US3512604A - Fluid cushion skirt arrangements for ground-effect machines - Google Patents

Fluid cushion skirt arrangements for ground-effect machines Download PDF

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Publication number
US3512604A
US3512604A US740656A US3512604DA US3512604A US 3512604 A US3512604 A US 3512604A US 740656 A US740656 A US 740656A US 3512604D A US3512604D A US 3512604DA US 3512604 A US3512604 A US 3512604A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
skirt
cushion
ground
fluid cushion
fluid
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US740656A
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English (en)
Inventor
Francois L Giraud
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
l AEROTRAIN Ste
Aerotrain SA
Original Assignee
Aerotrain SA
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Aerotrain SA filed Critical Aerotrain SA
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3512604A publication Critical patent/US3512604A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60V—AIR-CUSHION VEHICLES
    • B60V3/00—Land vehicles, waterborne vessels, or aircraft, adapted or modified to travel on air cushions
    • B60V3/02—Land vehicles, e.g. road vehicles
    • B60V3/04—Land vehicles, e.g. road vehicles co-operating with rails or other guiding means, e.g. with air cushion between rail and vehicle

Definitions

  • This invention relates to ground-effect machines which are supported on and/or guided by cushions of pressurised fluid laterally confined by skirt arrangements which, although capable of deformation, are made of solid material.
  • the invention relates more particularly to machines or vehicles of the kind which cooperate with a specially prepared supporting surface or track in which there are only slight superficial irregularities, and to the means of confining the associated fluid cushions.
  • the confining skirt arrangements used to define a fluid cushion are, on the one hand towards the exterior of the cushion, integral with a hinge arrangement disposed substantially parallel to the cushion axis and externally thereof, and on the other hand towards the interior of the cushion, integral with a diaphragm forming part of the base of the cushion.
  • the link between the skirt and the said hinge may be effected through lever arms and any other appropriate means which will impart elasticity and damping characteristics to the device, for example a torsion bar.
  • This damping can be supplemented by the provision of a tuned resonator or vibrator the vibrations of which are auto matically made to occur in antiphase with those developing in the skirt arrangement, thus having the effect of cancelling out skirt vibrations.
  • FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a skirt arrangement embodying the invention
  • FIG. 2 is a diagram of the forces at work in the skirt arrangement
  • FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a sectional view of another alternative em- 3,512,604 Patented May 19, 1970 ice bodiment, to which a supplementary damping device has been added.
  • a cushion of pressurised fluid 1 is confined at least at one side by a flexible skirt 2.
  • This skirt is integrally fixed by some appropriate means such as rivets or bolts 9, to a profiled member 8 advantageously of U-section, this member itself being fixed in rigid fashion to arms 10 in order that the skirt-arm assembly can pivot about pins 4.
  • the pins 4 are lodged in yoke plates 6 fixed rigidly to the framework 3 of the vehicle for example through a bracket 7.
  • the skirt 2 is held in position by a system of springs and a damping system, constituted for example by torsion bars 15 mounted in bearings 17, each bar bearing at one end against the internal face of the arm 10 and at the other end being fixed in a clamping block 16.
  • the damping function can for example be produced by arranging for the bearings 17 to bind on the torsion bars 15 with a certain degree of friction.
  • pins 4 are disposed substantially outside the base of the cushion and preferably parallel to the axis thereof.
  • the skirt 2 is likewise integral with a deformable chamber 5 in the form of a diaphragm 11 containing orifices 12 directly opposite the cushion 1, and with a second, continuous, fluidtight diaphragm 13, the two diaphragms being fixed in sealed fashion at their peripheries and attached on the one hand to the fillet or profiled member 8 and on the other hand along the framework 3.
  • a wall 14 is fixed, preferably made of a nonrigid material, which entraps the diaphragms 11 and 13. This wall is designed to act as a support when the vehicle is resting upon the surface 28, and to confine an auxiliary fluid cushion in the event, that due to some accident, the normal skirt arrangement in accordance with the invention is damaged.
  • Part of the fluid cushion penetrates into the chamber 5 through the orifices 12 and thus acts as a pneumatic damper out of phase with pressure fluctuations in the cushion due to the pressure loss developed between the two spaces.
  • FIG. 2 illustrates a design of this sort and at the same time schematically illustrates the forces which are exerted when the skirt 2 moves inwards under the efl ect of an increase in pressure in the cushion 1.
  • f is the effective force which is the resultant of the pressures applied to the assembly of skirt 2 and diaphragm 13
  • the force F represents the force exerted by the spring 15
  • d is the torque arm provided by the lever for the force 1 in relation to the point 0 which is situated on the axis of articulation
  • D is the torque arm presented by the lever vis-a-vis the force F in relation to said same point 0.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates a variant embodiment of the arrangement for returning the skirt-arm assembly, in which the initial stress in the torsion bar 15a is controlled in known manner through the medium of a link 18 and a hydraulic ram 19, although any other kind of system could be employed such as for example an electromechanical or hydropneumatic one.
  • the said link is fixed rigidly to the end of the torsion bar 15a which was previously clamped in the block 16; the latter block is replaced by a bearing.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates a system of this sort, of known design.
  • a mass 21 is attached which contains a longitudinal recess 23 enabling it to slide along the rod 20 and is held in the central position by a spring 22.
  • This assembly is lodged in the housing 24.
  • the springmass system constitutes an inertia block resonator system which starts to vibrate at the same time as the skirt 2 but in antiphase therewith, thus damping and cancelling out any tendency to vibrate.
  • the deformable skirt is constituted by a rigid plate 25 fixed in a sealed fashion to two deformable diaphragms 26 and 27.
  • lever arms attached to said skirt and extending outwardly therefrom on the outside of said fluid cushion;
  • a ground-effect machine including means biassing said lever arms about their respective pivots in opposition to the pressure of the fluid cushion acting on the diaphragm.
  • a ground-effect machine including a damping system operatively connected to said skirt.
  • a ground-effect machine comprising in addition a second skirt situated inside-the fluid cushion, said second skirt being shorter than'the firstmentioned skirt.
  • a ground-effect machine according to claim 5,
  • biassing means is constituted by a spring torsion bar for each lever.
  • each spring torsion bar is associated with an adjustable hydraulic ram for adjusting the'initial torsion of the bar.
  • damping system comprises a deformable chamber communicating with the interior of the cushion through calibrated orifices in a wall of said deformable chamber.
  • a ground-effect machine comprising an inertial resonator.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
  • Transportation (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Vibration Prevention Devices (AREA)
  • Vehicle Body Suspensions (AREA)
  • Combined Devices Of Dampers And Springs (AREA)
  • Fluid-Damping Devices (AREA)
US740656A 1967-09-15 1968-06-27 Fluid cushion skirt arrangements for ground-effect machines Expired - Lifetime US3512604A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR121215A FR1543498A (fr) 1967-09-15 1967-09-15 Perfectionnements aux parois de confinement de coussins de fluide sous pression
FR155690A FR95089E (fr) 1967-09-15 1968-06-19 Perfectionnements aux parois de confinement de coussins de fluide sous pression.

