US3601214A - Devices for supplying fluid under pressure to ground effect machines - Google Patents

Devices for supplying fluid under pressure to ground effect machines Download PDF

Info

Publication number
US3601214A
US3601214A US809761A US3601214DA US3601214A US 3601214 A US3601214 A US 3601214A US 809761 A US809761 A US 809761A US 3601214D A US3601214D A US 3601214DA US 3601214 A US3601214 A US 3601214A
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
membrane
machine
pressure
outlet
plenum chamber
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
US809761A
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Jean Henri Bertin
Maurice Paul Berthelot
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.)
Bertin Technologies SAS
Original Assignee
Bertin et Cie 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 Bertin et Cie SA filed Critical Bertin et Cie SA
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3601214A publication Critical patent/US3601214A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60V—AIR-CUSHION VEHICLES
    • B60V1/00—Air-cushion
    • B60V1/02—Air-cushion wherein the cushion is generated and contained by at least one peripheral fluid curtain
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60V—AIR-CUSHION VEHICLES
    • B60V1/00—Air-cushion
    • B60V1/04—Air-cushion wherein the cushion is contained at least in part by walls

Definitions

  • each cushion chamber is segregated from its supply duct by a check valve so devised as to close and seal off the outlet of said duct whenever an accidental back pressure is produced in the chamber and thereby prevent such back pressure from progressing along the duct.
  • valves into the conduits for delivering pressure fluid into cushion chambers bounded by skirts.
  • An arrangement of this kind is set forth in Guienne US. Pat. Nos. 3,233,692 and 3,373,837, but in this case the valves were servo-controlled valves, not free valves, and furthermore operated in reverse fashionto those of the present invention; they closed responsively to a pressure drop in the associated cushion in order to prevent such pressure drop from reverberating throughout the other cushions, whereas the nonretum valve of the present invention is adapted to close in response to an overpressure in the cushion, as already indicated. 1
  • the check valve includes a membrane which flexes between a support against which it bears when at rest, thereby to leave wide open the outlet port of the supply duct, and a seat against which it is applied whenever asubstantial back pressure occurs, thereby to segregate the cushion chamb'erfrom said duct.
  • Thisme'mbrane is preferably made of a flaccid material devoid of significant natural elasticity.
  • FIG. 1 shows diagrammatically in partial vertical section a ground effect machine provided with the improvementaccording to this invention, as localized within the circle designated by the reference letter A;
  • FIG. 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale of the detail A of said improvement
  • FIG. 3 is a top plan view with partial cutaway
  • FIGS. 4 and 5 are views corresponding to FIGS. 2 and 3 respectively, showing an alternative embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 6 schematically illustrates-an application of the invention to a cushion at least partly confined by a fluid'curtain.
  • the ground effect machine depicted in FIG. I comprises a platform I supported by pressure fluid cushions formed in plenum chambers 2 bounded by skirts or confining walls 3.
  • the fluid under pressure is conveyed. from fans 4 through ducts 5.
  • a grid6 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) which may be devised in a variety of ways, examples being a meshed grating, perforated sheet metal, or expanded metal.
  • the grid 6 is secured to the undersurface of platform 1 by means of a flange or ring 7.
  • stays 8 (numbering three in the exemplary embodiment herein considered) extending from platform 1 into the interior of plenum chamber 2.
  • a frame 9 Fixed to the other ends of stays 8 is a frame 9, shown as being rectangular in the example portrayed in FIG. 3. This frame is suspended beneath platform I, in spaced relationship therewith, on the same side as the supporting surface, by means of nuts 8a screwed on to the stays 8.
  • a second grid 10 is fixed along two opposite sides a-a and bb of frame 9. Grid 10, which has a greater section thanthe rectangle aabb, is folded in its middle along the line c--c, whereby to form a dihedron.
  • a membrane 11 made of flaccid fluidtight material.
  • Membrane 11 is clamped between a diametrical line of grid 6 and the apex of grid 10, along the line cc, by means of arigid tube 12 restrained by two bolts 13.
  • membrane immediately flaps upwards and is applied beneath grid 6, thereby acting as a check valve which prevents the back pressure in cushion 2 from being transmitted to duct 5 and segregates the one from the other.
  • valve membrane ll Such automatic and virtually instant closure of valve membrane ll responsively to an overpressure which occurs in cushion 2 and which overcomes the normal flow, is due to two concurrent phenomena:
  • the flow duct is narrowed, producing a speeding up effect which creates a static vacuum on the upper surface of the membrane. This vacuum attracts the membrane upwards and applies it against inlet grid 6.
  • the check valve device comprises, as precedingly described, two grids 14 and 15, but in this instance the latter are substantially conical in shape.
  • the two cones are joined as follows: conical grid 14, which is positioned directly at the outlet port of supply duct 5 into the chamber, is fixed along its base at 14a to platform 1, while conical grid 15 is fixed along its base to a ring 16 disposed in spaced coplanar relationship with platform l, on the side thereof proximate the supporting surface. Ring 16 is secured to platform 1 through the agency of threaded stays l7 (numbering three in this embodiment likewise). Between the two cones l4 and 15 is positioned a circular, flacc'id fluidtight membrane 18 sandwiched at its central portion between two flanges 19 and 20 fixed to the apices of the cones.
  • membrane 18 is applied over conical grid 15 responsively to the dynamic action of the supply fluid. Should a back pressure, shown by the arrows F, occur in cushion 2, the membrane 18 then acts as a check valve and is fetched into application against conical grid l4-whereby to segregate duct 5 from cushion 2. As FIG. 5 clearly shows, circular membrane 18 is subdivided intothree sectors of approximately each, the purpose of which is to facilitate deformation of the membrane.
  • the check valve device of the present invention is likewise applicable to cushions confined at least partially by a fluid curtain, of the kind for instance described in Bertin US. Pat. No. 3,140,753.
  • a fluid curtain of the kind for instance described in Bertin US. Pat. No. 3,140,753.
  • FIG. 6 the valve device described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 has been transposed in full to the embodiment of FIG. 6 (in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals), except that, instead of debouching directly into cushion 2, supply duct 5 has port in an intermediate plenum chamber 21 communicating witha peripheral nonle 22 through which is discharged the fluid curtain 23 confining the cushion.
  • closure of check valve 11 will be caused primarily by the effect of the pressure waves propagated through nozzle 22 and rising up to membrane 11.
  • a surface effect machine having a plenum chamber, pressure fluid supply means and piping means extending from said pressure fluid supply means and ending with an outlet opening into said plenum chamber to discharge pressure fluid thereinto and maintain pressure therein at a normal operative value
  • the improvement comprises a pressure-sensitive, outlet control, check valve system movable between a rest position in which said outlet is wide open irrespective of whether or not said pressure fluid supply means is in operation and so long as said pressure does not substantially exceed said normal operative value, and a work position in which said outlet is closed in response to overpressure in said plenum chamber in substantial excess of said normal operative value whereby said overpressure is prevented from proceeding along said piping means towards said supply means and is confined to said plenum chamber, said check valve system comprising a substantially unbiased membrane which freely flexes to said opening rest position and to said closing work position.
  • said check valve system further comprises a stationary support on which said membrane is backed when in said opening rest position thereof, and a stationary seat against which said membrane is applied when in said closing work position thereof.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
  • Transportation (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Check Valves (AREA)
US809761A 1968-03-22 1969-03-24 Devices for supplying fluid under pressure to ground effect machines Expired - Lifetime US3601214A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR145064 1968-03-22

