US1408178A - Boat construction - Google Patents

Description

V. S. DOWNING.

BOAT CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION HLED NOV, 20. 1920.

Patentd Feb. 28, 1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

T IIVVE/VTOR r VIP 5. Dowmno. O O

ATTORNEYS V. S. OOWNING.

BOAT CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED Nov 20, 1920.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

INVE/VTUI? 117011 5. Dowm WITNESSES ATTORNEYS 1 UNITED ST -res PATENT e ee VIRGIL SIDNEY DOWNING, OF JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI. D

1 To allwkom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VIRGIL SIDXEY Down- ING, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Jackson, in the county of Hinds and State of Mississippi, have invented certam new and useful Improvements in Boat Constructions, of which the following,

is a specification.

'-My invention relates to boat construction,

and a purpose of my invention is the provi sion'of a boat having an air duct and air channels formed in its hull which are so shaped and positioned as to efiec't a lifting and propelling action to the boat whenair is forced rearwardly through the duct. The construction of the hull is such that the air as discharged from the duct is caused to pro vide a film 'of air beneath the rear'end' portion of the boat and upon which such portion is adapted to'ride so that in conjunction with the lifting action upon the forward end of the boat by virtue ofthe air traversing the duct, the boat. a's'anentirety is caused to ride substantially upon a film of air. 7 I

I will describe one form of boat embodying my-invention .and will then point out the novel features th'ereof in claims. V, In the accompanying drawings;

Figure 1-. is a;view -showing,in itop plan,

with portions partly broken away, one form of boat embodying my invent1on.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional vie'wof the boat shown in: Figure 1.

.Figure'3 is a frontend elevation of the boat shown in the preceding views.

figures ,4, 5, 6, and 7 are transverse vert-i cal sectional views taken on the lines 4-4, 5"5, 6-6 and 7-7 respectively of Figure 2.

Figure 8 is an enlarged 'fragmentarydetail v1ew showing the means for connecting'or disconnecting the propeller to or fromthe' 7 forward side of the duct D is formed with motor shaft. 0

Referring specifically to the drawings, my

invention in its present embodiment consists Q of, a hull designated generally at H having a forward round bottom portion hand aflatrear bottom portion h, the latter bottom.

portion being disposed in a plane above that of the forward bottom portion. As shown'in Figures 1 and 2, the hull H is formed centrally thereof with a longitudinally extending duct D through which air is-adapted to be forced in effecting a lifting of the forward end of the hull and a propulsion of the boat.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

BOAT CONSTRUCTION.

Patented Feb; 28, 1922.

Application filed November 20, 1920. Serial No. 425,474. 7

forward end of the duct D is-open for the admission of air thereto and is disposed at the upper end of the bow of the hull so that it 1s at all times disposed at a safe distance above the water-line to preclude the entrance of water into theduct. The duct D is inclined rearwa'rdly and downwardly from its forward end to its rear end, the latter end extending through the bottom of the hull at the confronting ends of the bottom portions 72. and h. As seen in Figure 3, the forward end of theduct is of substantially rectangular form in cross section. From this point rearwardly, the duct gradually increases in cross sectional area until it reaches a medial portion indicated at 15. to the rear end of the duct the cross sec tional area gradually decreases until the rear or outlet end of the duct is of an area less than one-half of the area of the medial portion 15. This outlet end is adapted to e controlled by a door 16 hingedly supported upon the hull and provided with a coiled spring 17 which normally urges the door to closed position and-against a stop 1850 that the passage of water upwardly intothe duct is prevented By reference to the vertical sectional views taken: through the hull, it will be clear that shown in-Figure ,5, and this tubular portion merges into a semi-circular portion which is continued to the rear or exit end .of the From this portion duct.f;The exit end of the duct is ofsemicircular form as clearly shown. in Figure 6, audit will be understood that the door 16 .is of a corresponding shape.

