GB191227981A - A New or Improved Motive Power Installation or Power Transmission System particularly applicable for use in Torpedoes and Submarine Vessels. - Google Patents

Abstract

27,981. Jensen, C. A., [Dodd, F. W.]. Dec. 4. Working-fluid supply. -Consists in propelling torpedoes, and submarine and other vessels, by a power plant comprising a number of chambers adapted to be filled with water from the water surrounding the torpedo or vessel and emptied by gaseous pressure fluid produced or heated by continuous combustion, the filling and emptying of the chambers taking place alternately and in succession or rotation so as to yield a fairly regular water output, and the expelled water being used to drive a turbine coupled to the propellers. Figs. 1 and 2 show the invention applied to a torpedo. Six chambers 16 arranged in two rows of three have common valves 17, 18 for controlling the inlet and outlet of the gaseous fluid and of the water respectively. The gaseous fluid comes from a generator 7 supplied with compressed air from a chamber 2, with liquid fuel from a chamber 6, and with a small quantity of water from a third chamber (not shown). The water for the chambers 16 comes from outside the torpedo, being sucked in by openings 40<b> and further impelled by a pump 40* and through a pipe 40 to the valve 18. The valves 17 and 18 have ports 34, 41, and are driven by worm gears 20, 23, bevel-gear 26, and spur gear 29 from the turbine 3, which comprises two wheels coupled to two shafts 4 and driven by the water expelled from the chambers 16 by a nozzle 45. The water from the turbine is led rearwards by a pipe 47 to assist propulsion, and the exhaust gases from the chambers 16 are led by a pipe 38 to a hollow sleeve 5 within the shafts 4, or by a pipe 39 to the interior of the shafts at a point further aft in a well-known way. Float valves 46 are provided in each chamber 16 to close the water outlet if the water level falls low, thus to prevent leakage of gases. In a modification intended for submarines the water for the chambers 16 is not obtained directly from the surrounding water but from a reservoir which is filled from the surrounding water; the compressed air is renewed by a pump driven by the turbine; and separate inlet and outlet valves worked by cams are provided for each water chamber.