US1702222A - Propelling and maneuvering system for vessels - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 12, 1929. 1,702,222

C. M. PAXTON PROPELLING AND MANEUVERING SYSTEM FOR VESSELS Filed March 19, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR w wog MATTQRNEY fgforziflj arion Feb. 12, 1929. 1,702,222

C. M. PAXTON PROPELLING AND MANEUVERING SYSTEM FOR VESSELS Filed Mal-6n 19, 1927 S'SheetS-She t 2 i l l g u fiTQ P E TOR A4: ATTORNEY Feb. 12', 1929.

C. M. PAXTON PROPELLING AND MANEUVERING SYSTEM FOR VESSELS Filed March 19, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Feb. 12, 1 929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' onrrronnm. PAXTON, or PIERMONT-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK, AssIGNoR TO PAXTON i CORPORATION or AMERICA.

Application filed March 19, 1927. Serial No. 176,600. g

My present invention relates to systems of the above type, in which water jets are employed as a medium for moving the vessel.

Preferably, the main propulsionot' the vessel system of propulsion may be employed inv combination with a screw through which part of the poweris applied, the jet system alone may be and preferably is utilizedas the sole medium for applying the propulsive efiort.

My present invention concerns more particularly means for flexibly applying the power to the jets both for propulsion and for maneuvering.

One feature relates to organizing a propelling and maneuvering system so that high speed, sources of power such as steam or internal combustionengines, or electric motors are utilized through a novel arrangement of pumps of the centrifugal type, for the purpose and with the result that motor or motors running at the most efficient speed will supply the maximum amount of water at the pressure desired for the jets, I find that where a powerful, high speed motor is directly connected with a single centrifugal pump designed to deliver the desired-gallons per minute against 40 the required-pressure, the diameter for the impeller is likely to be so 'great that, at normal 7 full speed, the water will be delivered at avelecity much higher than necessary. To meet this condition, I employ a plurality of pumps v of proportionally smaller size so that the normal peripheral velocity of the centrifugal impellers and the resulting velocity ofthe water Will be decreased to that required for the jets,- while the number of the pumps will be multiplied to whatever extent necessary to deliver the required gallons per minute atthe lower velocity.

another feature is the use of a number of pump operating in parallel relation to supply a distributing system including a pipe that leads to the main propelling jets in the bow, and that has branch pipes leading to maneuvering jets, the various branches of the system being equipped with valves andcent-ral control means. whereby part or all of the water from the pumps may be diverted to one or two or more of the maneuvering nozzles, as may be desired. Centrifugal pumps particularly lend themselves to the widely vary ing volumes of discharge attendant upon such shifting uses of the water supply. When the back pressure becomes great enough, centrifugal pumps simply slip, whereas positive pumps of the gear pump type can operate to stall the engine with possible damage to the .motor or pumps or the distributing system.

A feature of the maneuvering system is locating the maneuvering nozzles in proper relation to the lateral center of resistance of the boat to sidewise movement; Thus arranged, it is possible to maneuver theboat broadside at varying speeds, while increasing or decreasing the force of the stream discharged through the maneuvering jets.

The above and other features of my invention will be more evident from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which 1 is a top plan view diagrammatically indicating a vesselequipped'in accordance with one form of my present invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a modi- Fig. 8 is an exterior side elevation of a vessel diagrammatically indicating adesired arrangement of main propelling jets, maneuvering jets and intake;

Fig. 4 is adetailedview indicating an electric motor means for operating the various valves shown in the preceding figures; Fig. 5 1s a diagrammatle end elevation of the bow of a vessel indicating a preferred arrangement for the subdivided sets of propclllng ets shown in F 1g. 3;

Fig. 6 1s a detailed horizontal section of a preferred form of nozzle; and

with an ordinary rudder,-2, diagrammatioah ly indicated as being of the balanced type, the rudder post, 3, being intermediate the fore and aft areas of the blade. The propelling system includes a motor, 4*. and, if desired, a second motor, 4, each directly connected with centrifugal pumps as 5, 5, having intakes at 6, 6" and discharging directly into a fore and aft distributing main 7, the discharge outlets being controlled by valves diagramn'iatically indicated at 8, 8.. These valves are diagrammatically indicated and the actual construction may he and preferably is, arranged for electrical mot-or control after the manner indicated in Fig. l, described hereafter. The main, 7, supplies a header, 9, for the bow jets, S), 9", which are rearwardly directed to ail'ord induced streai'n line propulsion as indicated by the lines a, (5, etc. Preferably, these jets are designed in accordance with the principles explained in my said prior patent, the showing of the stream lines in Fig. 1 being carried only to the dotted lines at the maximum cross-section.

