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US 5,263,429 AGranted
Airfoil sail
OwnerWilhelm Brinkmanninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Airfoil sail for a sailboat of which the length-adjustable mast consists of several telescoping pipes 12, 18, 20 holding individually raised or reefed sail crossbeams 44, 48, 52 with sail coverings spanning the vertical spacings between said crossbeams. Each crossbeam comprises several horizontal crossbeam sections connected to each other by vertical hinge shafts and jointly corresponding to a symmetric airfoil, which are pivotable for each crossbeam, by a motor adjustment drive, to curvatures optimally matching the wind conditions.
Claims25
An airfoil sail for a sailboat, comprising:
- a) a mast;
- b) a plurality of crossbeams including upper and lower crossbeams mounted one above the other at said mast, said crossbeams being raised or lowered individually at said mast;
- c) sail sections secured to respective crossbeams and spanning the respective spacing between said crossbeams;
- d) said crossbeams each including at least two corresponding crossbeam sections and a first vertical hinge shaft, said crossbeam sections being connected to each other by said hinge shaft and jointly corresponding to an airfoil, one of said crossbeam sections enclosing said mast;
- e) each crossbeam including a pivoting drive for articulating said crossbeam sections thereby to adjust the curvature of said crossbeam and said airfoil;
- f) said mast including a plurality of mutually telescoping pipes extendible to a plurality of positions, each position including at least one of said crossbeams;
- and
- g) means for selectively extending or retracting said telescoping pipes one pipe at a time to thereby lengthen or shorten said mast to one of said positions and raise or reef said sail sections together with the respective crossbeams.
5 more elements
An airfoil sail for a sailboat, comprising:
- a) a mast;
- b) a crossbeam secured to said mast;
- c) a sail secured to said mast and said crossbeam;
- d) said crossbeam including at least two corresponding crossbeam sections, including front and rear crossbeam sections and a first vertical hinge shaft, said front and rear crossbeam sections being connected to each other by said hinge shaft and jointly corresponding to an airfoil, said rear crossbeam section enclosing said mast;
- e) a first lever mounted on said hinge shaft and extending into said front and rear crossbeam sections;
- f) a pair of rollers, including upper and lower rollers, disposed one above the other on a vertical shaft and secured adjacent each end of said first lever;
- g) an upper chain operatively engaged with said upper rollers, said upper chain having a front portion affixed to one side of said rear crossbeam section and a rear portion affixed to the opposite side of said front crossbeam section such that said upper rollers rotate in opposite directions when traversing said upper chain;
- h) a lower chain operatively engaged with said lower rollers, said lower chain having a front portion affixed to one side of said rear crossbeam section and a rear portion affixed to the opposite side of said front crossbeam section such that said lower rollers rotate in opposite directions when traversing said lower chain;
- i) said upper and lower chains are looped over respective upper and lower roller in mirror-symmetrical manner;
- and
- j) a pivoting drive connected to a rear end of said first lever for shortening or lengthening said upper and lower chains front portions to thereby pull said front crossbeam section affixed to said chains to one side about said first vertical hinge shafts thereby adjusting the airfoil curvature.
8 more elements
An airfoil sail for a sailboat, comprising:
- a) a mast;
- b) a plurality of crossbeams including upper, middle and lower crossbeams mounted one above the other at said mast, said crossbeams being raised or lowered individually at said mast;
- c) sail sections secured to respective crossbeams and spanning the respective spacing between said crossbeams;
- d) said mast including a plurality of mutually telescoping pipes including inner, central and outer pipes;
- e) means for extending said telescoping pipes to thereby lengthen said mast and raise sail sections together with the respective crossbeams suspended from them and retracting said pipes to thereby shorten said mast and reef said sail sections;
- f) said telescoping pipes being adapted such that said inner and central pipes can be retracted into said outer pipes;
- and
- g) releasable locking means for securing said central pipe to said outer pipe such that said inner pipe is extended first when said mast is being raised.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.