US1360036A - Automobile torpedo - Google Patents

Description

H. W. SHONNARD.

AUTOMOBILE TORPEDO.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 2o, |920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET1.

Patented. Nov. 23, i920..

QQ m INVENTOR WITNESSES H. W. SHONNARD.

AUTOMOBILE ToRPEDo.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 20, 1920.

1,366,036, Patented Nov. 23,1920.,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H. W. SHONNARD.

AUTOMOBILE ToRPEno.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20, |920.

1,36@,036. Patllted NOV. 23,1920.. asHEETs-sHEET a.

, r/'ffr Q N# w l `7 t S, E a! Q0 Vg Ll. si w D 5. lr E 7 .i .Ju i 3 (9 D l l N l n Q j G) Lfi Si z (0 L!- (u EQ a l U l l V i WITNESSES y ,INVENTOR @www Vl'irlRCllfD `SHONNAISLD, OE UPPER MONTCLAIR, NEW' 'r orties,

JERSEY, ASSIGN OIE ONE'- HALF TO CLARENCE M. SHONNARD, OE RIDGEWOOD, NEW JERSEY.

AUTOVIOBILE TORPEDO.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HAROLD W. SHONNARD, residing at Upper Montclair, in the county of Essex and State of N ew Jersey, a citizen of .the United States, have invented or discovered certain new and usefulV Improvements vin Automobile Torpedoes, of which iinprovements the following is a specification.

The invention has for its primary object the provision of means whereby the speed and effective range of automobile torpedoes may be greatly increased. @ther improvements will hereinafter appear.

Numerous difficulties are encountered iii materially increasing the speed of torpedoes above that developed by those in present use owing to the limited permissible size and weight of the torpedo. For example,-to increase the speed of a torpedo having the present standard maximum dimensions from one of thirty to one of forty'knots per hour, would necessitate practically doubling the Vpropellingpower. If a larger shell should be used in order to accommodate a power unit having an increased capacity, no material advantage would be obtained, by reason ofthefact that increase of resistance due to the enlarged cross-sectional area. and' wetted surface would nearly offset the increase in propelling power. g

A furtherdiiii'culty developed when a torpedo is driven through the water at high speed is that cavitation becomes a serious factor, the zone atthe stern in which there is no body of water frequently expanding until only the cxtieinetips of the blades remain in water upon which they may exert apropulsive action. This condition not' only reduces the propelling eiciency of the power unit, but also has a tendency to cause the torpedo` to rolland thus disturb the steering mechanism and alter the course of the torpedo.V When a torpedo is steering a curvedcourse the effects of cavitationin theV vicinity of the'propellers are accentuated, due to the fact that the vzone of cavitation follows the curve and thuspeXposes the blades on one side ofthe axis of the torpedo to a cavity and Vthose on the oppositefside to al vbody ofWater.

The effects of cavitation are minimized vin the preferred embodimentof the present inf vention by the steadying influence Vof a pair of propellers located at the bow of the torpedo and rotatingi inopposite directions Specification of Lettersatent.

Application filed January 20, 1920. Serial No.

is required .the stern propellers, with which they may be i positively connected, if desired, by.V means of suitable shafting and gears. Propulsion losses, due to the slip of the stern propellers when they are operating ina cavity, are compensated :by the increased propulsiver action of the bow propellers, for the reason that when the stern propellers are unloaded ythe turbine speed will increase until the bow propellers assume the load removed from the stern .propellers It will-be apparent there-V forev that a substantially uniform velocity will be maintained under conditions encountered at high speed, and because of the steady movement, the .torpedo will follow its intended course with greaterprecision than has been heretofore.- attained. The inven-k Patented Nov. 23, 19120. v

