Water parachute for surface vessel motion impedance
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsRaymond M. Gamache, Tyler Grigg, C. Michael Roland
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A projectile includes an instant adhesive rubber directly connected to a high tensile strength rope and a water parachute. The projectile can be aimed at, for example, the front one-third of the vessel. Upon impact, an energetic material, such as lead azide, can be initiated to push the rubber onto the vessel and simultaneously deploy the water parachute. The parachute may be weighted to cause the parachute to submerge in the water. A tension generated by the vessel dragging the water parachute would arrest the motion and limit the speed and mobility of the vessel without significant damage to the surface vessel or occupants.
Claims13
A vessel arrestment system to arrest a surface vessel on water, said system comprising:
- an adhesive module for attaching to a hull of the vessel;
- a rope having first and second ends attached at the first end thereof to the adhesive module;
- a parachute attached at the second end of the rope;
- and
- a projectile housing the adhesive module, the rope and the parachute, wherein the projectile is launchable toward the vessel to impede its motion, the rope unfurls from the projectile and deploys the parachute into the water to induce resistive torque to the vessel.
A vessel arrestment system for impeding motion of a surface vessel on water, comprising:
- a rope tether having first and second ends;
- an adhesive that bonds spontaneously with a hull of the vessel, the adhesive being attached at the first end the rope tether;
- a parachute attached at the second end of the rope tether opposite to the first end;
- at least one weight attached to the parachute to anchor the parachute into the water;
- a projectile housing the adhesive, rope and parachute, the projectile is launchable toward the surface vessel;
- and
- a release mechanism to unfurl the rope tether and deploy the parachute from the projectile to induce unsymmetrical drag to the surface vessel after the adhesive attaches to the hull.
A method for impeding motion of a surface vessel on water, the method comprising:
- directing a projectile toward a hull of the surface vessel, the projectile containing a rope, an adhesive and a parachute;
- spontaneously bonding the adhesive at a first end of the rope contained in the projectile onto the hull of the surface vessel upon contact of the projectile with the hull;
- and
- releasing a water parachute from the projectile, the water parachute attached to the second end of the rope.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.