US3891047A - Skirts of gas cushion vehicles - Google Patents

Skirts of gas cushion vehicles Download PDF

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Publication number
US3891047A
US3891047A US367121A US36712173A US3891047A US 3891047 A US3891047 A US 3891047A US 367121 A US367121 A US 367121A US 36712173 A US36712173 A US 36712173A US 3891047 A US3891047 A US 3891047A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
skirt
vehicle
wall members
side portions
vehicle body
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
US367121A
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English (en)
Inventor
John Edward Rapson
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.)
BTG International Ltd
Hovercraft Development Ltd
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Hovercraft Development Ltd
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Publication date
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Publication of US3891047A publication Critical patent/US3891047A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Assigned to BRITISH TECHNOLOGY GROUP LIMITED reassignment BRITISH TECHNOLOGY GROUP LIMITED ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST. Assignors: NATIONAL RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60V—AIR-CUSHION VEHICLES
    • B60V1/00—Air-cushion
    • B60V1/16—Flexible skirts

Definitions

  • Adjusting members to act to cause or allow swinging movement of the ties in a substantially horizontal plane to produce movement of the wall members towards or away from the vehicle periphery.
  • the adjusting members preferably comprise ties extending substantially at right-angles to, and connected to the ties of, the side portions.
  • the skirt may be divided into any desired number of sections arranged for adjustment in unison or individually.
  • a skirt for a gas cushion vehicle comprises upper and lower parts of flexible sheet material.
  • the upper part being connected to the vehicle body so as to be deflectable relative thereto, at least the lower part comprising a contiguous succession of independently deflectable flexible wall members each having an outer portion which faces the gas cushion and a pair of inwardly extending side portions, the side portions being connected to the vehicle body by tie means, in which means are provided to cause or allow the tie means to swing in a substantially horizontal plane about their attachments to the vehicle and thereby result in the outer portions of the wall members being moved laterally relative to the vehicle body.
  • the tie means may comprise substantially inextensiblc cords, ropes, wires or the like and the means for causing or allowing the same to swing in a substantially horizontal plane about their attachments to the vehicle may comprise one or more further cords, ropes or ties extending substantially at right angles to the side portions of the wall members being connected to each of the same either directly or indirectly e.g. via the tie means.
  • the further tie means is conveniently arranged to hold the side portions of the wall members at the desired spacing. Longitudinal movement of the further tie means will then cause the inner extremities of the individual side portions of the wall members to describe an arcuate path about the attachment points of their ties to the vehicle, to occasion a lateral adjustment of the position of the wall members in relation to the vehicle.
  • resilient means are incorporated in or associated with the tie means or the skirt adjusting means so as to allow lateral adjustment of the skirts in dependence upon the cushion pressure.
  • FIG. I is a diagrammatic plan view of a gas cushion vehicle fitted with a skirt in accordance with the invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a transverse section of the vehicle of FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 3 is a transverse section through the skirt of the vehicle of FIGS. I and 2:
  • FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are diagrammatic plan views of the skirt indicating the manner in which lateral adjustment thereof is achieved;
  • FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIGS. 46 showing a modification thereof to render it responsive to variation in cushion pressure
  • FIGS. 8 to 11 correspond to FIGS. 4 to 7 showing a modification of the skirt thereof;
  • FIGS. 12 and 13 are further diagrammatic plan views of a skirt in accordance with FIGS. 8 to 10, in which separate sections of the skirt are arranged for independent adjustment, as well as in unison;
  • FIGS. 14 and 15 are still further diagrammatic plan views showing how movement of the wall members forming the skirts in accordance with FIGS. 12 and 13 may be phased out at the extremities of a skirt section, and
  • FIGS. 16 to-l9 are diagrammatic plan views ofa vehicle fitted with a skirt in accordance with FIGS. 12 and 13 indicating various ways in which the skirt sections may be operated.
  • a gas cushion vehicle 1 is provided with a skirt 2 comprising upper and lower parts formed of flexible sheet material; the upper part 3 comprising a simple sheet having a first edge 4 which is attached to the periphery of the vehicle body 5, and a second edge 7 to which the lower part 6 is connected.
  • the lower part6 comprises a contiguous succession of independently deflectable wall members of the kind described in British Pat. No: 1,043,351, each comprising, as best seen from FIGS. 4-7, an outer portion 8 and a pair of side portions 9, the inner extremities 10 of which are connected to the vehicle body 5 by ties 11.