Features ofthe invention contributing to this end are: a compact turbine motor having two separate single-stage rotors disposedone on each'side of` Va central driving-shaft, so that they are statically balanced .and no ballast Va compact reduction. gearing connecting the rotors with the driving-shaft or shafts and disposed between .the spaced rotors, so that .the gearing is also staticallybalanced; shielding of the gearing from the turbine rotors, so that the heated operating gases cannot come .in contact with the gearing; the. provision of oppositely rotating coaxial propell'ei's at vthe bow of the torpedo, supplementing those usually employed at the stern, whereby greater power may-be translated into propulsiva actionythe provision vof means for cooling theexhaust vgases before they are passed through .the

ln the accompanying drawings,-V Figure lis a longitudinal horizontal section through 'i the vforward portion, and` Fig. 2v a like .sec-

rra

tion through the rear portion, of a torpedo embodying the invention in its preferred form. Figs. 3, 4 and respectively illustrate modifications.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, the torpedo body as a whole is divided longitudinally into four sections, the war-head 6, the motiveefluid flask 3, the after-body 10 and `the tail-section 17, by suitable bulkheads 7,

4, 5, 11, 12 and 18. The rear bulkhead 7 of the war-head is provided with a hollow cylindrical extension 9 'opening at its front into the hollow shaft tube 8, which projects forwardly through the war-head. The extension 9 forms 'a casing for gearing carried by the bulkhead 4 of the motive-fluid fiask, which will be hereinafter described. The war-head contains the explosive charge 6', which is detonated by a suitable fuse, not shown.

At the forward end of the after-body 10 there is arranged concentrically within the torpedoshell a cylindrical wall 15 suitably secured to the bulkhead 11 and opening rearwardly; and closing the space between the cylindrical wall 15 and the shell is an annular transverse wall 15, thus forming at the forward end of the after-body 10 an annular compartment 14 in which are mounted the rotors of the turbine motor to Abe presently described, so that the hot exhaust gases from the rotors are excluded from contact with the reduction gearing, which is mountedvin and contiguous to the inclosed compartment 13 between the rotors. The fore bulkhead 11 of the after-body is so disposed with relation to the rear bullhead-5 of the motive-fluid flask 3, that a space 16 is left between them. At the rear of the after-body 10 there is also a space 19 between the rear bulkhead 12 of the afterbody and the fore bulkhead 18 of the stern section 17. n

The motor of theV torpedo comprises a pair of vhigh-prmfer single-stage impulse turbine rotors 20 and 21, disposed inthe annular compartment 14 of the after-body V10 on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the torpedo, and adapted to rotate about a transverse axis. The rotors 2O and 21 are mounted upon separate shafts 22 andV 23, respectively,'which are journaled in bearings' 24 carried by a suitable frame25.l The frame 25 is supported within the cylindrical partition 15 inany suitable way.

The frame also supports a` longitudinally disposed bearing 26 concentrically with the longitudinal axis of the torpedo, in which `is journaled a central stub-shaft 27 havingr a watertight bearing at its forward end in the bulkhead 11. The journal openings of the bearings 24 communicate with of the bearings 26, andY conbe readily lu- Coaxially the openings sequently these gearings may bricated from a single source.

with the stub-shaft 27 a central shaft 28 extends aft, being journaled at its forward end in a fixed transverse stud 29 having oppositelyv'extended transverse shaft-arms 30 and 31 secured at their vouter ends to the frame The forward end of the shaft 28 is also supported in a bearing 32 in a plate which is bolted to extensions 34 of therframe The rear end of the shaft 28 is journaled in a bearing carried by the rear bulkhead 12 of the after-body 10, and is provided with a packing gland 36 to prevent exhaust gases from entering the afterbody 1() from the rear chamber 19, into which they iow as hereinafter described. The shaft .,8 projects beyond the bulkhead 12, and is provided with a hollow shaft-couv pling 37 having openings 38 through which the exhaust gases in the space or chamber 19 mayV pass to the inner hollow propeller shaft 39, which is attached to the coupling 37, and which therefore forms an extension of the shaft 28 through the stern section 17. The adjacent ends of the shafts 28 and 39 are provided with keys 4() adapted to engage slots in the coupling 37 insueh manner that the shafts may be coupled byra longitudinal movement when the stern section 17 andthe after-body 10 are moved into assembled relation.

