US2534812A - Watercraft - Google Patents

Description

Dec. W, 1950 J. H. CURRY 2,534,812

WATERCRAFT Filed Oct. 18, 1946 swam tom Patented Dec. 19, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WATERCRAFT John H. Curry, Viola. M0,.

Application ()ctobcr 18, 1946, Serial'No. 704,052

sion of a watercraft of the character described whose hull is so designed and constructed as to have an air foil hull which will reduce air resistance to a minimum. 7

Still another object of this invention resides in the provision of a watercraft of the character described which is so constructed with such a designed. distribution of weight relative to the air foil hull design that the weight of the hull will lift away from the water and thus reduce water resistance on the planing surface when the craft is traveling at high rates of speed. The construction of the rear planing member is such that when the speed of the craft increases to a point where the hull would lift sufficiently to rise into the air the rear member will drop to remain in contact with the water to retain the stability of the watercraft.

Still further improvements and advantages of this invention will readily appear to those skilled in the art when the following description is read in the light of the preferred embodiment of this invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of one of the sponson planing members.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side plan view of the aircraft with parts broken away for clearer illustration.

Fig. 4 is a front view of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a second View of the craft similar to Fig. 3 with the hull in a different elevation.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the rear sponson planing member.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in which numerals indicate similar parts throughout the drawings, A designates the hull of a watercraft which is constructed in the form of a true airfoil section i, of considerable width, see Figure 4. The airfoil section I will function like the wing of an airplane, to lift the hull A as it moves forwardly through the air. The hull A has a 2 at its rearward end to stabilize the hull when it is propelled forward by any desirable type of inboard motor. The hull A is provided with windows 3 for observation facilities of the occupants who occupy the seats 4 within the hull.

. 2 These seats i are so placed within the hull rela tive to the center of gravity" and the center of lift thereof to afford the most desirable operation of the watercraft.

Supported below the forward end of the hull in spaced relationship on either side of the hull are two identical streamlined pedestals B comprising a center brace 5 and a pair of angularly disposed strut braces 6 and l which interconnect the lower end of the brace 5 and the hull A.

A flat rectangular plane member or sponson 8 with an upwardly curved end 9 is hinged to the pedestal B by a pin l l which extends through two ears i2 and [3 on the sponson 8 and the brace 5. A triangular shaped web It is suspended from the sponson S with the tapered end forward and the after end being adjacent the rear end of the sponson 8. Two fore and aft bracing members 54 and i5 interconnect the edestal B and the sponson 8 in a flexible manner to maintain the plate level for planing but with sufficient resilience to prevent rupture thereof from shock.

The rear planing member C comprises a hollow tube l6 which extends from the upper hull wall I! through the lower hull l8. A vertical shaft i9 is slidably mounted in the tube I 6 with a spring 28 holding the shaft l9 resiliently within the tube It and in an extended position. The lower end of the shaft [9 is pivotally secured to a planing plate 2| which is identical in all features including a web 22 such as the web [0 to the forward planing members. A stop 23 is placed on the shaft Is to prevent the shaft from sliding too far into the tube [6 and similarly a cable extension 24 of predetermined length which interconnects the stop 23 with the hull A to limit the distance the shaft l9 may slide downward in tube It.

In operation of this watercraft the air foil design of the hull causes the forward end of hull A to be raised by the lifting effect of the forward sponsons as their speed increases through the water. The rear sponsons will retract to the hull as the increased impact of the water overcomes the spring 20. As the speed is continually increased the air foil hull will cause the hull to continue to lift raising both the forward and rearward ends until it approaches a state of flying. When this state is reached the shaft l9 will drop in tube I6 maintaining the rear sponson in contact with the water at all times giving stability to the hull which has assumed the new position as illustrated in Fig. 3 which causes the sponsons to carry enough of the weight of the hull to stabilize the craft yet maintain the greater task of lifting with the air foil hull.

Having thus described and explained the construction and operation of the watercraft set forth in this specification what I desire to claim in Letters Patent is:

A hydroplane, comprising a wide low hull constructed in the form of a true airfoil section, transversely spaced sponsons secured to the forward end of the hull to support such forward end as the hydroplane travels over the water, an elongated depending tube secured to the bottom of the hull adjacent to its rear end and at the transverse center of the hull, an elongated reciprocatory shaft mounted within the tube and projecting beyond the bottom end of the tube, a spring mounted within the tube and engaging the shaft to shift it downwardly automatically when the rear end of the hull is elevated, and a substantially fiat planing plate pivotally secured to the bottom end of the shaft and extending longitudinally forwardly and rearwardly of the shaft for contacting the surface of the water irrespective of the elevation of the rear end of the hull.

JOHN H. CURRY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,301,917 Bolotofi Apr. 29, 1919 1,686,264 Brownback Oct. 2, 1928 1,749,017 Brownback Mar. 4, 1930 1,779,075 Plum Oct. 21, 1930 1,835,618 Waller Dec. 8, 1931 1,846,602 Lake Feb. 23, 1932 2,073,438 Adams Mar. 9, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 382,812 Great Britain Nov. 3, 1932 485,572 Great Britain May 18, 1938 795,223 France Jan. 2, 1936

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