It is necessary to absorb movement in structures that need to be adapted to water movement. Such is the case of jetties or other platforms, either passing-through or support platforms, built with independent elements that must be kept together by means of couplings which can buffer the joining thereof.
Moreover, breeding molluscs at ria mouths, in rough waters of large lakes or in the open sea where waves can be considerable, requires farming structures to resist the battering of the sea and the force of underwater currents during storms, or the efforts derived from tugging said structures to their place of use, or both situations at the same time. In addition, in known designs of mollusc farming structures, the breeding ropes hanging from the structures endure abrupt movements, thus causing the detachment of part of the culture.
The stiffness of these structures, together with the heavy loads they support, prevent proper adjustment to the marine environment and, as a better adjustment to the environment is required in the facilities and devices for mollusc farming than in those designed for fish breeding, it has become necessary to design structures intended for this specific type of farming having elongated hollow members or at least with hollow ends interconnected with intermediate flexible modules, as disclosed in document ES2145727.
Document WO8703170, though not intended for mollusc breeding, discloses a floating breeding device for fish and the like including at least one breeding bag which is carried by a cage equipped with floating bodies, which cage consists of a three-dimensional frame consisting of a number of rods composed to polygons, which rods and foreseen interconnecting struts are elastically interconnected between at least some of the joints.
Document EP0358421 discloses the use of a flexible coupling to join frame members into a fence structure for fish breeding, the coupling including first and second mounting means for mounting to respective frame members adjoining in the structure and a flexible body between said first and second mounting means. The rotational and translational movement between adjoining frame members is determined by the material of the flexible body and by two mechanical stops. The coupling includes a mechanical connection between the mounting means in case the flexible body fails.