  • a further or adjusting tie 12 is provided extending substantially at right angles to the side portions 9 of the wall members and parallel to the associated side of the vehicle body, to which the inner extremities 10 of the side portions are connected at the desired predetermined spacing or pitch interval.
  • the inner extremities of the side portions 9 will be caused to describe an arcuate path about the attachment points 13 of their associated ties II to the vehicle body 5 and thus occasion lateral adjustment of the wall members in relation to the vehicle.
  • FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the case of skirts provided at the sides ofa vehicle'which may be laterally adjusted to produce a transverse shift of the centre of pressure of the cushion in relation to the centre of gravity of the vehicle in order to combat roll or to bank a craft in an appropriate manner when effecting turns.
  • the normal or datum position of the ties 11 which constrain the skirt against outward deflection by the pressure of the cushion it contains. may be set at an angle to the lateral axis of the craft as indicated in FIG. 4. Then by releasing the tension in the tie l2 outward movement of the skirt will be allowed to take place under the influence of the outwardly directed forces exerted thereon by the pressure of the cushion, and
  • the movement of the wall members as depicted in FIGS. 4 to 6 assumes that the upper part of the skirt does not impose any constraint, within the limits concerned, upon their ability to move longitudinally. Hence upon adjustment the wall members, or more particularly their side portions, are shown as remaining normal to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. If it was desired that the side portions of the wall members should at all times extend substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and the material of the upper part of the skirt was incapable in itself of sufficient longitudinal stretching, then additional material could be provided in the upper part of the skirt in, for example, the form of corrugations. Conveniently, the additional material of the upper part of the skirt could be provided at each end of an operative section of skirt and would be fitted with an appropriate number of wall members.
  • FIG. 7 A modification of the skirt system described above which will contribute towards an improved ride of the vehicle is indicated in FIG. 7.
  • resilient means such as a spring 16 is incorporated in each longitudinally extending tie 12 so as to allow longitudinal movement thereof in dependence upon fluctuations in cushion pressure.
  • an increase in the cushion pressure which will increase the tension in the tie 12 will occasion extension of the spring 16 to allow the skirt to pay out.
  • a subsequent reduction in the cushion pressure to its standard value will allow the'spring 16 to take charge to return the skirt to its initial position.
  • Such lateral adjustment of the skirt will allow the skirt contained volume to increase as cushion pressure rises and to return to its normal value when the cushion pressure falls to its standard value, so as to reduce the forcing on the craft, since part of the energy normally responsible for the heave acceleration otherwise experienced by the vehicle, due for example to the passage of waves through the cushion, will be dissipated by deforming the skirt laterally.
  • the degree of stretch of the skirt should be limited so that its geometry does not become distorted beyond its normal operating range, but even the ability to accommodate changes of a few percent of cushion volume should attenuate fluctuating forces in heave and thus improve the ride experienced by passengers.
  • the tension in the spring and its rate can be adjusted as desired to cater as required for automatic lateral skirt adjustments in response to variation in cushion pressure both above and below a standard value and also to cater for variations in the standard value depending upon the load carried by the vehicle.
  • the ties 12 may be rendered resilient in any desired manner other than by springs 16 as described in order l to allow, automatic lateral adjustment of the skirt in response to fluctuations in cushion pressure.
  • the ties 11 may be rendered resilient to achieve the same end.
  • both sets of ties could comprise rigid bars appropriately pivotted to the vehicle or side portions of the wall members the case may be. If the ties 11 were rigid then their angular adjustment could be effected other than by the longitudinally extending ties 12 (which might indeed be dispensed with) and separate means may be provided to move the ties 11 in the required manner.
  • the ties 12 in whatever form they might take, to be connected to the inner extremities of the side portions of the wall members as illustrated.
  • the ties 12 could indeed be connected to the ties 11 at any desired point intermediate their connections to the wall members and the vehicle.
  • FIGS. 8 to 10 a modification of the skirt in accordance with FIGS. 4 to 6 is illustrated in which the basic construction of the skirt is the same as that of FIGS. 4 to 6, and the parts thereof are identified by the same reference numerals as therein, but it is arranged to prevent or at least to restrict longitudinal movement of the wall members making up the skirt. that is to say movement in a direction parallel to the periphery of the skirt, upon operation of the adjusting ties 12.
