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US3835954A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Apparatus for inducing shear waves in the earth
Assignee: IFP Energies nouvelles
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Filing: 1972-02-02
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Granted: 1974-09-17
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Expires: 1992-02-02
Abstract
Abstract Apparatus for inducing shear waves in the earth, comprising a rigid enclosure including a dome-shaped wall and a surface for coupling to the earth, means for detonating an explosive charge in said enclosure under such conditions as to create a lateral dissymmetry of the explosive forces applied to said wall in order to produce a lateral resultant force parallel to said coupling surface and means for transmitting said resultant force to the ground, thereby inducing shear waves therein.
Inventors
- 👤 P Layotte
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 04:05
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01V; G01V1/00; G01V1/02; G01V1/104; G01V1/108; G01V1/112; G01V1/04; G01V1/047; G01V1/053; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S181/00; Y10S181/40; Y10S181/401
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 25
Claim 1
Independent Claim
106 words
An apparatus for inducIng shear waves in the earth comprising: a rigid enclosure having a wall and a coupling surface to the earth; means for generating explosive forces from a volume of explosive material which is confined within a space of the enclosure whose volume is small with respect to the volume of the enclosure; and means for suspending said generating means within said enclosure, the interior of said enclosure dissymmetrically surrounding said generating means, so that the distribution of the explosive forces which are applied by way of said coupling surface to the earth have a substantial component parallel to the surface of the earth.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
106 words
An apparatus for inducIng shear waves in the earth comprising: a rigid enclosure having a wall and a coupling surface to the earth; means for generating explosive forces from a volume of explosive material which is confined within a space of the enclosure whose volume is small with respect to the volume of the enclosure; and means for suspending said generating means within said enclosure, the interior of said enclosure dissymmetrically surrounding said generating means, so that the distribution of the explosive forces which are applied by way of said coupling surface to the earth have a substantial component parallel to the surface of the earth.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
115 words
An apparatus for inducing shear waves in the earth comprising: a rigid enclosure having a wall and a coupling surface to the earth; means for generating explosive forces from a volume of explosive material which is confined within a space of the enclosure whose volume is small with respect to the volume of the enclosure; and means for suspending said generating means at an off-center position within said enclosure and for actuating the same, the interior of said enclosure dissymmetrically surrounding said generating means so that the distribution of the explosive forces which are applied by way of said coupling surface to the earth have a substantial component parallel to the surface of the earth.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
115 words
An apparatus for inducing shear waves in the earth comprising: a rigid enclosure having a wall and a coupling surface to the earth; means for generating explosive forces from a volume of explosive material which is confined within a space of the enclosure whose volume is small with respect to the volume of the enclosure; and means for suspending said generating means at an off-center position within said enclosure and for actuating the same, the interior of said enclosure dissymmetrically surrounding said generating means so that the distribution of the explosive forces which are applied by way of said coupling surface to the earth have a substantial component parallel to the surface of the earth.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
132 words
An apparatus for inducing shear waves in the earth comprising: a rigid enclosure having a wall and a coupling surface to the earth; means for generating explosive forces from a volume of explosive material which is confined within a space of the enclosure whose volume is small with respect to the volume of the enclosure; and means for suspending said generating means within said enclosure, the interior of said enclosure dissymmetrically surrounding said generating means, so that the distribution of the explosive forces which are applied by way of said coupling surface to the earth have a substantial component parallel to the surface of the earth, said enclosure including volumes of substances having different absorption coefficients with respect to the shock waves and laterally placed in a dissymmetrical manner inside the enclosure.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
132 words
An apparatus for inducing shear waves in the earth comprising: a rigid enclosure having a wall and a coupling surface to the earth; means for generating explosive forces from a volume of explosive material which is confined within a space of the enclosure whose volume is small with respect to the volume of the enclosure; and means for suspending said generating means within said enclosure, the interior of said enclosure dissymmetrically surrounding said generating means, so that the distribution of the explosive forces which are applied by way of said coupling surface to the earth have a substantial component parallel to the surface of the earth, said enclosure including volumes of substances having different absorption coefficients with respect to the shock waves and laterally placed in a dissymmetrical manner inside the enclosure.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
142 words
An apparatus for inducing shear waves in the earth comprising: a rigid enclosure having a wall transparent to acoustic waves; means for generating explosive forces from a volume of explosive material which is confined within a space of the enclosure whose volume is small with respect to the volume of the enclosure; and means for suspending said generating means within said enclosure, the interior of said enclosure dissymmetrically surrounding said generating means, so that the distribution of the explosive forces which are applied by way of said coupling surface to the earth have a substantial component parallel to the surface of the earth, said enclosure including a member for coupling said wall to the ground having at least one upper surface inclined with respect to the ground surface and in contact, at least partly, with the wall transparent to the acoustic waves.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
142 words
An apparatus for inducing shear waves in the earth comprising: a rigid enclosure having a wall transparent to acoustic waves; means for generating explosive forces from a volume of explosive material which is confined within a space of the enclosure whose volume is small with respect to the volume of the enclosure; and means for suspending said generating means within said enclosure, the interior of said enclosure dissymmetrically surrounding said generating means, so that the distribution of the explosive forces which are applied by way of said coupling surface to the earth have a substantial component parallel to the surface of the earth, said enclosure including a member for coupling said wall to the ground having at least one upper surface inclined with respect to the ground surface and in contact, at least partly, with the wall transparent to the acoustic waves.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
