Remote control floatation boom

Abstract

A floatable boom for concentrating brine shrimp eggs which are floating at or near the surface of a body of water. The floatable boom comprises a rigid, floatable tube, a skirt affixed to the lower portion of the tube and extending downward into the body of water, and a remotely controlled drive device for propelling the floatable boom through the body of water. The invention discloses two of the novel, floatable booms extending outwardly from a harvesting boat in a divergent manner, such that a wedge-shaped concentrating angle is formed between the booms. The invention further comprises a means of support for maintaining the wedge-shaped concentrating angle formed by the booms.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A floatable boom for use in concentrating a thin layer of brine shrimp eggs at the surface of a body of water for the purpose of harvesting said brine shrimp eggs comprising: a rigid, floatable tube having an upper portion designed to float above the body of water surface and a lower portion designed to submerge below the body of water surface, said tube having first and second ends, wherein said floatable tube is substantially rigid in a linear direction between said first and second ends;   a rigid skirt affixed to the lower portion of the tube and extending into the body of water, said skirt being angled such that said skirt does not extend substantially vertically downward, and having first and second ends;   means for attaching the first end of the tube and skirt to a brine shrimp harvesting boat such that the tube and skirt extend outwardly from the boat; and   means for attaching the second end of the tube and skirt to a drive device for propelling the floatable boom through the body of water.   
     
     
       2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the rigid floatable tube comprises multiple sections of rigid tube and skirt each connected together, wherein said multiple sections of rigid tube and skirt connected together are substantially rigid in a linear direction. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the tube is a plastic pipe filled with foam. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the tube is an aluminum pipe. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the tube has a diameter in the range from about 4 inches to about 12 inches. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the tube has a length of from about 20 feet to about 200 feet. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the tube has a length of from about 40 feet to about 150 feet. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the tube has a length of from about 80 feet to 135 feet. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the skirt is aluminum. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the skirt has a depth from the water surface in the range from about 4 inches to about 18 inches. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the drive device is a boat. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the drive device is an unmanned boat. 
     
     
       13. A floatable boom for use in concentrating a thin layer of brine shrimp eggs at the surface of a body of water for the purpose of harvesting said brine shrimp eggs comprising: a rigid floatable tube having an upper portion designed to float above the body of water surface and a lower portion designed to submerge below the body of water surface, said tube having first and second ends, wherein said floatable tube is substantially rigid in a linear direction between said first and second ends;   a skirt affixed to the lower portion of the tube and extending into the body of water, said skirt having first and second ends;   means for attaching the first end of the tube and skirt to a brine shrimp harvesting boat such that the tube and skirt extend outwardly from the boat; and   means for attaching the second end of the tube and skirt to an unmanned drive device for propelling the floatable boom through the body of water, said drive device being remotely controlled.   
     
     
       14. The apparatus as set forth in claim 13, wherein the remotely controlled drive device comprises: a frame;   at least one float attached to the frame;   an outboard motor attached to the frame; and   means for operating the motor remotely.   
     
     
       15. The apparatus as set forth in claim 13, wherein the drive device is radio controlled. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus as set forth in claim 13, wherein the apparatus further comprises a conduit affixed to the upper portion of the tube, said conduit containing therein control cables for controlling the drive device. 
     
     
       17. The apparatus as set forth in claim 16, wherein the control cables comprise fiber optic cables. 
     
     
       18. The apparatus as set forth in claim 16, wherein the control cables comprise electric cables. 
     
     
       19. The apparatus as set forth in claim 13, wherein the skirt is rigid. 
     
     
       20. The apparatus as set forth in claim 19, wherein the skirt is angled such that said skirt does not extend substantially vertically downward. 
     
     
       21. The apparatus as set forth in claim 13, wherein the rigid floatable tube comprises multiple sections of rigid tube and skirt each connected together, wherein said multiple sections of rigid tube and skirt connected together are substantially rigid in a linear direction. 
     
     
       22. An apparatus for use in concentrating a thin layer of brine shrimp eggs at the surface of a body of water for the purpose of harvesting said brine shrimp eggs comprising: at least two floatable booms forming a wedge-shaped, concentrating angle defining a wide forward end of said concentrating angle and a narrow rearward end, said floatable booms having a length of about 40 feet to about 150 feet, wherein each floatable boom comprises: a plurality of rigid, floatable tube sections having a lower portion designed to submerge below the body of water surface, wherein adjacent tube sections are slidably connected to form each floatable boom, and wherein the tube sections have a diameter in the range from about 4 inches to about 12 inches; and   a rigid skirt affixed to the lower portion of each tube section and extending into the body of water;     means for attaching the floatable booms to a brine shrimp harvesting boat such that the floatable booms extend outwardly from the boat; and   means for attaching the floatable booms to a remotely controlled drive device for propelling the floatable booms through the body of water, wherein the remotely controlled drive device comprises a frame having at least one float attached to the frame and an outboard motor attached to the frame, and means for operating the motor remotely.   
     