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3601214A true US3601214A (en) 1971-08-24

Family

ID=8647924

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US809761A Expired - Lifetime US3601214A (en) 1968-03-22 1969-03-24 Devices for supplying fluid under pressure to ground effect machines

Country Status (2)

Country Link
US (1) US3601214A (fr)
FR (1) FR1566599A (fr)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3757699A (en) * 1971-04-15 1973-09-11 Uniflo Systems Co Pneumatic suspension system
US3918548A (en) * 1973-05-07 1975-11-11 Vosper Thornycroft Ltd Gas cushion vehicles
US10155507B2 (en) * 2016-01-28 2018-12-18 Vescovi Innovations, LLC Compressed gas levitation device

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3106260A (en) * 1959-12-16 1963-10-08 Carwil Entpr Inc Earth-skimming air vehicle with pressure responsive valve means
US3174569A (en) * 1959-10-09 1965-03-23 Hovercraft Dev Ltd Vehicles for travelling over land and/or water
US3181636A (en) * 1959-10-02 1965-05-04 Hovercraft Dev Ltd Ground effect machine having heave stability for traversing rough surfaces
US3425505A (en) * 1965-05-03 1969-02-04 Westland Aircraft Ltd Cushion air reverse flow preventing means

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3181636A (en) * 1959-10-02 1965-05-04 Hovercraft Dev Ltd Ground effect machine having heave stability for traversing rough surfaces
US3174569A (en) * 1959-10-09 1965-03-23 Hovercraft Dev Ltd Vehicles for travelling over land and/or water
US3106260A (en) * 1959-12-16 1963-10-08 Carwil Entpr Inc Earth-skimming air vehicle with pressure responsive valve means
US3425505A (en) * 1965-05-03 1969-02-04 Westland Aircraft Ltd Cushion air reverse flow preventing means

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3757699A (en) * 1971-04-15 1973-09-11 Uniflo Systems Co Pneumatic suspension system
US3918548A (en) * 1973-05-07 1975-11-11 Vosper Thornycroft Ltd Gas cushion vehicles
US10155507B2 (en) * 2016-01-28 2018-12-18 Vescovi Innovations, LLC Compressed gas levitation device
US10752233B2 (en) 2016-01-28 2020-08-25 Vescovi Innovations, LLC Method for levitation of an object

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FR1566599A (fr) 1969-05-09

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US3513934A (en) Air bearing devices
US3232366A (en) Ground effect machine with permeable material support member
GB1341325A (en) Inflatable support appliance
US2576516A (en) Pressure relief valve
US3601214A (en) Devices for supplying fluid under pressure to ground effect machines
GB1207806A (en) Improvements in or relating to flexible skirting assemblies for ground effect machines
US3502168A (en) Flexible skirting assemblies for ground effect machines
US5538360A (en) Crest gate operating system
US3363718A (en) Skirts for gas-cushion vehicles
US5265645A (en) Surge reliever relief valve
GB1284297A (en) Improvements relating to fluid cushion vehicles
ES371556A1 (es) Un dispositivo de soporte de fluido para sostener cargas.
US3327797A (en) Ground effect vehicle with detachable flexible skirt
US3353617A (en) Gas-cushion vehicles
US3732888A (en) Closing device for a pneumatic system
US2971531A (en) Relief valve
US3606294A (en) Balancing valve for a load-responsive brake pressure regulator
US3656662A (en) Expulsion tank collector plate
US3340943A (en) Air cushion stability control device with adjustable plenum chamber volume
GB1069076A (en) Improvements relating to gas-cushion vehicles for travelling over a surface
GB1387902A (en) Closing device for a pneumatic system
US4077489A (en) Dynamic fluid system for improving stability of a fluid cushion vehicle
US3365018A (en) Skirt construction for surface effect device
US3913156A (en) Levitation beds
US4313513A (en) Self regulating air bearing