In the present case, the said section is assumed to be the center of lateral resist ance of the hull. 1, to broadside movement; hence it is in this plane that I locate the l'iroadsiijle maneuvering nozzles 10, 10, hav ing valves 11, 11, respectively, controlling supply of water jets through the lateral branch pipes 12, 12 that connect with the main fore and aft pipe 7. Pairs of such nozzles may be located in parallel planes ctpiidistantfrom said center of lateral re sistance to suitably distribute the lateral thrust along the hull The center of broad side resistance may be and frequently aft of the maximum or midship section, in which case broadside maneuvering nozzles would be located further aft.

The main, 7, also supplies water through branches 13, 13, controlled by valve 14, 14,, to a pair or" forwardly directed nozzles 15, 15. These nozzles are extraordinarily eliiectivc for stopping the ship when proceeding at speed, because their ell'ective velocity and resultant nozzle reactions, are increased by the speed of the ship.

I prefer also to extend the main, 1', rearwardly through valve 16, to a stern jet, 1?, which discharges against the rudder 52. The latter, being of balanced construction, lies directly across the path of this jet r-.'lienever the helm is put either to starboard or port, thereby directing the jet laterally at any desired angle and affording a very powerful turning etlort re 'dless of whether the ship is running or stationary. This allords a powerful turning cllect because the rudder intercepts and deflects the entire jet stream. By using the stern jet with the rudder prop erly set and with the reverse nozzles 15, 15*, operatingto balance the forward component of the rudder-deflected stream, the ship may be made to turn on its axis In the above arrangement, the maneuvering jets operate on what may be termed rectangular coordinates, that is to say, a broadside movement is effected by one or more jets discharging at right angles to the axis of the ship, while the endwise movement is effected by ellort applied parallel with the longitudinal axis of the ship. Thus it has only diagonal movements that require balanced action of broadside and endwise jets. This is in contrast to the arrangement shown in Fl 2, which will. now be described.

In Fig. 2, the hull 21, rudder 22, motors 2 1, 2d, centrifugal pumps 25, 25, main 27,1ieader 28, bov nozzles 29, 29 and all controlling means, may be the same as before. In this case, the arrangement of maneuvering nozzles is analogous to that in Fig. l, in that nozzles oppositely directed on opposite sides of the ship, as 35 and 37, operate in paralle planes at angles of $5 to the axis of the ship, while the other pair of opposite nozzles, 35, 37, operate in parallel planes which are at right angles to said first mentioned planes.

As the result, a simple broadside maneuver requires simultaneous or cooperative action 019257 on one side of the ship and 35, 37 on the other side of the ship, while straight forward movement requires cooperative action oi 37, 37 and straight rearward or stopping eli'ort requires cooperation of 35, 35. The forward nozzles 35, 35 and the rearward nozzles 37, 37 may be and preferably are located equal distances fore and aft 01" the center of lateral resistance of the hull, to broadsice movement,when stationary,thus giving simple broadside movement when both jets on one side or" the boat are supplied with discharge streams ot the same volume and velocity, or, waen diagonally opposite streams are di charged, the ship may be turned on its axis.

Similarly when running, an extraordinary turning moment can be exerted by simultaneously discharging maneuvering streai'ns through nozzle 35 or 37 or both, for turning to port; or through nozzle 35 or 37 or both, for turning to starboard.

When angles at 45 are employed, as in Fig. 2, and 35, 35 are used jointly, of the total action applied to thrustthe ship dircctl y vard when the ship is stationary or when zip is in motion. The same thing true of 353 and Z c l a id 87 when they are used together in pairs for broadside moremcnt to port or starboard, the angles are uniformly $5 This may not be always desir-able, and a combination of angles may be employed it better suited to agiven case. "i 3 is, however, a desirable arrangement in many cases and is used for illustration.

