Collapsible wet or dry submersible vehicle
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsRobert Woodall, Felipe Garcia, Robert Schoeni, Frank Skerratt
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A submersible vehicle's hull has an outer wall that is at least partially constructed of a multi-wall fabric having a sealed space between at least two walls thereof. The sealed space is controllably filled with one of air, water, and a combination of air and water in order to control the buoyancy of the hull formed from the multi-wall fabric. Means are provided for propelling and steering the hull in the water. The interior volume of the hull can remain dry or can be filled with water for a wet mode of operation.
Claims22
A submersible vehicle, comprising:
- a hull encasing a volume, said hull having a forward end and an aft end, said hull formed at least partially by an inflatable multi-wall fabric that defines a sealed space between at least two walls of said fabric;
- buoyancy control means coupled to said sealed space for controlling the filling thereof with one of air, water, and a combination of air and water;
- and
- drive means coupled to said hull for propelling and steering same in the water.
A submersible vehicle, comprising:
- a hull having a forward end and an aft end, said hull being at least partially constructed of a plurality of sections coupled together to define a volume, each of said plurality of sections defined by a compliant and inflatable multi-wall fabric that defines a sealed space between at least two walls of said fabric;
- buoyancy control means coupled to said plurality of sections for individually controlling the filling of each said sealed space with one of air, water and a combination of air and water;
- and
- drive means coupled to said hull for propelling and steering same in the water.
A submersible vehicle, comprising:
- a collapsible hull having a forward end and an aft end, said hull being constructed of a plurality of sections coupled together to define a volume, each of said plurality of sections defined by a compliant and inflatable multi-wall fabric that defines a sealed space between at least two walls of said fabric;
- buoyancy control means coupled to said plurality of sections for individually controlling the filling of each said sealed space with one of air, water and a combination of air and water;
- a rigid nose assembly coupled to said forward end of said hull;
- a rigid tail assembly coupled to said aft end of said hull;
- and
- means coupled to said rigid nose assembly and said rigid tail assembly for facilitating propulsion and steering of said hull having said rigid nose assembly and said rigid tail assembly coupled thereto.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.