JPH042160Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] This invention is a thruster that constitutes the duct part of a thruster device used to propel submersibles, unmanned underwater vehicles, etc. (hereinafter simply referred to as submersibles). This concerns the improvement of ducts.

[Prior Art] The thruster duct surrounds a thruster device installed in a submersible or the like, and is provided to penetrate through the outer shell of the submersible, and the thruster device is disposed near an intermediate position.

The conventional thruster duct 13 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
As shown in the figure, it is composed of a duct 13a that supports the thruster device 5 with a support member 6, intermediate ducts 13b and 13c on both sides of the duct 13a, and ducts 13d and 13e at both ends. Ducts 13a, 13b, 13c
is a thin-walled cylindrical body made of materials such as aluminum alloy or stainless steel, and its outer periphery is reinforced with a plurality of ribs, and there are ducts 13 at both ends.
d and 13e are thin-walled cylindrical bodies made of materials such as aluminum alloy or FRP. ,
The structure was finished with a curved surface that had a radius of R.

By the way, it is necessary for the submersible 1 to balance its weight and its buoyancy and make it submerge at a so-called medium buoyancy, but there is no particular prior art document regarding a method for adjusting the buoyancy to such a medium buoyancy. Kaisho
There is a publication No. 48-24484.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] As described above, the conventional thruster duct 13 uses a material with negative buoyancy (sinks in water), such as a metal material such as an aluminum alloy or FRP. Therefore, when considering only the thruster duct 13 independently, it was necessary to supplement it with a buoyant body in order to achieve a neutral buoyancy.

In addition, the shape of the opening end of the duct 13 changes depending on the position of the submersible 1 where the thruster duct 13 is installed, and the shape may become very complicated depending on the position. The ducts 13d and 13e must be molded into a complicated shape according to the requirements, and upon installation, it is necessary to modify the ducts so that they are flush with the actual outer panel 2. Moreover, no matter how much the duct 13 itself can be formed flush with the outer plate 2, the duct 1 supporting the thruster device 5
3a, connect the intermediate ducts 13b and 13c to both sides of the duct 13a with bolts, etc., and then attach the intermediate ducts 13b and 13c.
Since both end ducts 13d and 13e are connected and attached to one end of c with bolts, etc., it is necessary to match the inner diameters of the ducts and the duct flanges, which is a very time-consuming work.

This idea was devised to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and included providing buoyancy to the thruster duct itself, forming work to finish the openings at both ends into a specified shape, matching the duct inner diameter, and duct flange face matching. The main purpose is to facilitate the process and reduce the man-hours required for outfitting.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the thruster duct of this invention has at least both end portions formed of a cylindrical buoyancy material having a predetermined thickness.

[Function] According to the thruster duct of this invention having the above-mentioned configuration, the floating amount is larger than the weight, and it acts as a buoyant body in a submersible. In addition, since the buoyancy material that is the duct material is cylindrical and has a predetermined thickness, if a duct insertion hole is made in advance at a predetermined position on the outer skin of the submersible, the cylindrical buoyancy material can be inserted into this insertion hole. It is possible to insert it, make a part of it protrude outward, cut the protruding part to match the outer surface of the submersible, and round the open end of the buoyancy material so that it has a predetermined roundness. Therefore, the thruster duct can be easily formed.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the thruster duct of this invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view including a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing an outline of a thruster duct portion of a submersible, and FIG. 2 is a view taken along the - line in FIG. 1.

In the figure, an insertion hole 4 for a thruster duct 3 is provided in the vertical direction of the submersible 1, penetrating the outer plate 2 constituting the outer shell.

A duct 3 a for supporting the thruster device 5 is arranged near the middle of the insertion hole 4 . This duct 3a is made of a cylindrical body made of thin metal such as aluminum alloy, as in the past, and has a plurality of metal ribs protruding from its outer periphery in the vertical direction at intervals in the circumferential direction. , is supported by a frame 1a inside the submersible 1 via a set of fixing fittings 15 (see FIG. 4). A thruster device 5 is arranged on the center line inside the duct 3a with a support member 6 interposed therebetween. The thruster device 5 includes a hydraulic motor (not shown) inside, and drives the hydraulic motor (not shown) with pressure oil supplied from a hydraulic power source (not shown) installed in the submersible vessel 1. to rotate the propeller 5b.