As has already been stated, the reduction gearing connecting the turbine rotors with the shafting which drives the propellers is arranged between the rotors and within the central cylindrical compartment 13. This gearing comprises pinions 71 and 72 secured to the rotor-shafts 22 and 23, respectively, at points between their respective rotorsand the central stub-shaft 27. The pinions 71 and 72 mesh with reduction gears 73 and 74, respectively, Vwhich are respectively mounted upon the stud shafts 30 and 31. The gears 73 and 74 are centrally provided with small bevel gears 7 5 and 7 6, which mesh, respectively, with bevel gears 77 and 78, keyed respectively to the shaft 28 and the stubshaft 27 From the foregoing it will be apparent that the rotors 20 and 21 are positively connected by the gear chain just described, and must therefore rotate at equal velocities. The shaft 39 in the stern sectien, which, as alreadystated,is coupled to the rearend of the shaft 28, is journaled at its forward end in abearing .41 in the bulk-v head 18 and in a stationary stud 42 having oppositely extending shaft-arms 48 supported by the wall of the section 17 The rear end ofthe hollow shaft 39 is journaled in a hollow outer concentric shaft 43, which is inturn journaled in a stern*` bearing 44 at the rearend of section 17. The shafts 39 and 43 are the propeller shafts. The

outer shaft 43 extends beyond the stern section 17, and the propeller 45 is keyed upon its projecting end. The inner sha 39 proects beyond the-end of the shaft 43, land the I'ment with the propeller 46 is keyed upon its projecting end and held against displacement by a' suitable nut 47, having an orifice 48 in alinepedo, so that said gearing is also statically,7

balanced. By this arrangement "I am enabled 4to obtain .greatly increased driving power per unit of motivefluid, with but little, if any, increase in the weight of the torpedo, since 'no ballast'jis necessary. A further distinguishingfeature is that of providing for the `gearing aj compartment completely shielded from the rotors, and centrally arranged thereof as aboveV described; so that the 'heated exhaust gases are effectively excludedffrom contactwith the gearing. y

ln the construction shown and described the gaseous motive fluid, which has preferably Vbeen superheated, is discharged from the flask 3 through the port SO in the bulkhe-ad 5` which may be connected with the turbine nozzles T9 by any preferred form of connection, not shown- The gases discharged from thek nozzles pass through the blading of the turbine, and after giving up their energy to the rotors, are exhausted into the annular chamber :14, whence lthey are conducted through thel opposite exhaust conduits 80 Vinto the chamber 19, between the after-body 19 and the Astern section 17. the outlets of the conduits 80 being` closed by valves 8l which will open rearwardlyto permit of the escape of the gases. From chamber i9 the exhaust gases pass through the openings 38 into the hollow coupling 37, and thence through the hollow inner propeller shaft 39 and the sternV opening 48 to the sea. Y'

i prefer to cool these highly heated exhaust gases during their passagethrough the conduits 80', and to'that end the conduits 80 are provided with water-jackets 82 extending substantially their entire length,

' each water-jacket 82 'being provided at its Vforvmrd end with inlet passage 8,3 having a flat intake hood'84 opening forwardly,

ifcr the purpose of scooping 'in water as 'the torpedo Vruns throughV the fit their rear ends the water is discharged from the'waterjackets 'through passages 85, eac-h provided with an outlet hood 8G opening rearwardly passage through the hollow so that the movement of the torpedo through the sea will tend to reduce the pressure benea'th'l the hoods and vthereby accelerate the circulation of water through the jackets.

This cooling of the'hot exhaust gases before they enter the propeller shaft -39 prevents the latter being heated to such adegree as to heat the bearings and gears within the stern section 17so that proper lubrication will be difficult. The cooling of the exhaust gasesl has also the advantage that the visibility of the wake of the torpedo is thereby reduced.

