US2823635A - Underwater vehicle with bottomregulated diving control - Google Patents

Description

Feb, 18, 1958 J. HAGEMANN 2,523,535

UNDERWATER VEHICLE WITH BOTTOM-REGULATED DIVING CONTROL Filed March 2, 1954 INVENTOR Jull'us- Hagemann 2,823,635 Patented Feb. 18, 1958 UNDERWATER VEHICLE WITH BOTTOM- REGULATED DIVING CONTROL Julius Hagemann, Panama City, Fla., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Application March 2, 1954, Serial No. 413,733

1 Claim. (Cl. 114-16) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

The present invention relates to a submarine vehicle adapted when moving through a seaway to seek and maintain itself at a pre-selected constant distance above the waterbedand, more particularly to such a vehicle having tactile means which cooperate with thewaterbed to control the adjustment of depth regulating means carried by the vehicle.

It is frequently desirable to transport instruments and other exploration means above the ocean floor for various purposes such as, for example, locating or detecting objects thereon. In order to obtain accurate and optimum results it is required that the instrumentation be always separated from the ocean floor by the distance for which the instruments have been designed to function. Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is the provision of a free floating submarine vehicle which will maintain itself at a fixed distance above the fioor of a seaway through which it is moving.

Other objects of the invention, as well as the invention itself, will be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 shows a submarine vehicle and its attendant control mechanism being towed through a seaway;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view showing structural detail of the control mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along line 3-3 in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view showing an alternative control mechanism.

In accordance with the invention a submarine vehicle adapted to move (self-propelled or towed) through a seaway is provided with diving rudders biased to diving position but movable against the bias under the control of a depending tactile means which contacts the waterbed whenever the vehicle reaches the desired depth, or, more accurately, the desired separation from the waterbed, the arrangement being such that as long as the vehicle is moving through the water its diving rudders are regulated to maintain the vehicle at all times at substantially a constant distance above the waterbed.

In accordance with the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, a submarine vehicle having a generally streamlined contour and provided with tail fins 11 is being towed through a seaway by a surface vessel 12 through a towing cable 13. To facilitate streaming and recovery the vehicle 10 is so constructed that it together with its instrument load and its control mechanism is slightly buoyant so as to float horizontally on top of the water when not in motion. As best seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the vehicle 10 is provided with two diving rudders 14 carried by a rotatable shaft 15 journaled in two depending plates 16 suitably secured to the body of the vehicle 10 as by welding. Secured to the shaft 15 between the plates 16 is a crank 17, the outer end of which is coupled to a control stick 18 through a rod 19. The control stick 18 constitutes the depending tactile means mentioned above and as here shown includes a tubular portion 21, articulated on a pin 22 carried in a mounting assembly 23 rigidly secured to the front nose of the vehicle 10. Suitably mounted in the free end of the tube 21 is a relatively long feeler member 24 having suflicient elasticity to prevent harshness in its control action. Tapered steel or glass rods similar to those used in fishing gear provide adequate elasticity for the feeler member 24. A spring 25 anchored to the forwardly extending mounting assembly 23 and secured to the control stick 1%; biases the stick 18 and therefore the diving rudder 14 to the position shown in Fig. 2, there being a stop member in the form of a bar 26 mounted in the plates 16 in the path of the crank 17. The spring 25 has sutlicient strength to hold the control mechanism in this position against the drag of the water when under tow but is yieldable when the feeler portion 24 of the control stick 18 makes substantial contact with the waterbed, as indicated in Fig. 1, to move the diving rudder 14 to a more horizontal position and, indeed, under some circumstances such as encountering a sudden rise in the waterbed will move the rudder 14 to provide a positive angle of attack, thereby assuring a sufiiciently rapid rise to maintain the desired separation from the bottom for all but the most abrupt changes in elevation.

