Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
  • B63H—MARINE PROPULSION OR STEERING
  • B63H8/00—Sail or rigging arrangements specially adapted for water sports boards, e.g. for windsurfing or kitesurfing
  • B63H8/10—Kite-sails; Kite-wings; Control thereof; Safety means therefor
  • B63H8/12—Kites with inflatable closed compartments
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
  • B63H—MARINE PROPULSION OR STEERING
  • B63H8/00—Sail or rigging arrangements specially adapted for water sports boards, e.g. for windsurfing or kitesurfing
  • B63H8/10—Kite-sails; Kite-wings; Control thereof; Safety means therefor
  • B63H8/16—Control arrangements, e.g. control bars or control lines

Definitions

• the invention stands out in that the wing or sail which is the subject of it does not include a mechanical connection, in the sense of a connection having a form of connection requiring a fixing operation, such as c is for example the case for a windsurfing sail which comprises a mast mechanically secured to the board, or for a kitesurfing wing which is secured to the practitioner's torso using a harness harnessed to the body and to which the lines which make the connection with the wing are fixed.
• a windsurfing sail which comprises a mast mechanically secured to the board
• a kitesurfing wing which is secured to the practitioner's torso using a harness harnessed to the body and to which the lines which make the connection with the wing are fixed.
• the wing of the invention has none of these characteristics resulting from a mechanical connection, it is in practice simply held by the user, via manual gripping means, generally handles, and the realization of the connection therefore requires a constant maintenance of physical effort necessary for gripping the sail on the one hand, and controlling it in space on the other hand.
• the wing in a nutshell, is self-contained in that it is not structurally attached to the rest of the hitch. It is nevertheless possible to use a harness with an end connecting the practitioner to the wing, to relieve the efforts of the arms. This option is not considered a mechanical linkage in the sense of the one described above because it is temporary and the pilot does not have to let go of the control handles to continue steering his wing.
• This mode of operation of a wing autonomously associated with a gliding device is already known, for example described in the patent document DE 102019 101 656 which proposes water sports equipment comprising a board supporting a user and a sail held by the latter. It also comprises gripping means of the rigid handle type, thanks to which it is possible to manipulate it in order to give it a favorable orientation to capture the wind necessary for the propulsion of the user.
• the object of the patent is to improve the performance of these new-generation autonomous wings with a solely inflatable leading edge.
• These wings give rise to a certain number of specific problems, in particular due to all the deformations resulting from the lack of rigidity of the leading edge, which is not supported or stiffened by struts, bridles, or rigid spars.
• the pilot When navigating, the pilot only holds the two handles and the rest of the wing tends to deform.
• the challenge is to control these deformations and in particular the tension of the trailing edge which is one of the essential characteristics of the performance of a wing because as soon as we lose the tension of the trailing edge, this results in a loss of angle of incidence of part of the profile and therefore by a reduction in lift and more generally in performance.
• the design used to date comprises an extension of the leading edge at the wing tip to transform it into two more or less long slats, after a angle that differentiates their orientation from that of the leading edge proper.
• the advantage is that the leading edge associated with the two slats of the wing tips form only one and the same structure, easy to build and to inflate.
• These wings also have a central batten which can be inflatable or of a rigid type, like a boom or spar, for the placement of the handles or the hands, which allows the control of the wing, but also the profile control in this area.
• the disadvantage of this known configuration is that the wingtip slat does not have enough stiffness or hold, and therefore quickly bends towards the center of the wing under the pressure and lift that exerts the wind into the fabric of the wing body. This results in a loss of tension at the trailing edge and consequently a deterioration in performance. This also results in a loss of power. It is of course possible to increase the diameter of the leading edge and of this S3 strut to improve its rigidity, but this adds weight and drag. The angular or angled shape that separates the leading edge from the wingtip strut particularly aggravates deformation, especially with an inflatable structure.
• the object of the invention is to perfectly control the tension of the trailing edge and at the same time the distribution of the surface of the wing.
• the autonomous traction wing of the invention intended as mentioned above to be used in addition to a gliding device capable of cooperating with the feet of a user and controlled by said user via manual gripping means placed on said wing, with a structure having an airfoil delimited by an inflatable sausage leading edge and a trailing edge, said structure being symmetrical with respect to a central slat.
• the half-wings located on either side of the central slat each comprise at least one additional transverse slat placed between the central slat and the end of the wing, said transverse slat additional :
• the inflatable tube of the leading edge is extended by wingtip slats forming an angle with the leading edge.
• the wingtip batten is less stressed because the majority of the tension now passes through this additional transverse batten and is diverted towards the leading edge.
• this additional batten creates a positive trailing edge, which adds surface area. The increase in surface area at this point makes it possible to decrease the wingtip surface area, and thus to shorten the wingtip strut to reduce weight, drag and flex.
• a positive trailing edge when an imaginary straight line is drawn between the rear end of the central batten and the rear end of the end of the wing or the tip batten of the wing, if there is fabric outside this line, the trailing edge is positive.