In the preferred embodiment ofthe invention, where a pair of bow propellers are used in addition to the stern propellers, a hollow shaft 5l extends forwardly through the motive-fuel liask 3, beingjoined at its rearV endv to the forward -end of the stubshaft 27, by means of a coupling-52 of such character that the shafts 27 and 5l will `be operatively connected by the longitudinal movement of the ask 8 and the after-body l into assembled relation.V The rear end of the shaft l is journaled in a bearing bushing 53 supported within an outer tube 54 connected at its' rear to the bulkhead 5V by a gas-tight connection 55. The projecting rear end of the outer tube 54 is threaded fora jam-nut 54', vwhich is screwed tightlyl against the 'rearface of the :bulkhead 5. The forward end of the shaft 5l is secured by means of a slip-coupling to the propeller shaft 59, which extends forwardly within the shaft-tube 8 through the war` head, and upon the forward end of which is mounted a propeller 65 secured by a nut 66, the rear end of said propeller shaft 59 being journaled in a bearing 56, having oppositely projecting shaft-arms 68 mountedat their outer endsina casing 57 secured to the bulkhead 4 of the flask 3,' andarranged withinV the casing 9 mounted upon the rear bulkhead 7 of the war-head. The forward end of the tube 54 is'slidably mounted in a gas-tight packing gland 58 inthe bulkhead 4, and the parts are so arranged as to per` mit expansive movement of the bulkhead 44 under pressure of the motive gases therein contained,

fin outer propeller shaft 6l surrounds the propeller shaft 59, and is journaled at its` rear end within the casing 57 and at its forward end ina bushing '62 in the outer end of the shaft-tube 8. A propeller 63 is mounted upon the end of the outer shaft 6l, The forward end of the inner shaft 59 is provided with an enlarged bearing portion 64 which is journaled in the outer shaft 6l and projects forwardly to receive the propeller 65'.

The bow propellers 63 and -65 are designed f l site to that in which the shaft 59 is rotated, by means of a gear cluster mounted within the casing 57, comprising a pair of bevel gears G7 mounted upon the opposite transverse stud-shafts, and a pair of bevel gears 69 and 7() secured to the shafts 59 and ,61, respectively, and meshing with the bevel gears 67.

Similarly the propellers 45 and 46 at the rear of the torpedo are driven in opposite directions. The outer propeller shaft 43is rotated by and reversely to the inner pro# peller shaft 39 by means of a gear cluster consisting of a pair of bevel gears 47', which rotateabout the transverse stud shafts 48, and mesh with the bevel gears 49 and 50 secured, respectively, to the inner shaft 39 and to the outer shaft 43.

As has already been stated, the invention is not limited to the employment of both bow, and stern propellers, but includes the use of bow propellers only or stern propellers only. Y

In the present case, where both bow and stern propellers are used with the gearing indicated, the rotors 20 and 2l are caused to revolve in opposite directions.

lIn order that the torpedo may cut its way through net-like obstructions, and in order to protect the bow propellers from becoming fouled by such obstructions or by seaweed,.etc., the war-head 6 is provided with a propeller guard, the outer edges of which may be sharpened or serrated to form cutters.- This guard consists preferably of pair of flat plates' perpendicularly arranged with respect to one another, mounted upon the nose of the war-head, and projecting forwardly therefrom, said plates being cnty away as shown at 88 to provide clearance for the propellers. The exposed edges of the plates taper forward from the war-head and the propellers, and terminate in a point 89. The edges of these plates are preferably provided with sharp cutting teeth 90.

It will be understood that lthe torpedo is provided with suitable steering mechanism, forms of which are well known and need not be described, as well as with suitable mechanism for detonating the charge.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 illustrate various alterna Y tive embodiments of the invention.

Thus in Fig. 3 there is indicated the use I only of a rear driving-shaft 328 for driving stern propellers, no bow propellers being used. In this case it willy be noted that the rotors 320 and 321 are mounted on a'single shaft 322 and revolve in the same direction. The bevel pinion 375 of the reduction gear 373 Vmeshes withl the bevel pinion 37 8 secured to the driving-shaft328, and the bevel pinion 376 of the reduction gear 374 drives the bevel pinion 377 also secured to the driving-shaft 328. f

1 ,accese I, In Fig, 4 thereis shown the use of a single driving-shaft 428vfor driving both stern and bow propellers. lIn this case also the rotors 420 Qn the shaft 422, and 421 on the shaft 423, are ,driven in the same direction,

the reduction'gearing being arranged and operating the same as in Fig. 3.