48 words
An apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the coupling member is formed of at least two substances having different absorption coefficients with respect to the shock waves and arranged in such a manner that the substance having the higher absorption coefficient is placed vertically below the explosion point.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
17 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said substance having the higher absorption coefficient is air.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
61 words
An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the coupling member is a solid member in contact with a portion of said transparent wall, the other portion of said wall defining with the ground surface a volume filled with a substance having an absorption coefficient higher than that of said solid member and located vertically below said means for generating explosive forces.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
173 words
An apparatus for inducing shear waves in the earth comprising: a rigid eNclosure having a wall portion and a surface portion for coupling acoustic energy to the earth; and means, disposed within said enclosure, for generating explosive forces from a volume of explosive material which is confined within a space of the enclosure whose volume is small with respect to the volume of the enclosure and for causing the force acting on said surface portion of said rigid enclosure, resulting from shock waves caused by said explosive forces within said enclosure, to have a component tangential to the surface of the earth, including means for suspending said volume of explosive material within said enclosure, the interior of said enclosure dissymmetrically surrounding said volume of explosive material, so that the distribution of the explosive forces which are applied by way of said surface portion to the earth have a substantial component parallel to the surface of the earth, whereby shear waves will be induced through said surface portion of said enclosure into the earth.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
173 words
An apparatus for inducing shear waves in the earth comprising: a rigid eNclosure having a wall portion and a surface portion for coupling acoustic energy to the earth; and means, disposed within said enclosure, for generating explosive forces from a volume of explosive material which is confined within a space of the enclosure whose volume is small with respect to the volume of the enclosure and for causing the force acting on said surface portion of said rigid enclosure, resulting from shock waves caused by said explosive forces within said enclosure, to have a component tangential to the surface of the earth, including means for suspending said volume of explosive material within said enclosure, the interior of said enclosure dissymmetrically surrounding said volume of explosive material, so that the distribution of the explosive forces which are applied by way of said surface portion to the earth have a substantial component parallel to the surface of the earth, whereby shear waves will be induced through said surface portion of said enclosure into the earth.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
36 words
An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said means comprises an explosive charge positioned at a preselected location within said enclosure and a low absorption medium confined within said enclosure spaced apart from said explosive charge.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
35 words
An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said low absorption medium is disposed partially in one of the lateral halves of said enclosure and partially in the upper part thereof displaced from said surface portion.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
28 words
An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said means comprises an explosive charge positioned at a preselected location within said enclosure displaced with respect to the center thereof.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
56 words
An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said surface portion of said enclosure includes an acoustic wave permeable membrane and further including a wedge-shaped acoustic coupling member to one surface of which said membrane is coupled and another surface of which, inclined with respect to said one surface, is positioned on the surface of the earth.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
52 words
An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said means comprises an explosive charge positioned at a preselected location within said enclosure and a medium, having an acoustic absorption characteristic different with respect to the medium in which said explosive charge is positioned, confined within said enclosure spaced apart from said explosive charge.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
66 words
An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said enclosure further includes a further membrane extending from the wall of said enclosure to the membrane making up said surface portion of said enclosure, so as to divide the interior of said enclosure into first and second portions, in the first of which said explosive charge is positioned and in the second of which said medium is confined.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
25 words
An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said first portion of said enclosure is filled with water and said second portion is filled with air.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
28 words
An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said wedge-shaped acoustic coupling member contains first and second compartments respectively confining first and second media having different acoustic absorption characteristics.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
28 words
An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said wedge-shaped acoustic coupling member contains first and second compartments respectively confining first and second media having different acoustic absorption characteristics.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
54 words
An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said explosive charge is vertically positioned, with respect to said another surface of said wedge-shaped acoustic coupling member, above the one of said compartments, the medium in which compartment has the lesser degree of acoustic transmissivity with respect to the medium in the other of said compartments.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
36 words
An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said another surface of said wedge-shaped acoustic coupling member includes a plate provided with a plurality of acute-angle edges distributed over the entire surface thereof facing the ground surface.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
33 words
An Apparatus according to claim 18, wherein each of said enclosure, first compartment and second compartment of said wedge-shaped acoustic coupling member confines a respective medium having a relatively different acoustic absorption characteristic.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1977-09-16 | 1978-03-18 | 1978-09-17 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1981-09-16 | 1982-03-18 | 1982-09-17 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1985-09-16 | 1986-03-18 | 1986-09-17 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |