US1726962A - Boat - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 3, 1929. 5, MAY 1,726,962

BOAT

Filed July 9, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Sept. 3, 1929. B. MAY 1,726,962

BOAT

Filed July 9, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 XKJJNQENTOR mdzlb Patented Sept. 3, 1929.

PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS 18. MAY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

BOAT.

Application filed iuly 9, 1927. Serial No. 204,592.

The present invention relates broadly to the art of marine propulsion, and more particularly 'to' an improved hull construction for vessels and to improved propelling means co-operating therewith.

It has heretofore been proposed, in the art to which the present invention relates, to effect the propulsion of boats by the provision of channels extending partly or entirely through the hull thereof and adapted to effect the discharge of a stream or streams of water in such manner as to produce a forward, rearward, flanking or turning movement.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an improved construction operating on the general principle referred to and preferably embodying a plurality'of flow passages occupying a minimum amount of room and located entirely in the forward part of the hull. The passages are conveniently so constructed that they intersect to form a chamber common to both of the passages, the chamber being provided with control means of such nature that a flow of water may be produced through either of the passages individually' or through both of the passages simultaneously with any desired variation in volume of flow from minimum to maximum, the flow itself being produced by separate flow producing means located in the respective passages. By reason of'such a construction, both of the flow producing means are effective simultaneouslyfor flanking or turning, thereby enabling results to be obtained which have heretofore not been obtainable with other constructions.

In the accompanying drawings, there is shown, by way of illustration only, a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it being understood that the drawings do not define the limits of my invention as changes in the construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing either from the spirit of the invention or the scopeof my broader claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal horizontal sectional view, partly broken away, of one form of the structure embodying the present invention; 2

Fig. 2 is a side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation illustrating the guards for the flow passages;

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view on the line IV-IV of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line V-V of Fig.1.

In carrying out the present invention, there may be provided a boat hull 2 of any desired general construction and contour depending upon the use to which the boat is to be put. The forepart 3 of the hull is a special construction of such nature as to accommodate the means of propulsion in accordance with the present invention. The forepart is preferably provided with a pair of flow passages 4: and 5, respectively, having individual inlets 6 and 7 and individual discharge outlets 8 and 9. At some point intermediate their lengths, the passages preferably intersect to provide a chamber 10 common to both forwardly and rearwardly extending passages and of such cross sectional contour, as indicated more particularly in Fig. 4, as to accommodate a control means 11.

Located in the passage 1 is a flow producing means 12 preferably adjacent the inlet 6, and adapted to be driven in any desired .manner, as, for example, by a motor 13. The

passage 5 is provided with a similar flow producing means 14 with its driving motor 15. It will be understood that separate driving motors, as herein shown, may be utilized, or that a single driving motor with suitable gearing, as well understood in the art, may be substituted.

With the construction illustrated, assuming that it is desired to move the vessel for wardly in the direction indicated by the arrow A in. Fig. 1, the flow producing means 12 and 14 will be rotated in such direction as to produce a water flow through the passages 4 and 5 in the direction indicated b the arrows (1. If it is desired to advance t- 'e vessel in a straight line, theicontrol means will be placed in the posltion indicated fulllinesin Fig. 1, whereby .eachflow producing means will eifecta dischar eof waterifrqm; its respective outletgj Initi jlysuch flow be in a general outward and rearwarddirec- 131011, the outward components of the respective streams oifsetting one another, whereby panied by a slight forward movement of the vessel which, undernormal circumstances, is not ob ec'tionable. Where such a forward the vessel will tend gradually to move for motion is objectionable, the control 11 may be wardly. As the forward movement come" mences, there will be a relative movement of the water in which the vessel is travelling with respect to the vessel, as indicated by the arrows B. The normal discharge from the respective flow passages will be along the general .lines indicated by the arrows B". Thls will produce a resultant, indicated generally by the arrows b, the resultant being of gradually increasing effectiveness for propelling purposes as the speed of the vessel increases.

Inasmuch as the water for producing the propelling streamsis drawn from the region -immediately in front of the vessel, the resistance to forwa d motion, such as ordinarily encountered with tow-boats which tend to pile up the water on their bows, is minimized. Inaddition to this, the discharge of water from the respective passages has been found in actual practice to produce a How along the hull of such naturethat the skin friction is materially reduced. The bow waves established by a boat of the construction herein stpeedsor above is rearwardly in the general irection' indicated by the arrows 0, thereby clearing rearward discharge from the progellers imany barges which the vessel may have In tow. It is customary to secure barges by comparatively short lines directly to the stern of the boat. In such cases, the absence of any wake, such as produced by the ordinary means of propulsion, assists materially in t e progress of the tow through the water, experience having demonstrated that with ordinary towboats, the wash from the tug as well as the pedes the progress of the barges t rough the water.

If it is desired to reverse the direction of travel of the vessel while-maintaining a substantially straight-line movement thereof, it is only necess'ar to reverse the direction of fitation-of the ow-producing means 12 and In many cases, where a vgssel has been warped into position .against a dock or the like, it is desirable in getting under way to produce a'flanking movement of the vessel.

It may be assumed, for example, that it is desiredto produce such flankin movement in the general direction indicate by the arrow in Fig. 1. In such case the control means 11 will be moved into the dotted-line position f of this figure, whereby the combined flow produced b both of the means 12 and 14 will be directe through the passage 5 and theoutlet 9. Since, at this time, there is no for- .ward coin onent of the vessel to be considered, the ischarge will be effective for producing a relative flanking movement accommaintained in its full-line position of Fig. 1, the flow-producing means 14 operated to produce adischarge through the outlet 9,

and the flow-producing means'12 operated in the reverse direction to produce a discharge through the inlet 6, thereby counteracting the tendency of the craft to move forwardly. By controlling the relative speeds of the individual flow-producing means, an exact component of the lateral or combined lateral and forward motion, or of combined lateral and rearward motion, canbe produced.

