Enclosure for raising and breeding marine animals and in particular fish in the open sea

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7305648-8

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7 - 0 5 - 18 FR 7 7 1 5 2 2 0 '7 · # £ öua «d &amp;: National Research Valorisation Agency (ANVAR), Neuilly-sur-Seine FR (72? Vtiö -?. I.!&gt; nare: A Muller-Feuga, Clichy ί i'4) Giisbi. ·.! ; H Albihns patent agency AB (Si Ssjiäftining: Fence for breeding of marine animals (, b6) Other publications:

7805648-8

IN

The invention relates to a fence for raising hood .....

animals, especially for fish in ambient free water, in light: at least one fillable housing of a dense plastic material;

Sorry considering the need for man to get out .....

desert: its sources include food, especially with regard to raw protein, numerous attempts have been made in recent years to exchange crops in vaitsii, ie exploitation of aquatic environments to: control ......

forever develop you. dals animal production, especially of seafood and fish, and partly vegetable production, ie t especially of algae in economically profitable way.

The cat farms have thereby been arranged in the contact line between water and land areas, ie along the water, trackings and coastal land.

As a result, floating cages and suspended crops have allowed the extension of this geocjraphically restricted domain from protected coasts.

However, the known technology has so far required specially protected conditions, access to specific areas, topographic profit, and water quality, which significantly, they limit. the exploitable areas.

POOR

The low availability of useful water areas ··. is further strengthened due to the difficulty in reconciling suitable conditions for aquatic life and the majority of activities along the coasts, sauce such as industry, urban development, tourism or shipping.

The present invention is intended to provide a fence and a farm with at least one fence suitable for device anywhere in the aquatic environment and thus in spite of the limited barriers presently present for the construction of such known devices.

The invention also aims to provide a fence in the least possible dependence on human disturbances at a distance from the coast, the farm in addition to the fence including all the functions associated with this activity, ie in particular feeding of the fish, an energy supply which gives the farm sufficient independence and preferably a livestock. which allows a comfortable stay on the farm for a team.

The invention is characterized in that the casing consists of a soft, marine-resistant foil, that the casing has at least one inlet from a supply line for water of higher pressure than the surrounding water pressure, at least one outlet for water from the casing and at least one fastening device for connecting the the cover of a support member submerged in the water.

Each fence, consisting of a fillable structure, together forms a unit defining a definite water space in which there is a forced circulation through the inlet or openings for pressurized water or through the outlet openings, this compulsory circulation assuring the replenishment of the seawater during of the shape of the fence.

According to a particular embodiment, the fence according to the invention has a lens shape, e.g. provided by the connection of two spherical or ellipsoid calibers facing each other

7805648-8 cavities, the fence being suitably provided with a stiffener consisting of e.g. ring-shaped hoses, filled with high-pressure water, which are similarly made of soft, dense oeh in the marine environment inert plastic material, one of the ring hoses for example. is arranged in the equatorial plane of the fence and one or more other ring hoses serve as the fastening mandrel for the fence against the submerged support member, all of the tubing rings being connected to a device for supplying pressure water.

in this embodiment, the supply openings for water are under pressure at the inside of the structure, i.e. to the fence's volume, performed at the perimeter of the fence, especially at the same level as the connection of the fence to the submerged support member, or may conveniently be provided with a guide rail system, the discharge openings being located adjacent to the central axis of the fence.

In an advantageous embodiment, the discharge is made adjacent to the central axis of the fence by means of a plurality of openings or slots arranged along an elongated rotary body which forms a straight grid and which axially extends over the fence at its center, the grid-shaped body being connected therewith at the outer ends. The elongated body, which may also be called a grating, may have cylindrical tubing or, preferably, the shape of a rotary hyperboloid.

The device for controlling the discharge of the openings or slots through the grid is then preferably levers, which are hydraulically remote controlled from the support means. These control arrangements for the size of the drainage surfaces enable maintenance of a largely constant filling pressure in the fence, regardless of variations in the circulation flow of the water during operation. Conveniently, the filling pressure can be regulated as a function of stirring in the water to avoid deformation of the fence under the action of pressure from moving water bodies in the environment. In doing so, the discharge openings should be so small as to obstruct passage for the marine animals during various stages of their development.