  • This arrangement has the advantage that lateral movement of the skirt for a given movement of the adjusting ties 12 is increased compared with the arrangement of FIGS. 4 to 6.
  • FIG. 11 a skirt in accordance with FIGS. 8 to 10 is illustrated incorporating the modification of FIG. 7.
  • FIGS. 12 and 13 two sections of skirtin accordance with FIGS. 8 to 10 are shown as being provided along one side of a vehicle.
  • a separate adjusting tie 12 is associated with each skirt section, one arranged to be moved in one direction to effect lateral adjustments of its associated skirt section, and the other being arranged to be moved in the opposite direction to effect a comparable movement of its associated skirt section.
  • both ties 12 are operated together the longitudinal forces which would tend to shear the wall members of the skirt, i.e. cause longitudinal movement of the wall members forwards in respect ofa front section, and rearwards in respect of a rear section, are balanced out. If, however, it is desired to operate any one section independently, it is necessary to provide additional restraining ties 17.
  • the side portions of the wall members which abut at the junction between the skirt sections are not connected to the adjusting ties 12 associated therewith.
  • the restraining ties 17 are passed through the space provided by the upper part 3 of the skirt above the side portions 9 of the wall members forming the lower part of the skirt, from a convenient attachment point to the vehicle body at one end to a point at or adjacent the outer portion of the wall memher at the inner end of the distal skirt section.
  • the adjusting ties 12 may not be connected to the side portions or ties ll of the outer one or more wall members of a skirt section, and the side portions of a selected number of the wall members adjacent the outer end of the skirt section may be additionally connected to the adjusting ties by further connections 18.
  • the tensile forces previously taken by the ties ll of those wall members will then be taken by the additional connections 18, as indicated in FIG. 15.
  • FIGS. 16 to 18 Examples of selective operation ofsections of skirt in accordance with FIGS. 12 and 13 are illustrated in FIGS. 16 to 18.
  • operation of the adjusting ties I2 of the two sections of skirt on'the starboard side of a craft is shown, to induce roll of the craft to starboard.
  • operation of the two front sections of skirt on either side of the craft is shown, to effect a bow-down attitude.
  • FIG. l8 showsthe converse, i.e. the operation of the two rear sections on the two sides of the craft 'to effect a stern-down attitude
  • FIG. I9 indicates the operation of the two port and forward starboard skirt sections to induce a roll to port and a bow-down attitude. This last effect may equally be achieved by operation of the forward port section of the skirt only.
  • skirts at the bow or stern of a vehicle may be rendered adjustable in the ways described for selective operation at will or in an automatic manner.
  • the skirts or skirt sections may of course be operated not only to effect movements of the centre of pressure of a gas cushion in relation to the centre of gravity of a vehicle to counteract rolling or pitching of the vehicle. but may equally be operated to induce such movements of the vehicle as required. For example.
  • Differential lateral adjustment of wall members along the given length of sections of a skirt may also be effected to vary the plan form of the cushion contained thereby, so that the plan form of the cushion could, for example, be tapered towards the bow of a vehicle;
  • Such adjustment may be made by providing successive groups of wall members with separate adjusting ties 12 or, alternatively, by arranging for the ties to be moved other than in a direction at right-angles to the intended direction of adjusting movement of the skirt.
  • the adjusting ties would, for example, be arranged to extend at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.
  • Graded movement of successive wall members along a given length or section of skirt controlled by a single adjusting tie may also be promoted by employing a tie having selected stretch properties. Stretching of the tie when under load may then be arranged to produce progressively increasing movements of successive wall members the nearer they are to the end of the tie which is pulled.
  • a skirt or a skirt section may normally be maintained in a datum position from which it may be adjusted both towards and away from the periphery of a vehicle, it is thought it may be more practical to arrange for the normal operating position of a skirt to be that of their maximum extension, so that only positive inward adjusting movements thereof are arranged to be effected.
  • the normal operating position of a skirt may be that of their maximum extension, so that only positive inward adjusting movements thereof are arranged to be effected.
  • the longitudinal ties 12 are not constantly maintained under tension.
