The present disclosure concerns a tool or device, method and assembly for approaching and if so desired moving and/or removing, for example, unexploded explosives or other soil-foreign materials, components or devices. Such explosives can be located, for example, in a soil of a waterbody, such as a lake or sea, and can be covered under a layer of soil material such as sediment, sand, and the like.

It regularly occurs in dredging works that UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) may be present or is in fact present in the layer that is to be removed. Dredging works are thereby considerably complicated, if not made impossible, at least not without danger to personnel and risking damage to equipment and machines. Such a suspicious area is first mapped by means of soil detection. After reviewing the scan data by a specialist, a reduced list of so-called ‘targets’ remains. These have to be approached in a protected way in order to be able to judge what is being encountered. It can involve an anchor chain, a car tire (so-called soil-foreign material) but also a so-called UXO (unexploded explosive/ordnance). Not just UXOs can disrupt the dredging process, anchor chains and car tires can also act disruptively. At present, the approach usually occurs manually by means of divers and ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicle). These are time-consuming and high-risk activities, during which the dredging work, what it is all about, is at a standstill.

The above-mentioned and/or other disadvantages of known technologies are abolished or at least reduced by embodiments of the present disclosure. With such embodiments, soil-foreign apparatuses or objects can be laid bare, taken up and moved in rapid succession.

The disclosure also concerns a method for approaching and if so desired removing or moving soil- foreign material, including unexploded explosives, with a device according to the present disclosure.

Finally, the disclosure concerns an assembly of a device according to this disclosure with at least one of a vessel, such as a ship or ROV, an excavator, and a crane.

Preferred embodiments are subject of dependent claims and/or are disclosed in the following description of the figures. In a particularly advantageous embodiment, different functions are combined in one device (such as for example two or more than two of positioning, spraying free, sucking free, visualising, scanning/detecting and grabbing). In this way, it is possible to, from one position without having persons in high-risk proximity of a ‘target’ : remove any present covering layer around the object by means of sucking and/or mass- flow and/or ‘jetting’ (low, intermediate and higher pressure, respectively); imaging the target or object (visualisation); determine, at safe distance, what kind of object it is (determination); after the determination or review, there is the choice to move the object by means of the gripper.

As assembly, the device can be employed particularly advantageously in combination with, but not limited to, an excavator on a pontoon or from a quay. Other platforms are also possible, such as a ROV with an arm operating from the ROV. The grab or dig arm attached to the excavator, ROV, or otherwise, is capable to place and hold the device in the desired location by means of position determination. The number of options for the platform, the grab or dig arm and/or of the excavator is amongst other aspects dependent on reach and external influences (current, action of waves, etc.). Hereby, many of the currently limiting factors are minimised and the number of ‘targets’ that can be approached will increase whereby costs will be reduced.

The invention is further explained using the following figures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of the device according to the present disclosure with the gripper in opened state;

FIG. 2 shows a view with the gripper in closed state;

FIG. 3 shows a view with the gripper in closed state and additional or alternative components for mass-flow;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of an assembly according to the present disclosure.

In FIG. 1, an embodiment of a device 10 according to the present disclosure is shown. It comprises a connector 1 to mount the device 10 to a machine 12, such as to the grab or dig arm 11 of an excavator 12 which can stand on a vessel 13, such as is shown in FIG. 4. This embodiment further comprises a suction (dredge) pump 2 for pumping water with or without the material that is to be removed or dredged away, which at a discharge side of the suction pump is provided with an outlet that is further described below. With this, soil material can be sucked away, carefully and with relatively low suction force, near a soil-foreign apparatus, such as an unexploded explosive/UXO. Indeed, the sucking action of the pump 2 is not or hardly directed, and the pump 2 will suck in water and soil material from all directions. Further, a supply 4 for jet water is provided which is configured to supply high-pressure water in order to bring in suspension the material that is to be removed or dredged away around the target and/or to spray clean the soil-foreign apparatus. Preferably, a visualisation device or scanner 5 is also provided. In the embodiment of FIG. 1 , the visualisation device or scanner 5 is arranged in a cage construction for protection. In this embodiment, the gripper is a multi-claw gripper that is designed such that in closed state it also serves as suction strainer. To this end, claws 6 can be shaped as grids. The multi-claw gripper comprises a number of claws 6, which are configured to move between an opened state (shown in FIG. 1) and a closed state (shown in FIG. 2). To this end, an actuator (not illustrated) can be arranged on or at the device 10 or a transmission can be employed along the arm 11, such as with cables and/or pull and push rods, while the actuator itself is positioned on or at the arm 11, the vessel 13, the excavator 12 or elsewhere. The embodiment further comprises nozzles 7 for outflow of the jetting water, that is taken up via supply 4 and transported to these nozzles 7 via an own pump or via the pump 2. In this embodiment, nozzles 7 are attached on the gripper claws 6 to bring in suspension the material near the target that is to be removed or dredged away. This configuration of nozzles 7 with the claws 6 is especially advantageously arrangeable around the soil-foreign apparatus for laying bare the soil-foreign apparatus and taking it up in the claws 6 of the gripper. The nozzles 7 here supply a relatively high pressure, while the grid-shaped claws 6 are closed during the spraying away of the soil material around the soil-foreign apparatus.

