AUTOMATIC WATER SAMPLING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY SAMPLING DEEP-SEA WATER

摘要

PURPOSE: To automatically sample seawater at a predetermined depth by providing rope-less sample-water containers having switching valves on their upper and lower sides, a valve drive means, and a lock means for locking the valve drive means and for unlocking the drive means at a set depth. ;CONSTITUTION: An automatic water sampling device 1 is set and submerged in the sea with a buoyant material and a weight attached thereto. When the device 1 is at a set depth, an automatically-opening, water-pressure detecting valve 36 opens to allow water in a cylinder 33 to flow into an atmospheric container 34 through a conduit 35, and a pressure difference forces a piston 32 back inside the cylinder to move a hook 31 and disconnect a supporting rod 11. Thereby a piston 6 (therefore, cams 3, 4) gradually moves inwards to open an outlet valve 17 and an inlet valve 18. With the valves 17, 18 open, seawater enters sample-water containers 15a, 15b from the inlet valve 18, forcing sterilized seawater filling the containers to exit from the outlet valve 17. As the piston 6 is further lowered and approaches a lower limit 9, a cam floor disconnects from the cams 3, 4 and the valves 17, 18 are closed. Then the weight is released to float up the device 1 to collect samples.;COPYRIGHT: (C)1995,JPO