In Fig 5 are shown -separate shafts, the forward shaft 551 driven by the rotor` 520 for driving the rbow propellers, and the rear shaft 528 driven by the rotor 521 for driving the stern propellers. In this case also the rotors revolve in the samev direction.

On account of the several ways in which the shafting may be arranged I desire to be I connected to said shaft, of motor mecha-.

nism having a plurality of rotors arranged symmetrically on opposite sides of the axial line of said shaft, and gearing arranged between the rotors and connected to the rotors and to the shaft. c

2. In a torpedo, the combination with a longitudinal driving-shaft and a propeller connected to said shaft, of motor mechanism haring a pair ofl rotors arranged in static balance on opposite sides of the axial line of said shaft, and gearing arranged between the rotors and in static balance with respect to the axial line Vof said shaft and connected to the rotors and to the shaft.

3. In a torpedo, the combination with a longitudinal driving-shaft and a propeller connected to said shaft, of motor mechanism having a pair of rotors arranged on o posite sides of the axial line of said shaft, and gearing connected to the said rotors and the said shaft, the said caring being arranged on opposite sides ofg the axial line of said shaft and disposed within the space between the said rotors.

4. In a torpedo, vmotor mechanism having plurality of turbine rotors arranged symmetrically of the axis of the torpedo and revolving upon axes angular to the torpedol axis, a propeller, and gearing located between the rotors and operatively connected to the propeller.

5. In a torpedo, an annular compartment, motor mechanism arranged 1n said compartment, a propeller, and gearing arranged 1n the space surrounded by said annular com- Y exhausted by the motor are conducted to the exterior of the torpedo, an exhaust conduit establishing communication,between the exhaust chamber of the motor and the passage Vin the hollow shaft, and a concentric water-jacket surrounding the said conduit and having inlet and outlet passages' opening through the shell of the torpedo, whereby the temperature of the gases is reduced before they enter the hollow shaft.

8. In a torpedo, a motor, an exhaust conduit for conducting exhaust gases from the vmotor to the exterior of the torpedo, a water-jacket surrounding said conduit, and

inlet and outlet passages in the jacket so arranged that movement of the torpedo through the water will cause water to be forced into the jacket through the inlet passage and discharged through the outlet pasc sage.

Ypelle-rs of each pair being arranged in tandem and rotatable about a common axis, and

, means for rotating the propellers of each pair in opposite directions.

11. In a torpedo, a motor, forward and aft propeller shafts driven by said motor, forward and aft auxiliary propeller shafts concentric with the said forward and aft propeller shafts respectively, and means for rotating the said forward and aft auxiliary shafts in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the forward and aft propeller shafts respectively.

12. In a torpedo, a war-head, a tube eX- tending longitudinally through the warhead, a propeller mounted in front of the war-head, a driving-shaft for said propeller inclosed within said tube, and a motor arranged to the rear of the war-head and operatively connected to the driving-shaft.

13. In a torpedo, a motive-fluid flask, a tubeV extending through the motive-Huid iiaskk and slidably supported by the wall thereof, a motor, and a driving-shaft connected to the motor andextending through said tube.

14. In a torpedo, a shell comprising a plurality of separate compartments adapted to be joined to form a torpedo shell, a sectional shaft extending through adjoining Vcompartments and divided adjacent the plane of joinder of the compartments, and a coupling for the shaft-sections disposed within the space between the said ments.

15. The combination with a torpedo having a propeller disposed at the bow of the shell, of a guard for the propeller projecting forwardly thereof.

16. A torpedo comprising a shell, a propeller disposed at the bow of the shell, and a guard for the propeller comprising a plurality of forwardly-projecting wedgeshaped plates secured to the bow of the torpedo in angular relation t'o one another, and provided with openings vto permit of the rotation of the propeller.

17. A torpedo comprising a shell, a pro-y comp art-` cured to the bow of the torpedo, the said plate being cut away `to provide clearance for the propeller, and having outer cutting edges extending beyond and forward of the propeller.V Y K In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

' HAROLD W. SHONNARD. `Vitnesses:

KATE E. GENNING, LUoIAN A. FAGAN.

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