In FIG. 3, an addition to or an alternative for the nozzles 7 for jet water of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is shown. This addition or alternative comprises a nozzle 8 for outflow of ‘mass-flow’ - the use of water with a relatively high flow rate under a relatively low pressure to bring in suspension the soil material that is to be removed or dredged away in order for it to be carried away by itself on the water current, for example during strong currents. With a device 10 having both nozzles 7 for jet water as well as a nozzle 8 for mass-flow, the nozzles 7 and the nozzle 8 are preferably independently and simultaneously operable. As an example, the outflow of mass-flow from the nozzle 8 is shown in FIG. 3 while no jet water flows from the nozzles 7.

In the example of FIG. 3, a tube 9 is also shown, which serves to send sucked-up water from the discharge side of the suction pump 2 to the nozzle 8 to achieve the mass-flow. Nozzle 8 here supplies, by virtue of a design different from those of nozzles 7, a lower pressure that the nozzles 7, but higher pressing force than the suction side of the pump 2. As alternative, water that is taken in via an own pump that belongs to nozzle 8 can be supplied to this nozzle 8.

The device 10 can be employed to localise, identify and after review if so desired remove ‘targets’ (potential UXO). This preferably takes place stepwise in the following manner:

1) The device 10 is attached at or near connector 1 to a machine 12 that can approach the target (potential UXO) with the aid of, for example, position determination in combination with an already known position of the target. Additionally or alternatively, the visualisation device or scanner 5 can serve for localisation of the target. Here, the machine 12 can be located on a vessel 13, such as the excavator or crane 12 on a vessel 13 in FIG. 4. Alternatively, the device can be mounted to a ROV. The device is subject of the present disclosure, and if it is mounted to a crane/excavator, or to the vessel, such as a ship, ROV or submarine, the combination as a whole can be subject of the protection.

2) Thereafter, the covering material that is located over the target (when it is covered) is pumped away or sprayed away. To this end, at least one can be employed of the dredge pump 2 of the device 10, nozzles 7 for jet water and nozzle 8 for mass-flow.

3) Here, the gripper claws 6 of the device 10 are preferably closed, such as shown in FIG. 2, if the suction side of the dredge pump 2 is employed for laying bare the target, in which the suction mouth of the dredge pump 2 is then located in a space that is enclosed by the gripper claws 6. Herein, the gripper claws 6 serve as suction strainer to prevent objects that are too large from passing to the dredge pump 2. This configuration reduces explosion danger of the unexploded explosive by debris that are sucked in and/or blown away. The gripper claws 6 can also be partly or completely opened, while at least one of the dredge pump 2 of the device 10, nozzles 7 for jet water and nozzle 8 for mass-flow are employed to remove the covering material. Here, opening and closing of the gripper claws 6 can serve to direct the nozzles 7 for jet water that are arranged on the gripper claws 6.

4) When sufficient material has been removed, it is possible to review by means of the visualisation device or scanner 5 of the device 10 whether the target can be grabbed and moved.

5) The grabbing of the target happens by means of the gripper claws 6 of the device 10. To this end, these are brought into the opened state, such as shown in FIG. 1, and are placed over the target after which the gripper claws 6 are closed, such that the target is located within the enclosed space of the gripper claws 6.

6) Hereafter, the device 10 can be moved by means of the machine 12 to which it is attached in order to move the target and deposit it on a desired location. Having appreciated the foregoing, many alternative and additional embodiments will present itself to a person skilled in the art, all of which are encompassed by the scope of protection for the present invention according to the appended claims, while including - at least in some jurisdictions - obvious alternatives, unless such additional or alternative embodiments substantially deviate from them.