US3291239A - Air cushion borne vehicles - Google Patents

Air cushion borne vehicles Download PDF

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Publication number
US3291239A
US3291239A US368611A US36861164A US3291239A US 3291239 A US3291239 A US 3291239A US 368611 A US368611 A US 368611A US 36861164 A US36861164 A US 36861164A US 3291239 A US3291239 A US 3291239A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
air
wall
skirt
space
vehicle
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US368611A
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English (en)
Inventor
Eggington Wilfred James
Watts Gordon Victor
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Vinters Armstrongs Ltd
Vinters Armstrongs Engineers Ltd
Original Assignee
Vickers Armstrongs Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Vickers Armstrongs Ltd filed Critical Vickers Armstrongs Ltd
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3291239A publication Critical patent/US3291239A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60V—AIR-CUSHION VEHICLES
    • B60V1/00—Air-cushion
    • B60V1/16—Flexible skirts

Definitions

  • a vehicle adapted to be supported at least partially on an air cushion, the vehicle having on its underside a flexible skirt constituting a side of a space arranged to receive air for forming the air cushion, wherein said skirt has a wall of flexible material extending downwardly from the body of the vehicle, there being flexible webs spaced at intervals along the inside surface of the wall and attaching same to the underside of the vehicle body, and ducting for supplying air from a compressor to the upper part of the inside surface of said wall so that in operation air flows down the inside surface, the
  • FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic sectional elevation of part of a vehicle adapted to be borne at least partially on an air cushion, and
  • FIGURE 2 is a section on II-II of FIGURE 1.
  • the vehicle of FIGURE 1 has a body 1 in which are formed ducts 2 (only one of which is shown in FIGURE 1) for feeding air from a compressor (not shown) carried on the body 1, to a space 3 formed between two thin flexible walls 4 and 5 of a skirt 6 that extends around the underside of the periphery of the body 1.
  • the wall 4 which is an outer wall of the skirt 6, has its upper edge secured to the underside of the peripheral part of the body 1 whilst the upper edge of the wall 5 is spaced from the underside of the body 1 to form a gap 7.
  • the wall 4 eX- tends downwardly and inwardly and the wall 5 downwardly and outwardly so that the space 3 between the walls converges downwardly.
  • the walls 4 and 5 are joined to each other by vertical webs 3 of flexible material.
  • the upper edges of the webs 8 are secured directly to the underside of the body 1 and thus limit outward displacement of the wall 4.
  • the vertical webs 8 are of triangular form.
  • the bottom edge of the wall 4 is spaced from the bottom edge of the wall 5 to form an outlet 9 at the bottom of the skirt 6, the outlet being in the form of a slot running around the whole of the bottom of the skirt, the slot being bridged periodically along its length by the bottom edges of the webs 8.
  • the air supplied along the ducts 2 to the space 3 that is between the walls 4 and 5 causes the skirt 6 to be inflated.
  • the ducts 2 are positioned to cause the air to issue from the underside of the vehicle body 1 inwardly of the wall 4, the upper edge of the inner wall 5 being spaced inwardly from the location when the air issues from the ducts 2.
  • the walls 4 and 5, when the skirt is inflated, are of corrugated form in plan view as indicated in FIGURE 2, the corrugations extending in the up-and-down direction.
  • the webs 3 are attached to the walls 4 and 5 along lines extending up and down the surfaces of these walls, and secondly, that the webs 8 are joined to parts of the walls 4 and 5 that are between the top and bottom edges of these walls.
  • Each corrugation of the walls 4 and 5 is concave on its side facing the space 3. Air flows from the space 3 downwardly in the form of a jet to form an air curtain 11 around the space that is below the body 1 and encircled by the skirt 6. Air from the curtain flows into this space to form therein an air cushion 10 that supports the vehicle.
  • the air curtain minimises leakage of air laterally from the cushion 10 beneath the bottom of the skirt 6. Air may also flow through the gap 7 into'the air cushion space and this flow may form the sole supply of air to the cushion if) that is additional to that supplied by the air curtain.
  • the total area of the gap 7 and outlet 9 needs to be less than the total inlet area from the ducts 2 to the space 3.
  • the outlet 9 can be of greater area than said total inlet area and in this case the outer wall 4 assumes a corrugated form because of the pressure difference between the pressure of the air flowing down its inside face and atmospheric pressure acting on the outside face of the wall 4.
  • the wall 5 can, if desired, be omitted.
  • the webs 8 extend inwardly from the wall 4 substantially perpendicular to the general direction of the length (along the peripheral part of the vehicle body 1) of the adjacent part of the wall 4.
  • a vehicle adapted to be supported at least partially on an air cushion comprising a vehicle body having a peripheral part; a flexible skirt on the underside of the vehicle body and constituting a side of a space that receives air from forming the air cushion, said skirt including an outer wall of flexible material extending downwardly and inwardly and having its upper edge effectively carried by the peripheral part of the body of the vehicle, said skirt also comprising an inner wall extending downwardly and outwardly relative to the vehicle body and spaced from the outer wall, upright flexible webs located between and spaced at intervals along said walls, the webs being attached to the inside surfaces of the walls along lines extending upwardly and downwardly of said surfaces, said webs extending inwardly substantially perpendicular to the general direction of the adjacent part of said outer wall along said peripheral part of the vehicle body and being effectively connected to the underside of the vehicle body thereby to limit outward displacement of said outer wall; and ducting for supplying air under pressure for the skirt and air cushion, said ducting being positioned to supply air to the upper

