US3030910A

US3030910A - Emergency ship propulsion equipment

Info

Publication number: US3030910A
Application number: US39743A
Authority: US
Inventors: Leslie E Alsager
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1960-06-29
Filing date: 1960-06-29
Publication date: 1962-04-24
Anticipated expiration: 1979-04-24

Description

l April 24, 1962 L. E. ALSAGER 3,030,910

EMERGENCY SHIP PROPULSION EQUIPMENT Filed June 29, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheel 1 INVENTOR. LESLIE E. ALSAGER BY AT TO RN EY April 24, 1962 L. E. ALSAGER 3,030,910

EMERGENCY SHIP PROPULSION EQUIPMENT 3,1, 35 '3 ATTORNEY April 24, 1962 L. E. ALSAGER 3,030,910

EMERGENCY SHIP PROPULSION EQUIPMENT Filed June 29, 1960 Fig. 4

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 y mms/1m LESLIE E. ALSAGER I n (fm ATTORNEY United States Patent O EMERGENCY SHIP PRIULSION EQUIFMENT Leslie E. Alsager, Falls Church, Va., assigner to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed June 29, 1960, Ser. No. 39,743 1 Claim. (Cl. 11S- 41) (Granted under Title 35, U.S. Code (1952), see. 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.

This invention is directed to a novel arrangement for ship propulsion and in particular is concerned with auxiliary propulsion equipment for use under emergency conditions.

In carrying out the invention I propose the arranging of one or more emergency propellers or propulsion devices in such a manner that propulsion of the vessel by the normally used propulsion equipment is uninterrupted or unaffected by the emergency equipment, the auxiliary equipment being readily moved to operating position when an emergency exists as When the normally used propullsion equipment is impaired or it is impractical to use.

Within the purview of the above outlined proposal, the broad object of the invention is to enclose :a propeller or propulsion device in inoperative position within the hull of `a vessel in such a manner as to eliminate or reduce drag to a minimum and to provide for ready adjustment of the propeller to an operative position exteriorly of the vessel structure.

Another object is to provide an assembly of propeller and operating means therefor which are movable as a unit between inoperative and operative positions.

Another object is to support a unitary propeller and motor assembly within the hull of a vessel on guides for ready adjustment of the assembly between inoperative and operative positions.

Another object is to provide an emergency submarine propeller which is sealed within the submarine pressure chamber in inoperative position but is readily movable to operative position.

Other incidental features `and objects of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention.

In its broad aspect, the invention contemplates the positioning of a propeller within the hull of a vessel and adjacent =an opening provided therein which has a removable closure therefor. A motor for driving the propeller is positioned in alignment with the propeller and is connected thereto by ya shaft while means are provided for moving the motor and propeller as a unit from their inoperative position Within the hull to dispose the propeller exteriorly of the hull through the closed opening. An additional feature is the provision of an auxiliary motor with the assembled unit which operates to adjust the position of the propeller with respect to the hull after the auxiliary or emergency propeller has been moved to its operative position for directional steering of the vessel.

FIG. l is `a view in elevation of a submarine with the propeller and motor assembly of the invention disposed in its inoperative position within the ballast chamber.

FiG. 2 is a fragmentary pl-an view of the propeller and motor assembly of FIG. l enlarged to show details of the invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view in sectional elevation of the propeller and motor assembly of FIG. l in inoperative position.

FIG. 4 is a view generally similar to FIG. 3 but taken at a right angle thereto and showing the propeller and motor assembly in operative position.

ICC

In FIG. 1, 1t) shows diagrammatically a submarine having at 11 the usual propeller means for normal propulsion of the vessel. As is usual in submarines, an annular space S for water ballast is formed between the submarine pressure hull which is shown at 12 and the outer hull 13, the purpose of the space is to provide water storage to control the submergence of the submarine. The assembly of auxiliary propeller and other equipment of the invention is shown generally at 14 in FIG. l and by preference the auxiliary propeller is located within the space S as will be explained later.

The plan view of FIG. 2 is for the purpose of showing the general positional relationship of the emergency propeller and the several motors of the assembly. The emergency propeller housing is indicated at 20 having propeller vanes 21 disposed within a Kort nozzle 22 which is secured to the propeller housing 2@ lby means of struts 23. A motor within a housing 24 is provided for driving the propeller vanes 21 while 25 indicates an annulus or ring having an opening for receiving and supporting the housing 24E- and other structure carried thereby. The ring support 2.5 receives vertical rods or guide rails 26 in slots 26 in a manner to permit adjustment of the support and at 27 is indicated a means for controlling the `adjustment of the support to move the propeller lhousing and the equipment of the assembly between its inoperative and operative positions. A directional motor indicated at 2S is carried by the motor housing 24 and has a worm gear 29 for physically moving the motor housing 24 through an arc by means of a ring gear 30 to vary the angular position of the propeller housing relative to the ships hull. The ring gear G0 is shown positioned within the motor housing but may be on its exterior.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4t, the emergency or auxiliary propeller housing 20' is shown disposed within the ballast space S located between the pressure hull 12 and outer hull 13 of the submarine structure. A compartment C is formed within space S by means of a pair of opposed walls 31--3\1, shown in FIG. 3, and a second pair of opposed walls 32;-32, shown in FIG. 4. The outer hull 13 of the submarine is provided with an opening 33 which is closed by a removable cover 34 and an annular seal ring 3S is provided to malte the closure watertight. The Kort nozzle 22 and the propeller housing 20 are respectively secured to the removable closure 34 by means of

