Variable draft hull
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorMichael F. Manning
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hull for a water-borne vessel includes submersible variable displacement ods attached to a main hull of the vessel through pivotable arms which allow positioning of the submersible pods at locations within a range of horizontal and vertical locations. The variable displacement pods also include hydrofoils and other controllable surfaces to provide dynamic lift and attitude control of the vessel. A gearing arrangement is provided to maintain or selectively change the orientation of the pods or portions thereof at different angular positions of the pivotable arms. Support for the vessel can thus be controllably proportioned among both static displacement and dynamic lift of the main hull and the variable displacement pods as well as through dynamic lift of foils or planes.
Claims16
A variable draft hull including in combination:
- a main hull,
- at least two variable displacement pods and
- means for positioning said at least two variable displacement pods over a range of horizontal and vertical positions in relation to said main hull,
- a first one of said variable displacement pods being positioned on a first side of said main hull and a second one of said variable displacement pods being positioned on a second side of said main hull;
- each of said variable displacement pods further contains a bladder;
- said means for positioning includes a first drive shaft extending from said main hull to said first one of said variable displacement pods said first drive shaft having a first worm gear rigidly affixed thereto;
- said means for positioning further includes a second drive shaft extending from said main hull to said second one of said variable displacement pods, said second drive shaft having a second worm gear rigidly affixed thereto.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.