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3512604A true US3512604A (en) 1970-05-19

Family

ID=26179477

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US740656A Expired - Lifetime US3512604A (en) 1967-09-15 1968-06-27 Fluid cushion skirt arrangements for ground-effect machines

Country Status (7)

Country Link
US (1) US3512604A (de)
BE (1) BE719355A (de)
CH (1) CH477311A (de)
DE (1) DE1780342A1 (de)
ES (1) ES357568A1 (de)
FR (2) FR1543498A (de)
GB (1) GB1232109A (de)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3695383A (en) * 1969-04-10 1972-10-03 Aerotrain Arrangement for securing walls together
US6507968B1 (en) * 2000-09-07 2003-01-21 Tennant Company Side skirt for a surface treating apparatus
US6666757B1 (en) * 2002-07-10 2003-12-23 Jem Ma Kim Centrifugal barrel finishing machine

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3929492A (en) * 1971-11-26 1975-12-30 Johnson & Son Inc S C Surface treating compositions

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3291240A (en) * 1963-07-31 1966-12-13 Hovercraft Dev Ltd Air cushion vehicles having deflectable wall structures

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3291240A (en) * 1963-07-31 1966-12-13 Hovercraft Dev Ltd Air cushion vehicles having deflectable wall structures

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3695383A (en) * 1969-04-10 1972-10-03 Aerotrain Arrangement for securing walls together
US6507968B1 (en) * 2000-09-07 2003-01-21 Tennant Company Side skirt for a surface treating apparatus
US6666757B1 (en) * 2002-07-10 2003-12-23 Jem Ma Kim Centrifugal barrel finishing machine

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
BE719355A (de) 1969-02-12
FR1543498A (fr) 1968-10-25
FR95089E (fr) 1970-06-19
CH477311A (fr) 1969-08-31
GB1232109A (de) 1971-05-19
ES357568A1 (es) 1970-03-16
DE1780342A1 (de) 1972-01-05

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