braces

36 and 37. A tubular shaft 4u interconnects the motor housing 24 and the propeller housing 20 in a manner to permit movement of the propeller housing when the motor housing is adjusted. To this end, as shown in FIG. 3, the upper end of the shaft tl is xedly mounted to the lower end of the housing of the motor while the lower end of the shaft is provided with a stuffing box 41 for a sealing gland 4t2. The sealing gland 42 is received in an aperture 43 formed in the pressure hull 12 and provides with the sealed closure 34 a watertight chamber C within which the propeller mechanism is disposed.

The support ring 2S is grooved about its periphery as shown in FIG. 2 to provide pairs of guide lingers 44--44 for receiving the guide rails 26 and the ring 25, motor 24 and other associated structure is arranged to be adjusted or moved as a unit along with the propeller hous- Ztl and its associated structure to move the propeller to the operative position of FIG. 4.

In FIG. 4 the auxiliary propeller and other assembled elements are shown in the operative position, that is the closure 34 is moved from the opening 33 while the motor housing Ztl and other elements securing the housing to the closure 34 are moved from the compartment C to a position for propelling the vessel liti. The means 27 indicated in FIG. 2 may conveniently take the form of a piston and cylinder arrangement as shown in FIG.

3 wherein pistons 27 are secured to the ring 2S and mounted within cylinders 27 to which pressure is applied through nozzle 5l by, for example, a hand pump to move the ring support 25 and its associated structure along the rails 26.

After the auxiliary propeller housing 20 has been moved to the position shown in FIG. 4 and in order to change or vary the direction of the propeller' housing 2t) for steering purposes, the ring gear or gear rack 3i? may be arranged within the lower portion of the motor housing 24 as shown in FG. 4 for meshing with the worm gear 29 of the directional motor 28. The arrangement for operating the propellers or vanes Z1 comprises an inner shaft 60, shown in FIG. 4, which is concentrically mounted within the tubular outer shaft (itl and has its upper end disposed within the motor housing 24 and connected to the motor shaft and operated thereby. At its lower end the shaft oil is connected to a bevel gear 61 which is disposed within the propeller housing 2@ to coact with a second bevel gear 62` mounted on a propeller shaft 63. The propeller shaft 63, as is well understood in the art, will be suitably mounted in bearings within the housing 2i) for proper operation of the propellers or vanes 21. When the auxiliary propeller assembly is moved to the position shown in FG. 4, power is supplied to the motor 24 for eifecting its operation and through the shaft 60 and gear connections 611 and 62 the propellers or vanes 2,1 will be operated. Although the propeller housing 20 and its associated structure are maintained in a watertight compartment C, it will be understood that the bevel gears 61 and 612, and other structure within the propeller housing 20 will be formed or constructed of material which will permit lubrication and cooling by the flowing sea water to permit eicient and proper use of the invention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

An auxiliary propeller assembly for a ship which comprises a watertight compartment within the ship constructed of side and opposed upper and lower end walls, a propeller housing secured to the inner face of the lower end wall having a propeller shaft disposed generally horizontally of the compartment and mounting a propeller, an aperture in the upper end wall, an inner vertical shaft extending through said aperture and having its lower end geared to said propeller shaft, an outer vertical tubular shaft concentric with the inner shaft extending through said aperture in sealed relation therewith and having its lower end fixed to said propeller housing, a plurality of vertical guide rails extending upwardly from the compartment upper wall, a horizontal annular support having spaced connecting lugs on its outer periphery, said connecting lugs receiving the guide rails and permitting vertical adjustment of the support, a casing seated on the annular support in freely moving relation therewith and enclosing a iirst motor, said casing being connected with said outer tubular shaft and said first motor being operatively connected with the inner vertical shaft, a second motor supported by said casing, operating connections between the second motor and said casing for rotating the outer tubular shaft, said lower end wall of the compartment being formed of a section of the ships hull which is movable outwardly of the hull and means for applying pressure downwardly of said annular support to lower the equipment carried thereby and position the propeller structure beneath the hull.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,551,371 Grigg May 1, 1951 2,638,863 Kiebler May 19, 1953 2,885,990 Hawthorne May l2, 1959