Thus the arrangement shown in 2 is a very llexi le one, and to be preferred to that shown in l, where the use of the rudder is sometimes necessary. In all cases it seems preferable to use the rudder for steering ordinarily, but in the case of Fig. 2, the ship may ltlt) l is? without any reducing gear, the revolutions per minute at normal full speed of the motor will give the pump impeller a peripheral speed required for supplying the water at velocities as wellas 1n volumes corresponding to the requirements of the bow ets. In Fig.

7 2, however, it is assumed that the revolutions per minute of the motor will'be much higher than in Fig. 1, with the result that a single pump impeller of sizesuitable for deliveringthe required volume oi water would be opcrating at a peripheral speed in excess of pres- 1 most efiicient peripheral speed, sub ect only to sure requirements. In the latter case, much power Wlll be wasted in imparting too high peripheral velocity to the water in the impeller. This difficulty could be obviated by a speed reducing gear inserted'between the high speed motor and the pump, thereby bringing down the peripheral-speed oi theimpeller to the required velocity for the jet output; but one ob ect of my invention is to avoid use of a change speed gear, where possible, substituting therefor a plurality or, it

needed, a'multiplicity ofipumps olsui'liciently small impeller diameter so that their impellers will have the proper peripheral speed notwithstanding the high revolutions per minute of the motor. In this way, the volume and velocity of all of the water delivered to the main 7 by the multiplicity of'pumps may be suited to the jet requirements without the introduction of gearing' Itthus results that a motor of high operating speed may be used with a multiplicity ofpumpsoper practical limitation as to how many pumps it may be desirable toemploy.

As an illustration, we may assume a mot r normally developing 13,590 horse p wer at 72,000 revolutions perminute in a ship where proper fitting of the bow ets to the hull 7 would require 50,000 gallons of water per approximately 350 pounds.

minute delivered against a back pic With livering water at thisrate under the pressure, an impellersupplying water at the same velocity that it leaves the jets should have a diameter of approximately 22 inches, but if an impeller of hat diameter were made wide enough to supply the required volume,

there would not be room enough around the shaft for the intake becausea shaft to transinit such an amount of power would h ve to ply adequate for volumetric requirements of the respective pumps.

In this arrangement, the multiplicity of pumps gives great flexibility for adjustment of. water volumes and pressures to suit the number of 'ets in use or for var in the s Deed of the ship, and particularly for varying the volume or velocity of the water supplied to the jets when the ship is running light; for instance, the valvesi8 8 may be operated to shutoff pumps 25", 25 and both of the engines relieved of part of the load may be run at a higher speed so that the remaining two pumps will deliver water at greater velocity though the total volume will be less than was being delivered by the tour pumps; or by shutting'oi'l pumps 25 and 25", one engine, 24, may be idle, while the other engine, 24 does all the work. In such case, pumps 25 and 25 will tend'to deliver the same volumes of water as before, at the same pressure and velocity as before, providing the total jet outlet area is correspondingly reduced so as to maintain the same back pressure as before.

cutting off one pair of bow jets, saythe upper.

pair, and cutting off two of the pumps, one from each motor, Will make it possible to have the volume and velocity of Water discharged. through the lower two pairs of jets, the same as before, or the load of the motors being reduced by removal of two of the pumps, the motors may be run at higher speed to give a higher velocity to the two lower jets, as, for instance, when the boa is running light draft. In the latter case, the boat speed maybe correspondingly increased and yet the jets maybe kept prop erly fitted'forthe higher speed of the boat, according to the principles explained in my above cited patent.

Subdividiiig the bow jets into a multiplicity of pairs, arranged at progressively greater depths in the water, as above-described, is desirable for a further reason iudi- "indicate the axes oi"- the respective jets and I also what is knownas the diagonals. Diagonals correspond to the shortest lines of natural stream line flow of water rearward along the entrance section, when said water 'is displaced by the advancing hull. The oblll) jcct of this arrangement is to accelerate the natural stream line flow without disturbing its natural diagonal direction any iore than is necessarily involved in accelerating it by jets projected at an outward angle to the hull surface. The outward an le of discharge 1S absolutely essential for reasons explained in my prior patent and this necessarily causes some disturbance and dia-jitortion oi the natural. str am line how, but by my present invention. having a plurality of ditl'erently directed to harmonize with the dill'erent di rections of the diagonals at dillcreut depths around the hull, the natural stream line flow is accelerated with a minimum of disturbance. Naturally, the downward inclination of these lines will vary according to the shape of the underbod y, but in ordinary types of displacement boat, the decreased width toward the bottom of the hull will result in stream lines requiring the lower level jets to be directed downward at greater angles than those at a higher level.