The thruster ducts 3b and 3c, which are disposed above and below the duct 3a, are each made of a cylindrical buoyant material having a predetermined thickness, and are a characteristic feature of the present invention. As the buoyancy material, in this example, a syntactic foam made of hollow resin spheres or hollow glass spheres solidified with synthetic resin was used. Further, the predetermined thickness is a thickness that allows rounding of the duct outer plate side end portion in order to effectively exhibit the propulsion performance of the thruster device 5. As the buoyant material for forming each thruster duct 3b, 3c, a material having a length such that a part thereof protrudes outward when inserted into the insertion hole 4 and connected to the duct 3a is used. . Then, the protruding portion of the buoyancy material outside the outer panel 2 is scored so as to be flush with the outer panel 2, and cut along the scored line. After cutting the protruding portion of the buoyancy material, the peripheral edge of the opening of the buoyancy material is cut to a predetermined radius 3b', 3c' as shown in FIG.

Each thrust duct 3b, 3c processed into a predetermined shape in this way is inserted into the insertion hole 4 and connected to the duct 3a. The inner end of each thrust duct 3b, 3c is inserted with a spigot into a ring part 3d extending around the outside of both ends of the duct 3a, and the gap in the spigot part is filled with a cushion piece 8 to eliminate looseness and to make the duct 3
Adjust the inner diameter of a, 3b or 3c. Then, a nut 9 is screwed through a cushion piece 8 to the tip of a bolt 7 that penetrates the ring portion 3d and the thrust duct 3b or 3c and protrudes radially inward, thereby connecting the duct 3b or 3c to the duct 3a. Fix it firmly. On the other hand, when syntactic foam is used as the buoyancy material, it has high rigidity but is somewhat brittle, so the outer plate 2 of the duct 3b or 3c needs to be supported in a slightly flexible manner. For this reason, each thrust duct 3b, 3
As shown in FIG. 2, a ring-shaped cushion band 10 is wrapped around the outer end of c, and a plurality of supports 11 are connected to thrust ducts 3b, 3c from each of the frames 1a to 1c in the submersible 1. The hemispherical heads of the supports 12 protruding toward the ends of the supports 11 are brought into contact with the cushion band 10 and supported in a fixed position. As a result, even if relative deformation occurs between the outer panel 2 of the submersible 1 and the center of the hull when the submersible 1 is lowered from the air into the water or lifted from the water into the air, the duct remains intact. Since the thrust ducts 3b and 3c can be slid in the vertical direction and slightly displaced in the radial direction of the ducts by the cushion band 10, no unreasonable force is applied to each thrust duct 3b, 3c.

By the way, in the above embodiment, the case where syntactic foam is used as the buoyancy material has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. Further, the thrust duct of the present invention is a propeller nozzle (not shown, a type of duct) that is attached around the propeller 5b of the thruster device 5 that is exposed and deployed outside the submersible vessel 1 in order to increase the propulsive force. This can also be done in the same way.

[Effects of the invention] As is clear from the above explanation, the thruster duct of this invention has the following effects.

(1) Since the thruster duct has buoyancy, there is no need for a buoyancy body to adjust the thruster duct to a neutral buoyancy as in the past, and the buoyancy of other equipment made of negative buoyancy material (buoyancy body ) can also be used as

(2) Since the intermediate thruster duct and the end thruster duct, which were conventionally separate bodies, can be integrally formed using buoyancy material, there is no need to align them.

(3) Since we used a cylindrical buoyant material with a thickness that allows for a predetermined radius around the opening of the thruster duct, it is possible to install the thruster duct on a submersible by making an insertion hole in advance. The buoyancy material used as the duct material can be inserted into the insertion hole and marked on site, and processing can be done by simply cutting a predetermined radius around the duct opening, making it possible to form the thruster duct flush with the outer panel. This makes work such as adjusting the duct inner diameter easier, and the number of man-hours required for outfitting can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view, including a partially enlarged cross-sectional view, showing an outline of the thruster duct portion of a submersible equipped with a thruster duct according to an embodiment of this invention, and FIG. 2 is a view taken from the - line arrow in FIG. It is a diagram. FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1, showing a conventional general thrust duct, and FIG. 4 is a view taken along the - line in FIG. 3. 1... Submersible, 2... Outer plate, 3, 3a, 3b,
3c... Thruster duct, 4... Insertion hole, 5...
Thruster device, 8... cushion piece, 10... cushion band.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A submersible, etc., characterized in that, in a thruster duct surrounding a thruster device installed in a submersible, at least both end portions thereof are formed of a cylindrical buoyancy material having a predetermined thickness. thruster duct.