continuously open flow-restraining passage through the top of the tank providing continuous communication between the interior of the tank and said gas-liquid separation means for conducting passage of the gas-and-liquid mixture expelled by said released gas, said flow-restraining passage having a small cross-section to present a substantial liquid flow resistance path to maintain effective confinement of the liquid within the tank as the pressurized gas is abruptly released to generate an acoustical impulse, said gas-liquid separation means having means for intercepting the liquid in said gas-and-liquid mixture, and means for returning the separated liquid from said gas-liquid separation means to the interior of said tank to refill the tank with incompressible liquid.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
51 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 1, in which the air gun repeater is mounted with its body containing the discharge port extending into the confined volume within the tank and with its control accessible from outside of the confined volume.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
47 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of air gun repeaters have their discharge ports communicating with the confined volume of liquid at widely spaced locations in the confined volume of liquid.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
43 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that said air gun repeaters, are positioned such that their discharge ports are equidistant from the bottom surface of the confined volume of liquid.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
34 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 3, and wherEin said plurality of air gun repeaters are arranged to be simultaneously actuated during seismic surveying.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
74 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the tank is symmetrical about a vertical axis of symmetry and said plurality of air gun repeaters are positioned at locations equiangularly spaced about the axis of symmetry for abruptly releasing the pressurized air or gas into the confined liquid through discharge ports at uniformly spaced locations about the axis within the confined liquid.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
48 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said tank is symmetrical about a vertical axis of symmetry and massive weights are attached to the tank in a symmetrical relationship with respect to said vertical axis.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
66 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said means for returning the separated liquid to the tank includes check valve means arranged in such manner that abrupt release of pressurized air or gas within the confined liquid volume closes said check valve means to prevent escape of liquid and to maintain liquid confinement.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
50 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the tank is dome-shaped and a plurality of strong members are provided having an arcuate lower surface conforming to the dome shape of the dome-shaped tank for strengthening the dome.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
47 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a flexible extensible diaphragm extends across the bottom of the tank, and an annular skirt of flexible extensible material extending around beneath the perimeter of said diaphragm.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
30 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that said diaphragm and said skirt are made of flexible polyurethane.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
279 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for use in seismic exploration of the type comprising a tank having a diaphragm at the bottom for transmitting seismic energy into the earth, said tank containing a substantially incompressible liquid, and at least one air gun repeater positioned within the liquid in the tank and capable of repetitively abruptly releasing pressurized gas in the liquid to generate seismic energy to be coupled into the ground through the liquid mass and diaphragm, wherein the improvement comprises: said tank being dome-shaped and having a rigid wall at the sides and top, being symmetrical about a vertical axis of symmetry, and being completely filled with said substantially incompressible liquid to intensify the impulse coupled into the ground upon abruptly releasing pressurized gas into the liquid; the wave generator apparatus being arranged to remove released gas from the tank and to refill the tank with the incompressible liquid for generation of the next impulse by means of a cylindrical gas-liquid separation means for separating the released gas from the liquid, said separation means extending upwardly from the top of the dome-shaped tank with its cylinder axis on said axis of symmetry, a port in the top wall of the tank providing communication from the interior of the dome-shaped tank to said cylindrical gas-liquid separation means for conducting the passage of the gas-and-liquid mixture expelled by said released gas, said gas-liquid separation means having baffle means for intercepting the liquid in said gas-and-liquid mixture, and means providing a downward flow path for returning the separated liquid from the gas-liquid separation means to the interior of the tank by means of gravitational forces to refill the tank with said liquid.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
279 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for use in seismic exploration of the type comprising a tank having a diaphragm at the bottom for transmitting seismic energy into the earth, said tank containing a substantially incompressible liquid, and at least one air gun repeater positioned within the liquid in the tank and capable of repetitively abruptly releasing pressurized gas in the liquid to generate seismic energy to be coupled into the ground through the liquid mass and diaphragm, wherein the improvement comprises: said tank being dome-shaped and having a rigid wall at the sides and top, being symmetrical about a vertical axis of symmetry, and being completely filled with said substantially incompressible liquid to intensify the impulse coupled into the ground upon abruptly releasing pressurized gas into the liquid; the wave generator apparatus being arranged to remove released gas from the tank and to refill the tank with the incompressible liquid for generation of the next impulse by means of a cylindrical gas-liquid separation means for separating the released gas from the liquid, said separation means extending upwardly from the top of the dome-shaped tank with its cylinder axis on said axis of symmetry, a port in the top wall of the tank providing communication from the interior of the dome-shaped tank to said cylindrical gas-liquid separation means for conducting the passage of the gas-and-liquid mixture expelled by said released gas, said gas-liquid separation means having baffle means for intercepting the liquid in said gas-and-liquid mixture, and means providing a downward flow path for returning the separated liquid from the gas-liquid separation means to the interior of the tank by means of gravitational forces to refill the tank with said liquid.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