According to the invention, the stiffening device, consisting of hose rings under water pressure, may be arranged on the inside or outside of the fillable housing defining the fence's room, whereby of course the entire fillable structure, the stiffening ring hoses and the central grid should have

POOK quality

7805648-8 flowability which is substantially equal to zero, i.e. that they use soft plastic materials in themselves should have any bonding that is roughly equivalent to that of water₃ while the appropriate feed grid should comprise a device for compensation ε. its flowability.

The invention also relates to an industrial, new product relating to a marine animal breeding station, in particular to free-water fish, which includes at least one fence of the type described above, and suitably a plurality of fences arranged along the lowered portion of the support member in the form of a rod buoy. ex. a Froude buoy, wherein the buoy in its inner part preferably comprises pumping devices, e.g. in the form of low-pressure screw pumps, which suck in surrounding water at the lower part of the buoy bar and pump it through each of the fences with sufficient pressure to keep the fence full. Filling and pressure holding of the ring hoses in the stiffening device for the fence is conveniently done by means of special pumping devices.

The rod buoy preferably comprises an anchorage arrangement with a single anchor rope, one end of which is attached to the seabed and the other end of which is provided with a member, which is slidable along a guide rail on the rod buoy.

It has been found that such a bar buoy provided with a plurality of fences arranged floor along its submerged portion vva shows a remarkable and surprising stability - in various forms of seagoing and in particular a remarkable stability against rolling, stomping and tilting in the dive.

Especially the stability against stomping could give rise to stresses in the attachment of the hedge, especially the higher placed, due to significant vertical movement of the hedge relative to the rod. These relative vertical movements, and thus also the load, can be reduced by the arrangement of flaps which can be pivoted between a horizontal position and a vertical position at the level of each fence.

Apart from other known devices such as ballast; anchoring wine char, etc., the rod buoy preferably has in its vertical part one or more storage containers for feeding the sea animals at the breeding, and in its upper part above the water surface premises for the staff at the breeding station.

The invention is not described in the following by means of step

7805648-8 limiting embodiment of a fence and a livestock station according to the invention by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a livestock station according to the invention, Figs. 2,3 and 4 show the livestock station in Fig. 1 during operation. Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a rearing fence according to the invention; Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; 7 Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the fence of Figs. 5 and 6; Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of the connection between the fence and the support member as well as the stiffening hose rings and the deflection system of the flowing pressure water; Fig. 9 is a side view of the central grid of the fence of Figs. 5 to 8; FIG. 10 is a plan view of the grid of FIG. 9;

shows a sectional view along the line 11-11 in FIG. 9, and FIG.

12, with some parts excluded, shows a mechanism which permits control of the outlet surface of the grid in Figures 9 to 11.

We now refer to Figures 1 to 4, which show a rearing fence according to the invention.

In the illustrated embodiment, the cultivation station according to the invention comprises a bar float of the type Froude's rod buoy "comprising a vertical, largely tubular body 2, a portion of which projects above the water, and an upper portion 3 of larger diameter, which is above the water surface.

At this upper part 3, premises are provided for the station's work teams, as well as devices for controlling and measuring the cultivation conditions as well as devices intended to provide the station with the necessary energy for its function. In order to make the station self-sufficient in terms of energy, these devices can e.g. include solar collectors, windmills, wave power plants and hydroelectric power plants.

Along the vertical body 2 of the rod buoy 1 are arranged a plurality of cultivation fences 4, which are described in more detail with reference to Figures 5 to 8.

Each of the fences 4, as can be seen in particular from Figures 3 and 4, may be connected to longitudinal lines 5, one of which corresponds to each fence located in the rod buoy 1 and which at the lower end 6 opens into the surrounding water. Pump devices 7 for example, in the form of low-pressure screw pumps are device POH QUALITY

7805648-8 at the lower part of each conduit 5. The pumps 7, as indicated by arrows in Fig. 3, allow the conduit 5 to be fed at the bottom of the rod buoy, with a desired overpressure via a valve 8 arranged in the conduit. 5 in line with the fence in question.

Fig. 4 shows schematically the emptying of a poultry or marine animal, especially fish raised therein.

