Patent attributes
A deep-water submersible system is disclosed. The system can include a pressure vessel and an internal assembly. The internal assembly can include a housing and a wedge lock assembly coupleable to the housing. The wedge lock assembly can include a plurality of wedge members arranged along a longitudinal axis and including end wedge members at each end and one or more intermediate wedge members between the end wedge members. The wedge lock assembly can also include a displacement device along the longitudinal axis and connecting the end wedge members. The displacement device can be actuatable in one direction to move the end wedge members toward one another to displace adjacent wedge members relative to one another in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis to engage and apply a clamping force to the housing and the pressure vessel. In addition, the wedge lock assembly can include a variable gap compensation mechanism operable to exert a biasing force on the plurality of wedge members to accommodate the relative transverse movement of the adjacent wedge members and maintain the clamping force on the housing and the pressure vessel within a predetermined range as a distance between the housing and the pressure vessel varies.