     
       23. The apparatus as set forth in claim 22, wherein the floatable booms have a length of about 80 feet to about 135 feet. 
     
     
       24. The apparatus as set forth in claim 22, wherein the tube sections include plastic pipe filled with foam. 
     
     
       25. The apparatus as set forth in claim 22, wherein the tube sections include aluminum pipe. 
     
     
       26. The apparatus as set forth in claim 22, wherein the skirt is angled such that said skirt does not extend substantially vertically downward. 
     
     
       27. The apparatus as set forth in claim 22, wherein the skirt is aluminum. 
     
     
       28. The apparatus as set forth in claim 22, wherein the skirt has a depth from the water surface in the range from about 4 inches to about 18 inches. 
     
     
       29. The apparatus as set forth in claim 22, wherein the drive device is radio controlled. 
     
     
       30. The apparatus as set forth in claim 22, wherein the apparatus further comprises a conduit affixed to the upper portion of the tube sections, said conduit containing therein control cables for controlling the drive device. 
     
     
       31. The apparatus as set forth in claim 30, wherein the control cables comprise fiber optic cables. 
     
     
       32. The apparatus as set forth in claim 30, wherein the control cables comprise electric cables. 
     
     
       33. The apparatus as set forth in claim 22, further comprising at least one support means for maintaining the concentrating angle between the booms. 
     
     
       34. The apparatus as set forth in claim 33, wherein the at least one support means comprises a cable. .Iadd. 
     
     
       35.  A method for concentrating brine shrimp eggs at the surface of a body of water for the purpose of harvesting said brine shrimp eggs comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining a pair of floatable tubes having an upper portion designed to float above the body of water surface and a lower portion designed to submerge below the body of water surface, said tubes having first and second ends, wherein a skirt is affixed to the lower portion of each tube and extends into the body of water, said skirt having first and second ends;   (b) attaching the first end of the tubes and skirts to a brine shrimp harvesting device such that the tubes and skirts extend outwardly from the brine shrimp harvesting device;   (c) attaching the second end of each tube and skirt to an unmanned drive device for propelling the floatable tubes through the body of water, said drive devices being remotely controllable;   (d) remotely controlling the drive devices in a manner such that the drive devices propel the floatable tubes through the body of water and form a wedge-shaped, concentrating angle which concentrates and funnels the brine shrimp eggs towards the harvesting device, such that brine shrimp eggs are concentrated at the water surface adjacent the harvesting device. .Iaddend..Iadd.   
     
     
       36.  The method as set forth in claim 35, wherein the pair of floatable tubes comprise multiple sections of tube and skirt, wherein the tube and skirt sections are connected together. .Iaddend..Iadd.37. The method as set forth in claim 35, wherein the tubes have a length of from about 20 feet to about 200 feet. .Iaddend..Iadd.38. The method as set forth in claim 35, wherein the tubes have a length of from about 40 feet to about 150 feet. .Iaddend..Iadd.39. The method as set forth in claim 35, wherein the tubes have a length of from about 80 feet to 135 feet. .Iaddend..Iadd.40. The method as set forth in claim 35, wherein the skirts are aluminum. .Iaddend..Iadd.41. The method as set forth in claim 35, wherein the skirts have a depth from the water surface in the range from about 4 inches to about 18 inches. .Iaddend..Iadd.42. The method as set forth in claim 35, wherein the skirts are rigid. .Iaddend..Iadd.43. The method as set forth in claim 42, wherein the skirts are angled such that said skirts do not extend substantially vertically downward. 
     
     
        .Iaddend..Iadd.44.  The method as set forth in claim 35, wherein the drive devices comprise: a frame;   at least one float attached to the frame;   an outboard motor attached to the frame; and   means for operating the motor remotely. .Iaddend..Iadd.45. The method as set forth in claim 35, wherein the drive devices are radio controlled. .Iadd.46. The method as set forth in claim 35, wherein the drive devices further comprises a conduit affixed to the upper portion of the tube attached to each drive device, said conduit containing therein control cables for controlling the drive device. .Iaddend..Iadd.47. The method as set forth in claim 46, wherein the control cables comprise fiber optic cables. .Iaddend..Iadd.48. The method as set forth in claim 46, wherein the control cables comprise electric cables. .Iaddend..Iadd.49. The method as set forth in claim 35, further comprising the step of harvesting the brine shrimp eggs. .Iaddend.