- The vessel also lends itself to turning as will be readily apparent by those skilled in the art. By maintaining the control in its full-line position, and operating the flow-producingvmeans at the same relative speeds,

but in opposite directions, the vessel may be tending the entire length,or substantially the" entire length, of the hull. v,

It frequently happens with shallow draft vessels of the type predominating on our inland rivers that a sand bar or other temporary formation is encountered. In such cases the construction herein disclosed may be utilized as a dredge, the flow of water into the flow passages displacing the sand and discharging it,rearwardly and laterally. In case the vessel is pulling a wide tow, the dredging action may he continued, accompanied with flanking movements of a sulficient'extent to provide a passage of the width required for the vessel and its tow.

In' view of the location of the flow produc ing means 12 and 14, it is obviously necessary to provide suitable means for protecting the inlets 6 and 7 against floating or su merged dbris. For this purpose, each of the inlets is protected by guards 16 all of which extend in the same general direction as; is apparent from Fi s. 1 and 2. The

rearward inclination of t ese guards tend to throw such dbris outwardly and toward the rear of the vessel, and the absence of an oppositely extending guards permits suc'v movement. The inlets are thus automatically cleaned to permit the free ingress or egress of water to or from the flow producmg means. r

In case of failure of one of the 'motors or of one of the propellers from any cause whatsoever, it is possible to navigate the vessel straight ahead by placing the control in an intermediate position. In chain lines in Fig. 1 the control is shown in the positionwhich it will occupy in the' event themotor 15 or the propeller 14 is not suitable for con tinued duty. In this position thecontinued operation of the propeller 12 will produce a stream of water which will be divided substantially equally by the control positioned as indicated in chain lines, thereby produc-- ing a substantially equal discharge from both of the discharge outlets'*8 and 9.

It will be understood that in case the shafts are positioned as indicated in the drawings, it will be necessary to provide the control with a recess 17 to permit movement thereof into its dotted-line positions.

I have also found that desirable results will be obtained by the provision of compartments 18 in the head of the vessel and preferably on opposite sides of the propelling means. Where such a construction is provided, the vessel will be trimmed with these compartments empty. Thereafter when it becomes desirable to provide extra depth of water to permit free passage of a tow or of the vessel itself, suitable ballast may be placed in the compartments. This will result in untrimming the vessel to the extent that the bow end will be lowered, thereby permitting the sand dredging action, before referred to, to be carried on at a greater depth below the level of the water than would normally be possible. In actual prac- -tice, water will probably be utilized as the medium 'of obtaining the desired additional weight in the head end of the vessel. This may be conveniently pumped out in any suitable manner when it is desired to retrim the vessel. I

' Certain advantages of the present invention arise from the provision of a propelling means which may be utilized by itself or as an adjunct to standard methods of propul- SlOIl now in vogue.

Other advantages of the invention arise from the provision of propelling and steering means of the character herein contemplated including flow passages located entirely in the forepart of the hull of the vessel or in an extension provided thereon.

Other advantages of the invention arise from the provison of separate flow passages with separate flow-producing means, the

. passages and flow producing means being of such nature as to permit all the water from both flow-producing means to be discharged .ment desired.

entirely through one of the passages, equally through both of the passages, or through the two passages in any desired relative proportions depending upon the direction of move- Still further advantages are inherent in independently the use of propelling means of such nature that a bank of water in front of the vessel is obviated, the skin friction reduced, and a wake is created such that the resistance to forward travel of the tow is minimized.

Still further advantages arise from the use of a ropelling means of such nature that it may Be utilized for effecting removal of temporary obstructions such as sand bars and the like. i

I claim:

1. In a boat, a hull, a pair of similar'flow passages located entirely in the forepart of said hull and provided with forwardly directed inlets and laterally and rearwardly directed outlets, a flow-producing means in each of said passages, means for driving said flow-producing means in the same or in opposite directions, and a single control common to said flow-producing means, said control means being. operative to discharge the means through one of 'said passages.

2. In a boat, two flow passages/intersect,-

ing at a point intermediate their ends to form a common chamber, fluid control means in said chamber for effecting any desired division of flow through said passages from nothing to maximum in either direction, and variable flow producing means in each passage.

3. In a boat, flow passages intersecting at a point intermediate their ends to form a common chamber, flow-producing means in each passage, and fluid control means in said chamber cooperating with said flow producing means to effect delivery of water to both of said flow-producing means entirely through one of said passages or through both of said passages in any proportion from minimum to maximum and to effect discharge from both of said flow producing means entirely through one of said passages or through both of said passages in any amount from minimum to maximum.

4. The combination with a boat having two flow passages in the bow thereof intersecting at a point intermediate their ends to form a common chamber. fluid control means in said chamber for effecting any desired division of flow through said passages from nothing to maximum in either direction, and independently operable flow-producing means in each passage.

5. The combination with a boat having two flow passages in the bow thereof intersecting at a point intermediate their ends to form a common chamber, fluid control means in said chamber for efit'ecting any desired division of flow through said passages from nothing to maximum in either direction, and independently operable flow-producing means in each passage located forwardly of said chamber.

6. The combination with a boat having .two flow passages in the bow thereof intermeans for simultaneously operating said secting at apoint intermediate their ends to flowroducing means either in the same or form a common chamber, fluid control means in di erent directions. 10 in said chamber for effecting any desired In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 6 division of flow through said passages from my hand.

nothing to maximum in either direction, v flow-producing means in each passage, and v LOUIS" B. MAY.

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