  • a skirt for a gas cushion vehicle comprising upper and lower parts of flexible sheet material, the upper part being connected to the vehicle body so as to be deflectable relative thereto, at least the lower part comprising a contiguous succession of independently deflectable flexible wall members each having an outer portion which faces the gas cushion and a pair of inwardly extending side portions, tie means connecting the side portions to the vehicle body, and adjusting means for causing angular movement of at least inner portions of the tie means in a substantially horizontal plane about substantially vertical axes passing through their attachments to the vehicle, and thereby result in the outer portions of the wall members being moved 7 laterally in a direction towards or away from the vehicle body.
  • a skirt for a gas cushion vehicle comprising upper and lower parts of flexible sheet material, the upper part being connected to the vehicle body so as to be deflectable relative thereto, at least the lower part comprising a contiguous succession of independently deflectable flexible wall members each having an outer portion which faces the gas cushion and a pair of inwardly extending side portions, tic means connecting the side portions to the vehicle body, and adjusting means for causing the tie means to swing in a substantially horizontal plane about their attachments to the vehicle, and thereby result in the outer portions of the wall members being moved laterally relative to the vehicle body, the adjusting means comprising further tie means extending substantially at right-angles to the side portions of the wall members and operatively connected to the tie means thereof, and means operative to effect linear movement of the further tie means to cause the inner extremities of the side portions of the wall members to describe an arcuate path about the attachment points of their tie means to the vehicle to occasion a lateral adjustment of the position of the wall members in a direction towards or away from the vehicle body.
  • a skirt as claimed in claim 2 including means for restricting movement of the wall members in a direc tion parallel to that of the further tie means upon adjusting movement thereof.
  • a skirt as claimed in claim 3 in which the skirt is divided into sections, each section being provided with a separate adjusting tie means, the tie means of adjacent sections being arranged for movement in opposite directions.
  • a skirt as claimed in claim 4 including additional restraining tie means associated with each skirt section to prevent sympathetic movement of that section upon individual adjustment of an associated adjacent skirt section.
  • a skirt as claimed in claim 6 in which resilient means are associated with the adjusting means to allow lateral movement of the skirt in dependence upon the pressure of the cushion contained thereby.
  • a gas cushion vehicle in which the cushion is contained at least in part by a skirt, comprising a skirt having upper and lower parts of flexible sheet material.
  • the upper part being connected to the vehicle body so as to be deflectable relative thereto, at least the lower part comprising a contiguous succession of independently deflectable flexible wall members each having an outer portion which faces the gas cushion and a pair of inwardly extending side portions, tic means connecting the side portions to the vehicle body, and adjusting means operative to cause the'tie means to swing fore and aft in a substantially horizontal plane about their attachments to the vehicle body so as to vary the distance between the inner extremities ofthe side portions of the wall members and the adjacent part of the vehiclc body. whereby the boundary of the gas cushion defined by the outer portions of the wall members is moved horizontally in a direction substantially at rightangles to the (periphery) said adjacent part of the vehicle body.
  • a gas cushion vehicle comprising a skirt having upper and lower parts of flexible sheet material for containing the cushion at least in part, the upper part being connected to the vehicle body so as to be deflectable relative thereto, at least the lower part comprising a contiguous succession of independently deflectable flexible wall members each having an outer portion which faces the gas cushion and a pair of inwardly extending side portions, tie means connecting the side portions to the vehicle body, means for controlling the vehicle in heave, pitch or roll comprising means operative to effect angular movement fore and aft of the tie means of the side portions of at least a selected number of the wall members in a substantially horizontal plane and about substantially vertical axes passing through their attachments to the vehicle body, so as to move the outer portions of the wall members horizontally in a direction substantially at right-angles to that part of the vehicle periphery to which they are attached.
  • the cushion of a gas cushion vehicle in a direction towards or away from the vehicle periphery comprising a skirt having upper and lower parts of flexible sheet material for containing the cushion at least in part, the upper part being connected to the vehicle body so as to be deflectable relative thereto, at least the lower part comprising a contiguous succession of independently deflectable flexible wall members each having an outer portion which faces the gas cushion and a pair of inwardly extending side portions.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
  • Transportation (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Superstructure Of Vehicle (AREA)
  • Fluid-Damping Devices (AREA)
US367121A 1972-06-06 1973-06-05 Skirts of gas cushion vehicles Expired - Lifetime US3891047A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB2632472A GB1439326A (en) 1972-06-06 1972-06-06 Skirts of gas cushion vehicles

