Low-drag fairing configuration for flexible towing cables

Claim 2

An assembly of a cable and a plurality of cable fairings, each fairing having a flexible hollow nose with said cAble accommodated therein, and a comparatively rigid tail; said flexible nose of each said fairings having flexibility in the longitudinal direction thereof, and each said fairing having end surfaces from front to back thereof which are each substantially planar; each adjacent pair of fairings being connected by a flexible link member; the leading edge of said faired cable being substantially smooth and formed by the closely butted front edges of each adjacent pair of fairings.

Claim 3

An assembly according to claim 1 wherein each said link member is flexible.

Claim 4

An assembly according to claim 1 wherein each end of each link member is pivotable in the fairing, to which that end is connected.

Claim 5

An assembly according to claim 1 wherein each end of each link member is located in the tail of the fairing, to which that end is connected.

Claim 6

An assembly according to claim 1 wherein the length of cable covered by the nose of each fairing is substantially the same as the axial length of said nose and said tail of said fairing.

Claim 7

A cable fairing comprising a flexible hollow nose and a comparatively rigid tail, said nose and said tail being made of dissimilar materials, and integrally bonded together; said cable fairing having end surfaces from front to back thereof said end surfaces each being substantially planar; each of said nose and said tail portions being noncoextensive with the other over the entire front to back extent of the other of said portions; said flexible nose having flexibility in the longitudinal direction thereof and being flexible in a forward direction away from the tail portion of said fairing; whereby, when the cable fairing is associated with a cable, the cable may be reeled so that it is curved in a forward direction away from the tail of the fairing.

Claim 8

A cable fairing comprising a flexible hollow nose and a comparatively rigid tail, said nose and said tail being made of dissimilar materials, and integrally bonded together; said cable fairing having end surfaces from front to back thereof said end surfaces each being substantially planar; each of said nose and said tail portions being noncoextensive with the other over the entire front to back extent of the other of said portions; said flexible nose having flexibility in the longitudinal direction thereof and being flexible in a forward direction away from the tail portion of said fairing; whereby, when the cable fairing is associated with a cable, the cable may be reeled so that it is curved in a forward direction away from the tail of the fairing.

Claim 9

A cable fairing comprising a flexible hollow nose and a comparatively rigid tail; said flexible nose having flexibility in the longitudinal direction thereof; said cable fairing having end surfaces from front to back thereof, said end surfaces each being substantially planar; said tail being made of separable portions, and said nose being split at the back side thereof and adapted to be joined on each side of said split to one of said separable portions of said tail, so as to permit entry of a cable into said nose.

Claim 10

A cable fairing comprising a flexible hollow nose and a comparatively rigid tail; said flexible nose having flexibility in the longitudinal direction thereof; said cable fairing having end surfaces from front to back thereof, said end surfaces each being substantially planar; said tail being made of separable portions, and said nose being split at the back side thereof and adapted to be joined on each side of said split to one of said separable portions of said tail, so as to permit entry of a cable into said nose.