Asshown in Figures 1 and 2, the upper air channels. rect communication with the duct D, and through such channels air is admitted to the ductfrom its upper side for a purpose which will. be hereinafter described.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a gasoline motor M'is supported within the medial placed short pipe sections. 2Q that provide 7 These air channels are in di- 1 portion of the duct D upon beams 21. The I motor M is of conventional form and is adapted to drive a propeller P which is vertically positioned within the duct and is adapted to be rotated in such direction as to force air rearwardly through the duct. The

propeller P is suppofted on a counter shaft 22 which is adapted tdl be operatively gonnected to the motor shaft through the 'medium of a conventional form of clutch C. The clutch C is actuated by an actuating lever L operatively connected to the clutch through the medium of a link 23 and a lever 24 fulcrumed on a standard 25. The lever L is suitably positioned in the pit T formed in the hull so asto be readily actuated by the operator. A steering wheel S is provided which is operatively connected through the medium of cables 26 to a water rudder R and an air rudder R bot-h of which are supported for oscillating movement upon a shaft 27. a l

, In the operation of the boat, the propeller P when rotated in the proper direction creates a'draft of air of great intensity rearwardly through the duct D, the air entering the duct through the forward end and through the channels. and finally exiting through the rear end of the duct, it being understood that the current of air is of sufiicient intensity to swing the door 16 to open positionagainst the tension of the spring 17.

lVhen the draft of air traverses the'duct D,

it will be clear that the propeller P functions as an air propeller so as to propel the boat through the water. The air entering the duct D through its forward end and through the air channels impinges upon the walls of the duct and because of the particular contour of the duct this draft of air is caused to impart a lifting action to the forward portion of the'boa-t which as a result elevates theforward end of the'boat clear of the water. As the air is discharged from the rear end of the duct D it passes beneath the rear bottom end portion h of the hull, and because this bottom portion is disposed in a'plane above that ofthe forward end ortion h, it will be clear that a film'of an is continuously provided beneath the bottom h upon which the stern end of the boat is supported when travelling. The lifting action imparted to the forward end of the" boat naturally tends to move the rear endof the boat downwardly, but because of the film of air continuously formed beneath the stern end of the boat, it will be clear that such dium for the engine. It is to be further .of the hull at a merging into its tubular speed. Because of the fact that the rearend of the duct D is constricted and curved downwardly from the medial portion, it will be manifest that the action of thepropeller uponthe body of air so trapped will impart a pronounced forward movement to the boat, thus providing an air propelling medium of maximum power efficiency.

Although I have herein show-n and described only one form of boat. construction embodying my invention, is to be understood that various changesand modifications may be made herein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

\Vhat I claim is: c

1. A boat including a hull, and an air duct formed in the hull and extending rearwardly and downwardly from the bow end of the hull to and through the bottom thereof at a point in the rear of the medial portion of the hull, a motor positioned within the 'duct, and a propeller vertically positioned within the duct and operatively c0nnected to said motor.

" 2. A boat including a hull, an air duct formed in the hull and extending rearwardly and downwardly of the bow endto and through-the bottom of the hull at :1 point in the rear of the medial portion of the hull, said duct being tapered, from a point mediall of its ends to its ends.

. 3.--A boat including a hull, an air duct formed in the hull and extending rearwardl and downwardly of the bow .end to and t rough the bottom of the hull *at a point in t e rear of the medial portion of the hull, said duct being tapered from a point medially of its ends to its ends, a motor positioned within the duct at its medial portion, and a propeller operatively connected to the motor and vertically positioned within the medial portion of the duct. wt. A boat including 33111111, and an air duct extending rearwardly from the boat and downwardly to and through the bottom point in the rear of the medial ortion of the hull, said duct bein of angu ar cross section at its forward encfi portion of larger cross sectlonal-areaat its medial portion and finally terminating in a semi-tubular portion of smaller cross sectional area at its rear end.

5 A boat including a hull, and an air duct extending rearwardly from the boat and angular cross section at its forward end,

merging into its tubular portion of larger cross sectional area at its medial portion and finally terminating in a semi-tubular por tion of smaller cross sectional area at its rear end, a motor within the tubular portion, and a propeller operatively connected to the motor and vertically positioned within' the tubular portion.

6. A boat including a hull, an air ductextending rearwardly from the boat and inclined downwardly tofand through the bottom of the hull, and a plurality of air channels formed in he upper wallof the duct and communicatlng with the duct.

7. A boat including a hull, an air duct extending rearwardly from the boatand incl' ed downwardly" to and through the bottoi ri of the hull, a plurality of 3.11 channels formed in the upper wall of the duct and communicating with the duct a motor in the duct, and a propeller within the duct and adapted to be operatively connected to the motor to rotate in a direction to draw air rearwardly through the duct and downwardly of the airchannels.

VIRGIL SIDNEY DOWNING.

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