Low-drag, high-speed ship

A low drag flow apparatus for supporting a craft comprising a foil body having a leading edge region and a trailing edge region, and having an upper surface and a lower surface, a higher pressure source of gas, and a lower pressure source of gas connected to the foil body, the leading edge further comprising a nose piece connected to the foil body near the sources of gas for releasing gas behind the nose piece, wherein gas is released along upper and lower surfaces of the foil, wherein gas is released from the higher pressure source along the lower surface of the foil body, and wherein gas is released from the lower pressure source along the upper surface of the foil body for forming cavities between the nose piece and the trailing edge region on the upper and lower surfaces.

The apparatus of claim further comprising a tail piece at the trailing edge, and sources of reduced pressure connected to the tail piece for withdrawing gas through the tail piece, and means for changing the geometry of the tailpiece.

A low drag flow apparatus for supporting a craft comprising a foil body having a leading edge and a trailing edge, and having an upper surface and a lower surface and at least one source of gas connected to the foil body, the leading edge further comprising a nose piece connected to at least one source of gas for releasing gas from the nose piece rearward along at least one surface of the foil, wherein gas is released rearward along upper and lower surfaces of the foil, further comprising gas lets in surfaces of the foil for releasing gas along the surfaces of the foil, flaps hinged to the surfaces of the foil forward of the gas jets and extending over the gas jets for closing against the gas lets and for opening when gas is elected through the gas nets, further comprising at least one gas intake forward of at least one gas jet, the intake connected to a pump for withdrawing gas through the intake, for increasing its pressure, and for releasing it along the surface of the foil behind the intake.

A low drag flow apparatus for supporting a craft comprising a foil body having a leading edge and a trailing edge, and having an upper surface and a lower surface and at least one source of gas connected to the foil body, the leading edge further comprising a nose piece connected to at least one source of gas for releasing gas from the nose piece rearward along at least one surface of the foil, further comprising at least one gas intake along at least one surface of the foil near the trailing edge for withdrawing gas into the foil, wherein at least one surface near the trailing edge is s-shaped and wherein two intakes are located near the forward end of the s-shape whereby gas is withdrawn through the first intake at higher speeds, and through the second intake at lower speeds.

A low drag flow apparatus for supporting a craft comprising a foil body having a leading edge and a trailing edge, and having an upper surface and a lower surface and at least one source of gas connected to the foil body, the leading edge further comprising a nose piece connected to at least one source of gas for releasing gas from the nose piece rearward along at least one surface of the foil, wherein gas is released rearward along upper and lower surfaces of the foil, further comprising gas intakes along the upper and lower surfaces of the foil near the trailing edge for withdrawing gas into the foil, a tail piece at the trailing edge, and sources of reduced pressure connected to the tail piece for withdrawing gas through the tail piece, and means for changing the geometry of the tail piece and, sensors on the tail piece and means for adjusting the rates for gas release, and for withdrawing gas near the tail piece according to conditions sensed by the sensors.

A low drag flow apparatus for supporting a craft comprising a foil body having a leading edge and a trailing edge, and having an upper surface and a lower surface and at least one source of gas connected to the foil body, the leading edge further comprising a nose piece connected to at least one source of gas for releasing gas from the nose piece rearward along at least one surface of the foil, wherein gas is released rearward along upper and lower surfaces of the foil, wherein the gas sources are attached to spanwise plenums which lie near the foil leading edge, and which contain slots through which the gas is released as jets moving rearward along the surfaces, wherein the foil is swept back, and wherein the plenums taper along the foil from air supply points so that the gas velocities in the plenums vectorially combine with the gas velocities through the slots so the gas jets emerge about parallel to the local water flow and at about the local water velocity.

A low drag flow apparatus for supporting a craft comprising a foil body having a leading edge and a trailing edge, and having an upper surface and a lower surface and at least one source of gas connected to the foil body, the leading edge further comprising a nose piece connected to at least one source of gas for releasing gas from the nose piece rearward along at least one surface of the foil, further comprising at least one gas intake along at least one surface of the foil near the trailing edge for withdrawing gas into the foil, wherein a strip of porous material is placed in the gas intakes.

A low drag flow apparatus for supporting a craft comprising a foil body having a leading edge and a trailing edge, and having an upper surface and a lower surface and at least one source of gas connected to the foil body, the leading edge further comprising a nose piece connected to at least one source of gas for releasing gas from the nose piece rearward along at least one surface of the foil, wherein the foil is a strut connecting an underwater surface to an above-water object wherein the upper surface is defined as one side of the strut, and the lower surface is defined as the other side of the strut, and the gas is air, further comprising an upper portion and a lower portion wherein at least the upper portion of the strut is superventilated behind the nose piece.

A hydrofoil vessel comprising an above-water hull, propulsion system, and struts having upper ends connected to the hull and having lower ends connected to a v-shaped hydrofoil in plan view wherein the hydrofoil has thin vertical dimensions and is swept back greater than 45 degrees, wherein the struts are movable and the hydrofoil lies nearly in a horizontal plane, and wherein the hydrofoil is divided into three hydrofoils comprising a v-shaped forward hydrofoil positioned under the hull and first and second aft hydrofoils extending outward from the hull, the aft hydrofoils forming rearward and outward extensions of the forward hydrofoil.

