Air cushion vehicles

Abstract

An air cushion vehicle comprises a structure to be lifted, a central lifting cushion, and a peripheral lifting arrangement constituted by a plurality of cells defined externally by an outer multi-lobed skirt. Each lobe of the outer skirt is constituted by an assembly of an upper part defined by a surface of revolution which diverges downwards with respect to the structure, and of a lower part defined by a surface of revolution which converges downwards with respect to the structure, so that the lobe projects outside the structure. The lifting surface of the cells and thus of the entire cushion is increased and they project externally of the structure thus protecting the structure against impact.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.