In Fig. 6, I have shown that where three pairs oi? jets are served by a single header, as 28, provision for cutting ol f one or more of the pairs, in this case the upper pair, may be made by providing a separate branch pipe, '4', controlled by separate valve l l". In such case, the upper part of the header Z X will be segregated from the part su il'ilying' the low or jets, either by making it entii 7 separate from 28 or, as shown in the (lrawin by providing a partition, 28*, outline; oil munication between 28 and In Fig. 7, I have shown how a header, .18, may be made structurally rigid with the hull, l, and at the same time structurally riajid w ith the exterior-1y projecting nozzle portion, 18, by providing the interior and exterior pa ts with broad faced flanges 19, 19 fitting against the hull. plates. 1, and secured by throug gh bolts or rivets 20, 20 20, 20. On the exterior he der member, 18, detachably secured by bolts 4L0, 4C0, a jet nozzle. ll. As explained in my prior patent, it is po to replace one nozzle by another having! a different shape or a dillerent orilice area; a the angle of the dr-schargre may be varied within wide limits, without changing; r jet, merely by inaerti -shapeu, gasket-like spacing); memhe l2, between the surfaces that are clamped by the bolts to.

The width of the jet orifice and an discharge is made ad: b interior plates or liners, h of ad justnicnt inward and o ward by means of setscrews, 141, provided. th low I n To permit such movement, are liners 1-3 preferaliily of spring: bronze shaped to it the converggen .e of the interior surfaces of the nozzle, having th' lr ends adjacent the nozzle tree an d the remote portions anchored to the nozzle, preferably rigidly as by screws 46, 4:6. Preferably, the spring set oi these liners is ,r, in

such as to cause them to normally lie flat against the nozzle surface and they are further forced against such surfaces by the jet pressure when in operation. To el'l'ect desired narrowing of the slot outlet of the nozzle to reduce the cross-section of the jet without subs. antial reduction in its surface area, or ic purpose of increasing the velocity by arymg the throttle or back pressure effect of nozzle, the set screws 44- are simply screwed inward a desired distance. Obviously, those set screws may be provided with worm or other gearing, whereby they may be operated from the deck or from the interior of the ship and hinged rigid plates may be used in place of spring plates.

In Fig. 4:, as a suggestive illustration, I have indicated a form of power operated valve which it is understood will. be used in place of the various valves diagrammatically indicated. in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. In Fig. 4;, the water supply pipe 7-" may be taken either as the main conduit or as any of the branches to be controlled by a valve. The valve casing :37, crmtains a valve, not shown, which in this case is assun'ied to be an ordinary gate valve,

although a balanced valve can be used pro vided the arrangement is such as not to involve too great frictional losses by reason of infill-n52; and eddying ot' the Water passing 'therethrough.

'lhe valve stem, 58, is shown as screwthreaded and engaged by an internally lhrc ded. rotary member, 59, having its periphery, (30, formed as a worm wheel operated by a worm, 61, on armature shaft, 62, of $.11 electric motor, 63, supported on a bracket, (ll. The worm wheel, 60. is free to rotate on the screw 58, to move the same up and (Lawn, longitudinal movement of the wheel being: prevented by bracket 65. All

power operated valves suitable for con- :"rinn a central station.

up; water through a scoop, 70, having wardly directed mouth, '3 1, which may c protected by a grating, 72. The scoop I be associated with the ships hull and '3 2 intakes ll, (3, 6*, 6", by

g flier the mannerindicated ergo outlet at 19, 19, 2 20, in She scoops are supposed to be lo- 1 deep down under the turn of the bilge, so that ll ran never come out of ll 2 ve :er (l ll'll' g; rolling oi the ship. lVhile separate scoops may be employed for each intake, I have shown in 3 how two intakes as 6 (5 can be served by one scoop. For such purpo e. it preferable that the scoop have its e1. -semtio.mi flow capacity at the mouth, equal to the combined demands of the two inintakes for the puniips are shown as 20 system of maneuvering jets shown in Fig. 1.,

talkes, While the part extending to the rear intake, 6, is of reduced cross-section adequate for supply of the intake 6 only.