SWATH apparatus comprising a ship body, parallel buoyant torpedo-shaped hulls extending in fore and aft directions of the craft and fore and aft telescoping struts connecting the buoyant hulls to the body, the buoyant hulls having upper surfaces and lower surfaces and horizontal fences extending along the hulls between the upper surfaces and the lower surfaces, nose pieces on the forward end of the bodies and gas sources connected to the nose pieces for releasing lower-pressure gas from the nose pieces along the upper surfaces of the hulls, and for releasing higher-pressure gas from nose pieces along the lower surfaces of the hulls.

A low drag underwater body comprising a nose piece, a tail piece, and an upper surface and a lower surface positioned between these nose and tail pieces, wherein the nose piece is connected to a lower-pressure source of gas for releasing gas from the nose piece rearward along the upper surface of the body, and wherein the nose piece is connected to a higher-pressure source of gas for releasing gas along the lower surface, and also comprising horizontal fences which separate the upper and lower surfaces.

A watercraft comprising a craft having a long transverse span above-water foil-shaped lifting body, struts extending downward from the lifting body, pontoons connected to the-struts, gas sources connected to the pontoons, nose pieces mounted on the pontoons and connected to the gas sources for releasing gas rearwardly along surfaces of the pontoons for reducing drag on the pontoons.

A low-drag lifting apparatus comprising a strut-like nose piece which lies at least partly under water and an essentially-flat lifting bottom plate which is attached near a bottom of the nose piece, further comprising a gas-filled cavity that lies behind the nose piece and extends down to the bottom plate, also comprising a pressurized gas source wherein gas from this source is released along the underside of the bottom plate for reducing drag on the underside of the bottom plate.

A low-drag lifting apparatus comprising a strut-like nose piece which lies at least partly under water and an essentially-flat bottom plate which is attached near the bottom of the nose piece wherein the trailing edge of the nose piece is essentially its thickest part, and wherein the region lying behind the submerged portion of the nose piece and above the bottom plate is at least partially filled with gas, an above-water structure attached to the bottom plate by at least one strut-like member, at least one other similar apparatus to which the above-water structure is attached, further comprising a catamaran wherein the nose pieces pierce the water surface and hull portions are attached to the trailing edges of the nose pieces and to the bottom plates wherein the majority of the hull portions are covered with gas, and also wherein the hull portions extend above the water surface where they are joined together with an above-water cross structure.

The method of operating water vehicles comprising releasing gas from an underwater surface rearward along the surface and reducing drag on the surface, further comprising releasing gas as lets from behind flaps attached to the surface, and extending the flaps over the gas jets for closing against the gas lets and for opening when gas is elected through the gas jets, and moving the flaps-outward with respect to the surface for increasing the thickness of the flaps in order to increase the thickness of a gas cavity behind the flaps.

The method of operating water vehicles comprising releasing gas from an underwater surface rearward along the surface and reducing drag on the surface, further comprising releasing gas as lets from behind flaps attached to the surface, and extending the flaps over the gas lets for closing against the gas jets and for opening when gas is elected through the gas jets, and moving the flaps outward with respect to the surface for increasing the thickness of the flaps in order to increase the thickness of the gas cavity behind the flaps, further comprising attaching air jets to the outer surface of the flaps to form air jet curtains which move outward with the flaps wherein the air jet velocity is close to the local water velocity.

The method of operating water vehicles comprising releasing gas from an underwater surface rearward along the surface and reducing drag on the surface, further comprising releasing gas as lets from behind flaps attached to the surface, and extending the flaps over the gas lets for closing against the gas lets and for opening when gas is elected through the gas lets, and moving the flaps outward with respect to the surface for increasing the thickness of the flaps in order to increase the thickness of the gas cavity behind the flaps, further comprising removing gas downstream of the gas release locations and sensing surface conditions along the surface and controlling flap deflections, gas release rates, and gas removal rates according to signals from the sensors.

The method of operating water vehicles comprising releasing gas from an underwater surface rearward along the surface and reducing drag on the surface, wherein the surface is the upper and lower surfaces of a hydrofoil which is connected to at least one strut which pierces, the water surface and supports an above-water structure, wherein the gas covers most of both surfaces of the hydrofoil, wherein a lower-pressure gas source releases gas along the upper surface of the hydrofoil and a higher-pressure gas source released gas along the lower surface of the hydrofoil.

The method of operating water vehicles comprising releasing gas from an underwater surface rearward along the surface and reducing drag on the surface, further comprising releasing gas as jets from behind flaps attached to the surface, further comprising extending the flaps over the gas jets for closing against the gas jets and for opening when gas is ejected through the gas jets.

The method of increasing lift on one side of a hydrofoil by moving one side of a nose section of the hydrofoil outward, and exhausting sufficient gas behind the nose section to form a near-constant-pressure gas cavity that closes just ahead of a trailing edge, thereby significantly increasing the thickness of the overall hydrofoil-and-cavity shape on that side to increase dynamic lift.