When first streamed overboard the vehicle 10 floats on the surface with its control mechanism in the position shown in Fig. 2. When the vehicle 10 is towed through the water its buoyancy will be overcome by the dynamic force exerted by the water upon the rudders 14 which are in diving position. The vehicle 10 will continue to dive until the feeler rod 24 contacts the waterbed at which time the bias of the spring 25 is overcome to move the rudders 14 to a less negative angle of attack, the greater the towing speed the smaller this angle of attack will be for the reason that the downward component of the dynamic force exerted on the rudders 14 increases with speed. After a few oscillations, the vehicle settles on a course of constant height over the bottom. The feeler rod 24, slightly bent, tracks along the bottom, its elastic force being in equilibrium with the hydrodynamic force exerted by the water on the diving rudders 14.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 4 a streamlined vehicle 30 is shown under tow through the cable 13 at a distance above the ocean floor determined by a control mechanism similar in function to that described above but differing therefrom in that it comprises a separable unit which can be readily secured to any underwater vehicle which has been fitted with a suitable attachment such as a keel plate 31.

Again, as described above, a rigid tubular ection 32 of the feeler rod is pivotally mounted on a pin 33 carried by the keel plate 31 for arcuate movement in the vertical plane defined by the longitudinal axis of the vehicle 38 between the limits established by the relaxed position of a biasing spring 34 and by a stop member 35 depending from the plate 31 into the path of a bracket 36 secured to the tubular member 32. As shown in full line in Fig. 4, the rod 32 occupies the limiting angle in a counterclockwise direction, the limit position in a clockwise direction being indicated in broken lines. To the lower end of the rigid tubular section 32 is secured a flexible rod 37, the inherent elasticity of which tends to render its control action smoother than would otherwise be the case. Pivotally secured to the lower portion of the rigid section 32 are a pair of diving rudders 38 whose angle of attack varies with the angular position of the control rod 32, the arrangement being that when the feeler rod 37 is not in contact with the ocean floor these rudders 38 have a strong negative angle of attack as indicated in broken lines, whereby the vehicle, when movedfthrough water, dives until the feeler rod 37 contacts the ocean floor. The angle of attack of the rudders 38v is determined by a push-pull wire 39 secured at one end to the attachment plate 31 at some distance aft of the pin 33, about which the rod 32 is pivoted, and at its other end to the diving rudders at a point behind the axis 40 about which the rudders 38 oscillate. It will be apparent that as the rod 32 moves counterclockwise the rudders 38 will be forced to move clockwise about their axis so that their diving action is reduced when the feeler rod 37 .touches the bottom at which time the wire 39 decreases the negative angle of attack of the rudders 38 until an equilibrium develops between the hydrodynamic action of the rudders 38 and the elastic force on the feeler rod37. It is to be noted that in its limit position as shown in Fig. 4, the rudders 38,still present a small negative angle of attack, but even so the vehicle 30 will rise because of the vertical component of the towing force exerted through the cable 13.

The bracket 36, in addition to serving as a means for limiting the angle of movement of the control rod 32 in the counterclockwise direction, comprises a support for a sheath 41 surrounding the push-pull wire 39. A similar bracket clamp 42 holds the sheath 41 near its lower end in fixed relation to the tubular rod 32.

To reduce resistance to movement through the water all parts of the control mechanism are preferably suitably faired and in the embodiment shown in Fig. 4 the control wire 39 and its sheath 41 have the major portion of their length enclosed within the tubular control rod 32 for this purpose. 7

While for the purpose of disclosing the invention two specific embodiments thereof have been described in detail, it will of course be obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention can be incorporated in many other structures without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A buoyant submarinevehicle adapted to ride through a seaway at a distance above the waterbed as regulated by diving fins movable under the controlof a depending tactile means in contact with the waterbed characterized by the tactile means having a rigid proximal portion upon which the diving fins are pivotally mounted and having its distal portion elastically flexible under bending stress.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,358,360 Burney Nov. 9, 1920 1,779,168 Isom Oct. 21, 1930 1,908,408 Cox May 9, 1933 2,542,347 Muller Feb. 20, 1951

Images