• the wingspan must therefore have a length dictated by the size of the user and cannot be extended as desired. Up to surfaces of about 5m 2 , it is possible to control the wingspan, but beyond that the wing tip tends to touch the water and can cause the user to fall or the whole less perpetual discomfort during use. To increase the surface of the wing, it is certainly possible to extend the length of the central chord, i.e. that of the central strut, but this has limits for the performance, the comfort, the deformations of the profile and the maneuverability of the kite. 'wing.
• the solution of the invention makes it possible to gain surface area ideally thanks to the positive of the trailing edge, without increasing the wingspan or the width of the wing tip. It is therefore particularly interesting for wings with a large surface area, for which the problem of tension at the trailing edge is particularly amplified due to their size. Indeed the inflatable leading edges beyond a certain length have limits of re- resistance to bending, because you cannot increase their diameter indefinitely without adding weight and drag.
• each half-wing also makes it possible to effectively add profile depth, to further improve power.
• This additional lift also allows the wingtip to be lifted away from the surface of the water, which allows the user to navigate more comfortably without having to raise their arms. Indeed, without this additional lift, the wing tends to stick to the water.
• This strut also allows the designer to better control the twist of the wing tip and thus the performance, control and stability of the wing.
• the characteristics of the invention therefore allow an increase in surface area by adding an additional batten, which is therefore preferably located beyond half of the half-wing in the direction of the wing tip. .
• the additional transverse slats are built with an inflatable coil structure, which is very advantageous in terms of weight, buoyancy and size when folding the wing. It is also easier to manage the shape of an inflatable batten and therefore to better control the profile of the wing at the location of the additional batten.
• the central slat and the wing tip slats can also be made of an inflatable tube.
• the inflatable bladder of the leading edge, the inflatable bladder of the central strut, the inflatable bladders of the transverse slats and the inflatable bladders of the wing tip slats are connected by a common inflation system.
• This system involves air passages between the tubes, resulting in simplifying deployment by inflating the wing, and this makes it possible to remain consistent with what is mentioned above with regard to weight, buoyancy and reduced bulk when folding the wing.
• the central slat is fixed in direct contact with the wing in the vicinity of its rear end. 'offensive.
• the central slat comprises, more preferably, a portion located between its rear end and its junction with the inflatable bladder of the leading edge which is not in direct contact with the wing and is connected thereto by a section of material fabric-like soft. This section prevents the blade from moving away from the batten in an uncontrolled way, and on the contrary allows the profile of the blade to be adjusted in its central part.
• leading edge flange has a slightly V-shaped conformation (that is to say in positive dihedral) from the center towards its ends, which results in raising said ends.
• the wing is also in fabric and the direction of the straight grain of the fabric is oriented, in each half-wing, at least in the vicinity of the edge BF, parallel to an imaginary straight line drawn between the rear end of the central batten and the rear end of the additional batten.
• the yarns of the fabric canopy are preferably pre-oriented in a determined manner during manufacture.
• most wings on the market are made of fabric, but there are also non-woven films (commonly called monofilm) which are often used for making transparent windows.
• a fabric is made up of vertical yarns and horizontal yarns.
• the vertical thread called warp thread, or even straight thread, is the thread of the length of the fabric.
• the horizontal thread called weft thread, or even interlocked thread, is the thread woven across the width of the fabric.
• the fabric taken in the axis of the straight grain is often less elastic than the interlocked grain.
• the diagonal between the straight grain and the interlocked grain is called the bias, the fabric in the direction of the bias is much less rigid than in the axis of the warp or weft.
• FIG.l shows a bottom view of an embodiment of an autonomous traction wing according to the invention
• FIG.2 shows a side view of the embodiment of [Fig.l];
• FIG.3 represents a perspective view from a low angle of an autonomous traction wing conforming to the embodiment of the preceding figures.
• the self-contained traction wing comprises an inflatable sausage leading edge B A and a trailing edge BF at one edge of the wing 6.
• the wing is symmetrical with respect to a central slat 1 in inflatable sausage provided with gripping means 4 of the handle type which are fixed on said central slat 1 opposite the wing V.
• Another gripping handle 5 can also be fitted to the leading edge sausage B HAS.
• the leading edge flange BA is extended, in the configuration shown (this is only one possibility), at its ends, by wing tip slats 3 forming a angle with the leading edge BA flange.
• wing tip slats 3 are preferably and as already mentioned also made of an inflatable tube.
• each transverse slat 2 also consists of an inflatable tube.
• the inflatable bladder of the leading edge B A is curved in the plane of [Fig.l], but it also has a slightly V-shaped profile (that is to say with positive dihedral), as is visible in [Fig.3], resulting in raising its ends and in particular the wing tip slats 3 with respect to its center.
• the wing V is connected to the central strut by a piece of fabric 6, which is oriented substantially perpendicular to the airfoil V when the latter is taut.
• All the inflatable tubes can be connected, that is to say that pipes connect them, allowing the wing to be "deployed" by a common inflation system during a single inflation operation, from a deflated initial state that is easily foldable and takes up only minimal space.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Ocean & Marine Engineering (AREA)
• Toys (AREA)
• Tents Or Canopies (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

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ID=81595604

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 2022
  • 2022-04-11 WO PCT/EP2022/059625 patent/WO2022218921A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2022-04-11 EP EP22722222.1A patent/EP4323271A1/de active Pending
  • 2022-04-11 US US18/555,060 patent/US20240124112A1/en active Pending

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