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US3891047A true US3891047A (en) 1975-06-24

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US367121A Expired - Lifetime US3891047A (en) 1972-06-06 1973-06-05 Skirts of gas cushion vehicles

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US (1) US3891047A (ja)
JP (1) JPS5755620B2 (ja)
CA (1) CA973239A (ja)
FR (1) FR2187586B1 (ja)
GB (1) GB1439326A (ja)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4111276A (en) * 1976-03-26 1978-09-05 Hovercraft Development Limited Skirts for gas cushion vehicles
US4848501A (en) * 1987-05-07 1989-07-18 Matthew Goodwin Air cushion vehicle
US5370197A (en) * 1992-09-09 1994-12-06 Goodwin Hovercraft Company, Inc. Air cushion vehicle

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2504477A1 (fr) * 1981-04-22 1982-10-29 Floch Jean Francois Ensemble de coque pour aeroglisseur
DE4219830A1 (de) * 1992-06-17 1993-12-23 Abs International Sa St Blaise Statische Trimmung für ein Luftkissenfahrzeug

Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3195667A (en) * 1962-01-22 1965-07-20 Vickers Armstrongs Ltd Air-cushion borne vehicles
US3272275A (en) * 1963-04-29 1966-09-13 Bertin & Cie Movable platform resting on an air cushion enclosed inside at least one yielding prefrably circular skirt
US3285357A (en) * 1960-09-29 1966-11-15 Fred Starobin A Air cushion vehicles with maneuvering and forward propulsion controls
US3420329A (en) * 1965-06-09 1969-01-07 Hovercraft Dev Ltd Gas-cushion vehicles
US3608664A (en) * 1968-05-08 1971-09-28 British Hovencraft Corp Ltd Cushion barriers for air cushion vehicles
US3621931A (en) * 1968-03-26 1971-11-23 Vosper Ltd Gas-cushion vehicles
US3770079A (en) * 1971-02-16 1973-11-06 British Hovercraft Corp Ltd Flexible skirt assemblies for air cushion vehicles

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3285357A (en) * 1960-09-29 1966-11-15 Fred Starobin A Air cushion vehicles with maneuvering and forward propulsion controls
US3195667A (en) * 1962-01-22 1965-07-20 Vickers Armstrongs Ltd Air-cushion borne vehicles
US3272275A (en) * 1963-04-29 1966-09-13 Bertin & Cie Movable platform resting on an air cushion enclosed inside at least one yielding prefrably circular skirt
US3420329A (en) * 1965-06-09 1969-01-07 Hovercraft Dev Ltd Gas-cushion vehicles
US3621931A (en) * 1968-03-26 1971-11-23 Vosper Ltd Gas-cushion vehicles
US3608664A (en) * 1968-05-08 1971-09-28 British Hovencraft Corp Ltd Cushion barriers for air cushion vehicles
US3770079A (en) * 1971-02-16 1973-11-06 British Hovercraft Corp Ltd Flexible skirt assemblies for air cushion vehicles

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4111276A (en) * 1976-03-26 1978-09-05 Hovercraft Development Limited Skirts for gas cushion vehicles
US4848501A (en) * 1987-05-07 1989-07-18 Matthew Goodwin Air cushion vehicle
US5370197A (en) * 1992-09-09 1994-12-06 Goodwin Hovercraft Company, Inc. Air cushion vehicle

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FR2187586B1 (ja) 1977-02-11
JPS4956316A (ja) 1974-05-31
FR2187586A1 (ja) 1974-01-18
JPS5755620B2 (ja) 1982-11-25
GB1439326A (en) 1976-06-16
CA973239A (en) 1975-08-19

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AS Assignment

Owner name: BRITISH TECHNOLOGY GROUP LIMITED, ENGLAND

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST.;ASSIGNOR:NATIONAL RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:006243/0136

Effective date: 19920709