The rod buoy is loaded until a sampling pool 9, located in its upper part 3, reaches the water. The basin 9 includes a discharge pump 11 which pumps the water from the fence after wrapping the valve 8 through the conduit 5 and the basin 9 · As the volume of the fence decreases, the animals attempt to escape through the conduit 5 or reach the sampling basin 9 where they can be sampled or measured.

For feeding animals to a fence, they are supplied in the conduit 5 to the fence in question from the surface to the level of the valve 8, where they are entrained in the circulating flow from the pump device 7 at the bottom of the rod buoy 1.

Supply of feed to a fence is likewise effected by the circulation flow from the pump device 7, into which the feed donors are introduced by a water channel which opens between the valve 8 and the connecting channel with the fence.

As Figure 2 shows, the rod buoy 1 is anchored by an anchor rope 12 which is secured to a sliding shoe 13, which ax⁵ sliding along the full length of the rod buoy 1 in a guide rail 14.

Swivel flaps 15 are also arranged along the lowered portion of the bar buoy, which can take different pivot positions as shown in Fig. 2.

Figures 5 to 8 show an embodiment of a fence according to the invention.

The fence according to the invention comprises a lens-fillable envelope, which may be made of any kind of soft, dense material, which remains unaffected by the marine environment and whose density corresponds largely to that of the water.

In the illustrated embodiment, furthermore, there is a stiffening device consisting of a plurality of annular hoses, which can also be made of any kind of material which is softly dense, unaffected by the marine environment and which has a density which is substantially equal to that of the water. As shown by

<img file="SE437211B_D0001.tif" />

7805648-8 the figure runs one of the hose rings around the fillable housing Ιό in the vicinity of its equatorial plane.

As schematically shown in Fig. 7, the hose rings 17 are connected to the rod buoy 1 for filling with pressurized water which gives it sufficient rigidity.

The inside of the fillable housing 16 is also connected to the rod buoy 1 to receive water under overpressure relative to surrounding water, the pressurized water being tangentially directed to the fillable housing by a deflection system 19. The water mass in the housing of the fence, which contains the livestock animals, becomes also affected to rotate. Also adjacent to the central axis of the fillable housing is a lattice 20, which will later be described in detail with reference to FIG. 9 to 11.

Further, mounting mandrels are provided for attaching the hinge 4 to the rod buoy 1, the fastening mandrel being in the form of a fillable bracket, which blocks a plate 21 in a rod buoyant cavity, the plate 21 being secured to the outer ends of the hose rings and the fillable housing and wherein the plate is brought to the intended location by sliding along a guide 31 along the bar buoy. The fillable bracket cooperates on plate 21 to provide full connection for each of the ports 4 with the bar buoy 1, and in particular to provide close connection between the overpressure channels in the bar buoy and corresponding channels in the ports, the channels supplying the remote controlled hydraulic control system the grate 20, the stiffening hose rings and the water circulation system in the hedge.

As Figures 5 to 8 show, the stiffening device has the shape of hose rings disposed internally in the filler housing 16, provided that the invention is not limited to this embodiment and that the hose rings may also be provided on the outside of the filler housing.

Figures 9 to 11 show an embodiment of the central grid 20 for a fence according to the invention.

As shown in Fig. 9, the central grid 20 has two end flanges 22 and a central portion 23 in the form of a rotational hyperboloid. The flanges 22 comprise a mechanical device which permits control of the discharge surface in the grid 20, ρθΟΒ0^{υΜ, ΓΓΥ}

7805648-8 wherein, an example of the mechanical device is shown in Fig. 11 and likewise comprises an incompressible material of low density such as oil, intended to eliminate the negative flowability of the grid 20.

As can be seen in Fig. 11, the connection between the grid is inside and outside, ie. the environment of the fillable housing 16, provided by a plurality of slots 26, which are provided at their inner orifice with a flap 27.

As can be seen in Fig. 12, a mechanism may be provided which allows control of the inner opening surface of the slots 26 by actuation of the flaps 27.

This mechanism can e.g. include a control ring which is analogous to the ring used at Francis turbines and which includes a circular member 28 which may be actuated by a hydraulic mandrel 29 with feed from a control circuit 32 to change the inclination of the flaps 27 via the levers 30.

Although the invention is described in conjunction with suitable embodiments, it will be apparent that these are not limiting and that the person skilled in the art can make many modifications without departing from the scope and others of the invention.

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7805648-8