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
  • Transportation (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Body Structure For Vehicles (AREA)
  • Air Bags (AREA)
  • Tents Or Canopies (AREA)
US368611A 1963-05-24 1964-05-19 Air cushion borne vehicles Expired - Lifetime US3291239A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB20950/63A GB1083675A (en) 1963-05-24 1963-05-24 Improvements in or relating to air cushion borne vehicles

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3291239A true US3291239A (en) 1966-12-13

Family

ID=10154571

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US368611A Expired - Lifetime US3291239A (en) 1963-05-24 1964-05-19 Air cushion borne vehicles

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US3291239A (fr)
CH (1) CH413608A (fr)
DE (1) DE1287446B (fr)
DK (1) DK119747B (fr)
GB (1) GB1083675A (fr)
NL (1) NL6405638A (fr)

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3380550A (en) * 1964-08-28 1968-04-30 Westland Aircraft Ltd Controllable priming means for the cushion of air cushion vehicles
US3384197A (en) * 1964-03-11 1968-05-21 Vickers Armstrongs Ltd Air cushion-borne vehicles with flexible skirts
US3395772A (en) * 1964-09-17 1968-08-06 British Hovercraft Corp Ltd Flexible skirts for air cushion borne vehicles
US3429395A (en) * 1966-02-03 1969-02-25 Melville W Beardsley Air-cushion vehicle with flexible skirt
US3601062A (en) * 1968-10-10 1971-08-24 Bertin & Cie Ground effect machines
US3613822A (en) * 1969-08-22 1971-10-19 Transportation Technology Combined plenum chamber and jet curtain air cushion device

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR1319034A (fr) * 1962-04-03 1963-02-22 Westland Aircraft Ltd Véhicule à effet de sol pourvu de buses d'éjection flexibles
US3161247A (en) * 1961-05-19 1964-12-15 Gen Motors Corp Air cushion load supporting device
US3239023A (en) * 1961-11-21 1966-03-08 Westland Aircraft Ltd Ground effect machines

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE1213258B (de) * 1962-09-12 1966-03-24 Vickers Armstrongs Ltd Von einem Luftpolster getragenes Fahrzeug
GB860781A (en) * 1958-06-16 1961-02-08 Cecil Hugh Latimer Needham Improvements in vehicles for travelling over land and/or water
GB968191A (en) * 1959-09-25 1964-08-26 Hovercraft Dev Ltd Vehicle for travelling over water
FR1314033A (fr) * 1961-12-07 1963-01-04 Olin Mathieson Procédé de préparation du glycérol

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3161247A (en) * 1961-05-19 1964-12-15 Gen Motors Corp Air cushion load supporting device
US3239023A (en) * 1961-11-21 1966-03-08 Westland Aircraft Ltd Ground effect machines
FR1319034A (fr) * 1962-04-03 1963-02-22 Westland Aircraft Ltd Véhicule à effet de sol pourvu de buses d'éjection flexibles

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3384197A (en) * 1964-03-11 1968-05-21 Vickers Armstrongs Ltd Air cushion-borne vehicles with flexible skirts
US3380550A (en) * 1964-08-28 1968-04-30 Westland Aircraft Ltd Controllable priming means for the cushion of air cushion vehicles
US3395772A (en) * 1964-09-17 1968-08-06 British Hovercraft Corp Ltd Flexible skirts for air cushion borne vehicles
US3429395A (en) * 1966-02-03 1969-02-25 Melville W Beardsley Air-cushion vehicle with flexible skirt
US3601062A (en) * 1968-10-10 1971-08-24 Bertin & Cie Ground effect machines
US3613822A (en) * 1969-08-22 1971-10-19 Transportation Technology Combined plenum chamber and jet curtain air cushion device

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB1083675A (en) 1967-09-20
DK119747B (da) 1971-02-15
CH413608A (fr) 1966-05-15
DE1287446B (de) 1969-01-16
NL6405638A (fr) 1965-03-25

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