37 words
Seismic wave generAtor apparatus for use in claim 12 wherein a plurality of air gun repeaters are positioned within the tank and are spaced away from the axis of symmetry of the tank and substantially uniformly therearound.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
47 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for use in seismic exploration as claimed in claim 12, wherein said port in the top of the dome-shaped tank provides an opening into the gas-liquid separation means substantially smaller than the opening provided by the cylindrical cross-section of the gas-liquid separation means.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
55 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for use in seismic exploration as claimed in claim 12 wherein said gravitational return means for separated liquid includes check valve means arranged in such manner that abrupt release of pressurized gas within the confined liquid closes the check valve means to prevent escape of liquid and to maintain liquid confinement.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
43 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for use in seismic exploration as claimed in claim 15 wherein said gravitational return means and said check valve means are located at one side of said cylindrical gas-liquid separation means and connect said means with said dome-shaped tank.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
47 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for use in seismic exploration as claimed in claim 15 wherein said cylindrical gas-liquid separation means comprises baffles arranged to subject the gas-and-liquid mixture to a centrifugal swirling action about the axis of symmetry to rapidly separate the liquid from the released gas.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
48 words
Seismic wave generator apparatus for use in seismic exploration as claimed in claim 17 wherein the baffles provide a tortuous twisting path for the gas-and-liquid mixture for venting the gas while the separated liquid returns along multiple direct paths to be returned to the interior of the tank.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
217 words
A method for generating and transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth of the type comprising inserting incompressible liquid into a tank having a vibration-transmitting bottom and a rigid wall at its sides, positioning the tank with its bottom in vibration-transmitting relationship with the earth, supplying pressurized gas to an air gun repeater positioned within the liquid in the tank, and abruptly releasing the pressurized gas from the air gun repeater into the liquid in the tank to generate a powerful acoustic impulse to be coupled into the ground through the liquid mass and tank bottom, wherein the improvement comprises: massively weighting the tank, providing it with a rigid wall at the top, and completely filling it with said incompressible liquid to intensify the impulse coupled into the ground upon abruptly releasing the pressurized gas into the liquid, and removing the released gas from the tank and refilling the tank with the incompressible liquid by expelling through an open flow-restraining passage in the top wall of the tank the liquid and gas mixture formed upon release of said pressurized gas, intercepting the liquid in said expelled liquid and gas mixture in a liquid-gas separator positioned outside said tank, and returning said separated liquid to the interior of said tank to refill the tank with the incompressible liquid.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
217 words
A method for generating and transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth of the type comprising inserting incompressible liquid into a tank having a vibration-transmitting bottom and a rigid wall at its sides, positioning the tank with its bottom in vibration-transmitting relationship with the earth, supplying pressurized gas to an air gun repeater positioned within the liquid in the tank, and abruptly releasing the pressurized gas from the air gun repeater into the liquid in the tank to generate a powerful acoustic impulse to be coupled into the ground through the liquid mass and tank bottom, wherein the improvement comprises: massively weighting the tank, providing it with a rigid wall at the top, and completely filling it with said incompressible liquid to intensify the impulse coupled into the ground upon abruptly releasing the pressurized gas into the liquid, and removing the released gas from the tank and refilling the tank with the incompressible liquid by expelling through an open flow-restraining passage in the top wall of the tank the liquid and gas mixture formed upon release of said pressurized gas, intercepting the liquid in said expelled liquid and gas mixture in a liquid-gas separator positioned outside said tank, and returning said separated liquid to the interior of said tank to refill the tank with the incompressible liquid.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method for generating and transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 19 wherein said liquid and gas mixture is expelled upwardly into a gas-liquid separator positioned above said tank, and wherein said separated liquid returns gravitationally to the interior of the tank.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 19 characterized in that the pressurized air or gas is abruptly released into the confined volume of liquid from a plurality of discharge ports communicating with the confined volume of liquid at widely spaced locations in the confined volume of liquid.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 21, characterized in that the widely spaced discharged ports are equidistant above the bottom surface of the confined volume of liquid.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 19, characterized by the step of applying separate massive weight on the confined volume of liquid for increasing the intensity of the seismic vibrations transmitted into the earth.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 19, characterized in that the liquid in the liquid-gas separator is subjected to swirling centrifugal action to rapidly separate the liquid from the released air or gas.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method of transmitting powerful seismic vibrations into the earth as claimed in claim 24, characterized in that the air or gas and liquid is transmitted through a tortuous twisting path for venting the air or gas while the separated liquid returns along multiple direct paths to be returned promptly to the confined volume.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3310128A
Cited
US3347336A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-12-17 | 1977-06-18 | 1977-12-18 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-12-17 | 1981-06-18 | 1981-12-18 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-12-17 | 1985-06-18 | 1985-12-18 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |