Surface effect vehicle

A surface effect vehicle comprising a hull (14) having a front end and a rear end, said hull having a longitudinal front-to-rear centerline and a transverse side-to-side centerline;

• air cushion means (40) carried by the hull on its undersurface (44) for exerting a downward force on the terrain and an upward lift force on the hull;
• a first ground-contact wheel (22) located at the front end of the hull on its longitudinal centerline;
• a second ground-contact wheel (24) located at the rear end of the hull on its longitudinal centerline;
• third and fourth ground-contact wheels located at respective side areas of the hull approximately on its transverse centerline;
• combined steering-suspension means for each of the first and second wheels;
• each steering-suspension means comprising a piston-cylinder assembly (52, 50) oriented vertically between the hull and associated wheel for rotational adjustment around a central axis passing approximately through the wheel axis in the wheel center plane, and power mechanism (72) for bodily turning the piston-cylinder assembly around its central axis for steering action;
• each piston-cylinder assembly being resiliently pressurized whereby the piston-cylinder assembly maintains the associated wheel in firm tractive engagement with the terrain without disturbing the attitude of the hull;
• each piston-cylinder assembly defining an upper chamber (66) and a lower chamber(68) interconnected through a flow-restrictor orifice (70), pressurized gas within each upper chamber, and hydraulic liquid occupying each lower chamber and orifice;
• combined drive-suspension means for each of the third and fourth wheels;
• each drive-suspension means comprising an external trailing arm (47) swingably attached to the hull for arcuate vertical movement around a transverse pivot axis (49) located a short distance forwardly of the aforementioned hull transverse centerline, a wheel axle carried at the rear end of the trailing arm, drive means (55) within the trailing arm for transmitting a drive force to the wheel axle, and a piston-cylinder means (52a, 50a) trained between the hull and each trailing arm;
• each of the last-mentioned piston-cylinder means being resiliently pressurized with a gas-liquid charge, whereby the third and fourth wheels are maintained in firm tractive engagement with the terrain without disturbing the hull attitude.