It will be obvious that many features of my invention are not limited to the specific relation in which they are shown. For. instance, the multiple pumps constructed as above described, would be applicable to jet propulsion or jet maneuvering where the eflort is simply that of nozzle reaction, although it is also peculiarly adapted for the bow jet, stream line propulsion set forth in myprior patent first above mentioned. The plurality of difierently directed bow jets located atdifferent depths as indicated in Fig. 5 have their own specific novelty in connection with the stream line propulsion. of said patent, even though they be not used'in combination with the maneuver ng jets or with the multiple pump feature. A boat may have the rectangular combinedwith the diagonal system indicated in Fig. 2. Other like independent and dependent uses and relations and variations Will be obvious to-those skilled in the art.

While I have shown a plurality of pumps with separate intake pipes'leading through the hull, it will be obvious for many purposes that a multiplicity of'impellers each of the desired diameter capacity may be enclosed in a single casin In such case, only the inlets to the impellers need be separate. The intake pipe for drawing water from the outside may be a single pipe or the discharge pipe leadingto the distributing main may be a single pipe. The output from all of the impellers may be controlled by separate valves or by a single valve.

1 claim: I

1. A vessel having a propulsion system including means for maintaining rearwardly directed bow jets of the class described, in combination with sets of maneuvering nozzles on either side of the ship, and another nianeuverinr' nozzle directed rearwardl and the 0 1 ship being provided with a balanced rudder havin its vertical ivota-l axis in the oath of b discharge of said latter jet, together with for- Wardly'and outwardly directed. nozzles arranged to oppose the forward component of propelling efforts exerted by said rearward stream when deflected by'the rudder.

2. A vessel having a propulsion system including means for maintaining rearwardly directed bow jets of the class described, in combination with a stern jet," sets of maneuvering nozzleson either side of the ship, and. a. jet supply system, including motors, each arranged to apply its power output through a plurality of centrifugal pumps having ini-' pellers of relatively small diameter, each having a valve controlled outlet and a main distributing conduit extending parallel with and adjacent the keel, into which all the pump outlets discharge independently.

,ed maneuvering jets on each side of the ship,

a jet supply system, including a single distributing conduit extending longitudinally of the ship to points adjacent the jets and branch pipes to the jets with valves controlling the individual branches and means for supplying water to said conduit including a plurality of internal combustion engines symmetrically arranged on opposite sides of the keel and parallel tl'ierewith, a centrifugal pump coaxial with and driven by each engine and separate valve controlled outlets from the pump into the conduit.

4. A vessel having a propulsion system including means for maintaining rea'rwardly directed bow jets of the class described, in combination with sets of transversely directed maneuvering jets on each side of the ship, a jet supply system, including a main distributing conduit and branch pipes to the jetswith valves controlling the individual branches and means for supplying water to said conduit including a plurality of centrifugal pumps having independent valve controlled outlets into said distributing conduit and a plurality of independently operable driving units therefor.

5. A vessel having a propulsion system including means for maintaining rearwardly directed bow jets of the class described, in combination with sets of transversely directed maneuvering jets on each side of the ship, a jet supply system, including a conduit and branch pipes to the jets with valves controlling the individual branches and means for supplyingwater to said conduit including a plurality of internal combustion engines symmetrically arranged on opposite sides ofv the keel parallel therewithand each directly connected to a plurality of centrifugal pumps :1 ll discharging into said conduit. 1

6. A vessel having a jet propulsion system of the class described, including nozzle having an elongated oritice for discharge of a et having great surface area as compared with its cross-section, said nozzle being provided with means for adjustably varying the area of the jet orifice.

7. A vessel having a jet propulsion system of the class described, including a nozzle having an elongated orifice for discharge of a jet having great surface area as compared with its cross-section, said nozzle being provided with laterally movable means for varying the width ofthe jet orifice.

8. A'vessel having a propulsion system including means for maintaining rearwardly directed bow jets, the jet nozzles beingarranged in pairsv at different depths, those at the same depth discharging at approximately the same angles and those at greater depth discharging at angles having a greater downward component than those at lesser depth.

9. A vessel havlng a propnlslon system 1n- 5 eluding means tor xnalntalnlng reerwardly directed bow ets, the Jet nozzles arranged in palrs at dlfferent depths, sald nozzles helng arranged to discharge their jets to correspond With the diagonals of the hull at their respective depths.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 17th day of March, A. D. 1927.

CLIFFGRD M. PAXTON.

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